Page 24 of Bound By Obsession

“Axel sweetie, could you help me clear the table?” I flutter my lashes sweetly, belying the fact my fist is thumping Meg beneath the table. Axel smothers a laugh and immediately obliges. In fact, I think he takes great pleasure in taking Garrett’s plate out from beneath him.

“Hey! I wasn’t finished!” Garrett gives an impressive pair of puppy dog eyes but we’re already clearing away and heading to the kitchen counter. All leftovers are either stored in tubs or covered and put into the refrigerator for later. Leaning on the counter, I stare out of the window. Slanted rain obscures the view of the sea and soaks through a pair of forgotten shorts and socks hanging over the railing. The walls suddenly feel closer, now that leaving isn’t an option. It never was - Nixon has made sure of that.

Behind me, there’s vague talk of board games and the sound of movement. I thought they’d all moved into the living areauntil a firm body steps in behind me. The height, the strong arms that round my front, the smell of citrus and spice. I exhale and lean into Axel. He doesn’t say anything, simply holds me across my chest, his large hands curved around my shoulder blades.

The world around us fades as his warmth seeps into me, grounding me in the moment. A silent strength I’ve come to expect. After years of building myself up to not depend on others, a few months with the Shadowed Souls has brought it all crashing down. I know for a fact, I’ll never be able to go back to being alone again. I won’t survive it.

Axel’s steady heartbeat against my back is a silent promise. I can always count on his unwavering presence. In this small pocket of calm, I let go of the tension I didn’t realize I was holding, breathing out the weight of the day as he holds me close.

Sometime later, we emerge in the living area with a bottle of vintage wine in each of our hands. We’d found them in the pantry, all replicas of the ones I’m used to from Hughes Manor. I picked out a Merlot, my mom’s favorite, for me and a white option for Meg. She can’t drink red without passing out, and the board game covering the coffee table looks complicated enough. I don’t need her drooling against my shoulder as well.

To my surprise, Meg is laughing. Garrett is sitting cross-legged on a mound of cushions, holding on tightly while Dax and Huxley try to wrestle a few free for themselves. It’s a humbling scene, if only it was so simple. As soon as the rain stops, the cover of noise will fade and our awareness will return tenfold. How long will we really be safe here?

Garrett, now dethroned from his cushion tower, frowns at my lost expression. “What’s up, Peach? Not a fan of strategy games?”

“This is all so fucked up,” I blurt, not thinking first. Five looks of stunned confusion met my face. I chastise myself, knowing Ishould have kept my thoughts inside but it’s been a long day. My emotions feel erratic, turbulent like a wrecking ball smashing from one side of my psyche to the other. Just when I think it’s done enough damage for today, it rotates and crashes back through. Too late to take the words back now, I sigh to myself.

“You should all be free to come and go as you please. None of you would be stuck here if you weren’t associated with me.” Garrett is saying what a boring life that would be but my ears perk up at Huxley’s deep voice. He has settled on a low armchair, but his steepled fingers and narrowed eyes command my attention.

“You wouldn’t be here if we weren’t associated with you, either.” Tugging on his white T-shirt, Huxley bares the circular scar on his collar bone. “You’d have been kidnapped and who knows what else. It pains me to even think about it. There’s nowhere else we should be.”

“He’s right,” Dax nods from his spot on the floor, cushionless, and Axel chimes in.

“We’re not going anywhere you aren’t, Little Swan.” He’s placed down his wine bottles and removes mine from my hands. Sitting in the free space, Axel pulls me down into his lap, not seeming ready to let go just yet. My heart squeezes, fighting against beating. I could burst with the amount of love I feel for everyone currently in this room. My guardians, my saviors. My family.

“It’s cute that you call her that. The whole ballet and Swan thing.” Meg softly chuckles to herself, attempting to change the subject. For once, Garrett is suspiciously quiet, his gaze anywhere that I’m not. He fiddles with a small metal character on the game board, twisting his lips this way and that. Meg picks up on the shift in the air too, raising a brow at those sat opposite her. “That’s why you call her that, right? Like Swan Lake?”

