"Adrian, we need to talk." James told him and dragged him to one corner of the hospital even without his answer. "I know that you are upset about what happened to Joseph and I have come to the exact person whose fault caused his injury." James said as he hugged him. "Me. I am the one to blame. It is because of me that he is lying on the hospital bed." Adrian shouted, only loud enough to express all his guilt.
"Do you know why that happened?" James asked but this time Adrian remained silent. He didn't have the answer to this question. "Because your mind was occupied elsewhere." James made Adrian sit on chair. "Your mind was occupied with Jennifer, My friend." James didn't make sense at first but then slowly Adrian found himself rethinking about all the times he thought about her today. Was she okay? Did Debbie cause any trouble for her? Did she have her meal?
Whenever Adrian was on a mission, he placed his entire mind and soul there. On the battlefield but for the first time, Jennifer, the only living soul was able to distract him from it. "You are right. I think about her a lot." Adrian admitted his mistake. "But I can't live without her. I can't live without the pack either. Please don't tell the members." Adrian pleaded James. "I won't. But we have to find a solution. I won't ask you to choose because I very well understand how much each of them mean to you. But we will find a solution. Together."
Adrian's heart was filled with inexpressible gratitude and love. His mouth may not be able to find words, good enough to express what he felt but his eyes gave his feelings away. Adrian returned home to Jennifer who was worried sick. When he stepped inside the house, he was showered questions, all coming straight from Jennifer.
"Where were you? Who was the boy? I heard a girl. Who was she? How is that boy now? What happened? How was he injured? Are you okay? Did you get hurt as well? " Jennifer was blabbering non stop. "Take a breath." Adrian raised his voice, not because he was angry, he was just tired and happy at the same time. He was ready to explain. He needed time.
Adrian hugged Jennifer tightly, inhaling her scent, embracing her to his hearts fill. He felt so empty without her. Jennifer was taken aback. She was shouting at him, he raised his voice, she thought he was angry. Instead, Adrian just hugged him like there was no tomorrow. Jennifer hugged him back. The air around them was dripping with sweetness and love. Feelings unspoken. Undiscovered.
"Take your time. Freshen up. I'll be waiting in my room. Come and talk when you're done." Jennifer spoke first. The warmth she felt between them was unlike any other. She had never felt so secure, so happy, so peaceful. Not even with Abby at Winston. Adrian pulled away and went to his room without another word. He was surprised to see all his books scattered on his study table. He noticed that his history notebook was missing.
He ignored it and went to freshen up. Take a bath, dwell in the sorrow of his injured friend but at least he felt like he was back home. Ironically, the walls weren't his. Jennifer was his home. When Adrian had changed into his sweatpants and a loose tee, he made his way to Jennifer's bedroom. He grabbed something to eat on his way as he was starving. Munching on his food, he entered Jennifer's room.
Jennifer was writing something. It was Adrian's history notebook. She was doing his homework. Oh! How thoughtful. "You don't have to do my homework. It's okay." Adrian sat on the bed and faced Jennifer. "Oh. That's fine. I have already completed all your notes for today. I figured out that you would be tired from your visit to your friend." Jennifer closed Adrian's notebook and handed it over to him. Adrian thanked her.
"Would you like to share what happened to your friend?" Jennifer said. Adrian felt as if a hundred tons of weight had been put on his shoulders. He had to lie to Jennifer. Again. And his acting had to be perfect. Again. "Actually...My friend got into a little accident." Jennifer panicked. She frantically scanned Adrian from head to toe. Adrian noticed that. "I wasn't hurt." He said. This was also a half lie. He wasn't physically hurt but otherwise he felt all the pain.
"How was school today?" Adrian tried to change the topic. "It was fine." Now, this was lie. Adrian had put one of his men on duty to follow Jennifer for today. Just to ensure her safety. Jennifer lied to him about Debbie bullying her. He knew Debbie was bullying her because she was too close to him but he couldn't help it. He was helplessly drawn to her. Even if he wanted, he wouldn't be able to stay away.
To Jennifer, this was such a little thing she didn't even care about it to recall it as a part of her day. She was lying, unintentionally. "Why do you lie to me? What happened with Debbie?" Adrian plastered his always famous smirk again. "Debbie… oh she. I had a bit of fight with her. Don't worry. I am okay." Jennifer said as she recalled Debbie and her little squabble.
"You shouldn't lie to me. If she is bullying you, break her nose. I'll take care." Adrian wanted to add the lines that "My girl doesn't take crap from anybody." But thought it was better to stop right there. "I wasn't lying. It was so trivial that I didn't even remember it." Jennifer shrugged casually. Adrian wanted to extend his arm and tuck the flick behind her ear and then tell her that, "Even the slightest discomfort to you matters to me. So please be careful." But he couldn't.
"How did you know what happened today?" Jennifer asked out of the blue. There was no way Adrian could explain it to her without busting his own secret. He made a confused face, "What are you talking about?" Dumb. Dumbest step of the world. "I mean, how do you know Debbie was trying to pick on me?" Jennifer repeated her question. "Hmm… Darius told me." Adrian made out some random lie, which was probably the worst lie of the entire century.
Jennifer mentally smiled at this news. It meant Adrian and Darius had finally let go of their differences. Darius finally had the courage to tell Adrian what he should have told him a long time ago. It meant that Kurt would no longer be able to bully Darius. It was good news.