Paddy gave the cups of tea one last finale stir before ditching the teaspoon in the empty sink and picking up as many hot mugs of tea he could manage.
"Argh! I'm furious- No! Worse! . . . They're unbelievable!" Chas exclaimed for the umpteenth time, as she sat on the sofa in the living room of Smithy Cottage with Cain, Hazel and now Paddy.
"I can't quite get my head round it myself." Hazel admitted as she took a cup of tea from Paddy gratefully.
"Don't you worry sis, he'll get his comeuppance, mark my words." Cain promised as he took a swig from his can of Larger.
Chas looked over the top of her mug at Cain, what exactly did he mean by that?
"Cain I don't think-." Paddy started, guessing exactly whatr Cain had in mind after his threats towards Darrel in the court room.
"Don't give me that Paddy!" Cain shot at him. "He deserves what he's got coming, the sick bastard!"
Feeling no desire to stop her brother following through with his threats, Chas just said. "Don't get into any trouble. I can't deal with another court appearance this year."
A few minutes later, Jackson could be heard descending the stairs and walking through the kitchen. Him and Aaron had been upstairs since they had gotten back from court. They'd daren't go up and check on them, they all felt it best Jackson was the one for Aaron to be with right then. He knew how to handle him best at the worst times and it was one of those times. Aaron had yet to say a word. He hadn't spoken at all. Not when they left court, the drive back or when they walked through the door. The teen was remaining silent and it scared them all.
"How's he doing?" Paddy asked as Jackson joined them in the living room.
Jackson shrugged. "Who knows?" He sighed. "He has yet to say anything."
"He hasn't said anything?" Chas questioned worried for her son. "You've been up there for over an hour!"
"He's just sitting there, staring." Jackson told her. "He changed out of his suit and he's just . . . It's like the calm before the storm. . ."
"That's what worries me." Paddy muttered.
"Let me go see him." Chas said putting her half drunk tea on the coffee table and jumping to her feet.
"Chas, maybe that's not such a great idea," Cain told her from the other sofa. "He doesn't want to talk. He's still taking it all in."
"He's my son, Cain! I know what's best for him." Chas assured him before leaving for Aaron's bedroom.
Upstairs, Aaron sat against the headboard of his bed and stared towards the wall opposite him. He was still in shock, still in the process of registering the outcome of the court case. He was still trying to fit it all together, to make it fit and make sense to him. But he was struggling. God, was he struggling! None of it made sense to him. He had tried and he was still trying, to put himself in the jurys position and look at things from there point of view, understand how they thought Darrel wasn't guilty and he was Liar. He couldn't get hi head round it. He wasn't a liar, he wasn't sick enough to make up such tales.
He was pulled from his thought when he heard a knock on his door, shortly followed by his mother entering his room without waiting for an answer.
"Aaron love, are you okay?" Chas asked as she sat down on the edge of his bed.
He didn't answer her. He wanted to left alone, so he could understand it all.
". . . Sorry- Stupid question." Chas rushed uncomfortably when he remained silent. ". . . You know you can talk to me- Any of us. I can't imagine what you must be going through right now but keeping quiet isn't going to help."
Still, He said nothing. Aaron continued to stare towards the wall opposite. This seemed to irritate Chas, her patience wearing thin. She wanted the best for her son and she wanted to be the onto give that to him.
"Aaron. . . talk to me." Chas begged. ". . . Anything- Something. Just say something!"
He didn't, not a single word. He needed to work out how Darrel wasn't behind bars.
"Aaron!" Chas exclaimed her voice rising, as she jumped to her feet. "Why can't you just say something! . . . I'm trying to help you! . . . Aaron . . . Aaron . . . Aaron!"
At the sound of Chas' raised voice Paddy and Jackson raced up the stairs to see what was going on. It was never a good sign when either of the two raised their voices. They had a habit of losing their cool with each other.
"What's going on?" Paddy was the first to ask as he and Jackson reached Aaron's room.
"He won't talk to me." Chas sighed running a hand through her black hair as the other rested on her slender hip. "Will you Aaron? . . . Aaron?"
"Chas leave him." Jackson advised standing in the doorway.
"Why?" She exclaimed. "He needs to talk! We all know how bad it get's when he doesn't say anything. It all builds itself up inside of him."
