It was very clear to Liam that blind people weren't quite as blind as everyone thought. At least, Jay wasn't. And that Jenna girl from Pretty Little Liars. There was no way she couldn't see. But, back to the point of this all: Jay had instructed Liam to be at the quad at 12:30 to watch over some little Thomas family meeting. So, oh-so-discreetly, Liam tip-toed over to a bench directly across from school cafe and pulled out his handy-dandy spy kit. Sky Mall always comes up with the darndest things, doesn't it? Who knew one would come in handy while witnessing a murder?

Fast-forward half an hour, and Liam was still there, although he had now obtained a turkey sandwich and a frown. He had stuff to do. It was a Saturday! He should have been partying, or something. Why was he spying pointlessly on these people? They were just talking in circles and people-watching. What was weird about that? Girls did that all the time.

But, naive little Liam did not consider that girls most definitely leave their firearms at home when going out for a chat. So it came as somewhat as a shock to him when Holden pulled out a gun. (Jay would get him for that later, he was sure. At the moment, it didn't really matter.) It did occur to him, however, that when a student like Ashton engaged in a lengthy chat with the school principle that happens to put him directly in the line of fire, something weird was up. Brandon looked like he had a handle on Holden, so Liam went to grab Ashton. And check on his principle. Yeah, that too.

Trouble was, Ashton was a fabulous actor and had a wealth of fake tears when Liam approached him.

"Oh my God, dude, is he dead? Wha-I can't believe this!" So Liam did what he did best and socked him in the nose. Cue idiotic student fainting on school grounds. It may not have been his shining moment, but when your principle is lying on the ground dying and you could easily be blamed, it's safe to say your judgement is liable to be clouded. Just a little bit.

At the second gunshot, it was clear that someone should have been calling the police, and an ambulance. Duh. Somewhat in a daze, Liam told some little freshman to do so. All his life, he'd read about tragedies and heroes who said they had an out of body experience. Every time, he wondered how they could brush off what would be remembered as the defining moment of their life as a normal incident, like taking a walk to the store. Now, he finally understood. It wasn't him or what he felt about what was going on that mattered: it was Mr. Finlay, who was quite possibly dying, who had a family and a lot of people depending on him and a whole lot more to live for than Liam ever would. The fact that Liam was remotely near to him at the time, or that he was more terrified than he'd been after watching Paranormal Activity for the first time, seemed minor in comparison.

Later, when the air was fraught with sirens and night had settled on the tiny school of Four Oaks, Liam sat down next to Brandon in the police station, feeling surprisingly exhausted, given the fact that all he'd really done was punched a guy and picked up the phone. Brandon obviously felt the same way, with his glazed over eyes and mouth that was open enough for drool to dribble out.

"Sorry about your brother," Liam muttered awkwardly. What do you say when a murderer gets killed? In the privacy of your own home, you say 'good riddance' and then turn up your Wicked soundtrack to 'No One Mourns the Wicked,' but when you're faced with the fact that somewhere, that person met something to someone, there's nothing really to say. In the end, is there any difference between the death of a bad person and the death of a good one? They both had a childhood, and were loved by someone. The only real thing that set apart is that somewhere along the way, one got a little sidetracked and met up with the wrong group of people, beginning the downward spiral that would end in a mistake too big to take back.

"Don't be," Brandon replied, freeing Liam of any awkwardness that lingered between them. "Skyler was right."

"Skyler?" He nodded.

"Yeah. Well, I guess you were too, you and Jay and those freshmen you were working with. I really thought you were crazy, you know." Liam shrugged.

"Well, Rawdon probably is, deep down inside." Brandon smiled pathetically.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure...?"

"Do you think I killed him?" Liam didn't know quite what to say.

"Uh..."

"Holden. I mean, I turned the gun on him because he pointed it at me, but I... I didn't pull the trigger. I didn't think he'd actually shoot." Brandon's normally strong form trembled under the weight of his confession. It was a lot to handle, seeing your sibling die like that. Liam tried to push the memories of Holly's voice fading as the train swept her away from his mind.

"Nah," he whispered. "You did what you had to do. You didn't kill him, though. He, uh... He killed himself." Feeling like another person for the second time that night, Liam slapped a hand on Brandon's back uncomfortably. It worked to reassure people in movies, though, so maybe it would work for him? Apparently, not so much. Brandon broke down into embarrassingly loud sobs, leaving Liam to pass him a used tissue in yet another mediocre attempt at solace.

It was going to be a long night.

A/N: Sorry that kinda sucked, I just wanted to get another chapter out... There should be like, two chapters left! Eeek! Review please!