Chapter Thirty-Two
Flora's P.O.V
Change.
I knew it was going to happen, it was inevitable, but I hadn't expected Parker to act on it quite so soon. Four days after my secret was revealed, in fact. I didn't know that to Parker this had felt like four years, after all it wasn't him sharing a roof with Ian, but it had. I had been in bed when he came knocking at my door, or rather my window, in a very Parker Heywood fashion to change up my life for what felt like the billionth time since I'd met him. This, however, was about to rank first place on my board that held the most life altering events that had so far taken place.
As a child, I'd been obsessed when it came to romance concerning fairytales. The princes forever being there for their beloved princesses no matter what perilous danger stood between their feelings toward one another. How beautiful, tinkling music would play in a grand ballroom that when danced to with said prince it was impossible for the pair to not fall madly in love without even asking the necessities like, say, are you a vegetarian? Not that I was, or judged anybody if they hosted cruciferous vegetable nights rather than ripping into a bloody steak, but if one was against that sort of thing then dinner time might have been rather difficult. Especially as the eventual realisation of the turn-off that was his eating habits would be found out after the marriage. Not that either would care - they were in love! In fairytales love conquered all, and I had never taken much notice of the ridiculous simplicity of it until recently.
It was now more than ever that I wished my life would reflect the ease of a fairytale. To confide in my prince with my troubles and have him speed away on horseback, sword strapped to his side and glistening in the sunset, to fix matters and return triumphant. To know that my ending was guaranteed to be a happy one for nothing could stand in the way of true love. To throw my long hair out of the window and have him climb up safely.
But life wasn't a fairytale, and love was hard.
My hair was much too short to offer my struggling prince a helping hand, who, swearing colourfully, almost broke the drain pipe on his last push getting himself inside. I slid the window shut after him, shivering from the cold night air. Parker stood doubled over, sweating despite the frosty weather after his wrestle with brick and piping for the past half hour.
"I think," He wheezed. "I preferred breaking into the downstairs windows."
"Sure you're not just getting a little soft in the places there used to be muscle? You had been using doors for an alarming length of time until the Never-Talk-To-Parker rule came into play. Think you're just losing your touch." I teased.
"Very funny," He stoped glaring once he noticed I was hugging my chilled arms closer to my body to preserve the last of my heat. It was late and I hadn't been expecting a visit so of course I was in my pyjamas that consisted of Parker's lacrosse shirt - which, I might add, I was supposed to have given him back many months ago but claimed I'd lost it - and nothing else save my comfortable pair of girls boxer shorts. Not at all an outfit I had ever wanted him to have the pleasure of viewing, but it was a little late to change now seeing as he'd finally gotten himself inside and it was four am. "Are you cold?"
"No, I'm f-" Parker had already walked over and started to vigorously rub the sides of my arms. I stood - or rather jiggled about on the spot, my feet virtually lifting from the floor every now and then from his enthusiasm - rather uncomfortably for a few minutes before I put my foot down. "What are you doing?"
"Heating you," He said as if I were the stupid one.
"This is weird."
"Well you don't like hugs-"
"Since when has that ever stopped you?" I raised an eyebrow at him. He knew I'd grown accustomed to my once most despised form of physical contact, just as I had his kisses. When it concerned him, things were fine. He knew that now. "What's up with you?"
He retracted his hands and I swayed on the spot, now unused to feeling so still on my flooring after the five minutes of intense jostling. "Nothing."
"Something's wrong with you," I pressed, prodding him on the cheek with my forefinger as one might tentatively touch their experiment when sporting a lab coat and intellectual-looking goggles. "Something off. What do you have to tell me? Spill the beans."
He cracked. "How can you just act like nothing happened? Like I don't know?"
"What?" I blinked, somewhat startled by his sudden outburst. Though it was in a hissed whisper I couldn't help but think my mother's ear was somehow already pressed against my door and eavesdropping on us, Ian hovering over her shoulder magically already knowing everything even before I did.
"You know exactly what I'm talking about," He sighed as he ran a hand down his face and started pacing my room. It wasn't very big. The walls were barely three of his long legged strides apart and the lack of movement that this allowed him to make seemed to make him even more antsy. "Ian. Alexander. Whatever his real name is."
