Chapter 188
Layla's POV
"When are you back?" I asked Asmodeus as he twirled his keys around his finger. He tried to shake Jake off of his leg, but he didn't let go.
"Few weeks. Then you have me for a whole two months," he replied with a smug smile.
"Oh, joy," I commented sarcastically and he laughed.
"Jake," he said softly, ruffling the the top of Jake's head as he kept his arms tightly looped around Asmodeus's leg. "You gotta let go bud," Jake finally let go, and Asmodeus knelt down to be at his level. Jake frowned as he threw his arms around him, and Asmodeus returned the hug. "I'll only be gone for a bit-"
A knock on the door cut him off, and all of our attentions snapped over to it. I glanced at the two of them before walking over and opening it. My eyes widened when I saw Jessica. I didn't remember his face getting hit too much by Asmodeus, but the abundance of cuts riddling his soft skin and the black eye he sported suggested differently.
I swallowed the lump in my throat at seeing what my brother had done to him, and tried not to think about the fact that he hadn't particularly been planning on stopping, either. Jessica's eyes were wide when he saw me, too, looking a little nervous to be talking to me. But then his eyes looked behind me to where Asmodeus was still with Jake.
Jake smiled and went to trot over to greet Jessica, but Asmodeus put his hand on his chest to stop him. He looked at Asmodeus slightly confused before Asmodeus stood up, glaring coldly at Jessica.
"Y-you're still here," Jessica commented, clearly having expected him to be back at school by now. Asmodeus didn't reply as Jessica looked down to the floor. I noticed Asmodeus's eyes flicker with guilt momentarily when Jessica wasn't looking, the damage and severity of his punches worse than we both had thought.
"I'm leaving now. You should, too," Asmodeus spoke, his voice deep. I watched as he walked away from Jake and towards us. He didn't so much as offer Jessica a glance as he walked through the door, purposely bumping his shoulder into his as he passed him. I sighed disapprovingly at him before he called out a half-assed goodbye to me over his shoulder.
Jessica had hid it from Asmodeus, but I saw him wince in pain when they bumped together. He didn't look back up until he heard Asmodeus's car drive away. The underlying pain in his eyes made my heart sink in my chest.
"Can I, um," he started, his voice slightly more hoarse than usual. I shook off my thoughts as I peeled my eyes away from his split lip and opened the door wider.
"Yeah- yeah come in," I told him, and he stepped inside, looking over at Jake as I shut the door.
"Jessica?" Jake questioned up at him with baby eyes, as if asking permission to greet him. Jessica cracked a small smile and knelt down, bringing Jake in for a hug. Jake hugged him back, letting his signature beaming smile immediately spread on his face at being able to hug him again.
Jessica winced again slightly as he stood back up, and I marched in front of him, looking up at his face once again observing the marks. I couldn't help myself as I reached up and gently tilted his head this way and that, assessing the damage. He only let me do this for a few second before removing my hands with a small smile.
"Hi, Lay," he finally greeted me, and I frowned at him.
"Hi, you freak," I replied as he kept my hands in his. "Jake wanna go make us all those cool chocolate treats you wanted to make earlier?" I looked down to him and his face lit up before he nodded and ran out of the room. I turned my attention back to Jessica, who hadn't stopped staring at me the whole time.
"I'd give you a kiss if I wasn't worried about hurting that busted lip-" Jessica cut me off with his lips on mine. His rough hand moved to the side of my face as he came closer to me, savoring the kiss with everything he had. His other hand moved to my neck as he deepened the kiss, and I felt my face heat up like fire.
When he pulled away, I was momentarily speechless as he kept out foreheads together, the two of us catching our breaths.
"I've missed you," he told me, his voice low in his chest. As someone who was pretty damn good at reading people, I could tell just how sad he was. I raised my hands up to rest on the sides of his face, but stopped them right before they touched.
"I don't want to hurt your cuts," I whispered, but he placed his hands on mine and pushed them the final few inches onto him. My thumbs gently caressed his cheeks as he moved his hands to my waist, bringing me closer to him.
I locked our lips again, letting him know that I had missed him, too. Even if it had just been a few days, we had still had enough emotional distance to almost last a lifetime. I wished I could heal all of his wounds with this kiss, both his physical and mental ones.
When we pulled away again, he looked me so deep in my eyes that I almost could have sworn I saw them get a tad misty. I backed up a step when I noticed a large bruise on his collarbone peaking out from under his T-shirt.