Ok...first off a huge thanks for the wonderful reviews on the last chapter! It did indeed make my sunstroke that little more bearable! :D The next chapter is all about the boys so this is the last you see of Shannon and the rest of the girls for a while. Then there's only two more chapters before baby Dunham makes an entrance so be prepared! Anywho, review if you love it, review if you hate it, review even if you don't even really care all that much, rest assured it will make me happy! Enjoy, guys! xx
Pete's eyes drifted open at the sound of voices coming from just outside in the hall; glancing down at the sleeping toddler on his chest, he gently eased himself out from underneath Ben and placed him on the sofa, pulling the throw up over him before stepping out into the foyer.
The rain was still thumping rhythmically against the windows, the darkness that came with the storm transforming the large house into a maze of eerie shadows.
"She didn't mention nothing about where she was going?" Steve demanded, his arms folded as he stared at the young Buckner with cold eyes.
"No," Matt shrugged. "She just…left. I couldn't have stopped her even if I wanted to,"
"What do you mean, 'if you wanted to'? Steve snorted. "She's your sister for fuck sake,"
"You didn't see what she was like, Steve," Matt shot back. "It was like she couldn't control herself, I mean the way she spoke to us-…"
"Where is she?" Pete didn't realise he'd spoken the words out loud until the two men turned to look at him.
"Allie," he clarified, looking straight at Matt. "Where is she?"
"Upstairs," Steve informed him. "The storm got pretty heavy, so she needed to change," staring down at the puddle which was forming around Matt's feet as the rain water dripped off of him, he smirked lightly. "You should probably go do the same, mate,"
Clapping his brother on the shoulder, Pete took the stairs as fast as he could with his still slightly unstable knee. Walking down the long hallway to his and Allie's bedroom, Pete pushed the door open just as finished pulling on a dry t-shirt over her jeans. Her hair had started to curl slightly as the rain dried from it; her eyes sad and tired looking as she sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Shit day?" he asked her, making her jump slightly.
"Hi," she breathed, a faint smile on her face. Pete caught the red mark on her cheek which she had obviously tried to cover up with make up and felt his body tense. The last thing she needed right now was for him to fly off the handle at her and start shouting at her for scaring him like she had.
"I only just got back," she told him as though reading his mind. "I didn't want to wake you up," she smiled. "You looked like you needed the sleep,"
"What happened, Allie?" he asked her, coming to sit beside her on the bed, watching as she started down at her hands, twirling her engagement ring around her finger.
"What'd you fancy hearing first?" she snorted. "The shit news, or the really, really shit news?"
"Why don't you start with how you got this?" he gently took her face in his hands and tilted her head to the side, his eyes darkening when he saw the mark on her skin.
"That's not important," she shook her head.
"Like fuck it is!" Pete snapped. "Did she hit you?"
The blonde stared at him silently for a moment, biting her lip nervously.
"Allie, I asked you a question," he forced her to look at him again. "Did Shannon hit you?"
"She's not in control of herself anymore," she explained, wincing when Pete snorted and let go of her muttering something under his breath. "Pete, the Shannon we knew would never have done that, ok?"
"So?" he shouted. "You think that gives her a reason to hit you? What the fuck were you even doing going after her like that?"
"Going after her?" Allie frowned. "Pete, I'm not like you, alright? I didn't go after anyone for the sake of going after them," she shook her head. "In fact if you shut your mouth for a God damned minute you'd realise that if anything, I just saved your arse,"
"Saved my arse?" he laughed. "Right, and how did you do that sweetheart?"
Standing up, she stormed past him over to her bag which was sat on the vanity stool and grabbed a handful of papers out of it, shoving them against his chest with a determined stare.
"Look familiar?" she asked, watching as he took them from her and stared down at them, his brow furrowed in confusion.
"Its Matt's journal," he shrugged. "So what? Who gives a fuck about that?"
"Shannon was going to show this to her lawyer, Pete," Allie cried, her patience snapping. "It has everything in there: about you, about the boys, the history of the GSE," she watched the shock appear in his eyes and felt mildly relieved. "So now do you get it? Do you have any idea whatsoever of what would have happened to you if the police got their hands on this?"
"I'll fucking kill 'im," Pete growled, scrunching the papers up. "I told the stupid cunt to quit this shit, he knew what it could 'ave done, if it got into the wrong hands."