"Where is this coming from?" Had it really been wishful thinking that he just forget about it?
"Maybe you're content with living in denial a little while longer. You've done it for years, you're a professional denialist. Push it to the back of your mind some more, what harm is a few more years? But Flora, he's living under the same roof as you and he knows you know. What's his end game? Why hasn't he struck yet?"
I shook my head, not wanting to think about any of this. I'd been doing so well. Small smiles in the morning, my mother under the impression I was now taking those pills and the first night on them, where I'd haphazardly cut my hair and I was the one who accidentally broke the mirror rather than Parker, was just my getting used to them. Ian looked at me curiously every time the medication was brought up, caught me once as I took pills back out of my mouth when my mother hadn't been looking, but said nothing. Small smiles and promises that one day soon, once the pills had truly kicked in, I'd be open to attempting physical contact again. The foundations I'd built my lies upon were fragile indeed, but that didn't mean I wanted somebody to smash them all to pieces just yet. I didn't know when I wanted them destroyed. Maybe never. Perhaps I could maintain the façade forever and have nobody notice and nothing bad happen. Maybe I could make my own unconventional fairytale.
"Maybe I've changed my mind. Everything's fine. My mum is happy, Ian hasn't done anything. Maybe- maybe he was just clearing the air. Wanted to tell the truth before starting his life again, happy with my mum-"
"Yet. Ian hasn't done anything yet. Are you listening to yourself?" He let out a short, unamused laugh. "You're stalling and you know it. The man currently with your mother killed your dad, for crying out loud! Look. I came here to-" He took a deep breath and for some reason unbeknown to me I tensed all over. It was as if my body knew what was about to be voiced before my brain. "I came here to tell you that I'm telling the police and I'm doing it with or without your consent, but I'd much rather do so with. I have the phone with the recording. You never did take it back from me and when you told me you'd lost it, I spoke to Skylar. She shared my concerns. She didn't like the idea of my giving it back to you either because we both knew something like this would happen. That you'd freak out or you'd delete it. I'm sorry, honey, I really am. If I could somehow trade my place with yours, you know I would. But I can't. The next best thing I can do is get that disgusting piece of shit out of your house, and if that means you hate me for it then so be it."
"No... no, Parker don't-" And I was frantically patting him down, searching his pockets in a futile attempt to find that small, rectangular device. They came back empty, and Parker, staring at me with sad hazel eyes gave a small shake of his head before re-opening the window.
"I'm sorry." He said, and somehow his descent was so very much quicker than his climb had been. He was hitting the grass before I even had the chance to open my mouth and scream his name. I did it anyway, knowing I was too late.
"Parker!" I didn't care that my mother and Ian would most definitely hear it. Would undoubtedly be rushing to my room in a matter of seconds, rattling the locked handle of my door. "Parker don't! If you take him down he'll-"
"I know what he'll do," He called back, and he was already on the pavement and running in the direction of the station. I thought of my dad. Thought of how my father had run out of the house eight years ago on the exact same journey Parker was taking today with the exact same intention, and how Ian had intervened. How Ian always intervened with everything. How if Parker took him down for this, Ian would intervene again and chances were they'd be sharing a cell. "And it's worth it!"
"PARKER!"
The door knob rattled. The sound of a fist hammering on the wooden door followed shortly after. "Flora!" It was my mother. "Flora, open the door! Are you alright in there? Flora?"
I cracked the door open a sliver, refusing to open it any farther though I could see my mother wanted nothing more than to barge in and tuck me back into bed. Maybe even chain me there to ensure nothing bad ever touched me again. Ironic that the person most likely to do that shared a bed with her. Shared the house with us both.
"Honey," Her face was puffy with sleep and visibly anxious as it peered through the wedge of space. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," I said with a voice that lacked conviction, and I spotted Ian over her shoulder. Even with the lack of light I could still see his ginger hair shining like a beacon, his dark eyes glistening. I didn't know how I hadn't realised his identity beforehand. How those icy blue irises hadn't somehow reached me through his contacts and dragged me into their fathomless pools. Had he heard Parker's responses to my cries? Would it only be a matter of time before he was hot on his heels, mowing him down and digging his grave next to my father's and the man whose face he wore? "Just a nightmare."
