The Fence

Chapter 17: Doubt

"At least give me a hint as to where you went?" Ky asks, his face curved with irritation.

I glance over at him out of the corner of my eye, smirking. "I can't. It's classified."

"Come on, just tell me," Ky snaps, rolling his eyes. "You owe it to me."

"My my, we're touchy," I retort, leaning back in my chair. I feel my brow furrow in confusion. It was unlike Ky to get so angry up until recently. "When did you get so snippy, anyways?" I mutter.

"Since you almost died."

"I did not almost die!"

Ky shoots a look over to Luci in the corner of the room, whose eyes are glued to the floor. He must feel awkward around us after what he did to me, but I told him he should come and hang out with us today.

"Stop bickering," Neveah murmurs, his icy eyes also brought up to rest on Luci. Merida nods next to him in agreement, momentarily looking up from her sketchbook. "Besides, we just wanna know what you did yesterday. Is that too much to ask?"

"Yup," I say with a pop on the 'p'.

"Whatever," Neveah sighs, letting out a chuckle. "I'm gonna play some Grand Theft Auto."

Ky's face swells with excitement, all anger gone. "Oh! Me too!"

I gaze around my room, letting my eyes take in the people gathered here. We have the day off from training today, so we all decided to hang out in my room. When I'd run into Luci in the hallway, I'd invited him to join us right away. Ky was the only one vocal about not wanting him here, while Neveah stood up for him and Merida stayed neutral.

Demi is the only one not here. We, or rather Ky, had invited her as well, but she said she had a thing to do. Ky tried to pull the lame excuse that if she wasn't here and is on the squad, then Luci shouldn't be if he's not.

I'm jolted from my thoughts when I hear a booming yell from across the side of the room. Neveah frantically twists the controller at every sharp turn, navigating his way through the virtual streets. Ky hollers every time Neveah almost crashes. Merida lets out a huff of laughter and continues to shove her nose into her sketchbook. I creep behind her on the couch to see what she's drawing. She's finishing the portrait of my brother.

"You got everything right on," I murmur, scaring her. She jumps as high as a grasshopper, pink flushing her face. I smile sympathetically from behind her. "Don't fall for my brother. He's a sweetie, but an idiot."

Merida chuckles nervously, shaking her head. "I-I'm not falling for anyone. He's sitting right there, so I figured I'd finish up the drawing I started."

"I'd say he's doing my jumping than sitting," I reply, raising an eyebrow as my deranged brother leaps in his spot when Neveah's car slams into a building. "I swear, he's such a guy."

"Yeah, but I like guys," Merida replies, her voice going light. It takes her a moment to realizes what she said before she slaps a hand over her mouth. "Oh God..."

I can't contain my laughter.

"Hey, well it's not like you aren't falling for Neveah!" Merida snaps back.

I pause, taking a break from my laughing fit to stare at Neveah. He shrieks again as he narrowly misses another building; cursing under his breath when he does. I lift my gaze back to the read-head, giving her a side-look of disbelief. "Neveah is so dreamy. I'm practically drooling!"

Merida giggles at my sarcasm, sliding down in her seat on the couch. I laugh along, shaking my head.

"No, we're just friends."