A/N

Hola amigos!

I couldn't resist posting again because I honestly think this is one of my favourite chapters. I do have a clear favourite coming up and I'll do another little A/N to explain why it means so much to me then, but for now enjoy some more tense content!

Anyway, read on!! ❤️

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Steven used to have a good poker face. He used to be good at burying secrets, live on endless lies, but he couldn't do it anymore.

The relentless days he had tried to keep his hope alive were getting longer, and the end was slipping further out of reach. The searching flame had finally burned out, and in the darkness that followed, he had sparked an undeniable recognition with a single touch.

"I-I need to leave," Leah announced shakily. She had an arm around the back of her seat, angling her body to the side, and there was tentativeness sliding her feet to the floor. "Right now."

Being sober should have helped, but Steven found it took longer to register everything, and it was because he was forced to think in his right mind.

Watching her leave, knowing he should just let her go because he had no right to stop her, conflicted harshly with the strings of longing he was hanging onto.

Steven was convinced Leah had the power to crush his sleepless nights into dust and help him find his daughter, and he couldn't let that go. It was selfish and wrong, but he might become broken beyond repair if he let her go.

"Wait!" Steven called out, almost tripping over his own feet trying to stand up. "Wait!"

He was skidding on his socks, and strides close to a jog, he managed to muscle an arm across the width of the front door, blocking the exit.

"Where are you going to go?" Steven asked, keeping his breathing in a steady stream out his nose, despite the rush of panic. "You have no shoes, no transport, and y-you're...weak."

He regretted his choice of wording immediately.

Logistics and consideration was what he was trying to point out, but it couldn't have been more patronising if he tried. And judging by the exasperated press of her mouth to pronounce the lines around her chin, Leah didn't exactly appreciate it either.

"I'm a lot stronger than you. Now, get out of my way."

Despite her confidence, Steven stood his ground with a single shake of his head.

"I can't do that."

She stared at him, hard. "Yes, you will."

And he did. Not instantly, but Steven couldn't be subject to the pure hatred that rimmed her eyes for much longer. It just made him uneasy and flustered being so close to her.

He relaxed his arm, and stepped aside. The v-shape between his thumb and index finger gravitated over his brow bone to escape the clash of cymbals in his head.

"I'm going to the police," Leah said, giving him a side glance when he reluctantly appeared in view.

"You don't have a phone!" Steven remarked flippantly, with a desperate shrug.

"Then I'll find one. Or, you know, a station."

He fought with a muted groan in his throat as Leah turned away from him.

It was cold out again, the sun low in the sky and the breeze whipped through the rolled sleeves of his shirt, which meant she couldn't have been much warmer with just a thin black jacket covering her slim frame.

He knew he shouldn't, but seeing her walk away was the equivalent of pins and needles in his chest, so Steven ended up following her footsteps with only socks to protect his feet from the stab of the gravel.

"By the time you reach a main road, it will be dark and cold and no place for a young lady to be out on her own!"

Leah came to a controlled stop, dipping her head back over her shoulder. Her fists clenched at her sides before she spun around, and that advance of two steps back towards him, was enough to throw his balance.

"Was I going to ruin your plans? Is that why I'm here? A token of your little trip?"

Steven found himself pressing his nails into the palm of his curled hand, the other trying its best to articulate his thoughts.

"It was a coincidence, I swear. The worst coincidence. I-I didn't know it was you until-"

"So we have met before!"

A gust of wind blew in the gap between them. Hair caught on the side of faces, a reflexive temptation to hold it out of the way, but neither of them did.

Steven conceded to the view of gravel that sunk uncomfortably into the soles of his feet, wondering if Leah felt the stab of it too, or maybe she was just too angry to care.

"Why can't you just tell me? I can see it in your face that you know too!" Leah was trying to look at him, and it was natural to flick his eyes up to meet the distraught betrayal. "So just tell me, Steven. Tell me what happened."

Steven didn't like it. He didn't like having the details about him picked up on. He didn't like that she was shining him down to his roots and stripping him to skin and bone with clever, but stubborn accusations. He didn't like that he was still acting like a complete dick when all he really wanted to do was fix it.

"September eighteenth," he managed, feeling the wisps of his hair being pushed back from his forehead. His hands retreated into his pockets to settle his fidgeting fingers, narrowing his shoulders to fight for warmth. "Fancy place in London. A night out with some girlfriends. I don't know..."

Finding himself trailing off when he could recall every detail without even trying, was something Steven didn't have a reason for either. He just didn't like the unwelcomed pressure that he felt since he had been with Leah.

