Sang's Freedom (Original And Rewritten)

49

-Chapter 49-

Matthew Eli's POV:

I was so fucking wrong. This was not fun. This was a god damn nightmare.

Gabriel tossed another armful of clothes over the top of the changing wall. For fuck's sake!

I looked around at the piles upon piles of mismatched clothes and then to my own dismayed reflection in the full length mirror. In my hands were two shirts. One purple. One green. My brown eye had taken on a shine of exhaustion and terror as I awaited the next Gabriel onslaught.

I yanked the purple shirt down over my head. This one was too tight across the chest. The green one was no better. "These don't fit!" I called. "Can we leave now?"

There was a dark laugh from behind the door. God, Gabriel was freaking me out.

I banged my head against the mirror in protest, but the connection made pain spike up my cheek and behind my wounded eye.

I swore.

"Matt?" Sang's voice sounded from behind the door. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah..."

"You sure?"

"I don't see why all of this is necessary. It's not like I travel around with a big suitcase of clothes in my line of work."

"Meanie is just trying to bond with you, if that makes it better? He shops for everyone on the team, even Mr. Blackbourne sometimes though I don't think Mr. Blackbourne wears any of it..."

Sang was rambling. It struck me as sweet. Comforting, almost.

"He wants to bond with me?" I asked.

"That's right!" Gabriel's voice sounded muffled.

"That's too much," Sang whispered.

"Oh, Trouble, we are just getting started."

***

I sat with my head pressed against the table in the food court. The smell of burgers and fries wafted through the air as I sat surrounded by eight bags of clothing.

Gabriel and Sang sat across from me, recharging with some soda and pizza. Sang had found a little Mexican place and was working on a quesadilla.

"You need to eat up!" Gabriel ordered, poking a ketchup covered fry my way. "There's a store that sells leather jackets here, and you need a comb for that mop you call hair."

I jerked upright. "Fuck that! No!" My hands went down the front of my leather jacket. "This is, I don't need a new one. Sang patched the shoulder and it's fine. Perfect, even, and as for my hair, how the hell do you expect me to brush it with this shit wrapped around my head?"

"That shit is called gauze, and you could undo it for five minutes to fix that nightmare." Gabriel sniffed, before giving my untouched cheese burger a pointed look. "Don't tell me you're another North. Fucking eat something."

I lifted the food to my mouth. Fuck I was actually starving.

Gabriel spoke as I ate. "And just so you know, the leather jacket store isn't for you. I brought some of my own money so that I could get one for Trouble."

Sang's eyebrows went up, though I was confused for an entirely different reason. Who the hell was funding this expedition?

"You want me to wear leather?" Sang asked confused.