Chapter 33

Shaw

       Kendra wasn't lying when she told me she didn't want me going near the kids until I wasn't drinking anymore. Normally, they stayed over at my and Holden's house every other weekend.

       Not this time.

       She called me to let me know that I wouldn't be watching them this weekend. I kept trying to tell her that I really wasn't in too deep with the drinking and there would be no way in hell I would drink around the kids, but she wouldn't listen to any of it.

       So I was in a bad mood like I had been the past couple days.

       And of course, me being in an horrible mood was making me crave a drink. I kept trying to tell myself to not go out to Fusion and get a drink, and that the craving would pass. 

       It wasn't passing.

       I started pacing around the house, though being as quiet as I could since Holden was napping on the couch. 

       Unfortunately, pacing around was doing any good and once I got close enough to the door, I was about to put on my shoes to head out to Fusion. However, I took one glance at Holden sleeping before walking over and kneeling down beside the couch. I really didn't want to wake him up, but I needed his help.

       I gently shook him awake and he stirred around a bit before rolling over on his side and opening his eyes. "Hey," he said tiredly. "Did I nap for too long?"

       "No, you didn't," I said. "I just... I really need your help with something and I don't know what else to do because my mind is telling me one thing even though I don't want to do it and I'm just stressing out right now."

       Holden sat up. "You want to drink?"

       "I don't want to drink," I said. "I'm craving it but believe me, I don't want to."

       "We can go for a walk," Holden said. "That might help you take your mind off of things."

       "Wouldn't you rather stay home and rest?" I asked.

       "Well, you did wake me up," Holden pointed out. "And yes, I do want to rest, but I promised you I'd help you get through this. I'm not just gonna take a nap when you're really craving alcohol right now. I'm going to do whatever it takes, even if it means sacrificing sleep."

       I smiled softly. "Thank you. Seriously, you are the best husband I could ever ask for."

       "I know," Holden said.

       I rolled my eyes before giving him a quick kiss. We both then stood up and walked to the front door, putting out shoes on before leaving the house and locking the door behind us. There wasn't really much I wanted to do in the village, so we just walked around.

       I hoped Kendra didn't take the kids anywhere because if I ran into them, seeing them was only going to break my heart. Kendra would just immediately take them away and I didn't know if I could handle it.

        Walking around helped a bit, but not too much. At least I was getting some fresh air right now. I didn't really leave the house recently unless I had to work because there were a lot of people I didn't want to bump in to.

       It was best if I just stayed inside where one of the few people that still cared about me was.

       While Holden and I were walking around, I saw Jane walking through the village and she definitely didn't look like the happiest person. In fact, she looked the most upset I had ever seen here.

       I pointed it out to Holden, so we walked closer to her before he said, "Jane, are you okay?"

       Jane wiped away the small amount of tears in her eyes. "No, I'm not. It's Roman. He just won't leave me alone."

       Holden was one of the few people that didn't get angry often. Annoyed, yes. Angry? Not normally. Something would have to be very wrong for him to get angry.

       And he definitely was angry now.

       "What did he do this time?" Holden asked, trying to hide the venom in his voice.

       "Well, I got a job at the cafe," Jane said. "He found out and kept hitting on me while I was working and it took him almost an hour before he left. And then when I got off of work, he was standing outside waiting for me. He kept following me around and wouldn't leave and when I snapped at him, he told me that he always gets what he wants in the end, even if he'll have to force it."

       Now it was my turn to get mad. Why couldn't Roman just keep his vendetta against me with just me? He shouldn't be bringing Holden, Mercy, and Jane into this.

       And if he kept this up, the violent side of me I kept bottled up for so long just might explode.

       "So he threatened you?" Holden asked.

       "That's what it sounded like to me," Jane said. "I just want him to stop and leave me alone."

       "I think it would be fair enough for us to report it to the police," I said. "Because honestly, if he keeps getting away with things, he'll regret it."

       Holden looked a bit worried and I didn't blame him. He was in boarding school during a lot of his school days. He never actually witnessed my violent behaviour. I never wanted him to witness it but if Roman didn't stop...

       "Do you want us to come with you to the police station?" Holden asked Jane, and she nodded.

       I just hoped Horatio was there working.

       He wasn't.

       Viola was though, but I doubt she would take us seriously especially because she believed Roman didn't kidnap Holden and Mercy.

       She walked over to us as soon as she saw us, though. "What are you doing here?" she asked me. "Have you been drinking?"

       "Yes, because everything I do is because of me drinking," I said. "Why would I come here if I was? I'm here because of Roman."

       "It's this is about the kidnapping..."

       "It's not," Holden said. "Though I might bring that up again in the future because his alibi is pure crap." Holden looked and Jane and she gave him a look as if she were asking him to talk for her, so he looked back to Viola. "Roman has been harassing my best friend Jane here for a while now. Always hitting on her, calling her names when she rejects him, and just recently threatened her."

       "Threatened her?" Viola asked. "How so?"

       "By saying that he always gets what he wants, even if he has to force it," Holden said.

       "That doesn't really sound like a threat to me," Viola said.

       "Are you serious?" I asked. "It clearly was one."

       "Not really," Viola said. "All he's saying is that he always gets what he wants. A lot of guys do when flirting."

       "Flirting?" Holden asked. "He was harassing her. You have to charge him."

        "I'm sorry, but there aren't any grounds to charge him on," Viola said. "Hitting on people isn't against the law."

       "I knew you weren't going to take us seriously," I said. "And you call yourself a police officer."

       "Hey, I am doing my job," Viola said. "Flirting with someone and hitting on them isn't punishable by the law."

       Jane didn't say anything as she turned around and walked out of the police station.

       "Now look what you did," I said. "She's clearly afraid of Roman. A lot of people are including my daughter for being kidnapped."

       "You know what? I don't have time for this," Viola said before she walked away.

       We needed better police officers.

       "Go after Jane," I told Holden. "I have something else I have to do."

       "You're... you're not going to go drinking, are you?" Holden asked.

       "No, I'm not," I said. "And I promise, one-hundred percent. I'll even call you when I'm done."

       "Okay," Holden said. 

       We both walked out of the police station, and Holden immediately went over to a bench Jane was sitting at. I, on the other hand, walked away and to the one house I thought I would never go to for a long time.

       I knocked on the door and it wasn't long before it opened. "Look, I know I've made myself clear about how I felt about you just waltzing back in our lives but I really need your help."

       "With what?" Dad asked.

       "Getting revenge," I said.

       Dad didn't even have to ask who I needed help getting revenge on before he smirked. "I'm in."

________________

oof.

guys i have pink hair now ahahaha. i wanted to start changing things in my life, so why not new hair??

i love ittttt.

and here's a gif of holden comforting jane because i love them: (and i miss their friendship in hollyoaks so much)

I have a gif of an angry holden you might see soon. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡° )