Heartbreak hotel

Chapter 23

Isiah walked down the hallway. He peeked into the kitchen, trying to calm his mind, and for once, no one was inside. He turned back to see Soren giving him a thumbs up and Ravi glaring at him. He walked through the archway and into the lounge room. He wasn’t sure what he should have expected, but this wasn’t it.

Olivia and Scar were seated on the couch while Jamie was on the edge, his arms folded in his lap as he stared at the two nervously. Olivia was leaning on the armrest, her legs in her husband’s lap, as she continued to sharpen her knife while smiling politely at the man. “You’ve got to keep the knives sharp. You know, I need to ensure I can gut the flowers.”

She went as far as to move the freshly sharpened knife in the air in not-so-subtle stabbing motions. “I need to cut away all of the wilted foliage, you know what I mean, don’t you, Jamie? I can’t have one bad stem ruining everything we did to keep them happy and alive.”

“Do neither of you have work?” Isaiah snapped. While he had thought it was amusing watching the duo threaten him, now he was getting annoyed, specifically because after seeing Jamie, all of the questions he had wanted to ask for the past four years were on the tip of his tongue. He was afraid that the moment would disappear.

“We took the day off. I gave Soren some work to do, and I heard about your little guest, thought I could come say hello,” Olivia said, waving her knife in Jamie’s direction.

“Of course you did,” Isaiah muttered, walking over to Jamie, grabbing his arm, and pulling him up. “Go threaten someone else.”

“Preferably Silver,” Midnight muttered as he walked past them, and a few seconds later, they heard the outside door slam shut.

“Oh,” Jamie said, frowning as he looked at Isaiah. “Silver and Gabriel are still together?”

“Yes.”

“And Midnight still-”

“You miss a lot when you run to a different country for four years.”

Isaiah was about to start asking all the questions, but right then and there, his heart was thudding away in his chest. He could feel the heat from Jamie seeping into his palms where he had grabbed his arm and still hadn't let go, but when he saw Olivia and Scar both staring at him with a smile, he rolled his eyes and dragged the man away.

“Oh, come on, I need some entertainment.”

“The TV’s right there,” Isaiah yelled back as he pulled Jamie out of the house.

Isaiah finally let go of Jamie’s arm and silently led him to Luca’s place and his bedroom. He hadn’t expected Royal to be awake and argue with Midnight over something. Isaiah stared at the two of them. Midnight held Royal in a headlock, and Royal was trying to get the man off of him. “Hell no,” Isaiah snapped. “Both of you get out.”

Midnight let Royal go, who stood up straight and stared at Jamie before he awkwardly nodded. Midnight rolled his eyes and scowled. “I’m going to go find someone to annoy,”

“Annoy Royal, he’s right there.”

“I can never annoy Royal, ugh,” Midnight muttered, and then he walked out of the room. They heard him running down the stairs until Isaiah turned to stare at Royal.

Royal had been staring at Jamie the entire time. Isaiah waved his hand in front of Jamie's face so Royal could snap out of whatever trance he had been in. Royal smiled, his heterochromatic eyes coming back into focus before he exhaled and smiled at them. “I’m going to raid Luca’s pantry, I heard him and Rick bringing groceries last night.”

When Royal left, he closed the door behind him, and Isaiah sighed, unsure what to do. Where had all of the momentum from before gone? He took a seat on his bed, and Jamie sat on the couch he had bought a few months ago so he wouldn’t have to sleep on the ground when Midnight crashed at his.

“He’s new,” Jamie said after a few moments.

“Royal? Yeah, we met him what? Almost a year ago. He’s been with us since.”

“I see.”

“And you? How was Italy? Your aunt and cousin?”

“They were nice, both of them; they were upset to see me go, but I told them I would visit.”

Isaiah couldn’t do this. He thought he could, but with Jamie sitting there with a small smile on his face, trying to act as if things were normal when so much had happened four years ago, it turned out he wasn’t as strong as he thought, and right now, what he needed to do was get away from this man as fast and as far as he possibly could get,

He stood up. Jamie copied him, though Isaiah was out of the room faster than he could blink, where he bumped into his twin brothers, Isaac and Ace, in the hallway. Ace frowned as Isaac’s eyes narrowed on his brother, and when Jamie followed out behind him, it didn’t take a genius to figure out why Isiah was trying to blink the tears out of his eyes. Isaac had Jamie pinned to the wall, a knife under his throat in mere seconds, even if Jamie had at least four inches of height on him.

“Isaac,” Ace hissed.

“Isaac,” Jamie said, clearing his throat as he looked down at the man. “Hello to you too.”

“Isaac,” Isaiah groaned, trying to subtly wipe the lone tear that had been shed. “Leave him alone.” Isaac looked at his brother silently before staring back up at the man and letting him go. The knife disappeared just as fast as it had appeared.

“Isaiah,” Jamie whispered. “Don’t.”

“What don’t pull a you and run away?” he snapped.

“I didn’t run away.”

“You left four years ago without telling me a single thing. That counts as running away.”

“Can we please talk?”

“Isn’t that what we just tried to do?”

“Not that. A proper talk. Please. Come back.”

Isaiah sighed. He stared at Ace, who nodded and gently led Isaac away as Isaiah followed the man back into the room. When the door shut, Isaiah glared at Jamie. “Why did you do it?”

“What?”

“That day. Why did you do it?”

“I was scared.”

“Don’t lie to me.”

“I knew I was leaving. I should have told you.”

Of course, he would act like it didn’t happen, but he needed answers, so if he had to be the one to say it, so be it. “Why did you kiss me?” Isaiah snapped.

Isaiah saw the moment Jamie’s breath got caught in his throat. “You kissed me and said, “See you soon”, and then I had to find out from Thea that there would be no see you soon. That you had gotten onto a plane to f*****g Italy.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

Isaiah’s anger flared. “f**k you.”

“You killed my dad,” he rasped. It would always come back to that.

“He r***d you. He let those men r**e you. They used you as a f*****g human ashtray and used you for their entertainment. I would always f*****g kill him.”

Jamie looked down at the ground. “He was still my father.”

“I’m glad I killed him.”

“I didn’t have a choice but to go to Italy.”

“What?”

“I was sixteen. I was a minor. It was either I go to Italy, or I go into foster care. I chose Italy.”

“That doesn’t explain why you kissed me before you left. Especially when you know how I feel about you. Especially when you have Amethyst.”

“I love you,” Jamie croaked as he stared at the ground. Isaiah’s lip quivered as he blinked back tears. “I loved you, and you killed him, and she’s my girlfriend.”

“Where are you staying?”

“With Amethyst.”

“You’re still together?” he whispered.

“Yeah.”

“Then I think it's best if you leave.”

Jamie nodded slowly, and Isaiah watched him go to the door. He exhaled sharply as he licked his lips. Was what he was about to say a good idea? Probably not, but how could this situation possibly get worse? “Jamie. For what it’s worth, I still love you.”

~*~