(Picture of Andrew Miller)
A/N: 'Update again', you asked? I heard you. ;)
• • •
"Say, between someone who has slept casually with ten people and someone who has slept with the same person for three years; which would you choose?" I blurt out randomly.
Three of us are lying down horizontally across my bed so that neither of us will roll off the sides, although it is equally uncomfortable that our feet just hangs off the edge all night.
"Well, if you put it this way..." Cass flips around to face me since I'm the one laying in the middle.
"Technically, if the former is able to stop his ways and settle down; then I'll pick the first." Ally chimes in from my right.
"Precisely." I agree.
"But someone who has slept around will find it hard to curb their behavior, no? Who's to say they'll stop fucking just for one single person?"
"If they were like me—having one-night-stands that you won't ever meet again or even remember much about; I'd think it's easy to stop. Because those fucks don't mean a thing to me." I tried to counter, although yea, that's just me. Clearly I've seen enough of people who won't stop sleeping around.
"Hmm," Cass hums. "Maybe it's just me, but I prefer the latter."
"Really?" Ally inquires. "If they fucked for years, I'd think they would have feelings or at least a soft spot for each other. I don't think I can handle it if my man tells me he needs to see to someone he used to fuck daily."
Exactly.
"I mean..."
"Damn right, Ally." I sigh. "That is what I have been so insecure about. I'll never know when is he going to drop me and go back to her. He has a soft spot for her. And it scares me y'know? That I'll never be as important to him as I thought I'll be."
Cass lets out a sigh too, bringing her thigh over my hips. "Then, fuck this shit. Maybe you're right. Maybe it's so much better to be single and carefree. Heck, I'd think my tongue skills can compete. We don't need no men."
Ally and I burst out chuckling.
Ally then imitates Cass' position, bringing her thigh over my hips too, eliciting a groan from me who's underneath all their weight.
"Gosh. If I suffocate in the night, know that the cause of death with be both your legs!"
———
I stir awake, seeing behind my closed eyelids that my room's still completely pitch black. Thankfully, some time in the night, both of them shifted their legs away from me and I could sleep in peace. I wasn't having any dream nor was I trembling from the cold. My blanket is nicely wrapped around me still. So why am I awake?
Then I hear it. Loud shuffling and muffled shouting can be heard from downstairs. I don't know what time it is, but I feel Ally prop herself up on her elbow reaching for something.
"What's up?" I fling one eye open and mutter groggily. She has her phone in her hands; the brightness almost blinding both of us when she pressed on the screen.
"It's 3:20AM. What the hell." She furrows her brows, clearly heard the same noise as I did. Otherwise, why would we wake up at the same time?
"It's probably just the guys-"
My words got stucked in my throat when a heavy thump sounded, even piercing through my bedroom door. I sit up immediately, wondering if it's an intruder or just the guys playing wrestling.
Ally and I both share a look before we decide to go investigate. Cass is still sleeping soundly as usual. I push myself off the bed and slowly take small steps towards the door, turning the handle as silently as I can manage.
If this is an intruder, I'm certain it wouldn't have done us any good for any noise that I make.
But my worries clearly were for nothing when I squint through the railings downstairs and see that all four of them are there. No masked men, no thieves.
Uh... hold up. I step out of my doorway, leaning against the railing instead. That's when I notice Zac lying on the floor, Wayne standing above him and the other two guys standing and sitting around helplessly.
Carson is the first to notice my presence.
"Um, Kelsey." All he says is my name and that causes everyone to look up to me.
"What's happening?" I trudge down the stairs, still half-asleep. Ally trails along behind me.
Before anyone can answer me, I already seen the state Zac is in on the floor. I assumed they were just fooling around, until I spotted a large bruise slowly forming on his cheek and blood at the corner of his lips.
All traces of sleep vanished in an instant and I find myself stalking towards Zac, kneeling down next to him on the floor while he props himself up on his elbow, one hand holding his injured face as if he's ashamed to let me see it.
"What the fuck is going on?" I look between him and my brother, then to Carson and Drew who looked as taken aback as I am.
