Stronger than the Boys {1}

Chapter Twenty-Two - I've Got Issues

The rouge was in the wolves basement. The sound proof dungeon. Tied to a metal chair with chains thats bolted to the floor and behind two sets of cross bars.

"Is this a tad excessive?" I frowned. It's not like if he escaped that he could really get anywhere.

Jay shrugged, "there's worse."

I raised an eyebrow at him then looked back to the rouge. He looked pissed earlier but now he was smug. "Why are you so smug?" I snapped at him, "none of this is going to go your way and you know it. You're done. You'll die down here buddy. Today, tomorrow, next week, in twenty years from now. Doesn't matter when to me, but it'll happen. Down here."

His face didn't change but I didn't care. He'll realize it very soon.

I teleported myself into his prison and now that he knew I could do that, he didn't even flinch. So I punched his stupid werewolf face.

"You'll end up just like me Jay," the rouge said lowly.

I heard Jay let out a sigh of frustration but he didn't stop me. So I kept going. I beat his face until there wasn't a part of it that wouldn't be bruised later if it wasn't already bleeding. When I finally decided my anger issue was gone for the time being, I teleported back out of the cell and back beside Jay. He grabbed one of my hands and pulled me back out of the basement. We went straight to a bathroom where he lifted me up onto a counter top.

"You need to be more careful," he muttered and I looked down to my knuckles. Turns out the rouge wasn't the only one bleeding.

I sighed as he started to clean my hands with a washcloth. Why was he doing this? I don't know.

"I'll be fine," I made no move to leave, "you don't have to do this."

"I want to do this," he shot back at me.

He almost seemed angry but the way he moved around suggested he was tired. Probably tired of all the stuff I had been doing. "I stress you out," I commented and his head shot up. He didn't look confused and thats what confirmed it for me.

We stared at each other for a really long time then he went back to cleaning my hands up. He was gentle and it was weird for me. No one in my family was like this. I didn't expect this from him either.

"There," he finally stated and I looked down to my hands, he had put bandages around the bad parts and gotten rid of the rouge's blood as well as stopped my bleeding.

He was staring at me as I inspected my hands, I could feel him watching me. I didn't like it at all. After few minutes I looked up at him and we locked eyes. "Raven," he started, "can we at least try to get along?"

Instead of answering him right away, I clenched my teeth. He could tell too.

"Raven..."

The way he said my name. The way he looked at me with sad eyes. The way it all came together with the weird tingles I still felt everywhere he touched me.

"Please don't." Was all I managed to say.

"Don't what exactly?"

I took a deep breath, "don't try to make me turn to mush."

One of his eyebrows popped up and he looked at me no longer sad but confident. Great. This wasn't a good sign at all.

"Mush?"

"Oh fuck off," I pushed him away but not with real effort because my hands hurt. Then I jumped off the counter and went to turn away but he grabbed my waist and spun me around to face him. "If you kiss me I'll make your face look like the rouge's downstairs."

His cocky smile only got bigger.

"I'm serious."

"I know you are."

He let go of me after a long minute and we both left the bathroom.

"Not a lot of noise coming from in there." Jeremy's voice made me jump. He was just down the hall but close enough that he probably heard everything.

He glanced down at my hands as I exited then looked at Jay as he followed me. Some emotion crossed his face and before I could say a word he launched himself towards us. More specifically, right at Jay.

He pushed me out of the way and I slammed into the wall as he slammed Jay into the wall across from me. His arm held Jay up by his neck. Feet dangling and everything.

"JEREMY!" I screamed. Both of the boys flinched and covered their ears almost immediately. Jeremy dropped Jay, that's all I wanted.

"Your hands, he must've-"

I cut Jeremy off before he could get anymore assumptions. "I beat up the rouge and Jay helped bandage me afterwards."

Jeremy was still stiff but he didn't move any closer to Jay and that's all I needed.

"I'm fine," I reached out to Jeremy and grabbed his arm. Then we teleported out of there. Jeremy was still covering his ears from my scream so that wasn't good. "Sit," I instructed him. He sat down onto my bed and closed his eyes.

Whatever was going through his mind, I didn't want to know. I think I already did. Maybe this whole time. "Jeremy you know you are my brother and I know that you wish for me to see you as something more."

"Rave-" I held up my hand to cut him off because this made my chest feel heavy and my heart race. Even my hands were starting to feel clammy and I wanted to just teleport anywhere but here.

But this needed to be done.

"I don't necessarily like Jay," I admitted out loud finally. "But there is something there for me, and I know that for him I'm the only thing. It's weird and I'm trying to accept that concept in my head. But Jeremy, you and I would have never been more than brother and sister in my head. We're the twins, we look out for each other and I love you to death but that's all we'll ever be."

Jeremy nodded, "I know. I just wanted to try. To say I did."

I knelt down in front of him and grabbed his hands. "Jeremy we will always have each other. I'll never leave you. You'll find a girl that will love you the way you need to be loved and her and I will be best friends. Our children will grow together and you and I will sit on rocking chairs and watch our grandchildren fly off into the sunset and our great-grandchildren. However many generations we will live for, we'll watch them all together. Wings or not. We'll teach them everything we know. To be kind, to fight, and to fall in love."

"Who knows, maybe we can have kids at the same time and they can make us official family." I winked and he smiled a little.

"I won't let him hurt you," Jeremy said finally.

"I won't let him hurt me," I smiled at him.

He pulled me into a tight hug and I knew we would be okay.