A Storm Is Brewing

Evidence Room

"You won't believe what she said, Soph." Leah came bursting through the door.
"What?"
"Leah, I think the affair has been with someone close to you. This hasn't just been a random person; it's been someone that you trusted."

Trust. Leah couldn't have known that I wouldn't get angry at Kyra's new move. If anything, it had proven to me that Leah wasn't just hoping I was telling the truth; she knew I was. I waited for a day or two, expecting that at some point Kyra's words would make Leah wonder slightly, maybe prompting her to ask me to promise that it hadn't been true, but she didn't. Not once.

The kids were staying with Leah for the weekend when Rhys finally called with an update. Despite all of his downfalls, he truly put his life on hold to help me find out exactly who Kyra was and what she wanted from me. Usually that would've endeared me; it would've made me forgive and forget with him, but this was usual. If Kyra got too close, she may have discovered that Rhys aided me in putting Colin behind bars. In contrast to Leah, Rhys was simply making sure he didn't get caught.

"So, Colin is high up in the prison world."
"Yeah? I expected that. What's he at?"
"Drugs. He's using his lads to bring them in, apparently, and he has a prison officer wrapped around his little finger."
"Prick. Anything about him and Kyra?"
"No. There is something, though."
"What is it?"
"I don't know, but he found out I was sniffing around and sent word that whatever it is you want, you can ask him yourself if you send a visitation request."
"He'll see me?"
"Yeah. I don't know if it's a good idea, though, Sophie."
"Are you joking? I know what he's doing. I could get him an extra ten years for that. He'll squeal like a pig if I threaten him." I chuckled.
"And what if he doesn't?"
"He will."

Hyped up on adrenaline, I decided to give it another night to speak to Leah about it. I didn't want to make a decision that I couldn't go back on in haste.

"Absolutely not! No! Not happening. Never! Declined!"
"Uh-uh."
"What?"
"I was just giving you another way to say no."
"I mean it, Soph. No way!"
"Leah -"
"No! Okay? It's not safe. I lost you when you still existed. Soph, I can't lose you in a way that you don't."

I'd always expected a resounding no from her, but what I didn't expect were the tears that she cried as she spoke that last sentence. They seemed to come from nowhere, perhaps pent-up frustration at the entire situation.

"Hey." I whispered.
"I can't, Soph. I can't wake up someday and know you're not here anymore. Not when it hurt so much to know you were just down the road."

Fuck it.

I closed the few steps between us, cupping her cheeks with my hands and using my thumbs to wipe away her tears. I knew what was about to happen; I knew what I was about to do. I knew it because the pit of despair that felt like it lived in my stomach recently turned into raging nervousness. I think she sensed I might be about to do it too. I think I knew that from the small smile she gave me, despite the watery glow in her eyes.

My hands left her cheeks, wrapping around the bottom of her neck and gently pulling her towards me. By the time our lips met, I felt her body relax in a way that could only be described as that of someone who had the weight of a million bricks on their shoulders and had finally had them removed. It lasted a few seconds before I felt her shoulders move up and down slightly, pulling away to see she was crying again.

"A few months apart, and I've gotten that bad, you cry during it?" I smirked at her.
"Sorry. I don't know why I'm like this." She chuckled.

Despite the fact that we were in an office room filled with clippings of the articles at the time, it seemed as though none of them had ever existed. She kept her arms around me, mine staying wrapped around her neck, and it felt as if our eyes couldn't possibly break gaze.

"I really missed you." I barely whispered.
"I really missed you. All those times I was away for football, I thought I knew what missing someone was, but I didn't. Missing someone without knowing if you'll ever be with them again is excruciating."
"You know what else is excruciating?"
"What?"
"Watching a really hot detective talk about evidence and not being able to kiss them."
"So that's what you were distracted over?"
"Maybe."
"Fuck it."

No sooner had those words left her mouth were her lips on mine. This time, the underlying emotion from us both wasn't nervousness; it was a complete need for each other. I knew it wasn't like that; it was simply a desire to be that close again after we had been completely ripped apart. She lifted me off the ground in one quick movement, walking me towards the desk until she could set me down on it. I don't know what either of us thought we were going to do with the kids just next door watching a movie, but before I could think about that, I was pulling her down on top of me, and my hands were wandering over the body I'd been longing for.

"I love you." She breathed out between breaths.
"I love you."

We were doing such a good job of being quiet until a pot of pens fell from the side of the desk and landed on the floor with a thud.

"Mummy!"
"You and those fucking pens you obsessed over." I shook my head at her.
"You're the one who told them they could watch a movie before bed. They could be asleep right now."

We were back. The typical playful disagreements we had over who had caused the kids to interrupt our moments were happening again, and I couldn't get enough of it. The noise of little footsteps approached, making both of us jump up and try to fix the creases in our clothes and straighten our hair.

"Mummy dropped some pens." Leah smiled as Teddy entered the room.
"Silly!" He giggled.
"Can you tuck us in tonight?"
"I have a better idea; do you want to hear it?" She asked.
"Yep!"
"How about we both tuck you in tonight?"
"Yeah!" He jumped up and down, running back towards the living room. "Leo, come on, they're going to tuck us in!"

It was in that moment that I realised how much we had overlooked the little things. The boys had gone for so long without both of us putting them to bed together, something they always loved.

"I won't go, not unless you change your mind."
"Really?"
"Yeah. I get this work head on, and I can't see anything outside of it. I know I was doing that before these articles even happened, Leah. I'm sorry."
"Can we make a promise that we'll never get too busy for each other again?"
"That sounds like a good promise to me."
"Let's go put our boys to bed." She wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

We still had a long way to go, but Kyra hadn't broken us.