A New Year's Kiss (BoyxBoy)

33. I Didn't Deserve That

Jay

I sprinted the last hundred meters to my dad's front door. I could feel the sweat dripping off me and my legs were burning from the final blast of effort at the end of my hour run.

I flopped down on the cool grass in front of the porch taking in deep breaths, waiting for the lactic acid build up to pass.

I stared at the sky looking at the white, fluffy clouds blowing past. It wasn't so bad here, not really, I told myself as I listened to the noise of the wind rustling the trees. It was perfect for running. I could run on the road for miles and not see a single car. I was more likely to be stopped by sheep than traffic.

Don't get me wrong, the weather wasn't great. It rained a lot! It was Scotland after all. But I liked running in the rain. It kept me cool and stopped me from getting itchy with sweat. Yes, I swear I have an allergy to my own sweat as it always leaves me scratching like fury!

I stood up and walked into the house. I heard footsteps hurrying down the stairs and I looked over to see my dad, coming towards me with a frown on his face.

"Are you alright Dad?" I asked.

"Yes, but Sergeant Hamilton has been on the phone. He said it was important and asked if you'd call him back."

My heart sank to my feet. I'd been waiting for them to call. The thought of prison didn't bother me back then. In fact I almost welcomed it. I needed to be taken away from the pitiful existence that my life had become.

But now.....

Well now I felt different. I felt......more content. Over the last couple of weeks I had come to terms with a lot of things about my life.

I had built bridges with my dad. Don't get me wrong, there was still a long way to go, but it turns out that he was right, and he had actually changed.

And for the first time in my life I found myself living in a family home, with a family of sorts. My dad's partner Dave had a daughter Hannah who was 15. Hannah was a real tomboy and loved all things sports, and took quite a liking to me. In a big brother way, nothing creepy or anything!

My dad had a basketball hoop attached to the garage and we'd wasted many an hour shooting hoops together. She never asked me anything personal about my life, and I never intruded in hers. We just enjoyed each other's company, and I needed that right now.

My dad had pretty much dragged me to an alcoholics meeting the first day I arrived, and it turned out to be better than I thought it would. I was the youngest person there, but only by a few years, and there were some pretty cool guys there. There was one guy who had worked on some big film sets and would entertain us with stories about the movie stars he'd worked with.

I still missed Alex, but I was even starting to accept that our relationship wouldn't be the same again. My counsellor (yes I had one of those again!) had helped me to focus on the good relationship me and Alex had growing up, and to treat it as a fond memory instead of dwelling on what it had become.

I reached for the phone that was attached to the wall next to the stairs. You couldn't get a mobile signal here as we lived in a tiny village in the middle of nowhere, so it was like taking a step back in time technology wise.

I rang the number my dad had given me and took a few deep breaths while I waited for an answer.

"Sergeant Hamilton."

"Hi, it's err Jay Harper, you er asked me to give you a call?"

"Oh hello Jay, yes, thanks for calling me back. I needed to speak to you about some new developments in your case."

"Oh?" I replied, baffled as to what could have changed.

"Yes, I've finally managed to get a statement off Alex Bateson. He's told us that he jumped in front of the car, misjudging the speed you were going and therefore not giving you enough time to swerve to avoid him."

There was silence on both ends of the phone.

"Sorry, can you say that again?" I asked, totally confused by what he'd just said.

Sergeant Hamilton sighed. "Basically Alex doesn't want to see you go to prison so he's thrown you a lifeline Jay. We're dropping the charges. Well, apart from driving under the influence, that still stands. You'll still need to attend Court and will probably be disqualified for a year with a small fine."

I was still silent. Although I could hear my heart beating. I wondered if Sergeant Hamilton could hear it too?

"Are you there Jay? Did you hear what I said?"

"Yeah," I mumbled. "I'm just in shock, that's all. I thought Alex hated me."

Sergeant Hamilton chuckled. "Of course Alex doesn't hate you. He was just mad at you. And considering what happened he had every right to be. But please take this seriously Jay. You're extremely lucky that someone has handed you a 'get out of jail free' card. It won't happen again. Please make this the last time that I ever see you in my police station."

I let out a short snort of laughter. Possibly slightly delirious.

"Sure thing. I promise I'll be no more bother," I said, finally feeling some of the tension start to disappear from my shoulders.

"Glad to hear it," Sergeant Hamilton said. "Now your Court date for the drink driving is on the 12th October at 10.00am. Make sure you attend!"

"Of course I will and thanks for all your help," I said.

I put the phone back on the hook, and sank to the floor in relief.

"Is everything ok?" my dad asked with concern written across his face.

I smiled back up at him. "Everything's fine. They've dropped the charges. The only charge left is the drink driving which will probably get me a ban and a fine."

"Wow," my dad said, running his hand through his hair in relief. "So why did they drop the charges?"

I looked down at my feet and started fiddling with my shoe laces. "Apparently Alex said he stepped out in front of the car and there was nothing I could have done."

As pleased as I was, something just didn't sit right with me about this. I didn't like the fact Alex had lied to save my ass. I didn't deserve that.

"Wow," my dad said again. "You should probably thank him for that," he said before turning and walking away.

Thank him? How could I do that?

It's not like I could send a text and even if I could, what would I say, "oh by the way, thank you for lying for me even though I nearly killed you'.

No, I'm pretty sure that Alex didn't expect or want to be thanked. In fact he probably did it to avoid having to go and give evidence in court. He probably did it so he wouldn't have to see me again, so that he could put all of this behind him.

Well, even if he never knew, I would be forever grateful for what he did.