present

BILLY.

"Dad?" My eyes bulged as I continued to stare at him, my hand still clasped within Alice's.

"Billy," he sighed as he walked towards me. I pulled away from Alice's hand and crashed into him as we hugged each other. I hadn't seen him since he flew to the states from Cuba for Johnny's funeral.

My dad pulled away from the hug and sighed as he glanced me over. "Oh, Billy," he murmured, tears forming in his eyes. "I should've been there for you, Billy. All those months that he was doing that shit to you and I had no fucking idea."

"It's ok," I mumbled as tears formed in my eyes as well. "Trust me, Dad. It's ok."

He wiped the tears away from his eyes as he sniffled. "No, Billy. It's not ok. Look at the shitshow surrounding all of this," he said as he waved his hand through the air. "None of this is ok, Billy. I have my team working on all of this shit right now." He then sighed as he closed his eyes, his face softening. He opened his eyes before murmuring, "I have my team working on taking that Austin fucker down along with Vinny and everyone else involved."

"Thank you," I sighed as I pulled him in for another hug, only for me to start sobbing into his chest. "I'm so sorry," I cried as I buried my face even farther. "I'm so fucking sorry."

"There's nothing to be sorry for, Billy," he cooed as he rubbed the back of my neck. "You didn't do anything wrong here, Son."

I pulled away from the hug as I wiped my eyes. "I shouldn't have underestimated Austin, Dad. I'm fucking stupid."

My dad shook his head at my statement. "That's not true, Billiam," he murmured with a small smile. I smiled at the nickname he had always called me as a child, fusing together both "Billy" and "William" into his own personal nickname for me.

He glanced over my shoulder at Alice. "Who's your friend?"

I turned back to smirk at her and motioned for her to walk forward. She slowly walked towards us and stood on my left.

"I'm Alice," she murmured as she held out her hand.

My dad grasped her hand within his, shaking her hand as he did so. "I'm Tommy," he said.

"Who's your friend?" I asked as I glanced behind him to his right, meaning my left.

My dad turned around before then turning back to face us. "That's Mickey, one of the lawyers on my team," he said. "The rest of my team is in New York right now doing what they can to diminish the repercussions of this whole shitshow."

I nodded as I waved softly at Mickey, who softly waved back. He was older than me, definitely in his sixties, maybe even his seventies. Hell, he was definitely older than my dad, who was somewhere near 54 if my math was correct.

"How'd you even find out what room I'm in?" I asked as I looked back to my dad. "And how'd you even get in?"

He softly chuckled before rolling his eyes. "I'm Tommy Redford, Billiam. I'm not your average Joe," he said.

I rolled my eyes as a smile took form upon my face.

"I see the orange juice is still in your hair and all over you," he murmured as he began sweeping his hand through my hair.

I cast a confused look at him. "How do you know about that?"

He continued to twist my hair within his fingers as he squeezed some of the orange juice out. "Aside from the obvious being in front of me, some idiot took a video of the dumbass who did that to you, Billy. Don't worry, he's already facing the consequences for fucking with my son," he murmured as he began to brush off my shoulders.

I giggled before mumbling, "Thank you."

He flashed a smile at me before taking his hands away from my shoulders, realizing there was nothing further he could do with my situation at hand. "I see that you were sitting with that Sebastian Stan guy," he murmured as he turned around and began walking towards Mickey.

Alice and I followed him towards the couch as he sat upon it beside Mickey. I planted myself in one of the chairs across from the couch with Alice in the chair beside me.

"There was nowhere else for him and his friends to sit," Alice murmured quietly as she gazed at my father nervously. My father did know how to control the room, and she was doing a very good job with how she was keeping her shit together.

"Ah," my father sighed as Mickey wrote down something. "I see," he murmured. "Does he know about the situation at hand?"

"Just like every other fucking human being that's seen the news, along with my sex tape and whatever else is being said about me online, yes," I mumbled as I leaned back in my chair.

He nodded before glancing between Alice and I. "I don't mean to intrude on your personal life or anything, um, Alice, but are you..?" He raised an eyebrow at her.

Alice nodded before sighing. "Yes, I am that girl in the video," she said, a small smile appearing on her face.

"Ok. That's what I figured," he murmured. "I saw your picture on the news along with the footage of you and Billy getting led out of the house by the paramedics," he said. He sighed as he closed his eyes before continuing. "And unfortunately I saw the first minute of the sex tape, but only because I wasn't sure if it was truly Billy or just someone who looked like him," he murmured as he still trained his gaze on Alice.

