𝐫𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭 || baxter radic

42.

"Could have warned me it was a guy friend." Bax warns in my ear quietly. I try to ignore the seething tone on his words, but it's enough to send the hairs on my neck straight up.

But the angry man I expect to show toward Roy doesn't surface, instead he's all rainbows and unicorns like he loves this man with everything he's got. "It is so nice to meet you." He pulls Roy in for an overdramatic hug. Which Roy accepts but his face reads only of question. 

"You too?" Roy looks toward me as if asking to be saved. I knew what game Bax was playing. His sister had done the very same thing with Summer. I watched it all unfold from a distance. I guess you couldn't take the crazy Radic qualities out of a person no matter what.

"You know, May and Summer never really talk about friends from back home." Bax rests his hands on his hips. It's almost like he's forgotten how cold he's been. He's trying too hard to be top dog now. Nothing else matters.

"I was her brother's best friend." Roy's voice goes cold. He wasn't lying. He was Max's best friend. They did everything together, with me tagging along like a thorn in their side. Wherever they went, I tagged along. "And her first kiss." Roy nods his head toward me.

This was about to turn into a pissing match I didn't have time for. "Alright, I think that's enough." I stand between the two boys. "We should get going before the New York weather decides a surprise snow storm needs to make an appearance."

Bax doesn't say another word. Instead he just glares at Roy until I'm pulling away from the house, trapped in a car with a boy, I'm pretty sure might actually want to kill me right now.

"Friend. Yeah." Bax's voice is oddly calm, but sarcasm rages off of every syllable.

"He is our friend Bax." I glance at him quickly, returning my focus back toward the road almost as quickly as I peeled it away.

"A friend that's a boy, that you kissed, that you felt the need to hide from me." Bax stares out the window. I knew he would be upset. Of course he would. Jealousy should just be the middle name for all Radic's because they all reek of it.

"If I said it was a boy you would have convinced me to find another car to drive. There wasn't time for that Baxter." I huff. "Be jealous, I don't care. I can't argue with you and drive."

"You didn't even let me have the last word." Bax mumbles and goes silent.

We sit like that for a while. Complete silence. There is no music, no talking. It's just the wheels turning against the pavement, that's it. It makes for a deafening drive—a lonely drive. That's until his hand creeps onto my thigh, and gives it a light squeeze.

"I love you." I say softly.

There is a hesitation that nearly rips me in half. "I love you." He finally responds, and just those three simple words are enough to sew me right back into one.

"We kissed in a truth or dare. Max was pissed. We we're like ten. He stopped talking to Roy for an entire month over it. I don't like Roy, Bax. I never had. I didn't even want to kiss him. I literally felt like burning my entire face off after doing it." I cringe.

"I'm glad you didn't." His hand slips form my thigh and pinches at my cheek. A slight smile pulls at my lips, but its effort is swiftly lost as we get closer to our destination.

"I think you'd still love me if I had. I'm quite irresistible." I nudge my head into his hand before he pulls it away.

"Eh, I don't know. Your face is pretty cute. I don't know if I could love a demon, that also looked like one." He jokes, leaning over and kissing my cheek. I eye him, annoyed that he's moved in the front seat at all. He knows how much being safe in a car means to me. I'll let him slide once, it was for a kiss, but that's it.

A silence settles in the car again, this time though, the air isn't thick. There is a comfortable silence until air starts being sucked from my lungs. I'm driving and all of a sudden it's like someone is sat on my chest making it hard for me to breathe.

I immediately indicate and pull over to the side of the road. Bax's eyes flash with concern, but he doesn't speak. He knows if he does he might just make it worse. And he's right to not, if he did I'd only crumble more.

My fingers grip the steering wheel, my knuckles turning a bright shade of white. I stare at the white line indicating the shoulder on the road. My eyes don't leave it. Not until my racing heart slows and the weight of the world releases. "It started here." I mumble.

"The accident?" Bax looks at me, but I don't answer. Instead, I pull back out onto the road and continue on.

But then it all goes blank. I remember nothing. I see nothing. I hear nothing. The world around me doesn't exist. It is all gone. Or at least I think it's all gone. Until I hear the faintest of screams. A scream that sounds but only of a whisper. It brings me back. The blackness fading to color as my foot slams on the brake.