The Name Wrapped Around my Throat: Chapter 3
Authors Note: Not much to say. Let me know what you think!
By the time Blue and Ronan arrived at Monmouth Manufacturing Blue could feel Ronan relaxing and reverting back to his normal behavior. They had spent most of the car ride arguing about the music volume and Ronan had threatened twice to pull over to make Blue ride in the backseat with Chainsaw.
It was good to see that he was in a much better state than he had been when he'd first come to her.
"Alright, Maggot, let's go meet the welcoming committee," Ronan said as he opened the door to the first floor of the building, Chainsaw on his shoulder.
"Okay, and remember I've got a purse full of magic should you need it," Blue reminded him, swinging the bag lightly into his arm as they walked up the stairs.
"Yeah, I'll just tell Gansey that I need my eyeliner touched up," Ronan said as he rolled his eyes.
"It would make your eyes pop." Blue ignored the glare he shot her way.
When they reached the second floor Ronan threw the door open with no sign of hesitation.
"I'm alive. I brought the maggot," Ronan announced.
They were barely two steps in the door before both Gansey and Adam rushed over to them, causing Blue, Ronan, and Chainsaw to flinch back.
"Ronan, thank goodness! We were so worried! We need to celebrate your safe return! How does pizza at Nino's sound?" Gansey asked quickly, looking ready to shove them back out the door.
"Yes, celebration, Nino's, now," Adam added shooting both of them a meaningful look.
"What's going on?" Ronan asked with a raised brow.
"Nothing," Adam said pointedly.
"Can't we just be excited that you're back? And of course that you're here, too, Jane," Gansey said as he shot her a desperate sort of smile.
She had no idea what was going on.
"Do you guys want to see a card trick before we go?" Noah asked as he shifted in front of Gansey and Adam, deck of cards in hand.
Immediately Blue understood. Noah's card trick phase had only been going on for a few days but it was already becoming unbearable. At first Blue had thought it was fun and had been more than willing to pick card after card, but it had quickly gone south. Noah only knew five card tricks and the repetitive nature of them was annoying enough without adding in his inability to do the tricks well.
Long story short, Gansey and Adam must have been trapped for hours watching the same five card tricks, and now they were trying to save themselves along with Blue and Ronan.
Oh, God. Ronan didn't know.
"Oh, Noah, we shouldn't now. Ronan hasn't seen anyone for days. He and Chainsaw are famished, aren't you, Ronan?" Blue asked hoping for once he just did what he was supposed to.
"Nah, I have time to take a card," Ronan said, his smile a sure sign that he knew he was doing the opposite of what everyone wanted him to do.
"Yes!" Noah cheered as he fanned out the cards for Ronan. "Pick a card!"
Ronan seemed to consider his options before grabbing as many cards as possible and throwing them on the floor. Noah looked horrorstruck.
"No one likes fuckin' card tricks, Noah," Ronan said with an eye roll.
"Rude," Noah complained, an unintimidating glare on his face.
"Whatever, let's go celebrate my return from the war. Gansey's buying," Ronan announced before turning around to leave.
Blue had to admit he had a way with defusing uncomfortable situations.
"Come on, Noah. Let's go hangout," Blue said while offering the boy her hand.
Noah quickly smiled and grabbed it before using his other hand to smooth down her hair.
"Can I at least have the front seat?" Noah asked as the group walked down the stairs.
"Ghosts don't get to ride shotgun," Ronan declared easily.
"Speaking of which, I call shotgun," Adam announced.
"No way, Parrish. This is my party, and I'm riding shotgun," Ronan said as he glared at Adam.
"I called it," Adam argued.
Blue thought under usual circumstances Adam might have just rolled his eyes and let Ronan have it, but they hadn't seen each other for four days, which meant they hadn't fought in four days. It was long overdue.
"Race you for it," Ronan offered as he came to a stop on one of the steps.
Adam paused and then glared. "I'm not racing you."
Within three seconds of glaring both boys had darted down the stairs, Chainsaw cawing angrily over them.
Blue looked at Gansey, but he just gave her the tired smile of a dad who had given up disciplining his fighting children. Blue grinned the smile of the mother who approved of his decision.
When they reached the parking lot Adam and Ronan were wrestling over the front seat. Well, not so much wrestling. It was more each of them trying to slide under the other to get closer to the car.
Blue, Gansey, and Noah stopped a foot away from them to watch.
"Damn it, Parrish, I won!" Ronan yelled as he slid his neck behind Adam's head, his face rubbing up against the glass of the Camaro's window.
"No you didn't! You weren't even close," Adam argued as he slid an arm against Ronan's neck as he attempted to push him away.
It was in that moment that Blue noticed that Adam had wiped off some of the makeup. She immediately lunged at Ronan, taking a leap and wrapping her arms securely around his neck, locking herself in place by closing her legs around Ronan's waist.
Before anyone could think about her action she said, "Uh, Adam, quick, grab the front seat!"
Adam managed to open the door and wedge in as Ronan stumbled away from the door, surprised by Blue's sudden weight.
"What the fuck?" Ronan asked.
Blue quickly leaned up to his ear, "You wrestled off your makeup."
For a second Ronan looked worried before his face fell into a look of indifference, his arms coming up to hold Blue in place.
"Fine, Parrish can have the front seat, but I'm driving myself and I'm taking the wannabe ninja with me," Ronan decided before carrying Blue to the BMW without looking back.
"You can't just kidnap Jane, Ronan!" Gansey shouted even as he walked toward the driver's seat.
"Watch me, Dick!" Ronan called as he opened up the backseat and leaned in so that Blue could drop down on the seat.
"Just get in, we'll figure it out," Blue whispered.
"I'm working on it," Ronan hissed.
