Disconnected

Chapter Forty- One

Calum

The four of us sit on the steps outside the jail. Daniella beside me, then Luke, and then Ash.

None of us have spoken since she has calmed down. She is so angry she won't even look up at us. As for the three of us, we are afraid to set her off again by saying something wrong.

This whole thing has escalated to something bigger than it needed to ever be.

Michael didn't kill those men - though he thought he did. He told us he did. Maybe if he actually killed them and hid their bodies, he wouldn't have been caught. After all, those men don't seem like the type to have a family who is actively looking for them.

He might have gotten away with murder. But he was able to control himself and not snap their necks. And now here we are.

I lift my hand and place it on Daniella's back. She is struggling the most out of all of us.

All of this is so crazy. Not too long ago Daniella wasn't even in our lives, now she is so attached to Michael. It is incredible. It really is.

Daniella looks over at me and stands, my hand falling off her back and smacking to the ground.

"I'm going for a walk." She steps down one stair.

"Daniella don't." Luke suggests, knowing full well what happened the last time she was outside, in the dark, alone. "What if something happens to you? Let one of us come with."

Daniella scoffs. "Nothing could possibly happen to me that would be worse than what Michael is going through. Alone." She walks up the remainder of the steps. "I'm just going to the bathroom anyways."

The three of us look over our shoulders and watch as she opens the door and walks inside.

"Any of you think she's going to come out with that officer by the ear?" I joke, earning a half laugh from both Ash and Luke.

"What are we going to do?" Ashton asks, redirecting the conversation to the problem at hand.

Michael is still sitting in there. Most likely being questioned by more officers who have no idea how tired he must be.

"The least we can do is keep this whole thing quiet until John can handle things and get him out of there." Luke pulls his phone out, looking to see if he is on his way yet.

Being in the city for a conference, he isn't exactly walking distance. However, we need him as soon as possible.

This is going to be a long night. Even longer than it already is. If that is even possible. We have already been here for over six hours. Everyone is so tired.

"How are we supposed to keep this quiet?" I ask honestly. "Sitting outside is probably the worst way to do that. There are people with cameras crawling around it here just waiting for a story. Someone is bound to recognize us." I point to the half a dozen people leaning on their cars with cameras hanging off their necks.

"Michael won't go to jail, will he?" Ashton asks. "Like, for life?"

"I don't know." Luke replies.

"I didn't realize how important he was to me until just now." Ashton runs his fingers throw go his hair, moving his soft curls out of his face.

Luke and I nod in agreement.

"Troubled or not, he's our mate. We need to help him and take care of him. That is our job." Luke says.

"I think we need to cut him some slack. He is already better than he was before Daniella. She is helping him. If we just back off, maybe he can get even better. Back to normal." I wonder out loud.

"So it's agreed, we do everything we can for Michael to get him better and make everything better for all of us?" Luke asks.

"Agreed." Ashton and I speak at the same time.