Chapter 32: Chapter 32
When Joshua finally left the room, after making sure his sister was comfortable and asleep as well as changing his top and grabbing the things Henry had asked for, he heard the Reyes's heir berating Henry.
"But how can you have no prepared food? What were you planning on eating for the weekend?"
"I wasn't planning on an injury, that's for sure. I was going to cook. Besides, I'm going home for dinner tomorrow anyway."
"Then come home today."
"Well, come home today."
As Henry let out a tired sigh, Joshua limped over to the couch, dropping the things he had brought on the coffee table before sitting down, the crutched set down next to him.
"I have work to do, you know I can't work at home anymore, especially not if I'm like this. None of you will leave me alone." Before his brother could reply, Henry answered back, "No, we have tried it. Thrice. I'm already behind and I can't run around to get what I need when I go to work on Monday, and I can't type as fast. I need to prepare everything before I go home for dinner."
"Then what are you going to eat today?"
"I'll order food."
"Absolutely not. Not just after we angered the Q Group to this extent."
"You're too much! I'm not a baby, Sam."
"Well you are to me!"
Henry did not have an answer to that, bringing the argument to an end.
"I'll cook you some curry."
Henry groaned at his brother's solution, much to Joshua's amusement. If Samuel was cooking curry, it meant he was making a big pot, usually about 10 servings. This was not by choice, it was just one of the few recipes the man knew and he was not well-versed enough in the kitchen to proportionately reduce the recipe.
"Don't complain, it is not up for debate."
"Well then, I guess everyone is eating before leaving then. I don't want leftovers after tomorrow."
It took Joshua a second to realise what the younger man had meant. They were all staying to eat, most likely whether they wanted to or not.
As Samuel started to tinker around the open plan kitchen unit, Henry remembered he needed to talk to Joshua about his conversation with Samuel. They would have to go to the spare room for that though. Seeing that the other man was plugging in the charging pad, probably for his phone, Henry dug out his own mobile, throwing it into Joshua's lap; he didn't bat an eye, putting both devices on charge.
Henry decided to change into his sweatshirt. Due to his injuries being concentrated on his arm, side and palm, he unfortunately had more trouble than he thought he would, barely managing to get his brother's jumper off before finding himself out of breath. It felt like too much work, he hadn't thought his injuries were that bad, but they had reduced his mobility considerably. The man started to dread the moment the effects of the painkillers would wear off.
"Do you want help?"
Henry had felt Joshua's eyes from earlier in his struggle and so was not surprised when he heard the offer. What he would like was to turn the dark hair man down because it hurt his pride having to need help changing a simple shirt. However, there was a limit to Henry's stubbornness, and he really did want get changed out of the bloodied t-shirt he had been wearing since last night. This meant, with a relatively sour look on his face, he nodded.
Once Henry had shuffled closer to Joshua and angled himself to face him, the other man helped pull off the white t-shirt. Henry's face was dusted with a blush, his embarrassment clear on his face. Normally, seeing this, Joshua would be urged to tease the him. However, today he did not even glance at Henry's face, he was too distracted by his body.
More specifically, Henry's injuries.
While being treated, Joshua had been quickly distracted by the searing pain of his ankle being compressed, he hadn't seen the extent of the other man's injuries nor their treatment. However, now he could a chance for a good look, a look which had him taken aback.
Gauze had been used to wrap most of the upper and shoulder, going across his chest a couple time to keep the binding in place from the looks of it. Even with the large covering, one could see the cuts peppered across the man's skin, quite a bit concentrated at the edge of the bandage on the back of his shoulder. Along with that, the forearm had a scatter of small cuts as well as a couple large plasters, indicating larger cuts. The side of his torso and back was also littered with small cuts.
All of that along with the slice across the palm on the opposite side, Joshua found himself almost at loss. He knew Henry had gotten hurt quite badly protecting him, but it felt like nothing when compared to his ankle.