Blue watched as Ronan carefully maneuvered to the other side of the car where the driver's seat was. He ushered Chainsaw inside before sliding in himself. The tattoo was on the left side of Ronan's neck and it was only by luck that Gansey's car was parked to the right of Ronan's BMW, putting Adam's name out of view.
Once Chainsaw had settled down Blue crawled her way into the front seat.
"I'm going to get out ahead of them and then find someplace to pull over," Ronan told her as he was jerking the car into gear and speeding out of the parking lot away from their friends.
Blue instinctually clung to the handle on the car door.
"Why didn't you just wait for them to leave? I could have fixed it there!" Blue yelled as Ronan shifted into third gear.
Ronan didn't answer, but when Blue looked over at him she felt like she understood. He wasn't speeding out of necessity, it was both to calm himself down and to pump himself up. To stop the worrying and to raise his confidence.
She let go of the door handle and put down the window. If she was going to die in an auto collision she at least wanted to have the wind in her hair. Her stomach flipped as Ronan took a turn too fast, and Blue found herself laughing. A second later Ronan had joined her.
By the time they pulled into a dimly lit gas station Blue felt as if her stomach was no longer a part of her body. She was surprised by how pleasant that felt. She was also surprised by how much she liked speeding.
"Okay, time to get to work, Sargent," Ronan told her as he shifted in his seat until she had a clear view of his neck. She quickly got the things out of her purse and got to work.
"You know I never understood the thrill of street racing until now," Blue said as she worked on touching up the makeup by the glow of a light post.
"Please, we weren't even going that fast," Ronan said as he attempted to angle his neck more toward Blue.
"You would have given Gansey a heart attack," Blue pointed out as she began rubbing concealer on Ronan's neck.
"Gansey's always having a heart attack," Ronan said. Blue couldn't argue.
Blue worked in silence after that, well,silence of mouth. Ronan's screeching electronica could never be silenced.
This time went much faster as it was mostly just touching it up. Blue also liked to think that she was starting to get the hang of it.
"Okay, I think it's good," Blue said, causing Ronan to twist himself so he could see his neck in the rearview mirror. "You just need to be more careful."
"Right. Be careful, act natural, accomplish world peace," Ronan listed off as he glared at his neck in the mirror.
"Oh, come one. It won't be that hard. Or do you and Adam do that shoving thing often?" Blue asked, only to be met with a glare.
"Fuck you, Maggot."
Ronan barely sat back in his seat before he left the gas station and headed towards Nino's.
Blue grunted in frustration. "I didn't mean anything bad by that, Lynch. I don't get why you think I would."
"We aren't talking about this," Ronan said as his grip on the wheel tightened.
"Okay, we aren't. But I'm telling you that it's fine. You like Adam, so you dreamed his name on your neck. It's not exactly a federal offence."
Ronan ignored her and turned up the radio.
She turned it down.
"And while I'm talking about it, you should know that I've got your back. If I didn't I wouldn't be helping you," Blue said as she matched the glare that Ronan was giving to the road. "Until this whole thing is over, I'm here for makeup control and moral support. I'm going to be your friend even if it makes us kill each other."
"Do you ever stop talking?" Ronan asked, his voice not holding the amount of venom she'd expected.
"If you want to be a jerk I can keep going. Tell you about how we're a team and how I support you. Maybe even talk about how pretty Adam looks today," Blue suggested.
"If we weren't already here, I swear I'd make you walk, Sargent," Ronan said as he pulled the car into a parking spot.
They got out of the car and Ronan sent Chainsaw to fly around the area, announcing Nino's was a good hunting spot for rats, pizza crust, and unpleasant people. Chainsaw seemed to agree as she took flight.
As they approached the door Ronan shoved her enough to make her stumble, but not enough to make her fall. She quickly righted herself and shoved him back, unsure of what his issue was. But then he smirked at her and she understood that he was shoving her in the way that boys shoved each other when they didn't want to say 'thank you' or 'you're alright.' Blue smirked back.
When they got inside Gansey, Adam, and Noah were already sitting in their usual booth. Gansey looked absolutely relieved upon seeing them.
"Jane, you're all right!" Gansey said as he stood to greet her.
"Would you seriously have let Lynch take me if you didn't think I would be okay with him?" Blue asked, cocking an eyebrow and her hip.
"Of course not! That's not at all what I meant! Ronan wouldn't ever put you in danger, Blue—"
"You don't speak for me," Ronan interjected as he slid into the empty seat beside Noah, whose other side held Adam.
"Ronan," Gansey chastised. His ability to do that in just one word was impressive.
"I wanted to sit by Blue," Noah complained as he glared at Ronan, who only sank farther down into his seat in response.
"I think Gansey just meant you guys left before us but got here after us," Adam explained as he leaned over a pouting Noah.
"And yet he was only worried about one of us," Ronan pointed out as he stared Gansey down. "Dick."
"Let me sit by Blue," Noah requested as he poked at Ronan's arm.
"Noah, you can come sit on this side," Blue offered as she pushed Gansey back into the booth.
"Yes, I was simply concerned by your delay. I wouldn't have wanted either of you to get into any trouble," Gansey explained.
Instead of taking the ghost way of doing things and blinking to the spot beside Blue, Noah slipped under the table and then pulled himself into the booth next to her. Blue took his hand before she spoke, "Well, no need to worry. We just stopped at a gas station."
"Well, you could've called me," Gansey said.
For a second the whole table was quiet as the group stared at Gansey, imaging a world where Ronan called to check in when he was going to be late, or even one where he didn't disappear for four days.
Then everyone, including Gansey, began laughing.
"All right, all right, never mind," Gansey amended.
From there conversation consisted of the normal things: school, work, the pig's latest breakdown, the search for a dead welsh king. Nothing unusual.