Chereads / The Writer and the Artist / Chapter 48 - Black eyes and male maids

Chapter 48 - Black eyes and male maids

Being heartbroken is so last

year

Haven't broken down since she

wipin' my tears

I've been feeling fine ever since

she has been mine

In other words, yeah, she changed

my l I f e

-JuiceWRLD-

••••••|••••••|

"You put my child in danger!" Aunt Anna shrieks as she glares at me with her icy eyes. Mom rolls her eyes and throws a tissue in the trash. "Oh be quiet Anna! He's only sniffing and coughing because he inhaled the peppers, just because they got a little wet doesn't mean that he's sick all of a sudden!" Aunt Anna starts yelling at mom and our grandparents plead, trying to calm them down.

June scoffs and mutters something under her breath and May laughs with her, Malia and Trisha narrow their eyes at them. "Excuse me, what the fuck are you laughing about right now? Your dumb sister put a child's life in danger!" Trisha shrieks and May groans. "It's water, he'll get over it." She replies in a bored tone.

"Then you wouldn't mind if I did this, would you?" Malia smirks as freezing water starts to soak May's shirt. "You bitch!" She growls out and punches her in the face. Trisha goes to separate them but she's tackled to the floor by June and they start their fight. The parents are too busy trying to rip each other's throats out by screaming at the top of their lungs to realize that their children are having a very intense brawl.

I feel my hair being tugged back and I'm suddenly against a wall when a sharp sting spreads access my face as Mara's hand connects with my cheek. I glare at her and push her back before slamming her back into the edge of the table. A sharp grunt leaves her mouth before she reaches for me again. "You insufferable bitch!" She screams just as I hit the wall.

"What the fuck did I do to you?!" I tell, suddenly confused by her attack. She looks at me with wide eyes like she can't believe what's happening.

"What did you do to me? You left a freaking vomit-soaked shirt in my bathroom to stink the whole place up! I should shove the shirt down your fat throat, only heaven knows what the fuck has been there! It should fit right with your fucking vulgar tongue!" She screams and rushes for me with a vase, intent to kill. I dodged it just right before it hits me and it smashes against the wall, shattering into sharp pieces.

She flings the part she's holding and lunges for me again, desperate to get a solid hit. Just as she reaches me, I sock her in the face, hearing a sickening crunch as my fist collides with her nose. I pull my hand back quickly and groan in pain, clutching my fist as she falls to the floor, holding her possibly broken nose. I start to walk away but I'm suddenly tripped and my face comes first with the hard floor. I clutch my nose, feeling something was trickling from my nose, most definitely blood. I pull my hand back and stare at the crimson. Yep.

I raise myself and stare at Trisha who's smirking at me before June wraps her hand around her hair and pulls her to the ground, nails scratching that pale face. I turn and see May continuously punching Malia. I hiss as pain radiates throughout my whole face and hand. I wipe at the blood staining my lips and wince when I feel my bust-up lip. I stand up, eyes searching for Mara when I feel someone flip me around and the next thing I know is a fist flying towards my face. It doesn't reach me and my eyes widen when I see Fayette tackling Mara to the floor, she looks just as roughed up as me and I try to pull Mara off Fayette. She pushes me to the ground, straddling me and hitting my head continuously against the hard floor.

A scream cuts us off and it seems like everyone pauses as Rayne rushes in with tears streaming down her face. "Mom! Arthur put fucking gorilla glue in hair!" She screams and Aunt Linda looks horrified.

"Control your fucking child!" She screams at Aunt Petunia. Aunt Petunia glares at her. "You control your fucking child and her fucking vulgar mouth." She growls out and slams Aunt Linda against the dining table, pulling her against all the dishes and cutlery. That sounded like a cue for us to continue and I push Mara off me, banging her head against the floor. She groans and she falls limp, her breathing still raspy but there at least. I see Fayette trying to recover as she touched the cut on her forehead. I go to help June because I know May can handle herself, she might be really cute and all, but we know she's the most violent and probably the most likely one to go to jail for vandalism, just putting it out there.

