Absolute

7

Gears had shifted while Sean and I had been in the guest room. North had finished the dishes he'd been working on and most everyone had dispersed from the table and were doing their own things. I could hear video game noise coming from the living room as we passed it.

The Blackbourne fellow was looking at his phone at the table, but he quickly set it face down on the table, his attention focusing on Sean. He seemed so... perfect. His tie was snug on his neck and it wasn't even noon. Maybe he had somewhere to be after this. I shrugged my shoulders, eyeing the wallpaper, the door trim, anything but the people in front of me. I was new to this whole escaping and sneaking out thing, but all of a sudden it was too much, I wanted fresh air.

I needed to get away, space to think over the last twenty four hours of my life.

And then I wondered what this even was. From what I'd gathered, it was Nathan who lived here. If they weren't filing a police report, what were we doing? Why was this group of... friends trying to help me when I'd done nothing for them? Something about the whole set up felt off to me, and so I stopped drooling at the back door and decided to focus on them again.

I couldn't just dip.

Mr. Blackbourne sipped a coffee that he'd acquired while we were gone and when he'd swallowed, he asked Sean to 'fetch Mr. Griffin.'

I squinted at the dude as he asked me to take a seat, please. But I listened, and soon Sean and Nathan joined us. Kota was close behind them, but none of the others followed. I waited for somebody to speak, and for a moment I thought nobody would.

Kota was the first to break the silence, asking me how my hand was. I offered a short affirmative reply, unable to keep from wondering what the shit was going on. I wondered what Gabriel would have told me to do if he was here.

He would have for sure been mad about Nathan's hair, which had syrup in it. I tilted my head, wondering when he could have gotten syrup into his hair. He must have felt my attention on him because he turned from gazing at the clock to staring right into my eyes. For a moment I felt locked in, like every fiber in my body was aware of him as he was aware of me. I couldn't move, or blink. I wasn't sure if I was even breathing as we watched each other.

Then, as if knowing that by doing so he would break the spell I was under, he tilted his head to mirror mine. I had forgotten that I'd let my head tilt, so when he did it I couldn't help but smile. I knew I was blushing, and Nathan looked triumphant at my reaction.

I did the only appropriate thing I could think of.

"You've got syrup in your hair."

His smug smile dripped off his face into a worried frown and he reached up skeptically. As he pat his hair, which seemed to also be sporting some sort of hair product, his fingers feel into the sticky maple goo.

It was my turn to grin.

I felt like the Cheshire cat as I watched his worried frown get deeper as his eyebrows scrunched and he scraped his chair in his efforts to stand up and push it back. But Mr. Blackbourne, bless his heart, raised a hand.

Even I knew, without having seen the hand raise previously, that this move was an order. It felt like he was on my side of the making Nathan squirm game as he spoke clearly.

"It hasn't bothered you so far, it can wait until after our meeting."

Meeting? I reigned in my smile, but Luke had been watching me the whole time at my side and he nudged my shoulder with his own, speaking low enough we might have been the only two to hear his words.

"You're dangerous."

He leaned away just as quick as he leaned in, looking to Mr. Blackbourne to start the so called meeting. I couldn't keep the small smile off my face, no matter how hard I tried to wipe my face clear of thoughts. I'd never been called anything like dangerous before. Only one person had come even close, and if Trouble was my first name as a kid, I think he'd agree that Danger could be my middle name.