Slipping Through My Fingers

Chapter Thirty

Chapter Thirty

Nate's POV -

I needed the gym.

Now.

Or else if one person gave me a look that I didn't appreciate, they'd be going down. I felt complete and utter anger soar through me, my hands tingling to just hit something, anything. I needed to relieve myself from the fury building up within me.

They were back. Rose's dumbass, f*cked up parents were back. And they had taken her brother. I felt pain in my chest, as if it were squeezing, and I realised that I wasn't just angry that her detestable parents were back, but I was suffering from a lost. I brought Liam into my family with open arms, and treated him like a little brother, one that I grew attached to, and now, he was gone.

I looked over at Rose, and saw just how pale her face had become, she looked completely and utterly sick, dry tears leaking from her stony eyes. She was sitting on the couch in her house, staring into space as Mike was being asked a few questions by the cops, having Ashton as a witness for their interviewing.

"What did he look like?" The cop asked, urging Mike to continue on.

"Did the man take my brother?" Mike asked, his eyes widening in worry.

Mike's reaction, like Rose and Jace, hurt me. He kept walking around in the mall, completely oblivious to the parent drama unfolding, and he would ask random people that would walk by if they had seen a boy that looked exactly like him.

"We don't know for sure. But do you remember what he looked like, what he was wearing?" The cop continued.

"He was tall, with black short hair. Oh, and he had a blue shirt on. And black pants." Mike described.

If we weren't in this terrible situation, I would have laughed at his description.

"And how old do you think he was? Thirty? Forty?"

"He's thirty-seven," A trembling voice replied instead.

Everyone looked towards Rose and saw that she had finally snapped out of her daze. The cop frowned at her and walked to sit next to her on the couch.

"Do you know this man?" The cop asked.

Of course she knew who he was, but she was too stunned by what had happened to even talk. Mike had no idea what was going on and Jace said he didn't want to say anything, and that I had no right to say anything either. That the decision of telling the cops about her parents was up to her.

Rose stared at the cop for a while, stuck in thought, before her head turned and found my curious face. I screamed at her in my mind to tell the cop, but she sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know him. He looked thirty-seven." She shrugged.

The cop nodded and walked around Rose's house, looking for recent photos of Liam. I told him that I had heaps of photos of him on my phone and that I'd email them. He nodded and said that they'd get us to come back to the station tomorrow to continue interviews but for now, once they gathered evidence to have an idea as to where he was, they would rally up a search team for tomorrow.

Once the cop left, Rose stood up and robotically walked towards her room, shutting the door behind her.

The anger came rushing back. Her parents did this. Her parents are the reason why she hadn't stopped crying, why her heart was breaking inside, killing me with her too.

"Nate," Ashton was next to me, worry written all over his face. "You got to get some sleep. You look five times your age."

And that was enough for me to want to send my fist flying his way. But I didn't. I held back, because Mike was sitting there, staring at me worriedly. It's not that Ashton said something bad, or offensive, it was just that he had spoken to me when I was in rage, and even if he served me a compliment, I'd probably still want to kill him.

"I'm going to stay here. You go back." I replied.

"No, I'll stay here with you," He argued.

"Go back, Emily needs you. I don't need you. I'll take care of everyone. And tell mum and dad not to come either."

And right on cue, the intercom button flashed green, showing that it had turned on.

"Nate? Nate?" My mum was panicking.

Exasperated, I walked towards the intercom and turned it on.

"I'm here. I'll explain what happened tomorrow. I'm not in any f*cking mood to see any of you right now so don't try to come." I spoke icily, hoping they received the message to not come.

The line was silent for a while before I heard my mum breathe loudly.

"I'll see you tomorrow morning." She finally murmured.

When I turned around, I saw that Ashton was on the phone, panicking. I frowned at his reaction and he hung up quickly.

"I've got to go; Emily thinks she's having contractions! It's only been five months, she can't have contractions already!" He rambled, walking around frantically.

Finally, I just pushed him out the door and locked it, turning around to see both Jace and Mike staring off into space. My phone began to ring and I answered it without hesitation.

"Hello?"

"How are they? How is Rose?"

Adam.

"Not good. But I'm taking care of them." I answered.

"Nate, please put everything aside, all your resentment, and just let me come. Please. They need me." He was begging.

"The closest I'm going to let you get to them is my driveway. No one is seeing them now, not till the morning. I have them now. You can camp out in the driveway."

And then I hung up, like it was a normal conversation. I turned around to say something to the boys, but a loud slam had my head look up and I found Rose walking over towards the kitchen, as if she were on some mission. The tears hadn't disappeared.

"D-do you guys want anything to eat? I can cook anything. P-pick something." She muffled quickly, opening random cupboards and taking out pots and pans.

