B r o d i e

"Just let me explain," Lani's voice trembles beside me, and my heart aches at the panic I can so clearly hear behind her words. This wasn't how today was supposed to turn out. This wasn't how she was supposed to celebrate her big win. A day that was meant to be about her, is now suddenly focused on me and the revelation her Dad is slowly piecing together as he glares at my hands on the beautiful, worried girl beside me.

I'm so sorry.

"Oh, I'll let you explain alright." His eyes dart back and forth between Hammond, Lelani, and me, glistening with anger and anticipation as he waits for one of us to say more.

"Sergeant Cambell, none of this is Lani's fault. I-"

"Lani?" He scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief at the nickname that I'm quickly reminded only I call her. "What in the hell is this?"

"Dad, can we please not do this here?" She begs with pleading eyes as more people encircle the group of us.

I cut my gaze over to Hammond who wears a sick smile at the scene playing out in front of him, obviously pleased to witness what he's been hoping would get out from the moment he found out about Lani and me.

"Why not? You've obviously been hiding whatever the hell this is from me for however long now, so why wait any longer to break the ice?"

Lani's cheeks are turning a bright shade of red, and her fingers tremble as they continue to hold onto me. Trying to give her any sort of comfort I can manage, my thumb grazes against her skin, settling her shakiness some.

I take a step ahead of her, placing myself in the spotlight of embarrassment that she never intended to be standing in. "Sir, I'm happy to talk to you and tell you everything. But for her, can we please not do this here?"

"I didn't fucking ask to hear from you," he bites out with a tense jaw, cutting me off. His glare falls back onto his daughter, "You. Explain everything to me right now."

"Dad, please," she begs once more, and I can see her eyes starting to glisten with the tears she fighting so hard to hold back.

"How long has this been going on?" He presses on for an answer.

"I don't know," she lies, and I want so badly to speak up for her, but I'm afraid that I would only make things that much worse. "I don't want to do this here-"

"How long?" He grits between his teeth.

"They've been together since August," Hammond's voice answers for us, his friend's finally releasing him from their hold. I clutch my fists with anger, but Delk's grip is on me again, ushering me to let my rising anger subside so that another fight doesn't break out.

Sergeant Cambell flinches as he hears the truth, and even though his face is hard and tense, I can see the embarrassment and hurt starting to appear in his eyes. "You promised me."

"I know."

"You promised me and you went behind my back again, despite the damage you caused the last time you did this."

"Matt," a soft voice reprimands him, and my eyes follow the sound of it, matching it to the women now standing behind him. Her features are nearly identical to Lelani's, and immediately, I know it's her Mom. Aiden stands behind her, his innocent eyes peering around her legs and falling onto me.

"I went behind you're back because I knew you would react like this," Lelani bites back in defense, letting her rising frustration carry herself back in front of me.

"No, you went behind my back because you knew what you were doing was wrong. You're selfish, Lela. As long as you're getting what you want, you don't care about what it costs this family."

"She hasn't been doing anything wrong," I argue back in her defense. "And you're daughter is the farthest thing from selfish. All she wants is for you guys to see her and be proud of her. To trust her."

His eyes squint towards me as his feet take a step in my direction and he stands up straighter, puffing his chest out. "I said, I didn't ask to fucking hear from you."

"I don't care," I bite back matter-of-factly, taking my turn now as I step towards him. "You treat her like she's a child."

"Don't talk to me like you know shit about my family."

"Momma, why is Daddy being mean to Brodie?"

My heart immediately races as the quiet question leaves the six-year-olds mouth, and I can see Campbell's anger grow more and more in front of me. He lets out a heavy, exasperated breath as he pieces another revelation together: Aiden knew about me too.

"Malia, get him to the car, now," he instructs his wife, but she refuses to move an inch until he comes with her.

"Honey, please don't do this here. Let's go home, we can figure this out there."

But he completely ignores her requests, keeping his attention on Lelani and me, despite the line of cars stopped from driving out of the parking lot because of the scene we've stirred up.

"And you've brought your brother into it too, willing to ruin the security I've built for this family over a fling with a stupid boy?" His stare pierces through me as he spits out, "One that's caused me nothing but trouble since the moment he got here."

"I didn't bring Aiden into anything," she fights back through clenched teeth, "and Brodie's not a fling."

He scoffs at the statement, "I don't believe that for a second. Use your head, Lela."

"Screw you."

