Page 34 of Fighting My Demons

“Dickhead,” she mutters, trying to fix her skirt and her hair, pulling it into a bun and using an elastic off her wrist.

Chapter Twenty

Bella

I am helping Blaine cook, or a more accurate description is that I am passing him ingredients while he cooks, which is probably safer because I have no idea what the heck he is making. It smells good, though.

“Do you always cook, or do the others cook too?” I ask him.

“Latham can cook but hates it. Xavier can burn water and has been banned years ago from the kitchen. So unless you want food poisoning, don’t eat anything he cooks,” Blaine tells me.

“My cooking isn’t that bad. I can make two-minute noodles,” Xavier says from the couch.

“Yeah, if you only have to add water. You know, the noodles that come in a cup. Don’t let him near a stove,” Blaine says.

“Can you two stop bitching? You are both giving me a headache,” Latham says, walking into the kitchen and peering over Blaine's shoulder.

“Smells good,” Latham says before pecking his cheek.

They all seem so comfortable with each other though I am curious how their relationship works. I know Addie is with both Cyrus and Eli, which seems to work and can be easily pictured. I quickly scrape that mental image from my mind.

“So, how long have you three been together?” I ask them.

“Xavier and I have been together for around five hundred—”

“Five hundred months,” Latham cuts in.

“Huh?”

Who the heck counts their relationship in months like that? It reminds me of when you ask some mothers how old their kid is, and they reply, “Oh, they are 48 months old.” No idiot, they are four years old. Do they think it makes the child sound younger? I’ve never understood that.

“That doesn’t make sense. That would make you together for forty-odd years,” I tell him.

Blaine scratches his neck nervously.

“Blaine is terrible at math. Clearly, so is Latham. We have been together for five years, Bella. Latham has come and gone for the last few years,” Xavier explains.

“So, you and Blaine were together first?” I ask Xavier, and he comes over, leaning on the counter next to the stool I am sitting on.

“Yep, Latham is a bit of a man whore, and isn’t as exclusive as Blaine and me. Well, until now, anyway.”

“And that works?”

“Yes, we also moved a lot, and Latham prefers Soya City. So when we left, he stayed there, so it made sense to just split things off until we came back again.”

“And what were you doing in Soya City?” I ask Latham.

“Council work,” Latham answers.

“So, that’s where you met Cyrus and Eli?”

“Yes and no, I actually met them a long time ago. Can’t remember exactly.”

“Latham, Cyrus, and Eli were a thing for a bit too,” Blaine answers, and Latham elbows him.

“What? You were,” Blaine says like it's no big deal.

“So, let me get this straight. You were with Eli and Cyrus, then met Blaine and Xavier, and are now with them?”