LACY

I was mentally and physically exhausted. My body was practically running on caffeine and so was Uncle B's. We hadn't slept the entire night and even though we left Aunt Coral at home to get some rest I was almost certain she hadn't gotten much sleep either considering she would phone up every ten minutes to check on how things were going.

We couldn't take Macy home. We had to wait till they set bail for her and then pay that bail and that would only happen during normal working hours. No matter what position uncle B held at this moment he was completely and utterly helpless and I couldn't help but think that I was to blame for this.

Macy would have never retaliated like that if she didn't feel as if I were threatened. I should have just told her to stay out of it. I blamed myself and for all I knew, uncle B and aunt Coral probably blamed me too.

I laced my fingers behind my head, slouching in the uncomfortable wooden bench that lined the halls of the police station. My eyes were trained on the cream-colored ceiling as multiple thoughts bombarded me all at once. I knew the moment I shut my eyes I would be out like a light so I forced them to stay open and in the process, hardly blinking.

I could feel the heavy bags weighing my probably red eyes down. They burned, which made them gloss over. It was as if my body was begging me to sleep but I refused to give in. I wasn't going to sleep till we found a way to get Macy out of this predicament and I could tell that Uncle B wasn't going to sleep till his daughter was in the comfort of their own home once more.

An officer came up to uncle B and whispered a few words to him. I looked down at my watch and took note that it was already seven in the morning. It was a new day that had started off in a very crappy way.

Uncle B grimaced and I couldn't help but let out a sigh which turned into a massive yawn. I cupped my hand over my mouth for the duration of the yawn and when it ended, I got up from the bench to stretch and awaken my tightened muscles.

"You should go home and get some rest," Uncle B said. Concern not only covered his face but his voice dripped with it as well.

I didn't understand why he was still concerned about me when I was the reason Macy was in a holding cell right now.

"Not until Macy gets out of here," my eyes flickered everywhere else in the room except for uncle B's face. I was trying to make as minimal eye contact with him as possible.

He placed a hand on my shoulder and squeezed giving me a look of understanding. As if he knew exactly what had been going through my head over and over again. He shook his head and let out a defeated laugh before pulling me into his embrace, "It's not your fault she can't control her temper especially when it comes to you so please don't blame yourself."

I felt the burning heat of a tear roll down my cheek, "No, it is my fault. I brought that man into our lives and now he isn't only making my life hell but the people I love as well."

Uncle B pushed me away at arm's length. His gaze was intense and its purpose was to catch every drop of my attention, "Your father, Jackson, he brought that man into your life."

"And I let him stay!"

"Lacy, this would have never happened if Macy learned how to control her anger," his tone was assuring, "Anyway, she didn't even spend the night in a cell. They kept her in an interrogation room."

I let out a much-needed breath of relief. My body relaxed as some of the tension that weighted me down evaporated, "That's good. If she spent it in a cell she would have just landed herself in even more trouble."

"No matter where she is, that girl can always take care of herself and you should never worry about her," uncle B placed a kiss on my forehead, "I'm not surprised you two have such a strong bond that she would fight someone for you."

"She's crazy," I mumbled as I wiped away my tears.

"I feel you two balance each other out. Never lose this bond you two share!"

I looked at uncle B and smiled faintly as I nodded at him, knowing that Macy was the one person who I would never let go of. She was the one person I actually trusted. She knew my deepest, darkest secrets and she would go to her grave knowing but never disclosing them. If she ever thought of breaking this bond we shared I would have to kill her because she honestly knew a bit too much about me.

"Wait here while I try to get Macy released," Uncle B pivoted on his heel, leaving me alone with just my thoughts.

I didn't feel like sitting on the wooden bench again since I could hardly feel my butt after I woke up from the damn thing. My muscles still felt so tense and uncomfortable so I decided to walk around a bit. Unknowingly, I began to pace back and forth. My eyes were open but everything else shut down. There was this common saying I heard, 'The lights are on but nobody is home', that was me right now. My eyes were open but in my head, I was comfortable and warm in bed.

Eventually, the police station began to get busier. Officers trailing in and out with coffees in hand and grim faces as if they too had insufficient sleep.

A small girl walked by me, almost half my height. She was probably around the age of eight or nine. Her eyes were a sad blue and her hair a dark, dirty blonde. She didn't smile. She had a stoic expression that broke my heart. Her skin was pale and her arms bruised black and blue. The strange part was that her face looked awfully familiar but I couldn't place my finger on it.

Where had I seen her before?

I was about to head over to her and query her name when a woman with a formal outlook dragged her away. Her piercing cries echoed through the halls. A cry that would be fitting to haunt me in my dreams.

