Written in the Stars (W.I.P.) (Book 1)

Chapter 18

Dean
"What do you two want?" She asked, leaning on one elbow as she laid on her bed beside her girlfriend, Rosalina.
Ever since Skye was diagnosed with leukemia cancer when she was fourteen, she's been more and more "life is short, be rebellious, drink, smoke, jump off a cliff"-like. She had been dating Rosalina since she was twelve, much too young for Glorion's standards, but Skye couldn't care less.
"Can we talk to you? Alone," Julian asked, his gaze flicking to Rosalina for an instant, then back to Skye.
"Hey, there isn't a thing you guys can't say that Rosalina can't hear. Hit me," Skye said, sitting up and facing us, twiddling her thumbs in her lap as she did.
Rosalina looked between her girlfriend and her girlfriend's brothers as if she couldn't quite pinpoint where she was in the situation.
"I think I should just go. I'll see you later, babe," she said, getting up off the bed and walking toward the door. Julian shared a gently dismissive nod with the girl, and when she nodded back in understanding, the slightest bit of a smile appeared on his face.
When she had dismissed herself from the room, Skye looked at the two of us with a look close to a scowl, and said, "Now look what you've done."
Julian exchanged glances with me and cleared his throat, "We want you to convince Glorion not to hurt us anymore. You're the only one that he'll listen to in this house," he said.
Skye didn't seem surprised, instead, she almost looked amused.
"Oh really? We're doing this again, aren't we?"
My eyes widened, "Again?"
Me and Julian exchanged glances for a second time.
"Oh yeah, Dorion's already proposed the idea with a little help from Ian."
That made both me and Julian's eyes widen even more than before.
"So anyways, what's in it for me?" Skye asked, studying our faces with an interrogative scowl.
Julian smirked, "I'll buy you two bottles of bourbon."
"Not enough, I'll still take them though," she paused, her gaze shifting over to me, "Y'know what I really want?"
"What do you really want...?" I dared to ask, Julian's gaze darting between the two of us.
"I wanna see Rhys again."
In that moment, I could swear my heart stopped.
"No. No, no, no, no, no. I can't do that. He has things he's dealing with school-wise and I have things I'm dealing with too..."
Skye laid down on her back and stared up at the ceiling, "No deal then," she said flatly.
I wanted Glorion to stop hitting us, but would dragging Rhys back here- and resurfacing feelings that neither of us wanted resurfaced- be worth it? I clenched my fists in deep contemplation.
"Fine."
"Ok, so if I talk to Glorian and you guys win the bargain, you get to sneak out, go to parties, mess with girls or boys, and whatever, and I won't tell. And if I go to him and he isn't convinced, I get two bottles of bourbon and to see Rhys again." She said, still lying flat on the mattress.
I took a step closer to her bed.
She sat up again and looked at me.
"But if you can't do something serious for your older brothers without a damn deal, maybe you shouldn't be dating anyone."
Skye looked at me blankly, "If you can't finally accept and embrace your proper feelings for Rhys one of these days, no wonder Gage dumped your sorry ass." Her words hit like the venom of a slithering snake and I turned and walked out of the room, shutting the door behind me and abandoning Julian with Skye.

Rhys
I followed Zara into the coffee shop, the room filled with its usual amount of people from campus, students all around us talking about the latest gossip and drama or whatever else normal people talk about.
"Rhys, Zara! Over here!" Abilene's lively voice came from one of the corner booths of the café.
We made our way over and sat down.I pushed down that feeling of uncomfortableness and replaced it with the sociable mask of a person I could never be.
"Rhys, this is Caitlyn, Gabriel, Trey, Lauren, Erin, and Jene!" Abilene said, gesturing toward everyone she introduced.
Jene smirked at me, her figure reminded me a lot of Dean and I found a sort of attraction to her, "Hey, goody-two-shoes. Out for the first time in months?" She was seemingly commenting on the noticeable bags under my eyes.
That's what Melissa said that Dean used to call me... I thought, my heart rate spiking.
Jene's smirk grew wider, and Abilene's gaze shot swiftly between the two of them.
"Alright, how about we call over a waiter and order?"
"Great idea, Abi!" Gabriel laughed a little nervously and put his arm around his girlfriend's shoulders.
Abilene smiled and waved over a waiter, in which took his time walking over.
"I'll take a..." I drowned out her voice as I got lost in Jene's attention-stealing eyes. They were dark blue, like Dean's, but not with the same glittering ocean blue.
"And for you, sir?" The waiter asked, a little firm as if he'd already asked multiple times.
"Ah, I apologize. I'll just take a black coffee, please." I shuffled in my seat uncomfortably, that social mask barely slipping away from my grasp.
I wondered if everyone would judge me for how simple of an order I'd gotten.
"I'll get the same as goody-two-shoes," Jene said, leaning on one elbow on the table. She winked subtly at me, and I knew she had to have read my mind.
I wouldn't put it past those taunting eyes of hers.
"Yeah... and I'll have the usual," Caitlyn and Gabriel said at the same time, scowling playfully at one another. The long lasting friendship between the two of them clear in their eyes.