gonna be alright again?
I finally got out of his way and Rogue pushed him up to the front door and I lifted the wheels to help him into the house.
Fox stood staring at Chase for an endless moment where the world was entirely silent and I felt the tension rolling through the air like toxic fumes.
“You can stay here until you can walk again,” he said eventually, his voice hard as he turned away and Rogue started pushing Chase along after him. “You’ll stay in your old room. The rest of this house is off limits.”
“Badger,” Rogue started in a growl.
“Those are my terms,” Fox barked and I gave Rogue a look that told her not to push him on this. I was all for doing it soon, but at this second I just wanted Chase home and I’d figure out how to keep him here later.
She rolled her eyes at me, but didn’t say anything more as we reached the stairs and Fox looked anywhere but at Chase as he pointed up them.
“Thank you,” Chase said quietly.
Fox’s gaze slid onto him and his jaw ticked for several seconds as he took in his broken brother. “Did you tell Shawn anything that will harm anyone in this house or anyone in my Crew?” he demanded.
“Of course he didn’t,” I growled.
“I didn’t ask you,” Fox shot at me, still glaring at Chase.
“Nothing,” Chase said and my heart tugged. “I swear I didn’t tell him anything.”
Fox nodded stiffly then moved forward and offered Chase his hand. “JJ, help me bring him upstairs.”
“I can manage,” Chase started, but Rogue flicked his ear again.
“What are you gonna do? Crawl up there like a zombie?” she asked and he huffed, their little back and forth so familiar that it made a smile twitch at my lips. What I’d give to go back to it being all four of us in this house, even when Chase had acted like he hated her.
Mutt jumped out of Chase’s lap, growling at Fox before running off upstairs.
Chase muttered something incoherent, but let Fox help him out of the chair and slung his arm around his neck as he balanced on his good leg. I drew his other arm over my shoulders and locked my arm around his waist to support him - and fuck it, I took a tight hug too because I’d seriously missed him. He didn’t smell right though, he smelled like hospital chemicals and eucalyptus. It wasn’t him. And that choked me up inside. This wasn’t the man I’d known before Shawn had taken him, he was changed in ways I could probably never understand. And it was destroying me.
Rogue hovered behind us as we made it to the landing and practically carried him to his room. Inside, we laid him down on his bed and he sighed in a way that was full of complete relief, his good eye closing and a moment of peace passing across his expression.
“I’ll bring some food and water up,” Fox murmured, striding quickly to the door but I didn’t miss the agony in his expression before he left.
Mutt reappeared, jumping onto the bed and laying down next to Chase, resting his chin on his stomach and Chase brushed his fingers over his fur in a fluid motion.
“Do you need anything?” I asked as Rogue moved to prop Chase’s broken leg up on some pillows.
“No, this is just…perfect,” Chase breathed and I was pretty sure he fell right asleep.
“It’s the pain meds,” Rogue explained, moving onto the bed and brushing a few dark curls off of Chase’s forehead. “I think I only got him to take them because he was too weak to fight me off. But they make him sleepy.” Her voice broke on the last word and suddenly she was crying and I rushed onto the bed too, wrapping her in my arms as I felt my own heart breaking in time with hers.
I knew she hated me, but I just needed her to be okay, and frankly getting Chase back put so much of my petty bullshit into perspective. She resisted my hold for two seconds before she just clung onto me and tried to hide her face against my chest so I wouldn’t see her cry.
“He’ll get better,” I promised.
“I can’t bear it, Johnny James, all this time he was alive, suffering, thinking no one was coming for him. That no one even cared.”
I held her tighter, my breaths harder to grasp at the thought of