Rhys POV:
I would use many words to describe my sister, but dramatic wouldn't be one of them. Throughout our teenage years, Sophie had been the one to keep me grounded and remind me that adapting to our new family setup would allow me to be truly happy. Throughout her time at university, her love for books, history, and Hannah was so apparent. It became hard not to be proud of her achievements, even if I slightly envied her for the pride that she brought our parents when I was bringing nothing but trouble.
On the day that she graduated, our mum wasn't there to watch her. Sophie tries to pretend that Mum's reaction to her sexuality wasn't hurtful. She protects mum and sees her as someone who simply struggles with the concept, but deep down it lives within her. Sophie's life has been lived trying to be the reason that others smile, trying to be the person that fixes everything that others feel powerless towards, but forgetting that she too needs to allow others to help her.
We have always been close; silly squabbles over our differing opinions last for short bursts of time rather than the excessively long fallouts that consume families around the world. I was the first person Sophie told when she met Hannah; she had always confided in me about her confusion over her lack of interest in boys and subsequent infatuation with females. Her heart was broken when she found Hannah; she felt she had found her forever person, but it wasn't easy in Ireland to be the person in the family that doesn't follow the social 'norm'. Through time and a lot of hugs, I managed to convince her that her feelings did not define her, nor did the opinions of narrow-minded people who failed to see that love knows no genders.
On that day in July, Sophie frantically called me to find out my whereabouts. She didn't know that I was on my way to dinner with some friends; I could tell she needed me, so I pretended to just be at the shop and returned to our dad's house, the place I had never moved out of. Dad was in England, as he often was due to car deliveries, which meant that he was kept out of the situation that became one of the biggest events in our lives. A situation that we swore we would never tell anyone about.
Sophie burst through the doors, her face pale and her eyes puffy. She tried to explain what had happened. I initially thought that Colin Coyle had been found guilty, believing that she was worried that his people may come for her after her inability to keep him free. Once she calmed enough to speak in full sentences, she explained that he had sworn to her that he could never have murdered a young man. He had children himself, making her believe his lies, as her innocence often did with people. She explained that he had made a fool of her and pulled the wool over her eyes. As her brother, the big brother that protected her, I felt angry. I wanted to kill him, but I could never do that. No matter how angry I was, taking the life of another human was not something I could ever bring myself to do.
The chain of events that followed happened slowly, with a lot of thought put into them. Sophie and I concocted a plan to ensure that Colin Coyle would face justice for his crime. We knew that his friend had used a burner phone to provide Colin with an alibi, a burner phone that was submitted into evidence on the last day of the court case. A burner phone that he specifically kept hidden until the end to give Sophie a reason to still believe him as the evidence stacked against him. We knew that he was at the scene of the crime, and we knew that he was the one who delivered the final blow to Taylor Biggs. Sophie was adamant that she couldn't live with herself knowing that she had caused this level of injustice, and as her brother, I knew I had to help her.
Colin Coyle was a local thug and a very well-respected thug in the area. He was the type of person you smiled at in the street while calling him every name under the sun in your head. He was the type of man who, if he came knocking on your door with instructions, you followed them for fear of what he could do next. The side of himself that he presented to Sophie was that of someone who had been dreadfully misjudged. He told her of his hard upbringing and of his absent mother. He told her about his kids and how important they were to him. It was almost as if he had studied her from afar before he approached her to take on the case, knowing her weaknesses: people who had been disowned at some point by their mothers, and people who knew fathers who loved their children and didn't want to miss out on their lives.
We sat in waiting for a few months, letting the dust settle. Sophie continued to help Colin with his rehabilitation after his stretch in custody while he awaited trial. She was his only friend in the legal system, and he trusted her. She betrayed his trust, like he betrayed hers, but she did it for all the right reasons; Taylor Biggs deserved justice. When Sophie discovered that Brendan had been arrested for possession, we seized the opportunity. I promised Sophie I would do whatever it took to help her rectify this intense guilt that she felt, putting my job at risk for her. I had been a prison guard for just a few months; it was the first stable job I had managed to secure. Sophie toyed with the idea of allowing me to carry out the plan for weeks, afraid that if I lost the job I could lose my access to Olivia. I knew, though, that Olivia would never forgive me if she found out I hadn't helped her auntie Sophie, making this decision the easiest I had ever made.
On November 14th, I travelled to work in my normal routine, but this would be anything but a normal night. I waited until the inmates were secured in their cells before I entered the cell that Brendan occupied. I told him what I knew, informing him that if he were to tell the police what he had on Colin Coyle, he would get nothing more than a slap on the wrist, being released by the police in exchange for his evidence. Of course, he would have to move. Disappear. That was something that Sophie would help him with if the police didn't. The danger with our plan was that the intense loyalty that Colin's associates had for him meant that there was a high chance they would inform Colin that Sophie was out to get him. There was a high chance that by morning, thugs would be knocking at Sophie's door.
Brendan had no family or ties to Ireland. He was simply a lone wolf who had gotten involved with Colin's way of life as a way to have a circle of friends. Thankfully for us, the idea of a chance to start over was more than enough for him to punish Colin for the crimes he had committed. Brendan questioned why I was risking my job to send Colin to prison, but when I explained that he had taken advantage of my sister's kind nature, he simply called him a word that I refuse to repeat, disgusted at his exploitation of Sophie's good heart.
