Winning His War

10

Patrick's POV

Sleep came easier than I thought it would have considering this was only the second night of staying in a gang leaders home. I would have thought I would need a few nights for the new-ness to wear off and for me to get used to everything but it was pretty easy.

After I got used to all the weird sounds in the house, bickering from Devon and Jem, a small joyful yell from a few guys in the other wing's living room, Barrett snoring loudly in the rom beside mine, they all surprisingly became nothing more than white noise.

I had been asleep for hours when a sound I wasn't used to yet drifted through the walls.

My eyes shot open when a scream reached my ears.

At first I assumed it came from down the hall where Jem's employees lived but when the second scream rung out and Barrett's door slammed open I was convinced it was coming from Jem's room.

My heart sped up a bit as I forced myself out of bed in nothing but boxers. The dark did little to help me navigate the hallway as I followed the sound of screaming until it came to an abrupt stop.

The door to Jem's room was closed but I could tell he wasn't alone in there. My ear was practically glued to the door as I tried to hear if he was okay.

"Jem, I need you to calm down," Devon said, his voice coming out calmer than I've ever heard it before, I almost didn't recognize him with that much emotion.

Jem mumbled something I didn't quiet catch, his voice muffled with something.

"Just breathe," Barrett soothed. "You're safe, we're fine, nothing happened to a warehouses. Everything is aright."

"Was that Jem?" I jumped a bit when Andrew's voice snuck up on me. "I heard a scream all the way in my room."

I didn't have a chance to answer him before the door shot open.

I took a step back quickly, narrowly dodging Jem as he marched out of the room. A glare that I had very rarely seen was painted on his face while he pushed past me. My shoulder ached at the harsh hit but Jem didn't bother to slow his movements or mumble an apology. His eyes were set on his office door and they didn't move from it until he was disappearing behind it.

Devon followed closely behind him but when the door was slammed shut and the lock fell into place, he stopped with a sigh. Barrett had a similar expression of defeat written across his face but a fake smile crossed his face when he turned back to see us standing there.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to wake you guys up," he said with a small chuckle before beginning to walk away from Jem's office. "You both have work in the morning, try to get back to sleep."

"What the hell was that," Andrew scoffed out, his eyes still glued to the door separating Jem and us.

"What was what?"

"What do you mean 'what was what', you know exactly what he's talking about," I said with a scowl of my own.

"It was a nightmare," Devon scoffed out. His feet leading him back to his room. "Don't act like you haven't had one before."

"I've had plenty but none of them have been bad enough to have me screaming myself awake."

"Does he have them often," Andrew asked but Devon didn't answer. His scowl only deepened before he followed Jem's lead, closing the door gently behind him and turning off his bedroom light.

"It's not a big deal," Barrett sighed, "please don't act like it is. Just go back to bed and do yourself a favor; don't bring it up in the morning. It will only make it worse."

I frowned at his words but before I could say anything else Barrett was gone, leaving Andrew and I in the dark hallway alone.

"Nice PJ's," Andrew teased after a while as he looked up and down my body, a smile smirk lying in his face.

"Well I thought I would have time to put pants on before I left this morning so you can't really blame me," I sighed as I looked back at the office.

"What are you doing," Andrew asked skeptically as my feet led me to the door.

My knuckles hit the wood before I had a chance to stop myself.

"Jem? Are you okay?"

At first there was nothing. No sound left the small room but what came next was enough to make me wish for the silence.

I had known Liam since he was 16. He was never much of a liar and very rarely tended to over exaggerate but I had always thought that he was joking about how scary Jem could be when he was pissed. His voice was enough to let me know how deadly serious Liam was.

"Leave."

The one word held so much anger; demanding that his tone would leave no room for interpretation.

I had known Jem for years. We didn't know everything about each other considering we weren't friends but still, I had never seen him act like this.

I frowned at the door as Andrew pulled my arm until I were back in my room. I stood there alone with a frown on my face, just hoping Jem was okay.

I swear,  these will eventually get longer. 

Last updated December 13, 2021