Hidebound

Chapter Fifteen

He glances over my head as he kisses my forehead and then rests his lips on it. He catches sight of Harley's car through the window. It does little to change his mood.

"She coming in?" He mumbles against my skin before he grabs my hand and leads me into the kitchen. He had been making his breakfast or brunch by now. If I hadn't felt so sick to my stomach I'd have a bite.

"Yeah, she's just... on a call" I make up an excuse, it comes out as a question and I try to keep a straight face as Hex turns to look at me with his brows in a frown, he doesn't question it though. I know that he knows something is not right. He can feel it in the air.

I watch him move around the kitchen as he focuses on not burning his food while I wait for Harley to make an entry. He knows something is wrong, his naked back is tense and he seems to be avoiding asking as the air around us changes. He's avoiding eye contact.

Finally the front door opens and closes just as Hex sits down on a chair to eat at the kitchen island. Harley walks into the kitchen behind me and Hex eye's her over my shoulder.

"Hi Hex" she greets as she leans on the island next to me, her arm brushing mine. She keeps her voice surprisingly strong; she must have gathered herself in the car.

"What do you want" Hex states and doesn't question, his voice turning grim and dark. It causes a shiver to run down my spine.

He knows.

"I- uh, I-I" I look over at Harley and catch her eye as she looks my way, unable to voice what she has to say.

I need to leave, this needs to be a conversation between the two of them.

"I'm going to change my clothes" I exclaim as I back out of the kitchen, ignoring the look of 'don't you dare leave' from the both of them. Hex eyes me, looking me up and down at my clothing and I see the moment it clicks in his head that I'm making up an excuse. He frowns. I turn my back and head down the hallway before I give in and stay.

"What is it Harley?" I hear Hex ask as I leave the bedroom door open a slither and take a seat on the corner of my bed. I nervously run my sweaty palms along my thighs and blow out a shaky breath.

"I-it's about mum, Hex" I hear the silence and then a sigh from Hex.

"Go on" my eyebrows raise; I didn't even think Harley would get this far before Hex stormed off. The moment she brought up Wyonna I would have guessed Hex would put a stop to it.

It clearly takes Harley for surprise too because it takes her a while to continue on. She clears her throat "right, okay." I barely catch the words as she whispers and gathers her courage. "The care home is recommending we find a hospice-" she's cut off by a fist being slammed onto the kitchen island. I wince, knowing his knuckles will be bruised. I hold my breath, waiting.

Harley doesn't finish her sentence and Hex says nothing. It's silent.

It's silent for a number of minutes. Each minute passing makes me more nauseas then the last. I tap my fingers along my thighs hoping to stop the anxiety that's crawling up my throat and choking me. The suspense of waiting on what Hex will say or do next makes the room, if not the entire apartment, heavy.

The squeal along the floor as Hex pushes his chair out makes me jump as it slides along the floorboards. The sound of him dumping his plate into the sink makes me breathe in a shaky breath as I hear it shatter from his roughness.

"Hex?" Harley calls before I hear him walking down the hallway in my direction.

I sit up straighter on the bed as the closer he comes, the more I panic.

The bedroom door opens, the door knob hitting the wall but leaving no mark only a loud noise.

I expect him to question me but he doesn't even look my way, his face set in stone. I can't even feel his emotions through our bond, there's nothing there and somehow this is scarier than the outburst I had been expecting.

He walks straight to the closet without acknowledging me. He disappears around the corner for a second before coming back as he's pulling a shirt over his head, covering up the tattoos on his torso and back. He runs a hand through his hair and pushes it off his forehead. He's deathly white in the face and I stand from the bed, wanting to reach out and touch him but not being sure if he would appreciate it.

I call out when he walks out of the bedroom "Hex?" I get up and follow behind him but he doesn't say anything.

He walks past the kitchen and into the lounge room, on his way to the front door. I hear the jingle of his keys as he picks them up. I stop in the kitchen doorway and face Harley as she stands where I had left her, her face as equally as white as Hex's.

I see the broken dish in the sink and the chair Hex had been sitting in. I hope it hadn't marked the floor.

"Where's he going?" I ask her quietly as I hear the bang of the front door close behind him.

She shrugs "I don't know". She leans over the island and puts her head in her hands.

We stand quietly in the kitchen and listen to Hex's heavy footsteps as he walks to his car in the driveway. It fades, then stops and then it gets louder again as he comes back to the front door.

Harley lifts her head from her hands and looks in the direction of the front door although she can't see him because there's a wall in the way that separates the lounge room and kitchen.

The door opens as he stands in the doorway.

"Harley, move your car" Hex says. It's eerily calm and soft, the opposite of what I had expected. Harley looks at me in confusion, almost to say 'what the hell?' But she grabs her keys anyway and heads out after him.

"I'll see you at work" she says over her shoulder as I nod. The door shuts behind her.

I walk over to the windows in the lounge room and watch as Hex gets in his car without saying a word to Harley. She gets in her car and turns it on, leaving without another look at Hex. Hex is next as he reverses faster than he should and takes off down the road.

I sigh. My heart aching for what he's feeling and being unable to do anything about it.

I walk over and lock the front door.