Mutiny Below

Jayce

I woke up in an uncomfortable position with a warm body on top of mine. My head felt like it was splitting and before I could think clearly, the familiar feeling of nausea burned up my throat. I rolled off the couch, causing whatever was on top of me to fall as well and grunt. I then proceeded to sprint to the bathroom and I just barely made it.

After a few minutes the vomiting stopped and the world started to stabilize. A few minutes after that, I realized I wasn’t in my bathroom. Last night pieced together slowly and I remembered crashing on Kennedy’s couch shortly after a third round of flip cup. I sighed and washed my face before going back to the living room.

Nick was the first thing my eyes strayed too. He was still knocked out in a recliner, his neck in an awful twist. I forced myself to look away from him as I heard John clear his throat. My eyes snapped to the sleepy boy now sitting on the couch. A patch of his hair was sticking out to the side and a lopsided smile was spread out on his lips.

“Hangover?” He smirked and patted the spot beside him. I groaned and plopped down, resting my head on his chest. His chuckle vibrated through my head. “It’s okay, baby.” He kissed my forehead and I closed my eyes.

These past few days have been hell. John’s as sweet as ever and I can’t stop thinking about the redhead in the corner. My stomach all goes in knots when he looks at me and smirks, which he does often. I swear it’s like the boy wants us to get caught.

“I think Kenny’s got some Advil in the kitchen. Want me to get you some?” John rubbed my back softly as the nausea came back up. I nodded weakly and swallowed hard, trying to repress every emotion. He got up and went to the kitchen, his face pulled into a terrible expression of concern.

I let my eyes wander again. The rooms completely empty except for Nick and I now. I bit my lip as I eyed him over once. His shoes are off and he’d apparently borrowed a pair of basketball shorts from Kennedy last night. I can see his hair’s a mess from my spot on the couch and I want so badly to be able to run my fingers through it.

John walked back in and my stomach churned again. It’s so wrong. I shouldn’t have thoughts like that when I have a boyfriend like John. He deserves so much more than I give him and he definitely doesn’t deserve to be cheated on. But at least I haven’t done anything else with Nick. It was just a harmless kiss by the pool. A very long and heated kiss. Oh god.

I shivered from the mere memory and John furrowed his eyebrows. “You cold?” He asked as he handed me three small pills and a glass of water. Then he carefully pulled the blanket off the back of the couch and wrapped it around himself. He kept his arms open as I swallowed the pills, waiting for me to crawl onto his lap.

We sat there for a while. My head rested on his chest and his arms hugged me to him softly. Gemma stumbled out of the hallway shortly after that and mumbled a good morning. The television was turned on and the volume turned extremely low. Kennedy came out next and flopped down on top of Gemma.

We watched the TV silently for about another hour before Natalia came out of the hallway completely bewildered. I noticed her giving John a peculiar look as he smirked back at her.

“Sleep well in the guest bedroom, Nat?” Kennedy inquired and she turned her confused expression to him.

“Yes, though I don’t remember how I got there.” She raised her eyebrows at John again and he chuckled.

“I couldn’t let you sleep on the wet grass, Nat. That would have just been ungentlemanly-like.” John smirked some more as Natalia rolled her eyes and sat down on the couch beside us.

“I was perfectly fine.” She mumbled and crossed her arms, focusing her attention on the television screen. I frowned and closed my eyes. The room was unnaturally blurry and the pounding in my head had lessened, but not vanished. I cuddled up to John and tuned out the television with a little effort.

I was half asleep when Eric woke up. Apparently he was dreaming about something scary as he yelled and sat up straight fast, too fast. Since he had fallen asleep under the dining table, when he sat up his head smacked the bottom of the table and he let out a long stream of curses as he nursed his forehead.

Everyone laughed and as I opened my eyes, I found Nick had woken up sometime during my daze. Eric complained and pouted as he trudged over. He somehow managed to squeeze his body between Natalia and John and then proceeded to lay his head on her. Natalia didn’t seem to mind. She ran her hands through his hair nonchalantly, like she’d done it a million times. It was cute.

“Okay, I cannot watch another episode of America’s Next Top Model!” Kennedy exclaimed from nowhere and shut the TV off. Gemma started protesting, but stopped when he kissed her.

“We should be going too.” John declared and all eyes strayed to him.

“We should?” I repeated and he nodded, clearing his throat.

“Yeah, I forgot to tell you my mother wants to come over for dinner tomorrow.” He sheepishly smiled as my eyes widened.

