Ain't Shady Baby, I'm Hot

46

"Did you eat yet?" I asked, gently putting burn cream on his wound. The large container something I used for my sunburns, but they work just as good for any kind of burn.

"No." He murmured. He still had yet to explain why he was here. And when his stomach grumbled I had to ask.

"Good. Neither have I." It was quiet as I finished applying the stuff to his burn. My eyes drifting to his face as I noticed the stitches had been removed. "You almost look completely healed." I commented turning around to pack the cream and go back upstairs.

"Why did you let me inside?"

I looked at him over my shoulder, an idea coming to mind as I shrugged.

"An answer for an answer." Then I was going back upstairs. My ultimatum laid out on the table. If he wanted an answer then he was going to have to give one.

When I came back downstairs he had turned back to the counter and stared, deep in thought. I took the time to slide around and pull open the fridge.

"Okay so I've got leftovers in here, but I was just going to make a pb&j. I'm not really a cook." I admitted pulling out the grape jelly from the fridge and reaching in to grab the box of leftovers.

"A pb&j sounds really good." I froze staring into the fridge before a smile fell onto my face. I shut the fridge before finding the peanut butter and the bread.

My hands busy at work as I made us each two sandwiches. I set them on two separate plates, two and two, before handing him one of the plates.

We ate our sandwiches in silence. My eyes watching the blond as he ate. When he finished with his first sandwich I had just gotten to half of mine.

"I got the burn from Barry. He's a Pogue I owed money to, and I didn't deliver." I drank some water and cleared my mouth before talking.

"So what, he assaulted you because you couldn't pay him? What the fu- oh. When you say Barry you mean Barry Barry." I brought my pointer finger to my nose and pretended to sniff.

The action made him laugh slightly, a good sign for me.

"Yeah, Barry Barry." I nodded continuing to eat. JJ told me briefly about the guy. Pretty much stay away from him, it's where JJ's dad goes to get his coke. Clearly Rafe too. "Your turn."

I took another drink of water as I finished my sandwich. Wiping around my mouth as I looked down at my plate.

"Truthfully, I saw you were hurt and I guess-- I wanted to help." I shrug. "It's this thing my mom gave me, this inability to just turn someone away if they come to you with a problem you could help solve."

"That could be dangerous." I scoffed setting my glass down.

"You're telling me. I'm tired. Don't get me wrong, if you go to hurt my friends I'll happily knock you around some. And I still owe you a punch for that comment, spilling your alcohol wasn't enough. But, it's exhausting. Always fighting or arguing between us. I guess it was entertaining these last several months, but I don't know." I sighed. "I guess I also wanted to repay the favor when you helped me with my ribs."

He pursed his lips nodding. I bit into my second pb&j continuing to eat as he polished his last one off.

"My dad kicked me out of the house." I choked, the bite of sandwich in my mouth going down the wrong pipe. "Whoa, you good?"

"Fine." I croaked getting some more water to drink. "So, is that why you came here? Why didn't you go to Topper's or Kelce's?"

"I guess I was embarrassed." He admitted.

"So you came here. To someone who you fought two nights in a row and have had several pissing matches with." A small glimpse of a smile painted his face.

"Trust me, Xena, I know. I- It was a quick decision. I was here before I realized exactly what I was doing." I thought it over, grabbing both of our empty plates and tossing them in the trash. My favorite part about disposable dinner wear was the clean up.

"So you need a place to stay at?" I finally asked.

"I- yes."

"There's a guest room upstairs. We can just tell my mom and Gray that you need a few days away from the house and I offered the room to you. At least until you figure out what the next step is." He let out a huge sigh, running his fingers through his messy hair. Probably one of the more noticeable signs he wasn't okay- his hair wasn't slicked back in the normal kookish way.

I pat the counter top, the stove clock reading only 9 and I wasn't really tired. I figured I'd throw the olive branch at him now.

"Well, I'm gonna go to the living room. You are more than welcome to join me. If not, the room is the one on the right. There should be some toiletries items in there. And some clothes. Don't worry, they're Gray's extras or never used stuff."

"Why do you have them in the guest room." I shrugged slowly disappearing to the living room.

"Dunno, gut feeling I supposed. I figured if a girl were to stay here she'd be in my room and could use my clothes. And well, I've yet to have someone else stay so I guess it was in preparation for you." I cringed after saying that. Quickly wanting to eat my words but the damage was already done.

"That was the cringiest thing I've heard." He laughed, coming into the living room as I groaned.

"Let's not talk about it. Here I'll get you a blanket." I went to our basket in the corner and grabbed a blanket before tossing it to him. He let the momentum push him back onto the couch, not the two cushioned sofa but the larger one I'd been stretched out on. "Now if you're in here entertain yourself cause I'm going to be re-" my eyes went wide as I realized what book was sitting on the coffee table. Just right out there in the open.

Rafe's eyebrow raised as I put a fake smile on. "Reading." I tried to play it cool as I moved quickly to get the book off the coffee table. But Rafe had already caught on, my heart sinking as I grabbed thin air and my book was held in his hands.