Bad Desire: New Beginnings - Fast Forward

Part 27 - happy ending

Continued...

"You can't be in here." Todd bit the moment Matt walked through the doors.

Matt was clearly just as startled to see Todd standing there, as he immediately took a step back the moment he saw him. These two brothers had not been under the same roof as each other for an incredibly long time and the tension was suffocating.

"I was looking for Juliet." Matt spoke carefully, picking up on Todd's mood and not wanting to cause a scene.

It was a sensitive situation with emotions currently flying around everywhere. The last thing he needed to do was top it off by getting into a fight with his brother at a time like this.

"Well take her and fucking leave." Todd demanded, turning around to look at Juliet, who was still in the doorway of the balcony.

"Todd." Juliet repeated as she cautiously made her way over to him.

"No, just leave."

Holding out the piece of paper towards him, she was waiting for him to at least glance her way, but he didn't. His eyes remained focused on Matt, as though keeping an eye on him to ensure he didn't make a move. Todd wasn't taken any chances.

"You need to take this. It's yours. Sophie wanted you to have it."

"Yeah and I said someone else can have it."

Matt glanced over at Juliet with a confused expression on his face. He didn't have a clue what was going on, but he immediately picked up on the look in Todd's eyes.

He sounded angry, but he didn't look it. He looked hurt, upset and genuinely torn down. That wasn't exactly surprising considering the circumstances though. It was just more surprising because it was Todd.

"But she chose you to have it, Todd. She chose you for a reason." Juliet stressed, and it was obvious she was beginning to get exhausted.

All she wanted to do was curl up in the corner and cry. With the reality of this whole thing hitting her so hard, she didn't know how much more she could take. However, she couldn't just walk away and leave Todd to make the biggest mistake of his life.

"Was Estee at the hospital?" Todd took them both by surprise as he directed his comment at Matt.

Moving his gaze from Juliet to his brother, Matt tried his hardest to soften his expression.

"Yeah. Why?"

"Good. You can give her this then."

Ripping the piece of paper from Juliet's hand, Todd shoved it straight into Matt's stomach. It was clear that he wanted to react in that second, but he held himself back. Instead, he took the paper and began examining his eyes over it to try and grasp what was going on here.

"Why are you giving it to her? It's addressed to you." Matt asked, and Todd's hands clenched either side of his body, before calming himself swiftly after.

"Because she's probably next on the list. Tell her to tell Sophie's lawyers that I'm declining the offer. I don't want anything to do with it."

"Dude..."

"Don't. Just fucking give it to her and we won't have any trouble here."

While Juliet felt her heart beating so fast as she watched this scene in front of her, Matt remained strangely calm. It was like he was used to his brother's ways, as though they had always been in one another's lives. He didn't look threatened by the fact that Todd might lash out. Instead, he was just approaching him like he would any normal conversation.

"Why don't you want anything to do with it?"

"Because I said so." Todd bit back, attempting to cut this conversation short. He had just had the same one with Juliet and didn't need to go through it again.

"You're not even going to try? You're just going to quit before you even begin?" Matt asked before shrugging his shoulders. "I guess that's not surprising considering it's what you always do."

That comment seemed to catch Todd's attention, as he took a step towards Matt until their chests were almost touching.

"What did you just say?"

"You always quit. When it comes to Sophie that's all you ever do, it's all you've ever done. It's because you're scared. You're fucking scared because she means something to you and you don't know how to handle that. You're scared you're going to let her down."

"You're talking so much shit, Matt. You don't know anything."

"I do. I've watched you do it. You did everything to win her over the first-time round, then when you had her, you freaked out and quit. Then you jumped in to save her when she was scared and pregnant and once again, you ended up quitting when you realised she meant something. You continue to fuck it up and quit when you let her get close to you. You're fucked up, just like me but you know what the difference is between us?" Matt raised his brows in a questionable manner, but Todd didn't respond.

"I'm not a quitter. I don't let our fucked up past screw with a future I actually have of a potential happy ending. But you, you always quit. You let it screw up every good thing you have in your life and you're going to remain miserable for as long as you do that."

As Matt spoke those last few words, Todd's hands were placed against his chest before he pushed him with so much force. Matt went stumbling back at the impact, only being saved by the wall behind.

"There is no chance of me having a happy ending." Todd mocked. "What don't you understand about that? Sophie is gone. She's not coming back. I don't get a second chance anymore and this shitty piece of paper doesn't give me that either!"

As Juliet was about to charge over to Matt, he flashed her a look of warning to stay put. Lifting himself back into a standing position away from the wall, he still remained just as composed as he took a few steps closer to Todd once again.

"You may not have a second chance with her anymore, but she's giving you one with something else that she loves. You'd be a complete idiot to throw this away. Sophie may not be here to see her business completely crash and burn because of your idiocy, but her kids sure will. They won't forgive you."

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