Winning His War

12

Patrick's POV

The past few days passed slowly and worse than I thought they would be.

I went to work like always, spent the drives to Jem's house in complete silence with Devon, watched a bit of TV before teaching Andrew how to cook something new, and then going to bed shortly after.

Without Jem, the house seemed dull and lifeless, not just our wing either. Whenever we pass by the main wing to get to Jem's the usual banter and frat house laughter was gone. Only a few people sat in the living room but none of them bothered to make much noise or greet Devon as we walked to our wing.

Barrett's usually bright and optimistic self seemed to physically dim as time went on. Devon's unreadable face slowly allowed worry to slip through when he gave Barrett quick glanced while they had silent conversations.

After a few days of living like this, I expected today to be no different but when we got closer to the door that led to our wing, noise in the kitchen managed to seep through the walls and Devon's shoulders relaxed before a small smile crossed his face.

"Finally," was all he muttered to himself before his smile fell and he pushed the door open but he couldn't hide the relief in his voice.

I followed behind him, expecting to see Andrew running around the kitchen in a confused daze but when I saw Jem standing there, my heart sped up a bit.

He honestly looked like shit.

His hair was unmade, his long sleeved shirt was rolled up, exposing his far too pale forearms, but he somehow looked more relaxed than I had ever seen him.

"Don't say a word about it," Devon seethed, though his voice remained low.

"I hope you guys are hungry because I think I made too much," Jem sighed but a smile still sat on his lips weakly.

"Well we have an army so I doubt it will go to waste," Devon teased for once but his voice lacked emotion.

"You'll have to go to the store again though, I used half the fridge."

"I can manage that."

A soup of some sort sat on a warmer simmering as Jem pulled a casserole out of the oven, each were big enough to feed a family of 6 but Jem still turned around to finish the salsa he was making.

"Andrew will be upset that you started without him," I said as I took a seat at the bar and watched him work.

"Is that so?"

"Apparently Barrett has been talking about how good you can cook. He's been wanting you to teach him."

Devon shot me a scowl and for a second I'm afraid I messed up but Jem only smiled a bit.

"I think I can set some time aside for that," he said, not bothering to hide a little smirk on his face before letting us slip into silence again.

"Does casserole and soup even go together? Most people do one or the other with a side dish," I pointed out after a while.

"Yea but casserole is for Barrett and the soup is for Dev. They could both eat their weight in this shit most days so I usually have to make two separate dinners for them. If you or Andrew don't like either one though I'll make you something else."

"I can't speak for Andrew but I'll eat just about anything."

"Well its ready so grab a bowl or plate and make yourself comfortable."

That was all Devon needed to step into the kitchen. His eyes were all but glued on the metal pot on the stove as he grabbed the biggest bowl out of the cabinet and filling it up as much as he could without spilling it.

"Best chicken soup ever made," Devon whispered mostly to himself as he sat down on the couch.

"I've never seen a white based chicken soup before," I said as I made a small bowl of it, hoping to save room so I could go back and get some of the hash brown casserole. "It's pretty good though."

"I'm glad you like it."

I watched as Jem turned back to his salsa, bring it and a bag or chips to the bar and leaning on the edge as he began to eat.

"That's all you're having after making all of this?"

"I'll have something later," he dismissed. I don't believe him but before I could call him out for it the front door opened.

It was quiet for a whole two seconds after that.

"Do I smell hash brown casserole or am I going crazy," Barrett yelled as he ran into the kitchen.

"We'll you've been crazy for a while so I guess you're right," Jem teased, his smirk quickly reappearing.

"I swear I love you so much," Barrett sighed before pulling Jem into his arms until he got too cramped and pushed his friend away.

"Go fix your plate," he scoffed with an eye roll.

"He's never this excited when I cook," Andrew pouted but followed Barrett's lead anyway.

"So I've been told. I'm sure we can change that with a bit of time," Jem said, his smirk dropping to a small smile but it only showed how tired he was.

"Have you figured out who tried to kill you three yet," Barrett asked after a while as he stared at the TV.

"Nope. I haven't even started looking," Jem sighed as he rubbed his face.

I glare at that a bit. Just because I wasn't flat out miserable here didn't mean I wasn't ready to get my life back.

"I don't know if you've notice or not but things have been kind of crazy around here and sadly there is only one of me," Jem said when he noticed my face. "I have someone taking care of it but I just need time."

Jem sighed to himself as he took his bowl to the sink before putting his chip away in a cabinet.

"Ash doesn't have much time left, does he," Devon asked from his place on the couch with Barrett.

"Three days unless he makes me come looking for him."

"If he's that stupid then I doubt you trusted the right person to do this job," Barrett commented.

Jem didn't bother saying anything as he walked down the hallway to his office.

"Where are you going," Andrew asked with a scowl as if it weren't obvious.

"The office. I need to make a few calls before it gets too late."

"Can't you take a small break? We can watch a movie or something."

Jem sighed as he looked over to Andrew to let him down gently but Andrew's scowl dropped to a pout.

I couldn't hide the smile that crossed my face as Jem's resolve slowly faded.

"Just one," he sighed after a second. "And it has to be short."

Andrew's pout disappeared as he raced to the couch with Jem close behind him.

"I get to pick the movie!" Barrett yelled as he lunged for the remote but Jem was faster and snatched it away from him before giving it to Andrew. "Dude! Not fair!"

"I'm not in the mood for a horror movie." He said simply as he settled into the couch while Andrew worked to find a movie worth watching.

He still looked tired; seemingly only seconds away from sleep if he would just allow himself the time but he forced himself awake as he watched the movie on the screen for Andrew's sake.

Maybe Jem wasn't as bad as I thought.

Happy holidays

Last updated December 25, 2021