The Marx Brothers

Chapter Five - 'Blood'

"I know that" He mumbled before he lifted his head to watch me

"So I assume Ruze won?" I sighed, putting a pair of latex gloves on

He seemed surprised at first, but it wore off quickly "Hell no" Phoenix scoffed, dabbing his bloody lip with the back of his hand, which was still wrapped in blood soaked fabric to protect his knuckles

"I hate to imagine what his face looks like then" I sneered

"Ruze didn't do this to me" He quietly spoke, averting his gaze as I pushed his chin up

"No?" I asked, creasing my eyebrows as I concentrated hard on my stitching

"Jaston and his mates, coward had to bring his pack into it" He admitted, the name stopping me for a moment

"Jaston as in Jaz?"

"I knew it was a fight I couldn't win, I walked away, but he started talking shit about..." He trailed off, his gaze meeting mine for a split second before looking away

"He'll get it back" He mumbled

I shook my head, sighing

"This is going to hurt" I warned, beginning to sew him back together

"I thought Jaz went away for a week?" I remembered out loud as Phoenix flinched

"Who told you that?" He breathed, the rush of his breath hitting me, in the face, sweet despite the mess of him

"A friend" I shrugged

His eyes darted directly towards me again

"The friend that's asleep down your hall?" He questioned, his eyes deep and concerned

"No, her boyfriend" I slowly explained

"Oh" He replied, quickly ripping his gaze from mine

I could have sworn he was insinuating I had a male friend over, but I wasn't quite sure, and quickly let it go. I continued my handiwork when the front door sounded, and in strode Jett, his face slightly relaxed and the smell of cigarette smoke following him in

"How many stitches?" Jett asked, folding his broad arms over his chest.

"About 7 should do it" I replied, focusing in on the fourth

"You should have walked away Phoenix" Jett started again on his brother

"I did" Phoenix shortly replied

"Then how did this happen?" Jett pushed

"I turned around and popped one of them in the eye" Phoenix simply put with a shrug

"Oh yeah, that's walking away is it?" Jett began to fume as he started to pace irritably

"They were talking shit J, I wasn't going to take it" He defended himself

"Just like Friday night yeah?" Jett spoke angrily, bringing me to a sudden pause.

Friday night as in when Jaz had attacked me and Phoenix had intervened.

"Just like Friday Jett, exactly like damn Friday, they were pushing my buttons so I turned around and smacked them"

"It isn't hard to push your buttons these days is it?"

"Let it go brother" Phoenix spoke between teeth as I snipped the end of a stitch, standing back to look at how aligned it all was. I was getting better, and I had to admit, this was excellent practise.

Jett did as he said and turned his soft glance towards me.

"I really am sorry about all this Eden, I promise it won't be happening again, or I'll be calling the police myself, I've had enough of covering this all up as much as you" He apologized, his gaze hardening on his brother who leaned forward and unwrapped the bandage around his fist.