A hand wrapping around my waist and pressing me up against a hard torso tore my attention away from the sad-looking girl. Hot air fanning across my neck sent unwanted shivers down my spine. I recognized the person almost immediately by touch alone. His touch always made me feel terrified.

"Hey there beautiful. Fancy seeing you here," he manically whispered into my ear just loud enough for me to hear before he gripped the top of my ear between his teeth and began nibbling at it gently.

I shut my eyes wanting to get as far away from him as possible, "Wh...what do y...you want Brian?" I asked, stumbling on my words out of fear.

"You!" He drawled out with a devilish chuckle, "I want you and I will stop at nothing to get you!" He spun me around forcefully so that we were now facing one another. His lips curled into an evil grin. I could practically see the gears of his diabolical mind turning, working on overdrive.

I swallowed the rising bile in my throat. There was a twisting feeling in my stomach that gave me the urge to throw up, "Why can't you just leave my family and me alone?"

He tucked loose strands of my hair behind my ear before lacing his fingers through my hair, grabbing it in his fist. Pulling my hair forcefully to tilt my head back, he sneered, "YOU ARE MINE!"

I placed my hands on his chest — palms flat down as I shoved him away from me, "I'm not yours. I'm not an object that you can just claim possession and you can not buy me either!"

"Can I?" The corner of his lips tugged into a satisfied smirk. Satisfied because he got the rise out of me that he was hoping to accomplish, "I can buy you! Want to know how?"

At this stage, I was furious that he thought I was cheap enough to buy, "How!" It was more of a demand than a question while my voice was still low in order not to attract any attention.

"You agree to marry me and I'll make this whole situation disappear like a puff of smoke," he said with a snap of his fingers, "Look there," he gestured to my uncle and what I only assumed was Macy's lawyer, "He looks stressed and you hold the key to take away the entire burden. So what do you say?"

I searched Brian's face. His face looked almost disfigured with a blue eye that was barely beginning to heal and a broken nose that had just recently been shifted back into place. With the amount of beatings he got into within a space of a month, I wasn't really surprised that his face looked the way it did.

My attention shifted to Uncle B. A mixture of stress and sadness portrayed itself on his face. I felt like I was the one who caused all that pain and heartache. I was responsible for his daughter getting arrested and I should be responsible for getting her released.

Macy would be pissed off at me knowing that she fought for him to stay away from me and here I was running to him but this would be for her own good. This would benefit her and she would eventually get over it. At least, I hoped she would.

I rolled my bottom lip in between my teeth and bit into the softness of the flesh. I was reluctantly hesitant to take Brian up on his offer but seeing the look of despair on uncle B's face cleared all my doubts.

"Fine Brian! I'll play by your rules. Please just get her released," I sighed in defeat.

He smirked at his achievement. An evil glint shone in his bluish-green eyes, "And that is the right decision!" He said in a low tone of voice, sending a wink in my direction before walking off into the direction of my uncle.

Brian and uncle B exchanged some words before Brian headed over to an officer seated behind a desk. I watched as the officer nodded at whatever Brian said while uncle B looked at me with a helpless expression. His eyes flickered away from mine and back to Brian and the officer.

This was the right thing to do!

Was it? Was it really? My subconscious finally kicked in. Would you be able to handle that spineless fool?

It doesn't matter if I can or cannot handle him. As long as Macy is out of here. That's all that matters.

Macy wouldn't want you to do this for her and you know it!

It doesn't even matter what she wants, I had to remind myself. She was only doing this to make me happy while I'm doing this to ensure she remains happy.

I stopped the argument I was having within the confinements of my head when I noticed Brian walking toward me with a grin covering his messed up face. I was actually surprised his face had enough energy to form a grin.

He didn't say a word as he stood behind me. I never turned around to make eye contact or to see what he was actually doing. My eyes were trained in the direction that Macy would appear from.

The moment I saw her slender figure appear I wanted to make a run for it and grab her into my arms, find out how she was doing and then hug her some more but the moment I set one foot forward I was stopped by a growl from behind me.

"One more step forward and she will go right back from where she just came," Brian grunted under his breath.

I stood in place, not even daring to move a muscle in the slightest. She was not going to end up back there and I was going to make sure of it.

Macy walked over to her dad who welcomed her into his warm embrace which brought a smile to my face. I felt relieved when I saw the disheartened look on uncle B's face fade away and replaced with one of joy and thankfulness.

The moment Macy laid eyes on me she began her journey to me with open arms. As she neared, she caught sight of Brian which clearly annoyed her as she did a dramatic eye roll, "Tell Dylan he owes me five bucks!"

My eyes widen at Dylan's name but Brian seemed unfazed as he snaked an arm around my waist and placed a kiss onto my temple sending a feeling of discomfort through me.

Macy glared at me to say something, anything but I stayed silent as I didn't know what to say.

