Chapter 14: Alive
‘We got nothing to lose, shake off the weight of the world from your shoulders…’ – Alive, One Direction
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We followed the police officers back to the place where Oliver had taken Kathy.
“Right, you can go home now, we’ll handle everything from here,” one of the officers said.
“Yes sir.”
They only just disappeared from sight when someone else stepped out from the shadows.
“You really have the guts to be here?”
“I’ve really got nothing to lose anymore. You’ve already sued me and so I just want to get revenge before I get thrown into jail,” Oliver sneered, uncovering a knife.
Zayn and I automatically went to stand in front of Kathy. Connor stood a step towards him.
“Oliver, put the knife down and no one has to get hurt,” he said calmly.
“I knew you would back out sooner or later. All you ever was a big wuss.”
“Guys,” Kathy’s voice came from behind Zayn and me. “I’m going to distract him, then go at him from behind and get the knife out of his hand,” she said quietly.
“No way! Are you crazy?” I whispered back.
“You’ll get yourself killed, this guy is mental!” Zayn whispered.
“Then I guess we’ll be able to see how effective my classes at uni have been.”
“Kathy no!”
“Relax! If I distract him for long enough, the police will be back.”
We tried to stop her, but it was already too late, she’d already stepped away from us.
“Oliver, look, you were an alright guy, but…“
“I can’t believe she’s doing this,” Zayn whispered. “She’s moving further away and putting herself in danger so we won’t get hurt.”
“…but it must be because of all these events that have been happening that have made you act this way-“
“You know what? I don’t think it’s that. Maybe it’s just because of you, you and your existence. You’re the one who made me like this, and I can’t say I care too much for that either…”
Zayn and I leapt forwards towards him, but his reflexes were too quick and he dodged us. He leapt forwards and grabbed Kathy from behind, putting the blade on her neck.
“Step closer and the blade might just slip,” he said with malice. “And don’t even think of calling for help either.”
Zayn and I glanced at each other from the corner of our eyes.
“Put it down Oliver,” I stepped closer.
“Don’t come closer! You know the consequences.”
I stopped when a small trickle of blood starting dribbling down Kathy’s neck. She didn’t seem to care there was a knife digging into her skin, she gave a half-hearted laugh.
“You won’t get away with this. Your heart is just pounding furiously isn’t it? You’re scared aren’t you? You know that if you kill me you’ll be locked up for the rest of your life.”
“I think it’ll be worth it,” Oliver whispered, his tone made even my skin crawl.
Great, another mental patient on the loose. First Amanda and now this. It was awful not being able to do anything. Oliver obviously had the edge and I was directly in his sight, so I couldn’t move. I glanced around at Zayn and Connor. Zayn looked like I did, he wanted to move but couldn't let Kathy get hurt. Connor surprised me though; being out of direct sight of Oliver, he'd already managed to shuffle quietly behind Oliver and Kathy.
“Oliver why don’t you put down the knife,” Connor said from right next to him.
Oliver turned in surprise and in his shock the knife left Kathy’s neck. She looked like she wanted to elbow him or something, but I hastily pulled her out of harm’s way. Connor leapt forwards and tackled Oliver to the ground. For a split second I thought Oliver was defeated, but then I remembered the he still had a knife and when Connor fell back, the blade was speared into his stomach. Oliver gave a great shout of Connor and sprinted out the door. I wanted to go and follow him, but Kathy was dropping down on the ground next to Conner. She had tears flowing steadily from her eyes. I looked at Zayn. ‘We should stay’ he mouthed.
“Connor, oh my god…” she pulled out the knife from his stomach. “You’re going to be fine. Stay awake!”
“Kathy, it’s useless…” Connor’s voice was very quiet and his breaths were ragged. “I’m losing too much blood.”
“You are not going to die!”
“I know what condition I’m in-“
“No, we’re going to get you to hospital! Just stay with me!”
We couldn’t get him to the hospital without picking him up and opening his wound further, so all we could do was wait for the ambulance Zayn called.
“Look, I need to tell you something.”
“You can tell me later! We need to get you to the hospital!”
“I’m not going to make it, just listen.” Kathy shut her mouth. “Cheating on you was the most idiotic thing I ever did and I know I was downright git, but I need you to know that I really do love you. That’s why I went through everything –legal or illegal – to try and win you back. And now I’ve noticed just how stupid that was. I truly am sorry for everything I’ve done to you guys.” Zayn and I looked down at our shoes. “Tell Harry I’m sorry I kept him prisoner for so long, that was a really dick move. But Louis, I can’t even begin to say how sorry I am for putting that between you and Kathy. What I did was so shitty,” Connor stopped.
“Oi! I will not forgive you if you just go and die. I need you stay alive so I have someone to hate!” I said (I know it was harsh, but I didn’t know what else to say).
“The ambulance is coming! You’re going to make it,” Kathy tried to say through her tears.
Connor shook his head slightly. “I won’t, but I’m just glad that I still got a chance to redeem myself before I die.”
“You’re not going to die, do you hear me?”
