Chapter 33

~Riley’s POV~

I watched as he crossed the room and turned out the light and I burrowed deeper into the blankets as a shiver swept through me. I could feel the beginnings of a cold coming on and the tingling in my throat told me a sore throat was also in the cards.

I groaned and let my eyes drift closed. It was only when I felt the dip in the mattress beside me that I opened them again to see him getting under the covers. It was already past two in the morning and even though we’d stayed up more than half the night playing cards and learning as much as we could about each other, I still wasn’t feeling as tired as I knew I should be.

“So what’s the plan for later?”

Nate turned to me, his expression had long since gone unreadable and I was already missing his easy smile. “ I should be getting my hands on copies of the police interviews, if we don’t get any leads from there, we’ll need to go into town for a while; there’s only so much we can do from here.” He explained.

“We?”

“Me and John.” He said with a finality that I knew I couldn’t sway, but the thought of having to stay here while they went out and solved my case for me still left a bad taste in my mouth.

“You sure you couldn’t use my help? and Kyle’s pretty useful too…we can stay hidden, just like we did when we first broke out.”

He shook his head, his gaze travelling to the ceiling. “Can’t risk that. John and I will handle it, you two just need to lay low until we find something that’ll help.”

I stifled a sigh, “How long do you think you’ll be gone?”

“As long as it takes.”

I shifted closer so that I was pressed against him “I don’t like the sound of this. If something happens to you guys how would we know?”

“We’ll check in at the end of every day and we’ll put something in place in case something happens, you guys will be safe.” His words weren’t reassuring in the least.

I went quiet then, processing his words before deciding to drop it all together. “You know, you’ve changed these past few weeks since we got out.” I whispered into the darkness and this time he shifted slightly and turned to face me once more.

The soft illumination the moon provided allowed me to see his eyes, which were fixed on mine.

“How so?”

I shrugged, “You just smile a lot more, and you talk more…you were different in prison.”

He seemed to think on my words. I sneezed; once twice, three times, then groaned, flipping onto my back with a sigh.

“Maybe I’m happier.”

I grinned. “That’s good…I like you this way.”

I trembled when I felt his fingers brush my forehead.

“You’ve got a fever.”

I shrugged. “I shouldn’t have jumped into that damn lake.”

He offered no further comment and my brows furrowed. “You okay? You’ve been kind a quiet since we put the cards away.”

“Yeah, just have a lot on my mind.”

This was the Nate I was used to; silent and brooding and I suppose more often than not this was the Nate I’d be getting.

“Wanna talk about it?” I cringed at my own words, pretty sure he wouldn’t take me up on that offer but as he’d been doing a lot these days, he surprised me with his response.

“Just Eddie mostly. Can’t seem to get him out of my head.”

I reached out a comforting hand to squeeze his arm. “I don’t think you ever will.”

He nodded then and I watched his mouth open as if he might say something but he closed it just as quickly and shook his head.

“Let’s get some sleep. We’ve got a long day tomorrow.”

I bit my lip wondering what I could say to lift his funk but in the end I decided I’d just let him sleep on it and hope he’d feel better in the morning, so I shifted even closer, buried my face in his neck where I could feel his strong pulse and smell his manly scent and despite not feeling tired, I was out in a matter of minutes.

……………………………

…“No I can’t”

I turned away from him, my face burning red but he wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer, so that his face hovered over mine.

“Why not?”

My face grew hotter.

“Cause.”

He chuckled.

“Cause what?”

“Cause it’s embarrassing.” And that was exactly how I felt, as if I’d die from embarrassment right then and there but he persisted, trying to bend me to his will.

“You don’t have to be embarrassed with me.” his voice was husky as he said it and I fidgeted as he hand trailed slowly over my naked flesh…

…………………………………….

I don’t know if it was the aching joints, the terrible headache or the uncomfortable pain I felt in my throat whenever I swallowed that woke me from just about the best dream I’d had all week, but when I did I immediately wished I could go back . I felt as though I’d been run through by a bull… or five and I groaned softly feeling miserable.

“I made you orange juice.”

I pried my eyes open squinting against the almost blinding light to see Kyle curled up in the chair by the window, poking at a device he held in his hand.

“Nate said you’re sick.” He offered again.

I groaned “I feel like shit.”

He glanced up at me then and smirked “You look like shit.” Then he gestured to the side table “Drink the OJ.”

I took a moment to glance at the table upon which stood a tall glass of orange juice before closing my eyes again, careful not to swallow too hard.

“Where’s Nate?”

“Downstairs going through files.” He reported sounding distracted and I rolled over with another groan and rested my head on my arm as I watched him.

My eyes narrowed. “Where’d you get a tablet?”

“It’s John’s”

Well that was certainly news to me. “You guys are talking now?”

