Chapter 13 ~
Rory ~
My ribs start to ache as I walk into the house, dropping my keys on the bench.
"Guys!" I yell out. Mason puts the Thai boxes down while Maverick pulls out some plates.
Jace and Luc come in from the verandah. J's smile drops when he sees the look on my face.
"Ro?" He questions. "What's wrong?"
"Someone tried to follow us home," I tell them and their faces grow dark.
"We managed to lose them at an intersection and we drove around for a bit to make sure no one else was following us.” Maverick gives them all the details.
Jace sighs harshly and curses under his breath. Luc puts his hands on my shoulders, his eyes travelling down me with deep concern.
I grab a pen and a piece of paper from Hannah’s titled ‘messy drawer’ and write out everything I can remember about the car. I hand it off to Luc, telling him my idea.
"Are you okay?" Luc asks, before giving the twins the once over.
"My ribs are a bit sore," I tell him.
"When did you last have painkillers?" Luc asks.
"I don't know, maybe the day before yesterday?" I say, trying to remember when I last took anything.
Luc's eyes widen. "Butterfly, you can have them more often than that."
I don't say anything. He sighs before going to the kitchen and getting two tablets from the box. Luc fills a glass of water and slips his hand into mine, pulling me away from the group.
He hands me the tablets and the glass of water. He watches me struggle to swallow them. I drink the rest of the glass and he takes it from my hands.
"Rory, why haven't you been taking them more often?" Luc asks, concerned.
I put my back to the twins and Jace, remembering J's gift at lip reading. He was great at it when we were kids. It's how we used to listen in on all the grown up's conversations.
I struggle starting. "When I first came here, I made a joke wanting drugs and…you looked terrified, Luci."
My eyes flick down to the hardwood and I bite my bottom lip before releasing it. I see him step closer, his hands resting on my waist.
"I thought there had to be a reason and I didn't want to scare you. Then you told me about your parents and—"
I gasp when Luc’s mouth crashes onto mine. He kisses me into oblivion, effectively cutting off my rambling.
He encourages me to respond, nibbling on my bottom lip. I slowly rise up on my tip toes, my arms going around his neck, gently pulling him down to my level.
He squeezes my waist, one hand cupping my cheek, his lips moving across mine.
I must make a noise because he growls against my lips. Fuuuuck. The vibrations travel through me like a lightning blast, electrocuting me.
Clapping in the background breaks us out of it.
My eyes open, meeting his bright moss green irises, heat glowing in them. Luc places a soft kiss on my swollen lips before leaning his forehead on mine.
"It's like they just can't help themselves," Luc murmurs and I laugh.
I remove my hands from his broad shoulders and he sighs before pulling back.
"Thank you, Butterfly," he says softly.
Ummm, for what?
"You're welcome?" I respond hesitantly and Luc laughs.
"Thank you…for caring about me," Luc says low enough that the others don't hear him.
"Luci." I wrap my arms around him tightly. "You brought me home after meeting me one time. You saved me. You're kind and amazing and…ya know, kinda dangerous."
Luc laughs softly beside my ear.
"But I love that about you," I tell him. "You have so many people who care about you. Don't ever doubt that we don't."
Luc nods and I release him but not before murmuring, "And you're a pretty great kisser."
He grins boyishly and we walk back to the others.
I'm hesitant to see their reactions after just kissing their best friend in front of them but all I get is smirks.
"You okay there, Ro? You're looking a little red." I go to smack Jace but he ducks out of the way.
I look between the twins expressions and just see happiness.
"Lucky fucker," Maverick says to Luc and Mase nods in agreement.
Okay. That went well. I shake my head when Jace holds his hand out for Luc to high five.
"You guys are idiots," I tell Jace and Luc who laugh loudly. The twins join in.
"Okay." I walk away, shaking my head. "I'm getting Alec. Someone get Dom, please." I don't wait them to respond.
I knock on Alec's door. When I don't hear anything, I almost turn away. No. He needs to eat. I slowly open the door.
Alec looks up from where he's sitting on the floor, leaning against the end of the bed. His eyes are bloodshot like he's been crying. His hair is sticking up like he's been running his hands through it, over and over until the wavy lengths gave in.
By the looks of it, he's still in his pyjamas. If this was any other time, I'd be drooling over his perfectly cut muscles and the deep ridges of his abs.
"Hey, Rory." His normally smooth velvety voice is rough.
"Hey, Alec." I sit on the floor beside him.
"Are you okay?" I ask him gently.
