Revenge is a dish best served cold
This story was requested by Reallyme and the prompt was After selling a dodgy drug to someone, Freddie stops working for Trevor, leaving his boss fuming. Trevor's determined to get his revenge, but which of the Roscoes will he target?
Hope you all enjoy!
"There you go kid. That'll keep you going for the whole night," Freddie muttered, passing over a small packet, two white pills rolling at bottom of the clear pack. The teenager (for that was what he was, he looked the same age as Jason and Robbie, far too young to be taking this sort of stuff anyway), eagerly grabbed the packet, placing a crumpled note in Freddie's now empty hand.
"Cheers mate," the boy said, sauntering down the alley and turning out of sight within minutes. Freddie sighed, counting over the money as he pulled his hood further over his head, before also leaving the dank place, though going in the opposite direction as the teenager.
The rest of the night was a slow one, yet Freddie managed to pocket a further £70 over the next few hours. By three am he decided to call it a night, no-one else would be buying gear at this point, either calling it a night themselves or having bought it hours previous from other dealers.
Trevor wouldn't like such little money but he'd just have to suck it when Freddie came over the next day. There was little he could do about it, he didn't control people and he'd just try again on another night, Saturdays were always busy anyway.
He had found himself at the outskirts of the village, but it was a quiet night and the temperate was surprisingly warm so Freddie felt no rush to return home. Instead of ducking and diving through the usual shortcuts, he went past the main roads and estates, enjoying the cool breeze and absolute stillness that surrounded him.
The rare tranquillity was destroyed by an ear shattering scream that filled the air. Freddie paused, and by simple pure instinct, he turned and ran to the cries for help, not sure what he could do exactly, hell he didn't even know what he'd be getting himself into, but determined to do something to quell the screams.
He entered a small housing estate and swiftly located to where the problem was. The smallest and by far crappiest house there, had obviously been holding a party, but a handful of people had poured into the garden where one guy was lying motionless on the grass.
"Wake up Eric!" a blonde girl was screaming and Freddie recognised her screams from earlier as she shook the boy. Knowing that he needed to do something, Freddie ran up to the garden.
"What's happened? Has someone called 999?" He stopped in his tracks when he saw the boy. It was the same guy from earlier that night and his blood froze.
"He took something dodgy," another girl answered, moving to the blonde and pulling her away from the still lad. "There were tons of people doing things, but he just went really weird. The ambulance is on it's way now." Freddie stopped listening after that, watching the boy who he had sold the dodgy gear to lay absolutely still, his breath short and shallow. This was his fault, if he hadn't sold the damn stuff then this would never have happened.
Fortunately the ambulance didn't take long and within minutes it had torn down the estate, the paramedics loading the boy into the ambulance and quickly driving off again, sirens wailing long after it had disappeared from view.
The blonde girl was still hysterical and Freddie saw her make her way to a car, keys in her shaking hands. "Woah, what the hell are you doing?" he asked, blocking her path.
"I have to go with him. He's my boyfriend, I need to be there." she cried, trying to push past, but with little effect.
"And you're in no state to drive, you're drunk and upset," Freddie soothed, though an idea quickly struck. He needed to get to that hospital too, he needed to make sure that the young lad would be okay, needed to see it for himself. "I'll drive, I haven't touched a drop all night. You look like you need the support anyway."
The girl looked unsure though she shakily nodded after a few seconds, placing her keys into Freddie's hand before getting into the passenger side. He took a deep breath before getting into the car himself, placing the key into the ignition and driving down the lane, no regards for any speeding limits, making it to the hospital in record timing.
They were directed to the waiting room, both sitting in absolute silence for the first half hour, unsure of what to say. "You can go you know," the girl finally said. "I don't need a babysitter."
"I want to stay," Freddie told her, and it was true. He needed to see that the boy was okay, to ease his conscience slightly.
"Okay." The girl nodded. And then she started talking. She told him that he was nineteen (only two years older than the twins for God's sake, far too young for this to be happening to him) and that they had met at university.
They'd been going out for three months and next week, he was going to Newcastle with her, to meet her parents for the first time. As she was telling Freddie about her boyfriend, he didn't say a single word, letting her talk and to wrap things round in her head.
