A single bullet // M.C

60

Luke's voice was drowning out Calum's as they argued in front of me. My hand was slowly tapping the pen top against the tabletop as I just let it happen, zoning out and only occasionally picking up words. The whole thing was technically my fault for nearly outting Luke to Alex about knowing Michael and how close they really are.

'She didn't know' Calum would argue making Luke flip out even more saying I should know. I had tried to speak my reasoning as I had never been told but I got shut up straight away by them telling me to keep out of it.

"This isn't how a leader would act." I scoffed rolling my eyes and leaning forward against the desk stopping the annoying tapping that I made fill the room. If only I could go back in time... The glare Luke sent my way and the look of 'shut up' Calum gave me made me recoil slightly cringing and screwing my face up. "Or they would, what do I know?" I awkwardly laughed before looking down knowing I was digging myself in a deeper hole. 6ft under. Actually no, fuck this. "Actually no they wouldn't Luke man the fuck up. I had never had that backup plan explained to me. I didn't know if one gets caught you drop each other... Family and all that."

"Be quiet Nicky." Calum hissed stepping forward so he was in-between me and Luke incase he went for me.

"Listen to Calum Nicky..."

"He's your brother Luke and you dropped him! I don't give two shits if it's your plan, Alex wouldn't have done anything."

"You're not really in his best books though are you Nic?"

"No I might not be... but I do know my blood brother and know no matter how pissed at me he was, he wouldn't have done anything to any of you. He already has Michael. I thought you would have been showing him proof Michael didn't kill her, not just chatting about work which by the way you're in charge of giving me articles. If you forgot,"

I stood up, my vans hitting against the wooden floor scrapping the chair against the grain making the sound fill the room. I was tired of this conversation that they clearly didn't want me to have part in, and I weren't going to fight to let me have a part in it. "Pretty shitty boss." I muttered walking past him banging shoulders into him and ignoring him as he cursed me out.

I watched the footage back to back rewinding to the point of Michael entering the building and leaving with blood on his hands. They were right, no one else was seen entering the building or leaving. It was almost as if the video had been edited, cutting out any other human entering that building even as I scrolled to when I would have arrived I weren't there.

It just seemed like he had returned to the crime scene to do whatever he did and then called the police quickly running out. Quickly I tapped the pause button Michael never phoned the police. Kensie did. CCTV didn't have audio and if it did it would show that, this just makes it seem like he was rerunning away from the cafe. He would have been trying to find where me and Calum were to get us over.

He really was being framed.

"Are you fucking kidding me Nicky?!" Kensie. She barged into my place looking all frantic and pissed off as she glared down at me making me silently shut my laptop and look up at her confused.

"What's going on?" I muttered almost silently moving my laptop off my lap and going to stand up deciding against it.

"Just because your "boyfriends" in prison doesn't mean you can have a go at mine! Calling him a shitty boss who do you think you are?" I sighed regretting even mentioning that to him.

"Kensie-."

"No you don't get to talk to me," she hissed pointing at me "that's my boyfriend you disrespected. He's taking on so much with Michael in jail and still trying to run the newspaper and everything to do with that. You don't even understand!"

"No one asked him to step up and fill Michaels spot. I was perfectly capable to do it."

"That's rich," she laughed shaking her head "I really doubt that Nicky, you couldn't tell someone how to kill, what to do on a mission. How to punish if they disagree or don't do what you say. You don't have it in you." She sneered

"Kensie shut up." I begged I didn't want to argue with her about this. I felt awful about what I said to Luke but I also know everything I said was true. Alex wouldn't have done anything if I told him not no matter how much he was pissed at me deep down. We were family and that comes before anything else.

"Don't! Don't start trying to boss me around too Nicky." She moved her hand to her hair pulling it up into a claw clip "was Luke not enough?"

"You can't say shit like this Kensie. So just shut up," I moved my hands and re-grabbed my laptop, opening it and meeting the frozen screen of Michael leaving the cafe.

"No you don't get to just cut me off and change the subject." She muttered "did your dad not teach you manners?"

I felt my whole body stiffen as I registered what she just said me, I watched as the colour drained from her face and her mouth fall open I heard as she started to splutter out apologies instantly shaking her head and trying to suck the words out of the air.

"He did..." I whispered feeling my hands shake slightly against my laptop "before he was killed."

"Nicky...." She trailed off obviously not knowing what to say that could make this whole situation better.

"I think it's best if you go..." she nodded once taking a huge step back placing her hand on the doorknob. I bit my tongue wanting to spew a million words her way about how I feel. How shitty she's made me feel? How much I hate her at this moment? How I've experienced so much loss and I'm still here. How I'm currently trying to fight my ass off to try and get my boyfriend out the hell he's currently in. How no one else seems to give a fuck about what I'm dealing with, how he could be feeling!

"Nicky we are trying to help!" She yelled shaking her head "he's our boss of course we care and are trying to help him," Shit none of that was in my head.

"Well then you're all doing a crappy job. Now I'm serious get out my house."

"That Michael owns, Luke owns, Calum and Ashton all own Nicky."

"So what Kensie? I live here."

"If you bad talk Luke one more time Nicky you can say bye to this place. They don't accept threats or dishonour to them. One more bad thing and you're out the gang out the place with no Michael to save you." She informed me finally opening the door and stepping over the threshold, "just me careful with what you say next time, would hate for something worse to happen then me just shouting at you."

——