#two4

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It’s prom night!

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Volume 2 - THE END

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Catherine had grounded Pari “pretty much until college”, which in all honesty seemed fair even to Pari herself. She could go to school and out for errands, and that was about it. Shawn had to beg Catherine to at least let her go to prom. He was fairly surprised when Pari elected to stay home, instead. With her brothers at the dance and her mother chaperoning, the two of them were the only ones home. “You know you didn’t have to stay home with me tonight, right?”, he asked her as they were watching TV. Pari nodded. “Oh, I know. I wanted to, though. Especially since there’s something I want to talk to you about”, she rebutted.

Shawn lifted an eyebrow, suspicious. “Does it have something to do with those papers there on the table?”, he asked. Her nervous laugh was not reassuring. “Nothing gets by you, does it?”, she mumbled. Then, she reached for the papers, placing them in his palm. Shawn began skimming them over. “Pari, hold up a second”, he murmured, his eyes wide, after he had gotten through the first page. “These are adoption papers”.

Pari shrugged, trying to look at him. She could feel her face catch on fire. “Yeah, well, I was reading up a bit into it. Did you know someone can legally adopt their spouse’s children?”, she said, trying to keep her tone casual. Shawn’s expression softened. “Sweetie, your mom and I aren’t married. You know that”, he pointed out. Pari sighed. Yes, she did know that. In the past, she had gone to great lengths to make sure it didn’t happen. “Yeah, and I also know it’s because of me you two never married. Maybe it’s time we fix that, too”.

Shawn’s smile grew larger. “So you want me to... be your dad?”, he asked cautiously, in disbelief. Pari finally turned to look at him. “You’ve always been my dad, Shawn. More than my actual father ever was. So I guess yeah... I’d like to make it official”, she responded. Shawn burst in a giddy laugh, throwing the papers back on the table and throwing himself onto Pari’s lap, catching her by surprise. “Whoa, what the hell?”, she exclaimed, joining in on the laughter. “My baby girl! I’ve waited a long time to hear you say that, little one. I love you, you know?”, he poured out. Pari could feel tears starting to form. “I love you too, dad”, she finally said.

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A little party never killed nobody, so we gon’ dance until we drop A little party never killed nobody, right here, right now’s all we got

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Lisanne’s 2000s throwback music stopped just as her blades dug on the ice, lifting a cloud of sparkles. The crowd roared. “And Lisanne Ferrari finishes her routine strong!”, one of the two announcers exclaimed over the speaker. “I’m telling you, Paul, she’s the one to beat”, the woman followed suit.

Behati rolled her eyes as she bent down to tighten her skates. “Lisanne is the one to beat!”, she bickered in a mocking tone, huffing. Harlow, sitting by her side, gave her an ear flick. “You are letting her get to you, Bibi”, she admonished her sister. Behati sighed. “I know, I’m sorry. I just can’t help it”, she admitted.

It was at that very moment Lisanne passed the waiting area the two were sitting at, plushies and flowers at hand, and giggled at her direction. Behati could feel her blood boil. “I mean, look at her. She’s laughing at me”, she hissed in her sister’s ear. Harlow wrapped an arm around her shoulders, turning her away from Lisanne. “Bibi, you’ve got this. You’ve worked your ass off for this. Lisanne is just a bag full of crap. You know you can beat her sorry ass”, she lectured her. Behati took a deep breath in, nodding. Her sister always managed to have a calming influence on her, and it made her more confident.

“And last but not least, we have Behati Van der Veen!”, the female announcer croaked from the speakers, bringing Behati back to reality. “Alright, it’s showtime”, Harlow announced, patting her sister on the back. “Now you go on the ice and you teach that bitch not to mess with a Van der Veen”.

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Nate pulled Wyatt by his arms, almost lifting him in the air. “You feel better now?”, he spat, struggling to keep him still. Damn, the boy was strong. “Not until I see him dead, I won’t”, Wyatt countered.

Nate hissed and threw the boy towards the other side of the room, almost tearing a muscle in his back in the process. He was starting to get too old for this shit.

“Well I’m afraid that’ll have to wait”, Nate huffed as he dug in his back pocket. “I only brought one pair of handcuffs tonight son and they ain’t meant for you”, he added.

Then, he bent down, reaching for Alfi’s semi-unconscious body. He flipped him over, and grinned slightly when the man let out a painful whimper. He straddled his legs, and slowly and deliberately wrapped the handcuffs around his wrists. Oh, music to his ears.

“Alfi Simmons, or whatever the fuck your real name is, you are under arrest for the murder of Jacqueline Diaz Frey. You have the right to remain silent”, he solemnly announced. And as he was reciting him his rights, Nate could have sworn he felt a cloud lift from his chest. He saw the face of his beautiful wife smile at him, her ghost finally crossing over. It was a bittersweet moment.

“I’m sure you’ve been waiting all your miserable life for this moment”, Alfi hissed with what was left of his jaw, unable to control his own spit.

Nate grinned, giving him a good yank for good measure. “You can bet your ass I have been, you sick piece of crap”, he responded. “Now get the fuck up. Life in prison awaits you”, he added.

And then, in that moment, 17 years later, he knew. He knew his job was finally done.