More Than One [18+]

4.

-One week later

She didn't pass by anymore.

We waited there, every afternoon. Even Elijah was looking forward to it. 

But she didn't come. Why would she say she's always there, when she isn't? She just fooled us around.

After another failed afternoon, we started to loose hope. It's Friday now, and I don't think she'll pass by anymore.

"Close the fucking bar," I grumble, taking a sip of my whiskey. Ethan sighs. "Why didn't she come?" he asks, but I shrug. "I don't fucking know, man, but I'm pissed."

Elijah's shoulders slump when he sees the empty parking lot. I know he likes Scarlett, he even talked a little with her. He never talks, at least not to strangers. To us, a little.

Aaron and Owen are in a bad mood. So am I, believe me. Ethan walks to the back and closes the bar while we walk to our cars.

What we didn't tell Scarlett, is that we bought this bar when we noticed she came her every day. Well, every day until she talked to us. We really thought she liked us...

Defeated, we drive home. When our mansion comes in sight, Elijah jumps out of the car and runs inside. Maybe he's the one who's suffering the most under this.

I get inside and pour some more whiskey in a glass. Aaron sits down next to me, at the counter. "I don't get it," he sighs, staring at his drink. I shrug. "Me neither."

I walk down the hall, to Elijah's room. When I glimpse in his room, I see him laying in his bed. He's staring through the big window, at the moon. I sigh and sit down on his bed. He doesn't even glance at me.

"El, are you okay?" I ask. He shrugs. "I don't care about her," he tells me, but we both know it's a lie. I frown. "She'll be there on Monday, I promise."

He looks at me, with hope in his eyes. It kills me to see him this way. And if she doesn't show up, I'll hunt down the whole city and drag her ass to that bar, just to see my brother smiling the way he did Monday.

"Really?"

I nod, and he nods too. I walk away, to my own room. The way Elijah was smiling at her, it was the best shape I've ever seen him in. He never talks, or shows his emotions. And she understood that, and accepted it. Not everyone can do that.

She smiled at him, and we all could see how caught off guard he was. But it helped him to talk a bit more, to say some words. She was surprised by it, probably because she already got it that he isn't the most sociable person. 

But he tried, for her. It took him a lot of effort, but he did it. And now she totally abandons us and especially him, and he's the one who needs her the most, actually.

I sigh. She better be there Monday.

****

Oh my God.

Her car. Her fucking car just pulled up the parking lot.

We all run to the door to see her car being parked, then quickly run to our table when she gets out.

Elijah has this ridiculously big smile on his face, but can you blame him? The rest of the boys seem to be nervous, I am, too.

Scarlett walks in, with her books in her arms again. Her eyes search off the bar, then settle on us. She smiles and walks to us. But as she moves closer, I notice she doesn't look so good.

Her hair is a mess, she has mascara all over her cheeks and she looks tired.

She walks to us in a slow pace, as if she's too exhausted to walk. 

The one closest to her is the lucky guy. Elijah jumps up and almost runs towards her. He seems to ask her something, and she starts to sob. I groan. Fuck.

But she quickly wipe them away again and walks to our table. Elijah follows her with a worried expression, but sits down. He pulls her on his lap, and she squeaks. But then, she snuggles into his chest.

The fucker is lightning up with happiness.

He strokes her hair flat, and braids it again while she's studying on his lap. She hasn't talked to us yet, but she's here and for now, that's enough. Just watching her pretty face twist when she doesn't understand something is enough, or when she bites on her pencil when she reads.

"Who's the smartest of you five?" she asks, and I look up from my mails. "I guess that would be me," I quickly say. Any occasion to talk with her, I'll take.

"No, I'm smarter."

"I had an A+ for math when I graduated."

"Really? Well, in any way, I'm smarter than all of you."

I sigh. Apparently, everyone had the same idea. She giggles. Elijah looks over her shoulder at what's she's learning. His eyes widen and he frowns. He grabs her book and reads it again. "What is this bullshit?" he asks her softly.

She laughs. Oh my God, what a lovely sound.

"It's physics," she says. Shit. And there goes my occasion to talk with her. Aaron sighs too, and Ethan disappears behind the bar again. But Owen smirks and shifts his chair next to her. "It's actually pretty simple. So if you move rho to this side, you have to.."

I loose my interest, so I just watch Elijah's face twists from understanding to completely losing it again. I smirk. Well, at least he's trying...

It's weird to see him this caring. But I guess it's a good thing. 

"Hey Jordan, can you do something for me?" she asks and my gaze shifts to her. I lean froward and nod. "Can you underline everything you think is important in this text? Thank you," she sweetly smiles. Aaron chuckles.

I narrow my eyes at him, but he just finds it more funny. Sighing, I get to work. I'm just five lines in when I give up. What do I know about the Pythagorean Theorem?

It's hard, but after reading it five times, I think I understand. I frown at it, too concentrated to think about anything else. I've got to do this good for Scarlett, or I'll mess up her scheme.

A flash breaks me out of my concentrating. Aaron is laughing, and Ethan ha sa phone pointed at me. I roll my eyes. They would be focused too if they had to do this.

I turn to Scarlett, who's smiling at me. "Here you go. Do you understand it?" I ask, hopeful I can explain her. But she nods and smiles. "Thanks, Jordan."

Nodding, I go back to my mails. Still 325 unread. Ugh. Our business sucks, especially if you have other things to do. We didn't before, but now with Scarlett...

I hear her giggle and look up, seeing she's laughing with Elijah. Man, she really got an influence on him.

She gets up, and Elijah's face falls. She gathers her stuff. "I need to go home. See you all tomorrow?" she asks and we all nod. She smiles and waves. Only Elijah waves back, but she doesn't care. 

We watch her drive away. Then, I turn to Elijah. The others mirror my movement. He just shrugs. "You're so different with her," Owen says, sounding surprised. Elijah looks down, but I can see his smile.

"Well, she's different, too."

********

ShE's DifFeReNt

Ugh

Yk, I wrote this chap three times over and I'm done

What do u think?

x- N