Mutiny Below

Jayce

John and I had gone to sleep early the previous night so when we woke up, my phone was full of missed texts. Most from Gemma and quite a few from Nick. I sifted through them with a slight frown until I reached one of the pictures Gemma had sent. It was taken at the bowling alley and the main focus was Eric and Nat. Natalia was sitting on one of the alley’s chairs while Eric sat on her lap. He had his hands laced with hers and then wrapped them around her waist. It was cute really, but what got my attention most was the text Gem sent with it. Looks like you&John have some competition for the adorablest couple ; ) Halvo finally fucking made them official!

I couldn’t help but smile at the picture. Both Eric and Natalia looked ridiculously happy. Like I used to be. I bit my bottom lip before putting my phone back in my pocket and hobbling out of the bathroom. Adam was waiting for me in the hall.

“Were you-,” I started as I pointed to the bathroom but he shook his head.

“You’re boyfriend sent me up here to make sure you make it down the stairs okay.” He grinned and put an arm around my waist as he put mine around his neck.

I rolled my eyes. “I’m not deathly crippled. I can get around.”

“It just takes a while for you to get anywhere so people tend to freak out and worry that you’ve already fallen.”

“Mom sent you up here to?” I guessed and he nodded. We both laughed. “Good thing you don’t worry too much. I’d be suffocated by now for sure if you joined their evil forces.”

This was Adam’s turn to roll his eyes. “I am worried about you, Jayce. It’s just that the physical injuries you have right now aren’t what worry me most. I know you’re tough and can handle this shit.” He nodded toward my ankle.

I chuckled. “What is it, then, that worries you, my dear brother?”

He sighed. “You sneaking behind John’s back.” He muttered low just in case someone was at the bottom of the stairs listening. I swallowed hard.

“I – I’m not doing that anymore, Adam.” He gave me a look and my frown from earlier reappeared. “I gave up Mr. Right for my Mr. Perfect.”

It was quiet for a few minutes as we slowly started down the stairs. “Is that really what you wanted?” I bit my bottom lip and kept my eyes on my feet. “You can be honest with me, Jayce. It’s not like I’m going to judge you for saying no.”

I smiled a little. “I can’t be honest with myself and say no, Adam. How do you expect me to be honest with anybody else?”

He nodded. “I was really scared you were going to tell him when you were in the hospital. But he looked so broken and beaten up already, that’s why I said what I did.” He almost sounded like he was apologizing.

I sighed heavily as we reached the bottom of the stairs. “I don’t think I’ll ever be able to tell him.”

“I’ve already told you once, doll, but let me tell you again.” He squeezed my hip. “John’s not going to hate you.”

We fell quiet again as we entered the living room. John and Andrea were sitting on opposite sides of the couch and both grinned at us as we entered. “It’s about time you got finished getting ready.” Andrea teased and rolled her eyes with a wide grin.

“You of all people should not lecture Jaycey about the time it takes to get pretty, Ms. Five-Hours-In-The-Bathroom.” Adam raised his eyebrows and Andrea giggled.

“Both you girls are absolutely gorgeous. No need for five hour makeup trips.” John shook his head as he eyed me and Adam helped me over to him.

“Aren’t you just a sweetheart.” I ruffled his hair once I got close enough and then plopped down on his lap.

“Or a liar.” Andrea mumbled jokingly. I just swallowed and ignored the comment.

“Which speaking of sweethearts, guess what we missed last night.” I pulled my phone from my pocket and started clicking to pull up the picture Gemma had sent me.

“What’s that?” John chuckled as he placed his head on my shoulder and looked at the phone screen.

“Halvo’s got a girlfriend.” I smirked as I positioned the phone for John to see.

“Creepy, big-eyed, mouth breather has a girlfriend?” Adam questioned with his eyebrows raised again. I slightly glared at him and punched his shoulder.

“You were a creepy mouth breather for four years too, punk.” Adam and Andrea laughed but I felt John’s body stiffen under me.

“How do you know this means they’re together?” John sounded a little upset suddenly.

“I have to see who in their right-mind is loony enough to actually date that kid.” Adam took the phone from me and Andrea leaned on him to also look at the photo of Natalia and Eric.

“Halvo apparently jumped on top of the machine that spits out bowling balls and declared that Nat was his ‘official’ girlfriend.” I giggled at just imagining the site. It so sounded like something Eric would do.

“Damn, she’s pretty.” Adam muttered and then looked up. “Where’d he find her?”

“The mouth breather doesn’t look so bad either.” Andrea immediately blushed after her statement and I was sure she didn’t mean for anyone to hear.

“This is his bandmates sister.” I explained and made an effort not to hesitate. It was easy to leave out Nick’s name since neither Adam nor Andrea knew him, but it was still a little difficult to talk about him so nonchalantly.

“We should probably start back home, now.” John grunted as he fidgeted a little. I frowned, as did my siblings.