I see Trisha trying to push June off and I immediately kick her side, giving June the perfect opportunity to knock her out. June crawls off her and lies back, breathing heavily. I'm hit in the back as I feel a body land awkwardly on top of me. I crawl out from under her and see Aunt Linda with multiple cuts on her face. The maids look terrified, not knowing whether to separate our fights or to just let it happen until we're exhausted. I see mom and Aunt Anna in a terrifying position, mom has Aunt Anna in a headlock as they're both on the floor, with several bruises on both their faces. I stand up and try to reach for mom when a pull has me stumbling back. I brace myself for the fist but it doesn't come as I open my eyes, staring at the wide eyes males staring at the whole mess.

Austin is quick to react, reaching for Mara and pulling her off me. She struggles and when he puts her down, I can almost feel the sting from the slap that landed on his cheek.

"Control your bitch April." She hisses at me and I glare at her, "Who are you calling a bitch?" She scoffs, pushing her hair behind her shoulder, I'm unsure of how her extensions hadn't been ripped out yet. "Your fucking boyfriend, of course, he's always following you around as a dog kept on a fucking leash, it's pathetic!" I reach out, pulling at her legs and when she falls next to me, her head hitting the floor and bouncing off it, I proceed to give her an uppercut but not before one was delivered to me. We both go slack as fists connect with our jaws. I lie opposite her, trying to catch my breath and feeling the exhaustion and the pain radiating from every part of my body. Austin's face comes into view and I try to smile but I'm sure it comes out as a grimace.

Happy Fucking New Year!

°•°•°|°•°•°

I wince as the cotton ball dipped in methylated spirit grazes my cut lip. I pull back and Austin glares at me, drawing me closer and carefully cleaning the cut. He tosses the soaked and now stained cotton ball in the trash and pulls out another one, cleaning my forehead cut. When he's done, he places a bandage on the cut and cleans the bloodstains on my face. "I'm sorry," I murmur but he doesn't reply, going ahead to check for any other injuries.

"Austin, I'm-"

"Your hand is not broken and neither is your nose, both of them should heal soon, so I suggest you take a nap, dinner will be ready when you wake up." He cuts me off and starts packing up the first aid kit.

"Austin please talk to me," I say softly and he inhales sharply. "Talk about what April? About what happened this afternoon? Gosh, what exactly do you want me to say! That I am fucking livid right now at you for ever putting yourself in danger like that? Do you know the first thing that came to my head when I saw that you weren't moving? Huh, April?" He yells at me and I stare at him wide-eyed.

To say I am shocked would be an understatement of the century.

"Austin, she insulted you, I couldn't just let her get away with that!" I tell right back at him. "I cannot believe you are that this mad at me right now, over something as stupid as a fight, she had no right to call-"

"I don't give a damn about what she said! Don't you understand that? I don't care what anybody thinks except you, I only want your opinion! I don't need fucking permission from anyone on how I act! What I don't understand is why you felt the need to go after her like a crazy person and put yourself in danger like that! I don't ever want to see you hurt, even if it's just a paper cut, why don't you get that?"

My head hangs low as I stare at my wrapped-up fist. "I didn't like the idea of someone calling you that," I whisper and I hear him sigh as he moves closer to me. He wraps his arms around me and kisses my hair.

"I know, and I love you for that, for standing up for me, but not in this way. Not when it'll get you hurt, I'm a big boy, I can handle myself." He chuckles and I pull away from him with a blank look on my face.

"I had to help you find your favorite slippers this morning after you insisted that if you didn't wear them, you would have bad luck today." I deadpan. "And see what happened because we couldn't find it!" He exclaims and I roll my eyes at him.

"Now sleep, while I go make dinner." He kisses my cheek and I pout when I notice he's avoiding my lips.

