[a/n:] before you read most of you might be freaking out bc you swear you've already read chapter twenty-two. I took it down a couple of weeks back bc i hated it so here it is again. Sorry for the confusion i may have caused!

Warning: slightly unedited, don't judge me. 

and chapter is still dedicated to firefights bc they are observant to my very obvious build ups and realised who attacked Rudy last chapter. love ya

Chapter Twenty-two

The sound of sirens, the buzz of police radios and the chatter of bystanders filled the alleyway. Rudy sat beneath an open ambulance, blanket draped around his shoulders and head hung while a thing mist of rain sprayed down on the scene, matting his hair to his head, making it droop over his face and casting a dark shadow as he sat motionless.

The police had already talked to him, took his vague statements as he responded all he could manage with the sirens still echoing through his head, Kelly's screams in his head, his sisters cries.

There was a claw at his chest and he felt numb, he felt like he did five years ago. Things were flashing through his mind, too fast too recall, too quick to pinpoint.

Voices. So many voices. The sounds. The screaming. The cries.

The glint of a knife at the back of his mind.

A car.

A crash.

A scream.

A knife.

Rudy, Rudy, Rudy, "Rudy!" Miles voice broke through, a frantic and almost hysterical voice. Rudy barely had time to stand and look before he was tackled by a mess of dark hair and crying eyes. The impact of the smaller boy made him stumble a little, taking Miles with him and he fell back onto the step of the ambulance. "Oh God," he heard Miles sob beneath him. "Rudy, Jesus. You can't just send a text like that to someone!"

That's right. Rudy had sent out a text to Miles once everything had happened. Half thinking about how Miles was supposed to meet him after work, half worried. He couldn't even remember what it was about. Something short, something about the attack.

"I thought- I thought you were... I heard about the knife and the- fuck."

Miles looked up at him, eyes shining with tears but narrowed into a glower while he searched Rudy's face, fists clutched onto his shirt. His hands then followed his gaze, cupping Rudy's face in the warmth of his palms. Rudy let his eyes flicker a little and lean into the touch, taking the comfort. He heard the exhale of Miles' breath.

"I'm fine," he managed to croak out, trying to assure the smaller boy, his voice rough and unconvincing. He didn't dare open his eyes to the violent green of concern of Miles' eyes, just continued to feel the warmth; as if he could just take it all in and let it fill his whole being. Let it fill his mind and take away the ice- the bitter darkness.

Instead he made his hands find there way to Miles' face, cradling the same way he was to Rudy and brought their heads together, foreheads knocking. His mind stopped for a moment, taking in Miles once more before starting back up, a little less worse than before.

The screams still swarmed around him, the buzz of the scene around him. The glint of the knife. The crack of bone. The rain. The wind. But Miles was there now. Miles shone like the sun, blocking out everything around him, surrounding him with comfort.

"I'm still mad at you," Miles said when they parted a little, Miles hands finding themselves winding around his neck, holding onto small sections of his damp hair while Rudy's hand stroked lines around the collar of yet another hideous jumper. A frown on his face and a storm in his eyes. "You can't send me a text like that and don't answer my calls Rudy. I thought you were hurt. I thought you were- I thought..."

"I'm sorry," Rudy whispered, a little broken as he curled into Miles, needing the warmth, needing the pain to leave him and Miles- Miles just held on, giving him everything he was worth and more. So much more.

~*~

The store had been closed for a couple of days, much to Mr. Archer's nerves. An investigation was carried out after Kelly confessed to the police that her recent worries had turned out to be true. 

Chris Rowing, an 18 year-old university student, studying to become a doctor was arrested from the back alley of Archer's Books Bookstore around eight at night for attempted murder, illegal possession of a deadly weapon, and the theft and stalking of Kelly McDougal. 

The police had found all of Kelly's stolen possessions in his home, along with many, many pictures taken of her unknowly dating back 2 years, even some personal family photos of her childhood. Rudy had never wanted to hit a person more.

It turned out, Chris had been a student at Kelly's school, two years below her and had taken an interest in her one day and it didn't quite stop. Not even when she left. He found her and he had no intention of letting go again, resulting in the attack. 

No one had been hurt that night in the alley- well, not with the knife anyway - thanks to Rudy's martial art skills and instincts as he grabbed his attacker without hesitation and had him on the ground with a crack: unconscious, arm broken and knife glinting in the dark of the alley where it had slid out of Chris' hands once Rudy had disarmed him.

He had been lurking about the shop for months and Rudy had seen him day in and day out. Even giving him a nickname - the creepy guy - while still been so fucking unaware of what he was actually doing there. He never bought anything and now that Rudy thought about it he was always looking at Kelly, glaring at him. And even how many time Miles, Kelly and every fucking person that heard about it, told him it wasn't his fault, he couldn't have known, he still felt so responsible.

He had almost had Kelly killed because he was so freaking unobservant. He could have had himself killed- left Rosie all alone, triple the grief of what she already had in her life and that scared him more than anything else in this whole crapfest. 

Despite everything, Rudy was back at work the moment it opened again even with the protests of  Rosie and Miles, even Mr. Archer had been hesitant to give him shifts over the phone when he called that Monday morning after receiving a mass texts sent out the the employees of the place informing them it was open again. 

He was already irritated by the looks of concern and hushed voices when they thought he couldn't see or hear them; Miles' constant glances and relentless texts from Rosie. (Rudy's phone was now off entirely.) Even Legolas, the traitor, was hanging all over him more than usual, giving him these pity-filled looks and soft taps of his paw when Rudy stared a little too much into space. 

He knew they were just worried, he understood that, but him and Rosie couldn't afford to live on one source of income and she knew that too. He wasn't some fragile kid of fifteen anymore, he wasn't going to let some almost catastrophe set him back again. 

Kelly hadn't been in at all since the attack, she didn't know if she would be coming back at all.

"I don't feel safe in there anymore, Rudy," she sighed wearily over the phone. Apparently that was a thing now; Kelly phoning him. "I'm sorry about everything. It- I shouldn't have let it get that far."

Kelly had been blaming everything on herself and if anything that pissed off Rudy more than the fact that some sicko thought he could get away with everything he had put her through. 

"I'll see you in court," was Kelly's last words before she hung up on him, she hadn't called him back since.

If there was one thing that hadn't changed much, it was the customers it was more than the usually amount of busy; some regular customers asked him if he was okay which was begrudgingly nice and the grannies didn't pinch his cheeks this time but patted them fondly which Rudy couldn't decide if he hated more.

"Let's hope things aren't quite as dramatic anymore. I've had my fill for life." Miles said one day as he waved a small girl out, clutching at her mother's hands and a loom kit in the other as she left the store. The smaller boy looked up at him, green eyes delving into blue and a finger trailing the length of his hand from behind the counter. 

Rudy couldn't agree more. 

[a/n:] I am sooo sorry about the wait guys, you might have to bear with me for a another bit. I've failed a prelim and i'm trying to catch up as to not get kicked out and my college application has to be in my the end of the week, and my dad broke his ankle a couple of weeks ago so i've been having to help out more around the house and he's stole my laptop for most of his time in the house, i've been trying to catch up with my advanced higher art and my photograghy class and UGH i am so stressed out rn it's unbelievable. sorry for spamming you with this crap. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, sort of. 

p.s. i'm supposed to be finishing my personal statement rn. that was a failed dream. so count yourselves lucky ;) thank you for all the support and bringing STF up to 16K reads and for whoever nominated me to taygetsthegay: i love you, you beautiful human being.