We heard the sirens of the ambulance stop and paramedics came piling into the old shed.
“No wait, can I just say something first?” Connor asked.
“No, let them save you first and then you can say whatever you want to say,” said Kathy.
“Just listen-“
“I won’t listen until you’re in a stable condition.”
“I’m going to say it anyway then. I understand if you never want to forgive me for what I did to you, but I just need you to know that I only did everything because I love you so-“
He didn’t finish his sentence. His last words were caught in his throat and his arm fell to the side.
“CONNOR!” Kathy shook him. “WAKE UP YOU IDIOT! I HAVEN’T EVEN FORGIVEN YOU YET! YOU CAN’T DIE!”
Connor was rushed into the emergency room at the hospital while Kathy and I waited outside. We completely forgot about the awkwardness between us after we’d broken up and Kathy had her head buried in my chest, crying. Zayn arrived back from recording his statement with the police and sat down next to us to wait. He gave us one piece of good news that Oliver didn’t go far and was captured by the police (which was probably why they never returned). It was strange that we would be waiting for Connor to come out of the emergency room safely when the last few times we’d been here we had been waiting for Kathy.
The doctor finally came out after god knows how long. We stood up and crowded around him.
“I’m sorry, we tried the best we could, but the knife got him in an artery and he’d already lost too much blood.”
Kathy fell back on the chair. As I tried to process the fact I couldn't stop thinking about the last few moments before Connor's heart stopped because it was when he truly dropped his facade and see him properly for the first time.
*
I drove Kathy back home from the hospital. It took her a while to stop crying and I didn’t want to leave her alone especially seeing it was already quite dark out.
“How are you feeling now?”
“I’m feeling fine now, I just feel so goddamn weak. He was there right in front of me and I couldn’t do anything about it. Everyone always says I’m tough, but I’ve cried more in the last couple years I can probably fill the Thames.”
“It isn’t your fault and it’s only natural for you to cry. What sort of girl have you seen that doesn’t cry?”
Kathy smiled gently. “Thanks for seeing me home Louis, you really didn’t have to.”
“It was no problem, and just as a precaution. I know Oliver’s currently under custody, but just in case he has a secret gang somewhere.”
Kathy laughed. My heart jumped. I hadn’t heard that sound in ages. “Um… you want something to eat or drink?” She turned to the kitchen.
I didn’t reply but wrapped my arms around her waist from behind. “They don’t know how special you are, they don’t know what you’ve done to my heart… I miss you,” I whispered, pulling her closer.
“I miss you too,” she replied after a few seconds.
I flipped her around so we faced each other. “Then why can’t we be together? I love you and you love me. Oliver is going to jail after the trial, what else is there to worry about?”
“I love you so much, but that also results us in getting hurt even more because when something does happen to us again, it’ll really hurt. I don’t care if I get hurt but I can’t watch you getting hu-“
I cut her off with a kiss.
“I don’t care. I just need to be with you.” I connected our lips again and she started kissing me back. She moved her hands up and down my body and then slipped them under my t-shirt and ran them along my skin. “You want to take this somewhere comfier?” I whispered, attaching my lips to her neck.
“Yeah, that sounds nice,” she whispered back in between kisses.
*
I opened my eyes, watching Kathy's peaceful sleeping face. She looked so cute and so perfect while she was sleeping I just wanted to pause at that moment and watch her forever. Her jet-black hair framed the side of her face , emphasising Kathy's facial features; her cute button-nose, her long eyelashes, her soft, pink lips curved into a little smile telling me she was probably having a good dream. It was only in the mornings when I woke up next to her could I really appreciate just how beautiful she was. Her eyes fluttered open, her hazel eyes shining with happiness. I hoped it was because of me.
"Morning sleepyhead," I greeted.
"Morning," she replied, rubbing her eyes and looking cute as hell.
"So I hate to say this but er... about last night..."
"What does it mean?"
“Should we start all over again? Hi, I'm Louis Tomlinson."
“Louis you're saying that as you lay in my bed naked with an equally naked me the morning after we sleep together again. Does that really make sense? I mean I could literally lift the sheets and see everything, that's not what strangers do," Kathy pointed out.
"I say one sentence and you give me back ten."
"I'm sorry, I just hate it when movies and TV shows do that. It’s so stupid. What’s the point of starting over again? I know you, you know me. We’ve kissed, we’ve seen each other naked, we’ve slept together, it’s just awkward starting over again.”
“So should we just go back to normal?"
Kathy nodded ferverently. "Back to normal," she said, giving me a light kiss on the corner of my mouth. “I love you Tommo,” she said.
I tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I love you too Kathy.”
“We need to get dressed,” I said scrambling out of bed. Kathy, Zayn and I were expected to be at Oliver’s hearing and even Evelyn was supposed to be there as she was also testifying for Oliver’s intentions. “We have the flight to Melbourne for the hearing.”
Kathy got dressed quickly, and then started to decide what to pack. I stayed on the bed and didn't move an inch.
"Louis why aren't you packing?"
"I hate packing, can you pack for me?" I pouted.
