Chapter Seventeen

***JEREMI POV***

Holding Regan in my arms I wait in the Small waiting area until Officer Mike finally walks over.'

"Ms. Flint You shouldn't be here." He says with a frown. I shake my head.

"I want to see Lucas." I say. He opens his mouth to say something but I cut him off. "Please I know You're not suppose to. But I need to talk to him. I need to tell him I'm not mad at him." I say, tears springing to my eyes. Its been three days since the accident and Lucas was still in police custody. I had went home yesterday to mom and dads house but it just wasn't the same. I needed to speak to him for more then one reason. I needed to see the regret in his eyes for even going to Arnold in the first place, and I needed to tell him I'm not mad at him for shoving me. Getting drunk yes. But the rage no, it wasn't him, he was drugged. But the fact that he had chosen to go to Arnold in the first place it hurt.... A lot. Officer Mike sighs and nods.

"Alright come with me." He says and leads me through a door into the bustling Police station. He leads me through the chaos and into a small white hallway. Pausing outside of a room he unlocks it and ushers me inside a small room with a table and two chairs. "Wait here I'll bring him." He says and closes the door. Regan makes a distressed noise and wiggles, trying to get out of my arms. I bend down and place her on the floor, grabbing a toy out of her diaper bag and handing it to her. I sit down in one of the chairs and wait until I hear the door handle jiggle as someone opens the door. I stand up and scoop up my daughter as Officer Mike comes in, Lucas in tow.

***LUCAS POV***

My mouth drops open when I see Jeremi standing in the interrogation room, Regan in hand.

"What are you doing here?" I croak out, too stunned to believe my own eyes. Officer Mike pushes me into the room and looking between the two of us He sighs and points to my handcuffs.

"Because of the situation, Those have to stay on. I'm sorry. I'll be right outside this door if you need anything." He says and leaves the room, leaving the door slightly cracked incase we need him. I don't move from my spot, just staring at her. She gives me a small smile and I take a small step toward her before stopping.

"Can I give you a hug?" I ask, blushing. She nods and crosses the distance between us. Awkwardly I lift my arms and she ducks under the handcuffs letting me rest my bound hands on her back. She steps close to me and I give her the best hug I can, Regan wiggling between us. I look down at her and smile. "Hey baby girl." I whisper kissing her forehead making her giggle and lean toward me. I look at Jeremi and lean over to kiss her, she moves, giving me her cheek. Confused I kiss her cheek and lift my hands so she can step out. "How are you?" I ask, going over and sitting down. She places Regan back on the floor and sits down across from me.

"I'm good. I needed to come down here and see you. To let you know something." She looks down. "I'm not mad at you, I don't hate you for what happened. I figured it out that Arnold Drugged you. I forgive for that, it wasn't your fault." She says and I feel a weight lift off my shoulders at the same time guilt crashes into me.

"it was my fault. I got drunk in the first place. I set myself up to be drugged." I whisper. She looks up and nods.

"You're right. You did get drunk. That's what I'm pissed at. Lucas you need help. If you are released you need to get help for yourself. You're an alcoholic and turning into a drug addict." I look down. "One more thing." I look up and my heart stops at her expression. "Until you get yourself help, until you are clean and free of all this, Lucas I cant be with you. I just cant handle it anymore. I wont take Regan from you. But You need to leave the house. I already talked to Fiona and she understands, she says you can live with her." Tears fall from my eyes. I couldn't say I was surprised. I had figured something like this would happen. I open my mouth to promise her I would get help but she stops me. "Don't promise anything. I'm tired of your broken promises. You want to show me you're going to try? Then do It Lucas. I know you can." She says taking one of my hands. She leans forward and I lean over to. She gives me a small kiss and I taste her tears on her lips.

"Hey Don't cry." I whisper pulling away. Awkwardly I bring my hands up and catch a tear with my thumb. "Why are you crying?"

"I feel like I'm deserting you." She cries and my heart constricts. Oh my amazing Jeremi. Even when I didn't deserve it she still cared for me. I give her a small smile.

"You're not. I understand Jer, You need to do this for yourself. I have been putting you through hell these past two months. I don't deserve to have you right now, and You don't deserve to have to put up with me. So don't cry ok. Please." I say. It was true. I had been putting her through hell and back and I couldn't hate her or even be mad at her for finally throwing in the towel. She nods and wipes at her eyes. "Just please don't take Regan from me ok?" I say, my voice choking as I think of the horror my life would be like if I lost my daughter. She nods again.

