Mr. Popular and I

Chapter Forty-Eight - Blood Family

I've updated twice today, so make sure you haven't missed chapter 47! Happy reading!

Lea

       I'm good. I don't get into trouble. But somehow trouble has managed to find me.

       If you'd told me a year ago that I'd be sat in a police interrogation room, explaining to a middle-aged man who, evident from the soreness of his eyes and the bags weighing beneath them, gets far too little sleep, I would have laughed.

       I guess you're the one who's laughing.

       It's been hours since Nick's incident, but I keep reliving it in my mind, and it makes me jump every time I hear the gunshot - that loud bang that makes your entire body jolt. And then to see the blood, and so much of it so quickly; it messes with your head.

       The police officer had to repeat a few questions, and I managed to mumble back replies, but to what avail? I've been stuck in this room for God knows how long.

       "Thank you, Miss Wilson. You are free to leave now; we will contact you in due course. If you find any more information about where Mr Convey may have got the gun from, please let us know." The officer says.

       "I will, thank you."

       Letting me out of the room and leading me to the reception area, the officer is as surprised as I am when I hear the frantic calls of my mother.

       "Lea? Lea? Are you okay?" She calls, rushing forward and practically flinging her arms around me. Her embrace is one that reminds me of Brenda's when she first hugged me the night our house collapsed.

       "Lea, what happened?" My father's voice is stern following my mother's desperate one.

       "Now isn't the time, Andrew. Let's get her home." She pulls away, turning to him to give him a stern look back.

       While my mother and father are caught in disagreement (what's new?), I'm sidetracked by a voice to my left. River's voice. My eyes wander the entirety of the busy reception until they land on the only person who could ever make me feel better at a time like this. I wonder how he's feeling; I wonder how lonely he must be if I am and I haven't even been through half of what he has.

       "River," I say it barely audibly, more to myself. I'm so relieved to see him. Leaving my parents, I walk to close the distance between us, wrapping my arms around him in the same desperation that my mother had for me.

       In less than a second, he too draws me closer and seals the hug, one arm circling my waist while the other rests on the hair on the back of my head in a caressing manner.

       "How are you?" He asks quietly. You can tell he's tired, physically and mentally.

       "I'm okay, how are you?" I speak into his white shirt. It's an obvious lie, I'm not exactly okay, but what else can I say?

       Pulling my head back from his chest, I glance up to look at him. A weak smile has managed to trick its way onto his face, "I'm okay," he says, lying as well.

       "And Nick? How is he?"

       My question rips his gaze from mine and transfers it to the floor. "He lost a lot of blood, but he's stable, he'll be alright."

       "I'm sorry, River."

       His eyes find mine again, confusion glazing them. "Why are you apologising? You've done nothing wrong."