Sylvie's POV
We walk to Holden's and I've gotta admit, it's creepy. I try to act like I'm not scared, but even the owls hooting in their trees are making the hairs stand up on the back of my neck.
"What was that?" Julianne cries, and when we see an outline of a raccoon running through the tree-line, we all relax slightly.
Holden is going to be so upset with me. How could I have been so stupid today? I've literally done nothing right since the moment I got woken up. How does he do this every single day?
I take Julianne's hand and give it a squeeze. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you, Jules. We're almost home."
When we finally get inside, I quickly lock the door and try to get the pounding in my ears to chill out. It's so much different being responsible for other people. I don't think walking home would've bothered me that much otherwise. Maybe I'm just a chicken shit. I swear I'm gonna beat the ass of whoever this murderer is. How dare they make me scared to walk in my own town. How dare they!
When I look over, Julianne is starting to cry.
"What's wrong, Jules?" I ask as I pull her into a hug.
"I miss Holden. That was so scary....What if that guy is here? What if they saw us walking and thought about killing us?"
"The doors are locked, girly. You're safe."
"I just wish he was here," she cries as she goes to her room and shuts the door.
I turn to Tate, and I can't read his face. "I really am sorry, Quinn."
"I know, Tate. Go to bed and we will deal with this when Holden comes back."
He simply nods and heads to their room, and I fight tears. I'm not a cryer, yet I feel like sobbing right now.
I've done so many things wrong today
~*~
Nico pulls in about noon the next day, and we all get excited. Even though Tate and I are nervous, and Julianne wasn't on the best terms with him when he left, we all feel the same way.
We need Holden in our lives as much as we need air in our lungs.
We are so excited he's home.
He walks in and before he can even get fully through the door, Julianne meets him and wraps her arms around his waist tightly. So tightly, he loses his balance just a little and has to steady himself.
"Hey sweetheart," he says gently, surprised by her warm reaction, and hugs her even tighter and kisses her head.
"I missed you," she says, and I can see on his face that she may as well have given him the moon and the stars. She just made him light up.
He lets her go and bends so he's eye level, and kisses her forehead.
"I'm sorry I was so awful to you. I'll do better." She says as she fights tears. He gives her another smile and pulls her in for another hug. "Thank you, Annie. I love you, sweetheart."
"Love you too," she says in his chest, and his mouth drops open before he can control himself. I wonder if that was the first time she's said it to him. Surely it's not
When she pulls away, he looks at Tate, and then at me. We must both have weird looks on our faces because he says "What in the world happened this weekend?"
When neither of us say anything, he walks over and hugs Tate, and kisses him on the head. "Love you. Were you good this weekend?"
"No," he simply says, and Holden gives him a hard look when he pulls away.
"Ok....I'll get back to that," he says as he kisses Tate one more time on the head and then comes over to me. He bends down and picks me up until our lips meet. And my entire body shivers.
I love him
"Were you good this weekend?" He jokes as he nuzzles his nose into my neck. I chuckle nervously and answer, "no."
He pulls away and his mouth drops open once more. "What the hell happened while I was away?"
~*~
After a moment of silence, he turns to Tate. "What did you do?"
Tate blows out a big breath and then mumbles something that sounds a lot like "drank a deer at the car."
Holden catches on though, and his face darkens. "I can't hear you."
The tone makes my back stiffen, and Tate instantly snaps his head up and looks at his brother.
"A sorority girl bought me a beer last night."
Holden closes his eyes and takes a few big breaths before he opens them back up and nods. "You drank at Sylvie's bar?"
"Yeah"
"...you know, I'm kinda feeling like this is a 'yes sir, no sir' response this time, Tate. Did you drink at her bar, and risk her losing her liquor license for serving a minor?"
Somehow, his acknowledging the severity of this without me having to verbally say it makes this whole thing better. He gets it. He gets me.
"Yessir," Tate says softly as he looks back at the floor.
Holden watches him for a long minute and then nods, turning his attention back to me. "I'm so sorry, baby. How slammed were you for that to have happened?"
He totally gets it. I'm so in love with him
"It was awful," I simply say, and that's enough for him to know.
"You took advantage of the fact that she was slammed?"
"Yeah...."
"Excuse me?"
"Yessir"
"Ok. Did you punish him or something? Is that why you think I'll be mad? I'm so sorry I barely texted you this weekend. The convention center must have put a block on the phones or something. Nobody could get any service."
I shake my head and clear my throat. "I just made him work the kitchen with Rusty the rest of the night."
"Ok. Then what's wrong?"
He's gonna be so mad at me.....
He sees my face and simply nods as he clears his throat. "Give us a few minutes, guys. Either go outside or go to your room."
They both silently go outside, and when they do he comes over and pulls me into a huge, warm hug. "Talk to me."
With my breath probably tickling his neck, I say, "I forgot to drive and we had to walk home last night, because it was too late to call anyone."
His back straightens, and I wait. I can tell by his body language that he's mad.
"Yeah, I'm pissed," he simply says and he lets me go and stares at the ground.
"I....."
"Nico got a call from his girlfriend as we were driving home. A sorority girl was found this morning." He interrupts, his voice shaking as he tries to calm himself down.
Shit
"What?!?!" I gasp, causing him to finally look back at me.
"Half a mile from your bar. They think she stumbled out and the person was waiting for her....."
"You've gotta be shitting me," I say as I feel sick to my stomach.
"Man, Sylvie. I feel guilty because I'm mad at you. You helped me out all weekend, put up with my brother, and all I should be doing is thanking you and making it up to you. But I'm pissed. The ONE thing I asked you not to do...And then you not only did it, but put my brother and sister in danger!"
I scoff, feeling a little feisty all of a sudden. "I tried to lock your damn doors last night, and they wouldn't actually lock. Maybe don't come at me so hard about keeping them safe until you fix that, huh?"
He blows out a breath and nods. "Sorry, I'm just..A half mile from your place. You could've served the killer last night. Did anybody seem off?"
"I was too busy to pay attention. It was worse than St. Paddy's Day three years ago."
"Damn!" Holden says in astonishment, knowing how bad that day was.
He pulls me in for another hug and kisses my hair. "I'm annoyed, but I'm not mad. I'm sorry. Thank you for doing all that you did for me this weekend. I'm so sorry about Tate. How mad are you?"
I pull away from him and shrug. "I was pissed last night. I think I scared the shit outta him."
"Good," he says darkly as he shakes his head.
"I'm just annoyed now though."
He looks at me and gives me his half smirk. The one that makes me melt. The one that has made me be in love with him since college.
"You're pretty cute when you're annoyed," he says as he pulls me in again and kisses me hard.
"What about when I'm pissed?" I ask when we pull away.
"Scary as hell," he says with a straight face and it makes me laugh.
"That's what Tate said last night."
"Other than that were they good?" He asks.
"Perfect. We had a seriously great time."
"This is so unfair. I wanted to hang out with you guys tonight. Now I've gotta give him the belt. I've got to give him the belt. Damnit."
"Want me to head out?" I ask.
"Hell no. You're here. This involved you....."
Great
He kisses my head once more and then sighs. "What did you do to Annie?"
I chuckle humorlessly and give him an embarrassed smile. "Scared her shitless by making her walk home in the middle of the night. She wanted you so bad."
He gets a look about him, and I can tell that makes him feel good. "She really does love you,
Holden."
He smiles and bites his bottom lip. "And I really love all of you. I missed you guys."
He blows out a breath and then shakes his head. "Man, I don't want to give him the belt......"