“What?” I sat up and ran a hand through my hair. My mind was running so fast. There were a million things I’d have to do before I could even imagine having Mrs. O’Callaghan over. The apartment was practically a mess and the fridge was almost empty as well. “Oh my god,” I sighed and stood up quickly, looking around for my things. “We have to go to the store and then I have to scrub down the bathroom. Shit, I think we’re out of bleach, but we have to stop by the store anyway.” I was frazzled as I zipped around the room.

No one else had moved, except for John who was trying to catch up to me. I was near hyperventilation when he wrapped his arms around me again, pulling me against him and resting his chin on top my head.

“Just breathe for a second, Jayce.” He commanded and I closed my eyes as I took a deep inhale, slowly exhaling. “That’s better.” He rubbed my back and kissed my forehead. “There’s no reason to freak out. My mother could care less if our bathroom is clean and I’m sure she’d cook for us if we asked.”

I glared and poked him in the ribs. “She comes over to spend time with you, not wait on you.” He chuckled and let go of me. “Now come on, we have to go to the store like two minutes ago!” He laughed some more and shook his head.

I went back to the couch and slapped Eric upside his head to wake him up. He groaned some more, but soon I had all three boys and Natalia heading out the door. We all hugged Gemma and Kennedy goodbye before slightly cramming in the car. The ride itself was uneventful, but the walk through the store was anything but.

Eric decided to ride inside the basket as John pushed it, and more than once I found the two whizzing past me down an aisle. I shook my head and went about picking stuff out to cook for tomorrow. I heard Natalia giggling before the two boys decided to put her in cart with Eric. It looked like they were both squished and there was definitely no personal space, but again, I could help but admit how cute the two looked together.

John pushed them out of the aisle while I was still choosing a bag of potatoes. I almost didn’t notice who that left me with. But then he cleared his throat.

“So you’re making potatoes?” Nick stood beside me and eyed the bags over uncertainly.

“Mashed, potatoes.” I nodded and grabbed a random bag. I hoisted it up on my hip like a baby and went down the aisle, searching for another side.

“Mashed potatoes from scratch?” I glanced at him and found his eyebrowsadorably scrunched together.

“Yes, actually, I do most of my cooking from scratch. I don’t like the instant crap in boxes.” I bit my lip as I stared ahead. This was getting ridiculous. It used to be I only felt this way when he was smoking, but now just glancing at him sends shivers up my spine.

“That’s impressive.” He muttered just as John showed back up with the cart. I carefully placed the potatoes at Eric and Natalia’s feet and then scooted on over to the meat section.

“So, we are invited to this family dinner shindig thing, right?” Eric batted his brown eyes as he placed an arm around Natalia.

I rolled my eyes. “Sure, Halvo. I’m sure Mrs. Oh wants to see you too.” He let out a low yes and made a face. “The more the merrier.” I mumbled and sifted through the chicken.

“Are you guys sure we’re not, like, imposing?” Natalia spoke up cautiously and I smiled to myself. The girl was definitely breaking out of her shell.

“John’s mom loves me.” Eric grinned and I snorted as John laughed. He sent us both glares.

“Eric likes to pretend my mother loves him, but I’m sure she’d love to meet you guys.” John reassured Natalia as I noticed Nick nodding from the corner of my eye.

“Do ask her what time she’s coming around, John?” I turned around and stared into green eyes of my boyfriend while I tried desperately to not glance at the hazel ones belonging to the redhead.

“Yeah,” He smiled at me as he pulled out his phone. It was a small, warm smile that should have sent butterflies through my stomach.It didn’t. I bit my bottom lip and turned back to the meat.

“So, what’s for dinner Jaycey-Jayce?” Eric grinned wide and I scoffed.

“Nothing if you don’t keep your mouth shut.” I grumbled and he pouted again.

I kept to myself for the rest of our shopping trip. Nick elbowed me as John and Eric piled the grocery bags in the back, but I ignored him. After everyone was in the car, we drove back to the complex and dropped Eric, Nick, and Natalia off. I waved timidly at the three and triedfiercely to ignore the smirk on Nick’s face as he waved back. Something about that face just screamed trouble.

John and I carried the bags inside. He left me to put everything away on my own, since I have a bit of OCD when it comes to my kitchen. I heard the TV turn on and smiled a little as I picked the kitchen up and put the groceries away. John and I had our routines. That was normal for a couple who’d lasted almost three years. It was a good thing.

I enjoyed walking out into the living room and finding him peacefully knocked out with the TV still on. I liked waking him up with kisses and then dragging his ass to bed. I loved crawling into the bed and cuddling up next to him, with his arms wrapped around me.

I felt secure with John, and I felt loved. That was all I needed.