“Nah, found it in his stuff.” He said simply. “I can’t figure out his password,.” Then he looked up at me thoughtfully.

“What do you think a guy like John would use as his password? And don’t say my name I already tried that.”

I rolled my weak eyes then let them drift close again, feeling so pathetic I could hardly even lift a limb.

“You’re not even trying.” He whined and I sniffled, then wiped my leaking nose with the back of my hand.

“I don’t know Kyle, why don’t you ask John?” I whispered hoarsely and he shot me a glare.

“He hasn’t said a word to me since we found out. John can kiss my ass.”

His annoyance was undeniable but I was feeling too shitty to comment as I sat up slowly, then reached across and snagged the glass from the table clumsily, causing some of its contents to slosh over the rim and hit the sheets.

“Nate said they might go into town today and he’s not sure when they’ll get back.” I offered after the first sip.

Kyle frowned, worrying his bottom lip with his teeth. “So they’re leaving us here?”

I nodded and took another sip, then lowered the glass to the bed between my legs and leaned back against the headboard.

“I’m going with them.” He announced then and I glanced at him warily.

“They won’t let you.”

“They can’t stop me.” and his determination wasn’t something I would doubt but if our men didn’t want us with them we sure as hell had no chance of going, it was as simple as that, but to Kyle I said;

“Uhuh.”

“I’ll go talk to Nate now...you want anything?” he asked while pushing up from the seat and I watched almost as if in slow motion as the tablet slipped from his lap and hit the floor with a loud clatter.

Kyle froze and we both glanced down at the thing to see the web of cracks spread out from one corner of the screen to the next.

Kyle picked it up gently as if any show of care from him after the fact would magically repair the device, then he looked at me; horrified.

“It just slipped.”

I nodded. “I saw.”

“You don’t think he had anything important on it do you?” he asked carefully, clearly still shocked that he’d managed to wreck it.

“Well he had a-” sneeze “password on it so-” sneeze “I’m guessing there must have been something important on it…can you get me some paper towels please?”

It took him a moment, but finally he moved from his frozen position and exited the room, a few seconds later he came back with a roll of tissue which he threw my way and I scooped it up off the sheets and unrolled a few blocks.

When I’d blown my nose and looked up once more, Kyle was standing in the middle of the room worrying his bottom lip again. He seemed genuinely upset about the shattered screen and I decided to offer him some comfort…or something.

“Maybe he won’t care.”

He shook his head. “Well maybe now we’re even.” He said but it sounded more like a question and I raised a brow then took a sip of my juice.

“Even with what?”

He shrugged. “He kept who he was from me this whole time and when I finally found out he ignored me.” he explained.

“I don’t think it works quite like that Kyle.”

He looked from the broken tablet, to me, then back at the tablet. “Well it’s not my fault he didn’t put a case on it.”

“You weren’t supposed to be snooping around in his things in the first place.”

He sighed and dropped down into the chair again.

“This just isn’t my fucking week.”

I took another sip of my juice and flinched at the pain in my throat when I tried to swallow.

“You think he had FBI stuff on it?”

I shrugged. “I feel like I’ve been run over by something.” I hated being sick; the sapped strength, the pain and the constant snot were just too much for one man to bear.

I sneezed into the tissue again and groaned pitifully. Getting sick also made me feel helpless and needy and right then I wouldn’t have minded having Nate beside me.

“You want a pill or something?”

I shook my head which felt as though it was stuffed with cotton “I think I just need to sleep for a bit.” I murmured, depositing the glass onto the table and sliding right back under the covers. It didn’t take long for me to drift back to sleep, but this time I dreamt of smashed screens and cotton balls.

At one point while I balanced between dreamland and reality I thought I smelled Nate’s signature woodsy scent, then I felt a warm hand against my forehead and the sheets being pulled around my shoulders but then I was being pulled back to my dream world and reality felt like a faraway place.

The next time I woke, I was alone and the orange juice had been replaced by a bowl of soup.

I sat up as best I could with my body feeling weaker than it had any right to feel and picked up the bowl-which was warm to the touch- and swallowed a few spoons full to satisfy my empty stomach. After a while even shoveling the tasteless soup down felt like an exhausting chore and with my appetite already nonexistent I replaced the bowl and swung my feet to the side of the bed.

It was that moment that the door clicked open and Kyle came in.

“Oh you’re awake...finally. How’re you feeling?”

“Not much different from before really.” I explained then pushed up from the bed completely and padded across the cold floor.

“What did John say about the tablet?” I asked as I walked past him.

“I’m waiting for the right time to tell him.”

I didn’t really know when the right time was to tell someone you’d not only invaded their privacy but smashed their personal possession to pieces. Kyle turned and followed me to the bathroom, leaning against the door jamb as I stood trying to brush my teeth.

