Chapter 34- When I Come Around

I laughed, 'You guys have known each other for too long. Come on,' I showed them down the hall and to their rooms. 'Girls share with me and boys share my mom's room. Don't worry she's not here anymore so y'all have it all to yourselves.' I showed them my mom's room. I had cleaned it to the best of my ability but it still looked horrible. One mattress, a TV, and holes in the walls.
James spoke, 'I'm sorry, boys? As in what? Like me and Nick?' I nodded. 'Sharing one bed?'
I nodded again more slowly, 'Wait a second. You expect James to share a bed with a murderer?' Nadia snapped.
'Sweetheart,' James said. 'I'm not sharing a room with another guy. Do you know how gay that is?'
I fought back a smile, 'Guys share rooms all the time, doesn't mean they're gay.' I looked at Nadia, 'And you guys know Nick, he's not going to hurt anybody here.'
'Isn't he your boyfriend?' Nadia crossed her arms and rolled her head. 'Why don't y'all just sleep together and Kitty, James and I share your mom's room?'
'He's not my boyfriend,' I said quietly and looked down.
'Oh please. Y'all have been goo-goo over each other since you first met. Not to mention you told me tha-' Nadia had started her ranting.
'Shh,' I interrupted and motioned towards my room. 'He's in there sleeping.'
'If the boy is sleeping then he ain't gonna hear me.'
'He might wake up..'
'Who might wake up?' Nick asked, yawning as he walked out into the hall. He smiled at the three, 'Good to see y'all back.'
'He's already sleeping in your bed. Why not just leave him there? Hey, you like my home girl, right Nick?' Nadia gestured towards me.
Clearly taken aback by the sudden confrontation, all he did was stutter, 'Uh..'
'That's a yes. And Alice? You like Nick, right?' I didn't answer, instead I looked at Nick. He looked so cute with his bed head.. I shook the thought away quickly. 'And that's a yes. See, y'all room together and we'll room together.' Without another word, all three of them turned and walked into the living room.
I sighed and turned towards Nick. He shook his head, 'I'll take the floor. We should tell Eli ahead of time so he doesn't freak.'
'No, he'll freak out worse. Just wait till he finds out on his own at least.'
We both agreed and walked into the living room where Nadia, Kitty, and James sat in a row on the couch watching TV.
'Where's your little sister? She was here earlier today before we left,' Kitty said quietly.
'She's at her friend, Rebecca's house. She goes there almost every weekend.' I went into the kitchen and started dinner, while Nick leaned against the counter watching me.
'Need help?' he asked.
'No, it's okay. I got it,' I told him without looking up from peeling a potato.
'Are you okay?' Nick asked.
I threw the peeled potato into a bowl and started another one. 'Yeah, I'm fine.' It took all I had not to melt in front of him or just jump into his arms and kiss him.
'Are you sure?'
I tried getting upset at him, 'I told you I was fine, Nic- ow, son of a b***h!' I hissed as I accidently cut my thumb. I turned on the faucet and placed my thumb under the cool water.
'Here, lemme see,' Nick said as he came closer. He took my hand gently and look at the cut on my thumb.
I reluctantly snatched my thumb away and put it back under the water. 'I said I was fine,' I said quietly. After it stopped bleeding, I began to peel the potatoes again.
He raised his hand in defeat, 'Fine, I can see where I'm not wanted.' With that, he walked into the living room with the others. I stopped peeling and stared at the counter blankly for a minute. When I heard Eli's bedroom door open, I looked up to see Eli walking out, scratching the back of his head.
'What's going on?' he asked.
'Nothing,' I said and went back to peeling.
'Mhm, sure.' He slid his butt onto the counter and took the potato from me.
'Hey, give that back,' I tried reaching for it but he raised it higher.
'No,' he smiled and took a bite out of it.
'Ew, Eli! That's so gross!' I laughed.
He handed it back to me, 'Here you go, you can have the rest.'
I shoved it back towards him, 'I can't use that now, with your nasty germs all over it.'
'Nasty?' he tried looking hurt but couldn't help but smile.
'Get away from me,' I laughed and shoved him off the counter.
'You can still use it. Catch,' he smiled, tossing it.
It went completely over my head and landed in the dirty dish water, splashing me. I gasped, 'You jerk,' I giggled. 'You did that on purpose!'
'Prove it,' he stuck out his tongue.
I took the potato out of the water and threw it at him. While he tried catching it, I grabbed the sprayer thing and sprayed him with it. 'Ha!' I stopped and stuck my tongue out at him. He laughed and picked me up, hauling me over his shoulder. 'Let go,' I giggled and repeatedly slapped his butt.
'What the hell?' he smirked and started spinning me. We both stopped what we were doing when a door was slammed. Eli put me down and smiled, 'Guess lover boy got jealous.' Before I could answer, he kissed my forehead and grabbed the keys that were on the dining room table. 'Going to chill with some friends at Jamie's, see ya sis.'
'Later,' I grumbled and went back to making dinner as he walked out.
'Hey, Alice!' James called from the living room after awhile.
'Yeah?' I called back, putting the chicken in the oven and setting the finished mashed potatoes on the stove to cool. I walked into the living room to see what he had called me for.
He looked at me a moment, Nadia and Kitty giggling all the while. 'You didn't tell me how cute your brother was.'