And it was a nightmare. My entire life was one long, never ending nightmare.
Parker's P.O.V
The wind was like a large cold hand repeatedly slapping my face. The guys were late and it was making me nervous. More nervous than I already was. What if they didn't show? They'd all agreed, even Hayden much to my surprise, to speak the truth, but that didn't mean they couldn't panic and drop out. Not until everybody was here, standing with me in front of the shabby building that was our town's police station, would I fully believe they'd meant what they'd sworn.
For me it had been easy. Flora, in many ways, reminded me of my sister. She had the same small frame, extremely large eyes that found ways to soften my heart even when she wasn't trying, and the same defiance that she receive any help from me even when she knew it was needed. They'd both needed me to look out for them, and I'd already failed one. I would not be failing the other, and that was a promise I'd made long ago.
"Are you scared?" Skylar asked from beside me. It was the first time she'd spoken since she'd arrived here shortly after me. Her long hair tied back behind her head periodically whipped my arm from the harsh wind but other than that, I could get lost in my own head and completely forget about her being there.
"A little," I admitted truthfully. "But probably not as much as I should be."
She nodded as if she understood. I realised that she probably did. Skylar, I'd come to notice throughout the past few weeks, was good at listening and understanding even when given little to go on. She also didn't pry when she knew it best not to, no matter how much she desired the information. I had no doubt in my mind that this was one of the many reasons she and Flora got along so well.
In the weeks Flora's mother had refused to allow us to see one another, I'd really hassled Skylar in the school corridors. She'd told me that the teachers were monitoring her interactions with me just as much as Flora's due to their closeness with one another and so I'd have to wait for anything like that to be possible. On top of that she had wondered herself if time apart might have benefited her best friend. Of course when she saw how Flora had become she eventually agreed that messages could be exchanged through her, but not with me. It had to be one of my friends to avoid as much suspicion. Axel had taken the job. This had gone on successfully for the past few weeks, right up until the truth had come out. The last four days had consisted of my risking death at the hands of Flora's mother if caught and from falling off a drain pipe as I chanced visiting her at ridiculous o'clock. The thought of Ian sharing the house with her whilst she was forbidden to leave it was even more repulsive than before. When I'd told Skylar messages wouldn't be necessary because I had to see her in person, she'd laughed and said: you're better suited to her than I ever thought possible. I wasn't sure what Skylar and I were, whether we were friends or not, but there was definitely a respect between us now that hadn't existed before. I was glad she was here.
"Are you?" I asked.
"Me?" She seemed surprise. "I'm not putting anything at stake, here. I'm just making a statement to support my friend. You, on the other hand, and Axel and all of your other friends... you guys are putting your futures at risk."
I shrugged. "That doesn't mean you can't be nervous. The police are intimidating."
She stared at me for a little while as if deliberating whether or not to divulge in her true feelings. "Okay. I guess I am a little nervous."
"I'd be surprised if you weren't."
It was quiet for another short while. "Thank you," She said suddenly. "For being there for Flora. For doing this for her even when she told you not to. I know how much you care for her. I can see it. It must have been hard doing something that wouldn't make her happy, but I want you to know that once it's all sorted out she'll appreciate it in the long run."
"It's a shame the long run couldn't be with me." I forced a smile at the frost covered curb, scuffed the toe of my boot against it to expose the grey concrete underneath. "She'll have someone else when I'm behind bars."
"You know she loves you, too, right? Even if she hasn't said it yet."
"I know. I get that now." I looked around the empty car park. Other than a few police cars in the farthest corner from us, the place was barren. They'll come, I told myself. They'll come. If not for Flora, for me. For what's right. "I just keep thinking that if Ian hadn't come to this town then none of this would be happening. We'd just be average teenagers. Hell," I laughed. "I'd be asking her to prom right about now, I wouldn't have been waiting out here."
"You can still ask her."
I stared at her. "Yeah, I'll ask my guards if they'll allow the waltz during visiting hours. That'll go down a treat."
