The Preacher's Son Ch.07

"Marcus!!" Matthew yelled over to his friend.

"Quiet!" Catherine said, following Cal's lead and slapping Matthew to try and shut him up. The sting of an open palm struck Matthew's face like lightning, causing him to wince between shouts. It seemed that it was all over. Their escape plan had ended up being for naught. How could they have known they were sticking around to do such things? Matthew might have pondered their hypocrisy if he weren't in pain and despair right now. It was only then that they heard the wheels approach and felt the headlights shining down on them. Everyone froze and turned to face the vehicle. Matthew didn't have time to recognize the car before the door opened.

"MATTHEW!" bellowed Himawari as she practically leapt out of the car door. She ran over to him as fast as she could, and with all her strength pushed Catherine hard. Though she wasn't the strongest woman in the world, a shove to the right place was enough to get her to topple off. "Are you alright?!" she asked. While he was still in shock, Matthew found it in himself to take her offered hand and got to his feet as Catherine scrambled to hers.

"Who the fuck are you?!" Snarled Cal as he also got up.

"Himawari." She replied with cold restrained fury, holding her arm around Matthew as best she could. "And I've come to take Matthew away."

"Look, kid." Cal replied, not noticing Marcus getting back up. "I don't know what you think you're doing here, but Matthew's not going anywhere. He signed up to be here by his own choice, so he's legally in our care until we can release him. You try to take him away you're breaking the law."

"Not quite true." Came another voice from the car, drawing all attention his way. Mr. Kern calmly stepped out and approached the scene. "If I may ask a question Matthew, did your heartbreak leave you in a state of distress when you signed up?" A lawyer through and through. Nobody said anything for a few moments, as it was bewildering to hear such a question at a time like this.

"Y-yes?" He answered, unsure where this was going.

"As I expected." He continued. "Matthew was not in a right state of mind when he signed on to this program. As such he signed a contract under duress and thus the contract is considered invalid until he can sign again in a right state of mind."

"Oh, come on!" Cal huffed in exasperation. "You seriously can't expect me to believe that? That's a total stretch even for a technicality!"

"I'm not finished." He interrupted. "I'm afraid the contract was also officially violated by you."

"What?!"

"When you agreed to take these men in, the extent of your care only lasts as long as you can prove they are being well-treated and no abuse is going on. Well, we now have 4 eyewitnesses to you physically beating your patients." Cal froze, his mouth hanging open in shock. "Not to mention the DNA evidence all over your victim's shirt." Marcus and Matthew both looked down in confusion, only now did Marcus notice that he had a bloody nose. "Now... I can call the police and have you arrested for assault on the spot, or we can get these men home and handle these things in court."

"I..." Cal didn't have time to really thing before Marcus pushed him aside to join his friend with their saviors. Cal took a look at them and twisted his face into a frown.

"Fine... But this ain't the end of it." He snarled, walking back to his car. A long moment of silence passed over the crowd before it was finally broken.

"Are you alright Matthew?" Himawari repeated in a soft whisper, clinging tightly to him. It was only then that he fully acknowledged that she was there.

"Y-yes Himawari." He replied, turning his head to look down at her. Their eyes met, and the two just stared at each other for a good minute or two.

"Uh guys?" Marcus asked, snapping the two of them out of their trance. "I hate to be that guy, but it's kind of cold out and I don't wanna spend any more time in this place than I have to." He continued, strolling over to the open car. "Any chance we could get out of here?"

"Oh! Yes...yes of course!" Himawari replied, leading Matthew towards the car. "I um... I didn't expect to bring a second passenger, but there's plenty of room in the backseat." She said frantically. A good hostess under all circumstances.

"So not complaining. I'm Marcus by the way. You must be Himawari." He said. "Gotta say, you look different than I thought you would."

"Yes yes, only my Mom's Japanese." She replied in a rehearsed huff. "Um... Mister Kern? Do you think you could take the wheel and drive us home?" she asked. "I kind of want to talk to Matthew."