"Screw me? You would think you would have learned something from Jason. Take a fucking look around you, kid!" And all of our eyes skim the area, taking in the cars and people surrounding us and watching the fight that's broken out. "He's trouble and he's dragging you into it."

And suddenly I'm starting to wonder if he's right as I take in the mess all around me; the shattered beer bottle near the truck, the blood on Hammond's face, the worried expressions on Aiden and Malia's face, Alana and my two friends' tense stances, my reddened knuckles, and most importantly, Lani's tearful eyes.

"If he gave a shit about you, he wouldn't have let any of this happen in the first place."

"He didn't start it," she shouts back, and I stop her as she starts to charge in her Dad's direction because I don't want any of this to get any messier than it already is. "Hammond did."

"Sergeant Cambell," he quickly responds to save his ass, "this started because your daughter's little boyfriend was upset that I called him out about his shady behavior."

"You're so fucking full of shit," I growl, afraid for what may tumble out of his mouth next.

"No, I'm not," he laughs, shaking his head in dismay even though he knows he's the guilty one in this. "Tell him. Or maybe you could just show him like you showed me?"

"You're fucked up, you know that? Don't do this to her," I beg because Lani doesn't deserve this; to be humiliated and hurt by the lie that he's about to say in front of all these people and her family.

"What the hell are you talking about?" Her Dad growls, prodding Hammond further.

"I don't know if I should say it here," he frowns, faking sincerity as he looks to Lelani. "She's already been hurt enough."

"He's lying, baby," I tell her under my breath because the thought of her thinking that I would do anything that damaging is ripping me from the inside-out. "I love you so much."

"Tell me now," Sergeant Campbell demands.

"I'm talking about the pictures that Dawson, here, has been showing around of your daughter."

"He wouldn't do that, Dad." And while I know she wants to believe what she and I are both saying, I can hear the unsureness behind the tremble in her voice.

"I swear to god, sir, I would never do that to your daughter."

Suddenly, he's charging towards me, his fist clenching onto the collar of my shirt and warning me. "You're on your last goddamn straw, Dawson."

While I'm not scared of his threats in the slightest, I don't give into my rising anger and fight back, keeping still in his hold and deciding to stay calm for Lani's sake.

"Let him go, Dad!"

"Matt Cambell, stop this right now!"

Ignoring Lani and her Mom completely, he asks Hammond with a clenched jaw, "What fucking pictures?"

And for what feels like forever, nothing but silence rings around all of us, making my pulse quicken with anticipation about what's going to be said next. Her dad is so close to me now that I can hear every single furious breath that leaves his mouth and I tug against his wrist in an attempt to pry his hand off of me but he refuses to budge.

"The ones that he fought me from telling you about, sir because he knew what he did was wrong." And the heartbroken look on Lani's face as he says that makes me sick to my stomach. "The ones he bragged about over and over of her in his bed, half-naked."

"You son of a bitch!" Her Dad growls, tightening his clutch on my shirt and holding me steady as he rears his fist back.

"What are you doing?" Lani screams, darting between us and working hard to shove her Dad off of me.

"Lani, stop," I shout, feeling protective and shoving her out of the way before she gets caught in the crossfire of her Dad's rage.

Before I'm even aware of what's happening, my back slams against the hard concrete and Campbell's over top of me with his fist reared back again. Commotion goes on all around us, shouts and gasps echoing from the mouths of who knows how many people witnessing the scene playing out in this parking lot.

"Get the fuck off of me," I growl.

"I warned you, Dawson. This was your last chance."

Just as his knuckles are mere inches from my face, somebody intervenes from behind, pulling him off of me before he has a chance to get a single hit in.

"Stop," the familiar-looking, blonde-headed man orders as Campbell fights to get out of his hold.

"Robbie, get off of me!"

"Look at what you're doing!" Campbell's eyes do exactly as his friend tells him, and my stare follows in the direction of his. Malia consoles Aiden as he cries into the crook of her neck and Alana rushes over to Lelani who's fallen back against the ground.

Oh fuck. I was trying to push her out of the way. I never meant to hurt her. I only meant to keep her from getting hurt.

"Lani," I rush out with worry, picking myself up and hurrying over to her side. "I'm so sorry. I didn't want you to get hit."

"Brodie, stop," Alana asserts, pushing me away as she helps her best friend up off of the pavement. "Just give her some space."

"Get the hell away from my daughter," Campbell commands.

