With Hearts to Hear| ✔

|02|

"Really Tom, handcuffs?"

The voice, Killian somehow knew, was the one responsible for the singing. He could feel his bones singing, his heart thumping wildly when she spoke. He didn't know why she made him feel that way, but he knew he had to help her.

He walked casually closer, managing to catch the rest of their interaction. He tried not to make it obvious that he was eavesdropping, but he wanted- needed- a way to speak to her.

"This is the third time this week, Rach. Running away and starting trouble isn't going to make things better." The policeman, Tom, spoke in a stern tone, with an underlying fondness.

"The last thing I need or want is another lecture." Rachel rolled her eyes, half annoyed half saddened she seemed to be the only one stuck in the past. "So, are you gonna lock me up?"

The policeman sighed, not knowing what to do. He didn't want to lock Rachel in a jail cell, it didn't seem to do her any good. Her stepfather would end up paying bail the next morning and she would be back to making mischief.

If it were down to him, he'd have Rachel visit a therapist. He had promised her father when he was dying that he would look out for her; Daksh had been one of his closest friends, and the best mechanic he knew.

It was obvious that the girl was seriously hurting and needed help. But if there was anything he knew having worked his job for as long as he had, you couldn't help someone that didn't want to be helped.

"Is everything alright here?" Killian decided to interject, sensing the police officer's hesitancy.

Rachel looked over at the man with a raised brow, half in disbelief that he would get involved, (most everyone knew the kind of troublemaker that she was and if they didn't, nobody would dare get involved when the police showed up.) Her disbelief quickly turned into a heated look when she took in his well cared for physique; she had, quite frankly, never met a man so gorgeous in all her life. His beauty was practically supernatural, though his beauty took nothing away from his dark brooding warrior-esque vibe.

"No." Rachel answered, whilst the police officer said 'yes.'

Immediately Killian's haunches went up, his need to protect this girl overwhelming him; there was something about her, everything about her seemed to glitter in the night like a beacon, calling out to him.

"For a start, you've not told me why I'm being arrested." Rachel huffed, trying to pull her handcuffed arms away from Tom.

The officer tried to argue, but realised he had in fact, not specified why he had handcuffed her nor whether she needed to be handcuffed in the first place. But that was the game that Rachel played, more often than not she would end up handcuffed and in jail; the fact that her new stepfather had ties to the department, and a reputation to maintain meant that situations with her were always dealt with quickly, quietly, and strictly off the books. Tom had silently taken her under his wing knowing that if any other officer decided to pick the girl up, they would not be as understanding or forgiving.

"I think it's best if you let the lady go." Killian's voice rumbled, like thunder. There was something so intimidating about the man, but neither the girl or officer could understand why. (Rachel didn't entirely care where it came from, she wondered where it might lead them to... A bed, an empty room, a dark corner she hoped.) Though he had every intention to, Tom felt an extra urgency to unlock the cuffs around Rachel's wrists.

"I'm sorry," Tom undid the cuffs, with a heavy sigh. He knew that he wouldn't get through to her, after all all his previous lectures just seemed to go in one ear and out the other, yet still he tried to implore her one final time. "I don't want to see you in any real trouble. As much as you like wasting Mark's money on bail, your father wouldn't want that for you."