"I would never do that." She says standing up and going over to our daughter. "Say goodbye to Daddy silly girl." she says scooping her up. She brings our daughter over to us and I smile down.

"I cant believe she will be one years old soon. Only three more weeks." I say and Jeremi nods. I lean down and kiss Regan's forehead. "I'll see you soon baby girl." I whisper. Regan looks at me.

"Dada." She whimpers and reaches out to me, wanting me to hold her. Both Jeremi and I gasp. Regan had just said her first word. "DADA!" She cries, tears rolling down her face when I don't pick her up. I couldn't. my handcuffs wouldn't let me. "DADA DADA DADA!" She shrieks and I feel my heart starting to break.

"I'm so sorry baby girl." I say and hug her the best I can. "Dada cant hold you right now." I cry. When I look over to Jeremi I see pain in her eyes and tears running down. "Don't cry Jer, It's ok. I'll be ok. Everything will be ok." I say, trying to convince her as well as myself that that statement was true.

I didn't know how or when. But I knew everything would turn out ok in the end. I HAD to believe in that or everything would fall apart.

***JEREMI POV***

"Don't cry Jer, it's ok. I'll be ok, everything will be ok." He says and when I look in his eyes I see that he was trying to convince me as well as himself of that. I could see it in his eyes that his heart was breaking but he wouldn't let it show. He would stay strong until he was alone and then break down. That's just how he was. I nod my head and try to stop crying.

"I have to go now, I'm meeting with Oliver soon." I say, clearing my throat when my voice cracks. He nods and lets go of Regan . I step around him and open the door, taking one last look at him before slipping out. "Goodbye Lucas." I whisper before smiling at the cop. "Thank you so much Sir." I say to Mike who just gives me a small smile.

"Anything to help. I've been watching that kid. He seems like a nice guy, with anger issues. I will try my hardest to keep him out of jail, He needs help, not time." He says gently and I smile again. 

"thank you. Thank you so much." I say truly meaning it. "Please keep an eye on him. I don't want him doing anything stupid." I say. The officer nods.

"Don't worry. We have to keep an eye on him anyway. Arnold is here as well." He says making me gasp. Arnold was here too? Mike takes in my expression and his eyes soften. "Don't worry they aren't close enough to each other to harm." I sigh in relief. Thank goodness.

"Thank you. But I need to get going now. I have plans with my brother." I hitch Regan up higher in my arms and walk away, wanting to be gone when Mike took Lucas out of the room. As I buckle Regan up in her chair I slide into the driver seat and burst into tears. That looks on Lucas's face were heartbreaking. When I told him I couldn't be with him his face was filled with so much fear and sadness I almost changed my mind, and when Regan... Oh gosh Regan. When Regan said Dada for the first time I swear I watched Lucas's heart break right in front of me. He wanted to hold his daughter so badly but he couldn't. How did our lives turn to this? How did they go so far down the path of darkness? Was there anyway for us to get back to it? Would Lucas really change if he got off free? I prayed he would. I loved him with everything I had and I wanted to be with him. I wanted to be his wife. But I couldn't if he didn't get clean. I would NOT put my daughter at risk like that, hell I wouldn't put my heart at risk like that. I wouldn't be able to handle it. Regan's gurgles in the backseat tear me out of my thoughts and I take a deep breath. Everything would work out eventually. I had to believe in that, for my sanity's sake. Putting the keys in the ignition I start up the car and drive off toward Oliver's house. I get there in a few minutes and park the car, cringing when I hear the obnoxious barking of their black lab Panther. A few later Panther comes tearing around the house and straight toward me, Oliver running behind him.

"PANTHER SIT!" He screams but the dog doesn't listen. I brace myself as I feel Panther jump on me, instantly attacking my face with licks. "Panther No Down!" Oliver says, his voice winded from running. He winces and rubs at his chest.

"You ok?" I ask with concern as I calm the dog down, scratching behind his ear making his tail wag with joy. Oliver nods.

"Yeah, still hurts every once in a while when I run, nothing bad." He says with a shrug. My brother was born with a medical condition called Pectus excavatum which made his chest caved in and his heart displaced. Even though he had it fixed four years ago and his chest was no longer caved in it would still bother him if he over exerted himself. I nod and go get Regan out of her seat. Oliver grabs Panther and drags him back around the house so he could put him in the fenced in back yard. He meets back up with me at the front door and we head inside. "Ro! Jeremi and Lucas are here!" He calls to Rolland who was dozing off on the couch. He lifts his arm away from his face and gives me a small smile before putting back and dozing off again. I look at Oliver with curiosity, he shrugs. "The poor guy has been exhausted lately no matter how much sleep he gets, and he has this horrible cough that wont go away. I keep telling him to go to the doctors but he wont listen." He says.