"I don't think things will end as badly as you're imagining. It'll be difficult and will probably take a long time and a good lawyer, but I think you'll make it. As George Michael once said, you gotta have faith." She nudged me, forcing me to smile a little despite myself. "And who knows, maybe if Ian hadn't come to town things wouldn't have turned out the way they did. You might never have even met Flora in the first place. It's funny how things play out like that. Everything has a reason."
I thought back to the first day I'd paid attention to Flora. Really acknowledged who she was rather than just knowing her from the whispers of the girl who didn't like intimacy. The girl who'd rejected Jason Ashford when he'd tried to make a move on her - he'd bitched about that for weeks before he'd left. I thought back to how she'd almost run me over because I'd walked straight into the middle of the road without looking or paying any attention to anything other than the argument I was having inside my own head. When Flora had asked me what I was doing in front of her car I'd simply told her I was crossing the road. I'd suggested it was her fault as she clearly hadn't been paying attention herself. She'd said she was yawning but it had been obvious she'd been belting out lyrics to a song. In truth, however, I'd been in a blind rage after receiving a call from Ian blackmailing myself and the guys to do more work for him. Our group had been conflicted, half of us wanting to confront him and the other wanting to continue as we had been in fear of him. And in that blind rage, I'd walked straight into Flora's path.
"I didn't think about it like that." I said, and then, changing the subject because I didn't want to feel appreciative to Ian for anything, I asked, "Do you think they're actually going to come? Nobody's answering my texts."
"Axel said his tire was flat and they'll be here soon." Said Skylar, reading from her phone. I raised my eyebrows knowing I had no responses to my own demanding text messages that I'd sent him.
Before I could comment on anything of the sort, a car veered round the corner and into the car park. It wasn't rolling smoothly, but almost jerking as it came to a stop just in front of us, thick black smoke pluming from the back.
"My baby," Axel was muttering as he hurriedly clambered out and surveyed the damage to his sports car. "My poor baby..."
"That was like Fast and Furious ohmygod ohmygod!" Matthew was squealing as he leapt out of the car and onto the bonnet. "I have never felt so alive! That was madness! Sheer madness!"
"He fucking shot at us!" Topher yelled, absentmindedly opening the door for a shaken looking Hayden and helping him out. He looked like he was about to keel over and spew the contents of his stomach over the tarmac. Topher, on the other hand, just looked enraged. His ear also seemed to be gushing blood. "He shot at us!"
"Insanity!" Matthew continued to cry to anybody that would hear it.
"We could have died, Matthew!" Spat Hayden as he clutched his stomach. We were all still battered and bruised from the fight with Jason, but Hayden and I had received the worst injuries. I couldn't be sure of whether he was holding his stomach because he was about to vomit or in case his stitches had opened up again. "The people Ian wants dead usually end up that way!"
"I'm shook," Whispered Axel as he stroked the once glossy surface of his car. It was scratched and dented. He paused for a moment to glare at Matthew as if his standing on the bonnet could damage it any further. "Thou hath shaken me..."
Skylar hurried toward Axel, and much to my surprise Axel tore his eyes away from his car to smile at her. "Are you alright?" And she was tilting his face from side to side, reminding me of Flora when she'd seen me with injuries one too many times to count.
And... was Axel blushing?
Axel scratched the back of his neck, shrugged his shoulders. "Aw, yeah. I'm fine. Drove us out of the way, you know. Close call. Totally saved the day."
"-and then we went zoom zoom zoom!" Matthew was making animated hand gestures, all but bouncing on his tip-toes on the bonnet of the car, but nobody was paying attention save myself. "A real car chase! And then bam! Ian hit a light post!"
"Ian?" I choked. "Ian shot at your car?"
"Yeah. Scary good aim, too. Shot through the back window and blasted half of Topher's ear off. When we sped up he aimed for the tires instead. It made us swerve down the wrong street which took us even longer to get here, but just as well because when Ian tried to make the unexpected turn he crashed into a- what did he crash into Matthew?" Axel turned to Skylar. "See, I'm a responsible driver. I pay attention to the road in front of me, not the roads other people are taking."
