Our Saving Grace

Conversations - Sang

I woke from a nightmare where someone was tugging my leg as they dragged me further and further under the water until I was on the brink of drowning. Thankfully I had trained myself as a child to never call out in my sleep, because if I had screamed I would have disrupted my sleeping companions. And yes, that was a plural. My cheek was pressed up against Luke's lean, hard chest with my injured arm propped up on a pillow on his stomach. Meaning that the other body wrapped around my back like a giant spoon was not Luke. 

I slowly raised my head and from the corner of my eye saw that North was our surprise guest. I wonder if he comes in to sleep with his brother often. I settled back into place and took stock of how I was feeling after the very eventful night. My wrist was throbbing, and from the small movements that I had done I knew that my chest was going to be extra soar this morning. And I had a headache. In fact, I kinda felt like I had a hangover, which made no sense because I hadn't had any alcohol last night. Maybe the fact that it smelled like I was hungover was contributing to my confusion. 

Wait that didn't make sense either. 

I turned my nose down and sniffed. While I didn't smell all that great considering that I had never showered after the event, I still didn't smell like old whiskey and sweat. I then buried my nose in Luke's shirt and took a deep breath. Nope, not Luke either. He just smelled like syrup and sugar. I lifted my head again and was accosted with the offending smell that I had been looking for. So it was North that smelled like a bar floor after closing. I wonder how much liquor it takes to get a guy as big as North that wasted. 

The better question is why North got wasted last night. 

Hopefully it wasn't because I lost my cool and reveled a little too much last night. I already had my hands full making sure my emotional overflow didn't cause lasting harm to Luke. The last thing I needed was the silent, broody one to go off the deep end too. 

The air shifted and I glanced towards the door to see Silas was now standing in the doorway looking at me with his kind dark brown eyes. I tilted my head slightly, asking him why he was here but he just gave me a soft smile before gesturing that I should come with him. I furrowed my brow and thought about that for a moment. It wasn't going to be easy to get out of this Taylor sandwich without waking either one or both of the brothers. 

I slowly propped myself on my good arm and felt North's arm slide from around my waist. I turned to look down at him, but other than letting out the cutest little snore he didn't seem to mind me moving too much. I looked back over at Silas and he seemed to understand my problem. He came over and simply picked me up bridal style and hugged me to his broad chest. I looked back when I sensed movement and saw that North had readjusted his body in my absence until his arm was now thrown over Luke, who hadn't moved an inch. 

It was just about the cutest thing I had ever seen. 

I tucked my head underneath Silas' chin as we just stood there and watched them sleep for a while. It was nice to see something so peaceful after all of the drama the night before. Eventually, Silas turned and brought me out of Luke's bedroom and back towards the kitchen that smelled amazing. I felt the sleep starting to clear from my mind as we walked into the kitchen and saw Sean sitting at the kitchen table and Uncle cooking at the stove. 

That is when it hit me - Uncle, the Academy member that owned a dinner and everyone called Uncle, was really Luke's and North's uncle. This was his house. Wow, I can be dense sometimes. 

"Little bird!," Uncle exclaimed when he saw me. "Sean told me that we had a surprise guest, but I had no idea it was you. Does Phil know that you are here? Why in the world are you being carried like some sort of bride over my threshold? And what happened to your hand?"