Addicted

Chapter 8: Brother from Another Mother

Shane awoke the next morning to loud crashes and banging coming from outside Maree's bedroom door. The spot where she had fallen asleep with was empty and cold, as Shane palmed the bed to find her. Shane stood and put on pajamas before stepping out of the bedroom, rubbing the rest of the sleep from his eyes. The living room was covered in feathers and splashes of what he hoped were water puddles, in spots on the floor. He entered the kitchen to see Maree being princess carried by a rather tall and dark man, who had a look of fear and shock on his face upon seeing him. "Hey, Rooster." Maree said cheerily even though she was a good four feet off the ground and fully dressed, which wasn't characteristic of her.

"What's-uh-what's going on?" asked Shane just as confused by the moment as anyone else would be.

"Oh, sorry, dude-bro," said the tall man, setting Maree in a chair then extending a hand towards Shane for him to shake. "I'm Jake, Maree's big brother. I'm gonna be living here now, so you can call me dude-bro, Jake, dude, or bro, or dipshit like she does." Shane took Jake's hand and shook it, maintaining his hard grip but noticing that Jake's hands seemed huge compared to his.

Shane turned his attention to Maree who squirmed in her chair towards the table and braced her right knee against the table leg, violently jerking the rest of her body with a pained grunt, then straightening herself out. She pulled a long cloth bandage from the table and bound her leg, then pulled a brace over the bandage and wrapped it tight. "Hang on, Jake, my hip. Help me on the floor." Jake grabbed Maree's hands and helped her kneel and then lay on the floor, one leg over the other and then bringing her knee to her chest with her hands. Jake put his barefoot on the back of Maree's exposed thigh and held her other hand as she let out staggered breaths. "On three, ready?"

Jake shouted three before counting and leaned all of his body weight into his foot, simultaneously pulling on Maree's arm. Three loud and audible pops could be heard from Maree's position in the middle of the kitchen floor, to Shane's position in the doorway, which made Shane wince though he wasn't feeling the pain. Maree grunted and then groaned as she lowered her leg and Jake removed his foot. "You, good, sis?" asked Jake, now helping her stand from the floor.

She jumped a few times and then rocked on her heels. "Oh, so much better. It doesn't hurt nearly as much now, you're the best. No more getting locked up, I need you 'round here." She smiled then looked at Shane whose face gave off a puzzled look. "Something wrong, babe?" she asked not thinking of the words she was saying.

Shane blushed a bit at being called 'babe' and opened his mouth to speak then closed it again. "Shane," he said towards Jake, finally giving him a name.

"Oh, I know dude-bro. I've been hearing about you for the past two years from this one," Jake playfully punched Maree's arm. "She just doesn't shut up. I think that's just a girl thing though." Jake let out a laughed and then leaned onto Maree, using her head as an arm rest. "You're the dude that's fucking my sister. I'm think I'm supposed to be mean to you or threaten you if you treat her wrong, but I'm more worried for your health than hers, if you know what I mean?" Jake raised an eyebrow and then nudged his sister with his elbow.

"I'm afraid I don't know what you mean, She's actually a really cool person, and I'm enjoying getting to know her and her life," Shane sounded sincere but offended at the thought of Maree being bad for his health. After all, he was pretty sure that he was in love with her, he just didn't know how or when to voice it.

Maree looked down at the floor and then made her escape from being Jake's arm rest by busying herself at the stove, beginning breakfast for the three of them. Jake eyed his sister, squinting his eyes in her direction as he tried to think of his next words. Maree tried to ignore the feeling of her brother's eyes judging her from the other side of the kitchen and began to hum innocently as she cracked eggs into the frying pan.