Aftermath

Ch 110: The Skunk and the Phantom

A/N: This starts a little earlier than the last chapter ends.

North

When the alarm went off for the third time on Monday morning, I reached out to hit the iPhone and knocked it off the charger in the process. Damn it, it was too early for this shit. Hadn't we just gone to bed a few hours earlier?

From behind me came a soft murmur. "North Star, please be careful. We shouldn't break another phone."

I felt her snuggle in close to my back and smiled to myself. "We don't break phones. That's on you." Shit, if I just broke that phone, I'll have to eat my words.

"And I feel bad enough about it." She let out a yawn from behind me. "I'm glad you stayed here in the big house last night."

I let out a grunt, glad no one could see my smile. And miss the chance to sleep next to her? Nathan had months of it, the lucky bastard, and even Kota had her beside him most nights since he had gotten hurt, though I certainly didn't envy him the hell he had been going through.

"But we probably should have gone back to Kota's last night," Sang continued, a tinge of worry in her voice. "He expected us to be there."

"Erica's there; he's fine. Besides, he was already asleep when I checked the cameras last night," I reminded her. The Lee family had needed a chance to sort out a few issues to themselves. Victor, Gabriel, and Sang had told us about the door slamming and Jessica's shouting when they had first arrived last night, and Nathan had commented that Kota was pissed about something when the pair had walked down to Nathan's house to perpetuate the fake argument between Kota and Mr. B. We would all find out how what had happened sooner or later, but I felt bad for my friend.

"You're right, I know," Sang said, moving in closer to my back. "You're so warm," she whispered.

Immediately, I was calmer. Damn, Dr. Green couldn't have given me a drug to work this well. "Maybe you're just cold."

We snuggled together in the reverse spoon for a few minutes. I could have stayed there all day. For once, I was glad I had stayed in the main house, even as crowded as it had felt. Even through her pajamas and the blankets, I could feel her breasts against my bare back. Like morning wood isn't bad enough already...

Down the hallway, I heard Nathan and Victor talking in quiet tones, and Gabriel's louder voice enveloped theirs with some complaint about Luke's uniform.

"I'll get it in a minute," Luke assured him. "I need to feed Sprinkles, but he's hiding again."

Behind me, Sang was shaking with silent laughter, which made my current predicament worse. How was I going to get up without her noticing? She just kept squirming! Though Sang was fairly naive; she probably wouldn't notice. At least I had put on pajama pants instead of wearing only my boxers.

"I saw him in the dirty clothes basket," Gabriel told him.

"Sprinkles!" Luke called out. "Come on out, you silly skunk!"

Sang giggled. "It sounds like it's time to get up."

"Yeah, I guess." I picked up the phone and groaned again. "Past time. I hope you didn't want a show—uh, bath—this morning." That damn shower thing...I knew she had gotten enough grief over it, so I wasn't going to bring it up, but it made me so sad.

"No, I took a bath at Kota's last night after we went swimming," Sang said. "All I have to do is get up and get dressed."

Sang squirmed behind me again, then backed away.

Oh, for fuck's sake. I needed her to be still. I grabbed her thigh to get her to stay, just for a few more seconds. "Do you still like me?" I whispered.