Antidote by LC Lehesaho

34

"Come in."

Dad's voice comes from behind the closed door. I prepare myself for being cool and not letting out any sign of what I've been up to since I left the gym last night. When I step inside, the familiar scent of wood and leather with a hint of whiskey floats to my nose. He is sitting behind his desk, adjusting the tie around his neck, and gives me a slightly worried look.

"Are you okay?" he asks, and pulls the tie off, shaking it in the air like there's something wrong with it. "I mean, about yesterday. I know it was... slightly over the line, and I'm sorry."

Slightly over the line? Duh, you can say it like that, sure.

I walk around the desk, and sit on the edge, taking the tie from him. "First, is Pietro okay?"

"Yes, he's fine. I gave him the day off today, but I can call him to come here if you want to see him yourself," he assures me and picks up his phone.

"Jeez, no, don't bother him. I'll pay him a visit before going to my first class." I lower the tie over his head to his neck and start to adjust it. Dad sucks balls at this. "But, yeah. I'm fine. Lesson learned."

His blue eyes soften with relief. "Good. Is there something else you want to talk about? Do you want to go to breakfast with me before class?"

Just like that, he is Dad again. Not the psychopath from the gym yesterday. My Dad, who takes me to get pancakes in the morning. Every one of us has our own routines with Dad, and that's mine. With Tiger, he jogs. I know they run to the beach and back, a fucking long way, and I could never run that long. I suck at cardio, so when I need to punish myself, I use the treadmill.

Okay, I only use a treadmill when I don't have Tiger near.

...I hope Luke lives near the gym.

Or I might just fucking kill myself in the next few days.

I shake my head at Dad's question. "I have to pass on breakfast, Luke is coming to get me. And about that..." I finish with the tie and smooth it against his chest before continuing. "I came to tell you that I'm going to spend a couple of days at his place."

Dad leans back in his chair, cocking an eyebrow. "You must really like him then."

I'm such fucking trash. "Yeah, Luke is awesome." He really is, and I'm a horrible person who doesn't deserve a friend like him. But... "So, is it okay if I take a couple of days off?"

"Sure." He gives me a warm smile, which he doesn't show very often. "I think this will be good for you. You've seemed a bit burned out recently."

A bit? I'm a better actress than I thought I was. High-fucking-five for me.

"Everything will be okay." I repeat the mantra I've been telling myself for years.

"That's good to hear." Dad doesn't sound entirely convinced. "Did you work things out with Tiger?"

In my head, I jump over the desk and run out the door, screaming as I go. But what I do is sit still and nod like a fucking politician. "Sort of. I have something I need to ask about him."

"Sneaking behind your best friend’s back? Well, Cobra, I have to say, you keep surprising me today."

Yeah, my new black. "What do you know about his sister?"

Dad's eyes narrow, and I can see his muscles tightening even though he tries to act like it’s nothing. "He told you about Amelia?"

"Not exactly. Just that he had a sister."

"Nothing else?"

I give him a wary look. "No. What is it? Is she dead?"

Dad folds his arms across his chest. "Ask him. I'm not going to tell you anything behind his back." He drops his voice an octave lower. "And Cobra if he says no, it's a no. Don't push him about it."

Now I'm fucking intrigued. I've never been obsessed about knowing what happened, but I didn't know Tiger had a sister? And the fact that Tiger didn't say anything else about it, and Dad's warning not to push him. Of course, I don't want to push him, but... I want to know.

I want to know every little detail about Tiger.

"Of course, I'm subtle. I'm the smoothest person you know." I get up to leave with a massive fake smile, but I know instantly I shouldn't have done it.

Dad stops me, just by his voice. "Cobra. Don't. Push. Him."

I drop the smile and get serious. "I won't, I promise. I love Tiger, and I wouldn't hurt him intentionally."

Did I just say that I love him?

I think I did. Channeling my inner Lady Gaga, I keep a poker face.

"Good. He's a good kid, one of the most loyal and good-hearted boys I've ever met, but don't corner him. I mean it," Dad says, and pulls me to him, placing a kiss to my forehead when I lean closer. "Have fun with Luke, Angel, but take your gun with you."

"Will do, Dad." I tap his shoulder and leave with a million questions in my head.

But most of all, what happened five years ago?

"Here's your well-earned pudding for studying so hard," Luke says, sliding some chocolate-flavored deliciousness across the table, while he sits down facing me in the crowded cafeteria.

