I Was the First Chapter 14

"Where is she?" Shai demanded in a loud voice as he entered my house again.
I looked outside.  It was dark.  I rubbed my eyes.
"You mean Taylor's not back yet?" I asked him sleepily.
"Not just Taylor you idiot…both of them are missing!  I bet something's happened.  I bet someone saw him…and her!"
"Calm down, he said they were going to talk, I'm sure they just lost track of time."
Shai started to pace around the kitchen and living room with a scowl.  I smirked to myself, if only Natalie could actually see how worked up he was about her.
"I really don't get how you can be so calm," Shai growled as he poured himself a tall glass of cool water from the sink.  "You know that humans are prized here.  What if Taylor did something stupid like left her out in the open?  He's always trying to keep people happy, what if he made a mistake?"
"You really need to calm down," I said with only a slight trace of worry.  Maybe Shai was right.  Taylor was such a push over sometimes, I wondered if Natalie wanted more independence now that I was no longer near.  It was my duty to protect her after all.
With a relief the door finally flew open and Taylor strode in.
"We're back," he whispered as he closed the door behind him quietly.
"Where the heck have you been?" Shai shouted but Taylor quickly put his finger to his lips to shush him.
"She fell asleep on the way back," he whispered affectionately and nodded his head towards Natalie's slack form resting over his shoulder.
"How did you do that?" I couldn't help asking.  
"What do you mean?" Taylor asked and sat down on the couch still cradling her.  I was so jealous that I wanted to scream, I wanted to snatch her up myself and be the one to hold her so close to me.  She looked so relaxed underneath his hand, how could she be so comfortable with him already?  Instead of voicing my jealousy, I sat down right next to Taylor, so close that our thighs were touching.
"You don't have to stay you know," I whispered to my brother hoping that he wouldn't be able to tell how I was feeling.
"We can stay for a little while," Shai surprisingly interjected and plopped down on the other side of Taylor, closer to Natalie than me.  Why didn't I think to sit next to the shoulder she was sleeping on?
"She really is tiny isn't she?" Shai mumbled as he looked at her with soft eyes.  "I can't imagine how humans do it."
"Everything in their world is their own size," I grumped.
"I know that…but still," Shai went on and lifted his hand.  I held my breath as his fingers brushed a few stray strawberry blond hairs out from her face.  "She's just so…" he trailed off and looked away with an embarrassed face.
"She worries that you don't like her," Taylor offered quietly and Shai's dark eyebrows rose.
"It's no wonder that she think that…with the way he was acting around her," I interjected.  "Really, you two, you should…."
"I was an ass," Shai mumbled as if I hadn't said anything.  "I just don't want to lose something…"
"I think you need to be more careful with her," Taylor calmly explained.  "She's in a really fragile spot right now and she needs all of us here with her.  You should have heard her mumbling in her sleep on the way back here."  He turned to look at Shai.  "She wants to help you…be there for you."
"For me?" Shai whispered.
I felt my cheeks flare with anger.
Taylor nodded.  "She feels that you and her can relate to one another."
"I…" Shai began.
"It will take time…I told her a little about you already.  How you weren't speaking and how you blamed yourself for mom's death.  Well Natalie is obviously blaming herself for something also so maybe you could take some time off from working and spend some time with her like I did."
"No," I blurted out slowly and Natalie stirred.
"Shut up will you," Shai hushed me.  "I don't care what we agreed on when we went to the humans…all terms are off now."
I stood up.  "She's my human."
Shai stood up as well.  "And I say, due to circumstances that she can be with all of us.  And Natalie…doesn't BELONG to anyone.  Do you have any idea how she's going to react if she hears you talking like that?  You always act like such a selfish baby.  Grow up Cayton," Shai scolded.
"I'm not saying she's mine…but we agreed that when we went…if we found something…"
"Obviously this is different," Taylor chided and affectionately ran his finger up and down Natalie's oblivious form.  "If Natalie ever found out about that…about us.  The whole reason we went to the human world in the first place…she'd never forgive us."
"She'd never forgive you Cayton," Shai growled.  "It was your idea after all."