By 2:25 p.m. the following afternoon, Colin Coyle had been rearrested on suspicion of murder. He reached out to Sophie for representation, but Sophie had perfectly timed Colin's arrest with a trip to Dubai to see our mother. She organised another solicitor to represent him, knowing that he stood no chance of freedom now and that the solicitor would have no case to work from, meaning that no one else would be put in the position she had been put in. Colin had no reason to think that Sophie could have had anything to do with his arrest; she wasn't in the country, she helped him with another solicitor, and Brendan had to keep himself out of prison somehow. He told Sophie that he would kill Brendan, but the police had him under police protection, and by 6 p.m. he was no longer in the country.
Sophie returned from Dubai as a new woman, and she was happy. Her tired eyes that had haunted my mind for the previous four months were no longer there, and her weak voice was replaced with one of happiness. As a brother, you want your sister to be happy, and you will do anything to keep it that way. Anything.
That's the only explanation I have for warning Leah off. I foresaw all of this; I knew that if Sophie got involved with Leah to the extent of moving to the same country as her, someone, somewhere, would bring this court case to light. The more it was focused on, the more likely it was that Colin's freedom campaigners would piece together what she had done. What we had done. So despite knowing that I would momentarily break my sister's heart, I told Leah to end things. What I didn't account for was that Sophie was already completely in love with Leah and that Leah may just be the person to support her throughout all of this. If she ever needed to.
As I read the news article, panic set in. I know I shouldn't have told Sophie to lie to Leah, but what if Leah feels that the only way to protect her own reputation is to tell Sophie's truth? Leah isn't from Ireland, and she doesn't know what happens to touts here. They aren't known as heroes who have protected the weakest in society; they are known as bait. Bait for criminals like Colin's associates, who would want nothing short of revenge.
Snapped out of my flashbacks from the last few years by an intense thumping on the door, I felt my hands shake. Had they already pieced it together? I took a few deep breaths, writing a quick note to say Daddy loves you, Olivia, before standing as tall as possible and opening the door. I was greeted by a flustered Leah, her hair dripping with rainwater as she pushed past me into the house.
"Where is she? Did she come here? Someone said they saw her at the airport. Why aren't you answering me? Fuck sake, where is she, Rhys?" Leah ranted.
"She's not here. What do you mean someone saw her at the airport?" I felt my heart get heavy as I wondered: had Sophie done something stupid to protect us? Had she gone to Colin's people herself to admit her actions?
"Where is she?" Leah raised her voice.
"Leah, listen. You need to calm down and tell me exactly what is going on, okay? It's important that I know exactly what she said and how she felt. You need to tell me everything." I placed my hands on her shoulders to calm her.
"Is there more to this? Tell me that. Before I tell you, is she in danger?"
"She will tell you herself; she wants to. First, you have to help me. What exactly happened?"
Leah talked me through Sophie's lack of explanation, she told me that she lost her on the motorway, trying not to panic Sophie into speeding up by dropping back, but a lorry had blocked her view. She told me that someone had spotted her in the airport, posting that they were boarding the same flight to Belfast as the girlfriend of Leah Williamson, and that's how she knew she was coming home. Leah had managed to book a flight that left half an hour later with a different airline. It was at that point that I realised that Sophie would be home at some point. If she was planning to give herself up to Coyle's clan, she would've kissed Leah goodbye. She would've called me; she wanted to speak to Olivia one last time before she put herself in that situation. I reassured Leah that she would be here; she would just be scared, and we would just have to wait. As time passed, Leah became impatient and irate, wanting to report her missing or put a post on social media. I had to tell her the truth. Tell her why we couldn't post that Sophie had taken this media revelation badly; any publication that Sophie had panicked would only enhance the chances of our secret being outed.
Leah didn't speak, not one word. She didn't say she understood or that she didn't understand. She simply stared out the window for another hour and a half in silence until Sophie's car pulled into the driveway. I attempted to rush to the door to warn Sophie that Leah knew, but Leah pushed past me and stood at the door as Sophie entered.
I watched on as Leah took a drenched Sophie into her arms, kissing the top of her head more times than I could count. I watched as Sophie tried to explain that she wasn't a bad person and that she hadn't meant to defend Colin. Leah stopped her desperate words with her own comforting ones.
"You did the bravest thing of all, Soph. You gave a grieving family justice at the risk of your own life." Leah whispered into her hair.
"I've put everyone in danger." Sophie cried, making me feel helpless.
"They're only in danger if anyone ever finds out, so let's pretend this never happened. We'll sort out the press when you're ready. Let's get you dried off."
"Do you still love me? It's okay if you've changed your mind." Sophie sobbed.
"I have loved you from the moment I warmed your hands in the car on Christmas Day, Soph." Leah reassured my sister.
In the absence of words, my mind blank, I simply embraced my sister and Leah. The three of us stood in the doorway, a secret held between us that no one else would ever know of. In that moment, I discovered the power of the truth in love. The security of honesty. In that moment, I discovered the secret to love—truthfulness.