(A.N. "Vindicated" belongs to Dashboard Confessional. I just borrowed it 'cause the song rocks. Yeah, you know it. Short chapter this time, I felt like a little exposition. R&R as you see fit.)
A week later, we were sitting outside in the garden. Murph was getting around better. He still looked stiff when he'd get up, but he sucked it up. The extra attention from Erin didn't hurt. If possible, he was even more googly-eyed than ever. It would have been cute if it weren't so fucking disgusting.
Murphy was sitting in one of the lounge chairs with Erin between his legs. I was sitting in the chair opposite them. We weren't talking about anything special, just shooting the breeze. Erin let out a loud sigh and leaned back into Murph's chest.
"Thinking again?" he asked.
"About Taylor," she said.
"What about him?" I asked. He hadn't been brought up since the day we met. I was interested to hear what she had to say about him.
"He'll figure out where we are eventually," she said.
"You said no one knew where this was," I said.
"No one does, but it isn't so hard to figure out. He's determined. If he really wants to find me, and I know he does, he will. He's not a happy camper," she replied.
"So why is he not happy again?" I asked, lighting a cigarette.
"Because I'm not dead yet," Erin replied. "He won't stop until I've met my end."
"He loved your father, didn't he?" Murph questioned.
"The only person Taylor ever loved was himself. If he married me then he'd stand to gain all the money my father had. Now that I've run off with all of it, he will not eat, sleep, or stop until he's killed me and taken it all," she answered. "He wants that money so he can get away from the rest of the men who are trying to kill him for betraying them."
"By telling us where they were meeting," I said.
"Exactly," she said. "Betrayal is worse than murder in our circle. You don't betray one of the family, much less six, and reasonably expect to live. He's outrunning death faster than we are. They'll show him no mercy when they finally get their hands on him."
"What about you?" Murph asked, looking longingly at my cigarette.
"They have no problem with me. I'm sure they're curious about where I went, but they wouldn't hurt me. It would be spitting on my father's grave," she said.
"You're very honor bound for a group of murders," I said. She smiled and got up to grab my cigarette. I stamped it out before she could get to me. I glared at her, but only halfheartedly. She sat back down.
"Likewise," she smiled.
"Blood is thicker," Murph replied.
"Murder begets murder," she retorted. He smiled. I wanted to tell him to wipe that ridiculous grin off his face. Now that he was back around, I'd gone back to being jealous. It wasn't that I particularly wanted a girlfriend. It wasn't even that I wanted his girlfriend. It was more a case of feeling like I'd lost him. We'd been all each other had for most of our lives. Now he was focusing all his attention on her. It was hard to take sometimes.
"What's up?" she asked, seeing the scowl on my face.
"I just need a good shag," I replied.
"You have been around me too long," she said. "You said shag." I hadn't even realized I said it. I wasn't sure why she cared.
"Thanks," I said, not knowing what else to say.
"I could hook you up with some people. I have plenty of friends from school who would die to get a shot at you," she said. I wasn't interested. I didn't want to have to deal with one of her silly school friends. The last thing I needed was a sixteen year old making my life hell yet again.
"No," I said. She cocked her head and gave me a skeptical look. She always did that when she was about to talk you into something.
"Come on," she said.
"Don't start that. It won't work," I said.
"They have older sisters, you know," she said.
"I'm not interested, now just drop it," I replied.
"Your choice," she said. "Oh!" Some song was playing on the radio that she obviously liked. I couldn't remember the last time I'd listened to the radio. She had jumped up and was dancing around and singing.
"Vindicated, I am selfish, I am wrong, I am right, I swear I'm right, I know I'm right, swear I knew it all along. I am flawed, but I am cleaning up so well," she sang. She tried to grab Murph up to dance with her.
"Not yet," he said. Without missing a beat, she'd grabbed my hands. I was too surprised to say anything. I never thought of myself as much of a dancer, but she made it seem so easy. That was the thing about Erin Amblin. She could make anything feel right. Maybe that's why we decided to stick with her in the first place. She had the ability to make you feel at home in your own skin. Murph took great pleasure in watching us dance. He was cheering us on as I dipped her.
"Not bad," she said.
"Not bad yourself," I said.
"Ten years of dance lessons do that to you," she replied. She sat back down. "So I had an idea I wanted to throw out to you two,"
"And what might that be?" Murph asked.
"I want to throw a ball for my half birthday," she said.
"Half birthday?" I said.
"September first," she clarified. "It was a big deal when I was younger."
"Why are you asking us? It's your house," I said, fumbling for another cigarette. She glared at me again. I stopped.
"I don't want you to be bored. It would be a big, fancy thing. I don't know how into the whole tuxes and tiaras bit you are," she said.
"I'm up for it," Murph said. "I'd like to see you all dressed up." She giggled.
"You too," she said. I felt the need to gag. "Connor?"
"If it's what you want, I guess I could do it for a night," I replied.
"Wonderful!" she squealed. I shook my head and tried to hide the fact I was smiling. They saw it anyway. For the first time, I didn't care.