I nodded and closed my eyes as I sighed. "It's ok, Dad. I understand," I mumbled.

"Those comments on that video are disgusting," he scoffed. "I have a few people on my team as of this moment getting a lot of them taken down."

"What about the video?" Alice asked as she raised an eyebrow.

"I have other people working on that too," he murmured with a kind smile. "But until it's taken down, I'm having parts of my team erase those disgusting comments."

"Thanks," I murmured as I cast him a thankful look.

He clapped his hands on his thighs before continuing. "That statement," he began before screwing his eyes shut in disgust. "That statement Vinny made is currently being discredited by your own mother," he mumbled.

I leaned forward in my seat as a look of shock spread across my face. "What?"

He flashed me an apologetic smile. "I'm just as surprised as you are, Billy. Hell, actually you're probably more surprised than I am," he mumbled while shaking his head.

I shook my head in disbelief as Alice placed her hand gently on my thigh. "All those fucking months and she didn't do anything. Why the fuck is she now acting like she's my fucking mom?"

Mickey spoke up. "We're guessing it's because she wants some form of immunity," he stated. "Although she won't be getting as, um-"

"Fucked as much as Vinny is," my dad jutted in. He shook his head. "Bad choice of words. I'm sorry," he murmured. "She won't be getting as much jail time as Vinny is, but she'll still be in there for a pretty long time."

"How long will Vinny be in jail for if he's found guilty?" I asked.

My father glanced at Mickey, causing Mickey to sigh before speaking up. "We're looking at maximum thirty years, Billy. My guess is they're going to bring it down to somewhere between eighteen to twenty years because of how long it's been since the actual crimes themselves, but that's just my guess. And that's if he's found guilty."

I looked to my father. "And what about mom?"

"We're looking at maximum one year of jail time and three years of probation because she withheld information about what Vinny did to you for so many months," he murmured. "But because she did actually take part in the abuse, but not the sexual misconduct, it adds on another ten or so years."

I rubbed my hands over my face before speaking. "That's it?"

My father sighed as Alice squeezed my thigh reassuringly. "We're trying, Bill," he murmured, referring to me again as one of his nicknames for me. "Trust me, I want this fucker killed for doing that shit to my son. And I want your mother to be in jail for the rest of her life. I'm gonna try everything I can to get the maximum sentence for them both, Billy, but there's nothing I can promise you. Not yet."

I sighed and closed my eyes as I asked, "And what about Austin?"

Mickey chuckled. "Austin could be in jail for life," he said, causing my eyes to snap open as they found Mickey's face.

My father chuckled. "Austin will definitely have a few life sentences going, Billy," he said and then cast Alice an apologetic look before continuing. "A source came forward and told one of the lawyers on my team about the abuse and sexual misconduct Austin performed on you for so many years, Alice," he murmured.

"Who?" Alice and I asked at the same time.

"I can't say. Not yet," my father responded. "But he's also the source who leaked to the news about Austin's sex trafficking business." My father glanced between the two of us. "Did either of you know about his link with human trafficking?"

The two of us shook our heads.

"Ok," he murmured. "That's what our source told us too. He said that he didn't know what Austin, um, 'dealt,'" he began as he held up air quotes, "until he took him on a deal."

I closed my eyes and sighed. "I know who the source is," I murmured. I raised an eyebrow as I asked, "Is it Kellan Chillingsworth by any chance?"

My father cast me a small smile. "We can't say," he murmured. Mickey began writing something else down, and while doing that, my father smirked at me as he winked at me.

I smirked back in understanding. Kellan was, in fact, the source behind all of this. And Oliver Blackheart, my contact in Atlanta, was the other source who called the police and helped us, but that I already knew. But the Kellan situation helped put some of the missing pieces back together.

"There's something else we need to tell you. More specifically you, Alice," Mickey murmured as he cast a glance at Alice. "We found out from our, um, source that Austin invested a lot of your money into his sex trafficking business."

"And what does that mean?" Alice asked as she leaned forward.

"It means that you still won't be jailed or anything because of this," he stated, causing Alice to relax a little. "But a lot of your money is, in fact, missing."

"How much?" I asked as I leaned forward.

