Hidebound

Chapter FortyFive

I breathe in a deep breath as I enter the front door of our apartment. My shoulders drop and so does my bag as it crashes to the floor with a thud.

I had debated for only a short amount of time if I should convince Stevie to ban Amos and Ace from Darby's but I doubt he was even still in his office. Besides, I can't deal with anymore bullshit today, and Stevie is the definition of walking bullshit.

I'll do it tomorrow, or whenever I next see Stevie just as long as Amos and Ace don't make another appearance at Darby's before then.

"Baby? That you?" Hex's gruff voice echos from the bedroom.

"It's me" I call back as I kick off my shoes and lock the door behind me. I roll my eyes when I hear the floorboards creak as he stands from the bed and walks down the hallway in my direction. I had told him to stay in bed hoping that it would help him heal faster, but in the back of my mind I know he has most likely been in and out of bed all day, not caring much for his own health.

"You're late" he states as he walks over to me and places a kiss to my forehead. It takes me a moment to note that he's wearing clothes other than the sweatpants I left him in this morning.

"Yeah, took a while to close. Why are you dressed?" I ask. The burning need to tell Hex about Amos and Ace thumps in the back of my mind but at the same time I don't want to bombard him as soon as I get home. I know that it'll ruin our night at the mere mention of their names.

Hex pauses for a moment as he looks me in the eyes. He looks confused but then it turns to concern.

"Are you alright, Poppy?" He presses the back of his hand to my forehead before I grab his wrist and lower it to hold in my hands. "We're having dinner at your mothers." I had completely forgotten even though I had spent a few minutes this morning making up a salad to take with us. Today had obviously taken a toll on me and Amos and Ace had consumed my thoughts more than I had thought they had.

"Oh, right" I shake my head, almost like I'm trying to physically move the negativity from my mind. Hex's eyebrows only move closer together, his bruised face lowers as he bends his knees to look me in the eye. "What are we going to do with your face?" I whisper as I raise a hand and skim it gently along the skin on his cheek. He doesn't move or flinch from pain and I take that as a good sign. He's also more mobile today, although he still flinch's at fast movements or wrong turns.

"Don't worry about my face. Do you feel okay?" He asks again. I throw my head back and chuckle as I stare at the ceiling before bringing my eyes back to him, except he's not laughing with me and still looks concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine, just tired" I reassure him. He continues holding eye contact and seems to be looking for something, it makes me nervous. I clear my throat "we have to leave soon, seven right?" I ask (even though I already know the answer) as I push past him and walk towards the bathroom.

"Yeah, seven" Hex grumbles from behind me as his eyes follow me until I'm no longer in the room.

*

I had done my best at trying to cover up Hex's bruised face and it worked for the most part, but the undertone of blue and purple still shown through the make-up and it was clear as day that he has make up on because of the obvious shade difference. My pale skin has nothing on Hex's tanned skin. He looks like he's roleplaying a ghost.

Mum had only fallen for it for a second before she pulled back from hugging him and was close enough to see the stark difference.

She didn't mention it, but the concerned look on her face was enough to put me on edge. It didn't seem to bother Hex, it was almost like he had forgotten he had been beat up at all, except for the pain. Guess it's because he isn't the one that has to look at the bruises.