Hidebound

Chapter ThirtySeven

The next week goes smoothly. No hiccups and no issues arise.

Hex goes about his day as usual with the exception of not having to worry about violating his parole or waiting for Charlie to randomly show up. He had even caught himself making time slots in his schedule for therapy, anger management classes or Charlie but quickly stops himself when he realises that's not his life anymore.

Im not going to lie I have begun to miss Charlie to some extent, it was nice having him drop in. Hex won't ever admit it but I know he misses him too. He had become a constant in our life and then he was gone.

Darby's had been busy today but its winding down now as we get closer to closing time. It's the middle of the week and so there are much less customers then there would be compared to a Friday night. Rex stands by the door and stops new customers from entering.

Sarah had the day off today so it was only Harley and I to tend to the bar. Harley hadn't brought up anything about what had happened last week at the hospice and I'm glad. I had had anxiety on Monday waiting for her to dig answers out of me but she never did and the anxiety went away as the week progressed.

"Baby" I jump as I look up from washing the glasses. Hex stands on the other side of the bar, his forearms resting on the bar top as he looks at me. His familiar smell hits me and I try to inhale it without him noticing.

He had taken the bandage off his hand after complaining about not being able to work properly with it. I disagreed but eventually let him do what he wanted. If he ends up with an infection then that's on him.

I raise a hand to my heart "you scared me" I exclaim. His eyebrows pull together and he drops his head slightly to the side in question.

"What's wrong?" He asks, his eyes moving behind me and attempting to find his sister but she's in the back, organising the new stock.

I shake my head "nothing's wrong, I was just distracted" I answer. Its true but he still looks sceptical. "Do you want a drink?" I ask him, stopping his mind from wandering.

He's still dressed in his work clothes and they're dirty, covered with stains old and new. I'm sickly attracted to him more somehow. Hex had started to make it a habit of dropping into Darby's most days after he gets off work. The only time he doesn't drop in is if he's working late.

"Yeah" he grunts, tapping the bar top "scotch and coke" I look up at him again, about to call him out for drinking but then I remember that nothing is stopping him from drinking anymore. He sees the realisation in my eyes and a small smile tugs at his lips, like he knew I'd forget.

"Coming right up" I grin cheekily, watching as he retreats to the stool at the end of the bar. It's darker over there, the light not reaching that far but I can still see him clearly.

I start on making Hex's drink, still in slight disbelief that this is the first alcoholic drink I'm making him in all the years we've been together and all the years that I've been a bartender.

A bang from out the back grabs my attention and Harley's voice "fuck!" It's muffled due to the door that separates us but I walk my way there anyway to check on her.

"Everything okay?" I ask as I stick my head inside. She's unpacking boxes of alcohol and organising it all on the shelves for when we'll need it.

"Stupid box" she says instead of answering me and kicks an empty box along the concrete floor. It skids along before hitting a wall and stopping. She puffs her hair out of her face.

I laugh at her "your brother is here" I inform her. She waves me away as she continues organising.

"I'll be out in a bit" I leave her to do her thing and close the door. All the customers are gone now and Darby's is silent. The tables are empty but still need to be wiped down and the floor behind the bar needs to be swept clean.