Chapter 15: House Arrest
After their long, soaking bath, Madende and Jeric got out, dried off and dressed, heading back into the bedroom. Madende went to the window and looked out, leaning on his arm against the window sill. Jeric looked over at him, as he lay their clothes on the bed, and smirked.
"What are you thinking about?" he asked, walking over.
"Just about the other day…" Madende said, looking down at him. "I should have let Keegen kill him in the first place…" he muttered, looking back out the window.
"Yes, you should have. But its done and over with now." Jeric said, putting his hand on Madende's back. "Don't let it bother you now." he added, watching him.
"I know…but still." Madende said, sighing and lowering his head.
"Madende, talk to me." Jeric said, turning him slightly.
He was shocked to see a tear roll down Madende's cheek before he turned his head away, looking back out the window.
"Its just that…if I had let Keegen kill him…when we had him out in the woods, none of this would have happened." Madende muttered, his voice shaking. "You wouldn't have taken your anger out on Bryn, and he wouldn't be kicking himself for telling me to stay behind." he said, shaking his head.
Jeric was silent, listening to him, and letting him get all his emotions off his chest. He gently rubbed Madende's back, as he leaned up against the window sill again, this time laying his head against the wall.
"It's pretty much my fault…" he muttered. "I was so worried about you, I couldn't think straight…" he said quietly.
"Stop beating yourself up." Jeric said, shaking his head. "It wasn't your fault!" he said, turning Madende again.
Madende lowered his head again, but didn't say anything more. Jeric hooked his finger under his chin and lifted his head, using his other hand to wipe away his tears.
"It's over. You're safe, and healed, I'm fine, and so is everyone else. Don't let this get to you. You took care of one of the problems, and from what I've heard, Jareth took care of the other." he said, his thumbs gently tracing over Madende's cheeks. "So, relax, calm down, and don't worry anymore." he added, looking him in the eye.
Madende nodded and closed his eyes as Jeric leaned forward, laying his forehead again Madende's.
"And no more tears." he whispered, gently kissing Madende.
"Ok." Madende muttered quietly, wrapping his arms around Jeric and hiding his face in his neck.
Jeric smiled and hugged Madende back, before leaning back some and brushing his bangs out of his face.
"Lets go downstairs for a few. You need to eat something." he said.
"I'm not hungry…" Madende muttered, shaking his head.
"You haven't eaten in about five days. You need something to eat." Jeric said, his tone changing.
"Alright…" Madende sighed. "But I can't promise it'll be a lot." he added, looking back up at him.
"Doesn't have to be, as long as its something." Jeric said, shaking his head. "Start out small and work your way up." he added.
Madende nodded and followed him to the door, closing it behind him. Jeric waited patiently at the top of the stairs, and grabbed his hand as he reached him. After a few minutes, they came to the living room, where Abi and Jake were sitting on the couch and Shi and Eclipse were on the other couch. Shi looked up when she heard them coming and smiled brightly, standing up.
"You're up and moving around?" she asked, as Madende walked over to her.
"Yea. Sandra gave me something that stopped the pain." Madende said, laying his forehead on her shoulder as she hugged him.
"Still sore? Abi asked, also standing.
"Not anymore." Madende said, shaking his head, and hugging Shi back.
"That's good. Staying around long?" Shi asked, stepping back.
"Yea, we've missed you." Abi said, now hugging him gently.
"I don't know. Its up to Jeric." Madende replied, hugging her back.
"Aww, Jeric please?" Abi asked, looking at him as she and Madende stepped away.
"Please what?" Jeric asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Can't he stay down here for a while?" Abi asked.
"Oh I don't know…" Jeric muttered, looking at his claws and smirking. "He still needs some rest. And he can't play around." he mused.
"Please?" Shi and Abi begged, simultaneously. "We'll be good, and not play rough." they added.
Eclipse and Jake were watching them, and raised an eyebrow at them, as did Madende. Jeric simply looked up, smirking at them, then looked at Madende.
"I'm still not so sure. He has to eat first." he said.
"I'll cook!" Abi cried, racing to the kitchen. "What do you want, Madende?" she asked, poking her head back around the corner.
Eclipse and Jake now raised both eyebrows and looked at her, then back at Madende and Jeric.
"I don't know. Nothing to big, I'm not really hungry." Madende replied, shrugging.
"Ok. Let me see here…" Abi mused, disappearing and digging through the freezer.
