For the Love of the Law

Chapter Thirty Eight | Absolutely Fucking Bonkers Crazy

Mum didn't know what to do. Her face was contorting into different masks of emotion, her body was swaying slightly, like she was feeling light headed, and those eyes, so thankfully not like mine or Marley's or dads, were frozen wide. 

I had never seen an example of such shock in my life.

"Are you just going to let him talk to me like that?" Mum half whispered, spinning to look at dad, who recovered from his surprise at Marley's outburst just in time so he looked indifferent when she looked at him. 

"Yeah. I am." 

"But-"

"Don't cry about it to me," Dad said, his tone taking a dark edge. "You lost the right to lay your problems on me the minute you walked away from our marriage and our children." 

The woman in front of us just...shrunk a little. She deflated, her high and mighty aura no longer surrounding her like a security blanket. 

All we saw now was a sad, lost woman with - was that regret? in her eyes. 

"Why'd you come back, mum?" I asked her softly, and her eyes meet mine briefly before they dropped to the floor and stayed there. "Why?" 

"I, I missed my family." Her voice was tiny and hoarse. "I thought I was unhappy before I left you, but now I realised that's not true. My divorce is being finalised with Pete, and I didn't know where else to go. I knew it was a long shot, coming here, but I had to try." 

I watched as mum looked up to dad, who still looked impassive, like he didn't have a care in the world. I guess Marley got his whole 'hiding emotions' talent from dad. 

Her eyes strayed on him for a few seconds, and I could see the regret in them. The sadness. The longing. 

She still loved him. 

After all the shit she put us through, she still loved the man she abandoned, and that made a swell of anger rise up in me.

My dad had been so in love with her, so in love. He would have done anything for her, come hell or high water. I remember the way he used to look at her, with such adoration and happiness. 

And then she left and shattered his heart and now the only emotion I could see behind his staunch exterior was the stinging betrayal that had never properly been buried.

"Who's Pete?" 

I glanced up at Flynn, forgetting he was there for a second. His eyes met mine, and I bit my lip, looking away before answering. "Mum's husband."

"Ex husband." She offered, as if the 'ex' at the front was going to help in this situation. 

"I think it's time you left." Dad said, his voice quiet and calm. The room had taken on a tired sort of tensness, like we were all wound up tight but we had been like that for too long. 

"Alex, can we please just sit down and talk about-"

"Not now." Dad shook his head, uncrossing his arms as he walked over to Marley, patting him on the shoulder as Marley just stared at the broken woman in the middle of our lounge. "I will get in touch with you soon. But just, not now." 

Mum nodded, and I could tell her throat was tight. When she looked up, her eyes met mine. 

She tried a smile. It didn't work. 

"Okay." 

We were all silent as she left the house, watching her close the front door with a certain sort of finality that settled uncomfortably in my stomach and didn't go away when the others started talking. 

"Well, how was that for a family reunion?" Dad half laughed, although it was too weak to truly have an effect. Marley just sighed, walking over to sit on the couch and turned on the TV, channel surfing. 

Dad's eyes met mine, and they were sorry. "You okay, Harls?" 

I shrugged. "Are you?"

I could see him thinking about it. "Yeah. I'm okay." 

Neither of us believed each other, obviously. "Sorry you had to witness that, Flynn. We really weren't expecting her tonight." 

Flynn smiled at my dad, understanding written all over his face. "I've seen worse, believe it or not." 

Dad just smiled, turning to walk into the kitchen. I turned to look at Flynn, who was still brooding and silent beside me. His earlier anger had seemed to diminish with the whole exchange that just happened, but the longer he met my eyes, the more it started to return. 

I started to back away towards the stairs when he slowly started to advance on me. "Flynn-"

"You're coming with me." 

"No, I'm staying here, I need to just clear my head and get some things straight-"

"Harlow. You are coming with me."

The fact that we'd just had a confronting run in with my mother had left me a little raw, so I wasn't surprised I was already riled up at his superior sort of talk. "You know, I really don't react well with people trying to order me around."

"I'm not ordering you. I'm telling you."

"There's no difference!" 

Flynn sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose with his fingers. I saw my chance. 

Turning, I leaped for the first couple of stairs, running up them successfully. I was about the fifth one up when two hard, strong arms wrapped around my waist, dragging me backwards as I half screamed. 

I was over Flynn's shoulder before I knew what was even happening. 

"Dad!" I yelled, watching his head rise to look in my direction. "Help! I'm being kidnapped!" 

Do you know what he did?

He laughed. 

"You kids have fun now." He called out after us as Flynn yanked open the front door and walked out into the cool air, keeping one arm tightly secured around my waist as I stared at his butt from my position. 

"You can't just kidnap me from my own home, are you crazy?" I screeched, banging my fists against his lower back. "This is insane and illegal and-"

"I'm well aware of the illegal side of this, Harlow, given my profession and all." 

"I'm in no mood for your sarcasm Flynn. Put me down!" 

"Okay." Flynn said, pulling me off his shoulder but still keeping an arm wrapped around me. I sighed in relief, glad to be back on solid ground. "Now-"

He opened the back door of his police cruiser and picked me up, throwing me in.

Literally. He threw me into the back seat.

As I landed in an ungraceful heap and a very ladylike grunt, Flynn slipped into the drivers seat, starting the car and taking off down the road before I could even sit up. 

The man was crazy. 

Absolutely fucking bonkers crazy.

Was this that part in the movie where the romantic hero actually turned out to be the ax murderer?

If it was, I was a horrific judge of character, because I did not see this one coming.

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:) I don't know what to feel about this chapter, it's a little all over the place, and I apologize now. 

Let me know what you think (: 

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