"I never intended to do that to her once I saw the look in her eyes.   I never planned it after hearing her broken voice and seeing her hollow eyes.  You guys can't actually think I'm still thinking about that are you?"
"No," my brothers answered at the same time.
"Well then good," I replied back.  "But it is late…I really do want you guys to head home."
"Are you going to be okay?" Taylor asked as he gently lifted Natalie's body away from his shoulder like a mother does when passing a baby.  I held out my hand and cupped her close to my chest.
"Yes…now please.  Just go okay?  I'll see you both tomorrow."
Shai and Taylor finally stood up to leave but both looked hesitant.  I cannot begin to explain how much it bothered me to see Shai look so soft.  I thought that Natalie and I could bond; I really believed that he wouldn't be interested in her.  But I could see it in his eyes; he wanted her to understand him just as much as I did.  I closed the door gently, but apparently not gently enough because just then Natalie stirred against my palm
"Cayton," she whispered sleepily and smiled.  "Where is everyone?"
"They went home," I whispered back and began to walk towards my room.  After gently setting her on my nightstand next to my bed I stepped into my bathroom to change.  Natalie was still standing there when I returned.
"I'm going to need more clothes if I'm going to stay here for awhile," she replied quietly as if embarrassed to ask.  I fell to one knee in front of the stand and gave her my most gentle smile.
"Okay…anything you want."
"Where will I sleep?" she asked and looked at the 'floor' of the nightstand.
"I was hoping you would sleep with me like we did on the boat."
"Are you okay with that?  I don't want you to be worried about rolling on top of me…"
"It's fine Natalie," I chuckled and laid out an open palm for her.  Despite Shai wanting to befriend Natalie and despite Taylor's unbelievable kindness there were things that only I would be able to do with Natalie and for that I was grateful.  I wouldn't tell her that night how jealous I was to hear my brothers arguing over her so affectionately.  I wouldn't tell her how much it worried me that she would eventually fall in love with either Taylor or Shai and not me.  I feared that she would fall in love with one of us, that was a given fact because in our own way, each of us were already falling in love with her.  
I laid Natalie next to my head on the other pillow and rolled on my side to look at her.  She was a human, but to me, she felt like an angel.  A reason to be a better person than what I was, and being greedy certainly wasn't going to win her over.  What worried me was that she would eventually find out why my brothers and I went to the human world in the first place.  Would she really never forgive me?
"What is it?" Natalie asked suddenly interrupting my thoughts.
I blinked my eyes and carefully smiled.  "What?"
"You were looking at me…but almost through me somehow.  Are you okay?"
I gently laid my palm over top of her.  To my utmost surprise she clutched my pointer finger and pulled it close almost like tugging a blanket.
"I'm a jealous man," I whispered carefully.
"What do you mean?" Natalie asked not able to hide the surprise on her face after hearing my confession.
"My brothers are really good people Natalie.  I worry…I worry that…"
"Hey," Natalie interrupted with a small smile.  "I'm here aren't I?  I'm here with you…not your brothers.  Do you understand that?"
"But if you knew why I was there…on the beach…"
"Cayton," she interrupted.  "I could say the same thing about why I was on the beach.  We don't really know that much about each other yet, so either of us is up for judgment by the other.  You don't know the things I've done either.  We have time to talk about it."
"But you will tell me right?" I asked trying not to sound as desperate as I felt.  "You will tell me before my brothers?"
"Why do you worry so much about them?" she asked suddenly.  She was so clueless about how strongly we all felt about her.
"I'm not," I muttered and focused my eyes on her.  "I worry about you."
"I'm the happiest I've been in weeks Cayton, and yes part of it is because of your brothers…"
I opened my mouth.
"But…most of it is because of you…Cayton Grey…okay?"
I nodded and allowed my finger to gently touch her cheek.  
"You're blushing," I chuckled.
She swatted my finger away.  She was so cute when she was so helpless.  At least she was trying to be assertive.
"Good night Cayton," she laughed as I laid my hand on top of her again.
"Good night princess," I couldn't help whispering back with a small smile.