Twenty-Nine // J.G.

fourteen.

Day 10.

"Mar, wake up." A husky voice rang in my ears, pulling me back into consciousness as soon as I realized that it wasn't part of my dream.

"Jack?" I murmured, recalling the big blowout of yesterday and feeling my stomach flutter at the possibility that he wasn't mad at me anymore.

"Nah, even better: Sammy." The voice snickered, bouncing lightly around me on the bed.

"Go away," I moaned as I attempted to tug the covers back over my head with his extra weight on top of them.

"Jack told me to come wake you up, so get your little ass outta bed and come eat breakfast with us." His words struck a nerve, and I immediately sat up, wiping the sleep from my face as I squinted into the bright room.

"He.. told you to wake me up?" I repeated, my voice stale as I tried to hide how disheartened I felt.

"Yeah, he just walked in the kitchen and told me to. Are y'all fighting or something?" He prodded, though his face showed more amusement than curiosity, like he found Jack and I's somewhat relationship to resemble a reality TV couple.

"That's none of your business." I barked, and in return he held his hands up.

"Alright, alright! Just wondering, damn." He made a face, to which I stuck my tongue out. "Well you better hurry before Nate eats your food. He just finished smoking, and the munchies are comin'." He warned as he paraded out of my room, leaving the door wide open.

I sat in bed for a few minutes more, the same thoughts I've been having for the past almost twenty-four hours staining my mind once again, leaving me even more exasperated than I had been the previous night. I spent hours recalling what exactly happened, what was said, and all I ended up with was more frustration and hopeless questions.

So, with the intention of finding out what it was that I did wrong, I stomped out of my room with tangled hair, unbrushed teeth, and sockless feet that failed to spare me the piercing coldness of the tiles below me. I appeared in the archway before the kitchen, and Jack didn't even bother to look up from his phone.

"About time." Nate spoke up as I dragged myself to the kitchen island without giving a single glance towards Jack. If he was going to play this game, then so be it. I sat with my arms crossed, eyebrows furrowed, and dead cold gaze directed towards the marble counter top. "Damn... Y'all have some bad sex or somethin'?" Nate interjected through the tense silence. I couldn't even bother to scold him for his stupid crude humor.

It was then that Jack angrily pushed himself away from the counter, the chair screeching under his weight, and ambled off without a word. He was trying to give me the silent treatment, and I wasn't having it!

I, just as angry as he was, shot up from my chair and padded after him, resembling nothing less of a lost puppy.

"You can't just be mad at someone without telling them what they did wrong!" I shouted, throwing my arms down.

"Just go do your morning stuff, Marley." He replied monotonously, his hand wrapped around the bronze doorknob, threatening the concept of confining himself within his room again.

"No! Not until you tell me what I did!" I refused to feel guilty any longer; I needed answers, I needed to fix this because quite frankly, it wasn't a good feeling to have the only person that's ever paid attention to you be angry for some unknown reason.

"Marley–" He started, but I took it upon myself to block his pathway with my body, trying to seem stern and ominous despite the obvious harmlessness my small size gave off. I glared up at him, and he stared back with an impassive expression that tore me down. I caved, slouching in defeat and looking even smaller in comparison to his broad structure.