She didn't stop for close to an hour and the only reason she did was because a doctor interrupted them. "We've contacted Eric's family, though none of them can make it down here till later on today at the earliest. They did however give permission for us to update you on what's happening."
The blonde stiffened next to Freddie. "Is he okay? Can I see him?"
"The sheer amount of drugs and alcohol in Eric's system meant he had an accidental overdose last night. It wouldn't have been too extreme, but the pills he took seemed to have been faulty in a way, and it severely affected his internal organs."
"But he's okay?" the girl asked again, voice shaking.
"I'm so sorry, but Eric unfortunately passed away. There was nothing we could do." Freddie couldn't hear the rest of what the doctor was saying, the combination of the girl's screaming and the blood thumping through his head meant it was practically impossible.
Dead? But he couldn't be. This was his fault. The doctor had even said it, if the pills hadn't been part of a bad batch then Eric might have been saved.
The rest of the morning was a blur and Freddie spent it in a complete daze. The pair (himself and Eric's girlfriend that is) spent some more time in the hospital, trying to wrap their heads around what had happened, before Freddie drove the heartbroken girl back to her flat.
He parked the car, gave her the keys and made his way back to his house, unaware of his surroundings, trying to fight the suffocating guilt that had taken over him. His fault. It was all his fault. He wasn't sure of what to do next when he got home, though he quickly retreated to his room, when he saw both Sandy and Ziggy lounging around.
He shut the bedroom door and sat numbly on his bed, unsure of what to do next. Though there was one thing he knew he had to do, for the sake of his sanity more than anything else. He needed to stop working for Trevor, consequences be damned.
He never saw the blonde girl again, hell he never even learnt her name. It was something that Freddie was eternally grateful for, maybe that means he can at least forget about her, about the extra life he ruined that night.
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Only a few hours later Freddie found himself loitering outside Trevor's club, the images of last night flicking through his head at lightening speed, not giving him any relief. As he walked through the door, he stifled a yawn, purely running on a mix of coffee and latent adrenaline. He'd tried to sleep, but everytime he shut his eyes the pictures were back, worse than ever.
"Late night Freds?" Trevor called, sauntering to his unwilling employee. They were the only two there, though that wasn't unusual. "I hope that means a lot of money."
"Quiet night," Freddie snapped, chucking the small number of notes at the older man. "In fact I was at hospital for most of the time, because some of those pills you gave me were fucked."
"Hope the kid's okay," Trevor said smoothly, not sounding concerned in the slightest.
"He died!" Freddie shouted, hoping to shock Trevor into action, though he wasn't surprised when all he did was arch an eyebrow, looking completely unimpressed as he leant on the bar. "He was 19, and he's dead because I gave him some weird gear. I practically killed the boy. I can't do this anymore Trev, do what ever you want to do to me, but I'm not killing anyone, not again."
"Bit late for a conscience now hey Freds?" Trevor asked, moving away from the bar and right into Freddie's personal space. "You've ruined so many lives already and are responsible for so many deaths. You've threatened people, beathen 'em up, buried bodies, I think some dodgy drugs is a bit minor in comparison."
"I don't care, I'm not doing this anymore. This is the final straw, I'm out."
"Well you better start keeping one eye open when you're sleeping. I really don't take kindly to cowards."
"I'm not reporting you to the police if that's what you're worried about."
"Oh I'm not. You may be a coward Freddie, but you're not stupid." The pair were silent for a minute, but with every passing second, Freddie's nerves only grew.
Trevor was taking this... surprisingly well and it unnerved him. The other man obviously had something big planned because the young Roscoe had predicated that he'd at best be limping out of the club and worst? Well he'd have been joining DC Trent.
Deciding to get out whilst he could, Freddie backed away to the door (he wasn't stupid to turn away from Trevor), but before he could slip out of the bar the older man spoke up. "I'm serious Fred's. You better be watching for me at all times, because I'm not letting you out of my sight till I get even."
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Freddie Roscoe was going to pay. No-one stepped away from Trevor Royle, not willingly anyway. He was not someone you could walk away from, not if you didn't want to suffer from the consequences anyway.
He wasn't going to go after Freddie though, no that was expected and Trevor hated being predictable. Instead he'd show the whole family just what Freddie had got himself into. Freddie wasn't going to suffer for this first hand, one of his brothers would.