Jeric walked up and grabbed Madende's hand again, leading him to the empty couch and sat down, Madende taking a seat next to him. As Madende leaned back against the couch, Jeric hooked an arm around his shoulders and pulled him back, so that he was leaned back against his chest. Madende smiled and relaxed against Jeric, pulling one of his legs up and resting it on the couch, and laid his head back on Jeric's shoulder. Jeric smiled and wrapped his arms around Madende, resting his head on Madende's shoulder and closed his eyes.
"You smell good." Shi remarked from the other couch, next to Eclipse.
"Thanks." Madende said, laughing lightly.
"I'm offended." Jeric said, smirking at her.
"You do too. You both smell the same." Shi replied.
"Sure, now you say it." Jeric muttered, and Madende laughed.
"Well I'm sorry." Shi said, smiling. "You didn't hug me though. He's scent is all over me now." she said.
"I can fix that." Eclipse smirked, looking at her.
"I know you can." Shi muttered, blushing lightly.
"Rubbing your scent on other people, huh?" Jeric teased, looking at Madende out of the corner of his eye.
"Yea, I guess I am." Madende said, smiling and turning his head towards him.
"We'll have to fix that. I'm the only one you should be rubbing on." Jeric remarked, emphasizing the word.
Madende laughed lightly and reached his hand back, gently laying it on the back of Jeric's neck.
"And so you shall be the only one I rub on." he replied.
"Hold on now!" Jake cried from the other couch. "Don't be doing an rubbing down here!" he said, and Abi squeaked from the kitchen.
"No worries, we already did our rubbing." Madende said, laughing.
"I didn't need to know that!" Eclipse cried.
"And I didn't WANT to know it!" Jake said, shaking his head.
Jeric, Madende and Shi burst into laughter, as did Abi from the kitchen. Walking into the room, Dalila smiled at Madende and Jeric, who were still laughing.
"Just a warning, you may not want to stay to long." Jake muttered, looking up at her.
"Oh?" Dalila asked, looking at him.
"Yea. These two seem keen and sharing with us their 'rubbing cycle'." Eclipse explained, shaking his head.
"Oh, I heard that from my room." Dalila said, shaking her head. "Thanks for the update, boys." she said, shooting a playful glare at them.
"Anytime, Mom." Madende said, smiling back.
"How is your side?' Dalila asked.
"Much better apparently." Jake grumbled, smiling lightly.
"Yep, much better." Madende said, nodding. "Sandra gave me something and the pain stopped after a few minutes." he said.
He didn't want to tell her how bad it had gotten just before it stopped, because it would have worried her more. So he kept that part to himself, and Jeric didn't seem to want to tell her either.
"Great! Glad to hear! But that doesn't mean you're free, right?" Dalila asked, looking at Jeric.
"Nope. He's still under house arrest and sometimes room arrest." Jeric replied, smirking.
Madende groaned and dropped his head, rubbing his face. Dalila laughed and looked them over.
"You'll be fine. Just like old times, right?" she asked, turning and heading for the kitchen.
"Yea…old times." Madende muttered, looking up.
"It won't be so bad." Jeric whispered in his ear, his bottom lip brushing against his ear.
He smirked when Madende tensed some, and closed his eyes, shivering lightly.
"I don't suppose so." he muttered, looking back at Jeric out of the corner of his eye. "How long am I in for?" he asked, smiling.
"At least a week." Jeric said, and Madende sighed.
"It's like being grounded." he groaned, leaning his head back against Jeric's shoulder.
"Not really. When you're grounded, you can't have anything." Jeric said, shaking his head. "Here, you can have what ever you want, as long as it doesn't involve going outside." he added, laying his head against, Madende's.
Madende nodded, and looked back at the t.v. Jeric smiled at him and also looked back at the t.v. They all were silent for a few, before Abi walked in with a small lunch plate for Madende. It consisted of half a stake, eggs, toast, and a small glass of blood on the side.
"I'm not going to be able to eat all of that!" he cried, looking the plate over.
"I knew it was to much…" Abi muttered, narrowing her eyes.
"Eat what you can, and we'll figure something out with the rest." Jeric said, loosening his grip on him as he sat up.
Madende took the plate and silverware from Abi and slowly started to eat. She turned to the others and smiled.
"Rest is in the kitchen. Go get it." she said.
Eclipse and Jake were the first ones gone, leaving Shi and Abi standing with their jaws hanging open. Jeric laughed lightly as he looked at them, then watched Madende pick at his food.
"You're eating like a little kid." he muttered.
"I'm not hungry." Madende said, shaking his head.
"Sound like one too." Jeric said, smirking.
"Can't I just drink the blood and stop there?" Madende asked, looking back at Jeric.
"You need to eat something. At least eat some of the steak." Jeric said.