"Oh, yes!" I grab it and tear it open without hesitation. We were late this morning, so we didn't have time to discuss anything, just a quick how are you doing. So, I stuff the first spoonful into my mouth and point at him with the spoon. "Where do you live?"

"Next to McDonald's on Fifth Street, why?"

"Wanna have a sleepover?"

Luke laughs, all cute and bouncy. "You wanna come to my place? While you live in a bloody castle?"

I shrug my left shoulder, spooning more pudding in my mouth. "Yeah, and it's not a castle. It's a mansion, but whatever. I thought I could stay a couple of days, is it okay?"

"Bloody hell, seriously? Yes, fuck, yes." He looks like it's Christmas. Suddenly, he goes rigid. "Uh, when?"

"Today."

"Oi, fuck me." He grabs the collar of his T-shirt, like he’s suffocating. "I haven't cleaned up. It's a mess with a capital M."

Yes, my fucking day is saved. "Great, I love cleaning. We're gonna have so much fun."

"Uh, what? No, you're not coming to clean my apartment." Luke shakes his head. "No, no."

"I can do it in my lingerie," I joke.

Well, not quite a joke because I really want to clean and if it's the only way he lets me do it, I'm on it.

"Okay, yes, you are more than welcome," he says, eyes sparkling with amusement.

"Yes! You made my day."

He smirks, tousling his hair, while he takes a lazy look around. His eyes sharpen as he sees something. "Hey, isn't that your brother?"

I trail his eyes and see what he sees. Tiger is leaning against the railing, which separates the two levels of the cafeteria, a takeaway cup in his hand and eyes on us. There's a sinister smile playing on his lips, which is partly hot as fuck and somewhat scary as shit. His leather jacket hugs his shoulders, and the black T-shirt under it is like another skin, licking his sculpted body, and the way he leans to the railing pulls the jacket wide open, leaving it all on display. His dark brown hair is just messy enough to make you want to stick your fingers in it and sit on his face.

...and this is precisely what I'm not supposed to think about.

I clear my throat from sudden dryness. "Yeah, that's him."

At that, Tiger straightens and walks toward us. Panic hits me like a fully-loaded truck. I try to stare at him, yelling inside my head 'don't you fucking dare come over here', and I can see he reads me perfectly, but the motherfucker just spreads his grin wider.

"Hello, Care Bears," Tiger says when he gets next to our table and sits next to me. My ears are probably redder than a fire truck, as I try to keep my appearance relaxed, but what I end up doing is staring at him with horror in my eyes.

He brushes my leg with his, before turning his gaze to Luke, raising a hand over the table. "I owe you an apology, man."

"For what?" Luke takes his hand and they share a firm handshake, but I start to suspect that maybe Tiger is here to poison Luke or something.

"Well…" Tiger leans his back to the seat, swinging his hand over my shoulders. I swear, I'm sweating bullets. "I acted like an asshole when we met. Sorry about that."

Luke is not fooled. "Here or at Purgatory?"

Tiger snaps his fingers. "Oh, clever boy, aren't you? Pick either one you like."

"Is this you not being an asshole?" Luke asks, keeping his swag because I'm sure he never really gets mad. "If so, I'm not convinced of your people skills."

"What do you know, sis, I almost like the guy," Tiger says, pointing a finger toward Luke. "He's sharp."

"Tiger." I warn. "What do you want?"

His dark eyes sink to me, and without a word, I know to shut my mouth.

"What do I want? A lot of things, but right now." He pauses for a second, making me nervous. "I want to get to know the lucky guy who's been dating mysister."

I swear to God I want to smack him. "Nice. Well, Tiger." I make a gesture toward Luke on the other side of the table. "Here's Luke and so on. Now, you know him. Besides we’re not dating, we’re friends. Shouldn't you be going to class or something?"

I don't know what game he is playing, but I know better than to play with him. Not like this, because there is no guarantee that Tiger won't blurt out what we did yesterday.

And not that it’s any of Luke's business because we agreed to stay in the friend zone, but still everyone thinks that Tiger is my actual brother. No one in the whole city knows that he isn't really blood related.

I can see Luke's eyes on us as we keep staring at each other, but I don't dare to move my eyes yet. He's so goddamn unpredictable that I wouldn't be exactly surprised if he suddenly slit Luke's throat open. If he tries, I'm ready.

Tiger takes a sip from his coffee, eyes on me over the cup's rim, and they flicker with wickedness. For some weird fucking reason, I'm overly intrigued by his background now. Maybe because we... upgraded. He now knows all of my deepest corners, and I want to know his.

