Delgado

Chapter 22

A/N - cherish this cuz I can just smell the writers block😍

I start university in 2 weeks I feel SICK😐

~~~

Xander

Santiago had ruined me.

I'd never felt shitter in my life, lying on my back in bed with pain still lingering in my abdomen and the constant thought that if he'd been killed two days earlier, I'd be fine.

I'd been shot.

I hadn't used the word 'shot' in a sentence unless I was joking about it, trying to make light of this shit situation and convince everyone I was okay. I hadn't spoken about what happened, not even to Xav; and we told each other everything.

He'd been patient with me though, they all had.

I was nineteen for fuck's sake - I was meant to be out getting drunk, meeting guys...and making out with them.

I was meant to be having fun. Yet here I was, scared to leave the fucking house, no matter how hard I tried to convince myself nothing could happen to me out there.

"This is a mess King", I turned my head to the side and stared at the snake in his enclosure, "and now I'm speaking to a fucking snake". I groaned, letting a hand drop onto my face and rub my eyes; I just needed to sleep.

"Rise and shine!", and I spoke to fucking soon, "how's my favourite brother doing?". I glared at my twin who had just thrown my door open and entered with Jake and Parker behind him- give me strength.

"Hey Xan", Jake dropped onto the bottom of my bed and sighed, "you're not busy right now, right?".

"I'm in bed, in pain, in pyjamas", I deadpanned, "do I look fucking busy?".

"Goddamn, he's worse than he was before", Parker laughed, sitting in the hammock in the corner, "well we've come to cheer you up". I made eye contact with Xav and he surrendered, I didn't need cheering up.

"Yeah you do", Xav clapped his hands, "so turn that frown upside down".

"Oh please", Jake laughed, "but yeah, if you're up for it, we were gonna go get pizza". They all stared at me, expecting an answer, I just fiddled with the drawstrings on my trousers and shook my head.

"I'm good here", I declined, "too tired". More like too scared to step out of the front door.

"Then we'll bring the pizza to you", Parker grinned, little shits, "pepperoni right?".

I could see they weren't gonna give it up, so I nodded and pulled myself into a sitting position slowly; dull pain shooting up my body. Even two months onward, I was still in pain from the injury- it hurt to sit down, stand up, bend over; it felt like one big bruise in my abdomen that the doctors had said was healing nicely.

They'd also told me it was a fucking miracle I was alive...I didn't feel like a miracle.

"Get me plain cheese", Xav's voice snapped me back to reality and I glanced over at him; he hadn't sat down yet, he was hovering near the now closed door and fiddling with random shit on my desk, "thought I'd switch it up today".

"Switch it up to the most boring thing on the menu?", Jake frowned, "you worry me sometimes".

"I'm not the worrying one, Ash was", I glanced between Jake and Parker to see if they'd have a reaction at their friend being brought up, nothing, "the guy ate pineapple on his, pineapple".

"He's right, it was weird as shit", Parker laughed and I eased up a little, I don't know what I would've done if one of them burst into tears or some shit in here.