Every look she gave was like she was delving inside him and twisting all of the wrong, right. It made him nervous, responsible, and drew out his honesty that had been locked away for too long.

"You put on your jacket, which you didn't really need, but maybe it made you feel more comfortable. Your taxi home was across the street, one that your daddy prob'ly ordered for you so you got home safe- he might have even known the driver personally. And then you took out your phone and you tried to keep an eye on where you were going, but let's face it, whatever was on that screen was far more deserving of your attention, so it really was no surprise that you bumped into someone along the way."

Steven was waiting for the interruption for his bold explanation of events, but Leah just listened, brow furrowed in more ways than just a simple bit of confusion.

"Your phone clattered to the ground and you retrieved it, praying that there wasn't a crack in the screen- I know I would have. A cheap smell of smoke and the eyes of a stranger, who had mostly copied your movements came next, and he looked apologetic. At least, that's what he was trying to show.

"Maybe you were scared of being face to face with a stranger, but you sure did look at him for a while. His hair, his eyes, his nose, his mouth...But it was you that stood up first and put on a brave face. You finished your line of thought, apologising for what, I dunno, and escaped to your cab. You looked back, but he was nowhere to be seen and maybe, that was a good thing."

When Steven finished, he masked a shiver by tensing his body, but he couldn't prevent the sheet goosebumps on his exposed forearms or the tingles behind his neck.

"You sick psycho! You were watching me!"

He grimaced at her outburst, but then, he shouldn't have expected an understanding in the first place.

"What kind of a twisted fucking person are you!?" Leah wasn't holding back, and he didn't put it past her to shove his chest back. "You took me- you kidnapped me- because you knew who I was!"

Steven could accept the verbal abuse, physical if it came down to it, but he would not give in to Leah's versions of events when they were wrong. He kept his temper down, but the darkness in his eyes lifted.

"That was pure coincidence."

"It doesn't seem coincidental to me!"

"I heard something and I thought they were still there, so I acted out of instinct."

"Oh, let me guess, the 'Russians'?"

Steven snapped like a menace, and grinding his teeth, he was up in her face.

"You don't know how much shit your family is in. I'm talkin' really bad people. If anything I did you a fuckin' favour by taking you out of that mess!"

Leah laughed at him, the corner of her mouth tugging with hysterical amusement.

"Are you fucking high? Do you hear what you're saying? My family is normal. It's you that's created the mess!"

"Listen to me." Steven was taking advantage of his height over her, hovering his outstretched hands next to her arms. "You don't understand. It's not what you think-"

"No, you listen to me Tyler. You don't know shit."

Leah lifted up her chin, giving him the perfect glower with her eyes that he fell right into it. There was no physical contact between them, but one step forward and he'd bump her knee. If he brought his hands together, he'd touch her arms, and if he dipped his head low enough, his nose would brush hers.

"I'm done. I'm going."

Leah shrugged his hands away, but Steven was ready to strike back with a foot jolting forward to reach out for her arm and pull her back.

"I can't let you go to the cops."

Leah tugged at the grip so her elbow was bent in a less painful way, her unfaltering strength to stand up for herself something he could never truly win against.

"What if I just want to go home? See my family. Have you ever, for one second, thought about that possibility?"

Not in a possessive way, but Steven curled his fingers to bunch up the material of her jacket. It wasn't to inflict pain, or to dominate, it was because he was so desperate not to let her go.

"Or are you going to tell me that I have nothing to go back to?"

She was doing it again. Forcing words into his mouth. Challenging him. It may have been by the work of feelings, but she was coursing with confidence and setting him right. All Steven could do was tread in the parts he didn't want to, and confess what she deserved.

"Well?"

Chances slimmed, morals crushed, Steven loosened his hold of her arm. His hand was already being shaken off anyway, like she knew, and there was a safe distance reinstated between them.

"There was a newspaper article which is how I...h-how I recognised you," Steven explained, quiet and subdued. "It mentioned the house, the numbers, an on-going investigation, your-"

A distant vehicle invaded his speech.

"Looks like your time's up." In reference to the faint engine, Leah had given him a final chance which had been taken away from him before he could even start. "You and your friends belong behind bars."

He was watching her turn away for good. Left to stand like a fool, with his purpose to hurt everyone around him.

The guys would be back in forty, fifty seconds tops, and then it really was the end.

"You're right! You are stronger than me!"

Raising his voice to concede, Steven jogged to catch up. He couldn't even feel the sharpness of the gravel anymore.