"Of course." He said with a smile, with that he climbed into the driver's seat. Luckily Himawari had left the key in the ignition.

"Great...thanks." She said. With that, they all squeezed into the back seat, Marcus on the left widow seat, Matthew on the right and Himawari in the middle. Although it was a spacious backseat, the combined mass of Marcus' muscles and Himawari's expansive hips made it a bit of a tight squeeze. Still, nobody was in any position to complain. Mr. Kern carefully navigated the car around, to get them back on the road. The guys took one last look behind them, watching as Cal and Catherine walked back to their car, clearly they had some phone calls to make. As they drove away, a pronounced silence passed over the car, nobody knew just what to say.

"Matthew..." Himawari whispered softly, breaking the silence. "There's something I gotta tell you. Something I should have said to you a while ago. I..." she swallowed. Goddess, why was this so hard? "I love you Matthew. I'm sorry I didn't realize it when you told me your feelings. But ever since you went away, I couldn't stop thinking about you." Tears were welling up in her eyes as she spoke, and her voice warbled and cracked. "I was so worried about you! I didn't mean to hurt you like I did! But I love you!" She sobbed and leaned into him. Matthew was stunned, completely unsure what he should do. He looked over to Marcus in confusion. His friend said nothing, and simply nodded slowly. The unspoken affirmation was enough to encourage Matthew, and without a word he draped his arms around Himawari and held her close.

"Himawari..." he finally said, his hand stroking her hair softly. "You know I love you too. I'm sorry I snapped at you. Coming here was the biggest mistake of my life, and I want to make things right. I want to be there for you, and for the baby too." Himawari pulled her face off his chest, and looked up at him. Tears were streaming down her face, yet her expression couldn't be happier.

"Thank you, Matthew." She said with a slight sob in her voice.

"I um..." Matthew continued. "I'm gonna need a place to stay." He said with a sheepish smile.

"Oh, don't worry about that!" Chirped Himawari, though her eyes were red and puffy her normal personality and composure was rapidly returning. "There's loads of space in my room! Hell, the bed's big enough for two!" Matthew turned a little pink at that, forcing Himawari to suppress a giggle. It seemed that therapy hadn't changed him at all.

"I uh...hate to ask and kill the mood..." said Marcus, drawing both of their attention towards him. "But I think I need a place to crash too."

"Well...I don't think there's gonna be enough room for three in my bed..." Himawari said a slight lie, she knew all too well that it was, but it would be best not to suggest such a thing to Matthew right now. Maybe she'd discuss polyamory with him later, but right now she was just happy to have him back. "But I think we have some space in the guest room, if you don't mind sharing it with my big sister."

"Nah, I don't mind. I'm just glad to be outta there." Marcus replied with a shrug and a smile.

"I don't think she will either." Himawari said slyly, looking Marcus up and down. "You seem a lot like her type." Marcus nearly did a double take at that statement. After nearly two years in a glorified prison, he'd almost given up on the thought that he'd ever experience anything like that again.

"I wasn't ah...suggesting that." He said, reaching around to scratch the back of his head.

"Wait are you..." Matthew turned his head to look at Marcus. His off hand, the one that wasn't holding Himawari close to him reached out to point at his friend. "You're embarrassed!"

"No, I'm not!" he replied quickly, turning his head away.

"Wow! I didn't think you actually could feel embarrassed!" Matthew said with a laugh. "That's so unlike you!" Marcus said nothing. Although he wouldn't admit it, Matthew was right. Embarrassment... he hadn't felt that in a long time.

"Neither could I." he finally answered, his expression turning to one of sheepish happiness. "Still, I wouldn't say no to that. It's been too long."

"Oh, I bet." Said Himawari, cuddling into Matthew. Small talk, how funny. Not too long ago these men were fearing for their safety, risking their lives to try and escape their cage. It seemed wrong to pry anything serious out of them right now. Besides, it was going to be a long drive home. They might as well spend the time chatting.