Renleigh Kensington
I hated panic. It always made me feel helpless and lost and those were things I despised feeling. When it came to it being related to someone close to me, everything just turned ten times worse. Especially my brother. He was pretty much the only person who I could go to and kind of just allow myself to be more than a strict boss—although Harry played a similar role in my life as well—and I didn't say it much, mainly because I couldn't, but I loved him a lot and I worried about him when he showed no signs of him being alive.
And it had been two weeks now that we have last spoken. I wasn't sure what was going on with him. He usually hit me up by now, asking for diesel money and he has not done that yet so automatically, I was really on the edge.
When I pulled up to the apartment where he lived with one of his mates, I already dreaded going up. The lad just irked me and I wanted him gone from my brother. I didn't think he was the perfect friend for him but then again, I had the tendency to be quite judgemental.
A few knocks on the door and a very tired looking Brandon faced me. He had dark circles under his eyes and they looked red, bloodshot. His skin was pale and I swear he looked skinnier than usual. It looked like he lost his muscles and stuff which I knew he cared for quite a lot, he lived at the gym if he wasn't in class or at work.
"Alright, will I have to interrogate you or are you giving yourself up willingly?" I asked him with furrowed eyebrows and stern voice. I walked past him and in the apartment which I expected to look messy and unkept.
"Hm, I don't know—will I have to interrogate you or will you give yourself up willingly?"
"Excuse me?" I laughed at him in disbelief. I crossed my arms across my chest and looked at him with a shocked expression.
"Did you really think you could keep all of the shit you did during uni hidden under some kind of non-existent rug?" he asked as his voice started to get louder and louder. "Did you really think no one was going to find out about your pregnancy? The drugs you used?"
"What... what are you talking about?" I asked him, extremely confused. "I never used drugs in my life. I have no idea what you are talking about."
"Please, Renleigh," he laughed at me. "There is no need to fucking lie more."
"I'm not lying, Brandon."
"Well, then, I assume you have a great explanation for all the receipts I have."
"Receipts?" I asked. Where the fuck did he get all this shit from? Fuck.
"Cut the crap, Renleigh. Just tell me why you felt the need to fucking lie about all of this shit!"
"Lie about what, Brandon?" I shouted at him because I didn't want to talk about it. But he was very much like me and once someone set me off, there was no way I could calm down before it all got out of me. And this was happening to him right now. "What pregnancy and what drugs? Who filled your head with lies?"
"Alright, how about I show you instead?" he asked cockily. He walked past me, I assumed to his bedroom because I heard him bust open a door.
"By all fucking means," I replied as I followed him. "Whilst you are trying to find whatever it is you are trying to find—mind telling me why you look like someone out of The Walking Dead? And if it has anything to do with you not contacting me for so long?"
"Oh, it has everything to do with one thing—you, my darling sister."
"O-okay, what the fuck is up with you?" I laughed at the way he addressed me. He never called me that before, I have never even thought of him ever calling me that.
"You know," he stopped for a second and sat on his bed. I just stood across from him as I tried to figure out what the fuck I just walked into but nothing seemed to make sense. "When I first heard all of the shit you done, I thought no... there is no way in hell my sister would ever do something like that. But then I got all the evidence there was and it suddenly made sense."
"I have no idea what you are accusing me of right now but I don't like it."
"Of course, you don't," he chuckled evilly. There was one question that rotated in my mind and it was: what the fuck? "Who would like to be reminded of the fact that they started up a business on drug money, ey?"
"I beg your pardon?"
"Oh, you heard me, Renleigh."
"I'm sorry, but even if I did, how would that be any of your concern?"
"Because I'm linked to that money and I'm sorry but I don't want to be dragged down your rabbit hole."
"First of all, fuck you," I said, now pissed off that he accused me of shit that was no true. "Second of all, calm down and talk to me rather than accuse me of things that just popped out of your head."
"I wish these popped out of my head," he said. "There!" he chucked a box at me and I barely had time to catch it. "That is filled with all the receipts that show you did actually buy drugs—quite the amount, might I add. What you did with it, is pretty clear. Especially further down the line... yeah, these ones," he picked out the ones that showed the name of the pills I took when I had a problem to get rid of. "I mean, wow, sister. Just wow," he looked at me absolutely mad and disappointed. "You had to go and buy drugs to get rid of your kid as opposed to doing it the safe way. Because when does Renleigh Kensington ever ask for help?"
I ignored him as I continued to look through the papers. It was just the ones that had my name on it. They seemed real, with how creased they were and kind of discoloured. The dates were right, at least I assumed they were. The days matched up—I usually got drugs for my flatmates on weekends which included Friday.
"Where did you get these?" I asked him dead seriously. I knew the answer, at least I had one in mind but I wanted to hear it from it. Actually, I wanted to hear the answer that did not match up to mine, from his mouth. I desperately wished that the answer he was going to give me will be different.
