Chapter 17

The rest of the pre-dawn was spent at the police station, and come the early hours when Shawna was finally let out into the cold, morning air, she found Tony, Lorraine, Briana and Elspeth waiting.

"Where's Marcus?"

"They're keeping him in." Tony explained, slouched over his coffee on the bench outside the station. "You want one?"

She shook her head. "Keeping him in, why?"

"Shawna... he broke Connor up pretty badly. Snapped his arm, broke a couple of his ribs... probably cracked his jaw as well. That's a pretty serious beating."

"Oh God... I got him into all this, didn't I?" She'd tried to hold it back, tried to stay calm while they asked questions and badgered her, but she was tired and drained and she just started to weep.

"Come on..." Briana wrapped her up, hugging her tight. "Right now it doesn't matter who got who into what... we're here, we need to find out how to get us out of this."

"Ally!" Shawna mumbled, her face buried in Briana's jumper. "Marcus' step-mum, she's a lawyer."

"You know their number?" Elspeth opened her phone, and dialled as Shawna told her.

"Mrs Bowers?... Oh, sorry, I just assumed... My name's Elspeth Downing... he did? Oh... he's, he's not hurt or anything, physically. He's been arrested... Assault, I should think, he beat someone up. Yeah, Connor... he told you that, too?... I guess you do... Well, we're due to break up for Christmas tomorrow, so... OK... thank you." She hung up, gnawing on the inside of her lip as she did when she was thoughtful.

"She's going to come up and get him out, take him home for the holiday."

"Was he planning on going home?"

"No," Tony put in, "he was going to stay on, Montague's needed staff over the holiday. I guess that's not a concern any more."

"I guess..."

"Were you going home, Shawna?" Briana asked, quietly, letting her up a little as the worst of the sobbing subsided. She shook her head.

"I know you and Elspeth wanted the place to yourselves for Christmas, I was going to stay with Hope for a few days in the dorms."

"Maybe you should go home, too." Lorraine offered.

"Her mum isn't exactly a calming influence..." Elspeth explained, cutting in, and Shawna managed a quiet chuckle.

"That's an understatement." She wiped her eyes, determination coming through. "I'll go, though." She looked up at them, reading Elspeth's surprise. "He's going to need me. It's about time I was there for him."

"Well, his mum's not going to be here for about three hours, even if she drives flat out." Lorraine observed. "I guess you're going to want to make as good an impression as possible when she gets here."

"Do you think I should be here?" Shawna asked.

"I think that's mainly up to Marcus, right now." Tony put in, and the others nodded. "But, I think he probably would want you around..."

"I can't think straight right now." Shawna muttered, cradling the cooling coffee that Tony passed her despite her saying no. "I need to sleep."

"Well, it could be a long day. Marcus was taken in at about five... that means they can keep him until five tomorrow before they even charge him with anything."

"Does he need anything? They wouldn't let me in to see him."

"I don't think they'll let anyone see him." Tony put in. "Come on, let's go home. I need a shower and some sleep. We can dig some stuff out, give it to his mum when she gets here, and if she can't get it to him no-one can."

"Does anyone have Marcus' guitar?" Briana wondered, as they walked away.

"It's in the back of the truck." Tony explained. Shawna half-listened to the conversation, slipping into the back of the car as Tony and Lorraine headed for the truck, and by the time they pulled away she was asleep.

"Mrs Denning." Shawna sat up, surprised.

"It used to be Ally, Shawna." She smiled, gently.

"Oh god, I was supposed to see you down at the station!" Shawna started, grabbing for her coat on the end of the couch.

"Calm down, I've not been there yet. They told me on the phone that Marcus is asleep at the moment, they're planning on talking to him again this afternoon, so I thought I'd come here first and get the story." Shawna sat up, realising she was on the couch, and felt herself growing hesitant.

"Um... Mrs Denning..."

"Ally!"

"You don't know what I've done, Mrs Denning. I'm not sure you'll be so... so..."

"Friendly?" Shawna nodded, the tears coming again. "I know some of it, probably more than you think. Marcus talks to us, you know, more than you do with your mother." Shawna just shrugged. "I know that you've had some spectacularly bad relationships this year. I know that the last one, in particular, was beyond just a bad relationship, although Marcus wouldn't go into details.

He wanted someone to tell him how to make it all better, but didn't want to betray a confidence."

"He's amazing sometimes."

"Most of the time, actually."

"Well, the guy that took a swing at him last night is... he was the last of those spectacularly bad relationships, but... do you know where he was last night?" She flicked through a notepad, quickly.

"Bleak Hill?"

"I don't know if that's what it's really called, that's what the students call it... Mrs... Ally... he was going to throw himself off." She paled, visibly, putting the pad down as her hands started to shake.

"Oh, god. We knew he was... we... That bad?"

"We all knew... No, that's not true. I was too wrapped up in me, but the others knew he was out of sorts. I don't think any of them realised it had gotten that bad, though."

"He's never been very good at talking about how he feels..." She wiped a tear away, gently, trying to hold things back, and that set Shawna off. When Marcus' dad came in, the two were sobbing gently, holding each other for comfort.