"This isn't helping." Paddy commented. "We're all still in shock and understandably upset after what's happened today."
"Paddy's right." Jackson agreed. "None of this helping anyone."
"Why don't we all go make ourselves busy making Dinner. I'm sure we're all hungry." Paddy said. He stood by the door until Chas relented and followed Jackson downstairs, after one finale look sent Aaron's way.
Apart from Cain, who had gone back to Debbie's and Aaron, everyone mucked in with making dinner, mashed potatoes and Chicken. Nobody could stop Chastity from creeping up the stairs every ten minutes to press an ear against her son's bedroom door and listen. She insisted she needed to. She wouldn't admit it but it scared her. She had pinned everything on the day Darrel would be round guilty so her son would be able to move on with his life. She had never given it a second thought that justice wouldn't be served. Why should she have? Aaron's case had been strong. If only Aaron had co-operated and they had hired a capable lawyer, a lawyer who didn't lose his case notes. It made her blood run cold as she thought about what could be running through Aaron's head right then.
Dinner was tense. Jackson had gone to get Aaron down to eat. He was happy that he didn't refuse. Earlier, when he had tried talking to him, he didn't seem to want to do anything. He didn't respond to any of Jackson's suggestions of going downstairs or having a cup of tea. So he was glad when Aaron followed him downstairs to the kitchen. They all sat round the table eating the meal with a an awkward strained silence between them when attempts at conversation failed. Aaron ate his meal quickly, finishing before anyone else at the table. He didn't waste any time sitting round the table anymore than he needed to. He left the others to finish theirs as he hide upstairs again.
"There's not much else you can do." Paddy reasoned with Chas four hours later. She was still hanging around, concerned for her son who had yet to resurface from his room. "We'll call you if he needs you."
"He's right Chas. Besides you need to sleep. The past few months have taken it out of us all." Jackson agreed.
Chas sighed and burshed her hair from her face. They were right, Aaron wasn't going to come out of his room any time soon and sit with them and they all needed sleep. Even thought the past few months had worn them to the ground she doubted that it was going to change anytime soon, especially with the outcome they now faced. "Promise me, You'll call me if he needs me." Chas asked. "Anything at all-"
"We promise." Paddy answered. "Now get some rest."
"Night then." Chas said before leaving.
For a few minutes Paddy and Jackson stood in the kitchen after Chas's departure at a loss of what to do. The whole house was silent. Hazel had gone to bed not so long ago and Rhona was upstairs in bed also, on call the next day. It was unusual even at that time of the night for Smithy Cottage to be so quiet. There was always some noise going on somewhere when Aaron was around. If it wasn't for his TV blaring or his music turned up to the maxim volume, then it would be him shouting his mouth off because he'd lost a game on his Xbox. Never mind that the rest of the house would be trying to get some sleep, unlike him they didn't have a limitless amount of energy to waste. Jackson wondered if it would ever be like that again, Aaron hadn't been himself for quite some time.
Jackson had taken a quick shower before going to be. He wasn't sure what Aaron going to be like when he went upstairs. So he took his time, stopping out of the shower only when the water began to run cold. With a towel wrapped around his waist Jackson crossed the hall to Aaron's room to put some clothes on and slip into bed. He was spent. He was surprised to find Aaron already asleep, he expected to find him wide awake with his mind spinning but he wasn't. Ever so quietly Jackson opened his draws to pull out a t-shirt and a pair of boxers, slipping them on before climbing into bed next to the teen, careful not to wake him, in the dark. He hoped that in the morning things would seem an awful lot better.
He waited until he could hear Jackson's breathing even out beside him, sure that he was sound asleep, before he snuck out of bed and then the room. As quietly as he could be with crutches and a cast on his leg, Aaron descended the stairs and crossed the kitchen into the lounge. He flicked on the main light in the room, so he was able to see anything that was hiding in the shadows and switched on the TV, quickly turning the volume down to a low mumble only loud enough for him to hear. He flicked through the channels until he came to rest upon a movie that looked decent enough to keep him awake. He didn't want to sleep. He couldn't sleep!
A/N – Sorry guys for it being such a long time since I last updated! I've been so incredibly busy I haven't found the time to get an update sorted for you. Hope you can forgive me! I'm determined to finish this off but I won't be rushing the end, there's quite a lot still to cover!