"I am NOT bunking with that oaf!" Chloe whisper-yelled at me.
We had only two rooms available, and we had to spend the night here which meant we would have to share. Hunter and Em would bunk with an adult, obviously, but which one was the question. I asked if Bert and Chloe could share a room and I could stay with the kids, but Chloe was clearly opposed to that idea.
"He snores louder than a fucking lion roaring on steroids!" She told me. "Hey, I have a deviated septum. Don't make fun of my deformity! It's not even that bad! Tell her, Nyx," He pushed me ahead slightly. "Umm, maybe Bert could bunk with the kids?" I avoided the question by asking another one.
"Nope, nada, never. Like Chloe said, Bert snores. A lot. And we're very light sleepers," "Very light, trust me," Emily added. "Fine, Bert and I can bunk," the second I said that I swear I saw Hunter and Emily high five. Maybe this was a part of their 'agreement' or whatever. Why am I saying 'maybe,' it probably was.
"Great. Have fun putting up with that troll's snoring," Chloe grinned at me before going off to her room, dragging the protesting twins with her.
"So... you got clothes for the night or you're gonna borrow shit from me again?" He asked while his hand rubbed the back of his neck. "Nah, I got my clothes. Well, they're actually Chloe's, since I couldn't really go back and pack my clothes. That's why what I'm wearing fits all weird and wrong," He nodded in response and opened his suitcase, a navy blue one. He pulled out black sweatpants and laid them out on the bed, moving on to remove his shirt.
"I swear I'm not one to strip in front of people I'm not dating, but I heard a frog from the bathroom and I would rather have you see me half naked than the frog," I laughed at what he said.
"Turn around, I'm not having you see even the outline of my junk. We're not that close yet," He said and I turned around and repeated, "Yet." "You saying we could be close enough in the future?" He asked and I could hear shuffling from behind me. "I'm implying it," "I'm done, you can turn around now," Bert said.
I turned around and only now did I notice how his chest was almost completely covered in faint, white scars. "How'd you get them?" I asked and stepped a bit closer to get a better look at them. "Different stories for each one," "Well, how many stories then?" I looked at his face now. "I've lost count," He answered softly, almost in a whisper as he looked at me. We were both aware of how close we were but paid no mind to it.
"We should sleep, y'know? It's late. We can't have the best fighter out of it, half-asleep tomorrow," He gave me his signature lopsided grin, except this time it was more soft. "Yeah, we should," I took a step back and went to rummage through the suitcase I borrowed from Chloe. I found one t-shirt that seemed long enough to be dress and no pants I could wear to sleep, so I decided to wear the t-shirt as a dress.
"Tell me when you're done," Bert turned around and used his hands to cover his eyes for added drama. I rolled my eyes at him and changed as fast as I could.
"Oh shit I forgot about your bruise," He turned around when I told him to and exclaimed. "It's fine. It doesn't hurt that bad really, I'll just be careful to not sleep on my stomach I guess," I told him. "I don't wanna agree but fine. Also, remind me to redress the stab wound on your thigh," Bert nodded his head to my injured leg. "Yeah, I will," I said.
We both laid down on the queen sized bed and just stared up at the dingy ceiling. "I can't sleep," Bert sighed and turned to face me. "Neither can I," I turned to face him.
"Let's play twenty questions," Bert sat up and had a look on his face that resembled an overexcited puppy. A labradoodle, to be specific.
"Fine, you go first," I too sat up and motioned for him to go ahead. "Considering all we've been through in the past three to four days, we are allowed to ask really personal questions right?" I nodded and he clapped his hands in glee. "Great! So... If you could go back in time, would you rather kill Hercules or not kill anyone you've ever killed?" I had to think quite a bit before answering.
"Kill my brother. Because I know for a fact that the other people I've killed were most certainly not innocent. There's a reason they were supposed to be dead. Those reasons normally involved shit like human trafficking," I said and his eyes widened in surprise. "Damn, they're all like, a colossal backpack of trash," He remarked.
"That they are. My turn. Be honest, why on earth were you so insistent on bringing the kids along?" I asked and I saw how his face turned stony and his eyes darkened. "They're not safe when I'm not around. Neither is Chloe. I know for a fact that our parents did not die because they were part of a gang. They were on a hit-list, but not by the gang's enemies. I knew they were in some fishy shit but I didn't know it was a gang. They were murdered about three months ago and I don't know who did it. I'm scared that whoever killed them could be after the kids or Chloe. And if to protect them I'll have to put them though seeing this shit, then so be it," He finished with a deep exhale.
We sat in silence and looked at his face, seeing him in a different light than before. I saw how confused and scared he was. I saw how he put on a brave face for the kids but how he was exhausted and drained from doing so. "Let's sleep now, I'm so fucking tired and my body feels like jello," He said. "Yeah, let's do that," I chuckled and lied down. Pulling the blanket over me.
"If you end up being a blanket hog I will end up decapitating you in your sleep," He said feigning seriousness and got under the blanket. For the first time in I don't know how long, I was able to sleep with a smile on my face, even if it was faint and after a long time I was able to sleep without a nightmare.
YOU ARE READING
Nyx Anora
Ficção Adolescente"What are we doing? Really. What-what is this?" "I'm sorry, I don't know," "Exactly. We don't know. I don't know you, you don't know me. What is this then?" "...I-" "You don't know."