"Don't blame this on Matt," Allie shot back. "He might have written it all down but none of it's a lie, is it? See, look," snatching a random page away from him, she scanned through it and read a small paragraph aloud.
'October 28th, Manchester United V West Ham
This morning was pretty uncomfortable at the flat, I don't think things are that great between Allie and Pete at the moment and even though I know better than to get involved, Pete isn't doing himself any favours by lying to her about the meet he and Bovver have set up for tomorrow night. Swill told me that the Reds are one of the toughest firms out there and the last time they played them, Dave ended up in the ER with a concussion. Part of me doesn't want to go but the other part of me that I didn't even know existed until I met these guys is counting down the minutes until we get there. Pete told me the story of what happened last year when he fought one of the Reds and ended up blinding him by throwing a broken bottle in his face, I wanted to ask him if he was ever afraid, if her ever thought about the fact that one day he might find himself against someone who he can't beat…
But then I look into his eyes and see the same determination, the same leadership that was there the first day I met him and I realise that there isn't a fight Pete Dunham can't win.
Staring up at her lover, Allie smiled tightly.
"Aw," she cooed sarcastically. "Heart warming, isn't it?"
"That's enough," Pete snapped, snatching the page away from her and putting it in the bin, along with the rest. "That's not who I am,"
"Matt makes a pretty convincing argument though, doesn't he?" she cocked her head. "He was studying journalism, Pete not fiction, so if you actually think that little of me that you're going to try and convince me its nothing but a lie then we have a serious problem,"
"Allie, that happened five years ago!" he shouted. "I didn't even fucking know you then!"
"And what?" she laughed. "You think you did a full 180 on the night you met me? Gee, I must have hallucinated all those times I had to scrub your blood out of my clothes,"
"Yeah, well if it bothered you that much, why'd you stick around?" Pete hissed, getting in her face. "Thought you could save me did ya? Rich girls steps in and saves the poor little hooligan in need of a good home? "
"No," Allie shook her head. "It was worse that that: I fell in love with you, so it didn't really matter whether I saved you or not,"
"Good, because I'm not some fucking charity case," he told her hotly.
"Jesus," she laughed bitterly. "What is it with you? Why are you still so afraid to admit that you need help? Because I know that what I just read scared you," she told him. "I could see it in your eyes, Pete. See, everyone can pretend things aren't as bad as they seem but when you see it through someone else's eyes," she picked up the pages of the diary from out of the bin. "It starts to become real, doesn't it?"
"You knew what the GSE was when we first got together," he snapped. "You 'ad all the time I the world to walk away and you didn't, so I am not gonna stand here and fucking apologise for you making the wrong decision."
"The wrong decision?" she screeched. "Pete I don't ever regret meeting you, I don't regret one single second of our relationship. And yes, ok, I knew about the firm but you think that automatically meant that I was ok with it?"
"So what was the plan?" Pete scoffed. "Keep your mouth shut about it, making little comments when you felt you needed to, never saying it out loud but always thinking to yourself about how you'd done a good deed by staying with me. By lowering yourself for me?"
Allie gasped, the words slicing through her and making her ache; staring down at her shaking hands, she took a deep, shuddering breath before shuffling through the papers in her hands, locating the one which had jumped out at her as soon as she had read it. Without saying a word, she walked over to Pete and handed it to him, looking up into his eyes which still remained a mixture of sadness and fury.
"When I first read this," she swallowed, her voice unable to come out as anything above a whisper. "I was so angry at Matt for being wrong." A tear slipped out of her eye and Pete felt his chest get tight. "But right now, I'm just petrified that he might be right,"
Stepping around him, she walked through the bedroom door, letting the harsh wind from the storm slam it shut behind her as she left Pete on his own, staring at the sheet of paper in front of him and trying desperately to pretend that the sting of tears in his eyes wasn't real.
"Off-side!"
Matt shot a confused glance at Lara as she shook her playstation pad angrily and pointed at the screen.
"Ref, come on!" she shouted. "Where the fuck are you looking!"
"What the hell are you talking about?" Matt laughed.
"Oh, I don't know," the red head shrugged. "Every time I play FIFA with Pete I just yell random words at the screen and it seems to work, right Allie?"
