She had barely stepped out of his car when Jax backed away, his wheels spinning frantically on the gravel driveway, in a desperate attempt to hit the road before any of the guys reached him.
Sensing their presence behind her, Becky took a deep breath and stormed towards her overbearing housemates. She was in no mood to deal with any of them, least of all, Crispin!
"Becky..." Kelley reached her first, attempting to look her over for any signs of misuse.
"Get away from me!" she shouted, circling around him. "All of you!"
"Shit, what happened, Becks?" Dorian asked with a frown. "You okay?"
"Don't you call me that!"
"Dormouse?" All hesitation aside, Crispin took his chances and approached her next.
"How could you, Crispin?" she blurted, pushing past him. "You are so cruel! I can't even look at you."
"How could I what?" he gasped. "I don't understand."
"You know what you did!" she screamed, before taking off into the house.
"Damn..." Crispin said, dropping his head down in dismay.
"What do you think happened?" Dorian asked fretfully.
"I don't know, but I'm going to find out," Kell said with a resolute sigh before following Becky inside.
"Better you than me," Crispin said with a shake of his head.
"I don't know about that. Seems you're the one who got her into this mess, whatever it is," Dorian piped in. "You just better hope he didn't take advantage of her or it will be on your head."
"I'll kill him, myself," Crispin spat, leaning into the porch rail for support. "I just wanted her to be happy."
"No, you wanted to keep her away from Kell, for the sake of your own selfish insecurities," Dorian hissed at him. "She would have been perfectly safe and happy right here at home with a guy who actually cares for her if you hadn't gotten involved!"
Without bothering to ask for permission, Kell let himself into Becky's room and waited there until she finished washing up in the bathroom.
Becky scrubbed herself free of all traces of Jax from her body. She vigorously brushed her teeth and flossed. How could Crispin have set her up like that? She hadn't even been interested in Jax until Crispin led her to believe that the horny Goth cared about her. Apparently, she wasn't worth the bother. Too bad she'd fallen so quickly for Jax. The saddest part was that she would have slept with him eventually, she was sure of it. Why couldn't he have waited just a bit longer?
Then there was that whole fiasco with Kelley. She had just convinced herself that nothing was ever going to happen between them. Suddenly, he was acting all jealous and possessive. This was all too much. Perhaps the boys were right about not wanting her to live with them. She was in way over her head. All this testosterone was definitely messing her up.
Changing into her favourite nightie, Becky gathered her strewn clothes off the floor and made her way into her room to wallow in misery.
Upon entering her room, she startled and dropped her handful of clothing. She hadn't expected to find Kelley sitting there on her mattress, his black hair shrouding his troubled gaze, his hands in a prayer position under his chin, elbows propped up on his folded knees.
Lord, could she be any sweeter? His eyes slowly took her in, wearing a pink gauzy nightie. For a moment, Kell forgot the reason why he'd come into her room in the first place. Then seeing her so small and vulnerable, his anger at what may have transpired with her and Jax returned with a vengeance.
"Kelley..." She started to back away, seeing the anger ignite in his gaze. What was his problem? He had no reason to be upset with her. If anything she had every right to be mad at him for being in her room without permission. Then again, how many times had she snuck into his room, and his bed without being invited?
Without words, he stood up to his full height, took one step towards her and effortlessly pulled her back to sit on the bed beside him.
She started to resist but soon gave in. What was the point in fighting him? She weighed no more than a feather to him. Besides, as upset as she was, Becky realized that Kelley was her best friend, possibly her only friend in the whole world in that moment.
"Tell me what happened, love," he said, draping his long arm over her shoulder. "Did he... hurt you?" He barely managed to get the word out.
"No, not physically," she whispered, shutting her eyes, forcing back the unwanted tears that threatened. At her words, she felt Kelley relax and let out the breath he'd been holding.
"If not physically, then how exactly?" he persisted, suddenly so relieved that he believed he could handle anything she said next.
"I don't want to talk about it with you."
Except that. He could not handle being shut out.
"It's none of your business, anyway." How could she possibly tell him what had transpired between her and Jax without sounding like a complete ninny? They already thought she was naive. "I just want to go to sleep and forget this night ever happened."
"He hurt your feelings?" Kell guessed, getting angry once again at the thought of anyone hurting this sweet little soul in any way shape or form.
"Yes... but I'm not talking to you about this. If anything I'm more mad at you and especially Crispin! This is all his fault, if not yours!"
"How is it my fault?" he asked, confused. "Is it because of the way I acted earlier in the garage? I'm sorry if I lost it back there. I had no right to act that way."
"That didn't help things," she said with a frown.
"The bastard was all over you. I can't help it if I feel protective of you. You're my... housemate," Kelley admitted, swallowing his pride.
"Is that all I am to you?" she blurted without thinking. "Am I too much work for you too?"
"What? No, of course not, love. What's this all about?"
"Never mind, get out before I say something I'll regret."
"Just tell me how any of this is my fault?" he beseeched her.
"Because while Crispin made it happen, you let it happen," she cried, pushing away from him and crawling in under her sheets. "Now leave me!"
****
House of Goths Copyright © 2014 by Maria Bernard ISBN: 978-0-9938067-3-5