Invisible String

Chapter 8: Break Free

"Everything is going to be just fine, Liz. I promise. He will never bother you again." Will promised, still hugging her tightly. It reminded her of when she was little, before both of them left.

A phone started to ring, and she jumped, startled.

"Sorry, it's mine." Will said, reaching for his phone that was in his pocket and answered the call. "Hey. Yeah, I was about to clock out." he paused, then took the phone away from his ear. "It's Jay. He said they're going to Molly's. Wanna come?"

"I don't know. I don't feel like going out."

"Come on. I'm sure Herrmann can get you a kale smoothie or something." Lizzie smiled at his dumb joke about her health, or lack of.

"He would throw me out of the window if I asked him for a kale smoothie."

🦷

"Oh, the Halstead trio is complete." Gabby greeted as Lizzie and Will walked into Molly's. It seemed to be a busy night, with most of the tables and seats at the bar occupied and Otis walking with a tray full of drinks to serve.

"Hey Gabby. Hi Herrmann. How are the kids?"

"Driving us crazy." Herrmann answered, like he always does. She couldn't imagine having five kids to take care of. His wife was a saint. "What can I get for ya tonight?"

"Two beers, please." Herrmann handed Lizzie two bottles and she turned to look for her other brother.

"Hey there." she greets as she approaches the table Jay is. Elizabeth ended up squeezed in a table with Adam, Kim, Jay, Erin and Will.

"You do realize we are third wheeling here, right?" she whispered to Will, who just chuckled.

"How are you doing, Lizzie?" Kim asked.

"I've been better." she confessed. "What about you? Though day at work?"

Kim was sporting a cut in her upper lip that looked recent.

"I've been having a lot of those." Kim confessed too.

"Yeah, we may need something stronger than those." Erin laughed, pointing at the beer bottles on the table.

"Six tequila shots coming right up then." Lizzie jumped out of her seat and walked to the bar to order their drinks. A hand grabbed her arm and squeezed it hard before she could reach the bar.

Elizabeth looked in the direction of the hand that was holding her arm and found Robert standing there, a pleased smile on his face.

"You're making this harder than it needs to be, sweetheart."

"Let go of me, Rob."

"Yeah, Rob. Let go of her." Will demanded, coming from the table they were sitting in.

"And who are you to tell me what to–" he stopped in the middle of his sentence when he laid eyes on Will. Shocked, he let go of her arm, and she could almost see his brain linking the dots. How they looked so much alike, how he knew her brothers lived in Chicago.

"So, this is the Rob you talked so much about?" Jay asked, joining them.

Lizzie nodded. Rob was still shocked and annoyed, and Lizzie felt oddly satisfied at that.

"These are my brothers, Rob. Jay and Will."

"I'd say it's good to meet you, but I'd be lying." Will scoffed.

Robert shook his head, trying to regain composure.

"What a great little place you've found, sweetheart. It's not our good and old fashioned place, but it has its charm." he says, looking up to the string lights on the ceiling.

"Rob, not now." she mutters tiredly.

"No, Liz. It's actually perfect that Robert is here right now." Jay chuckles, sarcasm dripping out of his words. He reached for something inside his jacket and took out a paper. "Here. Robert Wright, consider yourself officially served." He shoved the paper into Rob's chest.

Robert was clearly angry and contradicted as he took the papers and opened it.

"A restraining order?" Rob's voice got louder by a couple of octaves. "Sweetheart, this is insane. You know you are being ridiculous, right?"

If talking about what happened to her brothers was hard, filling the papers for the restraining order in court and then talking to a judge was even harder. But thankfully Elizabeth now had the support she didn't have these past six years.

"It's very serious, man. I don't know how things are on the shithole you lived in, but here in Chicago, you don't get to harass and abuse my sister as you please. So you have a choice. You stay at a minimum 100 yards from Elizabeth, or I'm going to throw your ass in jail. How does that sound for you, Rob?"

"Lizzie, sweetheart. You're making a mistake." Rob said, ignoring Jay's words.

"The only mistake I made was to give you so many chances, Rob."

"C'mon, man, I think a criminal record wouldn't be good for your career as a surgeon, right?"

"It would be really hard to finish your residency without your medical license." added Will. "I mean, if you get convicted of assault and domestic violence."

"Stalking too. The list keeps growing."

"I don't accept this. Lizzie, come, we need to talk alone." he reached for Lizzie's hand to pull her with him, but Will stepped in front of her before he could take her arm. He and Jay formed a wall, with Lizzie hidden behind them. It felt weird and yet liberating to see someone else facing her ex-boyfriend instead of herself, forcing him to face someone of his own size.

"I'm not going to say it again." Jay warned. Robert's face got contorted in fury.

From behind them, Lizzie couldn't see her brothers' faces, but she could see Rob's eyes going from Jay to Will repeatedly, assessing the situation he was in.

"Hey guys, is everything okay around here?" Herrmann asked, eyeing Rob with suspicion.

"We are just kindly asking this man to leave our sister alone." Will explained.

"Oh, you two need any help?"

"Do we, Robert?" Jay asked, tilting his head and grinning sarcastically.

Rob stood in silence for a couple of minutes under their stare. Herrmann looked like he was about to take the baseball bat that Lizzie knew he kept hidden under the bar. Erin, Adam and Kim were quietly sitting in their places, but she had no doubt they would step in as well if needed to.

"Fine." He looks directly at Lizzie. "I'll leave. But don't come running to me when you realize you lost the best thing that ever happened to you."

"That won't happen, but thanks for the warning." she rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious, Elizabeth."

"So am I. Goodbye, Robert."

When the door closed after him, the first thing she did was to pull her brothers in for a hug.

"Thank you. Both of you."

It was finally over.