inmates

chapter fifteen

"No, seriously. You ditch me for my entire teenage years, then I find you again and you act as if I don't exist and push me away. Really, dad, please explain to me why the fuck you care" he crossed his arms and was fuming. His dad frowned and ran both hands through his greying hair.

"I..Sam, I know I fucked up, okay?-"
"Understatement of the bloody century" Sam snapped, his dad ignored him and carried on.
"You deserve an explanation, I know that" his dad sighed, looking down and picking at his finger nails, which surprised Sam. His dad had never been one to shy away from confrontation, usually the one opting to start a fight. So what he was about to say must be pretty genuine.

"I was... worried, alright?" He looked up at Sam, meeting his identical green eyes "me and your mum were going through a rough patch, so.. I was out a lot, at night. Some guys approached me and offered me a 'job'. I had no fucking idea what they meant but agreed anyway, because you know that we were running low on cash".
Sam was silent as he watched his dad with a blank face. He wasn't going to show any empathy for this man.

"Long story short, I started to deal drugs and shit, anything illegal - it paid the bills. But, I sort of pissed off the wrong guy when I asked for a higher pay. I was getting greedy, I know. Basically, we started to threaten each other" he averted his eyes and looked at the dark wall behind Sam "I was bloody stupid and didn't know what I was getting myself into. But he said he'd.. come for me and my family" he looked back to Sam.

Sam didn't know how to feel. How could he even trust that he was telling the truth? Although, he did look pretty shaken by it, after all these years. Again, he stayed quiet and let his dad finish.

"So.. I left. He was chasing me, not you guys. He'd only hurt you if I was there, so I knew I had to go, I couldn't risk putting you all in danger".
Sam finally found his voice to question his story.

"So why didn't you just tell us?! Mum was a wreck when you left, and for all these years I thought it was my fault"
His dad took a deep breath in and out.

"Because I'd rather you hated me than carry on looking for me and get yourself hurt or fucking killed, Sam" he huffed, crossed his arms to match Sam's own crossed ones.
Sam glared at him.
"Well you succeeded in that"

His dad seemed hurt by that, and looked down. Sam scoffed, the nerve.
"I'm not looking for you to forgive me, but I'm sorry, Sam" he again faced Sam, and Sam could tell he was being genuine.

He sighed.
"You're right, I can't forgive you" he sighed and his dad looked down "but- I'll.. try and put it behind me" he trailed off and he swear to god his dad actually smiled for a split second before it dropped from his face.

"I appreciate that, son"
That was when Sam did something he never knew he'd be able to (or want to) do again. He got up, yanked his dad up by his wrist and hugged him. His dad was tense, not expecting it, but relaxed and wrapped his arms around Sam's shoulders.

They stayed like that for a while, before Sam pulled back again.
"I missed you" he cracked a small smile, his dad returning it and replying
"Trust me, I've missed you and your mum since the day I left"

They hugged again before Sam knew he should leave and face Noah.

------

Earlier that night, Noah's POV.

"I'll go get some drinks!" Sam shouted in his ear over the loud music. Noah nodded and swayed. Maybe he had had a little too much to drink.
He blinked and Sam was gone. Wait, Sam was getting drinks. His brain was being..slow.

He shook his head, choosing to follow after Sam instead of just waiting. He'd have one more drink then he figured it was time to head off.
Thanks to his height, he could mainly see over the crowd and spotted Sam, calling out to him (although there was no point in doing so, seeing as the music was so loud). He started to make his way over.

When he looked up again Sam was gone and he cursed under his breath. That was when he felt a tapping on his shoulder and turned around to see a rather tall woman with red lipstick. She grinned at him and before he knew it had pulled him down by his shirt and connected their lips.

The action lasted less than a couple seconds, Noah pushing away immediately.
"What the fuck?!" He shouted - out of anger and to be heard. The woman rolled her eyes.
"What? You're alone, I'm alone - let's have some fun!" She replied, her high pitched voice raised.
Noah shook his head and turned away from her, frowning. He had to find Sam.

He looked around, pushing past people and not even caring about the dirty looks and 'hey, watch it!'s he got. He looked towards the door and spotted a familiar head of wavy dark blond hair. Why was he leaving?

Then Noah cursed out loud. He'd probably seen that dumb bitch snogging him. Fuck. He pushed his was towards the exist and ran out, only to find no sign of Sam.
It wasn't even his fault, some random chick just grabbed at him!

"Sam?!" He shouted... nothing. Groaning loudly, he ran a hand down his face. Shit.
He decided to check the hotel room, only to find that Sam wasn't there. Panic setting in, he left again and searched the area for him, cursing the fact that they didn't have phones (they should get some).

He searched for the rest of the night, his worry growing by the second.

------

Morning.

The sunrise filtered in through the smudged window in the hotel room as Sam sat on the bed, staring outside blankly. Thoughts were cramming his brain but one thing was for certain - he was going to go home.

As much as he'd enjoyed the thrilling last couple months the two of them had been living, it was really putting him on edge and stressing him out. Paired with Noah kissing that random bird and finding his dad, he needed a break. Speaking of Noah, god knows where he was because he hadn't come back to their hotel room all night. Another concern to add to Sam's checklist.

He got up and started to pace again. Maybe he should just turn himself in. They could only run from the law for so long, and if Noah was so bull-headed about staying out of prison, then Sam could just leave now, alone.

He paused his pacing and looked towards his bag. He could. Noah wasn't back yet to stop him, so he could just fucking grab his shit and leave. And Noah could just live out his bloody outlaw dream with that woman. He scoffed at the thought.

What was stopping him?

He marched over to his bag and slung it on the bed, stuffing the clothes he had taken out earlier into it. He could just go home. He didn't even have to turn himself in - he could just stay in his own house, with his own family.

No. He shook his head again. He was being irrational. Or was he. Noah loved him, and maybe he did have an explanation for the night before. Maybe the girl had came onto him instead of vice versa. But he was too pissed off at the moment to fully consider that fact. In all honesty, he was pretty lucky that Noah wasn't there right then, because otherwise he would've lost his shit with him before he could get out an explanation.

That was when he heard the sound of a door unlocking and a loud sigh of relief from Noah.
"Sam, thank god".