Mutiny Below

Jayce

Girl’s Day went horribly wrong. I think adding Jess to the mix made Natalia feel even more out of place. It was hard to reach out, but I knew what it felt like to be the odd one out. These kids were tightly knitted together and I remembered crystal clear when John started to introduce me to the guys. Needless to say, it took months to crack into everyone’s shell, but Natalia didn’t have that time.

I sighed and put in my earphones. I left the apartment with a little hop in my step as Jack’s Mannequin played in my ears. It was warm out, but I barely felt it. Instead, I continued to focus on Natalia while I walked through the apartment complex and toward the mailboxes. I groaned as I neared my destination and saw the familiar tuft of orange red hair.

Nick was leaning against Eric’s building, smoking. I ignored him and continued to the mail. I knew I was projecting myself onto Natalia to keep my mind away from her brother, but that was for the best. If I stayed away from Nick things would get better.

There was nothing too important in the mail. An offer to join Netflix was about the most interesting item there. I rolled my eyes and stuffed the papers under my arm. I stared straight ahead as I went to pass by Eric’s apartment again when an idea occurred.

I was torn. On one side, it was a good opportunity to pull Natalia in the group without the whole group being there. But on the other side, it meant Nick would be in close proximity to me. I bit my bottom lip and checked my peripheral vision for the redhead. He was still standing there, leisurely bringing the cigarette up to his lips.

“Fuck,” I muttered before turning to change my course. Now I was walking straight toward the boy and he quickly shoved off the building. He eyed me curiously as I approached.

“What do you want?” He asked standoff-ishly. I watched as he took one last drag and then threw the cigarette down, stepping on it with the tip of his shoe. He slowly let the smoke out and a tingle went down my spine. Oh, it was definitely not supposed to bring up that reaction when he simply blew smoke out of his mouth. In fact, I couldn’t stand it when John smoked.

I shook my head from the thoughts and dropped my eyes to the ground. “I came over to invite you and Natalia to dinner.” I crossed my arms and glanced at him. His eyebrows were raised and he was staring at me unbelievably.

“I’m not taking my sister to some orgy party, if that’s what you’re looking for.” I rolled my eyes at his unimpressive insult. Not getting angry at him was getting easier.

“I’m inviting you because Halvo can’t cook for shit and he usually comes over for dinner every night anyway. I just didn’t want Nat to starve.” I let my arms fall to my sides and turned to go.

“Wait,” Nick sighed and I tried not to smile as I twirled around to see him. He scratched the back of his neck and frowned. A frown just didn’t look right on those pretty lips. “I wanted to thank you for reaching out to Nat.”

My eyebrows scrunched together. “You’re thanking me?” This was way out of line. Bitterness I could deal with. Gratitude, not so much.

“Nat’s not very trusting of people, but I appreciate that you’re trying.” He sighed again and stared uneasily at me.

I licked my lips. “I know what it’s like to be on the outside of this group, and it’s not fun.” I shrugged. “I was just trying to spare her that.”

“Thanks.” He nodded and pressed his lips together. I nodded to and then waved before turning to leave again. This time he didn’t stop me.

I continued back home where I found John on the couch, playing video games with Garrett. I kissed John, feeling a little guilty for no reason, and then left again to go to the store.

I hadn’t bothered to ask about Natalia’s food preferences and I immediately started fret. I couldn’t help but wonder if maybe she was a vegetarian, or if Nick was a vegetarian. There would be a big problem if I made something with meat and then neither of them ate anything. Great way to invite Nat into the group, Jayce, just fucking great.

After about an hour at the market, going up and down aisles mindlessly, I finally decided on pasta. It was the only safe road I could choose. I did grab a package of crab meat to sneak into the pasta, just in case they weren’t vegetarians.

When I got back home, John was gone. I frowned and found a note on the fridge. He went to Garrett’s with Halvo, Nick, and Natalia. Apparently they would all be back in time for dinner. Fantastic.

I ignored the loneliness and put Fall Out Boy’s new album into the stereo. The music blasted throughout the apartment and I giggled as I started cooking. The kitchen had always been the one place I escaped to when my parents or school got to be too much. It was a healing process I used way too much, but everyone always loved the outcome.

