Apricity

The Way Home

The only thing I could do was stare at my feet. I didn't really know where to look when the three men in the car looked like they were beaten by a bat. Instead, I played with my fingers and kept my mind on the fact that Oliver has a brother. Why didn't he tell me? Maybe he just didn't care. Maybe it just was such a miniscule fact that he didn't bother telling me. That would seem right. Still, it bothered me. 

"Are you hurt?" Mason's voice grabbed me from my thoughts, and I looked up at his bruised face. Should he really be worrying if I was hurt?

"No. But you are. When we get home, you should definitely treat it. Like, really." I looked out the window and stared at each car that passed us, trying to guess the brand of each one. Which was significantly hard, considering the fact that I know nothing about cars. 

"Oliver seemed nice," Mason said again. I turned to him. Why is he attempting small talk? He wasn't talking to Jason or Julien. He was talking to me. Why do I feel like he's avoiding them? Or perhaps ignoring what happened tonight on the whole. 

So I indulged him.

"Yeah, he's a sweetheart, isn't he?" I said, carefully observing his features. His brow furrowed. And I noticed his eyes had a different feel to them compared to his brothers. His blue eyes shined like jewels. They had a bit of an innocent glow to them.

"I suppose," He said, his voice cracking a bit. I felt a smile coming on, but I suppressed it. 

"It's almost a shame he's leaving the city to pursue his dream to go on broadway."

Mason made an O with his mouth and nodded. I looked at him again, slightly wincing.

"When we get home, I'll take care of you. You shouldn't go to bed like that."

I'm pretty sure that there was a med kit at home. I'll just have to find it. I used to tend to my own wounds when I was younger, so I've gotten pretty good at it. I just hoped the beating wasn't so bad that they got internal bleeding or something. But that's unlikely.

"Thanks," Mason whispered.

When the car pulled up near the house, I immediately got out, and closed the door behind me. The lights were still on in the house, and I heard everyone slam the car doors as I walked in. The first thing I was met with when I walked in was Xavier laying on the couch. His curls slightly messy, as he looked on his phone. 

He looked at me impassively. 

"Where were you?"Xavier asked. 

I let out a sigh. 

"Some stupid party with the triplets. Went horribly by the way," I walked to the kitchen and opened the freezer. The triplets soon walked in and Xavier's mouth went wide open.

"What the hell happened to you guys?" Xavier said, trying his best not to laugh and failing miserably. He walked from the couch to take a closer look. Jason rolled his eyes.

"The same thing that's going to happen to you if you don't shut up." 

Xavier laughed even more. I walked out of the kitchen with three packs of frozen vegetables and gave them to the triplets. 

"That should make the swelling go down," I shook my head and walked upstairs.  I was a bit surprised to see that they actually followed me. All three of them, and one person snickering. I didn't want to treat them in my room. Who knows what Xavier might do in there? Instead, I opened the door to Jason's room.

I froze. 

Inside the room was Ashur and another kid, playing videogames. The unfamiliar boy had strawberry blonde hair and warm brown eyes. A few freckels were spread across his nose and cheeks. And he was shirtless. You've got to be kidding me. Why were they in Jason's room?