Chapter 29

I stood there, staring up at him as he stared down at me. I felt so small standing there with him in front of me. He looked so much less... threatening. It was surprising alone to see him so cleaned up. But I wasn't fooled; he couldn't have changed.

"I'll scream," I threatened proudly in a scowl, daring him to go on and hurt me. I'll just scream and someone will hear me.

He hadn't said anything yet but after I spoke, his expression changed. He looked sorry and started to shake his head. His eyes seemed to have begged mine for understanding. He sighed. "Albany, don't. I need to talk to you."

He was going to hurt me. I was waiting for it and stayed guarded. I deserved it. But as I stood there, ready and waiting for him to move first, he continued to watch me. There was no sign of anger on his face. It was just blank and observing, waiting for me to respond.

"You... want to talk?"

He nodded. "Yes. There is no need to be afraid of me."

"Bullshit," I scoffed. "You may have changed your looks and can wave your innocent little daughter around but I know how cruel you really are." I didn't want to mention his daughter but really, it was something that was hard to get by. He obviously loved his daughter. I remember he use to talk about her all time before but even then he was cruel.

He shook his head. "Please just listen. I'm not going to hurt you or beat you like the others did. In fact, I haven't spoken with them in months. I left after they... changed."

"What?" I asked, crossing my arms. His eyes told me that he was being truthful yet I should know better. His words slightly made sense. I recalled what they said when they beat me that day. I said that I knew how they operated and they kind of gave me the hint they had changed. It didn't mean shit to me then and really doesn't mean shit to me now. But it supported that Francis was telling me the truth right now.

"It's hard to explain but I want you to know that I left, not just because they... evolved more as a group in the drug dealing business. I changed as well. I never told you much about me before even when we were good friends. You already knew that I had a daughter early on but now, my girlfriend and Brook's mother took off. I never had such a responsibility as I do now as a parent. I also knew that if I didn't straighten myself out, my little girl wouldn't have a good future with her.  Since I was bound to get arrested at some point - especially with a brother as a cop."

I believed him. Through his glasses, his eyes shinned to me and he tilted his lips up in a gentle smile. That was something Luke and he had in common. Beautiful eyes and a nice smile. I was really close to him before. When younger, I even had a crush on Francis but with time and seeing we were just good friends, I got past it. The main issue was that he was as immature as I was at the time. Yet now, he seemed so grown up and a proper adult. It was strange to see him this way and it made me skeptical on the whole thing. He couldn't still be my friend. I believed him but that didn't make things better. I stole money from him and that broke our friendship. Hell, I knew he had a lot of money so I stole the most from him. He wouldn't forgive me or so much as seek to be my friend again no doubt; I wouldn't blame him.

"But it doesn't make sense. I stole money from you! A lot of it. Aren't you apart of the threat? They want me to pay them thousands of dollars to make up for what I stole and they said it was for everyone I stole from."

He shook his head and sighed. He leaned up against the bathroom wall, running a hand through his brown and curly locks. "Well, I wasn't a part of that. I don't care about money because, well, I'm not exactly desperate for it. Sure, I was pissed off but I'm not dumb trailer trash like they are. I actually understand why you would run, even if you are insane."

I raised an eyebrow, observing him and wondering if I could trust him. Now obviously, I never trusted anyone fully and don't plan to. I knew he thought I was crazy; he always did. But he still respected me and had been one my friends I felt I could relate to more than the others.

From outside the bathroom door, I heard someone shout from far away, maybe somewhere else in the house. It was one in search, calling out. "Daddy?!" we heard the faded shout and Francis smiled. "Daddy! Where are you?!" I heard his daughter yell again but this time it was coming from far away. She was looking for Francis and he chuckled slightly.

"That little screaming machine is my world now. I wouldn't risk her over anything," he said, standing up straighter and getting ready to leave.  Francis looked slightly worried as he looked to me.  "You do believe me, don't you?"  

He was waiting for me to answer though, his eyes on mine as his hand clutched the door nob.  I sighed and nodded. "Yeah, yeah, I believe you. But, you better not expect me to actually trust you so quickly. You need to earn it. Still though, I can't believe you are Luke's brother. Small world for such obnoxious people."