"That was blatantly a corner!" the blonde chimed in half heartedly as she say curled up on the sofa watching them with sleepy eyes. Pete still hadn't come downstairs yet and she had left him well over two hours ago; she knew better than to go back up there though. Too much had happened between them and they needed to let it calm down.
"Are you ok?" Matt asked her with a concerned smile. "Where's Pe-…"
He trailed off with a grunt as Lara subtly elbowed him in the ribs.
"En-nay on the Eete-Pay," she hissed.
"What?" The American shook his head in confusion.
"Don't talk about Pete," she hissed again, loud enough for Allie to hear this time.
"Subtle, Knight," the blonde raised her eyebrows, chucking the copy of Empire she had been reading onto the coffee table and sighing.
"Did I detect of bitch flavoured sarcasm right there, Harding?" she laughed. "You take one little slap and the gloves come off, huh?"
Smiling, Allie stood up and bent down to kiss the top of Lara's head before walking towards the kitchen.
"You kids want anything to drink?" she called over her shoulder.
"Gimme some liquor darlin'," Lara drawled in a horrible Texan accent. "The harder the better,"
Casting an amused glance at her friend she winked and then screeched happily when she somehow managed to score a goal.
"Failing that, I'll settle for a coke," she told her.
"Right, Matt?" Allie queried.
"No, I'm good, thanks," he nodded, playfully trying to hit Lara's controller out of her hands.
"Don't start what you can't finish, bitch," she cried before jumping on top of him and messing up his hair.
Laughing lightly, Allie walked through into the large kitchen, not bothering to switch on the light even though the still raging storm outside had cast the house into darkness. Pulling open the fridge, she reached for a bottle of coke and caught the twinkling of her engagement ring as the light from inside the fridge hit it causing rays of shimmering light to pour out from the small diamond.
Closing the door, she rested her forehead against the cool steel and sighed, willing away the headache which was building behind her eyes.
A cold gust of wind hit the back of her legs and she frowned, looking up to see that the large glass doors at the end of the kitchen were wide open, the rain blowing in and hitting the tile flooring, making it shimmer like liquid.
"What the hell?" she whispered, shaking her head as she started towards it, squinting when she saw something moving down the end of the garden.
Her eyes widened and she dropped the bottle of coke onto the counter, not giving another thought to what she was wearing or the fact that she had no shoes on before launching herself out of the doors, running full pelt down the huge garden, her heart pounding like a drum with every step.
"Fuck," Pete shouted, gritting his teeth as he stopped running for a second, bracing himself against a nearby tree. Bending down, he pulled his trousers up and stared at his knee, gulping when he noted how red and swollen it looked.
"Fuck it," he muttered, standing up straight before taking off again, running as fast as he could through the bottom of Allie's garden, cursing himself slightly for not thinking this through more thoroughly.
The page of Matt's diary that she had given him had more or less shredded his insides, each word, each question the fucking yank posed about whether or not Pete and Allie would last, whether they were really meant for each other repeating over and over again in his head, getting louder each time.
He'd needed to escape, to focus on another form of pain other than the one in his chest.
He felt something give way in his knee and a wave of white hot pain shot through him, the spots appearing in front of his eyes making him sway on his feet.
Limping over to the gazebo at the bottom of the garden from which you could barely see the house through the trees, Pete collapsed inside it, taking a brief moment to appreciate the fact he was finally out of the rain. Gritting his teeth, he scooted back gripping his knee tightly as though trying to keep it from moving.
"Pete!"
His head snapped up and he caught sight of her very nearly slipping over as she ran as fast as she could through the trees, coming to an abrupt stop in front of the gazebo, her clothes clinging to her like a seconds skin, her bare feet covered in mud and bits of broken twigs.
"What…" she breathed, bending down and resting her hands on the tops of her legs as she tried to get her breath back. "What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?"
"I'm fine," he snapped at her. "Go back inside before you get cold,"
"Let me in," she told him, taking the first step up onto the gazebo and frowning when he wouldn't move out of the way for her to continue. "Come on, I'm getting soaked."
"You should 'ave brought a coat then," he told her angrily, still holding onto his knee.
"Why don't you just quit being an arrogant prick for 30 seconds and let me in?" she shot back.
Sighing and muttering something under his breath, Pete shuffled backwards, allowing her to step under the protection of the large wooden roof, the rain dripping off of her and onto him. Grabbing one of the cushions off of the bench inside, she flopped down next to him and pushed a strand of soaking wet hair off of her face.
