Page 82 of Quiet
“I connected you to Briar?” Isa burrowed into Briar, trying to leech as much warmth from him as possible. “You can talk to your parents again!”
“And it nearly killed you.” Briar continued to rub Isa through the blanket. It wasn’t hard to guess why Isa’s skin was so red. He’d probably been doing it for a while.
“I wasn’t dying, just sleeping.” Somewhere far away from everything. Somewhere still calling to him . . .
“Stay awake.” Briar tapped Isa’s cheeks, drawing him back from the clingy cocoon of nothingness still attempting to drag him back down.
“Your lips turned blue. We were about to take you to the emergency room.” Briar’s hands tightened painfully around Isa’s arms, driving the softness back to manageable levels.
Isa shivered. “Thanks for not doing that. I don’t like emergency rooms.” They reminded him too much of times better left forgotten.
“I still think we should go.”
“It’s not that serious, Briar. Really. This is how I felt when I woke up yesterday morning. It’s just stronger.”
“Yesterday?”
“Yes, doing the play yesterday was hard when I was so tired, but I still pulled through. I’ll be fine.”
Briar paused. Something Isa said had upset him. “Isa, the play was two days ago.”
“Two days!” No wonder Briar was so upset. If Briar had been unconscious for a day, Isa would drag him to the ER too. “I’m surprised I’m not in a hospital bed right now. Not that I’m upset,” he said hastily. “I’m glad you didn’t”
“I was afraid they’d call your family,” Briar said in an anguished voice. “I didn’t want them to take you away.”
It was a very real possibility. More than Briar realized. Isa shoved the thought away. He’d deal with it another day. “You did the right thing. I’m fine now and happy where I am.” Isa wiggled in Briar’s lap.
A soft laugh from the floor reminded him they were not alone. Frigging post-spell side effects! How long was he going to be stupid for?
“Just give me a few days to get back on my feet, and I’ll try to connect you to your brother too. Do you want me to do Alex and Bea as well? Oh, and then there’s your other housemates—”
“No!” Briar’s arms were a vice around Isa’s shoulders, pulling him tight against his chest.
“No? I’m sorry. I thought it would make things easier for you.” Did Briar think Isa was trying to change him?
“Never do that again. This is enough. Adding you in is already one more person than I had before. If anything happened to you . . . what if you died, Isa? I’d rather never talk to anyone ever again if I had to choose between them and you. I need you to understand that.” The strength of Briar’s sincerity rang inside Isa like a bell.
It was the most Briar had ever said to Isa in one go. And he meant it. Every word. Briar projected with crystal clarity how terrified he’d been while Isa was unconscious. He almost lost Isa, and he wouldn’t risk him again. Not for anything.
“Okay. I understand. I won’t do it again.” Unless Briar really, really needed it.
Briar gave him a hard look, perhaps trying to figure out if Isa meant it.
“I’ll just go see what’s keeping Fiona,” Marie said, standing from her spot on the floor. “She was making us lunch. She might need help carrying it up here. I have a feeling it will take us about fifteen minutes to return.” She winked at her son.
Briar stayed focused on Isa’s face, barely acknowledging his mother’s unsubtle matchmaking.
The door closed behind Marie. Her footsteps resonated down the hallway, emphasizing the silence left in her absence.
Isa had no problem talking a moment ago. Now he had no idea what to say. Briar had gotten an up close and personal look at the reality of Isa’s family life. If he decided it was too much, Isa had nowhere to go. He couldn’t go back home now. Not if he wanted to continue using both legs. Could he live with Will? No, Will had been there too. Any sane queer person would run—
“Stop.” Briar grip on Isa became painful again. “I don’t know what you’re thinking, but your face is scaring me.”
Isa closed his eyes and focused on the pain in his body to bring him out of his spiraling thoughts. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. Briar didn’t deserve being painted in the dark colors Isa’s mind was throwing around. He’d done nothing but be supportive. “I’m here. With you.” It took everything he had not to make it a question. Briar wouldn’t have brought him to his home and ordered him to move in if he wanted to wash his hands of Isa.
Briar’s hands relaxed their bruising grip, but the intensity in his eyes didn’t lessen. Instead, it shifted into something Isa had no intention of encouraging considering the presence of Briar’s family downstairs.
Isa got a flash of being fucked brutally into Briar’s mattress, and his reservations flew out the window. “Okay,” he said breathily and licked his lips. Briar’s eyes flashed with surprise, and Isa realized what he’d said. “I mean, no! No, we can’t do that here. Right now, I mean.” Isa swallowed.