"Oh alright…" Madende muttered, cutting off some of the stake, and taking a bite.
Jeric watched silently, then looked away, as his stomach growled quietly. However, Madende paused and looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.
"When was the last time you ate?" he asked quietly.
"Its…been a while." Jeric said, smiling innocently.
"Then go get something to eat." Madende said, nodding towards the kitchen.
"I'll go hunt later." Jeric said, looking back at him.
"Go hunt now, I'll be fine." Madende said, taking another bite. "I'm eating, and then I'll probably take a nap and wait for you." he said.
Jeric looked at him for a minute, then sighed as his stomach growled again.
"Alright, but if I come back and you're hurt again, I'm kicking your ass." he warned.
"I'm not going to be. Just go eat." Madende said, smiling at him.
Jeric nodded and sat forward, standing. Madende looked up at him as he turned to face him, and closed his eyes as Jeric gently kissed him.
"Be good." he hissed, and Madende smiled.
"No worries. I'll be waiting." he said, and Jeric kissed him again.
"Kay." he said, standing and shimmering off.
Madende smiled and took another bite of food, before standing and going into the kitchen. He had eaten over half the stake he had, and a few of the eggs, and now his stomach was pretty much screaming at him to stop. As he walked into the kitchen, a piece of egg flew at him and he ducked.
"What the hell?!" he cried, looking at Jake who had an innocent expression on his face.
"Sorry Madende, my target moved." he said, looking at Eclipse.
"Yea, yea, yea. Why do you always throw your food at me?!" Eclipse cried, setting his plate on the counter.
"Because it pisses you off and its funny." Jake replied, flinging more egg at him.
"You do know, you are cleaning the kitchen, right Jake?" Abi asked, taking a bite of her food.
"Ha ha!" Eclipse laughed, then darted out the door.
"You're helping!" Shi called after him. "You threw food back!" she yelled, and Madende burst out laughing.
"Its like punishing a group of kids around here." he said, setting his plate down.
"Look who's talking, Mr. House Arrest." Shi teased.
"Hey, I'm only on house arrest cause I'm hurt. Not because I was a bad boy." Madende remarked, smirking.
"That's a first." Jake said, laughing.
"No shit." Abi agreed.
"Hey now, I'm a good kid." Madende said, looking at both of them.
"Half the time." Shi said.
"Not even." Abi disagreed, shaking her head.
"Just what are you implying here?" Madende asked, crossing his arms over his chest.
"That you are only good when you want something." Shi said, and Abi nodded.
"Something from Jeric." she agreed.
"Hey now, keep it clean!" Jake cried.
They all laughed for a minute, before Madende yawned and stretched.
"I think I'm gonna take a nap until Jeric gets back." he said, leaning against the counter.
"Where'd he go?" Abi asked, looking up at him.
"Hunting." Madende replied, looking back at her. "I don't think he's eaten since before the shit went down." he added.
"Damn that's a long time!" Abi and Shi cried.
"Yea, I told him to go eat, so he did, and now I'm going to go take a nap to wait for him." Madende said, pushing off of the counter and heading for the living room.
"Ok." Shi said, nodding.
Once they had finished eating, Shi and Abi set their plates down on the counter, and turned, smiling up at Jake.
"Have fun." she said smirking.
"But-but." Jake stuttered.
"I'll send Eclipse in." Shi said, heading out of the kitchen.
Abi followed her out and after a few minutes, an annoyed looking Eclipse trudged in, head down and hands in his pocket.
"See what you started." he grumbled.
"Oh shut up." Jake said.
"I'll start the dishes…" Eclipse muttered, going to the sink.
Jake nodded and started picking up bits of food that lay around the kitchen floor. In the living room, Madende was stretched out across one of the couches, his back turned to the others, curled up to the back of the couch. Shi held a finger to her lips and looked at Abi, signaling to be quiet. Abi nodded and took a seat on a separate couch, and grabbed the t.v remote, starting to watch the t.v. Shi sat down on the other couch and pulled her legs up with her, looking over at her brother.
He had his head resting on his arm, his other laying on his side, and his legs stretched out down the couch. Shi smiled and stood when she noticed him shiver lightly, and disappeared, only to reappear with a blanket. Abi watched her as she gently lay it over her brother, and tuck it in around him. He opened his eyes slightly and smiled up at her, before closing his eyes again and falling back asleep. Shi turned and went back to her couch and sat back down, pulling her legs back up and watched the t.v. some more.
A/n: next chap! ONE more to go! WOOT! i think it's one more anyway. eh heh! anywayz! Review for me! LaterZ!!
SHOUTOUT
to Abi!!