Family (It's What You Are) | Port Orthos 2

chapter 21: marius's risk

chapter 21: marius's risk

~marius~

       I sit anxiously in the visiting area of the prison, wondering if this is even a good idea. I hate seeing Fawn upset about anything, so I would do whatever it takes to make everything better.

       Even if it means visiting his ex-husband in prison.

       We don't know the contents of the letters Quentin has been sending Fawn. Maybe he's deeply sorry and wants to apologize. Maybe he's trying to wiggle his way back into Fawn's life, still believing that the two of them will get back together.

       Whatever the case is, the first thing I can do to try to fix things for Fawn is to get Quentin to stop sending him letters. If Quentin, somehow, is truly sorry, then surely he would agree to stop sending letters if he knows it's upsetting Fawn.

       If he's not, then I'm going to have to find another way.

       It takes some time but soon enough, the doors leading to the prison cells opens, and a guard leads Quentin into the room. The moment Quentin sees me, I have a sneaking suspicion that he hasn't changed at all in the four years he has been year. If anything, he seems to resent me more.

       Because he looks both annoyed and a bit mad to see me.

       The guard leads Quentin over to the table I'm sitting at, so Quentin sits down. "You know, when I was told I has a surprise visitor, I was kind of hoping it was Fawn," he says. "Not... You."

       "Well, I'm here on behalf of Fawn," I say, even though Fawn doesn't know that I'm here.

       "I would much rather it be Fawn, so you can tell him to come here instead if he wants to talk to me."

       "He doesn't want to talk to you. That's the whole reason I'm here. You know he wants nothing to do with you, so you really need to stop sending him letters."

       Quentin scoffs. "You can't tell me what to do. If anything, you're just a rebound for Fawn. I know he's going to come back to me eventually, so you better start getting used to the idea of the two of you breaking up."

       I don't know if Quentin is delusional enough to believe that or he's just trying to get a rise out of me. Either way, I'm not going to play his game. I don't have to explain to him why I know Fawn isn't going to leave me. I don't have to explain why I know Fawn won't give him another chance. I'm only here for one thing and if I don't succeed, I'm not going to try with Quentin any further.

       So all I say is, "Fawn doesn't even read your letters. He rips them up the moment he gets them. I'm serious. He doesn't want them, so stop sending them to him."

       Quentin still doesn't listen to me, though I'm not sure why I thought he would. Maybe I thought that he would somehow change after being in prison for four years, but I guess not.

       Especially because he soon gives me a smile and says, "How are those burns of yours? Where did you get them again? Your arm and neck? That must have been hard to live with."

       Once again, I know Quentin is just trying to get a rise out of me. He just wants a reaction, but I'm not going to give him the one he wants. "They're actually healed now. Thank you for your concern. So you're really not going to stop trying to contact Fawn?"

       "Nope."

       I tried, and I'm not going to waste my breath any longer, so I look at the guard standing by and tell him, "We're done now."

       The guard nods and walks over to Quentin to lead him back to his cell. "What, just like that?" Quentin asks. "I didn't think you were the type of person to give up so easily."

       "I'm not," I say. "I just know there are other options than trying to appeal to a stubborn person. I'll just have to go with my next option." I don't have any options yet, especially since it would probably have to be Fawn himself to talk to someone if he wants to get Quentin to stop, and Fawn really doesn't want to deal with it.

       Quentin glares at me since I called him stubborn, but he doesn't say anything now that the guard leads him back to his cell. I leave the prison, trying to think of anything I could do to help Fawn. So far, the only thing I can do is rip up the letters myself instead of having Fawn do it, but I want to do more.

       Who knows? Maybe one day when Fawn checks the mail, one of the letters is there. He'll still have to look at it and know that Quentin sent him something.

       I get into my car and sigh heavily, trying to think of something. Anything. Then it hit me. I know someone who might be able to help, or at least might have some advice. I take out my cell phone and call Sarah, who answers almost immediately. "Hello?"

       "Sarah, hi," I say. "I need some legal advice with something and I would hoping you would help. This doesn't have to do with the defamation case, but something else."

       "Well, I'm here to help with whatever, so tell me what it is and I'll see if I have anything."

       "It's about Fawn's ex-husband. He's currently in prison right now and he has been constantly sending letters to my Fawn. At first, Fawn would just rip up the letters, but it got to the point that even seeing the letters is starting to bother him. It even drove him to tears yesterday."

      "Well, something might be able to be done, but it depends why Fawn's ex is in prison. Does it have anything to do with Fawn? Like was he a victim to something his ex did?'

       "Not for the reason his ex is in prison."

       "Ah, then my first suggestion wouldn't work. There's something called no-contact orders where it would limit the accused person from contacting their victim, victim's spouse, the victim's children."

       "Wait, hold on. Victim's spouse? Do you think fiance would work as well? Because I was the victim to the ex's crime. Part of his sentencing is attempted murder towards me."

       "It's highly possible, especially since you and Fawn live together and you have two daughters together," Sarah says. "I'll tell you what. Send me the information about Fawn's ex-husband, and I'll see what I can do about getting a no-contact order for the two of you."

       I release a sigh of relief. Sure, it's not guaranteed that we'll be granted it, but at least there's a chance, and it's not something Fawn will have to deal with himself. "Okay, I'll do that as soon as I get home. Thank you."

       "Of course. Let me know if there's anything I can do to help."

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honestly fawn and marius should just tell ellie and she'll deal with quentin, but in a way where no one will see him again :D