And So Romeo Forgot His Lines

And So Romeo Forgot His Lines {30}

I walked home. It was late at night and I had managed to sneak out of Alex’s house after silently laying with her. Just holding her and stroking her hair. It had calmed me. But now I was out on a silent, moonless night. Thoughts of PacMan flooded through my brain. Did his mom hate us? Probably. She loved PacMan deeply. We, I, had just gotten the poor guy fatally stabbed.

As I neared my street, I hesitated. I didn’t want to go home. I wasn’t emotionally strong enough to fight with mom right now.

I spun around and walked towards Richie’s. I could stay there for the night. I saw a cop car parked on Richie’s street near his house. That was odd. Richie lived in a really good neighborhood.

Were they there because of the stabbing? I slowly neared the house. A cop opened the door of the car and walked over to me. My heart pounded. What was going on?

“Seamus Fitzpatrick?” he asked after looking a photograph in his hand.

I nodded slowly. He sighed. “Get in the car.” I gave him a somewhat frightened look. Was I going to jail?

“You’re not in trouble son. Your mother is looking for you. She called to report that you had run away earlier today and gave us possible locations you may have fled to.”

Mom?

He led me to the car and I climbed in. He began to drive off, calling to let other cops know he had found me. It was an awkward silence. His eyes stayed on the road and I sat uncomfortably in the seat.

He pulled up outside of my house and brought me to the door before knocking. The door opened and Lizzy flung her arms around me sobbing. “Seamus!” she cried. “Oh thank god you’re alright!”

I numbly went inside as she talked to the cop. After a few minutes, she shut the door and came inside. Her boyfriend, soon to be husband, Josh walked in from the kitchen. “Hey, you’re back,” he said in shock. I don’t think Josh liked me. The only reason I didn’t mouth off to him was because he made Lizzy happy.

“What happened?” Lizzy demanded, tears building up in her eyes again. “He got stabbed,” I choked out. “Paxton. Because of me. He tried to stab me and PacMan jumped in front of me to protect me.”

No. I could not cry. I would not cry. Not like I had when I had heard the news about dad. I had cried, punching and breaking anything I could possibly get my hands on. Screaming and cursing. Screaming the same question that was stabbing at my brain and heart right now.

Why?

Lizzy looked horrified and she wrapped her arms around me. “Thank god you’re okay,” she whispered. “I thought you were going to ki…I just thought you weren’t coming back.”

Kill myself? Sounded good right about now. Except that, well, that would make Alex cry. And I didn’t want that. I didn’t want her to cry.

Lizzy led me upstairs into my room. “Where’s mom?” I asked. Mom hadn’t called the cops. Lizzy had. Why would mom? She bit her lip. “She’s out.” She was hiding something. But I was far too tired. I laid down on my bed and closed my eyes.

My eyes cracked open a little while later and I got up to get a drink and a smoke. I passed by Lizzy’s room and stopped to listen.

“Lizzy, he was involved in a stabbing!” I heard Josh’s angry voice staying. “Josh, he’s my baby brother! That could be him dying right now!” “I love you Lizzy, but not your brother. He’s a bad kid. He’s far too wild. Now look what happened. I bet he started the whole thing. He has a big mouth and a big ego but little understanding of consequence.”

“SHUT UP!” she yelled. “HE’S MY BROTHER!” “I know that! But he’s a bad kid Lizzy and you have to face that. You can’t control him, your mom can’t control him, and your dad couldn’t control him. No one can. No one has ever been able to.” “I can’t send him to my uncle Josh, that’s just wrong,” she said desperately.

Our uncle? Oh man. She wouldn’t even consider that, would she? Would she? He was a sick, sick man. He was my mom’s brother. He was extremely abusive. He lived in Scotland. I had lived in Scotland until I was 4 years old.

Then we had moved away to be closer to my dad’s sister. I didn’t want to go back to Scotland to live with my uncle. Not only did that mean being beat everyday but that also meant I wouldn’t see my friends or Alex.

Alex.

I wouldn’t do it. I wouldn’t go there to live with him. I would take my gun with me. Shoot my brains out on his floor.

“He could beat some sense into Seamus based on what you’ve told me.” I could hear Lizzy crying now. “No, no, no,” she sobbed. “He’s a kid. He doesn’t deserve that!” “Shame isn’t a kid. He’s almost a man. He should be responsible and he’s not. He just thinks the world will revolve around him.”

“I can’t abandon him. He needs me! His friend is dying and now our mom is in love with her boyfriend that he didn’t even know she had! He needs me. I need to be there for him.”

I could hear Josh take a deep breath to speak. I didn’t want to hear it. I opened the door. Lizzy and Josh looked up in shock. “Shame!” Lizzy cried, her eyes widening in horror. “That’s why she’s out late every night?” I squeaked, feeling like a little kid.

Lizzy shook her head. “We wanted to tell you!” I was starting to shake. “How long?” I whispered. “When you were 12,” she said silently.

My fist shot out and hit the wall. “Why didn’t you tell me you bitch?!” I screamed. “See what I’m talking about?” Josh said angrily. I shook my head. I was so sick of this. So tired of the anger and hurt I felt.

“I just want my dad,” I whimpered.

I ran out of the house.

***Alex’s POV***

It had been amazing. Seamus kissing me. I loved him and he had finally admitted that he loved me back. I wasn’t sure what he would do about Adalyn, but I knew that it would work out. It just had to. A small smile took my face despite the day’s events. Everything would be okay now.

If only I could’ve seen into the future.