He shakes his head and tears start to fill those gorgeous hazel eyes.
I put my arms around him and he buries his face in my neck. We sit there for a while—me comforting him as he silently cries on my shoulder. I run my hand up and down the soft, smooth skin of his back. His arms go around me.
"Do you want to talk about it?" I offer quietly when he begins to settle.
"He doesn't want to be more," Alec's voice cracks as he speaks.
"He doesn't want to wreck your friendship?" I ask softly and he nods into my shoulder, taking unsteady breaths.
"I'm sorry, Alec," I murmur and he just shakes his head.
"I had to break it off," Alec says quietly. "I—I couldn't keep doing it. It was eating me up, keeping it a secret and not being able to just be with him."
"Alec," I tell him gently, "the guys already knew."
He pulls back and just lays his head on my shoulder. "I know," he whispers. "It doesn't matter though, he won't give us a chance."
Suddenly a protectiveness comes over me. A need to help Alec stand on his feet again.
I stand up, glad those painkillers seem to be kicking in. I hold my hands out for Alec.
"Come on," I encourage him when he hesitates. "Don't let him see you like this."
My words seem to bring him out of it because he gets up off the floor. I smile softly.
He leans down so I can run my fingers through his hair until it's back to it's normal wave.
I turn around while he changes out of his pyjamas.
I can't really do anything about his red eyes but I take him into the bathroom so he can wash his face. His glasses hide most of the redness.
Alec grabs my hand before I can exit the bathroom. He smiles and I see some of the hurt leave his eyes.
"Thank you, Sunshine," Alec says, kissing my forehead. I smile back, squeezing his hand gently.
He almost stops when he sees Dominic at the counter with the rest of the guys. I see a wall of steel come up in front of the hurt and pain in his eyes.
Convinced he's got this, I release Alec's hand. He goes straight to the cabinets and get out a glass, filling it with water before casually leaning back against the bench.
I see Dom straighten when he sees Alec. Guilt is stained on his face but hurt quickly takes over when he's met with Alec's strong mask of indifference.
"How was he?" Jace murmurs, coming up behind me.
I bite my lip and shake my head. "It's not good," I whisper back. Jace sighs and nods.
Luc calls everyone to the table and I see relief briefly flicker cross Alec's features.
I end up between the twins and we recount our experience on the way back from the Thai place to everyone while we eat.
I also write down the car model and number plate for Alec who apparently is a hacker.
"I do a jobs on the legal side but it's mainly just messing around," Alec says modestly. The blush creeping up his neck betrays him.
"Messing around," Luc scoffs. "The ACIC would have nothing if it wasn't for the account numbers and tips that mysteriously appeared on their doorstep."
A smile crosses Alec's face and it's so mischievous it reminds me of the twins.
"I had Alec try to find you," Jace tells me. "Your father must be using a fake ID on the house and everything because I couldn't find you."
I nod. That doesn't surprise me. "He bribed the principal so my name is different on the records. I don't know how, it's not like we have a lot of money."
That seems to trigger something in Jace's brain.
"Hey, that reminds me. How did you get that Hilux?" Jace asks, a puzzled look on his face. The guys nod like they've been thinking about that.
"I was walking home from school one day and this guy pulled up beside me. He said he knew my mum." Jace's eyes widen.
I shift in my seat, when sitting becomes uncomfortable.
"Let's move this to the living room," Alec suggests, catching my movement.
Alec sits in the corner of the couch and I sit beside him. He smiles and opens his arm, telling me to move closer. I tuck my legs in and curl up in his side, his strong arm around me.
I see the pain enriched in Dominic's slumped shoulders as he passes us and guilt hits me. I try to shake it off.
"Anyway," I say once we're all sitting, "I was sceptical at first. I'd never met him before but he showed me an old photo of them. He said my mother had set some money aside for Dec and I, if anything were to happen to her. He gave me all the bank details and everything from the window of his car."
"How did he find you?" Dominic asks and I shrug.
"I have no idea. But, I went into the bank and along with a shitload of money, there was the keys to the Hilux," I tell them.
I remember being totally stunned by it. I don't remember too much of my life with Mum but we lived pretty modestly.
There was no sign of money like the that when she was still alive.
"Your mum was an architect, wasn't she?" Jace says, leaning around Luc.
I nod. "Apparently she was good too. When my father found out, he was furious. When I told him about the mystery guy though, he backed off. I didn't see him for a week after that."
"Why a Hilux?" Mason says, coming back to the car.