Chapter Ten: House of Help

Mick's POV:

Patricia pulled away from me and I stared at her, dumbfounded, as she stared at me like I had five heads.

"So," I started off, "why'd you kiss me?"

"You wouldn't shut the hell up about Giana!" she answered, hitting my shoulder.

"So… you decided to kiss me," I continued, arching an eyebrow. "Er, how was that supposed to solve anything?"

She simply shrugged, scowled at me, and stomped off towards the house. After standing there for a few minutes, speechless, I picked up my football and made my way back inside. It was almost dinner time, anyway.

Patricia and I pretty much avoided each other at dinner. When it was time for chores and she and I were supposed to be on-duty together, she blew it off, stomping up to her room and muttering about better ways to spend her time. I ended up washing dishes with Nina.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"No," I answered grimly. "Giana, Fabian and Patricia are all ignoring me."

"I get Giana and Fabian, but what did you do to Patricia?"

"I did nothing!" I exclaimed, throwing my wet hands in the air. Soap suds flew in all different directions. "She just leaned in and kissed me, simple as that! Why does everyone always think I'm the one who instigates everything?"

She didn't answer.

Fed up, I threw off my rubber gloves and stomped out of the kitchen, ignoring Nina's nagging voice to come back and help her finish the dishes.

"Make Patricia do it!" I shouted back, heading to the only person I knew who could help me.

Jerome.

Jerome's POV:

I was lounging about on my bed, avoiding the giant pile of homework I knew I'd have to do, when there was a knock at the door. I knew it wasn't Mara; the knock would've been lighter. Softer, even.

Getting up, I opened the door to find an angry-looking Campbell.

"What?" I asked, arching an eyebrow but keeping the rest of my face looking indifferent.

"You need to help me with my problems," he said sternly, wedging his way into mine and Alfie's room. "They've gotten worse."

I smirked, closing the door and turning around with my back leaning up against it. "First it's De Luca, now you. Am I the fairy godmother or something around here? Everyone comes to Jerome for their problems, seeking my ever-world-changing advice?"

"Giana didn't want your help with anything," he retorted. "You blackmailed her. Remember?"

"Details, details." I waved it off, scoffing. "Anyway, what's gone wrong now? Does she hate you or something?"

"Yeah. And Fabian. Oh, and Patricia kissed me out behind the house before dinner."

My expression fell. "What?"

"I don't know either. She said she'd 'help get my mind off Giana' or 'make me forget about my feelings towards her' or something. The whole thing was so weird. I kissed her back, and now we're avoiding each other."

"Fabulous," I muttered. "Well, I guess I could chat you back up to Fabian and Giana, separately of course. Patricia, on the other hand, might be a bit harder to slap some sense into."

"You'd do that? For me?"

"Of course." Albeit not freely. "For a price," I added.

His eyes narrowed and he contorted his face into a sort of scowl. "You always have some sort of hidden agenda, Clarke. Fine. How much will it cost me?"

"Fifty," I answered, without missing a beat.

"What?" he exclaimed.

"You want me to fix everything for you, don't you?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts, Campbell. Fifty or nothing."

"Fine," he spat, heading towards the door. I sidestepped out of his way as he went to his room, returning swiftly with a fifty pound note.

"Thanks," I said, swiping the money from his hand. "You won't regret it."

"Whatever you say," he grumbled, heading back to his room and slamming the door.

I smirked. "Oh, this is going to be fun.

Giana's POV:

I wasn't really in the mood for company. Creepy McSpirit Visitor kept giving me migraines, with her visits, and all I wanted most in the world was to sleep.

Of course, that didn't stop Jerome from swinging the door to mine, Nina and Amber's room open, triumphantly walking towards me.

"What?" I asked bitterly, rubbing my right temple. "I'm not in the mood."

"On the contrary, De Luca," he started, pulling up a chair and sitting nonchalantly next to my bed. I really hated it when he called me by my last name. "I want to talk to you about Campbell."

"It's none of your business, idiot," I snapped. "Now get out of here before I call Fabian. Or Amber. Or Trudy, for that matter, since I'm supposed to be resting because that stupid spirit keeps giving Nina and I horrible migraines."

He did a double-take and looked at Nina's side of the room. "And, uh, why isn't she here, exactly?" he asked, pointing to her bed.

"Search me. She and Mick were doing chores last I heard."

"Yeah, about that…" He trailed off.

I raised an eyebrow. "Mick got mad about the whole him-kissing-me thing and took it out on Nina, didn't he?"

"Patricia kissed him before supper, actually," he replied, a smirk now present on his face.

"Ew." I gagged. "What brought that on?"

"She was tired of him being a sick puppy in love and decided to screw with his emotions or something; I don't know. Point is, he's not too thrilled about it, and he wants to still be your friend."

"Well I'd love to be friends with him, too, but after all the crap he's pulled so far with kissing me and falling in love with me randomly with no reasoning behind it whatsoever other then the fact that I can relate to him more or something, I don't really think-"

"Will you just stop talking?" Jerome snapped. "Look. You two need to be friends, and he and Fabian need to stop arguing. It's your fault anyway that their friendship is on the rocks."

"How is it my fault?" I countered. "All I did was show up here! Fabian was the one who kissed me first. We fell for each other, then started a relationship. I thought Mick and Tori were going to end up together and everything would be fabulous, but no! Not too long ago, when I was trying to confide in Mick and keep a secret that you blabbed to my brother and interfered in a situation that had absolutely nothing to do with you, Mick decided to cut me off and kiss me, right then and there, and pour out his guts and feelings! How is any of this my fault?"

By the end of my spiel, my head was pounding again. I massaged both my temples, closing my eyes and silently wishing for Jerome to just get up and leave. He was making me sick.

"Can you just go? Please?" I asked, acting more calmly now. "You're really not helping."

"Alright," he answered, sounding resigned. "But you haven't heard the last from me, De Luca."

And with that, he got up, slid the chair across the room, and swiftly left, slamming the door behind him.

I never moved from my spot, still wishing there was anything I could do to make my headache go away, and for the stupid spirit lady to leave Nina and I alone.

"Why can't anything be normal around here?" I asked the room.

As if to give me a response, the lights went out.

"Yeah. That's totally normal."