FADED (book I)

X

I felt someone kiss the top of my head and didn't have to look up to see it was Jordan.

"Did you sleep well?" he asked, running his fingers through my hair.

"Mhmm," I hummed.

He sighed. "I gotta go, I'm already late as it is. Tristan don't forget their lunches and make sure she eats something before you go." He quickly put his jacket on and put some hot coffee in a thermos bottle before he yelled up the stairs, "Noah, get your ass outta bed right now!"

"I'm up, I'm up," he groaned as he finally graced us with his presence. "Don't need to yell jeez."

Jordan kissed his hair before roughly messing it up.

"Stop it," Noah moaned, scratching at his bare chest.

Jordan walked back over to me and squatted next to my chair. "I know we haven't been able to talk about what happened last night but - "

"Do you feel sorry about what you did?" I questioned.

"No - "

"Then there's nothing to talk about."

I caught Tristan looking at Jordan, doing that thing where they talked to each other without using any words. Twelve years and I still haven't been able to decipher their secret wordless language.

"Alright then," Jordan said. "I'll see you guys after school. C'mere," he grunted as he cupped the side of my face, kissing me hard on the temple before walking off. "Bye!"

"Hey can I borrow your keys, I lost mine again!" Ashton shouted after him.

"No!" was Jordan's reply before he closed the front door behind him.

"Well, fuck you very much," Ashton mumbled into his mug.

A plate with scrambled eggs and bacon was set in front of me. "Eat up," Tristan said.

"It's too much," I whined.

"Here, I'll help," Ashton offered as he grabbed my fork, shoving at least a quarter of the food in his mouth, inhaling it like it was merely air.

"Dude!" Tristan shot our brother a clearly unamused look. "At least try to eat half of it, sweetie."

I propped up my arm on the table and rested my head on my fist, moving around the food with my free hand. "I'll try."

"Good girl," Tristan praised, shooting me one if his trademark winks.

Penelope turned to put some dishes in the sink but I still caught the tiny eye roll. Something about it was unsettling and I didn't know why. I felt like she had changed somewhat but then there was the little things that made me doubt if she had changed at all. The eye roll, the way her smile always looked forced whenever Tristan gave me any attention at all, the stuff she said to Ashton the other day, the looks going on between the two. Something didn't add up but I couldn't put my finger on it.

Or it could just be my imagination.

I had just taken another bite when the phone suddenly rang. It startled me and I almost choked on a piece of bacon.

"Whoa, easy," Ashton started patting and stroking my back as I coughed.

Noah passed me his glass of juice. "You know you got teeth for something, it's called chewing."

I gulped down the sweet orange juice as I listened to Tristan talk on the phone. I kept my eyes fixed on his face, trying to read his emotions. What if this was like my dream? What if something bad happened to my mom?