"Lacy would like to ask you something," Brian spoke up, disrupting our silence.

"Oh yeah? What is it, Lace? Mind telling me why Brian MacAsshole has his filthy hands around you?" she demanded to know.

I stood there silent, unable to mutter a single syllable. He managed to coax me into marrying him, was that not enough? I didn't understand what he was planning to do now.

"Oh, seems to me like my fiance is at a loss for words so I guess I will ask you for her," Brian began and I could hear the sarcasm that dripped from his voice, "Lacy would like you to be her maid of honor."

I heard Macy draw in a sharp breath at Brian's words before yelling, "What the fucking hell! Hell fucking no! You," she said pointing at me, "What the fuck do you think you are doing? You aren't thinking of marrying him are you?"

Again, I stayed silent which answered her question and gave her more reason to continue with her rant.

"Oh, Dear Lord. When you handed out sense I think you forgot to give my sweet and naive cousin some!" she remarked looking up at the ceiling, "So, you either dumb or stupid because a smart person wouldn't be marrying someone who looks worse than the crap that I scrape out from under my shoe!"

Brian stepped forward and I quickly noticed his clenched fists.

"Macy," I began but was cut off.

"Don't you dare Macy me! You know what you need?" she rhetorically asked me before continuing, "You need a hard conk on your head with a nonstick, double plated frying pan. Maybe then you will invest in some sense!"

I let out an exasperated sigh knowing that she wouldn't give me a chance to speak.

"Do you know what you two even look like? Minnie mouse paired with Donald duck. That's just wrong! No one needs to see that," she complained as she continued her rant.

Uncle B stood at Macy's side, shooting her a glare that shut her mouth instantly.

"You know what? Just take me home!" She angrily said, stomping off in the direction of the exit.

"Let's go home Lacy," Uncle B said to which my eyes shifted to Brian's face.

Brian gave me a grin so fake that it raised every single tiny hair on my body. It was shocking how he could put on a fake persona when other people were around so he didn't look like the monster he truly was.

"Go home and get some sleep. I will see you around," he said, nudging me forward on my shoulder with his shoulder.

As uncle B and I exited the police station I turned around and caught his eyes on me, watching me intensely with a content smirk plastered on his face. The moment he shot me a wink I snapped my head forward, focusing on leaving this place.

~~~

I sat on the porch steps, basking in the soft, warm glow of the setting sun. The sky was lit up in different shades of orange, yellow, and red as the sun continued its descent.

Aunt Coral did not go to work today and neither did uncle B or Macy. We all slept through the day but I found it hard to actually get sleep so I decided to just sit with my thoughts that kept me wide awake.

Agreeing to marry Brian might have gotten Macy out of jail but it caused her to not want to talk to me. She barely even looked at me. I knew she was trying to avoid any sort of contact with me.

Never lose this bond you two share!

Uncle B had said that to me not even twenty-four hours ago and minutes later I didn't just lose that bond. I probably demolished it.

Usually, Macy and I wouldn't be able to stay angry at one another for long periods but this was different. I knew she was right in this situation but at the same time, I was not wrong. She made her point in her rant session and I understood her but she needed to hear me out and understand where I was coming from.

The creak of the front door opening behind me brought me back to my senses. I heard heavy footsteps behind me before someone plopped themselves down next to me.

"She's still mad at you?"

I looked up at uncle B, the rays of the setting sun blinding me, "Yes, I guess she is."

"Why don't you go talk to her?" Uncle B asked as he draped an arm around my shoulder and squeezed gently to comfort me.

"She's not ready to listen to me."

"She's like that but you need to learn to be more abrasive. Stand your ground and make her listen to you even if she doesn't want to. She will understand why you did what you did only if you explain it to her," Uncle B advised.

I shut my eyes before I said the next words, "She thinks I'm naive."

"And what do you think?"

"I think that I probably am but I know Brian and he would have made her life hell. She has done so much for me I guess this was my repayment," I shrugged.

"Thank you!" Uncle B said as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why are you thanking me?"

"I don't know what I would have done if Macy was placed behind bars," he admitted.

"I was never going to let that happen. As much as Macy takes care of me, I take care of her."

We spent a good few minutes in silence as the sun completed setting and a crescent moon could be seen high in the sky. Millions of stars danced in the cloudless black sky, lighting it up and creating a beautiful masterpiece.

The sounds of the night and the crisp cool breeze made me feel at ease, just a little. Everyone in this neighborhood was inside their homes about to sit down for dinner. I could hear the sound of the crickets and an owl in the distance. Everything felt peaceful and right.

Uncle B finally spoke up breaking our silence, "Remember that favor you asked for. I think I might have found what you were looking for."

My eyes lit up in a sudden realization, "Bingo!"

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