He smiled and nodded. "Good. I'll see you later," he said, turning the door nob and nearly opened it before I could grab his arm and stop him in his tracks. He looked back down at me and his eyes were curious, an eyebrow raised. I let him go and quickly went on, needing to be assured.

"Wait, you're not going to tell Luke about the money they threatened for me to pay, will you?"

He pursed his lips and hesitated but shook his head after a moment. "No. I remember the type of consequences we gave to those that went to the cops. No, I wont. But you know Luke or even I could help though. We have the money--"

"I know but I don't want you to. I'm fine, I'll deal with it. Just don't tell him, okay?"

He nodded with a sigh before he finally left the bathroom, leaving me standing there, still slightly shocked. I heard Brooke laugh from the other room and heard Francis talking to her. As he did though, I was still processing this. First off, he was Luke's brother. Yeah, talk about fucking family. Damn, and to have met his daughter... I always knew he had a daughter but it was different to have met her. My stomach twisted sharply and I knew it would hurt to see that little girl again. Also... the biggest shocker of all was that he forgave me. Not many people do in the first place just for who I am. But he even had cause to be pissed off at me and he wasn't. He even changed, inside and out. Shit, I was just thankful it wasn't some other old friend of mine that wouldn't have been as forgiving. Man, we would all be one fucked up family as a whole. At least we are a little bit less than that since it's Francis.

***

After Francis and I talked, things went surprisingly smooth. Clare didn't come up in the conversation and I knew it was because Luke must have told them to not mention her. Otherwise, I would assume, that's all they would be talking about. Or rather bitching about, which I wouldn't have minded. Instead though, they asked me a lot of questions. Easy ones for the most part like what I planned on doing with my life in which I replied I didn't know. There were a lot of questions that ended with 'I don't know'.

We went home at about 6:30, right after dinner.  We didn't expect much more out of the day.  But we got it.  The second we pulled into our driveway coming from his parents house, it was clearly evident we were now faced with another great task: tons of fucking people.  People that wanted answers probably.

Pulling into the driveway, where a few other news vans were parked, we hadn't been able to get one word out between us before the car was surrounded by people. 

I rolled my eyes and groaned.  "Fucking fantastic," I growled.

Looking over to where Luke was, he took off his seat belt as he spoke.  "Don't give them anything.  Don't answer them... just ignore them.  I'll take you straight in the house."

I nodded.  This wasn't the first time this was happening.  In the past week or so now, this was a common occurrence.  I couldn't wait until the news died down.  What was surprising about it this time was how many people were here.  Now, I'm not saying like the whole damn town was in my front yard.  Just a lot more people than before. 

Getting out of the car, I felt trapped in a small space with how they crowded around me.  I pressed my back against the car door after closing it, trying to have a little space at least.  But I did that unconsciously since everyone was talking at once and I was processing what they were all saying to me.

 "Tell us how you were found.  Police have yet to release the details!"

"When will you comment?"

"Do you have anything to say about your mother?

"Where were you tonight?"

There were more.  It all just seemed to blend in.  At least they didn't touch me, no matter how little distance there was.  Through the chatter, I felt someone finally grasp my arm.  Looking up, I saw Luke was at my side, a scowl on his face and he looked very bothered now.  He started tugging for me to follow him and I happily did so, not uttering a word as we made our way through the few dozen people to the house.

But once seeing we were making a quick escape towards the house, those that weren't reporters started calling after me.  And they weren't curious questions.  More like annoying assholes who wanted to witness the crazy girl.  It happened before.  But not to this degree.

A heard a mans voice startle me from right behind me, followed by a hand grabbing my other arm, stopping me in my tracks.  "You gutless bitch, turn around and say something."

It was such a rush around me, I had trouble in controlling one simple task.  Looking at Luke as more of those comments came out, I saw that this hit him hard.  His hand still on my arm as he had tugged me along, he was frozen now, motionless from the number of hateful things that surrounded us and that soon. 

"Come on you slut--" 

"Crazy liar, you beat yourself and you--" 

"...I bet you wish you were dead." 

