Rekindled- Jake Kiszka

Chapter 19

I could barely think before I was being pulled to Jake's bathroom, the two other boys following us in as Jake helps me onto the counter to sit. I see him grab out the alcohol pads and think back to the night he cleaned my hands up when I broke the glass. That felt like so long ago.
"You don't have to do all that," I say, looking at the alcohol pads and remembering how they stung last time.
"Your lip is busted open and you have like three cuts on your face," Jake said simply, letting me know with his tone that he was going to do it anyway.
"So are you gonna tell us what happened?" Sam asks, sitting on the bench from Jake's room that he and Danny had dragged in.
"This customer was just being an asshole," I say, shaking my head which made Jake put his fingers against my cheek, keeping me still while he wiped around my face with a wet cloth to clean it up first.
"You fought a customer Mary Jane?" He asks, making me frown.
"She called me a whore and threw a milkshake on me, did you want me to walk away?!"
The room went quiet and I knew they couldn't come back to that one.
Danny clears his throat and sits up a little "so they let you go?" He asks, trying to word it as nicely as he can.
"Mhm, fired me and sent me home. Said he would reach out in a few weeks or something like that." I mumble, wincing when I feel Jake press the alcohol pad to one of the smaller cuts on my face without warning.
"Ow Jake what the fuck!" I hiss, grabbing his arm to pull it away from my face. I didn't mean to snap on him, but he should have warned me, it's not like he wasn't aware that it would hurt.
"Why don't you guys go find Mary Jane something to wear?" Jake asks in a calm tone, turning to the guys who nod with a knowing look. He nods at the door and they head out, Sam closing the door behind them as I silently curse myself.
"What's wrong with you?" He asks plainly, setting what he was holding back on the counter and crossing his arms over his chest
"You put that shit on my face and didn't warn me, it hurt." I say, matching his posture by crossing my arms across my chest as well.
"No, what's wrong with you? Why are you freaking out now? You leave the house as calm as I've ever seen you when you obviously weren't doing well, you go to work and get in a fight? Never in the years I've known you have I EVER imagined you even getting angry enough to fight someone. You get fired from a job you've had for years, you come home a mess and now you're yelling at me. So what's your problem?"
"I don't want to talk about this." I say, going to hop down from the counter when I feel Jake's hands on both of my knees, keeping me where I am.
"Let me down." I say sternly.
"No, tell me what's wrong with you."
"No, let me down."
"You're acting like a child."
He knew he was pissing me off at this point.
"Can we please just talk about this when they leave? If I do this right now I'm gonna get pissed off and I'm gonna snap again and I don't want to say or do anything I'll regret. Please." I say, practically pleading at this point. He sighs and picks the pad back up, taking my hand into his and bringing it back to my face, "it'll be quick," he whispers, giving my hand a brief squeeze before starting to wipe over the other 2 cuts, causing me to grip his hand tightly and close my eyes. He whispers encouraging words, telling me he was almost done and that it would be over in just a second, as he wipes my bottom lip off and goes over it with water after so it wouldn't taste like alcohol.
"We should get you in the shower, your hair is covered in milkshake," he says, starting to clean up the counter and all of the wrappers and such, "you go ahead and get in and I'll leave some clothes on my dresser for you. I'll send the guys home." I says, kissing my forehead softly and walking out of the bathroom before I could say no. I sigh and hop off of the counter, locking the door and turning the shower on a nice warm temperature. I grab Jake's brush from his drawer and start working through my sticky hair, most of it clumping together where the milkshake got into it. Once its all brushed through, I take my dirty work clothes off and look in the mirror, turning around and catching a glimpse of the bruise forming on my back from the glass that had hit me. Running my fingers over it gently, I sigh and move into the warm shower, letting the water run over me and relax my muscles.