Pursuit of the Whole

XXXVIII. Or Later

Someone knocks against the glass door.

I forgot Marcelo is staying in the attic. He must have left this morning and just came back.

I look at the clock. It's almost 2 am.

Once I gather up all the energy, I open the window.

Marcelo hops inside with the hood on his head. "I'm glad to know you're the type to lock up your window at night." He brushes off the snow from his shoes. I hope he's planning to clean that up later.

I click on the night lamp. I was ready to ask him why he came back so late until I saw the bruise near his lips. "What happened?"

He grabs the string for the stairs, "Oh. Nothing," he says. "I ran into an idiot."

It didn't take much to put the pieces together. Marcelo must have heard what happened today and got into a fight with Cole. He probably used some other excuse to punch him.

"You didn't have to do that," I said.

Marcelo scoffs, "I never said it was for you." He walks upstairs.

I shuffle through the cabinet and grab the ointment. Werewolves heal faster than humans, but it doesn't mean it goes into immediate effect.

When I reached the attic, Marcelo had his shirtless back turned towards me. He threw the dirty shirt into the corner beside his duffle bag. He surely made himself at home.

I watch as he throws himself on the futon and covers his face with his arms. When he finished, I sat beside him. "Here," I said.

Marcelo didn't respond.

I open the tube and squirt a little on my finger. When I inch it closer to his wound, he grabs my wrist. "Don't."

"Then, you shouldn't have done that earlier." I applied ointment on his bruise.

"I told you. It wasn't for you."

"Sure it wasn't."

He sat up, "It wasn't!"

"Then, why did you do it?" Although I haven't known him long, I can see Marcelo is a levelheaded guy. Someone as level headed and surface peace-loving like him wouldn't bicker so outrageously with another pack.

Marcelo ground against his molars, "It's none of your business." He stood up, grabbed another shirt, and opened the window on top of the roof.

I grab his arm and prevent him from escaping. "We said there wasn't going to be anything between us." I tried my best to continue whispering. "But then you have to do shit like this!" My eyes went teary, "Why do you have to do shit like this!"

Marcelo faced me at a rapid speed, "Because I care!"

"Because of the bond?"

"Because of you!" His voice was no longer low.

I can hear a knock at my door. "Julia?" That's mom's voice. "Is there someone in there with you?"

Marcelo inches back until he was at the bottom of the window. He jumps once and reaches the edge. I watch as he climbs out of the house.

"Julia?"

One step after another, I walk downstairs. I closed the staircase and inch closer to the door. When I opened the door, I could see mom in her pajamas.

"Oh. Julia. What happened?" She wipes off the tears from my cheeks and holds me close.

After I calmed down, I found myself sitting on the bed with my mom.