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“He’ll be fine,” Rose says as she grabs a cigarette from her pack. “I need to show you something,” she grimaces.
I can’t describe the pain on Chris’ face when he sees the state of his house. Rose keeps repeating that she’s sorry, but he knows it’s not hers or Jake’s fault. When we walk out of the main house and back to the pool house, I realize the time.
“It’s eleven, where’s Jake?” I ask.
We all walk back into the pool house and I almost faint in relief. My heart picks up, I feel lightheaded, and a small giggle leaves my mouth.
“Jake,” I sigh in relief as I run to him.
He’s standing by the kitchen counter. His nose is swollen, both his eyes sporting black bruises below them, his forehead has a big, inflamed bump on it. I stop dead in my tracks, right in front of him, by fear of hurting him. He’s got a cast around his left thumb and leading to his wrist. I don’t want to make anything worse.
“How are you feeling? Is your head okay?”
He simply nods at me but doesn’t make any effort to kiss me or touch me.
He just got out of the hospital. He was beaten up.
I shake any wrong ideas out of my head, especially the red flag reminding me of Camila’s text yesterday, but something feels off.
He keeps his right hand in his jeans pocket and keeps his back against the counter, his head held high.
“I’m fine,” he mumbles dismissively.
I feel Rose settling behind me. “Where is it?” she asks in her gravelly voice.
His jaw ticks. “Where do you think?” he replies coldly. “In Mateo’s hands. With both our signatures on it.”
My mouth falls slack. “Y-you signed?” I question, puzzled.
“Ozy signs. I sign,” he shrugs. “He knew it would only take one of us.” He looks at me and back at Rose. “Thanks, by the way.”
“What did you expect me to do?” she growls. “You were dying on the floor, he wouldn’t call an ambulance unless I did it.”
“It doesn’t matter. What’s done is done. We have to move in before school starts again.”
“What?” Rose chokes. “That’s like, less than two weeks!”
Jake shrugs, he walks past me and his sister and into the hall before disappearing in his room.
Rose turns to Chris in complete disbelief. “What are we gonna tell your parents?” she asks.
Chris shakes his head in defeat, lost for words. The pain in his eyes is breaking my heart. That’s his siblings, leaving him for another household.
“We’ll figure something out,” Luke jumps in. “For now, you guys should rest.”
Both Chris and Luke leave the pool house and Rose turns to me. “He’s being stubborn. You should talk to him. I’ll be in the main house.” She leaves and I turn to the hallway.
Something doesn’t feel right, and I’m scared to talk to Jake.
My stomach churns as I walk into his room and find him standing by his closet, topless. He doesn’t turn around or acknowledge me, so I walk to him and put a hand on his shoulder.
“Jake,” I whisper. “Are you okay?”
He dismisses my hand in a shoulder movement and pauses before turning around. I can see in his eyes that he’s not the Jake who’s desperately in love with me. The blue is dark, dangerous and his irises are hiding demons I’m not sure I want him to let out.
“Talk to me,” I insist. “I love you, please talk to me.”
He doesn’t say it back. Instead, he takes a dangerous step forward, forcing me to take one backward. The toxic energy emanating from him is pushing me to put distance between us.