“But it’s not even noon yet! I thought we were all going out for lunch.” Andrea pouted as Adam handed my phone back to me.

“And then I was going to take you guys’ to that café down by the campus, that I was telling Jayce about. They want to have live music on some nights and I’m sure you guys could get in to play some acoustic sets.”

“Some other time, maybe.” John shrugged as he managed to get me up and then stand up behind me. I was a little confused by his actions but I followed him nonetheless.

“You guys should come over sometime too. We can go out to 8123 and party Tempe style.” I winked at Andrea and she smiled.

“That sounds like fun.” She eagerly nodded and stood up as well. “Maybe I could come spend a few nights with you and John too?”

“Well, we do have a guest at the moment,” I paused but then waved it off, “but we can kick him to the couch for family.” Andrea’s eyes lit up with excitement. Maybe a car accident was all we needed to branch our age difference and be friends. After all, she was just like me at seventeen, lost and reckless.

“Awesome!” She squealed before throwing her arms around my neck and squeezing tight.

“And I’ll just sleep on the floor in some corner.” Adam sarcastically added himself to our conversation as he also stood up.

“I’ve got tons of blankets for padding, dear.” I hugged him too after Andrea and then kissed his cheek. I grinned as I watched John hug both my siblings. I’d never seen all of us get along so well. It was refreshing. “Tell mom I said bye and I’ll call her later.”

After John and I were situated in the car, it was a quiet drive back to Tempe. I was still confused about his whole sudden urge to go home, but I figured maybe he’d just had enough of my family. Though, I did notice that his mood seemed to change about the same time I showed him the picture of Nat and Eric.

Things only got more perplexing as Eric’s was our first stop when we got back.

“What are we doing here, John?” I questioned as I got out of the car and closed the door. I hobbled up to the curb and placed my hands on my hips as he walked past me.

“I need to get something from Halvo. It’ll be just a minute. You can wait in the car if you want.” He tossed the keys to me and then disappeared up the walkway. I was frozen speechless. John had been worrying over ever breath I had been taking in the past week, but suddenly none of that mattered.

I huffed before opening the car door and throwing the keys back into it. It was irrational and really stupid, but I stormed off toward our apartment anyway. It didn’t occur to me that I probably wouldn’t make it the whole way. Though I was recovering from my injuries quite nicely, I still got tired after so much hobbling and whatnot.

I thought I would at least be able to make it halfway before John would pull up in the car, but that didn’t happen. I was practically melting as I made it our building and saw the familiar red head leaning against it. I’d certainly never been so happy to see him outside before.

He started making his way toward me and called my name before he was even close. “Jayce?”

“Help,” I wheezed and extended my one arm toward him. The fact that I was sweaty and gross didn’t cross my mind as my body practically crashed into his. I was barely able to stand on my feet and Nick was able to tell. He gently picked me up bridal style and carried me into the apartment where he sat me down on the couch.

“What were you doing outside? Where the hell did you even come from?” He rattled off questions as he hurried around the apartment and brought me a glass of ice water and a cool washcloth that he held to my forehead.

I made a face as I took the glass and sipped it. He frowned as he watched me and then placed the glass on the table as I handed it to him. I leaned back and closed my eyes.

“Jayce?” He cautiously probed and I smiled a little.

“I walked from Halvo’s.”

“That was a stupid idea.” Nick grumbled and I snorted.

“You’re telling me.” I cracked an eye open and looked at him. He was still frowning and holding the washcloth to my forehead to help cool me off. “Thanks for helping me in.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’d do anything for you, Jayce.” He muttered and both my eyes opened and locked with his. He was so charming and sweet. The cocky asshole from the beginning of his stay in Arizona seemed to have gone missing completely. I sighed and dropped my eyes to my lap. Nick cleared his throat. “So, why’d you walk from Halvo’s anyway?”

I frowned at remembering the way John had practically ignored me. “John had to see Eric for some reason.” I shrugged.

“And he let you walk back?” He sounded incredulous.

“More like he told me to stay in the car and I,” I hesitated, “I kind of threw a tantrum, I suppose you could say.”

Nick laughed. “So fucking stubborn.” He shook his head and took the cloth away from my now clammy forehead.

“I’m not that stubborn.” I muttered and then smiled as Nick just stared at me. “Sometimes.” I added and rolled my eyes. He chuckled and stood up to go back to the kitchen.

“Keep telling yourself that, and maybe you’ll believe it. I don’t believe it for a fucking second.” He came back out and then sat down on the couch beside me. It was quiet for a few minutes before he spoke again. “Would it, uh, would it be okay …” He trailed off and I giggled.

“Would what be okay?”

He bit his bottom lip for a second and then smiled slightly. “If I put my arm around you, like this?” His arm slid around the back of the couch and around my shoulders.

I giggled more and scooted closer to his side. “It’s okay by me.” I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. Now if only we could stay like this.