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She hesitated but complied. Her shirt was a button-up, so she undid the first few and slipped her shoulder out. It wasn't bad, in her opinion. Nothing like what it looked like after the mall.
"I did that?" Renly asked quietly.
Guilt filled her stomach. "No, it's nothing you did. The wound was already re-opened today."
"How did it open again?" Caspar asked, his eyes knowingly roaming over her bloody shoulder.
"I got into some trouble, but I'm fine now," she said the last part quickly as she saw all of them preparing to say something.
“When? You were with me, most of the day,” Renly said.
"Are you always in this sort of trouble?" Corbus asked in a quiet voice.
Mykie shrugged, ignoring her shoulder. "Like I said, it depends on what kind of trouble you're talking about."
Caspar cleared his throat. "Maybe we should all sit down for dinner before we get into this conversation?"
"Do you already know what she's talking about?" Corbus snapped as he looked from Mykie to Caspar and back. "Why did he get to find out first?"
"If I had a choice in the matter, none of you would have found out at all," Mykie muttered.
Renly pulled out a chair at the head of the dining table, and it took her a moment to realize that he was holding it out for her to sit. She sat down, and he pushed it in gently before he went to the opposite side of the table. While Caspar and Corbus dished up plates, Mykie buttoned her shirt back up.
"Do you want something else to wear?" Renly asked.
Mykie shook her head. "No, this one is already ruined. Might as well keep it on and try to wash it out later. Worse come to worse, I'll keep it for a sleep or lounge shirt."
She looked away from Renly, her chest feeling heavy at the thought of the confused and slightly disgusted expression that was surely on his face. She'd said it many times before: there's no reason to get rid of a piece of clothing that's still usable. If she had ripped it up in a fight or it was completely ruined, she would throw it away or use it for rags to clean. Other than that, it's still wearable.
Corbus helped Caspar bring the plates to the table. Caspar took a seat next to her after Corbus told him that he could carry everything else. Currently, the two boys were glaring at one another, but she had a feeling it was for different reasons than the other thought. The rest of the seats were empty, and Mykie frowned.
"Where's Blaine?" she asked. Was he not home? She wanted to at least thank him for helping her earlier.
She felt her phone vibrate in her pocket and she pulled it out. She would be scared if it was Blaine texting her after she just asked about him.
Ryker: Sorry, Princess. Your father and I have a lot of business to discuss tonight. I won't be able to get away. You're good to go for that meeting tomorrow at noon.
She sighed, but she understood. He had promised to come over when she left his brother's, just in case the conversation with Corbus went sour. She didn't expect him to know how complicated it had gotten, now that most of the boys were home.
She picked up her fork and took a bite of the noodles and vegetables, enjoying the first meal Caspar had made for her, even if it wasn't intended to be seen as a special dinner. The entire dinner was awkward as each of the boys kept glancing in her direction, urging her to say something already and get rid of the tenseness in the room. She bided her time until she was done with half the plate, then she decided to speak.
"I think the easiest way to do this is to just state the facts. My shoulder is bleeding because I was shot when I went to dinner with Renly. They weren't after me specifically, and I can't say more than that, but the person who hurt me is threatening to hurt you all too if I stay in your lives. It's my fault you're in danger now," she said before she looked at Renly, "It's my fault that you were in danger that night."
"You weren't the one who shot first—"
"But you shouldn't have even been there!" she yelled, slamming her fist on the table. "Anyone around me is going to get hurt. I dragged Caspar into this by helping him when he was hurt, but now you're all in danger because they know I care about you."
"If they were worried about being in danger, they wouldn't have gone to Pearl's, and Renly wouldn't have brought you home. It's their fault. You didn't force them to do anything," Caspar argued. "You already know that I was grateful for your help."
"Can I just ask: why didn't you tell us?" Corbus questioned.
"I... I thought about it so many times, but I was convinced that the less you knew, the safer you'd be," she said.
"So, you were going to be selfish, and push us away when we were still trying to get to know you?" Corbus hissed.
"I'm not selfish—"
"Yes, you are! You thought about how you were feeling while the rest of us just wanted to make sure you weren't feeling pressured with us all befriending you. In your head, your feelings were the only ones that mattered."
