Bane Knight's entire life revolves around family, and his is made up by more than blood. As a firefighter in the city of London, the rest of his watch are his kin too. With their lives on the line everyday he's kept his heart closed to love, fearing...
"Mari, come on," I said gently, abandoning the food ingredients and joining her at the table. "You know why he's distant."
"Bane, please." She said sadly, peering up at me through her long lashes, her eyes beginning to glisten with brimming tears. "I don't want to think the worst of him."
"It's not thinking the worst of him, it's being realistic. The guy cheated on you already, I can't see why you're still putting up with him."
I could feel my irritation building at the sadness in my sister's eyes, I hated that I couldn't do anything to protect her from this shit she was going through with him. But at the same time, I was infuriated by her lack of common sense and desire to stand up for herself.
"It was just a kiss, he didn't sleep with her." She argued back, sitting upright and snapping at me.
"Yeah, maybe not that time."
I heard her sharp intake of breath and regretted the words as soon as I'd said them. She jumped to her feet, pulling her bag back onto her shoulder.
"I can't believe you said that. I love him!" She half sobbed, half shouted, flicking her hair over her shoulder. "You're my big brother, and all I wanted was you to listen to me. To give me a hug and tell me it's all going to be okay, and that he'll-"
I got up and scooped her into my arms, pulling her in close and holding her tight against me, cutting her off mid sentence and hushing her softly.
"It's all going to be okay, I promise." I whispered to her, brushing my fingers over her soft hair, and catching the sweet smell of mango that I assumed was from her shampoo. "Care to give me the next line of my speech?" I whispered teasingly in her ear.
"Oh my god, you're such an ass!" She moaned, pulling away and swatting at me half heartedly.
I laughed at her harmless flailing, each blow that she managed to land, feeling more like a passing hit from a small cushion. Refusing to let her go, I pulled her back to me and hugged her again.
"You know I love you Mari, I'm sorry." I said sincerely, giving her a small squeeze.
"I love you too Bro, and that's why I feel like I can tell you something," She pulled back enough to look up at me, a sweet smile on her face, "You really stink."
"Okay, that's it," I sighed letting my arms fall to my sides, releasing her and stepping back, "Get out."
"Fine." She laughed, reaching up on her tiptoes to give me a fleeting kiss on the cheek as she went to leave the kitchen.
"Marya?"
"Yeah?"
She turned at the door and reached into her bag for her car keys.
"Please, don't let him treat you like crap. You deserve so much better than him."
I saw the slight flush of colour that rushed to her cheeks, tinting them a faint rosey pink. A happy smile spread across her face and her dimples were in full force as she nodded, thanked me and then left.
It wasn't a done deal on the issue, but the lack of a snappy response, was at least a step in the right direction.
I spent the majority of the rest of the day on the sofa. Relaxing in my favourite black hoodie and shorts, comfortably catching up on the football game that I'd recorded whilst I was on shift. I took a drink from my beer, swearing as one of the players, floored another one and got away with a yellow card. The beer bottle had barely touched against the table top, when the doorbell rang.
"Oh for fuck's sake." I groaned, looking towards the door.
Picking up my remote, I pressed pause on the tv, the image freezing just as the ball sailed through the air.
Reaching the door, I peered through the peephole, before pulling it open.
"Hey man." I nodded to Dodger, beginning to walk back to the living room.
"You don't look ready." Dodger said, following me inside.
"I don't need to be ready yet, there's plenty of time." I replied, dropping back down on the sofa, and unpausing the tv.
"Course you need to be ready," He exclaimed, standing in front of me so that I had to lean around him to see the tv, gesturing at himself to emphasise his outfit, black jeans, a v-neck, charcoal grey t-shirt, and leather jacket. "We have half an hour until they open, go get dressed."
"Dodge, lemme finish watching the game."
He snatched the remote from my hands, pointing it at the tv and switching it off.
"Man U won, two nil... now will you get dressed?" He smirked in victory, tossing the remote onto the sofa.
I shook my head in resignation, and slowly pushed myself up to my feet. Standing toe to toe with Dodger, the few inches height difference, emphasised by the close quarters, making it seem like I towered over him.
"Fine. I'll be back in a minute."
I wasn't exactly looking forward to tonight, given the past history of Dodger's Watch night's out. They usually ended in disaster, but tonight, I just hoped that it wouldn't be the case.
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