“Oh my god! What did you do?” Marlowe’s sister screamed as I shook the pain out of my knuckles.
“Relax, he’ll be fine. You, on the other hand, need to figure your shit out. Marlowe’s not going to be here to help you anymore.”
“She’s not my mom! I’m twenty-fucking-years old. Jesus Christ.” Francesca whined.
“Then fucking act like it,” I said, rolling my eyes. A few moments later, Marlowe walked out holding Dojo’s bag of food and carrying the small pup. Dexter wore a backpack and a small duffle bag. “Let’s get the fuck out of here.” I placed my hand on the small of each of their backs as I held the door open for them. I held the door open as Marlowe’s sister stared at me. We all piled back in the car and drove the 20 minutes back to our house in silence.
twenty-one
talk
Marlowe
Sleeping in Dexter’s room that night felt normal. Once we all got settled, I immediately crawled into bed. The guys stayed up longer, watching TV in the living room. They asked me to join them, but I just wanted to sleep. I wanted the thoughts of my sister out of my head. Had she really let it go this far? She wouldn’t even let me help her. Even when Dexter and Bunny stepped in, she wouldn’t have it. I had to get out of that house.
Finally, my thoughts had made my mind so tired that I finally fell asleep.
Bunny woke me up in the middle of the night. “Marlowe,” he whispered. When I opened my eyes, his face was level with mine next to the bed. Tears welled in his sweet brown eyes. I knew what he wanted before he said it. Scooting over and lifting the blanket, Bunny got in bed and pulled me close to his chest. Soft sobs tore through him as I drew circles on his back. Only a few moments later, his breathing leveled out, and he fell asleep. I followed soon after.
Light filtered in, the blinds open behind the grey curtains. My arm was draped across Dexter’s stomach as I lay on his chest.
“You awake?” He asked, gently brushing a hand down the back of my head.
“Mhmm.” I stretched before looking up at him. “Thanks for letting me crash here last night.”
He squeezed me tightly. “Anytime.”
Sitting up, I sat cross-legged and looked down at Dexter. He had one arm behind his head, the other wrapped around my back, tracing lightly above the waistband of my pajamas. “Can I ask you something, since Bunny’s in the shower?”
He nodded, his green eyes sparkling as the little bit of light that got in captured the brightest parts in the irises.
I bit my lips, nervous to bring up the topic. I wanted to talk to Bunny too, but I decided that talking to Dex would be a good idea as well. “What’s going on with Bunny? I’m not leaving without talking to him today.”
He stopped his movements on my back and sat up to look at me more directly. “Mar, Bunny has been through a lot, and when he gets like this. Well, he’s never been exactly like this before.”
“Dex,” I cupped his cheek in my hand. His face had completely dropped as soon as he started talking about the subject. “I’m not asking you to tell me about his past; that’s up to him to tell me. But I have to know what’s going on and where I fit in because whatever the fuck is happening, I can’t do this.”
“He’s using,” Des said, looking me straight in the eye. “I don’t know what, last time it was pills and alcohol, but he was mixing the shit bad. He gets really good at hiding it from people…until he doesn’t. He started getting careless. And when his nightmares started again, I knew something was really wrong.”
“So that’s probably what happened last night then. He had a nightmare.” This comment was more to myself than Dexter.
“Did he come in here?”
“Yeah,” I pointed over to the side. He crawled into bed with me. “He came in, looked like he had been crying, and crawled in next to me. He squeezed me so tight to his chest. I thought maybe he didn’t realize what he had done for a second, but he said my name to wake me up.”
Dexter nodded his head and wrapped a hand around the side of my neck. “I’m getting worried. He hasn’t had nightmares like this since we were teenagers.”
When the shower shut off in Bunny’s bathroom, Dexter and I broke apart. Standing, I called Dojo to follow me to the living room. Grabbing a blanket and covering my lap, Dojo jumped up, and we watched cartoons on the TV.
Bunny came into the living room and looked down at me and Dojo on the couch. “Where am I supposed to sit?”
Leaning forward slightly, I glanced around the room. "There's plenty of other places for you to sit,” I said with a smile, looking him in the eye.
He walked over wearing only a pair of grey sweatpants and no shirt. His hair was still dripping water from the shower. My gaze followed a water droplet down his chest. He caught my chin with his finger and tilted my head back up.
In one fluid motion, he squeezed in to sit behind me on the couch. “Bunny!” I shouted.
“Scoot down, I’m trying to get comfortable.” He put his hands on my hips and tried to shimmy me down with him. He wrapped his legs around mine and pulled me back against his chest. I felt the slight dampness of his skin against mine, and his body was so warm.
