A/N: yes, you can hit me. i'm late and i apologize. Enjoy! And don't forget to leave a review!
It was about four hours later when Taylor awoke...but she was never fully sleep to begin with. She tossed and turned, but she never really fell asleep. Whenever she tried, Omega's voice rung out in her head, spewing nonsense and guilt all throughout the night. Taylor placed her hands on her temples, whimpering slightly. The sound of knocking at her door caused her to jolt up out of her bed and open it. She rubbed her eyes slightly, looking at the woman in front of her. "Nicole, what's wrong...?"
"I just came to check up on you," She said. "Call me Nikki. There's no need to be so formal."
"Okay...Nikki. I'm fine, it's just...been a hard night."
"Come on, let's go downstairs to the lounge. I'll get you something to eat." Nikki grabbed Taylor's hand and pulled her out of her room, leading her down the hallway. About halfway to the stairwell, they stopped due to someone placing a hand on Taylor shoulders.
"Where are you two goin' this early in the mornin'?" Jon stood in the doorway, slowly shutting the door and quickly approaching the door. "Breakfast already? I was hopin' to sleep in this weekend..." He gave Taylor a rub on the head and Nikki a pluck on her forehead.
"Hey, what was that for?" Nikki chuckled, rubbing the site where Jon plucked. "Don't be rude."
"I did it because I could, haha." He looked at Taylor again, his eyes roaming over her body. He still couldn't believe that her skin was back to normal, nor could he grasp that enormous power level was coming from her the entire time. Or maybe it was his wolf instincts that made his eyes rake over her constantly. They were getting stronger daily, and soon would be beyond his control.
"...Jon, are you okay?" Taylor asked. "You're staring at my boobs and I'm resisting the urge to break your nose."
"So hostile...sorry, I got lost in thought." He rubbed the back of his head. "C'mon, let's go."
Taylor nodded absently and walked with Nikki the rest of the way down. She was almost walked absently towards the lounge, but Nikki stopped her. Both her and Jon were really worried. She hasn't been herself since last night and she seemed to be getting worse.
"Hey, are you sure you're alright?"
"I'm fine, just...thinking." Taylor shook her head, trying to bring some clarity back into her brain. "Ever since last night, Omega hasn't kept quiet..."
"Omega?" Nikki questioned. "Was that the person that took over your body when you fought Joe?"
She nodded, looking down at the ground. "It hasn't happened in a year. That's why I'm so worried about him because what if she comes out again to finish the job?"
Jon walked past both of them and went inside the lounge, getting them a suitable table. Taylor rejoined Jon at the table, while Nikki went to the line to get food. Jon continued to eye her, even as she placed her head on the table with a groan.
"So...if you don't mind me askin'…" He spoke up, tired of the silence that was between them as they waited on Nikki. "What kinda stuff does...Omega be sayin'? Guilty shit? Lies? That kinda stuff?"
"Basically," Taylor said. "It's constant, too..."
"Maybe Stephanie and Hunter could conjure up a spell to help you. Steph's a white mage and Hunter's the God of War."
"That explains why everything's kept in order here. I'm impressed..."
Nikki soon came back with a large bowl of udon noodles with cuts of tender, marinated pork, scallions, bean sprouts, and a fried egg on top. She placed it in front of Taylor, giving her a spoon and chopsticks. "Here, this'll help wake you up. I had it made special."
"Oh...thank you." She took the spoon and chopsticks and began to eat. Nikki and Jon couldn't help but smile. At least she didn't decline food. At least something's going right for now.
"Guyyyyyysssss-!" AJ ran up to the group, but slipped in her socks and crashed into their table. Taylor kept a grip on her soup so it wouldn't spill. "Ow..."
"You are the clumsiest vampire I have ever seen," Jon said while chuckling. "What's got you so riled up first thing in the mornin'?"
"Joe's walking around, duh! I think that's enough to be riled up about!"
Taylor stopped eating her soup and put down her spoon and chopsticks slowly and just stared blankly into space. Everyone remained quiet for at least a minute before AJ started skipping around, a frantic look on her face.
"He's walking around already?" Nikki asked, kind of frantic herself. If he's walking around this early, who knows what the hell he could be doing. She was about to say that he probably went to the gym, but he wouldn't risk going back to hitting a bag so early if he thought rationally. "How do you know?"
"I can sense him, stupid!"
"So can I. He's walking here, so he'll be here in-"
The door opened, and in the doorway stood Joe, his upper body bandaged up but nothing more than that. He approached the group, his left forearm resting on AJ's head and his right hand on Jon's head. Nikki waved at him, and he returned the greeting. Taylor was still in dreamland.
"...Right now."
"You were countin' the moments, huh?" Joe questioned, looking at Jon. "I wasn't gonna die, man."
"Stephanie and hunter were worried you wouldn't wake up, Jackass." AJ jabbed him in his torso, causing Joe to hiss in pain and pinch her cheek. "Ow!"
"Yeah, just like my sides...Pipsqueak."
"Oh no, don't you start calling me that again!"
Taylor continued to stare into space until Joe put a hand on her shoulders, stepping away from both AJ and Jon. She jumped slightly, emerald hues meeting with cloudy grey ones. "Huh?"
"...We need to talk-" He paused in speaking, looking around the table at the three other monsters before looking at her again. "-privately."
"Um...okay." Her heart was racing and she was almost sure it was more than audible for AJ. "About...what?"
"I'll explain later." He pulled back from her to go get something to eat, since the last time he ate was about two days ago. That was never a good thing for a werewolf.
"...Same old Joe," Jon said. "Still vague and stubborn as hell."
"That's not...doing me good. Now I'm scared as to what he'll do."
"He won't do anything, promise. He's not that kinda guy to get pissed off about little shit."
She really hoped so. She felt so bad for what happened, and she wasn't in control of it. But the guilt still stayed. She swallowed her fear and continued eating her soup.
