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To feel the power Boiling in their veins
"Alex seems to be having fun," Danny commented, sliding to stand beside him against the wall, mirroring his lean. Jake had lost the last round abysmally and had been unceremoniously booted from the next game of pool as Josh took his place. Although, his twin wasn't fairing much better than he had.
But, the drummer's remark had the ghost of a smile fluttering across his face because she did seem to be enjoying herself, and for once, things were falling into place without incident. "She's coming back home with us for Thanksgiving," he revealed, and the acknowledgment finally did split his mouth into a prideful grin.
Meeting the family and seeing where they had all grown up was just the final piece that would complete the puzzle. And, even if it was still a few months away, its anticipation made him hopeful that the flightiness and indecision was a thing of the past. Although, the prospect probably had Alex silently shitting her pants in aversion.
"I'm happy for you, dude," Danny said with a genuine smile, placing a brotherly hand on his shoulder in congratulations. "You were both kind of a mess for a while there."
Kind of was a bit of an understatement, but Jake let it slide. It was just another unfortunate instance they could allow to fade into an unpleasant memory as they made new, better ones to take its place. The recognition drew his mouth open, ready to thank him, to thank all of them, really, for tolerating the endless back and forth, but his name being called interrupted any intended sentiments.
"Jake!" It was Paige, trying to shove her way through the crowd, looking entirely flustered and concerned.
Something about the tone and the grimace carried with it made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up in warning. They'd only been gone a few minutes, just to the bathroom. What the hell could have gone wrong now?
He didn't get the chance to ask because she reached him and began tugging him away by the sleeve while rambling over the noise in rushed sentences he could barely make out. "We came out, and some dude just grabbed Alex. She looked like she was about to punch him, but I don't know-"
Jake had heard enough, and as his earlier caution turned to anger, he too began pushing past people without bothering to apologize as they were thrust out of his way.
The pair ran into Hannah first, jostled amongst the sea of bodies, and her face mirrored Paige's in a way that had his stomach-turning. "I didn't know what to do, it all just happened so fast," she fumbled over her words, but Jake could barely hear them over the sound of blood rushing through his ears.
The thought that swirled the loudest was that this wasn't how the night was supposed to go. At all.
"Just go get the guys. I'll handle it," he instructed with barely contained fury, moving past both of the befuddled girls as he strode to the back of the bar with more purpose now. Eventually, his brothers would join them, and whatever bullshit was awaiting him in the meantime, he'd traverse it himself.
