Chapter 22
Dean
It was almost midnight by the time Seb and I got to the apartment.
Surprisingly, we were both in good spirits despite the cuts and bruises that littered our faces and bodies from the fights earlier.
Somehow, getting revenge for a six-year-old girl outweighed the dull ache in my hip or the bite on my tongue.
With some luck, we managed to get through the foyer doors without having to call Lily or Kira to let us in — someone had left a rock to prop the front door open again.
I kicked the rock aside to let the door close and lock once Seb and I were inside.
What was the point of having a security system if you didn’t use it?
The thought didn’t linger as we went upstairs, unable to hide the grins on our faces after what we did. So what if we were assholes for finding joy in tormenting a teacher? The prick deserved it.
But we also knew that the girls might not find that as amusing as we did.
Knocking lightly on the apartment door, I tried to mask my smile. And failed miserably.
Lily answered the door, and her expression immediately changed from content to sceptical when Seb turned away to muffle his laugh.
“What did you two do?”
Seb shrugged, still not looking at her, while I stepped forward to greet her with a kiss.
“PTA meeting,” I said onto her lips.
She folded her arms and watched me closely. The smallest of smiles was tucked away in the corner of her mouth.
“Had to voice some issues on a teaching method,” Seb said as he squeezed by us, heading into the living room.
I nodded in agreement with him, but kept my eyes on her, smiling softly as I brushed a strand of her hair aside. “I’ll tell you later.”
She lifted a brow and then conceded before nodding to my mouth. “You have a bit of blood on your lip.”
“Yup.” Instinctively, I wiped my thumb across my bottom lip. “I bit my tongue. But you should’ve seen the other guy.”
Her eyes traveled to my body. She was dressing me down, albeit adorably, as she lifted an eyebrow and dropped a hip. Her arms remained crossed, and her hair was fixed into two buns, which brought my attention to the way her slender neck was on display.
“And the rest of you?” she asked.
I stepped closer, tucking my hands into the pockets of my shorts as I tilted my head to the side and lowered my voice so only she would hear. “Wanna strip search me?”
She lifted the hem of my shirt, her fingers lightly brushing the skin beneath as I continued to look at the details of her face; her freckles, the rosiness of her cheeks, her pretty cupid's bow…
When her blue doe eyes found the bruising on my left hip, the little smile she had quickly dropped, and her brow pinched with concern.
“Dean.” She ran a whisper-light touch along the bluish-yellow mark peeking out from under my shorts.
I cupped her face, bringing her eyes to mine. “Not as bad as it looks.”
“Hm.”
“I’ve broken ribs before, remember? This is nothing.”
“That doesn’t exactly make me feel better.” She paused for a moment. “I’m not used to you fighting again, that’s all… When is the next one?”
“Monday night. But remember, this situation is only temporary…” It was temporary because after this came prison. Unless I continued fighting on the inside… I brushed the thought aside and smiled at her. “Tonight, I’m okay.”
She inhaled, possibly brushing aside a few thoughts of her own, and then let herself relax. Offering me a happier smile, she took my hand and led me to the living room.
In the short moment Lily and I had remained in the hallway, Seb and Kira had barely struck up a conversation. Instead, it was awkward small talk and plenty of polite smiles on Kira’s end when the chat died down. She glanced at her phone.
As I followed Lily to the kitchen, passing Seb where he sat on the end of their pastel blue couch, I nudged his arm. It prompted him to inhale, like he was giving himself a moment to recoup, before his attention was on Kira.
I joined Lily in the kitchen. As she busied herself making tea, I grabbed a bag of frozen peas from the freezer and pressed it to my hip.
“So, Smi—I mean, Kira…” Seb began. Not the strongest of starts, but it was something.
Kira looked up from her phone and waited for the rest of his sentence. The expression on her face was indifferent. “Yes?”
The stirring of the spoon in Lily’s teacup slowed.