I felt so shaky, that I had to grip the sink a time or two from fear of falling on my face and even the trek down the stairs and into the family room tired me out to the point where it felt as if I’d walked a mile rather than taken a few steps.

John and Nate sat around the table, papers spread out before them. They both looked up when I entered.

I offered Nate a shaky smile which he didn’t return and John went back to his file.

“Did you eat?” this from Nate and I nodded.

Behind me, Kyle dropped into the sofa and flipped on the TV. I made my way over to Nate, glancing down at the papers before him. “Find anything interesting?”

He shook his head and when I went to pull away his arm automatically went around my waist, pulling me closer so that the side of his face rested against my belly.

All this wasn’t lost on John, who watched the display with narrowed eyes and pursed lips.

“We’ll have to go into the city after all.” Nate was explaining and I nodded then sniffled to prevent my nose from leaking all over the place.

“Come sit down.” He said then, releasing me and patting the chair beside him. When I sat, I put my cheek to the table just so I wouldn’t have to hold my head up any longer, then I sniffled some more as I watched him watch me.

“I hate being sick.”

When he reached across to run his hand through my hair I closed my eyes enjoying the soothing feeling of his fingers against my scalp.

“Stop babying him, he’s not a child.” Came John’s aggravated voice and I opened my eyes and frowned.

“Shut up John, just because you’re miserable doesn’t mean you have to try to make everybody just like you. Leave them alone.” Kyle called over, sounding irritated.

“Don’t start with me Kyle.” The big guy growled and I closed my eyes again trying to stave off the headache that was surely bubbling to the surface.

I heard the could squeak and footsteps across the floor and then silence which told me Kyle had left the room, but less than half a minute later he was back and I opened my eyes in time to see him drop the smashed tablet onto the table in front of John.

He had his arms folded and his mouth set in an angry frown.

John looked down at the thing, gritted his teeth, pinched the bridge of his nose then took a deep breath and all the while Kyle stood there looking pissed as if daring his lover to say something.

Nate reached across and picked it up and we both looked at the screen before he dropped it on the table again with a shake of his head.

“Kyle, how about you sit down and make yourself useful.” Nate suggested though it sounded more like an order and with a glare at John and an equally disdainful look at Nate, he walked around the table and dropped down across from me. Nate handed him a file and he flipped the cover open.

“I didn’t break it on purpose if that’s what you’re thinking, but really John, sometimes I think you deserve the shit that comes to you.”

John didn’t seem to be listening anymore, he once again had a pen in hand and his eyes planted on the files before him and I wondered if he’d somehow worked out a method to drown Kyle out when he got to be too much.

Sniffle

I finally sat up in the chair and pulled a stack of papers over to me but Nate pulled them away again.

“You need to go get some rest.”

“It’s okay, I want to help.” I assured him but his expression remained unchangeable

“You’ll be more help to us healthy, go get some sleep.” He more or less ordered and I frowned. Here was the bossy Nathan I was used to.

With a sigh I pushed up from the table, making my way over to the couch but a loud banging at the front door had be freezing in the middle of the room.

John and Nate acted swiftly and without a sound they were out of their seats and I was being dragged across the room and made to duck behind a couch. At the other side of the space, Kyle also crouched behind a wall and I watched with rounded eyes as Nate pulled his gun from behind the unused fish tank and John grabbed his from an empty vase.

Then they positioned themselves, John beside the door closer to the knob, his weapon held strategically in front of his chest and Nate on the other side of it; his stance identical.

The pounding came again and I swallowed hard, the pain in my throat momentarily forgotten. I pinched my nostrils together to prevent myself from sneezing then watched the scene play out before me, my heart thumping rapidly in my chest and my hands trembling.

“Who is it?” John’s booming voice pierced the quiet space and a shiver swept through me.

“Open the damn door!” the voice called and I froze.

Nate and John looked at each other, their brows raised in confusion and with weapon still drawn, John pulled the door open slightly, making sure that at all times his body was protected, then while I watched he stepped back as if in shock and the door fell wide open to reveal the intruder. I gasped, rising shakily from my position as the man entered and Nate lowered his weapon, looking as though he might be sick.

“Hey guys...missed me?” the man asked with a wide grin and Kyle finally pulled away from his hiding place and took two steps forward.

“How is this possible?” he whispered while the rest of us stood frozen in place our eyes planted on a man we’d thought we would never see again.

AUTHOR'S NOTES

THERE YA GO GUYS! AND I UPLOADED EXTRA EARLY SO YOU WON'T HAVE TO STAY UP ALL NIGHT WHEN YOU HAVE SCHOOL AND WORK TOMORROW

Check out my tumblr for sneak peeks and more! http://www.tumblr.com/blog/twinzdouble

sHOUToUT TO : kindlenook for reading and taking to time out to comment

-DoUbLe.A

-unedited.