“Okay.”
The side of his mouth hits my forehead, and warmth floods my entire body. I kiss on the forehead might just mean that I’m more than just a piece of ass, more than just a listening ear or a friend. It means I could be the one he wants.
I close my eyes, smiling.
The first punch I’ve ever given somebody and I end up breaking my hand. I now have a cast with strict instructions not to get the plaster wet or Dean Winchester will sacrifice himself for Sam again, and Neverland will die. I just made that last bit up. But bad stuff will happen if I get my cast wet, so I’ll try not to.
We left the hospital after one o’clock in the morning, and I’m so tired my vision is going wonky, making all the crisp lines of objects and people fuzzy. Hunter opens my door for me, while opening Matty’s door to unbuckle him from his seat. I take my time getting out of the car, rubbing my eyes with my good hand, and trying to convince myself that sleeping in my bed sounds like a way better idea.
“C’mon, baby. Get out of the car for me.” Hunter’s voice floats to me like he’s standing twenty feet away instead of right in front of me. I sigh, and lean my head back against the headrest, rubbing my eyes harder. “Sera...”
I nod, sniffle and move my legs out of the car and onto the pavement of the indoor parking lot. The fluorescent lighting hurts my tired eyes, and my legs are being assholes that they don’t really want to hold my weight.
Hunter grabs my good hand, fingers and thumb holding my knuckles which he gently pulls and I get to my feet, eyes half-closed. He shuts the door behind me, loud enough to echo about the underground parking lot, making me shiver and realize how alone we are.
“Hunter, baby?”
Like I’ve jumped naked off an ice shelf into the frosty ocean, my whole body erupts in goose-bumps, the tiny hairs at the back of my neck standing on end. Ice squeezes my heart, freezing my lungs so that I can’t breathe in or out.
The end is here, and her name is Alysha.
I don’t remember the red of her hair being that red or bright, nor the green of her eyes so clear and exotic looking. I don’t remember her skin being that gorgeous golden color like she has a tan year-round. I don’t remember her being quite so tall, or so skinny, or so bloody gorgeous that Adonis himself would look twice at her, wolf-whistle and get an instant hard on.
I remember that Hunter wanted her once, and that knife of memory slices into the deepest part of me and takes away whatever confidence I had built up these last few weeks. It shreds apart the beacon of hope in my chest cavity holding what could have been between Hunter and I. The memory slices me, filets me with the knowledge that he was hers before he could ever be mine.
What claim do I have over him when she might have her name tattooed on his body?
Then I remember that bitch left him while he had his low, and I was the one that had to get him to the fraking hospital. And the anger burns away my insecurities.
“Here, Hunt. Give me Matty and come to bed when you’re done.” Rocky and Dean Winchester high-five in my head, whooping like soccer hooligans and thrusting their fists in the air. I move to Hunter, keeping my eyes on Matty, keeping his body in sight as Hunt twists him and drapes his arms and legs into the crook of my arms. I grab a hold, and hold my good hand out for the keys.
When Hunter gives them to me without a word, I walk towards the basement access door to the building and hit the up button for the elevator. I concentrate on Matty and the pain in my newly casted hand. I`m studiously ignoring the questions buzzing around my head, and the way my brain keeps telling me that Hunter is going to get back together with Alysha and realize how much of a waste of time I am.
Shit. When are you going to give yourself a break?
I fumble with the lock and key once I get up to the sixth floor, scratching the crap out of the door before I can get it in right while pushing my knee against the door frame so all of Matty’s weight is on my thigh.
I can’t believe I said that to her. Me, Sera Delos, used some badass sass and implied that Hunter and I were already sleeping together to get in that bitch’s face. See, I don’t need drugs, I get high off of verbal putdowns. I can’t stop smiling, even as I fight with the lock trying to go about the world as a leftie.
I grunt when I push Matty’s weight up with my leg, secure my left arm around him, bad hand free, pushing the door open with my elbow. I kick the door closed, cringe when it makes a loud thunk but get Matty to his room without him waking up.
Once I’ve gone back to lock the door, do I settle him, wondering if it would be pervy of me to change his clothes into pjs. I rummage through his dresser and find a matching set- red sleep shorts and a red and gold t-shirt with the arc reactor in the middle. I wake Matty up, mumbling to him to get his pjs on even though he isn’t cooperating. I end up hitting my bad hand against his headboard, twinging my knuckles on the inside of the cast with such a sharp pain I start gagging at the feel of it.