Morose ✔️

8

"Nice to see you again," he said, holding his hand out to me with a hint of a smile on his lips. "I'm Clint, your friends' boss."

I vaguely remembered Jesse telling me his name some time, and took his hand carefully. "Olivia."

He had a firm handshake that perfectly matched his looks, and he raised an eyebrow at Jesse. "Oh, I know, kid, this one and his conjoined twin never stops talking about you."

My brows raised as well as I let Clint's hand go, and he retired to another room without another word. I narrowed my eyes and crossed my arms towards Jesse, feeling a little betrayed that they both talked about me, since he strictly mentioned Helix talked about me.. I let it go, however, and walked around the room and its many seats.

It very much resembled what I imagined a clubhouse would look like during the day— kind of deserted and a little dirty. I didn't mind, it wasn't the worst I'd seen. Jesse practically jumped down onto the couch in a laying position, making it move a few centimeters back, as he opened up a magazine with half-naked girls posing around motorcycles. I tried my best not to laugh, and kept exploring the room.

The walls were wooden panels that had split here and there, probably from the house's age, and it was decorated with posters of anything from the same kinds of magazines as the one Jesse was reading. To the right was the stairs, and up there was the railing Helix leaned against the first time I saw him, so I wondered if he was up there somewhere. As I started ascending the stairs, Jesse opened his mouth and spoke in a taunting voice, "No hanky panky, now, Livy— the house is old and everyone would hear."

I stuck my tongue out to him, earning a massive grin from him as he turned back to his gross magazine.

The view from the top of the stairs was actually not that bad. I could see out the windows over the front door that the river reflected the sun, and a small smile crept up on me before I turned to go the only way I could: to the right. The hallway was filled with more posters on the half-wallpaper-half-panel walls, the moldings had chipped white paint on them and could definitely need a new layer, but it was charming in its own way.

My fingers grazed the panels as I walked through the hallway, looking at all the doors. Some of them had names on them— I saw a Max, Jordan and Jesse— and some had porcelain sculptures of toilets hanging on them. Around a corner I saw the door at the end of the corridor had the name Helix on the copper plate, so I swallowed my nervousness and walked up to knock on it.

"What now?" His voice sounded irritated, and I immediately regretted my decision to go up there to him. Then he opened the door and I regretted nothing. "Oh shit," he uttered, quickly buttoning his pants and turning around to find a t-shirt on what I assumed was his floor. I couldn't help my laugh as he looked at me with an apologetic expression and said, "Sorry, I wasn't expecting company.."

"Clearly." I chuckled, and stepped in when he opened the door wider.

My nerves came rushing back when he closed the door, but I tried not to think about it and looked around the room. It was tidy, except the odd t-shirt here and there, but otherwise it was almost like the room of a neat-freak. He even had a few small potted plants in there, a cactus by the window, a tropical one with lots of leaves on his nightstand and one I didn't recognize in a bookshelf, holding up a few well-read books.

His bed was the center of the room, and as much as I didn't really think they all actually lived there, I definitely thought so now. He sat down on the side of it, wiping his hands on his jeans and sending me a careful smile as I kept looking around. The walls were painted blue, but not by a professional— I could see drops that had dried as they ran down the walls here and there, adding to the charm of the house.