"Nothing. Go back to sleep." Wayne says flatly, turning his back—probably to hide the emotions on his face from me. Idiot still has both fists clenched. I think that's evidence enough he's the aggressor here.
I look back to Zac, prying his hand away from his face to inspect his injury. Lucky for him, Wayne must've deliberately missed the eye and landed his punch just right below it instead. His lower lip only shallowly cut. But being punched by someone who's been trained to box for years surely is going to cause some damage. I'm only hoping his cheek bones aren't fractured at this point.
When his brown eyes meet mine, he let me in to what I assume is his assuring gaze. His hand cups over mine that's on his face.
"It's okay, ba- Kelsey. I've seen this coming." He chuckles.
He chuckles! The hell. Who would be chuckling after getting punched, like really punched punch, especially by one of their closest friends?
All that came out from his mouth is the distinct smell of beer. I glance over to the coffee table and notice at least a dozen empty beer cans sitting there. He must be drunk. They must be drunk!
"Are you high?" I couldn't help but grit out at how ridiculous it is. Nothing is even funny here.
"No," he catches himself. "I'm not. It's fine."
"What happened? Tell me now!" I demand, frowning at him. Somehow Wayne has settled down on the couch now, drinking his Heineken. "What do you mean you've seen this coming?"
"I mean I expected to be beaten up. So don't worry, okay?"
"Shut up." I wanted to punch him myself if he isn't already hurt. "You look like crap. What did you do to him?"
He sighs, glancing away from me.
"I told him about Becca." His words made me sit down. "I told him how she's pregnant, how I dumped you on several occasion to take care of her and how you caught me and her on bed." He looks at me solemnly, his voice serious and quieter now.
"What?" I stare at him like he's insane. Why would he out of nowhere tell my brother all these things? It's not like he needed to know. "Why did you tell him that?"
"Because I once warned him that if he did broke your heart, I would bash his face up; brother or not." Wayne speaks up nonchalantly.
"You...you what?" My jaw drops. When did this even happen? Apparently guys be chatting way more than just sex and games like I thought. I didn't think Wayne would take our sort-of dating that seriously to warn Zac.
"He's right." Zac sits up beside me. "That's why I owned up. I couldn't just lie and not tell your brother the truth when he asked me about you. I fucked up. I deserve this, Kelsey."
"But... but you said you didn't-"
"Yeah, I didn't sleep with her. That's the truth. I haven't managed to get that out and your brother already threw the first punch." Zac laughs, rubbing his face where he was hit.
"Maybe next time lead the conversation with that first." Wayne grumbles, crushing the empty beer can in his hands.
Just like that, all of them eventually get up on their feet and head upstairs without another word. I don't know if they'll all recall this in the morning since everybody either looks sleepy or tipsy.
I let out a deep breath, moving to stand up and help Zac up at the same time. They really had to do this at goddamn 3AM and interrupt my much needed sleep. I wish I'm Cassandra right now. Oh, Cass. She'd probably be cursing at how I didn't wake her up to see the show.
Then looking at his face, I wince and sit him down on the couch while I head to the fridge to grab some frozen peas.
He must either be stupid or foolish to own up knowing Wayne'd definitely beat him to a pulp.
"Ow!" He let out a yelp when the cold bag of vegetables slaps his cheek.
"Press it!" I lift up his hand to hold it in place.
"Don't go," he pulls me to him by my waist, resting his good cheek on my belly. "I can't stay away from you anymore, baby. Please." His voice thick with emotions.
"You should rest." I mutter, raking my fingers through his locks absentmindedly.
"Stay with me?" He glances up with hopeful eyes. My own eyes dart down to his swollen face and I know I can't just leave him on his own.
This man could've shut his trap up and pretended like nothing happened. Yet he chose to take my brother's fists. Goddammit.
I nod and he smiles, or at least tried to, and tug at my arm so that I land on his lap sideways. Even though he reeked of beer, I still missed the masculine scent of his that I've come to be addicted to. I lean down and sniff his neck like I used to, and feel him kiss the top of my head.
For a moment there, I thought we could possibly fall back to our old ways. Maybe I'll get over the aching feeling in my chest soon and he can fix all that's broken inside me.