"Its just a cold Babe, I'll be fine." He says, his voice hoarse and cracking. No Sooner does he say that doe he sit up and go into a coughing fit that sounds so painful even Regan whimpers. Rolland grabs a tissue near him and spits into it, trying to hide the napkin before Oliver can see it, but I see it and am shocked. Bright red blood was splattered on the tissue. That wasn't normal for a cold. He stands up and staggers before balancing himself. "Babe I'm going to go take a nap. I feel like s**t. Hey Jeremi, Hey Regan." He says before stumbling up the stairs to their room. I shake my head as Oliver watches him with a frown. He turns to me and gives me a huge hug.

"How was it?" He asks and I know what he means. He lets go of me and we head to the couch Rolland just vacated. I put Regan down in the Play pen they set up for her and sigh, running a hand through my hair.

"He's heartbroken but other then that it wasn't bad. He understands actually. He told me not to be upset that he deserved this and that he will make it up to me if he gets out." I say, that pain in my chest tightening again. Tears well up in my eyes and I look at my Twin. "Then something happened and Lucas's reaction nearly killed me." I squeak out. Oliver frowns and pulls me back in a hug. I curl up in his side, something I had always done as kids. He leans back against the couch and lets me mold myself to his side, kissing my forehead when I'm done moving around, his arm protectively around me.

"What happened?" He asks softly. I sniffle and point to Regan.

"Hey silly girl. Who did we go see today?" I call out. my daughter looks up from playing with her light up toy and smiles wide.

"DADA!" She cries making Oliver gasp.

"Her first word!" He says in amassment. I nod.

"Yeah. She kept calling Dada and wanting him to hold her but he couldn't. He was handcuffed and Oliver I swear I saw his heart breaking right then and there. I feel horrible. I'm deserting him when he needs me the most." I sob. Oliver's arm tightens around me and he faces me, wiping away my tears before gripping my chin and making me look in his golden eyes.

"What he needs right now is help! Maybe losing you until then is what will finally kick his butt into gear. He will be Fine Jeremi. Lucas is a strong guy, He wont let this destroy him. Or at least not fully." He says kissing my forehead again. I nod before snuggling up to him again. "Lets watch a movie" He says I shake my head.

"I want to watch Pretty little liars. We never do that anymore." I say. When we were younger I had begged Oliver to watch pretty little liars with me and I got him hooked. SO it became our thing. He laughs and extracting his arm from around me he stands up and goes over to his very large very impressive movie cabinet and opens it, revealing the hundreds, if not thousands, of movie cases. Going to the bottom he pulls out Six cases for the six seasons of PLL and goes to the TV, turning it on and hooking up the DVD player so we could watch it from the beginning. ten minutes later we are snuggled on the couch together with Popcorn and soda watching the show and singing along in horribly off key tones to the theme song. My spirits lift slightly.

Things will get better. I just know it.

***ALLEN POV***

I creep into my brother's room and see him laying down on the bed. I edge closer.

"Oliver I'm fine don't worry." He croaks out, his voice sounding so painful I couldn't help but wince.

"I'm not Oliver." I state making him open his eyes and look at me. He gives me a small strained smile before closing his eyes again and throwing an arm over them. "And I know you're not ok. What's going on?" I ask sitting on the edge of his bed. He shrugs.

"I don't know kid. I'm sure its just a really bad cold. I'll be fine in a few days." He whispers. I knew something was wrong, It was more then a cold. Even with the worst of colds my brother's voice was so Deep and booming. Now it was barely above a whisper, weak, and fragile sounding. It sounded painful to talk. And his cough? It sounded like that of a smoker who had been smoking three packs a day for twenty years. But I knew my brother, he had never smokes a cigarette a day in his life.

"It's not a cold and you know it." I snap back. He sighs.

"Yeah I know."

"What are you going to do?" I ask as panic creeps into my system. what if it was something horrible? He shrugs again.

"I'll call the doctors tomorrow." He sighs and rolls over so his back was toward me. "I'm exhausted." He states, ending our conversation. I sigh and get up, leaving the room and silently closing the door. Rolland was out cold before I even finished closing it.

***ROLLAND POV***

My Chest felt like it was on fire and I could barely catch my breath. What was wrong with me? Why was I feeling like this? Exhaustion tugs at my mind and I let myself sink into it. I'll figure it out later. Right now... I neede sleep

Author's Note

WHats wrong with Rolland???????