Page 77 of We Are the Stars

Nate takes off into the restaurant and I hear more yelling. He quickly comes back out, huffing and puffing. He places a hand on my shoulder and says, “Come on, we’ll take you home.”

“No!” I break free of his hold. “I can’t go there. Not like this. They’ll think the wrong thing and it’ll be bad for everyone—worse than it already is.”

They share a worried glance before nodding as if they had a quick, silent conversation.

“We’ll take you back to our place tonight.”

“What! I can’t go there! Not after that!”

“Shh. It’s fine. I promise. We won’t letanythinghappen to you.”

“But it’s Carsen’s house.”

“Elliott, I swear on everything I have, I willnotlet anything happen to you. I don’t care if the fucking Pope busted down the door and demanded your ass on a silver platter,” Nate tells me. “You’re safe with us, no matter where we are.”

“I…” I grab my head, now throbbing all over. “Okay.”

We quickly make our way back to Carsen’s house. The walk is fast and before I know it, we’re barging through the front door and I’m being rushed to the bathroom.

Nate plunks me down on the closed toilet lid while Blake scrambles around the room for a first aid kit.

“It’s clean in here.”

Blake pauses in his task of opening a clean gauze pad and soaking it in saline water. “Okay…”

I shrug. “I didn’t expect it to be clean.”

“Because we’re boys?”

“Because you’re boys.”

Nate chuckles. “Tell us how you really feel, Elliott.”

“Boys are gross. And mean.Somean sometimes.”

“You okay there, champ?” Blake asks.

“Can I have something for my head?”

The boys share another look.

“What?” I demand when they stare for too long.

“I think we should get you to a doctor. You could have a concussion,” Nate tells me.

“No. I’m fine. I promise. I just need Tylenol, a bandage, and rest.”

“Are you sure?” Blake presses.

“Positive.”

Another look. Another annoyed huff from me.

Nate nods and Blake proceeds to clean out my cut and carefully place a bandage over it. Nate runs to the kitchen and returns with a glass of water while Blake shakes out a couple pills.

“Here, take these.”

I obey.

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