The blond man could feel Joshua's hazel eyes burning into him, and he quickly realised that, even if his face had been impassive as ever, Joshua was probably feeling guilty. It was undeniable that Henry had gotten injured because of Lore, however in no way did the young man think the older man was to blame. He had gone out of his way to protect the Joshua; it was all on him. Normally Henry would not hesitate to comfort the other party if they were upset, but this time was not normal. Of course, Henry did not want Joshua feeling sorry and wanted to comfort him, but for perhaps the first time in his life, he was not sure how to go about it.
In the end, he gave up, opting for the distraction route instead. "Hurry up, I'm cold."
"Sorry." The apology was too absent minded and heavy to be for taking too long, and for some reason, Henry felt a pang in his chest.
Henry did not like making someone else upset. It had obviously never happened before, but even if it was only the first time, he was absolutely certain he hated it, because it made him feel horrible too.
With his weak legs, Henry kicked Joshua, making sure to stay away from the injured ankle.
The impact snapped Joshua out of it, the man shaking his head; this time his hair was pinned to the side by one of Henry's hairclips, stopping the ends of his hair poking his eye. Without any more distractions, Joshua helped the younger man put on the black sweatshirt.
Samuel watched the mostly silent interaction between the young couple, a small smile on his face as he kept his presence to a minimum.
Henry remembered the talk again, turning his back to see his brother busy. Of course he knew that his brother had most likely been watching, that was the sort of brother the first son was. Dismissing Samuel, he turned to Joshua.
"We need to talk about… stuff."
Joshua didn't need telling twice, while he wasn't sure of what specifics Henry wanted to discuss, he knew that it would be about the fake relationship. If it was about that, they would need to be away from prying ears. He nodded towards Henry's spare room, the other man nodding back, confirming.
Now they were stuck with another dilemma. "How are we both going to get there?" Neither could walk and the door was the farthest from where they were sat. Henry thought about it for a second before telling Joshua to keep the crutches. "You use them, I'll manage to walk, it will just be slow."
Samuel immediately put down the knife he had been chopping with, ready to intervene. To his surprise, however, he didn't need to.
"Last time you did that, you fell and injured yourself more. Why would you try that again, especially in your condition?"
"Well, it is not like you can hop on once leg across the flat, not after how much we drank last night."
Both men had a valid point, but asking Samuel for help was out of the question, he would see the flowchart Gin had made to simplify their plan.
At that moment, the doorbell rang, confusing all three men. Of course the older brother was the one to go to the door, wiping his hand on a hand towel before hanging it over his shoulder. He opened the door to see Claire, the receptionist, stood outside.
It was the same young student who had efficiently helped Henry get his spare car key in record time. She was also the same receptionist who had not only helped the four to the elevator when they had pulled up in the car outside with three out of four people injured. The girl had also pulled the valet away from his job, saying she would watch the car and so to help support Joshua to the apartment.
So far, for every task she had completed, the young lady had gone above and beyond. And now she had done it once again; in her hand she held a simple pair of crutches.
"Sorry for the inconvenience. I know the owner already has a pair of his own, but since neither of them could walk on their own, I thought another pair would be useful." Samuel could only stare in shock for a second before he collected himself, thanking the girl and taking the crutches. She left with a shallow bow.
They could not have arrived at a better time.
"Who is that receptionist? I have never seen her before. She's good." Samuel asked, more talking to himself than others. He hadn't been expecting a response. Instead he received a perfectly curated one from Henry and Joshua.
"She's new."
"Her name's Claire."
"She is honestly amazing."
"And definitely needs a raise."
For once, Samuel did not find himself gushing at how well the two men got on, he had gone into work mode, thinking about how she would be a perfect addition to the secretarial personnel. Absentmindedly, he handed the crutched over to his brother before going back to the kitchen unit. He took out his phone, writing a note to look into the girl and check on her once her probationary period ended.
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