"Nice black eye you gave yourself--" 

"....Your poor mother, giving birth to some fucking heartless whore--" 

"--Fucked up!  Tell us baby, how rough you like it?"

"You disgusting little shit!  All you want is attention, stuck up psycho."

It all blurred together, the words and the voices.  The man that grasped my arm pulled me back and towards them roughly.  Luke was able to snap back into reality and he put his arm around me, breaking that contact with the man.  Clearly dazed, he quickly began turning us around and rushing us back up towards the porch.  But not before I gasped a few times at being touched and pulled. 

"Dirty whore, you gonna give us a show?  You know you want to--"

"So sick... so sick, you should be locked up."

"Where do you hide all those bodies?"

"Fuck, you tight little--"

Luke gripped me harder, literally making us ran up the steps of the porch to get into the house.  Just as he opened the door and pushed me in, he screamed something at them before slamming the door and locking it.  My eyes were wide, but not from what just happened exactly.  It could have been worse.  But not for him who never experienced something like that before.

He leaned back against the door, running a hand through his hair.  His face looked... destroyed in sadness and disgust.  I watched him swallow hard as he looked to me, standing a few feet away.  His eyes met mine and he shut them.  He shook his head in hurt. Luke also looked pale too, breath hard.

"What did you just say to them?" I asked, curious what it was he yelled before shutting the door.

"Well, I told them they all had 10 minutes to get off our property or I would call into the station and have them removed.  I would myself but I'm off today.  Plus, it's our personal property."

I nodded after a moment, still watching him.  He continued in the next second.  "That's what I said.   wanted to say a number of different things though," he said harshly.

"Hey," I said in warning.  "You can't let them get to you like that."

"How are you always so calm over this?"

I didn't answer; he already knew and I didn't want to repeat it because it would piss him off even more.  I sighed.  I learned to deal with it.  But this time, all of that hate directed to me at once, it hit harder than I wanted to admit.  I can easily deal with a couple people at a time saying shit like that to me.  But this was a large group of people and they all hated me, all at once.  I wouldn't let it get to me.  It was bad enough it was constantly getting to Luke.

We had continued looking out the window those ten minutes.  Each time we would look out the window, there would be less and less people remaining.  By the time there was only a handful of people and two news vans, we realized they were refusing to leave.  Can't people get the hint?  Hell, not even a hint!  They were straight out told to get their annoying asses out of here and back to their cages.

BY the time ten minutes was up, we saw there was just under a dozen people left.  The stubborn bastards. I knew everyone was desperate for answers on me.  That's the way society operated.  People need answers because if they don't get them, they become nearly as crazy as they claim me to be. 

We were standing in the living room by the window that we have been looking out of. Facing him, I saw his numb eyes look into mine as I spoke.  "So, aren't you going to call the cops now?" I asked.  "Time is up for them.  Ten minutes you said and there are still some dumb asses out there."

"I don't want to have to bother if I don't have to," he said, his scowl still there.

"You know what we could do.  We could always trash their news vans and somehow make them leave.  That's a good option."

Luke rolled his eyes.  Though pissed, he wasn't that pissed off to do that.  "No.  I'll go talk to them and if they still refuse, I'll call the station."  He glanced back out the window where those last few were in our driveway and in the grass, just waiting for something.  It was crazy and pathetic.  Annoying as fucking hell. 

He sighed and started for the door.  Walking out to face them, I stayed inside and raced back towards the window to see what would happen.  And no, though entertaining, it wasn't great to watch.  I felt slightly uneasy over it and how urgent all these people were.  It can't be good when people are so driven to get answers that they refuse to leave.

Watching through the window and out into the front, I saw him approached them and they all kind of came together in a little group to see what the copper had to say.  They all looked pissed off with there stone expressions.  I couldn't really see Luke's face; his back was facing the window.  A minute later though, I didn't need to see his face to understand.  You know things were getting serious when he starting waving his hands slightly as he spoke, making small gestures of movement that gave away that Luke was arguing with them.  He was soon yelling at them; I could hear through the window though I couldn't make out the words. 

He stomped back up the porch steps the next minute and slammed the door harder.  He stood there, breathing deeply and I knew that he was even more pissed off than before from the look in his eyes.  Luke glanced to me and his scowl deepened. 