When Freddie had first found himself on Trevor's radar he made sure to do a check on his whole family (after all, you'd never know when that sort of information would be needed) and he had plenty of information on them all.
He couldn't go after the two older brothers (Joe and Ziggy he reminded himself). They were both bulky and taking them would be a lot of unnecessary hassle. Also, as both of them were legal adults, there was less chance of the family being as worried if they weren't seen for a few days, and Trevor really wanted to create as much panic as he could, as fast as he could.
That left the twins. Robbie and Jason. They'd be easier to take and if they didn't come home without prior word, then panic would be instantly caused. Fantastic. It was instantly obvious who he was going to make pay for Freddie's insolence, Jason.
He could get closer to the boy, Robbie knew what he looked like from a few brief meetings and if his plan was to work then they'd have to be face to face for a bit. He'd had some of his people check out the family too, their usual haunts and basic schedule mainly(just like he'd done with everyone that's ever worked for him, far too many people have tried to double cross him in the past, and Trevor liked his revenge to be... messy), but it meant he knew the best places to try and catch Jason out.
That was how he found himself in the alley between the Roscoe's and their crappy garage the very next day. Jason always passed through there around midday on the Saturday, helping his brothers out in the morning before going to get changed for his shift at the deli.
At half twelve exactly he wandered down, headphones firmly in and blaring whatever trashy song was in the charts into his ears. He didn't even look at Trevor as he passed, but before he had gone to far, Trevor slammed him into the wall, smiling sadistically as Jason cried out in shock and pain.
"Has no-one ever told you to respect your elders kid," he hissed, ripping the headphones out. "A simple hello would have sufficed."
"What the hell?" Jason yelped, trying desperately to get away. "You're off your bleeding head mate."
"And this is what I was talking about with the respect. Kids these days, didn't your mummy teach you any manners? Seems you're as bad as Freddie."
Jason instantly stilled, the worry obvious on his face. "What about Freddie? What have you done to him?"
"Oh nothing yet kid. But you see, he's crossed me and I don't take kindly to that, which is where you come in." Before Jason could say anything else, Trevor slammed him against the wall once more, his head cracking loudly on the brickwork. The teen instantly slumped, falling into unconsciousness.
Before Trevor did anything else, he grabbed the boy's phone from his hoody pocket and text the Deli owner, telling him that 'Jason' was too ill to go in to work. Once that was done he easily picked the boy up, taking him to the van mere metres away.
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"You okay Freddie?" Joe asked, as he caught his younger brother staring into space for the third time that day.
"Yeah, yeah I'm fine," Freddie replied easily, turning back to the car he was working on. Truthfully he was anything but, the threats from Trevor were running through his head and with every passing day his nerves were growing shorter and shorter.
His phone started ringing, shocking him out of his thoughts, though he stilled when he saw the caller id, flashing on the screen.
Trevor
He rushed out of the garage, ignoring his family's shouts, only answering when he was confident he wouldn't be overheard. "What do you want?" He snapped, trying to sound braver than he was feeling.
"Now that's no way to speak to an old friend, especially when I'm in the mood I'm in." Trevor taunted in a singsong voice. "Someone may just get hurt." There was a cry of pain in the background and Freddie's blood turned to ice.
"What have you done? Who's that?" But Freddie knew there was only a small number of people that it could be and none of the options are good. "Trevor! What have you done?" The only answer was the dialling tone and Freddie realised that his former boss had hung up on him.
Before he could call him back, a picture message appeared, and when he saw it, Freddie was almost sick. It was Jason, his Jason, bloodied and beaten to a pulp. Although his brother's eyes were on the camera, they were unfocused and a trail of blood was running down his face.
Another message appeared moments later.
This is what happens you turn your back on me.
This couldn't be happening. Trevor couldn't have gotten Jason, he couldn't have. Why couldn't he have done the predictable thing and gone after him? That answered Freddie's question though, Trevor liked to keep people on edge, and he was certainly good at it.
He needed to get to the club now, sort out this whole sorry mess before it was too late, but before he could turn and leave, Joe cornered him.
"You better not be skiving mate. You've got Ms. Reed's brakepads to finish up."
