Seven Brothers

21. An Uncontrollable Situation

I froze on the spot. What the hell had happened? He couldn't have done anything, he wasn't that person anymore. He wasn't. He hadn't been since I'd known him.
"What do you want Eli for?" I asked, my voice undeniably shaky.
"We've just got some questions for him. We went to his house and his mother told us he would probably be here" the taller officer explained. He exuded confidence and authority and I'd be lying if I said I wasn't threatened by him. I did recall seeing his mother pull into the drive as we pulled away.

My head was telling me to deny it, to tell the police officers he had moved to Yemen and was never coming home, but my morals wouldn't allow me to lie to them. It scared me that he may have committed a crime, but it scared me even more that I would lie for him. As if on cue Eli emerged from my living room, looking confused by the grieved looks on our faces. When he saw the two police officers standing there he looked genuinely surprised. I was briefly relieved to know that he hadn't done anything wrong, but I was also angry at myself for ever doubting him. No matter what anyone said, he had changed. He wasn't the delinquent heartthrob he used to be.

"Elijah Antonelli?" The younger-looking, red-headed police officer asked.
"Yeah, what's this about?" He moved in front of me to talk to them, blocking them from my view. I turned to look at my brothers who were gathered around looking confused. Gradually more of my brothers began to appear. Ethan strolled into the room wearing an amused expression.
"What's the kid gone and done this time?" He chuckled to Riley. For the first time in his life Riley didn't have a smart-ass answer. He was in shock like the rest of us. In recent months we had all come to question this apparent 'bad boy' and found he wasn't bad at all. In fact, my brothers practically worshipped him. None of us could believe that he was capable of doing something to get himself in trouble with the law.
"Where were you last night between the hours of one and two?" The braver one asked, it must have been quite intimidating to be surrounded by so many people. Elliot and my father walked curiously into the hall, just as the officer asked the question.

Elijah looked around nervously, I could practically see the pleading in his eyes.
"I was at home" he stated.
"Can anyone confirm that?"
"No" he sighed before adding "I was alone". My heart sank a little bit. He just had to lie to the police to protect me. The fact he actually did it made me want to cry, he cared about me so much and watching him wring his hands nervously made me feel guilty.

To add to the terrible situation, Hunter decided to join and Lord knows he would have liked nothing more than to see Eli taken away in handcuffs.
"What am I supposed to have done?" Eli asked, sounding quite defensive.
"There was a burglary at the Hastings household last night. Witnesses described seeing someone matching your description leaving the scene and Mrs. Hastings is convinced she saw you"
"Yeah no wonder. That old hag hates me. Did you ever consider that maybe it was her delinquent son who robbed her?" Eli suggested in a less than friendly manner. I'd forgotten how rude he would be to people who weren't me.
"Antonelli, unless anyone can confirm that you were in fact at home all night we're going to have to take you in for questioning" the officer shrugged his shoulders as if it were no big deal. But it was, it really was. I began internally panicking, sweating on the surface. They were going to take him to jail even though he was innocent.
"I can't..." He muttered "I was alone".
"Come with us then, son" the older police officer sounded almost regretful. The young one took Elijah's arm and as the boy I loved turned and gave me a look of regret, I couldn't hold in my feelings anymore.

So, in front of all of my brothers, and two spectating police officers, I said something I regretted immediately.
"Wait! He wasn't alone! I was with him all night" I blurted out "he didn't do anything" I added more calmly.
"What?" red-head asked.
"What?!" My brothers shouted. In this situation, I had to prioritise and I decided that maybe stopping Eli getting sent to jail was slightly more important than my brothers freaking out.
"His mother saw us leaving this morning you can ask her" I sighed, rubbing my head as I felt a migraine coming on.
"Peyton Liliana Montgomery, you had better explain yourself right now!" Ethan yelled, stepping forward.
"You!" Riley exclaimed, pointing a finger at Riley "Blake, you hold him, I'll punch! Kai, help Blake hold him. I bet he's a wriggler" The triplets began simultaneously rolling their sleeves up.
"Okay, I think we're done here" the police officers began backing away slowly, looks of fear etched across their face.
"Wait! Where are you going! There's a murder about to happen, aren't you meant protect the public" I called after them as they hurried to their car.