Unsuspected Love

Part 6 - Fan Expo Day 3

"What? How? What happened?" Joseph asks frantically trying to understand what you said.

He gently cups your cheek and strokes his thumb over your tear stained cheek. You lean into the touch, relaxing slightly after your emotional breakdown.

"Someone stabbed her to death last night. She's fucking dead!" You continue, Joseph holds you close, allowing his sweater to soak up your tears. 

 "She has to be alive...she promised she would never leave me."

Joseph lets out a shaky breath as his grip tightens on you. "It's alright, I promise everything will be ok." 

As the two of you sit holding each other for who knows how long, Joseph interrupts the moment.

"Hey, let's go back to the hotel and get you warmed up. It's starting to get cold." 

You reluctantly nod your head as you begin to follow him to the car.

Once back at the hotel Joseph wraps a blanket around you. He helps you to lie on one end of the big sofa in the living room and gets under the blankets with you. 

The television plays in the background, providing some form of distraction.

He turns to face you and starts playing with your hair.  "Did you want to call anyone, besides her family?"

You shake your head and lay your head on his chest. As you settle down you realise just how tired you really are. 

After a few minutes of just lying and listening to the tv, you drift off into a comfortable sleep. Joseph watches over you, worried for a while before finally drifting off as well. 

Fan Expo Day 3

You wake up suddenly, your heart racing and a pounding headache behind your eyes. You feel the couch shift as Joseph shifts to try and comfort you.

"Easy love." He coos. "you're safe. Don't panic, you're fine."

You let out a heavy breath. As your breathing calms down he wraps his arms around you and kisses the top of your head. Joseph rubs your arm softly. "Why don't you go freshen up, I'll order us some breakfast. You must be starving."

You nod and slowly get up, you walk into the bathroom to wash your face, brush your teeth and splash some water on your face. When all of a sudden you hear a knock at the door. 

You hear Joseph and a booming voice but can't quite make out what they're saying. You peek around the bathroom corner to see if you can hear anything. 

They must have noticed you because the next thing you hear is "THERE!" and two cops coming your way with handcuffs. 

As you're being read your rights and your hands placed behind your back being cuffed you can't help but notice Joseph standing there looking scared. You'll never forget the look. The look of pure fright on his face. The way his eyes widened and he began breathing heavily. 

You know Joseph doesn't deserve any of this. 

But before you or Joseph could get a chance to say anything you're being pulled to the elevator, through the hotel lobby and placed in the back of a white police car. You sit and wonder what the hell is going to happen, you're scared shitless of this whole situation. 

The officer opens your door and motions for you to get inside.

"Now, we're going to take you to the station where you will be questioned. We need to know exactly what happened last night." He says as he begins driving.

You remain silent, you're too scared to speak.

"Look, I know this is hard for you. But you're gonna be alright, just do what you're told and everything is gonna work out." His tone softens ever so slightly, almost as if he was worried.

When you arrive at the police station you're immediately escorted into a small interrogation room. You sit in silence and simply stare at the glass door.

"Do you know who did it?" A female officer asks as she walks into the room and closes the door behind her. 

"We think you're the best person to ask, seeing as all of your belongings were in the victims car."

"No...I mean no I don't know who it was." 

The woman leans forward in her chair looking directly at you, "So tell us what you do know about last night and maybe we can figure out who did it then."

You take a deep shaky breath.  This whole situation feels surreal; like it's taking place in a dream, nothing seems real.

-----

You explain the events of the previous day and night prior to the incident. They ask questions and you answer to the best of your ability.

When you finish talking, the officer asks, "Did you know the victim? Do you know who could have done this?" 

"She was my best friend, we came here together for the Expo and then she just took off and I haven't seen or heard from her since." You say trying not to burst out in tears.

There's an awkward silence for a minute as you attempt to process everything.

"Is there anything else you can think of that could have possibly led to the attack?" They ask you.

You shrug your shoulders "I dunno...maybe she went to get some coffee, or something." You pause thinking for a minute. "Or maybe someone kidnapped her and took her somewhere else? she's not from here, she didn't know anyone here except me. It could have even anyone! She's not a bad person. This should have never happened!" Your voice starts to grt louder.

"You said she wasn't a bad person. Is there anyone that might have wanted to harm her?"

You pause for a moment, it feels like you're trapped inside some sort of nightmare. You look down at your lap, unable to meet their gaze any longer. "I don't know, I don't know anything. Can you please stop wasting your time with me and go fucking find who did this!?" You start screaming at the officer, slamming your hands on the table.

You feel guilty about yelling at her, so instead you say quietly:

"Forgive me officer, I'm sorry but I'd like to go now. I don't know anything other than what I've already told you." 

She stands up from her seat and looks straight back at you, not breaking eye contact. She nods once and then leaves the room. 

You turn around and look towards the window, staring blankly outside. As much as you tried to hold back your anger you couldn't control yourself.

All of a sudden the officer walked back into the room, this time keeping the door open. 

"You're free to go. If you can think of anything, give us a call." 

You nod your head, still shaky from all the emotions running through your body. You try not to stumble your way out of the police station. 

As you step outside onto the concrete steps and take a deep breath of relief and anguish. 

Your next thought was only on Joseph, what would he say when you saw him, surely he couldn't be pleased with the situation and you definitely didn't want him to be seen with you and be tied to this, it could ruin his career.

As you sit in the back of the Uber on your way back to the hotel you start scrolling through your phone when you notice it. 

It's a picture of Joseph huddled over your crying body outside of the Expo. 

Your eyes widen and all you can think is

'fuck.'