"You hurt it, didn't you?" she pointed at his knee.
"I'm not a fucking toddler," Pete shouted. "I can tell if I need help or not,"
"Well apparently you can't," she smiled smugly, getting up onto her knees and reaching across him to pull up his trousers.
"What're you doin'?" he demanded.
"The impossible apparently," she shot back. "I'm trying to help you,"
"Yeah?" he shoved her hands away. "Well go 'elp someone else, because I am in no fucking mood."
"Oh so if running around in the pouring rain on a newly healed broken leg isn't dramatic enough, you now have you fill your dickhead quota of the day by refusing help," she snorted, standing up. "Fine, be an arrogant fuck, see if I care,"
"Oh so if I'm arrogant, what does that make you?" he shook his head. "Or has your horse gotten so high that you've forgotten how badly you fucked me and my brother over 72 hours ago?"
"What?" she screamed, backing away from him and pulling on the sleeves of her jumper. She was starting to get uncomfortable in all this wet clothing although she didn't let the irony escape that even though Pete might hate her right now, he still wasn't above staring at her chest.
"I said I was sorry," she spat. "I tried to fix it; I stopped Shannon from showing Matt's journal to her lawyer, isn't that enough? But then given you were back at the house with a face like a smacked arse, I wouldn't expect you to get how hard it was,"
"You can be a right bitch, you know that?" Pete shouted back at her.
"Yeah, well you're an arrogant bastard so I guess that makes us perfect for each other, doesn't it?" she shot back.
"Not according to the Yank it don't'," he pulled the soggy sheet of paper out of his pocket and threw it at her feet. "See from what he thinks, me and you," he shook his head. "We're a fucking joke,"
"Really?" she nodded. "And you believe that, do you?"
"You know its not," Pete shot at her in annoyance. "But that's not what fucks me off about all this,"
"No?" she raised an eyebrow. "What is it then?"
"The fact that you can't make the separation between the Pete Matt wrote about," he kicked the soggy paper with his good foot. "And the one you actually know."
"Right so now you're an arrogant prick with multi-personalities?" Allie laughed. "Great, that's just…great,"
"Oi!" Pete shouted. "D'you fancy shutting up for more than ten seconds so I can actually talk?"
Allie folded her arms and looked at him expectantly, biting the inside of her cheek to prevent herself from yelling at him further.
"Before you, I didn't give a shit about nothing except the firm," he shook his head. "But then when I did meet you…I wanted to be better for you, I wanted you to be proud of me but I couldn't leave the GSE," Pete looked at her. "It was all I had, Allie. It brought me up, it acted as a family to me when I 'ad fuck all else and I wasn't about to walk away from that. I'm not proud of 'alf the shit I read today but like it or not, it made me who I am today." he shrugged. "Why should I apologise for who I am?"
"I'm not asking you to," Allie shook her head, tears shimmering in her eyes.
"Then what is it that you want, Allie?" he shouted, the frustration clear in his voice. "Fuck me, you're so…"
"What?" she asked. "I'm so what?"
"Your fucking impossible," he breathed, rubbing his face with his hands. "Look, just give me a minute, alright? I'll be in soon,"
"Pete, I'm not leaving you here, you can't even walk," she protested.
"Allie," he looked up at her seriously and she bit her lip, determined to stand her ground.
"If you want me gone then you have to stand up and walk back to the house with me," she shrugged. "That's my final offer,"
"I didn't know we were fucking bargaining," he shouted. "Just go!"
"No!" she shot back, her anger surfacing in her eyes.
"You are seriously starting to piss me off!" he roared. "Allie just-…"
"For fuck sake are you deaf?" she screeched. "I said no!"
The last word came out as an almost scream and to prove her point, she slammed her palm against one of the posts holding up the gazebo, causing it to shake threateningly, the gutter above her opening up and all the rain water it had collected falling right on top of her.
She gasped loudly, her body going rigid as the cold water seeped in through her already damp clothing. Opening her eyes, she saw Pete grinning at her widely, his shoulders shaking as he tried not to laugh.
"You alright?" he asked her, his voice cracking.
"I'm fine," she nodded, picking a wet leaf off of her cheek and letting it flutter down to the floor. "I look like a swamp threw up on me but other than that…"
He surprised her by laughing, the warmth seeping back into his bright blue eyes as he reached a hand out and shook his head.
