Unbroken

Three

Skye

The next day I went to meet the boys at the park at noon. Kurt had looked at my clothes before I left and told me I looked like a pink marker, so I was feeling a little conscious of my pink shorts and matching shirt. I didn’t have Hunter to ask if I looked ridiculous because he hadn’t come for me this morning, which wasn’t totally odd. Some mornings he did a flyer run on his bike for one of the shore front stores. He delivered them along the nearby suburban blocks. The owner gave him a bit of coin that he would later blow on candy or movie tickets for us.

When I got near to the park, the first thing I heard were loud grunts. As I got closer, I immediately noticed Hunter’s bike on its side on the grass, and feet from it were the boys. My eyes bulged as I came to a stop, hardly believing what I was seeing.

They were brawling, Leo on top of Hunter who was on his back on the ground, covering his face with his arms as Leo delivered punches across them.

“Clean that smirk off your face!” Leo roared.

Shockingly, I heard Hunter’s pained grunts mixed in with laughter. “Get off, Leo! It wasn’t like you think!”

“You’re a liar, Hunt.”

Leo’s expensive shorts and grey shirt were covered in dirt. His hair had fallen over his forehead, his face was covered in dirt…andblood!He lookedsoangry; Leo was never quick to anger.

“What the heck is going on?” I shrieked, heart jumping. “Get off him, Leo!”

Leo’s head snapped up and his eyes shot to mine. There was a brief look of pain in his expression as he eyed me. He didn’t bring his fist down on Hunter, but he stayed glued there for a moment, watching me as his chest heaved up and down. That moment of stillness allowed Hunter to deliver a swift punch across Leo’s jaw, and his face twisted in agony as he rolled off Hunter’s body, groaning.

“Hunter!” I admonished, rushing to Leo’s side. Hunter didn’t get up straight away. He kept his back glued to the earth, his eyes peering up at the sky above him as he caught his breath. I stooped to Leo’s side, smelling the pungent stench of sweat and blood and freshly cut grass. I tried to haul Leo up, but he wound up moving from his side to lying on his back, shoulder to shoulder with Hunter. They both said nothing as they looked up, lost in their own world, while I continued to squat at Leo’s side, confused as hell.

“What is going on?” I demanded.

“Nothin’,” Hunter muttered.

“Nothing?” I repeated, doubtfully, before studying Leo. “Leo?”

Leo’s face was flat as he repeated in a lifeless tone, “Nothing.”

I let out an exasperated breath. “Then why were you fighting?”

“No reason,” they said at the same time.

I huffed. “Are you two trying to annoy me?”

They didn’t respond, and I wound up fuming. I didn’t like to be shut out, but they were so stubborn not to say anything about what had just gone down. I gritted my teeth, waiting for movement, for any kind of answer. Finally, Hunter sat up, groaning a little as he pressed a hand to his bruised jaw.

“Hunt?” I pressed once more.

He didn’t look at me as he slowly raised himself to his feet, finally mumbling, “Just a small thing, Skye. Don’t worry about it.”

I looked down at Leo, waiting for him to say something. He sat up next, pressing a hand to the swollen egg on his forehead. He had a bitter look on his face as he glanced at me, his eyes lingering on my mouth. That same pained expression returned before it turned into a scowl as he said, “Yeah, sure, just a small thing.”

Then he got up and both of them turned to look at one another; equal in height, in stature, one blond boy, one dark haired boy, blue eyes on dark eyes. They stared wordlessly at one another, but I caught the way Leo’s shoulders tensed, his hands fisting together as he glared at Hunter, dragging his eyes to his mouth—a mouth that had a ghost of a smile there! I felt shocked at the strange arrogance that flooded out of Hunter as he stared back in faint amusement, raising his brows almost as though he were challenging Leo.

Leo looked away first, muttering, “Fine, Hunter.Have it.I hope you enjoyed it.”

As Leo stalked off, and I followed after him, I heard Hunter mutter quietly, “I did.”

Within an hour, they were back to normal, laughing up a storm as we trailed through town.So bizarre.I stared at them in awe, wondering if they had brain problems for behaving so crazily one second and then acting like nothing happened the next. Leo took us to a sushi restaurant for lunch. When Hunter went to take my hand so I could follow him into the booth, Leo grabbed my other hand and glared at Hunter.

“After what you did, I’m owed this,” he growled quietly to him.

Confused, I watched Hunter stifle a grin but let me go. Leo slid me into the booth next to him. They winced through their bruises, looking over the menu while I sat among them in the booth, baffled.

Leo’s hand was still tightly wound around mine, as though he were possessive of me. I caught Hunter’s eyes flickering to it, his smile turning sour before he refocused his attention to the menu.