"No I hate packing too, it's bad enough packing one suitcase I'm not going to pack for you too." I groaned and climbed off the bed, getting dressed too. “What am I gonna wear to the hearing?”
“Here, just wear this,” I threw her a black dress distractedly while looking for a shirt to wear. When I looked up Kathy was giving me a disapproving glare. “What?”
“Do you think I’m going to wear this to a hearing?” she asked crossly, but her tone was touched with a little playfulness. In her hands she was holding a revealing and short, black nightdress.
I smiled cheekily. "I have an idea that's much more fun than packing and it can help you decide whether to still pack that or not."
Our activities in the morning caused us to be later than all the others at the airport. One glance at our intertwined hands, the others all knew that we’d gotten back together again.
On the plane, I started getting restless again... as always. I wasn't the only one though. Next to me, Kathy was fidgeting, probably because of her nerves about court.
"I really need to calm down don't I?" she asked.
I nodded. She sighed and then took a book out from her bag.
"I thought you said you weren't going to cave in like every other human being in this world and not read The Fault In Our Stars?"
"I also said that I'll never ever have any sort of compassion or any other emotion apart from hatred towards Connor and look what happened when he d-" her voice caught in her throat.
I rested my hands on hers. "You okay?"
She nodded. "I don't really know why I started reading this. I think I just want to change. After all of this, I want to change. I've had enough with detective work and crime and murder. Especially murder."
I smilled understandably and leaned forwards to kiss her. After I pulled away Kathy opened up her book again. Not wanting to interrupt her I went instead to bother Niall with my restlessness.
Two hours later when I returned back into my seat Kathy was fast asleep, her head lolling back in her seat and her book halfway between her lap and the ground. I marked her page and put it back in her bag. My hand nudged against her phone and the screen lighted up, showing her lock screen. It caught my eye and when I took it out and checked it properly I noticed her lock screen was a picture of her and Connor. They both looked happy, they were looking at each other with pure adoration in their eyes. Whoever had taken the picture had obviously taken it at a perfect time when they'd both turned to each other, truly and utterly loving the other.
"Hey Louis do-" Evelyn paused when she saw the phone. "I took that photo," she explained. "It felt like a lifetime ago now, but it's strange that it was really just three years ago. This was right after graduation and they were still in their honeymoon stage - actually I don't think they ever really got out of that stage, it went straight from that to breaking up. I was still with my boyfriend before Oliver and I remember being so jealous of them two oh sorry you probably didn't want to know all that."
"No it's fine," I said.
I really was fine. Seeing the picture didn't make me mad. Or even jealous. I knew that this was the last she could do to not let her first true love become a fading memory.
*
After the very long flight, we finally landed in Melbourne well into the night. However, the whole lot of us, especially Kathy, got a big surprise when we found James at the airport.
“What are you doing here?!” Kathy exclaimed.
“I could ask you the same question.”
“I asked first.”
“I saw on Twitter you guys were at the airport apparently coming here, so I came to check it out myself. What are you doing back in Melbourne?”
“Um… long story.”
“So tell me the short version.”
“Alright, we’re here because we’re going to court.”
“Why are you going to court?”
“I sued him,” Kathy said.
“Connor?!” James yelled, his eyes wide.
A lot of people started staring at him.
“Um actually, Connor’s dead,” Kathy’s voice became quiet, even though she’d hated Connor, she didn’t exactly take his death very well.
“He’s dead? What happened?”
“Basically the full story short is that my ex came back to try and ruin our lives and then he tried to rape your sister, and when he failed he tried to kill her but he ended up killing Connor instead.”
“HE FUCKING DID WHAT?!” Now we were definitely receiving stares.
“Can we explain everything at the hotel?” Kathy begged.
James followed us to our hotel where we checked in. Harry, Evelyn and Zayn retired to their separate rooms, but James followed Kathy and I to our room so we could explain everything to him. I sat down on the bed, crossing my legs and Kathy and her brother sat down on the armchairs. While they were sitting so close I only just realised how similar the two of them looked. Their eyes were a close shade of hazel and James' hair was equally as dark as Kathy. Although while Kathy's hair was tied back neatly in a ponytail, James looked bedraggled as though he had just climbed out of bed. His black hair was sticking out at all angles and he kept on messying it up further with his hands.
“So hold on, you’re saying that the whole time Evelyn’s ex-boyfriend was going out with her, he was really after you the whole time?” Kathy nodded. “And then he was working with that douche so he could get you?” Kathy nodded again.
James leant back and took a while to comprehend all the information he’d received.
“I knew when mum and dad let you move to London something bad will happen. And what do you know? I was right.”
“I get it James,” Kathy said irritably.
After another couple minutes, James got up to leave too.
“I’ll let you two get a good sleep before the hearing. See you tomorrow. And don’t worry Kath, I won’t tell mum and dad.”
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All evilness has to stop sometime, and even though I loved Connor something had to happen to him and at least he got to redeem himself before his death! When I was writing this chapter I swear a few times fell... What did you guys think of it? Please comment! <3