Hostage

One For All

 
Keenan's POV

A second passed.

And another,

And another.

And yet, the only sound in the room remained the beeping sound of the EKG. I watched Jason run his fingers through his hair for the hundredth time as his eyes met mine, expectant, urging me to say something.

But I couldn't.

Today, I couldn't take the lead. I didn't want to.

I knew what needed to be done. I knew exactly what it was we needed to do but I couldn't bring myself to utter a single word.

I watched Andre raise his finally and then release a deep breath as his eyes moving from Roxi, to Jason, and then to me.

"Please." He paused. "Please say something." His voice broke. I drew in a sharp breath, feeling my chest tighten. "I- I didn't mean to Keen. I didn't m-mean to. I would never hurt mum. I would n-" He paused, tears filling his eyes all over again. "I d-didn't plan for any of this to happen. I went to sleep and I- I blacked out." He gasped. "And I know that what I did is monstrous and c-can't be forgiven but please say something."

I drew in a shaky breath and then sighed.

"What do you want him to say, Dre? You hurt mum." Jason said, his voice breaking, his eyes filled with tears. "Mum!"  He raised his voice a bit. "That is not okay, Dre. It's far from being okay."

Silence.

A second passed again,

And then another.

Andre nodded, cleaning his eyes away with the back of his hand.

"I'll-" He swallowed. "I'll take responsibility.  I'll- Tell me how to fix this and I will-"

"This is worse than prison." Jason continued,  mumbling as he began to pace. "This is a endless cycle of pain, and repeated mistakes and I want us to win, Xi." He turned to face Roxi. "More than anything, Keenan, I want us to be the heroes of this story but Sam Levine, he was right. We have become the bad things.  We have become the villains of this story. What are we doing, Dre?" He stopped pacing. "Everyday, I ask myself how many more times we can turn a blind eye to the situation in front of us and let people die but I don't want to do that anymore.  I want to come clean, Keen. Please. This is becoming torture." He continued, cleaning his tears away with the back of his hand.

I drew in a deep breath, blinking repeatedly as I felt tears fill my eyes.

I was hurting. So much.

Seeing my family so... broken made my heart bleed.

God knows I had tried so hard to keep the situation under control but I had failed.

I had let Gloria Hastings into my head, let her manipulate me. She had put us in a far more bigger pit than we had intended to dig.

How much longer could we continue to live like this?

"I did a very bad thing." This time, it was Roxi who spoke and I felt my eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"Isabel Greyson came to me."  She paused. "A- a few days before the wedding. She had been trying to get through to Kimberly but she couldn't." She shut her eyes, reminiscing. "She gave me an envelope and she begged me to help her deliver it to Kimberley and I was going to, I swear. I was going to but I- I called and Kimberly wouldn't pick my calls but then, Gloria, she died and everything got messed up." She paused.

Shit.

"And then after Isabel died and I found out who she was, I couldn't bring myself to give it to Kim." Her voice broke. "Even after she died." She paused, flicking her tongue over her lower lip. "And now I'm pregnant." She muttered softly. I drew in a sharp breath as I placed a hand on my forehead, wondering if I had heard her correctly.

Had Roxi just said she was pregnant?

"What did you just say, Xi?" Andre whispered and the tone of his voice was more than enough evidence that he hadn't known either.

"I just found out a while ago myself and I was going to tell you guys but I was so scared." She sniffed. "I don't feel safe, Keenan." She said, choking back a sob. "A-and I want to. I want my baby to be safe." Her voice broke but even as it did, her last statement was made with so much conviction and I could tell that she had her mind made up already. She drew in a deep breath and then exhaled. "Among other things, Isabel Grayson's envelope contained a flash drive." She paused. "She was studying us, Keen. S- She had so many pictures, videos a-and tapped conversations. E-especially of A-Andre. She knew everything. " She stammered, placing her right hand over her lip.

And then it dawned on me.

Ever since I saw the video of Isabel and Tyrese on the rooftop, I had been racking my brain to find out what it was that Isabel had over Ty. To find out what it was that Isabel thought was worthy enough to die for. To find out why Tyrese killed Isabel.

It all made perfect sense now.

For Kimberly. She must have done it for Kimberly.

But still, how could she have been so reckless?

Turning to Andre, I saw him turn away and then shut his eyes, his breathing uneven. I couldn't bring myself to imagine how he must have felt. He had loved her, Grayson. And even though she had never said it, she had loved him.

She had jumped off because she knew he would never forgive himself if Tyrese had pushed her off.

"Turn it in, Xi." He said slowly, nearly choking on a sob. "To the police."

"Andr-" Jason started.

"I'll take responsibility." He sobbed. "For Michelle," He paused. "For Isabel, for mum." He paused again, drawing in a deep breath as he raised his gaze to meet Jason's gaze. "For Sam Levine."

"That's suicide." Roxi snapped.

"No, it's not. I'll be sent to a correctional facility and I might actually stand a chance of getting better."

"You mean an mental asylum where you'll be confined for life. Andre, that's bullshit." Jason said, his eyebrows creasing.

"What do you want me to do then?" Andre raised an eyebrow before he sniffed. "Mum wakes up some day from tomorrow and all her kids are in prison?" He turned to face Roxi. "You really want to have your first child in prison?" He asked her and then turned to Jason. "I-" He paused, drawing in a deep breath. "I wish I could have been a better brother, Ty. I- I wish I wasn't so fucked up upstairs but I am. I had no right to take your identity  from you. A-and I'm so sorry that I did. I- I am sorry for everything that I put you through at such a young age and I simply can't let you go to prison." He said, his voice breaking. "Not when I can help it." He finished and then turned to face me. "Keenan-"

"You're right." I cut him off. "You're all right." I added, massaging my temple with my left hand. "It's time to put an end to all of this." I continued. "But it's not your cross to bear alone, Andre. We are all in this. Together. " I told him, meaning it.

"Keenan, I can do this-"

"You won't." I lowered my hand. "You won't Dre." I added, this time with finality in my voice. "Come what may, we will get through this together as a family." I continued. "One for all."

"Keenan, I am doing this for our family-" He started. "Your lives would be better off without me."

"All for one, Andre." Jason finished, cleaning his tears away with the back of his hands. I watched Andre lower his head to his hands, his body shaking vehemently as he cried into the sleeve of his shirt.

"After Roxi turns the flash drive in, we'll have just a few hours before the cops arrive at our doorsteps." I said quietly. "When that time comes, we tell them the truth." I paused. "And we go from there." I inhaled sharply. "Okay?"

For a few seconds, deafening silence filled the room. And then Roxi nodded,letting out a sigh of relief.

"Okay." Jason breathed and I let my gaze linger on him for a moment.

If only he knew how strong he really was. How commendable his strength really was.

As if on cue, the door opened slowly and Kimberly walked in, William behind her.