"Around ten billion," Mickey whispered, barely even audible for me to hear.

"What?" Alice asked, somewhere between a scream and just plainly asking.

Mickey nodded gently in response.

"I didn't even know you could invest that much fucking money in sex trafficking within New York," she sighed as she leaned back while placing her hands over her face.

"It wasn't just taking place in New York," Mickey said. "It was worldwide."

"Oh my God," Alice murmured as she leaned over into her lap. "I'm a fucking moron."

"No, Alice. I promise you that you're not," my father murmured, causing Alice to slowly glance up in his direction. "We're working on recovering the money, but once again, I can't promise anything."

Alice simply nodded as she sat back up. "How the Hell did I not know this was taking place?" She ran a hand through her hair.

"It's a tricky business," Mickey murmured with an apologetic smile. "And Austin probably had many more secrets he withheld from you."

"It wouldn't surprise me," Alice mumbled as she shook her head. She then cast me a small, but kind smile. "Congratulations, Billy. You're now officially the youngest billionaire in the world because of my sudden and very dramatic mass amounts of money lost," she chuckled.

"Luckily that won't be anything new for the media," I murmured with a small smile. Alice's family had luckily hid their wealth fairly well and had never gotten Alice involved with the media, meaning that I had always been known as the youngest billionaire, even though it was  a little white lie. But now, it was actually true.

"And we're going to try to keep that concealed," my father murmured. "But there's a fair chance we will have to bring up the mass amounts of money he invested in his business in court, along with the fact that that money came from your bank account."

Alice sighed. "That's fine," she mumbled. "Whatever helps him get locked up for life."

Mickey and my father both softly smiled in response.

My father then switched his gaze to fixate on me. "Billy, you're going to have to appear in court as well," he sighed.

"I already kinda figured that," I chuckled.

He shook his head. "You'll have to tell your story with the situation from years ago with Vinny," he murmured. "The entire story."

I gulped as the smile was quickly wiped away from my face.

"Billy," my father sighed as he leaned forward. "Is there any more to that situation that we need to know? Because I've seen the pictures, Bill," he murmured while casting me an apologetic look.

I trained my eyes on my feet as I adjusted myself in my seat. "Yes," I murmured. I shuffled in my seat again before continuing. "Johnny Starson," I began. "I..." Loved him. Just say it, Billy. Just fucking-

I noticed out of the corner of my eyes that Johnny was standing beside the couch, next to Mickey. I glanced up at him for a moment to see that he was casting me a reassuring smile, causing me to softly smile in response. I glanced back at my father and in that short few seconds, Johnny vanished.

Maybe he wasn't leaving me alone entirely. At least, not yet. I knew he wasn't really there, trust me I'm not crazy. Actually, maybe I am a little bit. But I was still grieving, even nine years after his suicide.

I studied my father's face before whispering, "I loved him."

My father cast me a kind smile. "I always liked that kid," he responded. "I liked him when I was actually in New York, anyway," he murmured with a soft smile.

I smiled a wide grin before I began to chuckle. It was new to have a parent actually appreciate your sexuality, and appreciate you for once. It was entirely a new feeling for me. Hell, omit the parent part completely- it was new to have someone not give me shit because of my sexuality.

I cast a glance at Alice to see that she was softly smiling beside me as she continued to study my face. I winked at her before casting a glance at Mickey, who wore a small smile as he continued to watch me, preparing for whatever notes he was about to write.

I looked back to my father and I leaned back in my seat as I sighed. I wasn't scared. I wasn't afraid. I wasn't embarrassed. I wasn't anxious. I wasn't depressed.

I was happy. I was in a room full of people that only had my best intentions in mind. I was in a room full of people that loved me, maybe aside from Mickey. But he loved my father, in a platonic way of course, so that counts.

I was in a room full of people that I trusted, even with everything that had happened as of recently.

I closed my eyes and sighed as I rested my head against the back of the chair. And that's when I began my story.

That's when I told them everything.

———
AUSTIN.

"You get one phone call," the African American woman said as she pushed my back towards the phone.

I rolled my eyes as I walked slowly towards the phone. My hands were handcuffed, so that was only a minor struggle. But hey, what else would you expect from a guy who singlehandedly- well, not exactly singlehandedly- kidnapped his own wife and Billy Redford, America's favorite douchebag? Now he was America's favorite pornstar. That brought a small smile to my face.

