When Lines Blur

Chapter Nine

The next day at school was rough, Adrian was a wreck with concern and everyone stared and whispered at them all since Levi was noticeably missing. Salem kept checking his phone just in case there was a notification about Levi getting worse. Micheal and his friends definitely took notice to it more than before, none of them got involved though. Gabe was more open in being around Salem to them though, and mentioned to his friends more than once that he was worried for Salem's safety. Shawn also came out and admitted he was sort of a thing with Adrian to them all. 

Maddox was helping Adrian more often than not, which meant that he wasn't on his phone texting Austin as much. Austin seemed to understand it though. Lucas was overwhelmed through the whole ordeal, he commonly was back and forth between the two groups, helping support Salem and Zeek through Levi being in the hospital, and informing Micheal and his friends about the others, and reassuring them that everyone was safe. Most of the others didn't notice this strain on Luc, however Braxton did. 

Brax decided to talk to Lucas about it one day, "Hey Luc?"

"Hm?" Luc was staring off but looked at Braxton, "Oh, Hi Brax. What did you need?"

"Are you okay? I've noticed you're more stressed than normal," Brax said, "Your nails are torn to shreds." Lucas hid his hands behind his back slightly. Braxton knew though, Lucas picked at his nails when anxious, Salem would bite the skin off his lips, and Zeek tended to try to repeatedly crack his knuckles. Braxton made sure he knew all of that, it made it easier to help them.

"Just... Worried about Levi," Lucas tried to lie.

Braxton rolled his eyes and sat next to Lucas, "Tell me the truth. That isn't all and we both know it."

"Micheal and his friends have been asking me about you guys a lot."

"What? Since when did they not hate us? I must've missed the memo." 

Lucas smiled softly at the joke, "The night Levi attempted I was at Ryan's with him, Mike, Gabe and Jaxson. And a lotta things came out and a lot of things were told and secrets spilled."

"Like what?"

"They know about Levi and Adrian's jobs... our total number of attempts... and we think Maddox might be sexually abused by his dad. They are worried about us."

"You told them all that?" Braxton asked, he was surprised. Lucas wasn't ever excited to talk about all that.

Lucas nodded softly, "In return I learned a lot about relationships past and present, and that Levi and Jaxson's vendettas run deep for a reason. But they want to help you guys. Help get Salem safe and Maddox safe, help get Adrian and Levi off the streets. I told them they can't until they understand you guys."

"Well yeah, that makes sense," Braxton said, "Last we all knew they were out for our blood."

"Yeah," Lucas said, "I know... I told them to wait until Levi is better, but they still ask." 

Braxton nodded some, he understood it. The thought of them all caring for his friends was surprising to him, since they all had a strong tendency to glare at them just for existing. Especially Ryan and Mike, but Braxton had also realized that the two were usually kind. And he knew why Micheal hated them all, the situation with Salem was a mess, and Braxton didn't even know of Salem's relationship with Micheal at the time. If Braxton had known he wouldn't have agreed to sleeping with Salem. Braxton had always wanted to apologize to Micheal for that, but Micheal wasn't ever up to hearing it, and Brax didn't blame him for that. 

"Lucas if you wanted I could talk with them for a few days," Braxton said. Lucas gave him a strange look. "I mean... I can answer their questions about our safety and stuff since you need a break from it all. You need a few days to relax and not worry about being a middle man for a few days. I'm willing to talk to them all, and be kind and all that fun stuff."