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Gabriel nodded, beaming. “See? Gotta trust me.”
“If I die, I’m coming back to haunt you.”
They both laughed.
The pills he gave me worked, and I wasn’t feeling sore or the crack in my tailbone. I learned later they were muscle relaxers, given to him by Dr. Green just for me. That evening, I made a quick dinner for the guys and afterward, I sought out extra pillows and blankets. They set up a cubby space for the two of them in the attic. The floor of the attic left just enough space so they could sleep side by side with their heads near the door.
Gabriel complained about the heat. I found a fan in the shed and plugged it in, pointing it in their direction. That seemed to help.
I checked on my mom and tried to wake her up. I offered her some soup and put the cup near her bed. She grumbled through half open eyes and drifted off again. I wondered if whatever Luke gave her to breathe in might still be lingering in her system. I sent a text to Dr. Green. His reply said if she didn’t wake up again and actually eat something by the next morning to call him.
By nine, I was curled up on the bed, pretending to read but my eyes started drooping. The boys were preoccupied in the attic with the laptops.
I meant to get up and brush my teeth and do other things to stay awake. With the boys there, I felt awkward falling asleep so early. I turned over on the bed, putting the book down for only a minute to let my eyes rest.
What a Family is
I dreamed of being swallowed up by a dragon. His fire breath licked at my feet on my way down into his belly.
I shot upright in my bed. Two bodies enclosed on either side of me. In the darkness I caught Luke’s blond head to my left and Gabriel on his side on the right. Did I not feel them crawling into bed with me? Was I okay with this?
I couldn’t kick them out. They looked exhausted. I secretly didn’t want them to go away, either. I was terrified we would get caught, but my sleepy head dismissed this, and instead desired their closeness. I felt less lonely with them beside me.
I shifted onto my side to try to give them more room. I relaxed against the pillow, listening to the noises in the house.
When I woke up again, Luke’s arm was draped over my side, his nose pressed to my shoulder. Gabriel leaned against me, his foot on top of my ankle. I was hot and uncomfortable but didn’t want to move, didn’t want to wake them. Squished, I forced myself to go back to sleep.
The air shifted around us, causing a draft against the wisps of hair across my forehead. My eyes fluttered but I closed them again promptly. I dismissed it because the attic door was open and I didn’t know if maybe I was sensing changes to the weather outside through it.
Dual smacking sounds shattered the silence. Gabriel stiffened next to me and jolted up until he was sitting. Luke tumbled away in a shot and fell out of the bed.
I leapt up, scrambling on my knees until I was upright, afraid. I held my hands up, wary of monsters, of demons from my dreams suddenly come to life.
“Ow,” Gabriel grumbled. “What the fuck?” He sat on the edge of the bed, a hand shoved against his face. Luke was on his knees on the floor, covering his forehead with a palm.
“At least Sang is paying attention.” Kota’s voice sounded through the dark. The window was open behind him and a gentle breeze picked up the back of his hair. “What are you two doing sleeping?”
Did he not ask why they were sleeping next to me? Didn’t it bother him that they stayed so close with me? My insides shook at fully realizing they had slept in the bed with me. While I was half asleep, I appreciated that they were close by. Now that I was fully aware, it felt strange and especially awkward that Kota knew about it.
“The attic sucks,” Gabriel whined. “And we were right here with Sang. Nothing happened.”
“Mr. Blackbourne left you both here so you’d take shifts. Do I have to explain it?” He turned to me. “How are you?”
I swallowed thickly. “Fine, I think.”
“Nathan’s outside,” Kota said. “He’s going to take you both over to Silas’s apartment. Victor’s there already.”
Nathan had a car? I didn’t know he could drive.
Gabriel grumbled, feeling around in the dark for his shoes. “What time is it?”
“Four AM,” Kota said. “Welcome to it.” He removed the pillow from the head of the bed so he could crawl, sitting on the edge near me. “Gabriel, go with Victor to finalize some things. Make sure you check in with Mr. Blackbourne. Luke, you’ve got homework duty.”
“I hate homework duty,” Luke said, but he stood up, rubbing at his eyes. He stumbled forward, bending over and wrapping his arms around my shoulders. “Bye, Sang.”
An arm hooked around my neck from behind me. I was pulled back and Gabriel dropped his nose to the top of my hair. “Oy, Trouble,” he said. “Don’t let Kota boss you around.”