"Lani, are you alright?" I press on because all I care about is that she's okay.

"Dawson, come on," my two friends suggest, pulling me back towards the Range Rover.

"Let go of me," I say, jerking out of their hold. "Let me make sure she's alright. Lelani, please baby, look at me."

And she does, her brown eyes pooling with tears as they meet mine and my chest aches worse than it ever has.

"I care about you," I promise her but I can't tell if she believes that or not.

"Please, take my family home," Lani's Dad begs her best friend and all I can feel is helpless as my mind grapples with the idea of the person I love the most thinking I would ever disrespect her in the way I'm being accused of.

"Listen to your friends, Brodie," Alana instructs me, "She needs some space."

"I'm so sorry," I mutter, and I can feel the dirty looks pinned on me as Alana, Lani, Malia, and Aiden walk away.

As soon as they are out of view, Sergeant Campbell is stalking my way again but this time his friend Robbie doesn't stop him, so I hold my stance. Delk and Murphy hurry over, falling to each side of me in case they end up needing to break up another fight again.

Lani's Dad inches his face back up against mine, the veins in his forehead distended as he all too calmly speaks, "I told you, Dawson. I said that if I had one more issue from you, that you'd be gone."

"If you would just listen to me for one goddamn second-"

"I'm not going to listen to a word that comes out of your mouth," he interrupts, his voice becoming loud again. "Just looking at you fucking disgusts me."

"Sir, he's telling the truth," Delk interjects, but he's brought to silence with a single threatening stare.

"You've exposed my daughter. You should be grateful that I didn't beat the shit out of you for what you've done. And trust me, I would if it didn't threaten my position."

"I love her," I confess.

"Don't start that bull shit with me. I've been told that before," he bites back. "You don't love her. You're just trying to save your lousy ass."

"I do," I argue back. "I love her. I didn't show them to Hammond. He got a hold of my phone and saw them."

"So you admit to having them on your phone," he growls, "Pictures of my daughter!"

"It isn't like that."

But my explanation is only seeming to make him more furious and Robbie finally reinserts himself into our quarrel, wedging in between us before we can get any closer to one another.

"Campbell," his friend warns him, "I would pipe down if I were you. Don't get yourself into trouble. Don't threaten the security of your job again."

I can see Campbell's  internal struggle to reel his anger back in but he lets out a heavy, shaky breath before continuing through gritted teeth, "I don't want you to ever see my daughter again, do you understand?"

"Sir-"

"I'm not done," he cuts me off. "You will never see her again. You will never talk to her again. Don't call, don't text- hell, don't even think about her."

"You can't control who she's allowed to talk to. She's 18. She's an adult."

"I warned you, Dawson. I said if I had one more issue with you that you'd be gone."

Immediately, my heart drops at the reminder of the last conversation we had and suddenly I'm scared that I really might not be able to talk to Lani ever again.

Pathetically, I beg, "Sir, please-"

"Don't fucking beg," he scowls. "You're gone. You need to be grateful that I don't send your ass to the Colonel. This stays between the two of us, do you understand? I'm shipping your ass out of here and Lelani won't know about this, do I make myself clear?"

"She'll hate you for this," I mutter shakily.

"Maybe at first," he shrugs, "but she'll thank me for it someday. Not a fucking word to her or else I'll make sure that this is only a small fraction of the hell I'll put you through."

And I have absolutely no clue what that could mean, but I'm afraid that if I press on, more trouble will fall in Lani's lap. Finally, he pulls away from me, leaving me in a state of shock and silence as he trudges his way back to the car he came from. Robbie follows after him as Delk and Murphy stay at my side, sighing with disappointment at the reality I now find myself in.

Campbell stops, pivoting on his heel, turning to look at me one last time, and even though deep down I know he won't, a small thread of me hopes that he's changed his mind. Just as I feared, he speaks back to me one last time, saying the exact opposite of what I wanted to hear.

"Pack your fucking bags, Dawson. You'll be flying out of here within a week."

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A/N: HAPPY 2/22/22, SWEET READERS!

I don't know about y'all, but my heart is racing and breaking all at the same time 😭😭

We're nearing the end of this story and while we still have a few more chapters to go, I wanted to say thank you guys so much for following along with this story. Many of you come back for each update, supporting and reading Brodie and Lelani's story, and I can never express enough how grateful I am for y'all!

Thank you for making me feel so excited to share my writing!  ❤❤❤