Succumbing To His Fear (10 page)

Alfie

I woke up with a start and it only took a second for the previous day’s events to come rushing back to me. Fear wasn’t next to me and hadn’t been there for some time, judging by the cold sheets. My heart hurt for him and I wished I could take his pain away. Rubbing my face, I tried to think of a way to make it easier for Fear, but nothing I did or said would fix anything. Wishing wouldn’t get me anywhere and I wasn’t going to dwell on what I couldn’t change. Especially not my newfound attraction to men. Well, not men in general. Fear, my attraction to Fear. A look at the clock revealed that it was already eight a.m. I was startled.
Fuck, I must have been more tired than I thought. I haven’t slept that long in forever.

I pulled on my jeans and went in search of Fear. I found him fast asleep on the sofa, but could tell it was anything but peaceful. I didn’t want to wake him though; he needed to get some rest. Covering him with the blanket, I snuck back to the bedroom to finish getting ready.

Once dressed, I quietly went in search of something to eat. On my way to the kitchen, I grabbed my phone so I could check in on Griffin and Lily and arrange a time to pick them up.

I was in the middle of buttering a slice of toast when two large arms wrapped around my waist. Putting the knife down and turning in his arms, I embraced him. “Did I wake you?” I asked. His eyes were puffy and the dark circles indicated how little sleep he’d gotten.

He put his face against my neck and his arms held me tighter. “No. I couldn’t sleep and got up to watch some TV. I couldn’t shut my mind off.” There was nothing to say to that. I could only imagine the thoughts in his head.

“I’ve got to pick the kids up in an hour. Do you want to come with me? We could spend the day together if you want. Not that you have to spend all your time with me. I know you must have a ton of things you have to do.” Oh, for fuck’s sake. I was starting to sound like a needy teenage girl. Any minute I was going to sprout pigtails and develop a boyband obsession. My embarrassment was made worse by the nervous lip twitch I felt coming on.

“Sounds good. I have to go over and check on Hayley this morning. Maybe you all can come with me.”

“Great,” I said too quickly, causing another lip twitch. Pushing away from Fear, I put my back to him to finish up the breakfast. I knew he could see the red tinge to my skin, but when I turned away from him, a small smile slipped onto my face. He’d become part of my every thought in such a short time. I’d never prescribed to the soulmates thing, or that there was an ideal other half for everyone. But from the moment I met Fear, I just knew that we were connected. The big oaf made my heart happy.

With breakfast eaten and both of us having showered and dressed, we sadly tore ourselves apart. We loaded into the car and headed to Yvonne’s to pick up the Nuggets. Lily came flying out the door and ran full out to me with her arms in the air. “Alfie!” she shrieked. Swinging her up into my arms made me realize just how much I missed them both. Griffin was nowhere to be seen.

“Did you have a good time?” I asked her little smiling face.

She nodded and said, “We played and had pwink cake.” I knew the moment that she saw Fear getting out of the car. “Fear!” she shouted and started to wriggle to get down. I set her on her feet and she ran to Fear, holding her arms up to him. He looked at me to see if it was okay, then picked her up. She clung on to his neck and her little legs went right around his hips. “We had pwink cake.” I heard her tell Fear as I walked up the path to find my wayward little brother. Yvonne was standing at the door waiting for me.

“Thank you so much for yesterday.” I’d explained the day before where I was going and why. Her eyes softened and she gave me a hug. We both watched poor Fear being talked at non-stop by a very excited Lily.

“Not a problem, they were great,” she replied. Griffin chose that moment to make his appearance. He too, wore a huge grin.

“Hey, you ready?” I asked.

“Yep.”

“Okay. Thank Miss Yvonne for letting you stay and let’s get going.” Turning, I shouted for Lily to come and thank Yvonne. After offering up our help if she needed it, we were on our way. Lily was practically bouncing with excitement at seeing the new baby. Griffin was busy telling us about all the games and things he and Nathan had been up to. Things were going really well until we turned onto Fear’s street and saw several police cars.

“What the…?” Catching himself at the last second, Fear parked the car. “Wait here.” Not knowing what was going on, I did as he said. I reassured the kids that there was nothing to worry about and watched as Fear approached an officer. It took about two seconds for chaos to erupt. The officer whom Fear had approached started shouting and drew his weapon. I hollered at the kids to get down on the car floor behind the front seats.

“Stay there Griffin, hold Lily’s hand. I’ll be right back.” With wide eyes, he nodded. I jumped out of the car and ran towards the commotion.

“Get down on the ground. Down. Down. GET ON THE GROUND.” Fear started to kneel down.

“What are you doing?” I yelled.

“Get back,” was the shouted reply. An officer came and stopped me from moving any closer.

“What are you doing?” I asked, panicked. “Why are you pointing a fucking gun at him?”

“Stand back. What’s your name, sir?” the officer asked.

“Alfie McKenzie.” I didn’t know what was going on or what the fuck should I do. “What’s going on?”

“What is your relationship to Mr. Williams, Mr. McKenzie?” he asked, completely ignoring my question. While I had been talking to the nosey cop, Fear had been handcuffed and placed in the back of a police car. Feeling his eyes on me, I looked in his direction and all I wanted to do was run to him. “Mr. McKenzie, I asked what your relationship to Mr. Williams is?”

“Why are you arresting him?” I asked again, this time ignoring
his
question. It looked like I wasn’t about to get any answers. “What police station is he being taken to?”

“I’ll ask one final time Mr. McKenzie. What is your relationship with Mr. Williams?”

“He’s my—my…” Oh, fuck it—all in, right? “He’s my boyfriend.”

“Are those your children in the vehicle?” Turning to look at the car, I could see Griffin peering over the seat. It was obvious that he was scared.

