Because he loved him..

37. Assuagement

*Samar's point of view*

"You sick bastar----" Ray hissed, raising his fist.

"That's bullshit!" Paul spoke calmly. Everyone turned to look at him but he looked at Arlo.

"They left you with Sally and Samar because he was hunting you guys. Amay even planned to surrender himself to Wander that night but Ray stopped him." He looked Arlo in the eye.

"He was willing to die for you, Arlo." He took a deep breath.

"But he had to make sure that you were safe, so he left you with the people he trusted above the most in this world." Paul turned to look at me and I felt shame drench my being.

"I have been there with them for more than a decade. It's true that they love each other but it's the love of brothers, of people who have survived hell together and can't help but lean on each other for support because nobody else knows what it was like." Paul spoke with veneration.

How could I doubt Amay's character again? Hadn't he suffered enough for my judgements. Hadn't I suffered enough by doing that once?

I looked at Ray. He looked fidgety now. Apparently, listening to himself being praised made him uncomfortable.

A heavy footfall broke the silence behind us and Sally appeared in the room along with a few officers. They pointed their guns towards us and Sally took in the scene, with a relieved intake of breath before speaking,

"John Wander, you are under arrest for forgery, blackmailing, and kidnapping."

An officer immediately moved to put handcuffs on his hands. Surprisingly, he didn't resist. In fact, he looked mildly amused.

"I am sure you are mistaken, officers."

The officer holding him just nodded at Sally and pulled him towards the door.

Wander kept staring at Amay all the while he was being taken out of the room and just before he was escorted out, he smirked at Arlo.

Sally swiftly walked over to Arlo and hugged him. Arlo kept standing there, hands hanging awkwardly to the sides.

"I was so worried. I thought--- I thought--" Sally broke down into sobs and then in an emotionally charged voice, she bellowed,

"Don't you ever disappear on me again! You are my son, you hear that? You are my life!"

Arlo struggled to say something. Sally always presented the picture of stoic strength at home but this was the first time Arlo had seen her vulnerable.

It seemed to do the trick though, a moment later, Arlo hugged her back, leaning down his chin on her head.

Even at 17, he was taller than her and her head rested on his chest. I wanted to say something too but Arlo was avidly ignoring everyone else's eye.

There was a thick silence after the officers left the house.

I looked at Amay. He had grown. He was still lean without much muscles but there were hints of a stubble on his chin and his hair was also shorter than he used to keep, when he was younger. Though his eyes were still gentle, the cherubic innocence on his face had disappeared without any trace.

Sally and Arlo broke off and Sally wiped her tears. When she spotted Amay, her face hardened again. She walked up to him so swiftly that even Merchant took a step back.

"You selfless brat!" She pushed Amay, he stumbled back in alarm.

"Do you know how guilty I felt when I understood what you had done for me? I felt like the most selfish person in the world." Amay took a step back.

"I was there when you asked Samar to return to me in the church, when you gave up your love for me and you didn't even know me back then." She pushed his chest with her finger with every sentence.

She heard us? She knew then. I would have felt guilty if not for the fact that she also kept it from me. Why though?

"Even when you were in mortal danger, you went ahead and gave up the only reason you were alive, to me. Why? Had it ever occurred to you, that people don't like to be treated like the subjects of charity?" She grabbed his collars.

Nobody said a thing. Paul stood stoically on the side. Ray looked annoyed and Arlo only gaped.

"And then I found out that you were alive! And I understood that the only reason you didn't come back to take Arlo, was me! You were worried about my feelings! What am I even to you? What have I ever done for you? Why?" She tugged on his collars desperately.

"B..Because you loved him and---" Amay tried to speak and took a furtive glance at me.

All this time, She had been keeping it all inside her and I didn't have a clue. What kind of a husband was I? I didn't even deserve her.

"Because he loved him." Paul answered, pointing at me.

Wait what?

Something rose in my chest. I felt nauseous. Until now, it was like watching an emotional movie play in front of me. I was actively trying to tell myself that it didn't affect me but after all these years, it still made me want to bawl.

Something wet trailed down my cheeks. When did my clumsy kid of a boyfriend become this great a person? I looked at Sally and she stepped away from Amay.

I took a step towards Amay and he looked at me with those eyes.

Those eyes that were finally without any pretense, without lies and I saw my Amay, the kid I fell in love with. The kid who used to kiss flowers and chase butterflies.

The boy I tried to impress by slashing flowers on the top of his favourites tree so that I could shower them up on him, when he read underneath it.

The boy who listened raptly to my tales of how people in the city behaved, who chased me because I impersonated a smoker using an incense stick.

Somebody cleared their throat and I was brought back to the present.

"I am surrounded by a bunch of Holy Marys'!" Ray muttered. Everyone looked at him.

"What? Look, they didn't even hug!" He gestured at us. Everyone stared at me. So, I said what came to my mind first.

"Let's go back home." My voice came out raspy. Amay nodded urgently.

Arlo bowed his head down.

"Yeah. Let's go back home. Bethany must be worried as shit now." Ray moved to hold Amay's hand but Amay hesitated, sneaking a look at Arlo.

"I don't care what anyone thinks. You are my brother and I love you and nothing's going to change that." Ray gritted his teeth.

If it was even possible, Arlo looked even more guilty now but Paul laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him a warm smile. Amay passed Paul a glowing smile and my heart actually ached. It has been so long since I saw that smile.

"We are all going to our apartment and we will take it from there. I am not letting anyone leave till you all have rested properly. " Sally ordered in her best authoritative voice. Nobody spoke.

She grabbed Amay's hand in one hand and Arlo's in the other, pulling them both out of the house.

I was fiercely reminded of my mum. How would she have reacted if she were alive to see this. All of us felt guilty for Amay but for her, it would have been unbearable.

"Dude! You have got yourself an alpha" Ray looked at Sally's retreating form in awe.

"I think he knows that" Paul put in and I smiled.

I sure did

*The best part to write was Sally's outburst. I liked sneaking in Sam and Amay's good memories too. What do you think? Comments please.*