Rule(10)

I made my way to the drive way and paused when I saw the brothers with their heads bent close together.  Rule looked mad and Rome looked sad, it was heartbreaking and impressive all at the same time.  Rule saw me first and pulled away.  They said something to one another in low tones and bumped fists.  Rome pulled Rule into a one armed hug and made his way over to me.  I received the same treatment with the addition of a kiss on the cheek.

“I’m gonna put as many fires out here as I can over the next week or so and then make my way to the city.  I’ll hit you up when I can.”

“Try and convince your mom to get some help Rome, please.”

“I love you little girl, you try and keep that jackass out of trouble for me.”

I brushed a kiss across his cheek in return.  “I always do.”

“I didn’t know it was this bad, Shaw.  I’ve missed so much by being away.”

“Families are like anything else, they take work, patience and people willing to make it work, I’m so very glad you came home Rome.”

I moved away after another hug and tossed my keys at Rule.  “I have a headache can you drive back to the city?”  I normally never let him anywhere near my car, he had a lead foot and no regard for other drivers on the road, but I wasn’t going to make it.  I felt the headache growing into a migraine and all I wanted to do was close my eyes and crawl into a soft bed and pull the covers over my head.  I got into the passenger seat and curled into a ball.

Rule didn’t say anything as he turned the ignition on and headed us home.  He left the radio off and didn’t even try and bother with forced pleasantries.  I knew he wouldn’t apologize for the scene; he never did so I didn’t even bring it up.  I was drifting in and out of a little nap when Gabe’s ringtone started to trill from my pocket.  I swore which was something a rarely did and turned the stupid thing off.  By now my stomach was in knots and I was seeing spots in front of my eyes.

“He calls you now more than when you were dating.”  Rule’s voice was low and I wondered if he had any idea how much my head was hurting.

“It’s a pain.  I told you he didn’t get it.”

“Is it a problem?”  I cracked an eye open because it was really out of character for him to even kind of show concern for me.

“No, I mean it’s only been a couple weeks and I think he misses the idea of me more than actually being with me.  I keep thinking he’ll get bored or find someone else and just go away.”

“Make sure you let somebody know if he becomes an issue.  No girl should have to deal with that noise.”

“I will.”  We lapsed back into silence again until he cleared his throat.  I’d known Rule long enough to know he was working his way up to something and I just needed to listen.

“Look, I’m sorry about this morning, I’m sorry about a lot of Sunday mornings.  You don’t need to keep seeing me at my worst; in fact it’s not your job to see to me at all.  I’m done with forced family fun time it’s not doing anything but driving the knife in deeper and I see that now.  This drama has been building for years and it’s not fair that you’re still stuck in the middle of it without Remy to back you up.  He loved you to death and I’ve done a piss poor job honoring that.”

I was in too much pain to argue the semantics of my relationship, or rather nonrelarionship with Remy to Rule yet again.  No one in the Archer family seemed to get that we were friends, best friends and nothing more.  The legend of our relationship had turned into a monster that I just couldn’t combat especially when the tiny amount I had eaten for brunch was suddenly crawling back up my throat.  I lurched forward and grabbed Rule’s arm.  It probably wasn’t the smartest move since we were going ninety five on the freeway but I was about to toss my cookies in a car that cost more than some people made in a year.

“Pull over!”  Rule let out a string of curse words and hastily weaved around a minivan to the shoulder of the road.  I got the door open and practically fell on my knees as I lost everything in a violent stream on the asphalt.  Warm hands pulled my ponytail out the way and handed me a ragged bandana when I could finally breathe.  I took the bottle of water he handed me and sat back on my heels while the world tilted in a bunch of different directions.

“What’s wrong?”

I sloshed the water around and spit it out on the ground away from the tips of his black boots.  “Migraine.”

“Since when do you have those?”

“Since always.  I need to lie down in the back.”

He pulled me to my feet with a hand under my arm and I realized it was the first time in years he had ever deliberately touched me.  We never hugged, never brushed against each other, never hi fived or shook hands; we were strictly in a hands-off type of relationship so my system almost revolted at the contact.  I groaned as he practically shoved me back into the car.  I was short so stretching out along the back seat wasn’t a big deal.  Rule got back behind the wheel and look at me over his shoulder.  “You gonna make it the rest of the way?”

I threw and arm over my eyes and placed a hand on my rolling belly.  “It’s not like I have a choice.  Just be ready to pull back over if I scream at you.”