"What did they say?" I asked.

He sighed.  "You don't want to know."

"I'm pretty positive that I do."

"Well, it's nothing that is true or in anyway... decent, I guess you could say."

I nodded, understanding he didn't want to repeat something like that, especially when I knew it was about me.  "So are they going to leave then?" i asked, moving towards the window again to see if they were still outside.  Before I could see, he answered me.

"No.  They aren't."  He pursed his lips. 

"Then what are you going to do?  Hey, can we egg their vans?"

"No! We can not."  He said, eyes wide and head shaking.  I bet it would be fun.  It looked like he would have enjoyed doing that though.  I watched a moment later at his face.  His lips tilted up slightly and, without saying a word, he headed towards the garage.  I always say that we don't have a garage just because we never use it.  It was too small and most of the space in there was taken up with boxes.  Why?  How the hell should I know? 

I followed him into the garage from the hall way.  Opening the door and going into the hot air filled space, he only needed to walk a few feet before he was standing before something I couldn't recognize.  He pushed a couple buttons on it though and the next second, he turned back around to face me.  Grinning now, he gestured for me to go back into the house with him behind me.

"What was that and what did you do?  I don't remember that being here before you moved in."

"It wasn't." He said from behind me as we walked back through the hall to the main part of the house.  Turning around, I met his eyes in confusion, not understanding.  "Come here," he said, walking towards the front door in the living room.  Stopping in front of it, he looked down at me and smiled.  He opened the door and the brightness of the day leaked in through the open door.  The porch lit with the setting sun casting a pretty light.  But beyond that was something that made my eyes grow.

Along the edges of the driveway, water was shooting out from near the ground in a spray, falling in all directions.  Including on everyone that had refused to leave.  I smiled at realizing what was happening.  I'm a little surprised Luke would do this but hey, I was proud of him. 

"Oh my god!  This is awesome," I said, my eyes following every scrambling person.  Once the sprinklers were turned on, it had started drenching everyone.  I heard the angry shouts and yelps in surprise and I took great pleasure at witnessing their discomfort.  Unfortunately, they didn't have any of their cameras out so those didn't get wet.  But hey, I was just happy this was happening to them.  They deserved it. 

Soon, every person was gone and off our property.  Not only were they gone like we wanted, they were also soaked and pissed off.  Which was a bonus I loved.  A moment later, we went back inside and I started cracking up laughing really hard as I sat down on the couch.  I buried my head in a pillow propped against the arm of the couch.  I absolutely loved what Luke just did! 

However, after my chuckles dies down, I looked up and saw him sitting down across from me in the chair.  He was amused as well, a tilt of his lips still there.  His eyes met mine and though he liked what we just did, his eyes were sad. 

"Well, that worked," he sighed.

"Uh yeah!  I can't believe you did that. It was amazing.  I still think egging would have been better but hey, it was better than nothing." I tried not showing him that though I was excited, I was also astonished at what else I had come to realize. 

Luke had a sprinkler system installed in the front yard....  That meant Clare clearly approved it and was okay with it.  She hadn't been paranoid over what he did to the front yard and therefore, there was one less place she could be.  She must be in the backyard or somewhere in the woods a little.  I wasn't sure and didn't know what I was going to do about it.  If I would even do anything about it.  All I knew was that I felt my heart twist in knowing that Emily wasn't in the front yard.

Shoving those thoughts away, I focused back in reality.  He nodded and chuckled lightly; it was guarded though by how his eyebrows were set and his overall expression.  A moment later, the silence was growing back between us, in the thick air, I knew what was coming.  I didn't like the sadness and hurt in his eyes.  And it didn't appear after pulling into the driveway earlier.  It started the first time he heard someone openly say things to give me a hard time; it happened when he heard Patrick that time.  And then, once the news got out I was home, it grew significantly upon knowing the amount of harassment I received.  The hurt even grew today when we were at his parents house and his family assumed some nasty things about me or were just mean.  And now, the hardest hit to him, was what all those people had yelled out at me.  And whatever was said when he quickly went out there to speak with the few left... well, that obviously caused him hurt too.  I wonder what they told him about me. Watching him, I could literally see the hurt growing in his eyes as he stared at me.  I didn't like it.