Seb scratched the back of his head and got to his feet, wiping his palms down his thighs and clasping his hands together. “Mind if we talk?”
Worry flashed across Kira’s features, but she stood. “Yeah. Sure. We can talk in my room, if you want.”
He nodded. “Sounds good.”
Kira led the way.
Once the bedroom door was shut behind them, Lily stopped stirring and looked across at me.
“What is going on with Seb?” she whispered.
“Family trouble.” I pushed the side of my shorts down to ice the bruising further. Its colors blended with the tattoos that covered my left side. I winced and inhaled. “But we handled it.”
“Was that the PTA meeting?”
“His older niece broke her leg at school. And her teacher was a dick about it.”
Empathy filled her eyes. “Is she okay?”
“Seb says she’s barely fazed,” I shrugged. “Probably more excited about getting people to sign her cast.”
“Speaking of injuries.” She cupped her hands around her tea and brought it closer to her chest. Her eyes fell to my bruise. “Maybe you should see a doctor about that?”
I sighed and crossed the kitchen to her, plopping the frozen bag onto the counter before rolling down the side of my shorts and briefs — and hoping Kira and Seb didn’t finish their chat early. I wasn’t exactly flashing anything, but enough around the base was showing.
Her eyes drifted across the bruise, as they had earlier, but with the stove light brighter than the dim lighting of the hallway, she could take in more details of it.
Examine it as if she were back in The Den’s basement.
She wasn’t a qualified nurse, but still, her role in that place had left a mark.
And maybe because she no longer watched me fight, she felt she had to check things over anyway to put her mind at ease.
“It’s surface level. No breaks or fractures,” I said gently.
Her eyes remained on the bruise, but she nodded. “Okay.”
“Hey.”
She tilted her head as she studied the bruise, carefully touching my hip and the surrounding skin.
I lifted her chin up and half smiled, finally getting her attention. “Speaking of doctors, I noticed the psychologist’s card is gone. Did you call them?”
“Yes. I did. I figured I had procrastinated making an appointment long enough.” She cupped her tea once more with her shoulders raised slightly, talking fast. “I start Monday.”
“Yeah?”
“Mhm. They seem really nice too…”
“But?”
She shook her head. Eyes wide and innocent. “There’s no buts.”
I lifted an eyebrow.
“Okay. One but… I’m a little nervous talking about everything. That’s all.”
“The first few sessions won’t be easy, but it’s a good step.” I cupped her face in my hands again. “I’m proud of you.”
She smiled, but her nerves were still there. They made her happiness wane for a moment before she quickly changed the subject.
“Oh! Before I forget.” She turned to the counter beside us, putting down her tea as she reached for the designated house key bowl on the furthest side of the counter. When she plucked out a brand-new set of apartment keys and a swipe card, I smiled knowingly.
“These are for you,” she beamed, dropping the keys and card into my open hand. “I figured this would make coming and going easier.”
They were more than keys. They were the next step.
Not quite an invitation to live together, but something to bring what we had closer.
The first of these kinds of steps had come in the form of a toothbrush after her stay in the hospital.
She was content to have me in her space as I was having her in mine.
I smoothed my hand around to the back of her neck and brought her close to kiss her. She smiled against it and emitted a giggle as her hands lay on my chest.
“I didn’t think a set of keys would bring on this reaction.”
“I am a simple man.”
Her laughter gave me life.
“Well,” she continued, smiling, “You might want to pull up your pants because I think they’re done.”
I glanced down to where my shorts still sat below my hip and readjusted the waistband to cover myself. “Better?”
“Yes,” she laughed, turning away from me.
I kissed her on the cheek and went back to icing my hip as Kira’s bedroom door opened again.
My ears were pricked as I kept my eyes down, and Lily had lifted her oversized teacup to her lips as she peered over the rim at them entering the room.
Seb was right about Lily and I being as bad as Susan, but we were concerned for our friends. If they didn’t reconcile, things would be awkward.
