As if to answer her, there came a loud crashing sound. Breaking glass and something heavy hitting the floor. There was a brief shout, then another long groan. She bit down on her bottom lip and grabbed the knob, throwing the door wide open.
For a moment, sheer terror gripped her. It looked like Liam had collapsed through a glass coffee table. But she was getting better at spotting their tiny differences, and she quickly realized it was Landon lying on the floor in front of her. He was moaning and trying to pick himself up, but he was only wiggling around in broken glass.
“Oh my god,” she breathed, hurrying into the room and kneeling near him. “Stop, you're going to cut yourself!”
“I can't … my face … wow ...” he spoke in a slurred voice, almost like his tongue was too big for his mouth.
“What happened? Can you talk?” she asked, gripping his arm when he reached out for her.
“No … muuuhhh … woosaaaaw,” he garbled, clutching at her bicep so tightly it made her wince.
What had happened? Was he really, really drunk? He didn't seem like it, though – maybe a stroke? Did thirty-two year olds have strokes!?
“Somebody!” she yelled out while she looked around the room, trying to figure out what had happened. “Hey, we need help in -”
Her voice cut off when her eyes landed on an end table. Katya was more than a little naive sometimes, she knew that; she'd grown up in a gated community, had strict parents, and had gone to private school. So things that other people just seemed to know about, she was still oddly in the dark about.
Like drugs. She'd never done a single drug in her life, had never even seen any up close. So when she saw all the random paraphernalia laid out on the little table, she couldn't be positive what it all was. A baggy of white powder, a baggy with pills. Some rubber tubing, and some kind of pipe. Whatever it was, it all equaled up to something very, very bad. That much she was sure of.
“Oh god, are you OD-ing? Please don't OD here!” she shouted, shaking his arm. He was slumping back to the ground, face down in the glass. “Hey! Hey! Wake up! You're a doctor, tell me what to do!”
Clearly, that wouldn't work. Not ready to watch someone die in front of her, she shook off his arm and started digging around in her pockets for her phone. Once she pulled it out, she immediately started hitting keys.
Holy shit, I've never done this before. 9-1-
“Fuck.”
She glanced up at the hissed swear word and found Liam standing in the doorway.
“I found him like this,” she said quickly.
“Goddammit! Fucking shit goddammit, Lan!” he continued swearing as he rushed over and dropped down next to his brother.
“I'll call an ambulance,” she said, looking back down at her phone. She was startled when it was swatted out of her hands.
“No!” Liam yelled. “No, no ambulance, they'll call the cops.”
“But Liam! He's turning blue!” she yelled back.
“He's fine, I know how to handle this. Just get out,” he said, then he wrapped his brother's arm around his neck and jerked him up to his feet.
“Are you serious!?” she exclaimed, slowly standing.
“Yes. This isn't a new thing for him, I've dealt with it before,” he said through clenched teeth as he gently sat the other man on a loveseat that was against the back wall. Katya sighed and started taking off her jacket.
“I think this is a really, really bad idea. You should -”
“What do you think you're doing!?” he demanded, finally looking at her again. She froze while holding her coat wide open.
“I'm staying,” she said. “I want to help you.”
“No. I said leave,” he said, pointing at the open door.
“Liam! You can't do this alone, please. Just let me -”
“I said get out!” he shouted at her. She was shocked. Liam so rarely got mad, it was always flooring when it happened. “You're not part of this! This is between me and him, not you. This is family, this is private. Just go.”
She felt like a child who'd been chastised. She let go of her jacket, but didn't move towards the door.
“I know I'm not family,” she said softly. “But I'm your friend, I want to be here for you. Please, let me help you. You need help.”
If she had been shocked by him yelling at her, she was completely blown away when he stormed over, grabbed her by the arm, and forcibly removed her from the room.
“I didn't ask for your help,” he said, and she could tell he was working hard not to yell again. “And I don't need it. This doesn't involve you, I don't want you to be a part of it.”
“Liam, I -” she said after she'd been shoved into the hallway.
“Seriously. We're fine without you.”
And with that, the door was slammed in her face.
What. In the ever loving. All that is holy. FUCKING FUCK!?
Was it a full moon out? Was she hallucinating? What on earth was going on that night!? Sex in a bathroom, a break-up-level fight with Wulf, an overdose, and Liam kicking her out and shutting her out.
Maybe if I'm really lucky, when I walk home I'll get hit by a bus.
22
Wulf sat in the dark on his sofa in his apartment. His new apartment. His way too small, awfully located, and in a horrible building, new apartment.
He hated it there. Not nearly enough windows, too many closed off rooms. He could see why Liam had converted his apartment into a large studio. In its original layout, the apartment felt like each room was its own closet. Wulf liked natural light, and lots of it. Hence why his own penthouse was full of floor to ceiling windows.
But he stayed, and he waited. He tripped over hidden rules and bumped into confusing emotions. He sat silent went he wanted to rage, and he spoke softly when he wanted to shout. He'd tried doing it his way, then he'd tried doing it her way. What other way was left?
He took a deep breath and worked his head side-to-side, cracking his neck. Maybe she really didn't know what she wanted. Maybe she wouldn't ever want him again. Good sex was, after all, just good sex. It didn't matter how it made him feel right before, during, and after.
No, she feels it, too. She all but admitted it back there, when I fucked everything up.
Not that she was completely innocent. Of course, when he'd cooled down enough to think of everything she'd said to him, she hadn't been acting innocent, really. She was acting like she was upset with herself. If they continued fighting and continued having sex, it would just lead to more confusion and more distance and more everything. When did it all end?
And fuck, if this was happening between the two of them, what was happening between her and Liam? Whenever Wulf was around her for too long, it seemed like they inevitably ended up fighting. From what he'd seen and heard, it wasn't like that with Eden. They laughed, and they got along. Talked a lot – which even Wulf had to admit, talking was more productive than having angry sex.