"Come 'ere." He snagged the top of her pyjama bottoms and yanked her down next to him, laughing harder at the squelching noise she made when she moved.
"Fucking 'ell," he smirked. "You're a right liability, Harding. I can't take you nowhere, can I?"
They sat in silence for a long moment, both of them staring out at the rain as it continued to fall heavily.
"Are we in trouble?" Allie mumbled after a while, her voice soft.
"What?" Pete frowned, turning his head to face her.
"All we've done the last four months is fight," she shook her head. "We fight and then we make up, we fight and then we make up," she looked at him and her bottom lip started to trembled slightly as her eyes filled with pain. "Pete…what if…" she shuddered. "What if one day we have a fight and we can't get back?"
Pete looked at her for a while, his own eyes stinging slightly as the implications of what she was really saying sank in.
"I told you about Rachel Donahue, didn't I?" he breathed, catching the look of surprise on her face.
"Um, as in the first girl you…" she trailed off when he nodded. "Yeah, what about her?"
"Remember how I told you she 'ad a thing for shit films?"
"Old films, Pete," she laughed. "There's a difference,"
"Not when you're a 17 year old bloke there ain't," he told her. "Anyway, that stupid fucking line at the end of Love Story…y'know where the bird starts spouting on about how love…"
"Never means having to say you're sorry?" Allie finished for him.
"Yeah," he nodded and then studied her closely. "You know that's all bollocks, don't you? Allie, we're far from being fucking perfect and I don't want it any other way,"
She met his eyes and held her breath.
"We fight," he shrugged. "We get royally pissed off and we yell at each other, but I don't want some fucking Stepford Wife running around after me with smile on 'er face like some fucking zombie." He leant forward and nudged her. "Harding, if nothing else, you're fit as fuck when you're angry,"
She choked out a laugh and shook her head; her fingers still busy drawing patterns on the worn wooden panels beneath them.
"I don't want us to end up like that," she gestured towards the house.
"Like Steve and Shannon?" he snorted. "Chance would be a fine fucking thing," he laughed. "First off, you'd have to turn into a fucking psycho and I'd 'ave to go soft," he looked at her pointedly. "Before you ask, the answer to that last one is never,"
He caught the smile playing on her lips and cleared his throat, trying to think of what to say next.
"Allie, I've never been that great at all this…" he sighed. "But I can tell you now that the reason I fell for you 'ad nothing to do with whether or not you were perfect…it 'ad to do with the fact that you were a fit bird who was not only willing to give me the time of day, but who liked my mates, didn't wanna make me into some tart of a boyfriend and never once forced me to watch a fucking movie that 'as only two colours in it,"
Pete smirked when she laughed. "I'm not jokin'," he told her. "If someone gets shot I wanna see red on the screen,"
"So we're just going to keep on fighting?" Allie asked, looking at him.
"Yeah," Pete nodded with a definite grin on his face. "But that doesn't 'ave to be a bad thing,"
"Oh yeah?" she raised an eyebrow. "How'd you work that one out?"
"Well see if we never mess up and get pissed off with each other then make up sex goes out the window, doesn't it?" he grinned boyishly at her.
"Make up sex," she laughed. "That's your logic for why couples should fight?"
"Damn right it is," he shook his head when she rolled her eyes. "Nah, nah…think about it, I mean-…"
"Oh, Jesus, shut up, will you?" Allie cried completely exasperated with him before turning her body to face him and leant forward, brushing her lips over his.
Pete kissed her back instantly, his hands running down her back to rest in the curve of her waist pulling her closer.
"See?" he whispered, pulling back from her breathlessly and teasingly running his tongue along her bottom lip. "Told you you were fit when you're mad,"
Giggling, Allie reached one hand up to cup the back of his head when he leant forward and kissed her again, leaning back and pulling her down with him, the pain in his leg lessening as her body pressed against his, the sensation almost too much for him to take.
"That's pretty twisted logic, Dunham," she grinned, lowering her head and kissing his neck. "I think I like it,"
Pressing one last kiss against his pulse point, Allie lay her head on his shoulder, their hands linking together and resting on his chest.
"We'll be alright, baby," he told her, gently kissing her hair. "And if we're not I want this back," he lifted her hand and gestured to the diamond ring on her finger.