———
"No wonder I woke up sprawled all over the bed alone." I hear Cass' chirpy voice and groan, trying to flip over but feel something heavy dangled over my body.
The entire house is now brightly lit from the morning sun. Hell, it barely felt like a two-hour nap. What's even more uncomfortable is the fact that I fell asleep across Zac's lap, him in a half-sitting half-lying position above me.
"Zacson..." I yawn and try to stretch my numbed legs. With his upper body weight entirely on me, it's no wonder that my legs decide to go to hibernation.
"Mm," he flicks his eyes open, giving me an once-over before finally relieving me of being flattened. "Morning, baby." He grins.
The bruise on his cheeks has turned red-purplish now but is no longer as swollen as it was.
"What do you mean alone? Ally?" I turn to Cass who's sitting on an ottoman, looking at us smugly and way too cheerful for a Sunday morning.
She raises both her shoulders to signify the universal meaning of 'I don't know'. "Beats me. But you two, ah- wait. What happened to his face?" She jerks her chin to Zac.
"Her brother punched me." Zac replies, his hands continuously rubbing my calf to ease the numbness. I didn't even realize he's doing it until my legs regain the ability to move.
"You sound like you enjoyed it." I roll my eyes at him, getting my ass up from his thighs.
"Woah. When did this happen? How did I not know? Why are you not surprised?"
"You were sleeping like a log!" I tease her. "Ally and I woke up to noises. Speaking of which, where in the hell is she?"
Right on cue, Wayne's door creaks open but instead of him, Ally emerges looking sheepish; causing both our mouths to fall open.
"What the fu-"
"Allison Edison!"
Cass and I exclaim in unison. Ally probably didn't realize we are already downstairs and is perhaps trying to sneak back into my room thinking she'll get away with it.
"Allison Edison?" Zac chuckles at her real name.
That one time we found out her ID, we noticed it and couldn't help but laugh at how ridiculous it sounded. Seriously. Who names their daughter Allison Edison? That's like naming their son Phil Philips or Pete Peter!
Ally's face scrunches up, biting her lip as she descends down the stairs to us. I probably already have ten different questions for her at this point, but Cass is always quicker than I can fire.
"What? How? When? Sex? Still virgin?"
"Cassandra!" I smack her on her knee, seeing how horrified Ally looks.
I gesture for Zac to leave us girls alone and he gets the hint, leaning over to peck me on the forehead before he heads to the kitchen; hopefully to heat up last night's leftovers for breakfast.
Cass and I crowd around Ally like a shark on the couch, Cass even going to the extent to sniff her all over. Jesus. My friends are weird.
"Cass!" Ally hides her face in her hands. "Stop it!"
"You're blushing! You better spill, right now!" We both clap our hands excitedly.
I'd be lying if I said I never tried to picture Ally and Wayne together. Yet each time I try, I never came to a good conclusion. It's always either my brother breaks her heart now, or later. Maybe I just didn't have that much faith in him, and that should say something.
"I... I..." her cheeks indeed turning rosy. "I mean, it's just... um."
"Okay. Just nod or shake your head." I order her. "Was he the one who kidnapped you into his room?"
She shakes her head no.
"Did he in any way seduced you or lured you in there?"
No.
"Did he make you do anything that you didn't want to do?" I ask sternly.
Nope.
I heave a sigh of relief and let Cass take over the interrogation.
"Did he satisfy you?" She smirks.
"Cass!" Ally gasps, but her face turns even more red if possible.
"Oh my god!" I yell out. "So you two did sleep together?"
Cass isn't pleased with how I phrased my question. "She walked out of his room. Obviously they slept together! The big question is, did you two fuck or not?!"
"No!" She shouts but quickly covers her mouth with her hand. "We just... kissed." She averts her gaze to the ground shyly.
"Holy shiiiiiit!" I squeal, practically jumping for joy while Cass looks slightly disappointed. I nudge her with a glare.
"Details!"
"There's nothing going on, okay?" Ally says, wanting us to lower our volume. "He kissed me and apologized for doing it. I told him it's fine. Then we kissed some more and he hugged me to sleep. That's it."
"Apologize for what?" Cass raises a brow.
"He... he's still with Bianca."