"If you never want to talk to me again, never want to see me again, I'll understand. You can hate me for the rest of your life- you don't even have to listen to what I'm saying right now. You can go because I'm not going to stop you. I give in, you can go."

Steven slowed, but then so did Leah. In desperation, a plea for his redemption, he had to let it all out, and dig deep for an offer she might not be able to refuse.

"Call the cops, turn me and the others in, and I'll fucking understand because yes, I am a sick fuckin' psycho and it's what I deserve for what I've done to you. I wouldn't blame you one bit- I can't blame you! There's no sorry that I can deliver that would ever be close to what you want to hear. I'm weak, facetious and stubborn, and I've made too many mistakes to count, but I can tell you right now that I am so fucking tired of running away from them."

Taking a much needed breath, Steven swooped past so they both stopped for good. They had switched sides, and where he had failed to keep his eyes steady then, they were truly locked with his last ditch intentions now.

He ignored the engine that rumbled closer. He ignored that Leah was glancing over his shoulder every other second.

"I'll show you the article. I'll tell you everything I know- anything you want to know, and I promise you that I'll get you home safe, but you have to stay."

Leah slumped her shoulders, and stretched out her neck as if she was ready to put up another fight.

"I know, I know, it's the last thing you want to hear but I want to make things right. I need to wipe my slate clean, and that starts with you, Leah."

Intentional or not, Steven softened his voice at the end. An honesty that he hoped that somehow, Leah saw too.

"The guys don't know about us exactly, and I can't tell them right now." Steven hadn't realised he was almost touching her arm again, and a part of him wanted to seek that connection. "Please, if you stay and give me some time to come clean to you and to them, I will be forever grateful. I swear, Leah, I'll do anything to make it right- that's all I want to do. Believe me as you will, but I really do want to make it right."

With the van driving past them and parking up by the house, Steven had mere seconds. His acceptance, his promise, had brought him as close as he could to Leah, and he didn't regret it one bit.

"And you should know that I won't stop you if you decide to walk away right now."

Reserved, just for her. A consideration, just for her.

"What's going on?" Joey demanded, jogging over.

"Nothing," Steven responded, but it took a while to tear his eyes away.

"It doesn't look like nothing."

Because it wasn't nothing, but before Steven could come up with something, his attention was diverted back to Leah making a few hesitant steps.

His stomach dropped, thinking that she had made up her mind, but she was looking at him, in a way he could only describe as disorientated. Perhaps, even a plea in pain when the base of her palm brought up to her forehead.

"Are you...good?" Joey asked, taking a concerned step closer.

"Yeah, I'm...I'm fi-"

Steven caught her comfortably in his arms. She was never that far away from him, and the wobbling gave it away. The addition of her weight tensed his arms and his knees bent, but Leah fell back into his chest rather than the ground.

"I've got her," Steven grunted, batting his chin at Joey who was trying to help.

He looped an arm underneath the backs of her knees to lift her up, quickly supporting midway up her back, and for the second time, he held her in his arms.

With Joey pissed and following the late bystanders of Tom and Brad, Steven carried Leah inside, this time able to look at her.

He got to the living room, kicked unnecessary pillows out of the way, and settled her down on the nearest couch.

Making sure she was comfortable felt like a duty, despite the worry of being the cause of her passing out, and Steven remained on his knees after he had draped a blanket over her.

Everything slowed down to a reasonable pace, and Steven let lingering fingers move a lock of her hair behind her ear. The palm of the same hand then rested on her cheek which had a rosy blush from the cold, and he knew he didn't deserve the privilege of being present whilst she was out, but he couldn't lift his hand away.

Leah had naturally dark features, brows that were mostly full and fluffier towards the middle, and her eyelashes were long and straight and fluttered with occasional uncertainty. A splashing of light freckles dotted the smooth slope of her nose and small beauty marks sprinkled on her left cheekbone, her chin and the side of her jaw.

Just like that night in September, everything Steven saw made him stay next to her a lot longer than he should have.

It was only when he sensed a tall figure loomed in the doorway, that the moment was taken away from him.

"What?" Steven snapped, seeing Tom's stern expression.

"And hello to you too."

Being judged was enough to make him stand up, and Steven was soon facing the trio of his friends.

"Leah needs rest and food and when she wakes up," he said, to no one in particular. "And make sure one of you is there so she's not disorientated."

"Yes doc," Brad answered sarcastically.

The upstairs was the destination in mind, but Steven paused. He was tired of being angry for one day, having his emotions twisted and turned, so he made a hint of a grunt as an acknowledgement of the sarcasm, and his feet hit the carpet.

He took two up at a time, and was grateful that no conversation followed him.

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