I needed it to be different.
"Is that really all you have to say to me?" he laughed at me with tears in his eyes. "Fucking hell. How about you explain all of this to me, yeah? Just before I go and hang out your dirty laundry to our parents, hm."
"No, how about you shut up and tell me when this all started," I said. He was pissing me off. He was just like me and he didn't give it up until he got what he wanted. But little did he know that would not happen. At least, not until he did as asked. "Why do you look like shit?"
"Because someone has to work off your dirty work," he spat. "Since you fail to pay your debt, I'm having to work it off for you because I'm such a loving and protective brother."
"What the fuck are you talking about?"
"Can you please stop fucking lying and just-,"
"Hey, are you two cool?" Brandon's annoying friend came in the room in the middle of our argument and I had to hold myself back from slamming the door in his face.
"Just piss off, mate," my brother said to him and the lad placed his hands up in the air as he backed out of the doorway. "And you. Just fucking tell me why you kept all of this hidden."
"You seem to be really into giving out orders, huh?" I asked. "How about you answer my question since I was the one who asked first?!"
"I will when you tell me why you did what you did!"
"Because I fucking had to, alright!" I shouted at him, overwhelmed by the way he caught onto me. My eyes teared up from anger and I wanted to slap him across the face to give him something else to question me about. "Now tell me who told you all of this bullshit and where you got these papers from or I swear to god I will do something that I might regret for the rest of my life!"
"Louis Tomlinson! Louis fucking Tomlinson came to my work and dragged me in the backseat of his car like we were in a fucking movie!" he shouted as his voice filled with so much pain and worry that my own damn heart stopped working for a minute. He sounded so bloody scared and I didn't know what to do. "He said all these fucking nasty things about you, called you all these names and-and told me all these things," he repeated himself as tears rolled down his cheeks. He seemed frustrated and fed up, I knew the feeling and I had the same reaction to things. We truly were siblings. "Fuck, I didn't know what to believe, I didn't know if I should have believed him, I was so close to having a panic attack and I never get those anymore," he confessed.
Fuck.
"He told me I knew too much when I asked him to let me go so I asked what he wanted and told me I had to sell all these drugs for him in order to clear your name and I just agreed because I thought he was taking the piss but then one night after work... like, I don't know. Last Wednesday, these guys were outside my work and they kind of roughed me up and told me I should listen to the boss and then dropped a bag off next to me and told me to sell all that was in it otherwise they would go after you and I couldn't let them do that so I said I would and then I brought it all home because I could never sell drugs," he cried as he rambled and I had a fucking difficult time understanding him. "Renny, I swear—I swear to you I didn't sell anything," he said with a broken voice and tears down his face and I couldn't just stand there anymore.
I cradled him in my arms and pressed his head against my chest. His cries made his whole body shake and his breathing was uneven. He went from being absolutely mad at me to crazily scared and shaken up, regretting everything he said and done since my arrival. Perhaps from even before that.
"It's okay—you're okay, yeah?" I grasped his t-shirt and hugged him to my body as tight as I could. I knew he was scared. He got beaten up by Louis' men which instantly reminded me of the time Mason got roughed up that weekend I spent with them. I couldn't help but wonder if they had any connection. On top of that, he was threatened and treated like a piece of dirt for something he had nothing to do with. "I will explain it all, just... just take a few deep breaths, okay?"
"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have-I shouldn't have believed him or-or accuse you of any-anything."
"B, I said it's okay," I sushed him. "Listen... I will talk you through it, okay? Everything. But you have to tell me what happened, yeah?"
"I told you," he whimpered. "I told you. They gave me the bag... and then more bags. I have to take them to whoever bought it but I just-I just cannot bring myself to do it. I can't sleep or think or breathe sometimes and I cancelled so many of my shifts and I missed so many of my classes and I think I've lost Jane, too."
"No, listen. You are okay, you hear me?" I pushed him away from me and gripped his shoulders. "You will be fine."
"Will I?" he freaked out. "I have an absolute maniac on my ass because I thought I was doing something good—protecting you!"
"Brandon. Louis is... he is not a threat to you now that you have told me, okay?" I reassured him and myself at the same time. "I will deal with him because it is my problem. I'm sorry you got dragged into this."
"Nah, I'm getting the shit beaten out of me for not carrying out the orders... fuck, I know I am," he said as he began to panic again, completely disregarding what I said. "Fuck. This is it. He is gonna bring guns, too. Said he had them—saw it with him."
"Okay, hold on," I said. "He has guns?"
"I think so. A pistol. I'm not sure. I have no idea what type it is."
"Okay-okay," I said quickly. "How about you just... just pack yourself a bag, okay? You are staying with me for a bit... you look like a mess. You need to destress and get it together. You have exams soon... you are graduating soon. You are not gonna have to go through what I did."