"Next time you say you've got a flat tire, please specify what caused it." Said Skylar, her face white and worried and exaggerated by the dark sky behind it. "But also never ever text from behind the wheel again in case you die."
"-flames everywhere, and then he was out and running and I swear it reminded me of The Terminator minus Arny Schwarzenegger. Fast and Furious meets The Terminator because of all the cars and the crime and the difficulty with the bad guy dying-"
Skylar and I shared a look, undoubtedly recalling Ian having murdered Flora's father on his way to the police station. Axel was right. It had been a close call. Far too close for comfort.
"-and then we were speeding away so I couldn't see anymore but he's probably still running! Absolute madness!" Matthew finished, hands in the air.
"Everybody get inside," I barked. "If he's coming this way then we're confessing before he gets the chance to shut us up. Agreed?"
The six of us marched into the fluorescent lighting, soldiers in flannel shirts and skinny jeans and sneakers, save for Skylar of course in her low-rise jeans and- flip flops?
"Yes, I know it's winter. They're comfortable so shut up." She snapped as she caught my look. Axel was snickering quietly to himself and she shot him a glare.
"Didn't say a word." I replied as we stopped at the reception desk. The man who'd had his earphones in jumped with a start as he noticed the sudden arrival of a group of teenagers before him, one with only an ear and a half. I nodded toward the guys, the signal that they should take a seat. There was no need for them until after the questions started rolling; they didn't need to be here for the parts concerning Flora. Skylar stayed by my side. "We're here to make statements about the murder of Ian Greene and Ethan Montgomery. We're also here to report a rape."
The blond boy, whose face was still recovering from a severe case of acne, was clearly new to the job. "I- wow, okay. Eh... and your friends?" He gestured nervously toward the group of boys in the corner. Matthew gave him an enthusiastic wave.
"They'll be making statements after you've talked to me."
"R-right, let me just call my superior-"
"And tell him you might want to lock this place up," I interrupted as he stood up. "The psychotic rapist murderer is in fact on his way here as we speak."
The blond boy used the telephone next to him to call his superior, chewing on his nails as he did so. "Hey, Uncle James. Yeah, this is an emergency. You've got to come up front because these people have said-"
"You've got to be fucking joking," I leaned forward and yanked the phone out of his hand. "This is Parker Heywood. I'm sure you've heard of me, I used to be quite the regular. Get your ass out here immediately or everybody in this room is going to be shot by the guy that's currently hunting us down, including your nephew. And word of advice? He is not ready for this job." I slammed the phone down.
"Was that really necessary?" Skylar asked quietly.
"Yeah," Axel answered for me. "Because that shadowy figure that's running straight for this building looks an awful lot like our old pal, Ian."
Matthew put his hands over his face, peeking out from between his fingers. "I preferred this when we were in a car..."
The doors burst open.
//I'VE PUT A NEW STORY UP. I'd love it if you checked it out. I feel like this one will be much better written? I've posted the extended summary, casting and the first chapter to see if anybody would be interested but my full focus will be making sure that Frigid Flora is done and dusted first. It was Sunday yesterday??? Who knew. Legit thought it was Saturday I'm losing my mind I'm sorry this was late. I'm all for having finished up high school but this big stretch of space between that and uni is messing with my head like what month is this never mind what day whAT YEAR. I hated my life being organised for me with a strict routine everyday and being told when I could pee or munch on some fruit snacks but this limbo is madness. kk back to the point. hope you enjoyed this update, sorry about the cliffhanger again and also please hang in we'll be lighthearted again soon I swear.
this is dedicated to @Spu007 someone I thought had stopped reading when my updating schedule got super bad but you're back !! bless up. tysm your support was missed😩👏🏼
so anyways, that's all I guess. nothing new is happening I'm basically sinking into the folds of my couch. hopefully I'll still be able to type from here a week ahead, if not call the fire brigade pls. I hope you're all having a lovely time doing whatever it is you're all doing. until next Sunday, amigos (unless of course I'm lost in leather and stuffing)(yes my couch is made of leather and yes it's super damn cold in the brutal winter that never ends in Scotland)(also yes when there's freakish warm weather your skin does stick to it uncomfortably)(10/10 do not recommend leather couch)(adios for real this time) x //