Sweet Revenge [boyxboy]

Chapter Twenty-Two

Chapter Twenty-Two (Adam)

 I woke up to the smell of something amazing.

I forced myself to roll over, despite feeling heavy. I took deep breathes before heaving myself out of bed. I took another pill for the throbbing in my shoulder before I walked out of Julian's room. I followed the smell into the kitchen, then pulled up short to see Newell's oversized merman bodyguard making me lunch.

How did I know it was for me?

Because I was the only normal human being in the house that ate normal human food. And it actually smelled decent. I cleared my throat and Xed glanced up quickly before looking away as he shut the stove off. He gestured for me to sit at the dining table, and I obeyed, frowning a little as he put the food on a plate and poured me a glass of what looked like juice before he pushed it in front of me.

"Thanks, I guess." I said under my breath. Xed just nodded his head, then took a seat across from me silently. I felt a little uncomfortable with him just sitting there, but I was too hungry to spend time worrying about it. I shoveled the food in my mouth, savoring the taste of something that was actually homecooked. And made from scratch too.

I was tired of microwave meals and fast food.

"Julian at school?" I asked, glancing up to see Xed nod in response. I sighed, ruffling my hair out of my face, frowning down at my empty plate. I probably should've gone, but everything felt like it was wrapped in a blanket when I first woke up. Heavy and muffled. My arm was numb too, but I rather it be numb than throbbing in complete and utter agony. I made a mental note to find the asshole who shot me and shove my foot down his throat.

I heard a car pull up in the driveway, making me frown as I got up to check, but Xed moved quickly in front of me, holding his hand out for me to stay back. I didn't listen and followed him to the door. I waited at the end of the hall as Xed peered out the peekhole. He actually had to stoop to peer out it too. Damn, this guy was tall. He had to be almost seven feet tall.

Xed stepped back and opened the door, indicating it was safe and I went to the door to see Julian climbing out of Vladimir's car. Apparently he had been the one to pick him up today. My stomach sank, though, when I saw Julian looking pale and sick to his stomach. I frowned as he came to the door.

"What's wrong?" I asked. Julian pressed his lips together in a thin line, as if he was refusing to speak. Vladimir, who came up the walk behind him, sighed as he tucked his keys into his jacket pocket.

"A boy at your school tried to commit suicide today." He answered me flatly, hardly sounding like he cared. I blinked and looked at Julian, who grimaced and looked down at his feet, avoiding my eyes.

"Walter." He managed. I frowned. I remembered the asshole all right. He had bullied Julian for as long as I've known him. Walter made it his goal in life to terrorize the crap out of Julian up until recently when Walter found out Julian was a vampire and was trying to tell people, but they accused him of being mentally ill.

"Julian--"

"It's my fault," Julian blurted, looking pained, "He knew the truth and nobody would believe him and they were starting to jump him for being right. Even Jack ditched him and actually apologized to me and told me he'd punch Walter if he jumped me again. And then this whole vision thing came up when the cops were asking me and-and he used scissors and just..." His voice trailed and he shook his head vigorously like he was trying his hardest to forget everything.

While I hated Walter with a passion, I still felt a vague sense of pain for what he attempted to do. It didn't help that Julian looked absolutely sick with guilt. I sighed and put my good arm around him, holding him against my chest tightly. He buried his face against me. I was relieved he wasn't crying, though. I hated seeing him cry, and I knew he hated doing it too.