I jumped slightly when two arms wrapped around my middle. I giggled and leaned into his warmth as my whole body relaxed. I tipped my head back and smiled as his lips brushed against mine.

“Smells good, Jayce.” Eric simply ruined the moment. I glanced over John’s shoulder and found all three of our dinner guests standing awkwardly at the kitchen entrance. My cheeks started to burn. “Nice dance moves too.” He smirked and I glared.

“Halvo, set the table.” John yelled at him and I snickered.

“Yeah, yeah.” Eric rolled his eyes and went to the cupboard for dishes.

John smirked before he pressed a firm kiss to my lips. I kissed back halfheartedly because of my super awareness of Nick. He was staring at us as Eric and Natalia set the table. I bit my bottom lip as I turned back to the pots and pans.

Dinner was a disaster. Once everyone was sitting down and eating, the silence settled. I hated silence, but this kind of silence really killed me. It was full of tension. John sat beside me with his hand on my knee under the table. Natalia sat across from me but she mostly kept her eyes down at her plate. Nick sat across from John and he continued to switch his stare from John to me and then back again with a peculiar look. And then Eric was completely oblivious to everything.

I was exhausted by the time everyone left. John sweetly volunteered to do the dishes while I showered. I took him up on the offer and washed the sweat and the guilt off in a little less than twenty minutes.

I yawned as I pulled on a pair of panties and then grabbed one of John’s button up shirts. I went back into the bathroom to brush my hair and teeth. When I returned to the bedroom, John was pulling on his pajama pants. I smiled and put my arms around him from behind, laying my head against his back.

“Your hair’s cold.” He complained and turned around, his hands caressing my neck. “Dinner was amazing.” He smirked and pecked my lips. I frowned.

“It was awful.” I leaned my forehead on his chest and he started to rub my back.

“Why do you say that?”

“Because it didn’t work.” I whined and he chuckled.

“What were you trying to do?”

I huffed and walked out of his arms. I started to pace the room and he sat down on the bed. “I just want Nat to feel a little more comfortable, but nothings working! The whole group together freaks her out, which should have been expected.”

“Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?” John teased as he stretched out and I shot him a look.

“It means your friends have a tendency to push outsiders away and sometimes their just plain creepy.” John rolled his eyes. “So I tried a girl’s day. Didn’t work. And now a smaller group with the less intimidating members of the group, also did not work.” I rambled and brought my nails up to my mouth.

“Okay, why don’t you try letting her fit in on her own?”

“Uh, because that won’t work? She’s so shy and quiet.” I pursed my lips and looked over at him. His gorgeous green eyes were staring back at me and his perfect lips were in a crooked smile. The only thing intimidating about John was his height. “I have an idea!”

John laughed and leaned back against the headboard. “Why do I have a feeling this will end in trouble?”

I ignored his rhetorical question. “I want you to take Nat out tomorrow.”

“What?” He looked at me like I was crazy.

“Come on, John. She needs one on one in order to open up. Having other people around just freaks her out more.”

“Why me?” He was still looking at me like I was crazy.

“Because you are the least threatening sweetheart in Arizona. You won’t hit on her. You won’t call her dude. You won’t belch the alphabet in front of her. And you cannot tell me one of the guys would not do one of those things, if not all of them.” I crossed my arms and arched my eyebrows at him.

John sighed and a slow smile appeared. “You know what’s wrong about this?” I changed position and put my hands on my hips. “You’re in nothing but my shirt and you’re not on top of me. That’s just wrong.” He shook his head and I rolled my eyes.

“I was being serious, John.” I climbed onto the bed and straddled his waist.

John smirked as his fingers traced up my thighs and he leaned forward to kiss me. There was only a small space of air between us when I quickly pulled back. He groaned and I giggled. “Okay, fine. I’ll do it.”

“Aw, thank you, dear.” I sugar coated my voice and pecked his lips before rolling over onto my side of the bed.

“Oh, no you don’t.” John growled and rolled on top of me. I giggled harder as he started to kiss my neck. It didn’t take long for the giggles to turn into moans, or for the image of Nick smoking to come clearly into my mind.

Oh, dear.