He walks out of the room and that's when I hear what he said. Did he just say he's going to cook?

°•°|°•°

After thirty minutes of trying and failing to fall asleep, I gather the blanket and tread down the stairs, following the noise, I reach the kitchen and see all the boys chatting happily as they cook. I'm about to walk in when Devin sees me and starts shooing me away. He turns me around so I'm facing the exit and pushes me out of the kitchen, "Sayonara!" He salutes and walks back to what he was cutting up.

I find my way to the living room, watching everyone with a blanket over them, it looked like the new dress code for everyone that fought. I walk to the seat next to June and May, narrowing my eyes at the perfectly fine child that is somehow still playing like a normal child, after all the fight that went down today. Rayne is off to the side, glaring at the boy with crossed arms and a towel wrapped around her hair. Since no one attended to her on time, the glue got dried on her hair and no matter how many times we washed it, it's not coming out, we're going to have to take her to the salon by tomorrow.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" May asks, wincing as she takes in my cuts. "I'm alright, it's better than high school I guess." I chuckle and groan in pain. I look around and my eyes find Mara who is scowling at the tv, obviously mad about how little I'm injured. "How's your jaw? We all saw that." June breathes out, licking her lip.

"It's good, Austin put some ointment on it so it should be done, although, I can't chew much," I smirk when I see Mara turn to face me, a huge black eye and a purple jaw with a bruised nose, probably broken.

Lesson learned: Don't pick a fight you can't win.

She glares and flips me the bird and I smile wider. Huffing, she flips her hair and scowls even harder at the TV that I think it might break. "Stop." May chuckles, hitting my arm lightly and I shake my head.

"Where's Austin?" June asks, putting her hair in a tiny messy bun, the short green crop already fading. "He's in the kitchen with the others." May frowns, a line forming between her brows.

"Is he-?"

"Don't worry, he's on dish duty with Hakeem." I snicker, and they sigh in relief. Peyton walks into the living room in a maid gown, someone smacks his butt, and all I can hear is all the boys giggling. He looks like he's about to cry as he rings the tiny bell in his hands. They even put his hair in a bun!

I cover my mouth and try to hold in my snickers but I hear someone crashing to the floor and I turn to see May wheezing and clutching her stomach, small cackles spilling from her lips. Before long the whole room erupts in laughter, June even teases him as she walks to him, twirling his hair in her hand and pulling at his belt.

"Are you done now?" He grumbles, holding the skirt. June holds up one finger when May still cackles, rolling on the floor. I hold my stomach as I feel the pain coming back.

"Alright!" He rings the bell aggressively. "The food is ready, now I can-"

"Uh-uh-uh, Peyton. Remember what we told you." I hear Chase say in a sultry voice but I don't see him, Peyton visibly shivers in disgust and his face stretches into a wide uncomfortable smile.

"Dinner is served, Miladies." A posh British accent, not bad. June helps May off the floor as it seems she can no longer stand without her knees falling apart from how much energy she's lost while laughing.

We all pile into the dining room, trying not to touch each other in fear of another fight breaking out. My eyes widen as I take in our dinner.

"Woah, you guys cooked this?" Kira asks, taking a seat beside Grampa Thomas. "We sure did." Ethan smirks, "Don't think you're the only one who inherited ma's cooking." He laughs and both dad and Kira smack him.

"What's that supposed to mean you, oaf? Are you trying to say I can't cook?" Dad raises a thick brow and I smirk when I see Ethan's discomfort.

"No... but nothing can beat mom's cooking, you know that dad." He finally replies after debating with himself. Dad Huff but takes a seat next to mom, pecking her cheek.

"Awn." Fayette laughs at the same time Chase fake gags.

"Peyton dear? Yes come over here and tell us what we have for dinner." June teases as a wide smile appears on her face. May stifles a laugh and nudged June with her elbow. "What? I'm just having fun!" She cackles.