ROGUE

51 : King Jason

Your POV

"Hello?" I pressed my phone to my ear and tried my best to keep my voice even.
I knew that if Jason sensed that something was wrong, he'd be right over here, breaking down doors.

"Hey babe, I'm out shopping for tomorrow night and I know you're not gonna drink so what do you want me to get you instead?" Jason's voice rasped on the other end of the phone, and Matt's thick British accent could be heard somewhere in the background.

"Um," I pressed the palm of my hand to my forehead and bit my lip, still wincing at the throbbing pain under my eye. The thought of a party right now sounded draining. "I'll just have some water." I mumbled.

I heard a throaty chuckle, signalising that Jason was obviously amused and that he wasn't suspecting anything. "You can't drink water at a party." He laughed. "C'mon, what about, like... lemonade? Hey, what about red bull?" He was obviously browsing the drinks isle in the supermarket, and he began listing all the none-alcoholic drinks that he assumed I would like.
"Fanta, coke, rockstar, monster..."

"Jason," I interrupted him, rolling my eyes and managing to smile. "It's fine, honestly. Water will do."

"Nope, water will not do." Jason said in disapproval. "I'll just get them all and you can choose what you wanna drink tomorrow, don't worry, I won't get anything with alcohol in it." He decided.

"No, Jason-"

"Bye, I love you." He hung up before I could argue with him.
I rolled my eyes for the second time and turned back to face the mirror.
A dark shadow had began to blacken beneath my eye, and I would need some serious makeup skills to manage concealing it.

Let's just say that Will knew how to fucking punch.

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Jason's POV

"Why am I the one who has to push the trolley?" Matt complained childishly, heaving the heavy metal basket down the supermarket isles which was filled to the top of actual clutter.

"Cause I don't wanna do it." I shrugged, observing the shelves and searching for more relevant snacks and drinks.
We had already got just about everything we needed:
Alcohol.
Munch.
Hired 'entertainment'.
Drugs for all the crackheads...
And that was when I realised we were missing something.
"Yo, what about balloons?" I looked at Matt, a smirk curving on my lips.

Matt looked at me in disapproval and waited for a moment, almost to see if I was joking. "You want to have balloons at your party? What are you, like... five years old?"

"Not party balloons," I rolled my eyes at Matt's stupidity and let out an exasperated sigh. "Those balloons that are filled with that weird gas, and you breath it in and out really quick. It gets you high as fuck, bro. You haven't heard about them yet?" I questioned.

"Nope," Matt looked intrigued. "But they sound cool so I'm down. I take it you know where to get them?"

I dug around in my pocket and pulled out my phone, cocking an eyebrow. "Do you know who I am?" I chuckled lowly. "Of course I know where to get them."

Just as I was about to send a message to 'The Balloon Man', a young girl dressed in a disney princess frock ran down the isle and straight past me, crying hysterically and clutching onto a ratty teddy bear. She looked about four or five years old and I was instantly curious.
"Mommy?!" She screamed, running frantically. Her big blue eyes darting everywhere like a frightened deer.

"Hey, kid." I called after her, unsure of how to act. She spun around to look at me, her eyes were red and puffy, and her bottom lip trembled. I gestured her over. "Come here." I said in the gentlest voice possible.
She stared at me, her eyes pooling with hesitation and uncertainty.
I didn't blame her - I wasn't really dressed as the most welcoming person in the world.
With my black leather jacket, snapback on backwards, sleeves rolled up and arms covered in tattoos, the dressed up child had every right to be intimidated.
Eventually, she took nervous steps closer, tears running down her face as she walked up to me.
I kneeled down to her level slowly and sent her a reassuring smile whilst Matt watched in confusion.
"Are you alright?" I asked softly.