“Um, well,” Huxley swallows thickly. My own eyebrows lift.

“Wait - it isn’t?!” I don’t waste my time looking around at Axel’s sheepish face or listening to Garrett’s weak ‘of course it is’. I lean forward to get the truth directly from Dax. He wouldn’t lie to me.

“It’s kinda, maybe not exactly where the nickname came from,” he clears his throat and looks to be struggling to phrase his thoughts properly. “There was a time, before we knew you or what you looked like, that Wyatt used to refer to you as….the ugly duckling,” he winces as he says those last three words. The guilt on his face is apparent, his fingers twitching as if he’s yearning to take my hands in his. My mouth drops open. “But then we met you and it was like…”

“Fireworks.” Garrett finishes for him. Abandoning his game piece and his cushion stack, Garrett slides across the floor to kneel beside Axel and me. My hand is wrapped in his in the next instant. “Beautiful fucking fireworks that burst into our lives. We expected you to realize you were meant for better than a group of tormented jocks. We thought you’d spread your wings and fly away, leaving us behind in the dust, but for some strange reason, you stayed. Our precious Little Swan who loves like there’s no reason not to and dances like the world doesn’t exist.”

While Axel nuzzles my neck from behind, Garrett lifts my chin with his thumb and forefinger. I can’t be angry with his playful demeanor and lovable smirk. I smile back and let him take a chaste kiss from me.

“You know that’s all bullshit charm to get his own way, right?” Meg mutters beneath her breath, yet loud enough for us all to hear. I nod, my eyes not leaving Garrett’s gleaming dark ones.

“You get used to it.”

Ilie awake, staring up in the pitch black room. Meg’s deep breathing is occasionally interrupted by a soft snore, probably disturbed by my fidgeting. Where are they?

It’s been hours since I said goodnight to the boys, but I didn’t actually believe I wouldn’t see any of them until morning. We haven’t slept apart in weeks. I don’t even know if I can drift off anymore without heavy limbs thrown over my legs and firm chests pressed against my arms. Sure, I’m sharing a room with Meg - at her request - but I figured at least Garrett would accept the challenge with vigor. It’s why I made up a cot bed beneath the bay window. I wouldn’t put it past him to attempt screwing me beside my best friend. It would likely unlock a new kink. But there’s not a sound beyond the door.

“Screw it,” I mutter, throwing the covers aside. Meg jolts but doesn’t wake. My footsteps are silent on the carpet, and I untwist my shorts and cami as I go. Slipping out of the door, I’ve crept halfway down the stairs when movement reaches my ears.Here he is, I think to myself, anticipating meeting Garret on the stairs. Instead, a body rushes past the hallway below, not sparing a glance in my direction and definitely not seeing me flinch out of my freaking skin. Hushed voices soon follow. Stopping on the bottom step, I stand within the shadows and listen in.

“Here, I got water.” Huxley whispers, slightly panting. Must be tiring being a man of his size, on barely any food, trying to creep around like a ninja.

“Is it cold? Cold is best.” Garrett doesn’t keep his voice so low. In fact, his tone causes me to frown further. I peek around, seeing him accept a tall glass.

“It’s cold, asshole. Just give him the glass already.” The pair disappear into the bedroom Garrett and Axel have claimed. I almost move to follow when another figure appears in the dark, the fuzzy outline of Dax’s hair catching the low light emanating from the bedroom before he disappears inside. Now I’m the only one missing from this impromptu sleepover. I push aside my pout and step out of my hiding space with a straightened spine.

“Any improvement?” I hear Dax ask on my approach. There’s a grunt, followed by Garrett’s harsh tone once more.

“It’s really bad this time.”

My heart clenches. My feet move faster, instinctively taking me to the bedroom door. It’s unfair for my mind to make the sudden jump to Huxley’s presence in that room, singling him out. He’s never kept anything from me, not even when I wanted him to, and the secrecy stings. I don’t dwell on it as the concern in Garrett’s voice sends a jolt of worry through me. His hushed murmurs continue, although I can no longer make out thewords. I hesitate for a split second at the threshold, the sound of labored breathing reaching my ears.

---