“Get out of here guys,” Kota said. “Nathan’s waiting.”
Luke crawled through the window, followed by Gabriel. Kota got off the bed to close the window behind them.
“I thought we were supposed to stay off of the roof,” I said.
Kota pointed a finger at me. “You are supposed to stay off the roof. But no. We’re not ready to start sneaking in the back door yet.”
“We’re going to be ready for that?” I asked, moving to kneel on the bed, grabbing the blanket and wrapping it around my body. Now that the surprise was over, I was chilled. The ceiling fan and the fan pointed at the attic stirred the cool night air seeping in.
“We have to be ready for lots of things,” he replied. He dropped on the bed next to me, his arm moving behind my back. He leaned against me, his shoulder pressing to mine. “You knew I was in the room before the other two. I saw you open up your eyes. How did you know?”
“I felt the air shift,” I said. “Probably from when you opened the window.”
“You’re a light sleeper?”
I nodded. I normally was. That’s what surprised me about waking up with the guys next to me. I blamed the red pills Gabriel had given me.
I breathed in deeply in a half yawn, smelling fresh soap and his spice. How early in the morning did he get up?
“You should still be more careful,” he said. “I had time to get in and thunk those two in the head. It would have been enough time for your mom or Marie to open that door and catch us.”
“I thought they were going to sleep in the attic,” I said. “They snuck into the bed after I passed out last night.” I shifted on the bed, pushing back the blanket from my shoulders to rub at my cheek and yawn.
“If they try that again, tell them to get back in the attic. Someone is supposed to stay awake and they aren’t fast enough to get into the attic from the bed in a dead sleep.”
I nodded. The skin around the bandages itched. I lifted the corner of one on my wrist, to peek at the wound. It wasn’t a cut, but the skin had been rubbed raw, enough to make the skin scab over. I ripped off the other one at my wrist and the two at my ankles.
Kota stood and collected a book bag that had been dropped by the window. He plopped the bag onto the bed and dug through the contents. “Silas got these for you.” He handed over a small plastic bag with a sports store logo on the outside.
Inside the bag were two hot pink sport wrist bands. I smiled. “He was asking about my favorite color.”
“Gabriel would have a fit,” Kota said, putting the bag aside and sitting next to me again. “I agree with Silas, though. We’ll need to hide those scabs on Monday.”
“I like them.”
The corner of his mout
h jerked up briefly. “Good. He’ll be glad to hear it from you.” He brushed his fingertips at my wrist, tugging my hand close so he could examine my skin. “God, Sang... it’s awful.”
I pressed my fingers into my palm and withdrew my hand away from him. “It’s fine. It’ll heal,” I said softly.
Kota’s gaze fixed on me, his glasses glinting a little from the morning light. His face came close to mine. “Stop doing that to yourself,” he said. His finger drifted to my cheek, curling a lock of my hair between his fingers. “You’re dismissing what’s been done to you.”
I scrunched my eyebrows together. “I remember everything,” I said.
“But you’re not angry. You’re not complaining. Would you even tell me if your head hurt, or if your stomach hurt, if you thought I wouldn’t notice? Would you have told me about the rice on the floor or even about the shower if no one knew?”
I bit my lip, glancing away. I didn’t know the answer to that. Was I supposed to tell people about every little ache and problem? No one else needed to deal with it.
“What else hurts?” he asked me. His fingers sought out my chin and he brought my face around so I was looking at his eyes again. “Sang, when you’re friends with someone, you’re honest with them. Tell me what hurts.”
I swallowed again, feeling my lips tremble. Why did I find it so difficult to talk now? As soon as he asked me the question though, I really didn’t feel anything hurting at all. Most of it was my tailbone and at the moment since I wasn’t moving, it didn’t hurt. My wrists were tender and he already knew that. The pain in my ankle wasn’t bothering me yet.
“Sang,” he whispered, but the power in his voice was taking over, commanding an answer.
“I am a little sore,” I offered.
“Is that it?”
“And my wrists and ankles...”
His eyebrow arched.
“My, um... I think I might have cracked my tailbone.”
His head tilted. “How?”
My cheeks heated. “When Nathan and Silas were looking for me in the house and I was in the shower. I could hear them talking. I was trying to make noise so I jumped with the stool to try to get the wood to bang against the tub.”
