Frostbite

I love Uncle Isaac, I do. He's a great uncle and an amazing coach, but god damn. It sure as hell was not necessary to put me on bed rest for two days. It's just a bruised muscle. It'll be fine but no. I'm confined to my grey duvet for the next 48 hours.

There's three pillows propped under my hurt knee and an alternating schedule of ice packs and heat pads on the most bruised part of my leg. Way too much but I guess that's what you get when your overprotective uncle is also your hard-ass coach.

There's a soft knock on my door and before I get a chance to answer, Uncle Isaac walks in followed by Kinna. My uncle takes a seat on the bed next to my knee and gently raises the ice pack before wrapping a hand around my ankle and pushing my knee all the way to my chest.

Kinna squeaks and moans. "Uncle Isaac stop! You're gonna hurt him!"

"Kin, calm down." I say soothingly. "It actually feels good."

"Oh." She says. "You are way too flexible for your own good."

I laugh. "Do you know what I do? This is necessary."

"Exactly." Uncle Isaac grins. "I'm glad you understand that." 

I groan and kick my leg away from him. "This? This is not necessary. My leg is fine!"

He scowls and yanks my leg back toward him before plugging in the heat pad and placing it on my knee. "Just one more day Cage. Humor me."

"Well, I don't really have a choice, do I?" 

"Now you're getting it." He sighs. "And stop with the attitude. This is for your own good. You'll thank me later." 

"Yeah right." I mumble.

"What was that?" He questions.

"Nothing." I say with the most innocent face I can muster.

"That's what I thought."

Kinna flops down on the bed next to me and gives our uncle a pointed look. "Go away now. We've got some sibling bonding to do." 

Uncle Isaac rolls his eyes but leaves the room anyway and Kinna grins. She finds my recordings of The OC on TiVo and so begins our marathon. But in all honesty we don't really watch anything. She talks about how her long distance relationship is going and almost bursts with excitement when she tells me that he's coming for a visit next week. 

This makes me happy. I mean, sure, I like Kaleb and everything but the most important thing is that he makes Kinna happy. That's all that matters.

I tell her about everything that's happened at school that she doesn't know about yet, including Bennett. She gets all excited until I tell her that I declined. This makes her mad for a second but she gets over it quickly. I love my sister but her mood swings get scary sometimes. 

Suddenly my door swings open and Jennie walks in carrying an armful of books. "Hey guys. Cage, I brought you your homework."

"And I brought you ice cream." Nico announces, following her. "I just thought that I'd be the cool best friend and all." 

"Well, personally, I think the gift of knowledge is better than sweets."

"Mhmm." Nico rolls his eyes. "And that's why he likes me more."

Bennett walks in next and grins. "Don't kid yourself Nico, clearly I'm his favorite." 

Nico's cheeks light up a burning shade of red but he still manages to look indignant. "As if." 

This results in a mini fight between the three of them which I can't seem to break up no matter how loud I yell. Kinna quickly bows out of the room, mumbling apologies all the way through the door. I silently curse her and cross my arms over my chest, giving up. 

"HEY! Will you all shut the fuck up? If I have to be here then I'm not putting up with this shit." Benjamin screams, walking into the room and throwing himself down at the foot of the bed. Everyone stares at him but, to his credit, they're all quiet. 

"So," I smirk, breaking the silence. "If you don't want to be here, why are you?" 

"Juliet made-"

"Get well soon!" Juliet screams bursting in through the door with a collection of balloons sporting the same phrase and a vase of assorted flowers.

"Oh." I say dumbly. "Uh. Thank you."

Jennie laughs and takes the balloons from her, setting them in the corner. "You do know he's just got a bruised knee, right? Not a broken leg."

"So? Gym was boring without him so he needs to get better soon. Plus, everyone knows that balloons make things better. Balloons and kisses and band aides. And since you don't have kisses I thought I'd bring balloons. Oh, Mini we should have brought band aides! You know what? Just kiss him instead." 

"No." We say in unison. He looks at me and shakes his head with a smile before crossing his legs under himself. 

Nico sits himself next to me on my left and Jennie takes the spot on my right. Bennett sits next to Nico and Juliet next to Benjamin. It's a good thing I have a queen sized bed or there's no way all six of us would fit.

Nico clears his throat. "So I still don't understand why Benjamin is here."

"Well," Juliet starts. "It's his fault Cage got hurt. I figured the least he could do is help keep him company, you know?"

"Wait. This is your fault?" The actor demands, outraged. 

"Not technically. If he had just waited until the ice was completely clear then he wouldn't be-" 

Benjamin doesn't get the chance to finish his sentence though, as Nico launches himself across the bed and into Benjamin's lap. It's not pleasant though, if the grunts and swears are any indication. Nico's fists are flying but I don't think he's doing any real damage. I mean, I knew that the two of them don't like each other but holy hell.

It doesn't take long for Benjamin to restrain Nico, his hands wrapped firmly around the smaller boy's wrists. I'm so stunned by the sudden change of events that I can't even say anything. Bennett is the one who takes Nico out of Benjamin's grasp. 

The hockey player raises an eyebrow and grits his teeth. "Look, you fucking twink. I'm here for Juliet and Cage, but that doesn't mean I won't beat the shit out of you and make you eat it. Got it?"

Bennett catches Nico as he lunges again and gives me a sheepish smile. "I'll probably be over tomorrow or something but I'm gonna get him out of here before it turns bloody."

"Okay, thanks." I grin, noticing the blush covering Nico's cheeks yet again. They leave and Jennie turns to me smiling.

"So how long do you think it'll take?"

"I give it a week." 

"A week?" Juliet questions.

"For them to get together. You can't tell me you didn't see the chemistry between them." Jennie explains.

For the most part, the hours following are very pleasant. Benjamin doesn't make any comments on my injury or my sport and I don't make any about his. He's actually a very nice guy. I could definitely see us being friends if it weren't for him being such an asshole all the time. I mean, I really can't deny that he's hot as hell and he did help me. He could have just pretended not to see me fall. And then he stayed with me in the locker room and helped as best as he could. He definitely didn't have to do that. 

He's not as bad as I thought, I guess. 

Around 7 Jennie hops up and excuses herself, stating dinner as the reason she has to go. Juliet follows her lead and stretches. "I've got homework to do  and dinner too, and honestly I have no idea what I'm going to wear tomorrow."

She stops by the door and looks at Benjamin expectantly. "Are you coming?"

He looks surprised for a second but stands too. "I'll . . . see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah. Tomorrow." I smile, slightly disappointed at the empty room when they go. If I didn't know any better I'd say Benjamin looked kind of disappointed too but then again, I know better.