“No,” I grumbled, shoving it in my pocket. Brandon gave me a disbelieving smile.
“Yeah, it totally is.”
“It’s not,” I mumbled and he chuckled. I looked up at his expression. He looked so angry and sad all the time I’d forgotten he had an easy smile. It was actually sort of freaky how innocent and youthful his face looked for someone constantly punching and grumbling. He noticed me watching him and raised an eyebrow. Then his eyes flicked towards the bedroom door.
“I could hear you all back there,” he said and I felt all the blood drain from my face.
“I can explain… “ I trailed off when I realized trying to lie would be stupid. He snorted at my failed attempt. Then he leaned towards me, his face getting close enough to mine so he could whisper without anyone else potentially hearing.
“You can talk to me,” he whispered. With all the anger washed from his face he looked… weird. I averted my gaze—uncomfortable with the feelings and thoughts. Brandon was an attractive man and lately, he was almost constantly concerned and asking if I was okay. It was confusing me.
“Talk to you about what?” I asked.
“You don’t owe either of them anything and you don’t need to go along with what they want.” My eyes snapped back up to him.
“What?” I asked in confusion.
“I can help you.”
“Brandon,” I sighed, leaning back and looking at the wooden ceiling above us. “I like them. They aren’t forcing anything. Okay?” He stared at me, his blue eyes squinting in suspicion. Whatever he saw must have finally appeased him because he looked away and nodded.
“Alright. If it changes, let me know. You can talk to me about anything. Cas can’t be an easy man to be with. Sometimes it looks like he wants to eat you and not in the good way.” He snatched up a remote on the coffee table in front of us and flicked on the tv.
“Does anyone know what’s happened to Nix?” The man on the tv said and Brandon sucked in a breath, leaning forward on his knees. This looked like one of those news shows for media and culture related topics.
“Several weeks back the lead singer, Caspian, canceled the US tour, claiming he was taking a break from the band. There was a lot of drama at the time surrounding the relationship he had with his stepsister.” I shifted uncomfortably on the couch and frowned.
“Ex stepsister,” I grumbled.
“There seemed to be a lot of animosity between Caspian and his bandmates,” the show host went on. “He and the bad boy drummer, Brandon, even had a scathing public argument via Twitter. However, just a few days later the band was seen via social media all together on a camping trip,” the man on the tv said.
“People took this as a sign that things would clear up but yesterday there was this clip on a local West Virginia news network,” he stopped talking and a video came on the screen. I looked wide-eyed at the clip of us all standing in the forest, looking like we just walked off the set of a horror film. We were covered in blood and dirt, looking exhausted and shell-shocked.
There was a dark smudged shape hunched behind Caspian, looking more like a shadow than Mothman.
The clip left the screen and the reporter was there again.
“This was taken at the location of a forest fire where they had been camping. So what happened? Where are the other band members? Why are they covered in blood? And where are they now? No one knows.” The tv flashed with an image of the entire band. It was a magazine cover photoshoot where they'd all worn kilts instead of pants. Matthias, Grady, and Simon we're smiling. Brandon sucked in a breath and smashed the tv off.
“Fuck,” he hissed. His eyes darted to the second bedroom and he started to jump up.
“Wait, Brandon,” I reached out and gripped his arm. He looked at me with watery eyes then fell into me, wrapping his arms around me, burying his face in my shoulder. He held on tightly, taking the comfort I offered. I wrapped my arms around him and we both quietly gripped one another with wet eyes.
It didn’t feel uncomfortable at all. We’d been through so much together, all of us. That bonded us swiftly in ways no other thing could.
Finally, he pulled back, wiping his eyes. A fierce expression quickly took back over what I realized was a naturally gentle face.
“Fuck, my sister might have seen that. I’ve got to call her,” he said. When he saw my own wet face he frowned and swept my tears away quickly without thought. I was startled but he acted like it was nothing, didn’t even stop to take a breath before jumping off the couch and rushing to the bedroom door with Caspian and Pollux. He banged on it.
“Rise and shine, monsters."
14
As I woke up I felt the warmth of Ava in my arms. I began to pet her lovely, silky hair. She nuzzled into my furry neck a bit more, her arms tightening around my body. She had a strong hug, it was a little shocking. Actually, I felt like I was being squeezed to death.
I sort of liked it though. I made a deep noise of satisfaction to let her know I appreciated her hold on me.
She stilled suddenly. A creeping realization crawled over me as my feelers bent down, patting the hair my fingers were threaded in. Yep, that’s not Ava. Not unless Ava tasted like fish ass.
