Keeping Us Apart

Wishbone (14)

*Hudson's POV*

Sometime the next day I open my eyes, the brightness of the sunlight that manages to slip through cracks in the curtains definitely not helping the pounding in my skull. Even with my eyes half shut I could make out Ahren's shirtless form sprawled next to me. For a brief, jarring moment I wonder if we'd had sex again, but as the events leading up to this come back to me, I sigh, relaxing a little. That would not be something I would want to explain to Joel should he find out. Looking back at Ahren, I assume he just got hot in the middle of the night and yanked his shirt off. His little snores make me smile.

 I lean over him and check the time on his phone, since I left mine back in my room. Almost eight in the morning. The idea of getting up sounds awful, especially now that my hangover is in full swing, but I force myself to at least move back to my bed before Joel finds me and Ahren like this. I don't want to take any chances that my brother assumes anything happened. Luckily, the living room is still empty as I slip back into my room as quiet as a mouse. My bed welcomes me back into the folds of sleep and I drift off again.

When I wake up, the clock beside my bed reads eleven. My throat feels as dry as the Sahara and my head still aches, so I slowly get up once more and walk out into the kitchen to get some pain relievers and a cool glass of water. To my surprise, Ahren is there already, water in a cup and pills halfway to his mouth.

"Good morning," he says once he's swallowed the medicine, voice thick with sleep. "Hungover?" His eyes land on my hand as it scoops up the bottle from the counter near him.

"Yes, very," I manage, quickly taking the pills with water and sighing softly. "You?" I ask although I already know the answer. 

"Oh yeah. Everything hurts," agrees Ahren. "Part of me wants to go back to bed. Okay, most of me wants to go back to bed. But part of me feels like it's a waste to sleep all day."

My brow quirks up. "And what would you do instead? I know that I, for one, am torn between the comfort of my own bed and lying next to the toilet."

Ahren just chuckles and gives a shrug of his yummy shoulders. "Playing videogames, maybe. But definitely not snoozing the whole day away."

Before I can respond, Joel pads into the kitchen looking like he drank with Ahren and I.

"Morning," he grunts, quickly disposing of the pod in the Keurig and replacing it with a fresh one. Once a clean mug is settled underneath, he presses the button and turns to face me and Ahren. 

"Good morning Joel," I say, then turn and try to make a dash for my room. 

"Nuh uh. Not so fast missy. We have a lot to discuss," Joel says as he spoons sugar into his coffee. I freeze in my tracks and sigh. I should have known that it wasn't going to be that easy. "Ahren, first things first. I never want to see your nuts again. Okay mate?"

Ahren bites down on his lip hard and I can see that he's stifling a laugh. "Okay. Deal."

"Also, I'm not exactly sure where I stand on the idea that you're banging my baby sister," continues Joel. 

"Hey, it's not like it was an ongoing thing. It only happened once before the party," Ahren says. At his words, my brother turns as green as lettuce.

"Okay, gross. But I'm glad," Joel finally says. "But I have a feeling it might continue, am I right?" As soon as he speaks, both Ahren and I blush so hard that I'm sure Joel feels the embarrassment wafting off of us. 

"Uh, well, I don't really know..," Ahren stammers nervously, his gaze fixed on me as if looking for the answers in my face.

"We're still working thing out, Joel," I add, more to help Ahren out than anything. I already know where I stand at least, and it's exactly what I've just said.