Rivals 🌈 ✔

14 - Consolation

At any other moment, Juice might have welcomed his brother's embrace. Now it felt oppressive. He longed for Raine; he wanted to wrap his arms around his friend, pull him close to his chest. Accepting he couldn't, was one of the toughest things he had ever done. If it was up to him, he would have driven to the hospital right away, finding a place where they could meet secretly. He however, knew it would only worse the stress his friend felt. He had told Juice not to come, and he had to respect his wishes.

Chibs pulled back his arms. "Wha's goin' on Juicy?"

A few tears slipped between his eyelashes. Roughly, he wiped his shoulder across his cheek. "My friend's sister... she died. He... he called me."

He noticed the small frown between Chibs' eyebrows. He could hear him think. What friend? Since when does Juice have friends, besides us and Skye?

"Did he ask you to come?"

Juice shook his head and sniffed. "No," he said quietly. "He – he just informed me."

Chibs held his glance and squeezed his shoulder. "We will handle this. You better not be distracted."

Juice wiped his eyes and nose, nodding. Then he pulled his burner out of his pocket and handed it to Chibs. The man pulled him into a hug once more; then he turned to the others, who were casting questioning glances at him.

Juice bent his head and shoved his boot across the ground. He felt weak because he couldn't shake this off. But he wasn't like the others, who could shove their feelings to the side like they meant nothing.

A loud rumbling rose as the bikes started to leave the lot.

Juice went home. Mouse was working. Unexpectedly heavy, the loneliness hit him; making him wish he had gone with the guys, so he would have had at least some distraction. But he couldn't look weak or unstable – not when they were negotiating with a new ally.

He grabbed his phone to text Raine. You wanna meet me tonight? His fingers floated above the screen. After a short hesitation he added: I can stay with you tonight if you like?

For a long time, he stared at his phone. No answer came. Had he been too forward? Nervously, he scratched the inside of his wrist. What if he took this the wrong way? He hadn't wanted to suggest spending the night together; he had pictured himself on the couch or something...

He squeezed his eyes. Don't drive yourself crazy, he told himself. Right now, he has other things on his mind than answering a pile of texts.

To distract himself he started his PlayStation; redirecting his emotions into aggression, making him hammer the buttons while killing pixels. He was so immersed in it that he jolted when fingers stroked his Mohawk.

"How long have you been sitting here?" Mouse's voice sounded.

Shrugging his shoulders, he continued to play.

"Pause it."

Sighing like a spoiled brat, he obeyed. She knelt down in front of him and looked up to him. "Your eyes are red. What happened Juice?"

He looked into her eyes, feeling the despair return. "Rosa."

Her name left his lips in a whisper. Only now, he realized how sore his throat felt – he hadn't been aware of how thirsty he was. It must have been hours since he drank something.

"She – she died. And I – I can't do nothing to help him." His bottom lip started to quiver.

She sat down next to him and wrapped her arms around him. "That's horrible. Were they able to say goodbye?"