Bombshells ~ Complete

Chapter Sixteen: Family

Time slowed down when I realized what I did. Kade and Xavier hadn't reacted, so I was hoping they wouldn't notice at all. 

Here's what happened in the last five minutes. Jaydon had started walking towards me, and I, unconsciously, flinched back. It was an instinctive response. I didn't mean to, but it happened anyways. 

Without even thinking about it, I had curled myself away from Jaydon and into Kade's lap. A hurt look flashed over his face, before his features crumpled into an accepting and pained look. I could feel Kade tense under me, from where I was still sitting on him. Xavier's hands stopped from where they were rubbing my feet.

I opened my eyes from where I had closed them, and looked at Kade. He was staring at my fists, which were clutching his shirt with a vise like grip. He then looked me in the eyes, and shot me a small smile. He then passed me to Zander, who rubbed my arms when I started shivering once more. 

Kade was standing; Xavier hadn't moved. 

Jaydon was backing away, not even afraid but ashamed. 

"What happened?" Kade asked, his voice dangerously low. Jaydon looked at me, his eyes watery with tears. I guess he blamed himself for what happened. But it was my own fault. Once again, I couldn't stand up for myself and protect myself. 

"Show them, Ariel. Go ahead." Jaydon croaked, his voice sounding thick and deep. He was close to crying, that much I was sure of. 

I sat up a little bit. Zander helped me, taking most of my weight. Lila was looking between her two sons, a little scared of what might happen, a little unsure of what was about to happen. 

I bit my lip, before slowly pulling up my sleeve. The purpleish, blackish bruise was swollen. Zander, since I was sitting on his lap, pulled my arm closer to his face so he could study the bruise more intently. I don't know why. It wasn't rocket science to figure out I had a pretty bad bruise. 

Everyone was looking at my arm, and then their eyes flickered back up to my face. Lila had a hand covering her mouth. It seemed a bit overdramatic, but then again, so was my reaction. Then again, I had never expected the one person I had told everything to hurt me like he did. But, I suppose, I could've reacted better. 

Pretended like it didn't happen or something. I mean, that's what every single teenager did in the entire world. 

Pretend it didn't happen, and it didn't. 

"Jaydon, what the hell did you do?" Gabriel asked, sounding aghast. I rolled down my sleeve, before anyone looked any closer and saw the nearly completely finished fading handprints my father had left on me. 

"I didn't mean to! It was an accident." Jaydon defended himself, his eyes raising to look his eldest brother in the eyes. Gabriel turned to look back at me. When his gaze landed on me, my eyes flashed to the ground. 

"What happened?" Xavier growled, standing to his full height. Now both Kade and Xavier were standing between Jaydon and I. It was almost as if they were afraid that if I had a full view of Jaydon, I would cry. 

I wouldn't cry because of that. Not anymore, anyways. 

"The new guy and his two cousins cornered me in the bathroom and started beating me up. I guess I was super late to lunch or something, cause Ariel came running in to the rescue. She got the guys off me, and helped me sit up. I don't really know what happened, I just got so pissed she couldn't leave me be. She offered to get one of you guys, I told her no, and then she scared the guys off by saying that I was the littlest Steel brother. And, for once, I just didn't want to be the baby anymore. And I grabbed her wrist and asked why she did it, and I didn't notice that I had grabbed a little too hard. She started crying and that was when I snapped out of it. And then I left and finished lunch." 

There wasn't a sound after his explanation. Lila couldn't even come up with something to say. 

"You just left her there? In the bathroom after she saved you, you hurt her and made her cry?" Ethan asked, looking at his twin incredulously. 

Jaydon nodded. 

Kade's fists clenched, and I could tell he was fighting back the impulse to hit Jaydon. I grabbed onto Zander's arm and pushed myself off the couch. With amazingly wobbly legs, I took two steps and grabbed onto Kade's hand. 

He turned and looked at me in shock, before panicking and helping me sit back down. I felt my eyes slide into the back of my head, but I shook it off. Apparently, I didn't shake it off quickly enough because the next thing I knew, I was staring up at the ceiling. 

Lila was patting me on the cheek, telling me to wake up. I looked at her in confusion, then realized I was on the floor. I didn't feel any pain so what happened? I didn't fall, because as I said, no pain. 

"What happened?" I asked. Lila sighed in relief before sitting back on her heels. I looked around me and saw the brothers sorta crowded around me in a semicircle. 

"You fainted, but Nathaniel saw you looking all pale and caught you before you could hit the floor. You were only out for a minute or two, don't worry." She said. I looked around again before sitting up. For some reason, I felt better. It was an odd feeling.

"Um, can I take a shower and go to bed?" I asked softly. Lila looked a little conflicted, but nodded and helped me stand. 

"I want one of the boys to walk you up and down the steps. I also want you to keep the door open while you shower. No one will peek or anything, but I want to be able to hear you if you faint again." She compromised. 

I nodded, before looking over the boys. Kade jumped up and helped me to my feet. He had an arm wrapped around my back, and one holding my hand. He helped me to my room, kept watch as I grabbed some clothes, and then made me stop when I felt like I was going to faint again. 

"Ari, I want you to come get me or one of the other boys next time anything like this happens. I don't care if someone is messing with you or if they're messing with one of your friends or if they're messing with Jaydon. You come get one of us." He said sternly as I sat on my bed and waited for the dizziness to pass. 

"Alright. I mean... I didn't want to cross any boundaries or anything." I muttered, my eyes wide and planted on the floor. The room slowly stopped spinning. I finally looked up when the spinning came to a complete stop and saw Kade crouching in front of me. 

"You're family. There, pretty much, aren't any boundaries. It'll be both a blessing and a curse." Kade whispered with a funny little smirk. I smiled and stood up, making Kade jump back into position. I rolled my eyes at his protective nature but kept smiling. 

I let it roll around in my mouth. The taste was something new. I loved the taste of the word. 

Family. Huh.