"You don't understand Joe, I need-"
"I don't want to hear it. You've been acting weird for weeks now and me and Zig need you helping out today, we're dead busy." Freddie knew he couldn't argue, Jason was already involved in this whole mess because of him, he wouldn't let the others get hurt too.
Praying that his younger brother would forgive him, Freddie trailed after Joe, thinking up a plan to rescue Jason throughout the whole of the shift, the image of his beaten body never leaving his mind.
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Unfortunately the shift was a long one and the three brothers were still slaving away as the sun began setting. In fact, they were so behind schedule that the office phone began ringing, the caller id revealing that Sandy was growing concerned.
"Almost finished ma," Joe said, answering on the third ring. "Be bout another ten minutes I reckon... yeah we've been busy... oh, don't worry, we can always order takeout... no I ain't seen Jason since this morning."
Freddie stiffened at the mention of his brother's name. "Actually," he said, catching Joe's attention. "I think Jase said something about staying at a mate's, they've got a big project or something."
"You hear that mum?" Joe asked, reciting what he had been told down the phone, but Freddie wasn't listening, the guilt that he had been feeling for abandoning Jason doubling as he lied about his whereabouts.
But he could fix this, he had to. Tearing out of the garage, Freddie jumped into his car and sped out of the driveway, ignoring Joe and Ziggy's calls of annoyance. Normally the drive to Trevor's club took a good twenty minutes, but in his desperate need to reach Jason, it only took ten and Freddie ran into the bar with no warning, though Trevor didn't seem surprised by the lack of notice.
"Ahh Freddie," he said, nodding his head to the younger man, never taking his eyes off a huge pile of notes that he wascounting steadily. "You took longer than I thought you would, a bit disappointing really."
"Let Jason go."
"Is that it?" Trevor asked, clearly amused by Freddie's plea. "No dramatic speech. No threatening. No pleading. No? Just those three words. You know, I thought you had a bit more... spunk!"
"I'll do anything just let him go. I'll swap places, you can hurt me as much as you want, just don't hurt him anymore. He's got nothing to do with this, he's harmless."
"See I could do that, but I'd rather not. You'd never learn your lesson that way." Trevor said, standing and motioning to one of his goons who were stood at the back. The man disappeared, reappearing moments later with a bloodied and beaten Jason, unceremoniously throwing him onto the floor by Trevor and Freddie's feet.
"Oh my God," Freddie retched, horrified by Jason's state. One side of his face was incredibly bruised, blood was matting his hair and there were splatters of blood all over his clothes, though Freddie couldn't tell if it was from the head wound or from other cuts that were hidden from sight.
"Freds?" Jason groaned weakly, noticing his brother. "Freds, you have to get out-"
He was interrupted by a harsh kick to the ribs from Trevor, falling back to the floor in a small heap. "Like I said Freds, no-one gets away with backing down and I rather like my new plaything." As Jason tried to move away once more, Trevor stomped heavily on his hand, the crack of breaking bone only hidden by the tormented scream of Jason, as pain rushed through him.
Freddie tried to launch forward, to tackle Trevor to the ground and beat him senseless, to protect his brother as well as he could, but before he could move, he was grabbed on either side by two more of Trevor's men, where they then proceeded to drag him out of the club, pushing him onto the pavement.
He got to his feet in a moment, but the door was already slammed shut and after five minutes of screaming and kicking on the door, Freddie had to admit defeat. He had to think up another plan and now. For Jason's sake.
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The whole journey back home was spent thinking, but Freddie only came up with one definite, and that was that he needed to get someone else involved. He couldn't do this on his own, he couldn't rescue Jason on his own.
There was only one person he could go to. Sure, he'd judge Freddie, but he was the best person and he'd help out in the best way possible.
"Joe," he said, entering his older brother's bedroom, said brother looking up in surprise when he saw the worried state of Freddie. "I've done something really stupid."
And so he talked. Told him all about being roped in to Trevor's gang, the selling of drugs, Eric's death after the dodgy pill, how he tried to leave and then how Trevor got hold of Jason and was keeping him captive.
"I really need your help Joe."
The older Roscoe sighed, trying to take in the information that he had just been given. "You've really pushed it this time Freds. I don't know if we can move past this, I mean-"
"Look I know what I've done Joe. And have a go at me all you want, just not now. Because I need to get Jason out of there and I really need your help."
