The Rules | ✅ Completed

Chapter 22

The last few hours were humorous to say the least. Lucas was mad when he found out I dropped off his sister and her boyfriend without his knowing. He was even more upset when he got home to find neither of them in the living room. He called me at two in the morning asking me a dozen questions.

I've been at the Lester's home for the last hour, watching him pace the living room in a circle. He was fighting with Finn on the phone before throwing it at the couch. That's about the time he started the laps and I had to cover my face.

"You need to chill, Luke. She's fine and she'll be home soon."

"This is your fault you know," he pointed a finger at me as he did another lap.

"How is it my fault? Did you want them driving home? You saw how bad Finn was last night. He let it slip that Blaine was drunk too. They could have ended up in a farmer's field," I challenged as I propped my feet up in the recliner.

"You could have brought them here."

"So you could walk in on them fighting? No way was I doing that."

"They were fighting?" I crossed my arms over my face.

"Don't go getting in the middle, Luke. You've been doing that too much already." I heard him fall onto the couch. Peeking past my arm, I could see him rubbing at his face. "You have to let them be a couple. They are going to kiss, and fight. Whatever it is, you have to keep out of it."

Before Lucas could play his big-brother card, the front door open and standing in the late morning glow was Blaine. The skirt she had been wearing the night before was almost hidden by the oversized shirt. I smiled at the faded ACDC logo. A shadow followed her through the door, and my grin doubled. Finn was all but walking into the lion's den for the umpteenth time.

He met my eyes and with a nod, I shook my hand from side to side in the air. I could see Finn whisper something to Blaine before she stormed off down the hall to her room. I waited to hear Lucas to jump up from his spot on the couch and go after her. To my surprise, and Finn's too, he stayed put. Leaning over the couch, Finn peared down at Lucas.

"No lecture?"

"Nope," Lucas answered. He took a deep breath, clearly holding back.

"Did you make nice?" Finn looked to me with a worried look in his eyes. "Well did you, or do I owe you an ass kicking?"

"We're fine," he grumbled. Lucas eased into a sitting position.

"What do you mean by make nice?" The glare was hard to avoid, but Finn didn't flinch as he turned back to Lucas.

"What do you think it means?" The raised brow made Lucas' eye twitch.

"So help my, if you laid a finger on her -"

"It's not his fingers you should worry about," Blaine announced as she gently bumped against Finn. I chuckled at the shades of red Finn's face went through as she threw him under the bus. Lucas shifted to sit higher.

"And that is supposed to make me feel better?"

"You want me to say," Blaine gestured to all of us. "Fine. I'm a vir-"

Finn's hand clamped down over her mouth. Either he didn't want to hear her admit it aloud, or he didn't want to be caught in a lie farther down the road. Either way, I couldn't stop laughing. Lucas' face was crimson as his eyes narrowed at Finn's hand. Cautiously, it dropped from Blaine's mouth and he stepped away from her. She looked at him, amusement twinkling in her eyes.

"Wow," I blurted through my fits of laughter. "I told you to get past things. Not get under them."

A pillow hit me hard as I sat up in the chair. There was a smack and I caught sight of Blaine hitting her brother's arm. They started to argue and Finn shook his head as he took a seat on the couch, where Lucas' feet had been.

**~~**

"What she was about to say," I looked at Finn. "She telling the truth?"

"Are you asking if I slept with her?" He was hunched over the pool table. His eyes drifted to me before returning to his shot.

"I'm asking if anything happened that maybe shouldn't have."

"Says the man who basically threw us together." A clatter of the balls recotching off of each other filled the space. I took a swig from my bottle before setting it down and taking my turn.

"You're not wrong," I lined up my shot. "But I didn't intend for you to hook up with her. I figured you two would pass out given how much you drank."

"We didn't hook up." My pool stick slipped and barely clipped the cue ball. Ignoring the smug look on Finn's face, I stepped away from the table and picked up my beer. "We did enjoy the morning though. Then my mom walked in."

"Good old, Linda. What did she do when she caught you?"

"There was nothing to catch."

"Yeah, right." I chuckled. "If she hadn't walked in, how carried away would you have gotten?"

"I'm not talking about that with you." Finn stepped up to the table. I grinned as I reached into my back pocket, pulling out my wallet and the small square tin foil packet from inside. I tossed it on the green felt before Finn could pull back for his shot. He picked it up and threw it back at me.

"Keep it. It sounds like you might need it," I chuckled as I set it beside his beer. He rolled his eyes as he focused on the scattered balls.

"We don't all move as fast as you, Shane."

"I don't think anyone moves as fast as me."

"Except where Jade Fletcher is concerned." The clatter doubled followed by a few going into the pockets.

"Jade is nuts," I shook my head. The girl had proven to be too desperate for anything fun. She was looking for something long term and that didn't settle well. If Lucas was hooked on Lily, I might stand a chance when I tell her off. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen in the near future.

"What about Heather?" He repositioned himself on the other side of the table and the balls clattered again.

"I think she's given up on me." Not as crazy as Jade, but she did seem to have a little crush for the last few years. She was glued to Blaine's hip since they were seven. Kind of like her friend, I watched them grow up. She had found a sense of looking good without looking like, well Jade. "Her and Joe got real cozy while I was dropping you off."

"And here I was hoping for double dates." Another shot and he smiled at the table. "You owe me a beer."

"Yeah, yeah," I waved my hand at him then picked up the little square and waved it at him. "For my peace of mind. Can you please just take it? None of us need any accidents that Lucas would go to prison for."

Finn sighed as he snatched the condom from me and shoved it in his pocket. "I don't plan on needing."

"Plans can change in a second," I shrugged. "Now, where does Laine think you are?"

"I told her I was meeting up with you, then Lucas later."

I smacked a hand on his back and nodded toward the exit. We headed toward my Jeep and took off. Lucas is going to kill me if he found out how much meddling I was doing. It's not that I wanted to know about their personal moments. In truth, I hated knowing as much as I did. If there was one thing I could do to settle the unease, it was passing off my wallet decour. I was serious about Lucas losing it if something were to happen. Noah's broken leg would be like a twig snap compared to the storm that would wipe out everyone in a two block radius.