“Alistair?” she answers, seemingly shocked to see me.
“I know she’s there with you. Please, will you let me come in? I need to talk to Elle. I need her to know I still love her and that I’m going to murder my brother. And that whatever it takes, I want her to know that I’ll keep her safe,” I explain to Lauren, whose face softens at my request.
“She’s not ready yet, it’s still so raw. What your brother did … ambushing her with her uncle, the man who used to haunt her nightmares, is unforgivable. He’s ruined her. She’s back at square one again, the fragile little bird she used to be. I helped her out of that hole once before, and I’ll do it again,” she tells me angrily.
“I’m so sorry. I had no idea my brother was this crazy or that he had this much of a vendetta against me,” I try and explain to her.
“Your brother knocked up your fiancée, for fuck’s sake. How did younotthink he would be capable of such things?”
She’s right. Am I so used to my brother’s antics that I haven’t taken into consideration how seriously messed up he is? How he’s been blackmailing my past girlfriends to sleep with him. And for what? To be better than me? To ruin me? I don’t understand why he hates me so much.
“I love her, Lauren, with all my heart. She’s it for me. I don’t want anyone else. I love you, Elle,” I scream down Lauren’s hallway.
Lauren blinks a few times and looks at me sadly. “I know you do, Alistair, but you need to give her time.”
“I’ll wait an eternity if it means I get to spend one more moment with her.”
Lauren nods. “I’ll let her know you popped round,” she says before closing the door in my face.