WHEN THE RAIN STOPS- Scrutinized [TANNER x LUNA] 2 IN 1

SIDE STORY: FINALLY PART 1 1/2

|LAURENCE|

Half a day later and we were on the road. Layla in the front seat, folding baby clothes that she jam packed earlier as Ein drove while me and the baby were in the back. Lucinda was sound asleep, hugging the toy Tanner had gotten her for her birthday. I didn't really picture him as a baby guy, but when he's alone with Lucinda it's like he's a grandpa.. a proud one at that. He coddles her and puts her to bed, which Ein and Layla beg him to do. I don't know how he does it, with being a murderer and all since babies are supposed to sense that stuff. But Lucinda loves him, crying when he leaves type shit.. "so what's with the surprise road trip anyway?" Layla asked Ein. "We're gonna see my brother up north." "Tanner? Jeez it's been a while." "Mhm, they were trying to hide from Vincent, but since he got caught, we can see them now." "2 months.. and they still haven't come home yet?" "They're thinking of staying up there and finding a new house for after the wedding." "That's still going on? I thought he said two weeks.." "That's what he planned remember? Now it's-.. whenever? I don't know-." Layla gasped. "What if they eloped?! That would be so romantic!" My eyes widened. 'Eloped?...' "No.. i don't think..." Ein continued as I started panicking. 'God damnit, they could've. Knowing Luna, she would've been fine with it.. Tanner though.. maybe, under the stress..' I sat up straight and readjusted to open my phone to photos. Picking a group photo and every other photo with Tanner involved to really analyze his face. 'Would this be a guy that would hurt Luna? Would he knowingly marry her to trap her into commitment?' I looked ahead to find Layla holding Ein's hand. 'Does she know the kind of danger Luna could be in right now? The kind of danger we could be in right now?' I looked back at Lucinda, now awake and playing with the stuffed animal. "Baba!" She said while reaching for my hand. I let her cuddle it when I grabbed the plushy. Examining the light pink bear as I judged Tanner's intentions again. In full honesty, I don't really mind the guy it's just because Luna's involved that I hate him now. And even then, a part of me doesn't really care.. I think I'm just holding on because I have nothing else to think about.

My life is shit, I'm basically a stay at home mom with a side job which isn't all that bad but then again, I would've liked to have settled down by now. The whole Luna thing is kinda a distraction really, in fact, I'm just mad Tanner isn't spoiling her. I also have a girlfriend so I'm pretty sure this is a big brother thing and not a creep thing like it was before. '" Man in the woods..." what could've Tanner meant by that? Surely not..' I fiddled with the teddy bears paw as I dissected the conversation. 'He never brought up a name other than Vincent.. and they could've done it in countless woods, so surely it must've been another creep.. -The panties-' I slowly put my head up, realizing I had brought evidence with me. 'They're in my wallet, -The book- in my luggage..- the lipstick- luggage- ... why'd you bring your collection with you?' I looked to my bag. 'Everything Tanner needs to find out how much of a creep you are is in that bag.. but hey, maybe he won't be as mad as you think, cause god knows how much creepier he is than you... then again, making another copy of that book was low, low even for you, but you have to admit, those nights you spent jerking off to pictures of her on the silk were amazing. It's too bad you couldn't go through with the plan you thought of, it was genius. One of your best really. - Sh!! I don't wanna think about that, I don't wanna think about Luna like that. - then why haven't you asked Hannah for any "special" time together? For gods sake, she might as well think your gay with all the non-touching you guys do. Poor girl is probably touch starved. - Hannah's different, I don't.. like to think of her like that.. -but you're fine with think of Luna like that? Fucking disgusting.'

I looked out the window, watching as the mountains moved past as Lucinda hugged my arm closer. Cuddling into it before falling asleep again. "what's with you?" Layla asked. "Nothing, just thinking." "Thinking about what?" Ein questioned. I sighed. "Whether Luna's ok or not.." Layla scoffed. "Laurence, we talked about this, you can't crush on Luna! She's almost married for Christ sakes." "It's not like that.. the night we went over to help them with Patrick, I noticed scars on her neck.. and since we slept together, I know Tanner likes to bite there from time to time. I also started to notice how distant they've become. So what I think happened is, Tanner accidentally went too far and hurt her. -I just wanna see her again." Layla rolled her eyes. "You don't know what you're talking about." "Oh yeah? Then why does Your husband look so constipated right now?" She looked over to find a nervous Ein, almost sweating from the stress. "Did you know about this?" She asked him. He gave her an ashamed look down and nodded. She scoffed in disbelief. "So it's true?!" She accused when he nodded again. "He told me at her birthday party, it was an accident, he didn't mean to hurt her-." "How badly did he hurt her?" I asked. Looking at the floor in rage that I was right. "..." "answer him Ein."