*can be read as a standalone, but to have the best understatement I recommend reading Progress and Winter In Spruceworth*
*cover by darkgalaxies*
Holden Eaton has never had the best relationship with his parents after a brain injury a few yea...
There was a sudden knock on the door and when I answered it, I was greeted by someone standing there with a blood-splattered shirt. "I need your help."
"Josh, I'm going to have to call you back," I said, hanging up the phone without waiting for a reply.
I placed my phone in my pocket before gesturing for Julian to come in. He did, and I closed and locked the door behind him.
"What happened?" I asked.
Julian didn't reply. He seemed to daze to even get another word out, so I led him to my room and grabbed a change of Holden's clothes for him. I handed them to him and told him to take a shower since I noticed there was some blood on him as well.
All Julian did was nod before heading to the washroom, closing the door behind him. I didn't know what happened, but I did not have a good feeling about it and something told me that it wasn't his blood on him.
It took a while for him to get showered and changed into the pair of clothes I gave him. When he was finally done, he opened the washroom door and I asked where his other clothes were. Once he gave them to me, I threw them into the wash.
"So, what happened and why were you covered in blood?" I asked.
Julian tried answering, but it was clear he was in a lot of distress so I led him over to the living room and sat him down on the couch. "I... I..." he began, but he couldn't continue.
"It's okay," I said. "Whatever you did, I won't judge."
"I killed someone."
That... I didn't expect at all, even though I had a feeling the blood on him wasn't his. I thought he got into a fight or something.
Not that he killed someone.
"You what?" I asked.
"I didn't intend to, I swear," Julian said, tears now flowing around his eyes. "She was... she was going to kill me and I had no other choice and..."
"Julian," I interrupted. "It's okay. Just take a deep breath and start from the beginning. Tell me everything that happened."
Julian nodded and took a deep breath. "I was walking around the village when someone suddenly grabbed me and pulled me into the alleyway and threw me on the ground. I didn't have anywhere else to go and she was pointing a gun and me, saying Josh was going to pay for everything he did to her."
"I'm going to take a wild guess and say it was Cassidy," I said.
"Yeah," Julian said, his voice a bit shaky. "I didn't know what to do and I saw a few bricks sitting beside me so I grabbed one and hit her in the head before she could react. What if I get arrested? What if I have to go to prison for years for killing her? What if..."
"Hey, I don't think that's going to happen," I said. "Your life was in danger. She was going to kill you, and she has tried killing you before with the explosion at city hall. I'm sure if you tell the police that you only meant to hit her hard enough for her to be unconscious, they'll understand."
Julian didn't reply. He just looked away and that told me there was more to the story that he didn't tell me.
"What is it?" I asked.
"I... I didn't hit her just once," Julian said.
"How many times did you hit her?" I asked. "If it's twice, I'm sure that would still be fine."
"...It wasn't twice either," Julian sad.
"Julian," I said. "How many times did you hit her with the brick?"
It took him a long time to answer and when he did, I found it really hard to believe. But because of all the distress written on his face, it was clear it was the truth.
"I don't know," Julian said. "Something just came over me and I hit her again and again until... until I knew she was dead. I just... I had so much anger inside of me because she killed my uncle, she almost killed Noah and Holden, and she was pointing a gun at me. I... I wanted to make sure she didn't hurt anybody else. If the police found out I intended to kill her..."
"They won't," I said. "Here's what you're going to do. You're going to head on home and pretend like nothing ever happened. I'll deal with it, okay?"
"How?" Julian asked. "They won't stop looking until they find the killer, and it won't be long before they find out it was me. I probably left behind some sort of DNA or something and then they'll arrest me and I'll be in prison for years..."
"Julian, seriously, just trust me," I said. "I'll handle it, I promise. The only thing you need to do is act like everything is okay and that you don't know what's going on. And whatever you do, don't tell anyone you really killed her."
"Are you sure you can handle it?" Julian asked.
"Yes, I'm sure," I said. "Just head on home and pretend everything is okay. The police will never suspect it was you."
Julian nodded and thanked me before getting up from the couch. I stood up as well and walked him to the front door. Once he was gone and the door was closed, I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket and hesitated before calling the police to turn myself in.
There was no way Julian would be able to last in prison. He was so young and it wouldn't be fair for him, especially because of all the pain Cassidy had caused his family.
I would much rather take the fall for him than to let him go down for this.
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Aww, Shaw. <3 He's too good for the world.
Seriously, I love how both Holden and Shaw are more than willing to take the fall for things Julian has done (because julian is so pure) so let's insert a Sholden gif:
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sip that tea mmm yes sip sip.
WE'RE GETTING SOME NEW CHARACTERS SOON WOO. (including me)(i mean what ahahaha)