I made eye contact with other inmates of mine as I walked towards the phone. I wasn't in prison, I was only in some enlarged jail within a police station. I was surrounded by drunks, prostitutes, people that got put on a neighborhood watchlist- they didn't match my level of "expertise," if you want to call it that. I was higher than these people. They were all below me, even Matt who was currently having a mental breakdown within his cell that he shared with a neighborhood watch victim. Rest in peace, Matt. Rest in peace.

I cautiously grasped the phone, careful not to bruise my wrists any more than how they already were. I began clicking the buttons to dial the number that belonged to the person that would be carrying out everything while I was incarcerated, at least for now. Listen, I know I went a little overboard with the whole "kidnapping" bullshit. That should've never happened and I'm sorry to anybody I may have "offended." Well, not really. I should've just released the article and the sex tape without feeling the need to kidnap anybody. But hey, I'm a dramatic little bastard. What can I say?

I finished pressing the numbers on the keypad, struggling the entire time as I clutched the phone between my chin and my chest as I dialed the numbers in front of me. Being in handcuffs is not as sexy as it sounds. I really don't know why people try this shit in the bedroom because it's painful as fuck, but I'm not a judger. You do you, man, just as long as you're not fucking what's mine. Billy wife-fucking Redford learned it the hard way. Like my play on words? "Motherfucking" versus "wife-fucking." I'll have to copyright that. Oh! Another one that could work for Billy is: step daddy-fucking. But Billy never fucked Vinny; it was the other way around. Shit, my bad.

I grabbed the phone from between my chin and my chest after the numbers had been dialed correctly, and I put the phone up to my ear only to hear it ring a few times before my contact in Atlanta, aka where I still fucking am, picked up.

"Hello?" He asked cautiously into the phone.

"It's me. Austin," I murmured, as I looked around me cautiously. No police officers were really fixated on me because they were mainly dealing with the drunk people, and also they were dealing with the one pedophile who kept trying to touch the eighteen year old girl who had been charged with drunk driving. It's a fun place here.

"Oh," he chuckled into the phone. "Are you calling me from fucking jail, man?"

"Yes, unfortunately," I murmured. I cleared my throat before asking, "What's going on over there? Anything new they're saying about Alice, Billy, or me?"

He chuckled again before murmuring, "Actually, Vinny just released a fucking statement."

My eyebrows raised in shock. "What the fuck did he say?"

"He said that Billy was basically a gay teenager and that he tried to force himself upon Vinny," he chuckled.

I rolled my eyes. "That's just fucking great," I mumbled. "That's not how I wanted it done, but whatever."

"There's also a video of some guy at The Toldstead pouring orange juice on Billy's head," he remarked, causing me to smile.

"Wow. Poor Billy," I murmured as I chuckled.

"I fucking know, right? Billy is not having a good fucking week, man," he said.

"Wonder why," I murmured.

He chuckled again. "Is there anything new you need me to do? Because I have everything set on my end."

I clutched the phone closer to my mouth as I whispered, "I need you to find a way to keep getting shit to me while I'm in here." I glanced around me. "This is my only fucking phone call, dude."

"Relax. Relax. I have people on the inside that can help you out," he sighed. "Like, who was the person that told you that you had one phone call?"

I glanced behind me to look at her. "Some African American woman. She's kinda hefty, but carries her weight. She's, like, the Rick Grimes of this place."

He chuckled. "That's fucking Annie, dude. Her and I went to fucking high school together. She's a fucking badass," he said.

I mumbled into the phone, "So will she relay whatever you say to her to me?"

"She'll do even better," he said. I heard him chewing on something as he spoke. "She'll let you talk to me with her fucking cellphone. Relax, Austin. I've got everything handled."

I sighed as I chuckled. "Ok, man. Thank you," I murmured.

"No problem," he replied. Just as I heard him about to hang up the phone, I interrupted him.

"Oh! And, Oliver?" I asked.

"Yeah?" I heard him chewing on something once again.

An evil smile spread across my face as I murmured, "Give 'em Hell."

i originally had Austin's POV in the beginning but i was like NAH FAM LETS CUT THAT SHIT AND PASTE IT AT THE END

so there's that lmao

also Oliver Blackheart is such a sexy name in my opinion so i'm imagining him as someone really, really fucking hot but i'll go into detail as to what he looks like later.

tHaT sUsPeNsE tHo