I've purged my guilty little secret--- Hey, guess what? I'm not dead! ---and at the same time, ensured Adam will stay the hell away.
All at Alyssa's expense though. She's alive, not permanently harmed in any way. Her mother can't stand me, but then, she never could.
Nothing's changed in that regard and likely never will. I could find a cure for cancer, bring about world peace, and fix it so she won the lottery every weekend from now until Doomsday, and Mrs. Palmer would still think I was the devil incarnate.
Planning to call Will as soon as I'm back indoors and able to set out my plan of attack in comfort, I'm amazed to see Adam sitting on the steps outside my block, leading down to my flat.
Literally on my doorstep. A brief flashback again to that time only a couple of nights ago when he sat on those other steps and damn near cried, and instinct takes over. I haul him to his feet without any greeting, snarl some random insult at him, and drag him down the stairs.
I throw him up against the wall so forcefully, he actually winces in pain before sliding to the ground, and he manages to blurt out, "What the hell?"
"You." I kick him in the ribs, wondering if I really did feel something crack, knowing if that was the case, he'll heal in a few hours anyway.
"Fucking." Another kick. "Bastard."
"What? Wait, wait, wait, what is this all about?" He holds his hands up in a combination of surrender and supplication.
I drop to my haunches and glare at him, feeling more hate than I ever felt possible. I've been inside this man. I loved him once. And now, if he's responsible for this... If? Of course he is.
It's written all over his deceitful face. "Don't act the fucking innocent with me, Locke. You couldn't look innocent if you tried. So just don't waste your time." I tilt my head to one side, study him as he touches a hand to his side, trying to suppress a whimper. "Why did you come back?"
"What?"
I mutter something four-lettered under my breath. "Why did you come back? Did you think I'd welcome you with open arms after what you've done? Did you seriously think...?"
"What?"
"Don't keep repeating yourself, fuckwit. Or I'll get really angry. You're going to explain---"
"Wait, wait, wait, lemme..." Again, he winces, touches a hand to his possibly-broken rib.
"Let me speak. You think..." He makes a clumsy attempt to haul himself up into a more comfortable sitting position. "This is about Alyssa?"
"What the fuck else would it be about? I mean, what is wrong with you, Adam? Do you have to destroy everything you touch? What is your problem? Will was right, you know? If you'd found out about his affair with Kieran before we turned him, you'd have killed the poor bugger just to stop Will from being happy. You did Alyssa over simply because she's my best friend and you wanted to see me miserable. And for why?
Because I'd dared to stay away from you all this time. I've told you enough times why I did it--- because you're poison. This is why I stayed away.
This. I only showed myself to be a distraction while Will and Kieran got themselves through the safe house and built a new life for themselves elsewhere, but you? You fucking poisonous---"
"I fucking saved her! I caught a guy making a nuisance of himself, and I was the one who fucking stopped him."
"Adam, you..." Losing my ability to speak, all I can do is shake my head.
"I came back to give you his name, idiot."
My head flicks up of its own volition. "What did you say?"
"Not that you're interested in anything approximating the truth, huh? But out of the goodness of my heart---"
"Ha!"
"I stopped him, and I've got his fucking ID. If you'd kindly cease kicking the shit out of me long enough for me to explain, I'd like to do so? Or, you know, you could call the police or some local hard-nut, and while the investigation's being conducted, I could tell them the truth, and you'll just look like a prize dick with a bad temper."
Narrowing my eyes, as if this could help me work it out, I stare into his eyes. Trying to detect truth or lies in his words. "If this is just an excuse..."
"An excuse to what? Get into your house again? Your bed? Christ, I'm not that hard up for cock. If I was guilty, I'd have run off and stayed the hell away from you forever and just fucked some other guy who wasn't as much hard work as you are."
"Chance'd be a fine thing," I mutter, then say louder, "Okay."
"Okay? Okay what? Okay, you believe me?"
"I mean, okay; you've got five minutes from the moment you step into my house to explain your little fairy tale, and if it does turn out to be a fairy tale, you know what'll happen."
"Hmm." His Adam's apple bobs, giving him the air of someone who's still nervous, though now more confident of being able to talk himself out of this mess. "Before you kick my eleven other ribs in, any chance you could help me up? Then I'll be only too glad to enlighten you. And I've washed my arse today, which is just as well, as you'll be kissing it once my five minutes are up."
"And you swear this is the truth?" I tap the plastic pocket off my opposite palm a few times, staring at the photo it contains.
Adam groans, either in pain or frustration.
"How many times do I have to tell you? I saw that guy coming toward me, looking a bit shifty, and I got suspicious."
"Shifty? Define shifty."
"You know." Adam shrugs, tries not to make a face. It seems every move he makes hurts. Either he's laying it on