“They’re my brother and sister. We were on our way to pick up some things at Fear’s, then go over to Hayley’s. That’s Fear’s sister, I mean Hunter’s sister,” I explained. I wasn’t getting anywhere being evasive, so maybe the upfront approach would work. “Can you please tell me where you’re taking him?” The officer looked at me for a moment and sighed heavily.

“Look, Mr. McKenzie—”

“Alfie,” I interrupted.

“Alfie, your boyfriend is in real trouble. He’s being taken to the station downtown, off Robertson and Vine.” I knew he wasn’t going to say more, no matter how much I pestered him. I nodded, feeling completely useless.

“Could you please ask him if he needs me to do anything?” Swallowing down the emotion that was threatening to come out. “Please, please ask him?” I could actually see his internal struggle. Coming to his decision, he turned and walked over the car that held Fear. I watched them talk for a second before the officer returned to me.

“He wants you to still go to Hayley’s to make sure she’s okay. “

“Thank you.” I looked over to Fear and saw him looking at me. I rubbed my hand over my heart to show him that I was with him. I knew he understood when he nodded and turned away. I really didn’t want to leave him, but I had to comfort Griffin and Lily and get to Hayley’s.

When I got back to the car, both Griffin and Lily were in tears but I needed them to stay in the car. “Hang in there guys. Can you do that for me? Be strong for a few more minutes and then I can give you lots of cuddles and explain everything.” They both nodded, but I knew they were confused and scared. It took twenty minutes to get to Hayley’s, and the whole way I tried to figure out how I could help Fear.

I got the kids out of the car, carrying Lily while Griffin held my hand, and we approached the front door. Before we even knocked, it was opened and Tate was there. He looked at us, wide eyed. Griffin and Lily were crying and holding me tight, and I’m sure I was white as a sheet. He opened the door wide and told us to come in. We walked straight into the living room, and there was Hayley, holding her son in her arms.

“I’m really sorry to have to tell you this, but Fear was just arrested.” Mouth vomit. Everything that had just happened came pouring out all at once. Tate noticed that I was struggling with comforting both Griffin and Lily and sat down next to me to pull Griffin onto his lap. Griffin went willingly, absorbing the strength and warmth that was being offered. “They told me they were taking him to the police station on Robertson Street. When the officer asked Fear what he wanted me to do, he told me to come here, but I understand if you want us to leave.”

“No, we want you here, and so does Fear. Tate, can you call the guys and tell them to come over so we can figure out what to do?” Tate pulled his phone from his pocket and started sending off texts. I could feel my emotions trying to break free. My eyes had been watering on and off since the moment I saw Fear with a gun pointed at his head. So far, I was winning the battle and keeping a lid on it, but I knew I wouldn’t be able to win for much longer.

Hayley’s house quickly became a hive of activity. All the guys were there, and the kids were sleeping in Hayley’s room so we were able to speak freely without having to worry about little ears. We’d tried repeatedly to get some information from the police, but nobody was divulging anything. I even tried to contact Detective Dickhead but he hadn’t returned any of my calls. It was obvious to all of us that whatever was going on had something to do Fear and Hayley’s mum, but none of us could understand how they could think Fear had anything to do with it.

We were still brainstorming a couple of hours later when my phone rang. “Hello.”

“Alfie?” One word from Fear and the battle was lost. Tears began falling freely down my cheeks. “Baby, don’t cry. I don’t get long on the phone.” Taking in a deep breath, I tried to get myself together.

“Sorry, I’m good, what do you need? Are they letting you come home?” I started asking question after question, not giving him an opportunity to answer.

“I need you to get the guys to find me a lawyer. They’re saying it was me. That I killed Tula.” His voice had gone from soft and comforting to hard and emotionless.

“Fear, you were with me that night. All night. Tell them that. I will gladly come down and tell them myself.” None of this seemed right. Something about the whole situation was off. “I’ve already called my family lawyer. I’m just waiting for a call back. Can you tell me what else they’ve said?”

“Nothing, I was left alone in a room for hours and when they told me why I was being questioned and detained, I told them I was going to call my lawyer. This is all fucked.”

“Don’t worry. I’ll have a lawyer there within the hour.” I heard someone telling him his time was up. “We’re all here, Fear. Hayley is being strong and she loves you. The guys are all here and we’ll get this all sorted out, okay.”

“Okay. Are Griffin and Lily all right?”

“They’re fine, you just concentrate on you. I’m going to bring you home. We’re all going to bring you home. Stay strong and know we all love you.” I didn’t get a reply because the phone was cut off. I hadn’t registered what I said until I looked up and everyone was looking at me and smiling. I mean, what the fuck was there to smile about?

“You love him?” Shit. I had said that. I hadn’t meant it as a declaration at the time, but thinking about it, yes. Yes, I did love him. I knew it was quick and the drama we’d faced since meeting was of epic proportions. None of that mattered, though. I just knew that he was mine and I was his.

“Yes. I do.” Hayley quickly went from smiling to crying. She jumped up from the sofa and threw herself at me.

“I always wanted this for him. But not like this. I just want him to be happy. Why does he always have shit thrown at him?” Her tears were soaking through my shirt and her sobs were breaking my heart. She loved her brother so much. All of a sudden, she jumped back and looked down at her boobs. “Fuck, I’m leaking all over you. I am so sorry.” Looking at my t-shirt, I saw the two wet patches she had left behind and couldn’t help my laughter. I’m sure that I looked a little hysterical but this was a crazy situation. I was sitting with my boyfriend’s family, having just spoken to him from jail, and was now covered in breast milk. Yeah, it was official. I was losing my marbles.