Rose Petals - Eyeless Jack x Reader

Chapter 6

[06— Eyes on You]

|| Your POV ||

  "[Name]! Look!"

   You looked up from your phone at Liam's voice, the nine year old halfway across the backyard with his kickball. As soon as you were paying attention, he kicked the ball as hard as he could and it flew straight toward you. You tensed and swatted the ball away in panic before shooting him a glare. "Hey! You're gonna make me drop my phone!"

   Liam laughed. "Sorry! But I kicked it pretty hard, huh?"

   You sighed. Children. "I guess you did, yeah," you said, standing up. "Just keep this thing over there, okay?" You kicked the ball back toward him.

   The boy caught it. "Okay!"

   Leaving Liam to himself, you sat back down and looked over to Iris on the opposite side of the table. She leaned over, her hand flat out on the table as she carefully painted her index finger a deep red. "Are you heading out again tonight?"

   "Yeah," she answered flatly. She was too focused on her nails to look up at you. "I'll be back early, though. Going out with friends instead of working."

   "Cool." You returned to your phone, the group chat still open.

   Vie said she wasn't going to be able to make it, as she was busy with her studies, and Melina said she was going to give you some space after what happened at the party. It looked like it was just you and Nico.

   The thought of it left you nervous, but it also excited you at the same time, even if all the two of you would be doing was visiting Klein and Nadia. You rose from the table, telling Iris you were heading out.

   As soon as you left the house for your car, there was an unexpected sensation of eyes on you. It put weight in your steps, and you could not help but look around as you slowly approached your car. There was no one around, and it was only the middle of the afternoon, so the sun was out and shining brightly. Odd.

   You forced yourself to brush it off as nothing but shakes from last night and got in your car, driving to your destination. It didn't take long to arrive at the right house, and you parked your car, seeing Nico's already there. Stepping out, you gave yourself a few preparative breaths and then stepped up to the porch, ringing the doorbell.

   Nadia answered a moment later and invited you inside, asking how you were feeling after last night. You told her you were fine as she led you through the house, mentioning how Melina had apologised and told you she would have stopped a long time ago if she knew her antics upset you as much as they did. Nadia was glad to hear it and opened the door to her boyfriend's bedroom.

   Nico was already in there, sitting in a chair close to the bed, though not too close, so that he had a reasonable distance from Klein. The sick man was sat in his bed, face pale and eyes sunken in. His red hair was a tangled mess, and his smile was tired. His blue eyes flicked to you as you approached. "Hey, [Nickname], what's up?" Even his voice was terrible, scratchy and nasally.

   Klein and Nadia got together about two years ago, and were the oldest in the friend group right after Vie. The three of them were closest with each other, just as you, Melina and Nico were closest with each other. Out of everyone in the group, Klein was the person you talked to the least, but you did still like him.

   "Nothing much. Just dreading work tomorrow," was all of you could think to reply as you stood next to Nico.

   "Yeah, that's once thing I'm glad I don't have to worry about while stuck in this bed," Klein agreed.