C11

Max and I walked across the street together in order to escort James over to our house. Once we arrived at the porch steps, Max stepped forward to speak first and began explaining in a low voice, "I'm sorry if you're still uncomfortable around us after everything that happened yesterday. But…please trust us when we tell you that Jimmy and I will treat you with full respect until the very last second before he decides to kill you."

My cheeks flushed pink as I stared at him in disbelief, surprised by his choice of words and wondering if perhaps he was exaggerating just a tiny bit. However, James merely smirked grimly at my reaction as he followed Max up onto the porch, stepping cautiously inside and closing the front door behind him as he muttered irritably, "That sounds good enough for me! What's wrong with being killed anyway? It's not like any of this matters anyways!"