I laughed through my nose. “Thanks, Gabi.”
“Of course,” she said sweetly. “The only thing I am one hundred percent not down for is talking about anything that has to do with your sex life. I might gag and then I’ll probably cry.”
“Gabriela,” Javier droned as he stood in the doorway. “Stop harassing him.”
She threw her hands up in defense. “I wasn’t! God forbid a girl make some conversation.”
Impatiently, he asked, “Do you need something?”
She squinted her eyes as she pretended to think and then hummed. “Not particularly.”
Javier took a seat next to me and held eye contact with his sister. The siblings watched each other intently, Javi waiting for her to catch the hint and Gabriela dodging it like her life depended on it.
She sighed in defeat. “Fine. I’ll go, but only because I have food in the oven that I’m pretty sure is burning as we speak.”
Javi’s sister offered a wave before she rushed out of the room. I found Gabriela to be pretty funny and her presence warming, so I did not mind her being around. Javi and his sister's bond were so genuine. It was like the bonds siblings had on television, the ones I always craved.
“She’s awesome,” I told him. “But, uh, I’ve been wanting to ask why she hugs me every time she sees me. Is she a hugger or is it something else?”
He scooted close to me and laid his head on my shoulder. "Both.”
Both? So, there was another reason?
“Why?”
He parted his lips but then closed them a few times, hesitating. "You know she’s friends with your sister now. So… she didn't go into detail, but Emerson apparently shares a lot."
I blinked. "About me?"
"I guess. Whatever she’s saying makes Gabriela really upset," Javi explained. “One time she came home pissed because of something Emerson had told her. She didn’t tell me what your sister said, just that it was ridiculous and you shouldn’t have to deal with that.”
There were multiple things that Emerson could be sharing with Gabriela, all of which I did not want to be known. What the hell was my sister sharing without my knowledge, and why did she choose Javier's sister of all people to share it with. That would have to be a conversation we had later.
“Gabi already really liked you before Emerson started sharing stuff, so she isn’t treating you any differently than she normally would. It’s just that now she’s trying to make up for whatever it is your sister told her in whatever way she can.”
"So she pities me?" I asked with a sigh.
"She cares about you," he stressed as his head snuggled in the crook of my neck. "Just like I do."
It was kind of Gabriela to do that, but I hated feeling like a damsel in distress. All because my sister had to go blabbing her big mouth. There was a tension in my chest, it was a telltale sign of me getting worked up. In other circumstances this revelation would have ticked me off and I would have an attitude the rest of the day. That was not happening, though.
Javier’s soft hands caressing my thigh was keeping me calm. His vanilla scent and warm body heat kept my emotions light despite how much they had wanted to boil over. I leaned into him, getting as close as physically possible just to feel intertwined with him.
I would say that since spending more time with Javi that I’ve kept the assholery to a minimum. When I would get angry he’d try to redirect it, and if that didn’t work he’d usually tackle it head on. Javier still knows when to not push it, but he’s amazing at getting me to focus and readjust myself.
He's done so much that I noticed my mind trying to use these methods myself when I was not with him. His annoyingly constant optimism and positivity was rubbing off on me, even if only in small increments.
That’s not to say that I suddenly became a ray of sunshine that does charity work and compliments everyone he sees. I still was who I was and that would not change overnight, but I knew that it changed at least a little bit because Bella had mentioned it one day. She said that I wasn’t walking around school with a scowl anymore and that was an improvement in her book. It was because I was happier. Javi made me happier.
We put a movie on to watch because neither of us wanted to look at any more schoolwork. Javier wanted me to stay the night, and at first I declined because there was no way Macy was going to approve, not when she had been on my siblings and I’s asses since that dinner.
Then I remembered her talking about her date tonight. When she would make me be her errand-boy she would sometimes talk about herself like I gave a fuck. I never usually listened, but I happened to pick up on her being out with Daniel tonight. Her last few dates with him ended with her not coming back afterward.
It being the weekend meant even more that she was going to stay the night at Daniel’s, which meant that I did not have to return to the jail I called home. It meant that I could stay cuddled up with Javier while we watched movies until we passed out.
Javier had fallen asleep when the movie was close to over despite the time only being nine o’clock at night. I learned that he was not a night person, so when it started to get late he grew tired. He had been forcing himself to stay awake for the entire movie because of me. It had been a long day and I should have been as tired as he was, but I did not have the one thing I needed to soothe me. Even Javier’s embrace was not enough to stop the longing.
He did not know the reason why I couldn’t sleep, but he used all his will power to stay up with me. Still, the sleep won.