Sighing again, Joe pushed back the anger that he was feeling, trying to keep a cool head and assess the situation properly. "Well I think there's only one thing we can do."
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"The fire exit's just down there," Freddie said, pointing down the alleyway. "It leads to the end of the building and Jason should be in one of the back rooms. You get-"
"I get him out of there as soon as I find him, whilst you distract Trevor. I got it bruv," Joe interrupted, rolling his eyes before making his way down the alley way. Freddie watched his brother leave, taking a deep breath as he started banging on the door.
"Trevor!" He shouted, still punching the wooden door. "Trevor! I know you're in there. Let me in you scum!" The door swung open suddenly and Freddie lowered his fist, glaring furiously at the man in front of him.
"Now is that anyway to talk to an old friend Fred?" Trevor asked, grinning widely.
"Shut up," the mechanic spat, pushing past Trevor and into the main area of the deserted club. "What have you done to Jason?"
"Nothing for you to worry your pretty little head about," Trevor crowed, sauntering back into the bar, seemingly not concerned by Freddie's dramatics, though the dangerous glint in his eye told otherwise.
"I swear to God-"
"You'll what? Get me? Please, I'm quaking in my boots. You just can't accept that this is all your fault, little baby Jason is in desperate need of a hospital because of you."
Before Freddie could react (and boy did he want to), the back door of the bar was swung open, successfully stopping him.
"Found this scum lurking about," one of Trevor's men reported, dragging a struggling Joe behind him. "Seems like they were planning a rescue for the younger one."
At that, another man came in, throwing a barely conscious Jason onto the floor. Trevor turned back to Freddie, the glint lighting like a fire and the amused expression had completely disappeared. "Ah I see what's going on now. You were trying to distract me, whilst you rescued poor little Jason from behind my back."
Freddie remained silent, sharing a desperate look with Joe, who only continued struggling. "Now I don't take kindly to cowardice, but this, well this just takes the biscuit." Trevor continued. "See before I was going to let the kid go, maybe even drop him off at the local hospital if I was in a generous mood, but you've really gone too far now."
As he spoke, Trevor pulled a gun from his inside pocket, pointing it at Jason. "Now you're going to watch me pump a bullet in his brain and then in your other brother's too. You'll watch as they bleed out onto the floor, their life draining out of them. And then, then I'll kill you too, but not before you watch me kill every single member of your worthless family."
"No, I won't let you," Freddie screamed, trying to reach Trevor and stop him, but once again he was stopped by one of the faceless cronies that crawled the place.
"Say bye bye to baby Jason," Trevor mocked, getting ready to turn the safety off. But before he could, both doors were kicked open and a barrage of police entered the place, completely surrounding everyone.
The next few minutes were a blur for Freddie, but he'd never forget seeing Trevor tackled to the ground and handcuffed. His ugly sneer of his face as he was lead away, a small line of all his henchmen close behind.
Breathing a sigh of relief, Freddie turned back round, watching in worry as paramedics flooded the building, gently lifting Jason onto a stretcher. A police officer began informing one the paramedics on the situation and Freddie made his way over.
"He's been here since around midday, but I don't know what Trevor's been doing to him."
Both men nodded as Freddie tried to help them fill out the blanks. Before the paramedic could turn away, Freddie spoke up once more. "Jase is a type 1 diabetic and I doubt Trevor gave him any insulin, which means he won't have had a shot for hours."
"He should be okay sir," the middle aged man replied, noting the information on a clipboard. "But thank you for informing us, we'll sort his blood sugar levels out at the hospital." Shooting the younger man a smile, he turned back to Jason, helping the two other doctors whisk him out of sight. Freddie went to follow them, only stopped by Joe who met him in the middle.
"Cutting it a bit fine hey?" Freddie tried to joke, it falling flat as the image of Jason, battered within an inch of his life refuses to leave his mind.
"I told you it'd work though," Joe smiled grimly.
"Look I know what I've done Joe. And have a go at me all you want, just not now. Because I need to get Jason out of there and I really need your help."
Sighing again, Joe pushed back the anger that he was feeling, trying to keep a cool head and assess the situation properly. "Well I think there's only one thing we can do."
