Pregnant Pause [H.S]

Chapter 12

Callum contemplated this, eventually saying, "I think I got him off my tail once I made it to the city."

"You think?"

"He's sort of a crafty bloke."

"Oh, God," I mumbled, pinching the bridge of my nose and exhaling in exasperation. "Well, we can't stay here. We should go to my flat, and in the morning, we'll decide what to do."

"We can't all pile into your flat. Not all four of us," Fitz said, glancing over her shoulder at Briony. "Callum, do you really think he'd know to come here?"

"No, no, I'm safe in here," Callum assured her, looking at me with a nod. "It's if I leave that there could be a potential... situation." He must have noticed my clenched jaw and my worried glance in Fitz's direction, because he was quick to add, "For me, though. Not for you lot."

I didn't necessarily agree that we were safe, and Callum's laissez-faire attitude made me nervous rather than relaxed. But maybe he was right – if he hadn't been spotted on his way to Fitz's, it was best to keep him where he was until the whole thing was properly sorted.

"Right," I said, turning on my heels and heading down the hallway. "Well, just to be sure, I'm going to shut and lock the door, if that's all right with everyone."

I peeked out of the door, glancing up and down the corridor. With no signs of life, I closed the door and used every lock.

"I'm ringing Dad," Fitz was saying as I re-entered the common area.

"You're fucking not," Callum replied, snatching her mobile from her hand before she could make the call. "You owe me."

"Let it go," Fitz said, climbing on the couch to reach the mobile, which Callum held high above his head and out of her grasp. She wrapped an arm around his neck to hold him in place, sending curse words shooting from his mouth as pain seared his injured shoulder, while she jumped for her mobile. "That was two summers ago and I wasn't endangering anybody's life, including my own!" I frowned in confusion.

Briony, somewhat amused, stepped into the room with her salad.

"What did you do, June?" she asked, taking a forkful of lettuce in her mouth.

Callum cried out in pain, forced to let go of the mobile when the pain in his shoulder became too much. Fitz smirked in triumph, but the smile didn't last long.

"So I walk into her room, and she's— AH!"

He was interrupted mid-sentence as Fitz grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked him down on the couch, forcing him to stay put.

"I don't care if you're already injured – if you say one more word, you'll know real pain," Fitz said, pointing a threatening finger. She hopped down from the couch, never letting her eyes leave him.

"That fucking hurt!"

I ran a hand through my hair, waiting for the altercation to blow over. When it came to sibling antics, I could never tell if it was friendly or lethal. With the Fitzpatricks, one never really knew – but it was best to leave them be rather than to be sucked into it.

"When you're in my house, you shut your mouth and do what I say," Fitz said matter-of-factly, as if she was on a playdate in kindergarten.

Callum had the same thought, arguing, "I'm not five, Junie, you can't do this anymore!"

"I don't care. I won't tell Dad as long as you don't act like a shit. That's the deal."

"How am I supposed to know what the line is between 'normal person' and 'shit'?"

"I suggest you figure it out quickly. Otherwise, you're going straight home. I'm not kidding. I'll ring Dad, and he'll be here by midnight."