Page 31 of On The Edge
Or at least, it was for a while. Recently, it’s slowly been losing its luster.
The guys all climb out of the SUV and Markus helps Kai maneuver Melody into his arms. The asshole looks happy about the fact that she’s cuffed to him and has made no move to take it off.
The clean parking garage underneath and the well-lit elevator are a big change from when we first got to New York. We decided to all live together when we moved to New York City simply because we were technically still in high school, absolutely no money, and we had left on a whim after I got us the bus tickets.
It was a long few days; getting to New York and trying to just survive, but we figured it out.
How we’ve grown.Cue the sarcasm. Now that we are financially able to live on our own, we decided to keep living together. We’re pretty much brothers, after all.
Our apartment is a fucking mansion; huge, floor to ceiling windows that show all of the city spectacularly, clean and spacious. It’s our safe space. The place we can be ourselves without putting on the masks we do for the outside world. And we work really fucking hard to keep it that way.
One of the first rules we made when we started living together was no bringing girls back to our place. We made that pact when we lived in that shitty shoebox we first rented, and we’ve kept it the whole time.
We don’t want any of the outside world to know where we are, except for the few necessary people that have to. So bringing Mel here… It’s a big deal.
I brought up the idea of the pact when Kai and Markus were trying to “acclimate to the city, and all its delights”, is how Markus phrased it. They were bringing home a girl every night and would fuck behind one of the sheets we used to determine “rooms” in the small-ass space. Adam and I were sick of beingkicked out of our own apartment at all hours of the night. Kai and Markus didn’t see an issue.
We figured it out. Eventually.
I never let myself think that they were fucking around because they were trying to get over Melody.
“Home, finally,” Adam grunts, dropping his duffel bag by the front door and kicking off his shoes. “Give her to me,” he demands Kai, holding his arms out for the unconscious woman. Kai, in turn, ignores him and pushes through the foyer to the wide-open living room. “Asshole.”
“I heard that!” Kai throws over his shoulder before placing Melody on our wide, white couch so gently it pisses me off.
“I meant for you to!”
“Where is she going to stay?” Markus asks, coming up to stand next to me, watching the two others squabble over the girl in the middle.
“In the room by mine for now.” I’m too tired to have this discussion. I’m used to getting barely any sleep, but three hours the night before, plus a whole concert, plus all the drama with Melody, and a plane ride… It’s bordering on too much, for even me.
“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
Sighing deeply, I growl, “Yes, Markus. It’s fine. Plus it’s the only free room unless one of you idiots wants to share with her.” I immediately cringe because I know what they’re going to say.
Kai and Adam both raise their hands like they’re in school, and Markus just chuckles flirtatiously.
“Well if you’re taking volunteers…” he drawls, raising his eyebrows.
“I’m getting a fucking migraine,” I mutter. “No. You all will stay in your own rooms and Melody will stay in the room next to mine.”
“When did you become king?” Kai says with a pout, crossing his arms over his chest like a toddler. He must have finally uncuffed her because the metal is glinting in the low light as it hangs off his wrist.
Rolling my eyes, I stand my ground. “It makes sense, you assholes. She’ll need a space to stay, and I don’t want any of us getting distracted.”
Adam scoffs. “If you didn’t want any of us distracted, we shouldn’t have fuckingkidnappedher.”
“Would you stop fucking saying that?” My fists clench at my sides. “Are you really telling me that you’re upset about it? Look what you have now; her, here. Just like you wanted. You’re just pissed off because I made a call you were too chicken-shit to make,” I sneer with an eye roll as if he hasn’t made his stance clear already. Whatever, I’m too tired for this. “Just take her into the spare room, leave her alone, and go get some rest. We have practice bright and early tomorrow.”
Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge, I point a finger at them all as a collective groan sounds through the room.
“Dude, it’s 4:30 in the morning,” Kai groans, as Markus stands up from where he was crouched by Melody, dropping his head back in defeat.
“Yeah, and I expect everyone in the studio by eight.”
“You’re killing us,” Adam sighs. Turning to snap at him to not be a lazy fuck, I stop when I really, actually look at him. There are dark bags under his eyes, and an exhaustion etched into his face that I feel deep in my own bones. Kai crouches back down and brushes Melody’s hair back annoyingly, but looks back up at me with reserved agreement to my work schedule. There’s the same look of overwhelming tiredness in his eyes as well. Markus moves back against the wall, crossing his arms, but he won’t meet my eye. Upon closer look, his shoulders are tense andhunched like he’s carrying the weight of the world on them, andexhaustedby it.
“We need a break. One day, Reis. One day,” Adam barters, but I shake my head.