"And what's that hey? I've already tried to get Jason out of there, even tried to swap places. Trevor ain't exactly up to bargaining. And we can't sneak in either, the place is crawling with all of his men, we'd be caught in minutes."
"I ain't saying we should do either of those things," Joe replied. "He'll be expecting that, no we'll do something he'll never think we'd have the balls for."
"And what's that?"
"We get the police involved."
"Are you crazy?" Freddie hissed. "That'll never work, Trevor's been taken in loads of times, but he's never been charged."
"And this is where it changes. Because the police are going to catch him in the act."
"Even if this plan does work, what does it mean for me? He'll dob me in, there's no way around that and then I'll get done too. The law doesn't exactly look up on drug dealing."
"Would you rather be in a cell for a few years or let your own family die?" Joe asked, knowing what his brother would say before he finished asking the question.
Freddie sighed, the choice was obvious, he might not want to go to jail but there was no way he was letting anyone else get hurt on his watch. "So what do we do?"
"We're going to need statements from both of you," a police man told the two brothers, collecting their contact details so he could call them to the station.
"Can we go now?" Freddie asked desperately. Apart from just a few minutes before, he hadn't seen Jason properly so had no idea what state his younger brother was in.
"Of course," the officer replied, Joe and Freddie roughly pushing past him as they tried to reach the door. The car journey to the hospital was a short one, but felt like the longest for both Roscoes. Neither spoke as Joe speeded down the streets, parking unceremoniously in the car park only minutes later, hoping desperately that Jason would be okay.
However they both froze once they saw Lindsey pacing by the reception desk, occasionally asking the receptionist questions. "Oh no," Joe breathed. "You don't think she knows?"
"Well it's probably too much of a coincidence bro," Freddie replied, walking through the foyer once more.
"Joe!" Lindsey cried when she spotted the pair. "Jason's just been brought in. He's critical-"
"We know babe," Joe muttered, pulling Lindsey into a tight hug. He briefly told her what had happened, leaving out why Trevor had singled out Jason and Freddie shot him a thankful smile. Soon the whole family would know the mess he had found himself in, but that could wait for a few more hours at least.
"I tried calling you both," Lindsey told them both, walking down to the ward that Jason was being kept in. "But there was no answer, the others are all one their way though." As they were waiting for the others outside Jason's room, a doctor left the room looking bleak.
"Jason Roscoe's family I presume?" he asked, when he saw them all looking at him desperately. "He has been incredibly lucky and actually looks a lot worse than he is. His left hand has been completely shattered and he'll need it putting in a cast for the next few months, though we can't yet tell if he'll need realignment surgery. He also has two broken ribs and the rest are bruised, but amazingly his lungs haven't been pierced.
"His left shoulder was also dislocated and there's a lot of bruising, but apart from that he seems to be in the clear. We've got him on a drip and have levelled out his blood sugar, but we want to keep him in for the next few days minimum."
"Thank you doctor," Lindsey smiled warmly, clutching Joe's hand tightly in hers. Said doctor smiled and briskly walked down the ward, turning round the corner and out of sight. Not even a minute had passed before Sandy, Ziggy and Robbie ran down the ward, stopping when they reached their family.
Once more Joe filled the others in and Freddie leant back, sighing heavily. This had been all his fault and Jason had paid the price. But it was over for him, Trevor had been arrested and he wouldn't be let out. For Freddie however, well it was just beginning.
All of his life he had done everything he could to stay off of the police's radar, not caring what he had to do, but that was over. Seeing his own flesh and blood on death's door for something he had done had been the final straw and for the first time in his life Freddie was prepared to do what was right.
There would be no more lies, no more doing what thugs like Trevor wanted him to do, instead he'd do the right thing. He'd own up to his crimes and suffer the consequences. For the first time in his life, Freddie was going to do the right thing and even with the threat of years in a cell, he'd never felt better.
So a bit of bleak ending right? I love Freddie and hope this doesn't happen for him when he eventually leaves (hopefully in many years to come), but for this story, I didn't see any sort of alternative, because come on, Trevor would take everyone and anyone down with him.
Next Story – The twin's receive their GCSE's and a little bit of jealously happens – prompted by H20xspelboundfanx and Syrah, as well as the countless number of people who have asked for cute brotherly moments between the twins!