Page 38 of Dared

I lifted my arms, hissing in pain when JJ brushed over the spot on my rib where I’d been elbowed.

“Leo? What is it?”

I licked my cracked lips and then attempted a reply, my voice coming out hoarse and broken. “Elbow. Ribs.”

“Those fuckers! I’ll chop their dicks off if they do that again,” Niccolò vowed, and somehow, I found myself almost smiling at his deadly serious tone.

“I’ll get some ice. Nic, get Leo a hoodie. The zip one over there by the window.”

I closed my eyes, not bothering to open them again while a clean hoodie was gently pulled over my shoulders and zipped up, and then a bag of something cold was pressed onto my ribs, right where it hurt. I let my head sink into the pillows, concentrating on breathing slowly and evenly.

The bed dipped next to me, and when I opened my eyes again, JJ was lying next to me, his hand rubbing up and down my arm. On my other side, Niccolò laid his head on my chest, keeping well away from my bruised rib, his body curling into mine. Like this, with their warm, comforting presence blanketing me, I felt like I could finally breathe properly.

“Do you want to talk about it?” JJ asked.

“Not really. But I guess I should.” Before either of them could respond, I began to talk, the words spilling out of me. I shared my conversation with my dad, and my decision to go out tonight and find Finn, and everything that had happened. By the time I finished, my face was wet with tears, my voice was raw, and JJ and Niccolò were both cuddling into me, comforting me in the best way they knew.

“You know you’re my friend, right?” Nic said quietly. “I know we haven’t spoken much, but I like you, Leo. And you know what? I love going out and partying, and I can be loud and dramatic and?—”

“My little drama queen,” JJ interrupted, giving Nic a fond smile.

Niccolò grinned at him and then continued. “My point is, I like all those things, but I don’t need all my friends to like everything I do or have the same personality as me. My boyfriend isn’t really a big partier, and JJ’s really, really isn’t. I mean, Daddy K would probably rather poke his own eyeballs out than be seen in the student union.”

“Where all his students are,” JJ interjected. “But he’s right. Boyfriends, friends, whatever—we don’t need to share all the same interests. I’m all for you pushing yourself out of your comfort zone, babe, because you’re capable of a lot more than you think, but not if it upsets you the way it did tonight.”

My lip trembled. “It’s my brain. It convinces me that there’s something wrong with me or that e-everyone’s staring at me and thinking horrible things. And then I saw Finn looking so happy, and then—” My breath hitched, and useless tears filled my eyes again. I was so fucking sick of crying. “Then I heard what people were saying about me when I got pushed over.”

Niccolò muttered something in Italian that I didn’t understand, but from the murderous look on his face, I was guessing it wasn’t complimentary.

“I’m sorry,” I said in a small voice. “Sorry you had to cut your night short to babysit m?—”

JJ covered my mouth. “Stop. You have nothing to be sorry for, and we’re not babysitting you. You’re our friend, and we want to spend time with you. Imagine it was me in your situation. Would you leave me there on my own when I was clearly as upset as you were?”

Slowly, I shook my head. Not that JJ would ever be in my situation—or so I hoped—but I would never dream of leaving him if he was.

“I think speaking to my dad earlier just triggered me. And you know I find it hard to be normal.”

“Normal doesn’t exist,” said JJ.

“Normal is boring,” announced Nic at exactly the same time. They looked at each other and laughed, lightening the heavy atmosphere.

I sighed. “Thank you. Both of you. You…you don’t know how much this means to me.”

Niccolò bit down on his lip. “We’re not the only ones who are here for you. I think…I think if Finn had known about all this, he’d be here right now.”

I shrugged, and he shook his head insistently. “Bennett says he talks about you a lot. He just drops you into most of his conversations without even realising he’s doing it.”

He did?

“Oh. Uh. Yeah, I don’t really think he needs to be bothered with all this, not while he’s out having fun after working so hard all week.”

JJ eyed me thoughtfully but didn’t comment, and after a few seconds of silence, Niccolò grabbed my hand, launching himself into a seated position.

“Enough moping. We’re gonna salvage the rest of this night.” He batted his lashes at me. “Leo, please will you teach me how to playMario Kartso I can surprise my boyfriend by beating him?”

“Okay.” I climbed off the bed after him. This was what I needed. Something to take my mind off everything that had happened tonight.

And if I wished more than anything that Finn were there to wrap me up and tell me everything would be okay…that was best kept to myself.