"So he lied?" he asked just above a whisper. "He made you sell drugs, too?"
"Not quite," I sighed. "I bought them off of him. All the receipts—they are legit. I remember him making them each time someone did business with him. I didn't think much of it then, now I guess I should have stopped him from doing it. Basically, I bought them for my housemates, not myself. I never did drugs in my life. You know how I feel about them."
"And the pregnancy?" he asked as he sniffled. "Is that true? Did you really—were you really pregnant?"
"Yes," I breathed. "Yes, I was pregnant. And I got rid of it because I wasn't ready and I didn't want a baby in my late teens and neither did Wolf."
"Does he know?"
"Wolf? No," I shook my head. My hands were between my thighs and my head hung low. I felt so fucking embarrassed. "I knew his outlook on life, he was nowhere near ready to be a dad. I had plans. I wasn't going to keep it either way."
"Why didn't you tell dads? Why didn't you tell me?" he asked me and he sounded extremely hurt over it. "I thought we trusted each other."
"We do, Brandon. But... there are things in life that-that are better off unsaid or unshared or whatever the word is. It's best if you are not involved and aware of things you don't need to be."
"Something seriously could've gone wrong, Renleigh. This is not something to take so lightly."
"I know and I didn't take it lightly. Perhaps the way I done things were not the easiest and most straight-forward actions but I got them done and I was safe."
"Well, not anymore," he scoffed. "You have him back now."
I sighed. "This was not the first time. He found me a couple of months back. I was out and waiting and he just... he just popped up out of nowhere," I remembered back. "At first, I didn't even recognise him and then he spoke and it all just came back to me."
"So, what are we gonna do then? I can't sell all those drugs... we can't even go to the police because they'll find some link back to you and you can't lose or damage the image of your company."
"I think... I think I need to get rid of those receipts with my name on it. Those are the only ones he has. Louis is not as clever to send copies and I highly doubt he thought of photocopying them."
"He might have taken pictures," Brandon commented.
"Maybe. But don't forget the team I have behind me, yeah?" I chuckled smugly. "They have absolutely no idea I ever knew Louis Tomlinson and all I have to do really is play the dumb bitch," I shrugged. "When you have the right people in your corner, you are untouchable."
"How do you even manage to get these people behind you? And how the hell are you so calm right now? Weren't you wary in case Louis would try to come after you for all the money you owe him and stuff?"
"No. Well. To a certain extent, sure," I nodded as I kind of explained. It felt weird, knowing that my brother knew. Hell, he was fucking involved in my shit now! "But it didn't particularly bother me. I knew I told no one so as long as I denied whatever he had to say, I was fine. And that's what I am going to do if he goes public."
"Fuck..."
"Brandon, listen," I tried to get his attention as he seemed to get lost in his head again. "Nothing will happen. And by that, I mean literally nothing. You will not touch those bags—wait, where are they?"
"Boot of my Merc."
"Okay. Keep them there. I'll drive us back to mine in that and then leave it in the garage. No one will touch it until the people who have to, come and get rid of it."
"Won't they question you?"
"Money gives you the power to keep people shut," I reassured him. I felt kind of like an arsehole with the way I solved everything with my money. But in all honesty, that was why I had it. Plus, it was mine and I was free to do whatever I wanted with it. "Any other concerns you have?"
"Yeah."
"Shoot."
"Too soon," he mumbled. "How am I going to go to my classes? What if he fucking finds me there or something?"
"Well, I can arrange a personal bodyguard for you?" I brought up the idea, kind of joking, kind of serious.
"Or I could just keep on skipping until Louis is behind bars?"
"B, that... that might not happen."
"You are messing," he laughed but then stopped when he saw me purse my lips. "Oh, no. You are not messing."
"I don't know what they would do to him considering I have as much proof over him as he does over me—nothing."
"What about the drugs?" he asked.
"That could have been from anyone. Plus, I doubt his filthy hand prints are on it. It would most likely drag his dirty men into a mess and not him."
"Okay... but then those dirty men could identify him as the boss or whatever and he could go down for distributing illegal shit."
"Or it could bite us in the arse," I mentioned the negative side. "It all seems so good and nice until you think of how everything has two sides to it, right? Well, I want to stay on the side that is good, don't you?"
"You think this could bring you down?"
"Knowing Tomlinson, anything could happen."
"How did this even happen... fucking hell."
"I suppose it was bound to come crawling back," I sighed. "Alright, well, pack a bag whilst I make a few phone calls, yeah?"
"Don't really have much of a choice, anyway."
• • •
a.n.
FINALLY SOME FUCKING ACTION. HALLELUJA. HARRY. YOUR ALBUM IS SO GOOD.
ok so do we like that louis is back? what do we think about him coming back? not that anyone being against it would change the future chapters but i'm curious to see what u think of it n think will happen hehe
don't forget to vote ⭐️ and comment xx