"Rose-"

"Or I can clean? That's better. I'll clean."

"Rose-"

"O-or I can go for a run. E-exercise. It's h-healthy."

"Rose-"

"Or I can help with homework. I d-don't have much to do but I can help with your homework. If you want. I'm not very smart but I think I can do something."

"Rose! Listen to me," I went towards her and hugged her to my body, leaving her no space to move.

I could see the expressions of her brother's face, they were completely terrified. They'd never seen her act like this before; she was a different person now. She was broken, and they always saw her when she was covering up, after she had picked up with pieces and composed herself. But the wound was raw and they were freaking out.

"I can't! My brother is gone; I don't know where he is! He's with that stupid asshole!" She yelled, tears rushing down her face faster than ever before.

Seeing her like this broke me, I just wanted to hug and comfort her and tell her everything would be okay, but I didn't know that. I knew I couldn't do that because she wouldn't listen, with this kind of stuff, she could trust nobody.

Abruptly, she tore off the shirt she had changed into and she stood in front of me, wearing only her bra. She turned around and pointed to her lower back, a part that I hadn't seen before. It was massacred with scars.

"Look! This is what the monster did to me and now my brother is with him! My brother could be getting whipped like me, at this very moment and I'm supposed to just sit here!" The louder her voice went, the faster the tears fell.

I took a moment to just stare at her back, where all the scars were. That f*cking son of a bitch. She told me he used to assault her, but I never knew it was this severe. To f*cking leave permanent marks? I looked over at Mike and the look on his face said it all.

He didn't know. But now he knew. He never knew how serious his brothers disappearance was, he didn't know that he was in the clutches of an evil man. And now he knew that he could be getting attacked right now.

"Rose," I said softly, hugging her naked torso to me. "We'll find him. I don't care if I have to kill my way through New York, I will find him and I will bring him home to you." I promised.

She continued to cry, holding onto me for dear life.

"Nate, it hurts. It hurts. He's gone! Please, just make it stop." She continued to sob.

And it hurt me, it killed me. But I had to be strong here, I had to be her rock and I would be there for her in any situation. I scooped her into my arms and carried her to the couch, keeping her in my lap as she cried into my chest until, well, she fell asleep. I wiped all the tears from her face as her expression turned peaceful, her mind taken into a wondrous dream.

"Nate?" It was Mike.

"Yeah?"

"Is Liam dead?" His voice broke at the last word.

"No! No, no, no, no. He's not dead. Your brother is not dead, do you hear me? He's missing, but we'll find him." I mustered up my most assuring smile, trying to make him feel at peace.

"Who is my brother with?" Mike asked.

What do I say to that? How do you explain to a five year old the things that were actually going on? He was a smart kid, very smart, but I didn't think he had put two and two together, realising the exact situation. But he knew his brother was in danger. That much, he knew. And he had no idea who he was with. That the man who was supposed to protect them, and look after them, had instead assaulted their older sister, and was completely dangerous.

I looked towards Jace, hoping that he was my safest bet in asking him what to tell Mike. I wasn't in the position to allow him to know about his parents, but Rose was too far gone, and so the last person here was Jace. I shot him a panicked look and he returned with a blank stare and a shake of the head, indicating a firm no.

"I'm not sure, Mike." I finally answered, hoping he wouldn't keep questioning.

"Does Rosie know?"

"I'm not sure." I replied again, knowing that that was my safest response.

"Geez, you're pretty stupid." Mike muttered, rolling his eyes.

And for once, I actually saw a grown up emotion on him. Hurt. He was completely hurt by my vague answers. And angry.

"I haven't known you for too long, Mike. You can ask your sister after we find Liam." I suggested.

His whole face lit up.

"We're finding Liam?"

Another jab to the chest. His face full of hope, wanting to get his twin brother back.

"We sure are." I smiled.

I'd make sure of it.

"You know what, Nate? You're a pretty good guy. I don't know why my sister ever hated you."

Before I could comment, he stood up and walked towards his room, shouting a goodnight.

***

I was awoken at five in the morning, and the first emotion that ran through me was complete and utter surprise. Because I had managed to actually fall asleep. I never thought I'd end up falling asleep. After Mike went to sleep, Jace followed after him and I carried Rose to her bedroom, and laid down next to her, struggling to fall asleep.

I rubbed my eyes, and checked the time, before turning my body to see who the incessant tapping belonged to. When my eyes were fully open, I noticed that Mike stood in front of me, looking completely and utterly saddened.

"Hey," I yawned, sitting myself up. "What's up?"

"This is my first night without Liam." He murmurmed sadly.

Another pang to my chest.

"I will find him for you." I stated definitively.

"Is he hurt?"

