Fucking Montgomery bitch! Deep breaths, count to ten, that's what Heath's anger management counsellor had taught him, and losing his temper in the middle of the cop shop was not going to help anyone. Not him and not Casey, if he got himself into more trouble. The cops hauled him into an interview room, telling him to take a seat. Fucking hell, this was a seat he never thought he'd be in again, he really had worked hard to better himself, it wasn't fair. But now that the cops had dragged him in here they apparently had better things to do. They left him alone, cuffed to the table, with no idea what he'd done to land himself in here. No doubt it had something to do with the incident at the diner, but that psycho bitch was the one that had hit him, if anyone should be sitting here it should be her. Knowing he'd done nothing wrong should be a comfort, but he was a Braxton after all and that immediately made him guilty in the eyes of the police. The door opened and two cops entered the room, one took a seat opposite him and the other remained standing by the door.
"Now Mr. Braxton, can you please tell us what happened at the diner this afternoon between yourself and Ms. Montgomery?" So he'd been right.
"She was bad mouthing Bianca so I told her off." Whatever was, or wasn't, going on between him and Bianca had nothing to do with the fact that she was bloody good at her job and he'd be damned if he was going to let this Montgomery cow screw it up for her.
For most of the next hour he answered question after question until they finally got to the point.
"She claims you followed her from the diner and assaulted her."
"That's bullshit," Heath said with outrage, "I never went near her after she left."
"What did you do after you left?"
"Like I told ya a hundred times already, I went for a surf."
"Can anyone verify that?"
"No. I was alone."
"That's a shame Mr. Braxton, it means it's your word against hers."
"She's lying."
"She's not lying about the bruises..."
"She must've done it herself because I know I didn't do it."
"You really expect us to believe that?"
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It means she's a respected member of the community with no criminal record and you have a history of violent offences and no alibi." It didn't matter what Heath said, they'd already decided he was guilty. "Heath Braxton, you are being charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and will remain here until a time is set for a bail hearing." Jesus Christ, how had things turned to shit so quick? "We'll take you to a cell now." They pulled him up and held his arms as they led him from the room. It hardly seemed necessary he wasn't a bloody serial killer or something, and he did know how to walk. As they stepped into the main room of the station, Heath saw someone come rushing in the door. It was Casey, and by the looks of it someone was about to cop it. Unexpectedly, that someone turned out to be Heath.
"What did you do?" Casey said severely, accusation in his eyes.
"Nothing!" Heath shot back, Casey's anger putting him immediately on the defense, and the hurt he felt because Casey automatically assumed he was to blame fuelling his own anger. Heath slowly let out a breath, working hard to calm himself so he wouldn't give the cops a firsthand look at his temper. That was the last thing he needed.
"Then why are you here?" Casey continued with that irrational anger, "you said you wouldn't leave me!" And then Heath realised it was fear, not anger, that was causing Casey's behaviour.
"I'm not goin' anywhere Case, I promise. I didn't do this, they'll see that soon enough..." Heath held Casey's gaze, and in that moment only the two of them mattered. He watched Casey battle with this, saw the range of emotions play across his face and finally, thankfully, he saw Casey's acceptance, Casey's belief in him. And then Casey stepped forward and reached for him, sliding his hand behind Heath's neck. It was an intimate gesture but one that could be interpreted as brotherly affection easily enough. Heath wanted to reach for Casey too but the cops held his arms firmly by his sides. Casey looked deadly serious when he spoke his next words.
"You better not." For a moment, just a split second, Heath thought Casey might kiss him and it seemed like absolutely the right thing to do. It would seal their words, reaffirm their bond...but then Casey was pulling away.
"C'mon Braxton," one of the cops said harshly, pushing him to start walking again. Heath looked back at Casey, wanting nothing more than to shove these cops aside and go to him, but he kept his cool, knowing that the quickest way to get back to Casey was to cooperate. They led him to a cold, colourless cell, and locked him in, with nothing to do but pray that he could keep his promise to the person he loved most.
AN: This chapter is based on a plot point from the show. In regards to this and the story as a whole, anything that doesn't fit in with canon is most likely intentional and I may also have taken liberties with the timelines. Thanks for reading.