Little Lies

25. The Break In

My thoughts are scattered. My fingers tremble and my chest is heaving, trying to breathe air into my lungs. My face is hot and I can feel myself becoming faint. What happened? What's going on? Why are there police everywhere and why is Nikolai here? Nothing happened to Rory, surely? Nothing ever happens to people like Rory, she's too good a person for anything bad to happen to her. Unless...unless someone is trying to get to me through her? Oh lord, please don't let that be true. I don't think I could live with myself if that's the case.

Breathe, Phoebe. You don't even know what happened yet, everything could be fine. Maybe someone just broke in and a neighbor called the cops. Maybe there was just—

"Are you alright, miss?" The police officer asks, placing a hand on my back. I jolt at his touch, stumbling backwards. He gives me a concerned look, he thinks I'm about to lose it. Maybe I am. But not until I figure out what happened here. Not until I know Rory is alright and this is all just some big misunderstanding. "Do you need to sit down?" He asks, once again penetrating my thoughts.

I shake my head. "No, I'm fine. Will you please just tell me what's going on? Is my friend alright?" I ask frantically. Once again he opens his mouth to reply, but is stopped.

"Is everything alright here?" Nikolai butts into our conversation with his hard voice. His shadow looms over me, making me feel ten times smaller than I am. Just his presence makes me feel unnerved and like I'm in mortal danger. It doesn't help that he hates me since what happened at the club the other night with Rory.

The police officer looks over Nikolai and then something flashes over his face. Whether it be fear, concern, understanding or a mix of the three, I can't tell. But his mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, and I don't fail to notice as his hand shifts, hovering over his gun holstered at his side. He looks scared. But that can't be right. "Yes, I was just about to escort this lady away from the scene." He gulps.

I give the officer an exasperated look. "No, you were about to tell me what's going on and if my friend is alright." I don't look at Nikolai at all, hoping he will disappear.

"And I just told you I am unable to release any of the details regarding this case." The officer spits back, all of a sudden angrier.

"Please, that's my friend—" I take a step towards the officer, but a firm hand stops me. I look up to see Nikolai staring at me.

"Let go of me!" I try to push his hand off of me, but it's too strong. So instead, I do something stupid. I hit him. Not with much force, and he barely flinches, but I did it nonetheless. And in front of a police officer too. Can this get any worse? "Sorry," I apologise quickly, but the police officer steps in.

"That's enough, you've been given plenty of opportunity to leave, but assault is an arrestable offense." He grabs me away from Nikolai, turning me around and I hear the jingle of cuffs. Holy shit, he's being serious. He's going to arrest me.

"Please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to. I just want to know if my friend is alright!" I cry out in desperation. "Please, Nikolai, tell him!"

I struggle in the officer's grasp, and then suddenly all air is knocked out of my lungs as he slams me into a car door, pinning me to the vehicle. My head spins, while my chest pounds.

"That's enough—" Nikolai begins, until another voice drowns him out.

"Let go of her!"

I barely have the strength to turn my head, but I'd recognise that voice anywhere. The officer is suddenly shoved off of me and the cuffs fall to the ground. I continue to lean against the car, but move enough to see Leon pushin the policeman away from me. All the noise gets more officers' attention and suddenly there are half a dozen people closing in on the four of us.

"Get off of him!" A female officer moves to remove Leon off of the man, but once she realises who it is, she steps back. "Apologies sir, I was unaware that it was you." She waves off the rest of the officers and the one that tried to arrest me, looks bewildered as he stares between me, Leon and Nikolai. And then he starts apologising profusely.

"I'm so sorry sir, this is all a misunderstanding, I had no idea that you knew this lady. You must understand that it is my duty to ensure everyone's safety and this woman was—"

"This woman is my fiancé," Leon spits.

Time freezes and I stare at Leon in shock.

"I'm so sorry sir, I truly had no idea. If I had known—"

"You're fired." Leon gets the final word as he turns to Nikolai, completely ignoring me. "What the hell?" He curses. "Were you just going to watch and let him arrest her? Do I need to remind you of what this is all for? You need to pull your shit together."

Nikolai and Leon are roughly the same height, but Nokai has more bulk on him, so standing beside one another, he looks much bigger. "I am well aware of the situation, but do not think I will let you talk to me like that. I had everything under control."

"You call that under control?" Leon barely contains the anger in his voice, but he quickly settles when he realises people are listening in. "No matter, I don't want you anywhere near her from now on." Leon lowers his voice, but not low enough for me not to be able to hear. What the hell is he going on about? Am I missing something? I stare at him, trying to piece everything together, but my eyes get lost on his body. He's dressed in a white dress top and navy suit pants. I can see his corded muscle beneath his shirt as he strains to keep his anger in check.

Get yourself together Phoebe, stop staring at the man who just called you his fiancé! You should be angry and screaming! More importantly you should be looking for what happened to your best friend!

I push myself off the car on shaky legs, slipping away without the detection of the two large men a few feet away from me. Dashing quietly past the cops and up the stairs of the house, I slip inside and look around. I can hear people having a conversation in my old room, but instead of avoiding them, I get closer, trying to hear what they're saying.

"It seems the break in occurred late last night, but it doesn't appear like anything was taken." A man says.

Okay, a break in. That's not too bad, especially if nothing was taken. I keep listening in.

"Poor girl was out cold before they even entered the premises. Suppose when we get labs back, we'll be able to determine what the intention of the drug was."

Out cold? Drug? What the hell happened? I was here yesterday afternoon, what possibly could have transpired in the time I was gone. And, what was the person trying to achieve?

A sick feeling builds in my stomach. The only reasonable explanation would be that whoever did this, was here to do it to me.

I run out of the house, trying to get in air as the thoughts overwhelm me. My fault, it's all my fault. I need to find Rory, I need to know she's alright, that she's alive.

I run down the steps, forgetting about Leon and Nikolai. I need a taxi, I need to go to the hospital and find her. Ignoring the stares from onlookers and police who realise I just walked into the crime scene, I'm about to escape into the next streep when I bump into someone.

I look up to find Holland. "Phoebe, what's going on? Are you alright?"

Tears begin to burn my eyes as I stare up at his soft familiar face. He pulls me in for a hug and I let him, falling into his warmth. The only person who doesn't view me as a possession, or expendable or a horrible person. I sob into his shoulder and let him tell me it's going to be alright.

"Holland? What are you doing here, what—" I pull out of the hug and turn to face Leon. His eyes dart between the both of us, confusion quickly replaced with more anger. "What's going on?"

I shake my head and turn to Holland. "We should go, let's go." I try to tell him, but he looks between me and his brother.

"I'm here to pick Phoebe up." He says.

"Why?" Leon questions. His hands ball into fists and the veins in his neck bulge.

"Please, let's go." I try to push Holland away but am unsuccessful.

"For our date."

Those were three words that sealed the final nail in the coffin.