Their Guardian

Chapter 26

I knocked, and Booker quickly answered, already dressed and ready. "Is it okay if I use your shower?" 

"Go ahead." He opened the door to me. 

I moved past him and stopped when I looked around. "You're packing?" 

"We both know I won't be welcome back." He looked down sadly. 

"You made a mistake Book, No one's going to throw you out until we've talked about it." I put my hand on his cheek. "Eternity is a long time, there are plenty of mistakes we are going to make, try not to let this define you."

I walked past him and closed the door. 

Forty-five minutes later I walked out mostly ready. Booker was fast asleep on the bed, so I tiptoed out and made for the kitchen. I was currently the only one without a room, and from the sound of the house everyone was sleeping, it was best to let them rest. 

I looked in the fridge only to realize none of us had stopped for groceries. I shut it quietly, oh well what's a few more hours.

I walked over to the couch and laid on it, quickly drifting into a deep sleep. 

A light turned on. "Umf." I snuggled deeper into the warmth, shoving my head deeper into my pillow. 

My pillow chucked, and I felt it vibrate through my body. Wait. Pillows don't move. 

I sleepily looked up and found myself wedged between two familiar bodies. 

Joe looked down at me. "You want to tell us why we found you on the couch?" 

I looked around and noted that I was in their bedroom. "Because I thought you were sleeping." I closed my eyes again and laid back down. 

Joe pulled away and Nicky did the same, getting out of bed, likely so we could leave. "Monsters," I mumbled, pulling the blankets closer to me. 

"I'll get you fries." Nicky bribed. 

The blankets got thrown off in my haste to get out of the bed. "Lead with that next time." I swayed at the sudden rush to my head. 

Joe caught me. "Slow down Sunshine. We'll get you the fries." 

I nodded. "Is everyone else ready?" 

"Yeah, Andy turned the lights on, she told us to meet her down stairs."

"Sounds good." I yawned. "I need to grab some shoes. I'll meet ya'll down stairs."

I grabbed a pair of black gladiator sandals and quickly made my way down the stairs. Everyone was ready, but the mood was darker, dimmer, successfully reminding me the reason we are going out.

We took two cars and arrived at the bar much quicker than I would have thought. I sat in the backseat, watching Joe and Nicky interact. It was all so instinctual, so subconscious. They reached for each other without realizing, and it saddened me to think about how much it must have hurt to not be able to touch each other during our captivity, especially when they were so close. 

Joe walked around and opened the door for me, and all three of us walked in, both of them had an arm over me. 

The others were already sitting at a table. We walked to the bar, ordered my fries and got drinks. This would likely be a long talk. 

Booker was given time to explain his side and immediately took his leave outside, leaving all of us to argue our own case. 

It had been thirty minutes and both Joe and Nicky were pushing his banishment.