Going off the smiles on their faces and the fact that Kira was scrawling what looked to be her mobile number on a post-it note, everything was good again.
“In case transferring contacts from your old phone doesn’t work,” Kira said as she handed Seb the note.
“I should get it tattooed on me or something, so I don’t forget it,” Seb said as they wandered to the couch.
Kira paused with slight amusement in her eyes as she looked at him quickly. “Please, don’t do that.”
“Right.” Seb snapped his fingers in realization. “Dedication tattoos seem to curse relationships.”
“Exactly.”
Lily casually approached me, bumping her hip into my non-bruised thigh as she offered me a small grin. “He’s worried about cursing their relationship,” she whispered, containing her excitement as she padded over to the couches.
I grabbed a bag of frozen corn from the freezer, still clutching the frozen peas to my hip, and headed for the living room.
Dumping the bag of frozen corn in Seb’s lap in passing, which he promptly pressed to his nose with a hum of relief, I dropped into the space beside Lily on the couch and pulled an arm around her.
About an hour later, with the TV on as background noise, I remained on the same couch but this time with my head back while Lily stood behind me.
Phone flashlight shining into my mouth, she checked for a broken tooth.
All I had done was complain about a dull ache in my mouth from biting my tongue, but she insisted on being diligent.
It was hard not to smile up at her as her brow furrowed.
“Will he survive, Doc?” Seb asked sarcastically.
Lily laughed quietly and flicked the flashlight off. “Definitely just a bitten tongue.”
“Told you,” I said, still looking up at her.
She leaned down closer, combing her fingers through the back of my hair. “Just making sure,” she said as she lightly flicked the tip of my nose.
“I still think they should invest in some mouth guards,” Kira added, crossing her legs while she sat on the adjacent couch.
I lifted my head, and Lily slid her arms around my shoulders, hugging me from behind.
“A gold tooth would look pretty cool though,” Seb said, tapping his front tooth. “Or imagine a gold-plated grill?”
“Gold teeth come out just as easy as a regular tooth,” I noted.
“True… Remember the guy with the dentures?” Seb laughed as he brought up the memory.
Kira and Lily were already laughing as we reminisced.
“You knocked them clean out of his head,” I chuckled. “He wasn’t even that old.”
“Scared the shit out of me when it happened. They flew out looking like those wind-up teeth thingies,” Seb added, re-enacting the moment with his hands.
We laughed harder. It hurt to do with a body littered with bruises, but every ounce of the pain was worth it.
Seb was staying the night, invited by Kira, since I was staying too. He originally planned to crash on the couch, but Kira said in more of a passing comment, one that wasn’t up for debate, that her bed was fine. She had walked into her bedroom before Seb could refuse.
Lily and I went to bed not long after them.
Showered of any lingering grime from the night, I got ready for bed, tying the drawstring of my sweatpants while Lily dressed in a matching set of pajamas.
I had one thing on my mind: passing out. But those thoughts vanished when I noticed the faint worry etched on Lily’s face as she let her hair down.
“When are you getting the gun?” She crawled under the covers, trying to mask the question as something more casual.
“Soon. Antonio didn’t really give me a specific date.” I climbed in beside her, watching her for any signs of anxiety about the whole thing. There was still a faint frown between her eyebrows.
She nodded in consideration, pausing to think. I was about to ask how she felt, but her mood lightened. Like she simply flipped a switch with a sigh.
“So, Jane has a soccer game tomorrow morning. She wants me to go watch.” It was more of a statement than anything.
“Yeah?” I tucked my arm under my head.
“Mom will be there. Keeping up appearances for the PTA stuff.” She settled down into the space under my arm, resting her head on my chest.
“You want me to come?” Looking down, I could just make out the way her cheek raised as she smiled at the question.
She traced her fingers lightly across my chest. “Only if you want to.”
“I’ll be there. I haven’t been to a soccer game since I left Sicily.”