"You're such an arsehole," Allie laughed, snuggling deeper into his chest. "I love you, though,"
"Despite the fact I'm an arsehole?" Pete raised an eyebrow.
"And a hooligan and an emotional retard," Allie finished, feeling the rumble in his chest as he laughed.
"Ah, well see, you're just lucky I love you 'n all, then aren't you?" he smirked. "If I didn't, I dunno how long I could put up with that emotional abuse, I might 'ave to look elsewhere," he went quiet as Allie looked up at him. "Lara's still pretty keen after all these years,"
"Right, that's it," Allie squealed, pinning his hands above his head and kissing him thoroughly, his tongue eagerly seeking out hers, his hands twitching under hers, desperate to be set free so he could touch her.
With a growl, he rolled them over so that she was underneath, grabbing the blanket off of the bench before falling down on top of her and kissing her for all he was worth.
There was no point in moving from here until the rain died off and Pete grinned to himself as he sat up, yanking off his shirt and cast his eyes to the gray sky, noting with pleasure that they still had a fair amount of time to kill.
"Ay, ay!" Swill shouted, walking into the house past Lara, affectionately ruffling her hair. "Where's the almost doomed man?"
"What?" she frowned, shutting the door after Dave and Bovver came in after him.
"Pete," Bovver sniffed, shoving his hands in his pockets and shuffling uncomfortably from foot to foot as his eyes danced over the elegance of the house; Bovver wasn't used to being surrounded by wealth and truth be told, it made him nervous. "We're 'ere to plan 'is stag night,"
"I thought you were going to Prague?" Lara raised an eyebrow.
"Yeah, but we need to work out what we're doing while we're out there," Swill nodded.
"I assumed it would just be a three day bender," Lara smirked.
"See?" Dave sighed, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. "This is the attitude we need," he took the brochure out of Swill's hands and hit him round the head with it. "Pete don't wanna go on no fucking poncy tours, he wants to get leathered, see lots of naked women and forget that he's doomed to a life of…"
"Of what?" Swill snored. "Waking up every morning next to a fit as fuck Sloane bird who used to be a cheerleader and still owns the outfit?" he shook his head. "Yeah how will the poor twat cope?"
"Fucking 'ell actually, you're right," Dave frowned. "Right, new plan, fuck Dunham, we do what we want," he opened up the brochure and skimmed through it. "You can go beer tasting, that should be worth a bubble,"
"Let's go bungee jumping," Swill blurted excitedly.
"The elastic won't hold you, you fat bastard," Bovver told him. "And I ain't chipping in to get your coffin shipped back 'ere, so rule that one out, yeah?"
"What's the deal with Harding's hen night, then?" Dave smiled at Lara.
"Not telling," the red head shot back.
"That's not fair," Swill frowned. "You know what we're doing,"
"Oh like hell I do," she snorted. "Sure, you're talking about drinking sessions and beer tasting but we all know that this weekend ends with Pete tied naked to a lamppost with make up on his face and a tattoo on his arse,"
"Shit," Bovver stared at her deadpan. "She found our plan,"
"Yeah, well if you're here for Pete, you might want to come play FIFA with me and Matt for a while," she rolled her eyes, gesturing for them to follow her back to the living room.
"Why?" Swill frowned. "Where is he?"
"Him and Allie had a fight," she explained with a knowing grin.
"Right, so they're…" Dave raised his eyebrows.
"Oh yeah," she nodded. "For at least another hour,"
"Cheeky fuck," Swill muttered, taking a seat next to Matt and clapping him on the back. "Alright, Buckner?"
"Hey guys," he smiled, handing Dave the spare playstation pad and glancing back at the screen as all three men fought over who got to be West Ham.
Suddenly, Matt's phone started vibrating in his pocket and he frowned, pulling it out of his jeans and staring down at the number on the screen.
Shannon calling
"You gonna get that, mate?" Dave asked, reaching over and pressing the start button on his pad so that they could all start playing.
"Uh…" the American stared down at the phone as it continued to glow, pleading with him to answer. "It's not important," he shrugged.
Shannon had made her choice today when she walked out and left him there, and in that moment as he pushed the 'reject call' button on the left of the screen before throwing the now motionless phone onto the carpet next to him, Matt Buckner made a choice of his own.
Personally, I wasn't sure about it but I know I've written much worse in my time so hopefully it didn't completely suck...let me know! ;)