Caged

19

"Izzy, you're stressing us out. Sit the fuck down!" Ethan ordered, rolling his eyes at me as I paced around our living room.

I didn't stop, but made sure to throw up my middle finger at him as I continued pacing. He let out a dramatic sigh, but didn't say anything else.

When I walked past Caleb, he reached out and grabbed my arm, pulling me down to sit next to him.

"Izzy," he began, keeping a hand around my arm as I tried getting up. I reluctantly met his eyes. "Stop stressing. What's the worst that can happen? You get grounded for a bit? Your phone gets taken away? Elijah's probably not even that mad anymore."

I huffed, jerking my arm out of his hold. "Caleb, you don't get it. He hasn't called since last night. That means he's pissed," I told him.

"I don't know what you expect," Ethan offered his unwanted input, his eyes wandering over to us. He cocked an eyebrow. "You fucked up, and now you'll deal with the consequences. Stop being such a goddamn baby."

"I wasn't talking to you, asshole. Mind your own fucking business for once," I snapped, glaring at him. Caleb sighed next to us, shaking his head and falling back into the couch.

Ethan laughed, resting his elbows on his thighs as he leaned forward. "Well, then stop whining all the time and I'll stay quiet."

"I'm not whining," I hissed, and from the corner of my eye I saw Caleb close his eyes.

"Sounds like you are."

"I'm not!"

"There you go again," he hummed, a cocky smirk on his lips as he threw his arms behind his head.

I shot up off of the couch, but Caleb yanked me back down.

"Calm down," he said, sending me an exasperated look. He glared at Ethan. "You too. Keep your mouth shut for once."

Ethan rolled his eyes, but complied. I sunk back into the couch, my eyes wandering over to the clock every second.

He could be home any minute now.

Kaiden had dropped us off back home early morning since Elijah was returning home today. I almost asked him to take me back to his apartment, even if I didn't really want that either.

The sound of the garage door opening caught my attention.

I didn't even have to look to know that Ethan was smiling, but I was too anxious to pay attention to it.

I didn't care too much about what his reaction would be to what I'd done yesterday. I was more anxious about the part where I was going to confront him. I'd stayed up all night thinking about it, and I finally decided I was going to. It was all I could think about.

I needed to know why he lied. Why he denied being at Mia's. Why he was there in the first place.

I heard the door open, and the garage close again, before I made out the familiar footsteps coming our way.

I peered over the back of the couch, expecting to see Elijah, but instead, I saw Alastair with a duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He looked over to where we were sitting, and I cringed internally when his eyes locked with mine. His lips twitched into an amused smile as he passed by us.

"Children," he mocked in greeting, not stopping and I watched him make his way over to the stairs.

Ethan and Caleb said something back, but I ignored it, my eyes lingering on the bag Alastair had over his shoulder as he trailed up the stairs. I wondered why he was here and why he was going upstairs. There was nothing up there but our bedrooms and bathrooms.