"No."

It killed me to think that my answer wasn't entirely right. I had no idea on Liam's state at the moment.

"Can I sleep next to you?" He asked softly.

The answer 'no' was at the tip of my tongue but I fought the side of me that told me that I didn't sleep next to anyone. Hey, if I fought it with Rose, I could fight it for this little guy right here.

"Sure, hop in." I answered, smiling with reassurance.

I dragged Rose with me as I moved to the side, giving room for Mike to slide into bed with the two of us. He lay on his back and looked at the ceiling, sighing deeply. He suddenly seemed like he was twenty-five, rather than five years old. He had grown beyond his maturity age.

For a while, we stayed silent, he watched the ceiling while I watched him with apprehension, waiting for him to fall asleep. Then suddenly, he turned towards me, a frown fleeting across his features.

"Why the hell are you in bed with my sister?"

I began to laugh, shaking the bed with me. Trust this kid to make me laugh when I was going through hell. I reached over and ruffled his hair, ignoring his protests.

"You should get some sleep, Mike." I grinned.

He mumbled an incoherent sound before turning to his side, tucking his hands underneath his head.

"Liam better be here before I wake up." He mumbled. "Or else I'm kicking his ass for being kidnapped."

And with that, he was asleep.

I watched him for a few moments, admiring his personality and well, him. And then, it all went back to that one person.

Rose.

She raised him, she was practically their mother. And I was full of admiration for Rose.

***

I woke up early. Like seven. And that's pretty early considering I wasn't up until five minutes until school started. I sat in bed and stretched, allowing a loud yawn to escape from me. I then realised that the bed was empty. Both Rose and Mike were already awake. I pulled the covers from me and stood up, just as the room to the ensuite opened and Rose came out, her eyes puffy from last night.

"'Morning." I mumbled in the midst of another yawn.

"He's still missing. And no word from them." She muttered robotically, as if she had been saying the same thing over and over again in her head from the moment she woke up.

"I'll find him." I said, hoping I sounded definitive.

"How?" She asked, not seeming hopeful at all.

"I don't know. But I will find a way. I found away when you went missing. The odds were against me, but I found you. Just like I'll find Liam, before I kill your dad." I couldn't lay a hand on her mother. But if Rose wanted to do any damage to her... I wouldn't save her life.

"Rose..." I began slowly, unsure or how to ask a question to a person in a fragile state, where anything could set them off.

"Um, why didn't you tell the uh, the cop that your dad was the one that kidnapped Liam?" I asked hesitantly.

Her wide brown eyes that had held so much warmth was now distant as she looked at me. Her hair was tied into a messy bun, and she was wearing a satin robe. She sat on the edge of the bed and I took my seat next to her.

"If I told the policeman that it was my father, than they wouldn't have taken it as kidnapping. No one knows that they are under my care, mainly because if they did, they'd take them away from me because I didn't have enough money to support them. And I couldn't live with... them anymore. So if I told the policeman that my brother was with my father, do you really think they would treat the case seriously? I want them to consider it a kidnapping, and nothing else. And then, when I have my brother, I am taking my parents down." Her voice was so different from yesterday.

While she was broken and sensitive yesterday, she held nothing but determination today.

I smiled at her, admiring every single f*cking aspect. She was f*cking beautiful, and she was mine.

Her phone started to ring beside her, and she picked it up easily answering.

"Hello?" She asked.

And then, her facial expression completely changed.

To realisation.

Anger.

Furiousness.

Resentment...

Hurt.

And just from watching her facial expressions waver, I knew who was on the phone. And the next thing she said only confirmed my thoughts.

"Dad?"

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Authors Note:

Hey fellow Salvatore's! How are we all? Firstly, I'm really sorry for the short chapter, it was the best I could come up with without everything moving too quickly.

And writing this was hard! Writing a big shocking thing is easy, it's the following chapter where you're like... What the hell do I do now?? And plus, it's in Nate's POV which I haven't done in a while, and a males perspective is hard!

So Rose in this chapter is inspired by the brilliant Nina Dobrev in the last episode of TVD. While I was writing that scene where she goes a little crazy, I watched the heartbreaking scene from TVD to gain a little motivation. I hope I did well!

So, thoughts? I was really happy with the reaction from last weeks chapter, it was really funny! What do you guys think will happen next?

And like I said last week, this isn't the only bad thing that starts to happen... There may still be a little breaking up situation? Hahaha, I'm not going to spoil anything, but I will tell you guys one thing for a peace of mind.

ROSE AND NATE DO NOT BREAK UP!

Now that we have that cleared, you can be oh so nice and vote? And maybe drop a little comment? And now to my tradition at every authors note...

Vote, comment and fan.

Farewell xx