Unity

Eleven: Disarmed

A/N: Honestly, I don't have a lot to say about this chapter. It got a little away from me as I wrote it but otherwise it was really simple. Everything just sort of came to me. It's the next chapter that's difficult. Anyway, comment as you go if you can, I love to hear feedback. Enjoy~

We all stared at Rex. He laughed so hard tears came to his eyes. I couldn't tell if they were from sadness or sheer overwhelming mirth. He clutched his stomach in pain and looked at the book, his laughter dwindling away. He seemed to realize the looks on all our faces and blushed, his smile disappearing. He bowed his hand to Chance and whispered a quick thank you under his breath before turning back to his door.

"Hold up." Chance grabbed him by the shoulder. "You're staying with us until midnight, at least." Rex opened his mouth and Chance cut in. "No excuses!"

Rex sighed and nodded. We went back to our spots in our seats and Rex sat awkwardly down on the edge of the couch. Lynette, Mallory and I exchanged looks of bewilderment as Chance sat confidently down and gazed at us expectantly.

"Well?" Chance raised his eyebrows. "Has anyone read anything other than what I've given them?"

"No." We all chorused.

I could tell Chance was trying to break the ice and get us chatting with each other but he couldn't find any topics. He frowned at us.

"The weather has been pretty awful lately, hasn't it?" I came to the rescue.

Everyone glared at me. I realized what I'd said.

"I mean... so I've heard..." I mumbled.

Mallory rolled her eyes. Lynette snickered.

"So yesterday," Mallory said casually, actually coming to the rescue. "I was coming out of the showers and I saw Lautrec talking to McCahan again. I think they have a thing for each other."

"No way." Lynette shook her head. "McCahan is way too young for him."

"Do you even know how old he is?" Mallory asked.

"Yeah he's—" Lynette blinked. "Well he has gray hair, that has to count for something."

"I looked in his office, he's 31."

"What?!" The rest of us exclaimed.

"But his face is so... angular..." Chance said.

"And his voice is all gravelly and junk." Lynette protested.

"I can't believe he's really that young..." I said.

We were silent for a second, then Rex's voice broke through, soft and quiet.

"Old age confuses me, there are a lot of gray areas..."

I blinked. This was the third time I had heard words come from Rex's mouth, and the first time since our first week here. Everyone wore a blank, shocked expression. We didn't know what to make of it. Then my mind clicked.

"Oh my god." I said before bursting into laughter. Suddenly everyone else started laughing too.

The corners of Rex's mouth turned up a tiny bit and his face turned pink. He shrunk into himself. Lynette slapped a hand on his shoulder.

"That... was so bad..." She said, clutching her stomach.

Rex blushed even harder. Chance had to take off his glasses to wipe the lenses. After a few minutes the laughter died out and we looked at Rex.

"Where were you keeping that?" I asked him.

He shrugged.

The group seemed more relaxed now. Rex still wasn't really our friend but we seemed to all realize that he wasn't really a bad guy, he just did one really terrible thing.