Ruedelia's Repose

S I X

"What was that about?"

I frowned and looked up from the book I was reading on my phone to give Jordan a confused look in the rear view mirror from my place in the backseat.

He sighed, annoyed.

"You and Silas?", he reiterated. "What was that about?"

Oh.

I rolled my eyes and shut off my phone.

I was wondering when my brother was going to start interrogating me.

"We just went for a walk.", I answered, but I knew that Jordan wouldn't just drop his interest in my new found acquaintance.

The two boys were only in the same friend group because of Tommy, so they never really spoke to each other unless it involved sports, girls, or an agreement on what restaurant they were getting food from on the nights they hung out together with the rest of the guys.

Jordan and Silas's less than glowing relationship was also due to my brothers' shared reluctance to let anyone close to us anymore. This especially applied to Silas considering his joining our group late. After what happened to me, they'd gone from being my carefree brothers to my bodyguards, taking the word 'protective' to an entirely new level. They exploited their popularity and positions on their teams to the highest of their abilities, all to protect me.

Not that I was complaining—too much, anyway.

"Seriously.", I pushed.

Jordan clenched his jaw, his eyes hard as they focused on the road in front of us.

"I don't trust him."

"You don't trust anybody, Jordan.", I reminded him, but he just shook his head.

"No. I don't trust anyone when it comes to you.", he corrected, flipping down the turn signal and turning into our neighborhood.

Hakeem groaned in the passenger seat when his head thudded against the window, but he didn't wake up.

I sighed. "I know, but Silas has been in our group for years. Hasn't he proved himself worthy of my time?", I asked, rolling my eyes and exaggerating the second half of the sentence to let my brother know just how ridiculous I thought it was.

I wasn't the princess my friends treated me as, and I definitely wasn't someone people should be bowing down to—not like my brothers had made people believe.

I didn't deserve the favors or the recognition, I deserved a mental assessment and therapy sessions thrice a week.

I was a normal girl with an unfortunate past and that was it but the twins, especially Jordan, didn't see it that way.

I sighed and unbuckled my seatbelt, ready to take a shower and head to bed, but Jordan stopped me short.

"I just want to keep you safe, Rue.", he told me, and the words were so genuine I felt a twinge of guilt at how I was about to bring things into perspective for him.

I nodded. "I know, Jay, but we can't stay together forever.", I said. "Eventually life is gonna pull us apart and there won't be anything we can do. This utopian bubble of safety you and the guys have created will only withstand the weight of the world for so long."

With that, I slid from my seat and pushed open my door before trudging into the house, and kicking off my shoes in the foyer.

I was tired.

Despite tomorrow—or today, I should say, considering that it was five minutes past twelve a.m.—being a game day for the football team, everyone still had to attend school, and I was not looking forward to it.