The Silence

Chapter Twenty Four

Julian:

I was so confused. All I could do was stand there and watch the police car drive away with Saint in it. What the hell was going on?

"Julian." My mother said from beside me. She looked tired and her eyes were red, but she also looked pissed. More pissed than she'd ever been with me in her life. "Julian, what the hell is wrong with you?! Get inside the house RIGHT NOW." She hissed and dug her fingers into my arm to pull me towards our front door. Peter was still there in our driveway, looking as lost and confused as I was, so I waved behind my back to tell him to wait. I'd deal with my mom first, then figure out what to do about Saint.

"Julian Carter. Where have you been?" She demanded.

"It's Saturday. I went ...out." I'd never had to lie this much to my mother before, and it showed. I sucked at lying.

"In yesterday's clothes?" She folded her arms and I peeked out the window. Peter was still waiting.

"I was too lazy to change."

"Julian, don't you dare lie to me. I told you Mr Green would be watching the house. He saw you leave and you never came back. Your bed hasn't even been slept in."

"Mr Green needs to get a life." I muttered and my mother's eye twitched. Like, it really twitched. Just like it did in cartoons when characters veins were about to burst in their head.

"What is going on with you? Huh? Tell me. Tell me right now. I want to know why you think you can talk back to me like this." I got impatient and I'd had enough of my mom freaking out about me spending the night out of the house. It seemed like such a small problem compared to the fact that Saint had just been freaking ARRESTED. For assault? What? I needed to tell Evelyn. With Saint's father out of town for a conference, she would be the only help.

"Mom. I need to go." I just said and headed back to the door.

"Julian!" She screeched and I paused.

"Mom, my boyfriend just got arrested. I need to find out what's wrong. I need to help him." I said softly and she threw her hands in the air.

"I don't care about that boy right now. All I need is answers from you. Where were you last night? Where you with HIM?" She sneered.

"Yes!" I shouted. "Yes, I was with him and we had sex and I felt like a normal fucking teenager for two seconds and now he's been arrested for something that doesn't even make SENSE and I have to go!" I slammed the door behind me on the way out. I didn't even want to see what her face looked like.

"Julian?" Evelyn stood up when I raced back inside the house and I cursed my stupid weak body when I had to pause to catch my breath before I could spit out what I was here to say.

"Evelyn, you need to help. You need...Saint was just arrested."

"ARRESTED?!" Her eyes went wide. "For ...for what?"

"Assault. They said..." They'd said Landon hadnt they? "They said he beat up Landon, but that's impossible. I was with him this whole weekend. When would he have beat up Landon?"

We stared at each other in silence and then she was off, running in her heels as she rushed to grab her handbag.

"Come on, we need to get down to the station."

"I need to see my son. Nicholas. Nicholas Colton. He was - "

"Mam, can you just hold on for a second." The officer behind the desk said slowly and rolled his eyes as he went back to talking on the phone. "No, I don't want the blue curtains. I don't care how 'relaxing' its supposed to be. I told you momma wanted green - Hey!" At another time, seeing Evelyn rip the phone out of a police officer's hand might have been funny, but nothing was funny right now.

"I SAID I need to see my son. Nicholas Colton. You can't hold him in there without me. He's a minor, so questioning him without a parent, guardian or lawyer present is against the law." She rambled as she slammed the phone on the table.

"Mam..."

"Just take me to my son!" She shouted and the officer put up his hands like he wasn't the one with the deadly weapon strapped to his belt.

"He's in interview room 3. Just down the hall, to your left."

"Thank you." She sighed and put his phone back on the desk gently. "Come, Julian." She said and I hurried behind her before they changed their minds.

"I don't know what you want me to say. I didn't do it." Saint was saying as we opened the door and Evelyn rushed to his side.

"Nicky...Nicky, darling, don't say another word. I already called your father. He's sending the lawyer soon." She said and wrapped her arms around him tightly so his head was resting on her arm. Saint blinked at her in surprise and looked over at me still standing by the door wringing my hands.

"Did Julian call you?" He asked.

"Of course he did. He was so worried."

'What's going on?' I signed and the officer in the room turned to look at me.

"I'll be outside, but as soon as your lawyer arrives, we'll continue our conversation here, Nicholas." He grunted and stood up with a groan. We stayed quiet as he left the room, and as soon as the door closed behind him, Saint stood up and walked around Evelyn to pull me into his arms.

"What's going on?" I asked again and he turned so he could talk to the both of us.

"I have no idea. We got here and they just started shouting at me about how I beat up Landon last night and he opened a case against me. I don't... I saw Landon last night. At the dance. He was FINE. So I don't know why they think it was me." He finished and we all shared a look.

"And you came straight home from the dance?" Evelyn asked.

"Of course. I even took a taxi because Peter said the car was having engine trouble."

"You didn't stop anywhere at all?" Saint gave her a withering look. "I'm just making sure, Nicky. If you say you didn't do it and you didn't go anywhere but home, then this will all be over soon."

"I hope so." He muttered and I held on to his jacket tightly.

The three of us moved to sit outside in the main waiting area to wait for Saint's lawyer, but he was taking forever to get here.

"Your father said he was on vacation so it might take him some time." Evelyn whispered and I let my head rest on Saint's shoulder. I had a massive headache. The noise in the station wasn't helping either so I took out my hearing aids and put them in Saint's pockets to keep them safe. My phone kept buzzing every few minutes as my mother tried to get ahold of me still, but I didn't want to speak with her. At least until I knew this assault stuff was being taken care of.

"You OK?" He asked me a little while later and I nodded even though it made my skull feel like it was splitting apart. I just needed a moment. Just a moment. Please could my migraine hold off for just a little longer. I snuggled closer to him and closed my eyes, taking in deep breaths of his smoky scent. I focused in counting my breaths, I focused on Saint and his warmth and thought happy thoughts. Like how he'd made me feel even since the day we'd met...it kept the worst at bay just long enough for me to make it until the lawyer showed up.

He looked like Evelyn said, like he'd been on vacation. But he had a good look about him and seeing someone that looked trustworthy walking with a stern face into the room with Saint was reassuring.

"He'll be fine." She said to me and when I nodded again, the room tilted. It happened so quickly that I couldn't even reach out to look for something to break my fall. I just hit the ground and everything went black.