For the Love of the Law

Chapter Twenty Five | Gotta Love Family

It was the truth. Letting Flynn in was scary. I wanted to, yeah, but the last person I trusted on that sort of level was my mother, and looked what happened there.

She ran away with everything, even a part of me. 

And I was terrified Flynn would do the same.

"You're not going to shy away from possibly the best thing that has happened to you because you're scared. I won't let you." Sophie said, her voice growing more serious the more she talked. "If anyone deserves this, Harls, it's you." 

I stared at her for a few seconds, feeling like I suddenly needed a box of tissues. 

Wrapping my arms around Sophie, I hugged her, laughing a little. "What would I do without you?"

"I don't know. Seriously."

When I pulled away, Sophie looked down at Flynn's clothes again and laughed. "I picked him for a briefs sort of guy, you know?" 

"Trust me. He's both." 

Sophie just waggled her eyebrows, earning an eyeroll from me. "You better go help dad before he breaks the kitchen or something." I sighed, looking at my laptop screen, which was still on, and read the time. "Hey, have you seen Marley?" 

"He left a little while ago with Jag." Sophie shrugged, throwing a pair of blue sweat pants that were lying on the floor in my direction. I quickly stripped out of Flynn's boxers, pulling on the sweat pants and searched for my favourite grey zip up hoodie. Once I'd thrown Flynn's shirt on my bed and zipped up my hoodie, Sophie was about to open my bedroom door. 

And then we heard several pairs of footsteps bounding up the stairs in a hurry.

Like, a stampede actually racing up the carpeted stairs.

"What the hell?" I muttered, walking over to where Sophie was as she pulled open the door, and we peered out into the hallway. 

To see three stumbling, hurried boys rushing for Marley's room.

One was blood related, another had a dare devil smirk pasted all over his face, and the third? 

He was shirtless, blonde, and bleeding.

"Marley?" I called out in disbelief, watching as they all froze on the spot, turning towards Sophie and I in unison. It looked almost comical, save for the kid bleeding from his face and chest. "What the fuc-"

"I'll explain later." He said in one breath, pushing the shirtless blonde towards his room. "Oh, this is Archer by the way."

The blonde paused to look over his shoulder and waved at us, his lip busted and his eye welling. "Nice to meet you." 

"Ah...likewise," I said questionally, sharing a glance with Sophie. "Can I ask why you're bleeding? And half naked?"

"Well that would require a lengthly explanation." Jag spoke up, that smirk still on his face. "And we'd really love to sit around and chat, but-"

"We kind of have to go and get him cleaned up." Marley finished, his identical eyes sliding over to meet mine. 

And then they disappeared into Marley's room, the door slamming with a finality that had Sophie and I staring at the wood stupidly for several long seconds.

"What in the world just happened?" 

"I have no idea." I muttered, shaking my head slowly. Why didn't dad freak when he saw - was it Archer? - coming into the house? 

When I sniffed, I found the answer.

"Hey, Soph. Can you smell burning curry?"

She stilled, lifting her nose into the air like a dog hunting a scent. And then she was running down the stairs, disappearing into the kitchen in seconds. "What are you doing Gordon? I said stir the curry! Not set it on fire!" 

Today has just been too weird. 

But you gotta love family, right? 

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:) I liked writing this chapter. It's not the best written one, or the most dramatic/intense or anything, it's more of a filler, but it was fun anyway.

I hope you like! Lemme know what you think :) 

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