"You're staring at me again...." I said.

He snapped out of that sadness and chuckled.  "No, I wasn't.  Is it a crime to look at you?"

I laughed and tried making the mood slightly lighter.  "Well, daddy, Clare's going to be home any moment.  We wouldn't want her seeing your eyes on me like that," I teased.

He rolled his eyes and scoffed.  He looked down and shook his head a moment later.  Eyes on the floor beneath his feet, I watched him bit his lip as he took a deep breath.  His eyebrows were still in sight through his head was tilted and looking at the ground in thought.  They were dipped in sadness and he didn't say anything for a minute. 

"I..." he started, lifting his head back up to meet my eyes.  I could tell that what he was about to say was going to be important and hard for him to say.  I sat there, patiently waiting and wondering.  He paused, trying to think of a way to say what he wanted.  "I know that you are strong.  Somehow, you dealt with this for a long time, this harassment.  But..." he shook his head in outrage, taking another deep breath.  "I'm just so... disgusted right now.  Do you understand?  I can't take seeing those people give you so much hate.  They never gave you a chance--"

Before I knew it, or even thought, I interrupted him in a hiss.  "Well, maybe you are starting to see just how painful it is when you don't believe me.  You don't like them because they judge me and hate on me and for nothing.  Maybe you aren't the same.  But it all comes from the same idea."

He nodded and his eyes pleaded.  "I get it.  I know that there will always be that space between us because I can't fully believe you.  But that is an incredibly small space compared to all those other people."

I sighed but nodded, looking away quickly before I forced my eyes to return to him.  I didn't want to even start fighting with him now.  He was right about that last part too.  He wasn't as bad, not even close to as bad as they are.

He bit his lip.  "I can't be compared to them animals.  Please don't put me in the same category as them.  Because it makes me sick to my stomach."  He paused for a moment before he shifted more in his chair until he was directly looking at me.  "I know it was hard for you today to deal with being around my family, especially my mom.  I really hoped they wouldn't have given you any more grief though.  I'm sorry that they did."

"It wasn't that bad.  Sure, a few times I was insulted but I had a good time."

 "You see, that's what makes me mad.  That you shrug it off and aren't bothered by it."

"Why does that make you mad?" I asked. 

"Because it shows me just how long you have been dealing with this type of harassment. It's so sickening."

I sighed, getting slightly annoyed.  Yes, I got it.  I understood that he is disturbed by this.  Can't we just move on from there?  "So?  And what's your point?"

He took a deep breath and my words seemed to have astonished him.  He shook his head in a daze, looking away. "You don't deserve this life.  You deserve a better chance.  Just you asking me right now what my point is, it shows how little this bothers you anymore.  And honestly, that has to be one of the most depressing things I have ever seen.  To know that its happened for so long where you are no longer affected... it hurts me.  So I couldn't have imagined what it was like for you."  His eyes in mine were sincere.  "I'm trying to give you a better life.  One that you deserve to live without any of this bullshit.  And, from what I have seem today, I promise to you, I will try my hardest to give you the life you deserve."

I swallowed hard.  It hurt to hear that because he meant it, with all his being.  And yet, he had no way of understanding my past.  It would be so incredibly interesting to see his reactions to some of the things from my past.  I could see in his eyes he was going to try.  And in that little second, the green so deep in my eyes back, it appeared as if he would be willing to do anything to accomplish that.  Even if it meant betraying Clare or believing I wasn't insane.  Of course, moments like that only last for a second.  The point was:  there was that second that existed and it might be possible to extent that little second until it became truth.  Only time would tell I suppose.

_____________________________
____________________________________

Hey, I am willing to hear some ideas on what you thin Luke and Albany should do over the rest of the summer.  I'm looking for some good ideas on what they could do for fun.

This was a really hard chapter to write and I am not too proud of it yet I feel as if this were necessary.  Sorry guys but I hope you will still like it.  So what do you think about Francis?  And what about Albany's 'popularity'?  I hope to do better on the next chapter.