Safer This Way

Chapter 33

No excuses, college is hard and I'm sorry for the lateness...again...Happy reading :)

*Sang*

By the time Nathan and I had joined the others downstairs in the living room, Gabriel had confiscated my suitcase–the ridiculously oversized monstrosity of pink that he'd purchased specifically to fill with all the clothing he'd picked up for me, now obviously because my closet was being repainted–from Luke and was glaring at his best friend for whatever he'd been doing with it.

"I was only trying to find her some pjs, Gabe," he says, the words less convincing due to the laugh that shakes them.

"Do I look like I was born fucking yesterday? You were taking out all her pjs and trying to fucking hide them in the kitchen cabinets so Sang would have to wear your t-shirt to sleep in, motherfucker." The words are angry but the tone of voice he uses sounds more amused than anything.

Luke shrugs with a sly grin on his face. "You're just jealous because I thought of it first."

The tips of Gabriel's ears turn pink, and he glares playfully at his best friend. "You're a dumbass."

The others laugh, and I can feel the puffs of Nathan's own chuckle hit the back of my neck, causing me to shiver when I realize how close he's standing. Trying to distract myself, I refocus on the rest of my boys who still have not realized that we'd returned from upstairs in time to see Silas give Luke a sly look.

"Are you sure you can handle that, Luke? Sweet little Aggele Mou in nothing but your shirt curled up on the couch for hours...pajama pants aren't very concealing, you know." The others shift uncomfortably where they stand before laughing at the silky voice Silas is using to enhance his joke. I don't get why that would affect them, but that voice...it's like the softest silk wrapping around me and my face feels hot, but not in the normal way.

Someone groans, and I nearly sigh in relief at the respite from Silas's...whatever that was, and I'm surprised to see that the noise came from Owen. "Just...no. Luke, go retrieve her sleepwear from the cabinets, I'm man enough to admit that that would be too much for me to handle at the moment."

They all stare at him in shock, until Sean guffaws "Owen can't handle sexy Sang!"

I feel my eyes go wide, and I must make some sort of noise because seconds later all eyes are on me. Most of them look a little red in the face, while others–Sean, Gabriel, and Silas–look like the cats who ate the canary their smiles are so wide.

It's Owen who moves first, wide-eyed and red-faced, he stops and runs a hand through his hair. "S-Sang, that wasn't–we were just–I didn't–"

The sound of the doorbell ringing cuts off whatever he was about to not say, and nobody moves a muscle.

Instead it's Phil who strides right through our little crowd to answer the door, finding a familiar looking boy wearing a red shirt and hat with the name of a popular pizza place emblazoned on them. I think his name is Mike or Jer or something, but he goes to our school and he's never been mean to me.

Mike/Jer has a look of false cheer as he accepts the money handed to him, his eyes only casually glancing over Phil's shoulder as the tradeoff of pizza occurs. I've never seen someone's eyes go quite as big as his did when he recognized the ten of us still standing here.

With a stuttered thank you and goodbye, Mike/Jer is gone and Phil finally sees us frozen across from one another and I can't imagine what we must look like. Nathan and I at the base of the stairs, me red in the face and gaping, Owen nervously cleaning his glasses, Gabriel holding my suitcase like Golum does the one ring, and the others standing around with expressions ranging from embarrassment to shock to laughter.