Tandem

Raechel Harchey

"It's moments like these that I can't imagine living anywhere else." Raechel and Holt sat with their feet dangling out of Raechel's Nook, both in awe of the breathtaking sunset before them. The horizon itself could have been an artist's masterpiece, the strips of red, orange and yellow smudges of paint on a canvas.

"And to think this place was meant to be for the lesser members of society," Holt smirked at Raechel, who hadn't taken her eyes off of the sunset. "I never thought I'd say this but I pity them. I truly believe we have it better than any of them. They may have the square footage, but we have the views."

"We sure do." Raechel said as she ran her fingers through Alpha's soft fur. He purred contentedly from the comfort of her lap.

"I used to walk by the Stack with my mum and brother on the way into the city, and every time without fail, mum would stop and point up at this place and say 'No child of mine will ever end up in one of those.' How wrong she was. I wonder what she'd say if she saw me now."

"I think she'd be proud." Raechel turned to face him. She could already see the sadness in his eyes.

"Proud? You don't know my mum, she doesn't know the meaning of proud. Even when I did things that were good, it was never enough, I was never enough. For the record, she'd be horrified if she saw me now."

"Just because you live in the Stack?"

"Exactly, she'd rather be dead than live somewhere like this."

"She wouldn't feel proud if she knew her son helped solve a murder or brought justice to an innocent victim?"

"No, she wouldn't. She would be proud if she knew that I'd managed to take care of my best friend's cat whilst she was away." Holt couldn't stop himself from winking. He knew it frustrated Raechel when he did that but he had to admit, he enjoyed seeing her get a little cross at him.

Raechel rolled her eyes. "Honestly after all of this, you're acting like temporarily adopting Alpha was your biggest life achievement. Look Holt, I hate to break it to you but as your best friend, I have to be honest. I left Alpha to take care of you, not the other way around."

"Best friend huh?" He smirked.

Raechel nudged him playfully but couldn't stop a small smile from escaping. For all his quirks, she knew she wouldn't be sat there at that moment without his help. She'd still have been stumbling around trying to make sense of the madness that had been released inside her brain. She'd felt so betrayed when she'd first found out about his involvement with the Gauze.

"I wish she'd think like that but that'd be very unlike her. I thought that after my brother died, it might have brought us closer. I thought that maybe losing one son would make her want to hold onto her remaining one all the more but I couldn't have been more wrong. It's almost like every time she looked at me, she wished it was the other son. You could just see it in her eyes. She wanted to see past it but she never could. I was the son who was alive and that became a life sentence. So it was easier for me to leave. She wouldn't have to pretend anymore and I wouldn't have to live in Lennon's shadow."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. If she'd been nicer then I wouldn't have moved out when I did, which means I wouldn't currently be sat here with you."

"If only she'd been nicer and you hadn't left home, my life would be a lot more peaceful."

"You don't mean that."

"I so do." Raechel chuckled.

The two fell silent. Holt turned to face Raechel and smiled as the warm light from the setting sun lit up her eyes. He noticed Alpha pushing his small furry head between them, attempting to climb onto his lap. Holt lifted the cat into his arms and planted a gentle kiss on his forehead. Alpha nuzzled into his chest and Holt instinctively held him just that little bit closer.