[EN] For you are mine at last - JeffBarcode

Chapter 11

"Hiding under the blanket won't solve anything."

Jesse opens the door without asking for permission and with a bang and is met with grumbling. Jeff has his head covered in an attempt to hide from his younger brother's honesty.

"Come on, Hia." Jesse pulls the duvet away with some effort while Jeff tries to resist. "I brought you a sandwich."

As the information reaches his ears Jeff suddenly remembers he is hungry. With a heavy huff, he pushes the duvet off his head and removes his hair out of his face.

"You are quite insistent."

"I was sent to be your nurse, it's my job." He says dodging Jeff's attempt to kick him.

As he sits on the bed and ties back his hair, Jesse picks up the tray left on the dresser and walks over again, placing it in his lap before sitting down next to his brother. In the tray there is a sandwich, a glass of juice and a small bowl with some fruit.

"Thanks." He mutters lowly in a futile attempt to get rid of him.

His brother just nods, but doesn't move an inch, just watches him as he starts eating, which he does very slowly. It's only when the silence and Jesse's eyes on him start to bother him that he speaks.

"I screwed up, okay?" And with that, he takes another bite of the sandwich he doesn't know if it's really good or if he's hungry.

"I figured." He replies, receiving a raised eyebrow from Jeff in response. "Of course, that's all Hia's been doing lately."

"If you came here to bring me even more down, you can as well leave."

"OK sorry." Jesse says with a quick grip on his knee. "How can I help?"

Jeff sighs, thinking for a moment as he drinks some juice. The truth is that he doesn't see any chance of a solution to the situation he has caused.

"I don't think there's any way I can be helped."

"Wow." The younger one raises his eyebrows, stealing a piece of fruit. "Tell me what happened?"

With a grunt, Jeff eats the last bite of his sandwich, chewing very slowly and postponing this conversation as long as he can. Verbalizing what happened will be embarrassing to say the least.

When he has no more excuses, he tells Jesse everything. Sparing his brother only the intimate details, he explains in as many details as he can what has happened over the past few days. He finds it tragically funny how his brother goes from euphoric to outraged within minutes.

"I can't believe Hia said that." With a nod while gazing down at the bowl of fruit, Jeff doesn't respond. "Hia, do you realize how offensive that was?"

"I know Jesse..."

"I don't think you do." Now his tone is scolding and Jeff won't dare look up at him. "You offended the man he's becoming by saying he's not capable of making his own decisions." He starts counting on his fingers and Jeff sighs. "You offended him by saying he doesn't know things and you also offended him as a professional by saying he's mixing everything up. Did Hia try to put himself in his shoes when he heard what you said?"

Another long sigh and Jeff rubs his eyes, letting his shoulders slump as he finally faces the younger one.

"What do I do?"

"Something?" He says it like it's obvious. "Anything, Hia! If you like him, just standing here won't do it."

"I do." He says low, hearing a sigh from Jesse. "I like him a lot."

"Then do something and don't let him think otherwise."

Jeff just grunts and slowly pushes the tray away for Jesse to take. As soon as he does, he slides onto the bed and lies back down, staring at the ceiling.