"I have twenty minutes free, so don't worry about my studies, sis," Tiger drawls, as he places his hand with the cup to the table. All casually. Then his eyes go back to Luke. "Gimme your address."

"No!" I bark out, and Luke's eyes ping-pong between us, not knowing who to obey. I throw my hand toward him as a stop sign and shove my elbow in Tiger's side, getting his attention back on me. There's a goddamn smile on his lips as he lays his dark eyes on me.

"Just so I know where you are if something unexpected happens." He pauses for a second. "Worm."

That's not really what he wanted to call me. His eyes whispered baby girl. The tone of his voice says it, even if the words are different, and I'm about to drown in shame right fucking now.

Before I can counter, Luke opens his mouth and blurts his address. Stupid boy. Amusement plays on Tiger's lips as he watches me like he's won something. "Thanks, how helpful of you, Aussie." His gaze goes to Luke. "How's Bubbles by the way?"

Luke's brows pop to his hairline. "Do I even wanna know why you know my aunt's dog's name?"

I slap my palm to my face, throwing my head back. "Fuck you, Tiger, seriously."

I should've known that he came here to mess up things with Luke. Or at least try, apparently Luke doesn't get disturbed so easily because now he looks slightly irritated with Tiger.

"I thought you'd appreciate my politeness, making conversation and all," Tiger says, sounding way too happy.

"Yeah, no."

"Bloody hell," Luke gasps when he checks the clock on the wall. "I gotta go, I'm late. See you later."

I turn to Luke with a smile on my face. "I'll text you."

"Nice talk," he throws to Tiger before leaving, annoyance coloring his voice. I watch him go and take a breath for the first time in minutes. Slowly, I meet Tiger's gaze, his arm still across my shoulders, a little too close. I lean further away from him.

"What was that?"

He pulls me back close. "What do you think it was, baby?"

I roll my eyes at him. "Stop fucking around, Tiger." Then I gather my storming thoughts and steady my racing heartbeat. "You scared the shit out of me. Leave Luke alone, please."

"Were you afraid that I would carve his guts out right here?" he whispers in my ear, and I push him back, shocked that he clearly doesn't care who sees us. We've always been close, but like this in the middle of the day? His arm around my shoulders, our bodies flush against each other, and Tiger leaning into me... this is intimate. Not a friend thing. A brother-sister thing.

About that...

"Is she dead?" I blurt out and smack my face to the table in my mind—smooth, Cobra. Go me.

Tiger stiffens next to me, and I feel the tension gathering in his muscles, like a bomb ready to explode. He knows who I'm talking about without even mentioning her name.

"Why the fuck are you suddenly digging?" Tiger pulls away from me, eyes cold as ice.

"I'm not digging, I just want to know about your sister—"

"Are you trying to find something you can use against me? Find more excuses so you don't have to forgive that I made a fucking mistake?"

I throw my hands up in surrender, heart screeching to a halt. "No! Jeez, no! That's not what I was—"

He stands up, ready to burst into flames, and cuts me off. "And you said I was playing dirty. Well, newsflash for you, baby girl, go fuck yourself. You've already got me on my knees, but don't fucking dare to kick me when I'm down."

My heart thunders in my chest, shocked by the misunderstanding. I run after him when he storms out of the cafeteria, taking the doors straight out toward the parking lot.

"Tiger, wait." I cling to his arm, and for my sake, he stops and doesn't drag me with him through the parking lot. "I didn't mean it like that, please listen to me."

When his eyes land on me, my breath catches because I've never seen him so cold. "Let go of me if you wanna keep your hands."

I don't let go.

"No, don't go, please. I'm sorry for how I let it out," I beg.

Tiger grabs my wrist and twists it, so hard that my hold loosens because it hurts like hell. "Don't ever fucking touch me if I tell you not to."

He shoves my hand away, giving me a gaze full of hate and something like... sorrow in it before he spins around, leaving me there shocked as fuck. I watch him jump on his Yamaha, unable to run after him anymore because I've never seen him burst into flames this fast. All that emotion was overpowering and he lashed out, and I can't comprehend why he poured it on me. I wasn't that rude. Okay, maybe I was gauche and could have asked more tactfully, but...

Tiger was so hurt.

The Devil's invention from Hell roars when he races from the parking lot with noxious speed. I pray to God, Satan, and everyone who listens that he won't crash—accidentally or deliberately.