The once put together college man, now unrecognizable. He’s been on the run, jumping from place to place. Stained clothes, a few rips in his pants, this man has been fighting for his life. His face full of exhaustion, the darker circles under his eyes, and the tiredness of his skin mixing in with his bones protruding, he’s not the same man. He’s been through hell.
I start to lower my gun, seeing him unarmed, probably stashed somewhere else. He still looks at me with questionable eyes. His voice is groggy, “How can I trust you?” he asks.
You don’t.
One wrong move and it can be taken as a threat to the club. I lift my hands, showing him I’m unarmed.
“Because Charlotte wants me to bring you home.”
“She’s never going to trust me again,” Sorrow spreads in his voice.
“Tell your story, kid. You realize, she's the reason why we’re here?”
He shakes his head, muttering no to himself.
“She wouldn’t. Not after what I’ve done,” he starts to thrash himself.
D.R has his gun remain in place, being cautious of any fire.
“Cedric. Man. Whatever you have done, we’ll figure it out,” I step closer to him, feet away from him.
“You can’t. Nothing can be fixed,” he says with defeat.
Cedric’s on the edge of spinning out, when all hope is lost.
I take a few steps. His body trembling with fear, what he got himself into may have destroyed part of him.
I scare him, he starts to take steps backwards.
D.R looks to me for the next move. Cedric needs to come with us easily or else things might get hazy. Cedric avoids eye contact with me.
I extend my hand, “Charlotte is waiting for you. I can’t tell you how much it has hurt to see her worried about you. And Finn, he hasn’t given up on you,” That sparks something in his eyes, as he starts to raise his eyes.
If there was one thing about him it's the dedication he had with the students. He starts to open his mouth to say something but then quickly closes it. He's scared. Whatever the Falcons may have gotten him into is scaring him even more so.
“I've done things and I'm not proud of them. But,” he stutters, “I didn't know what else to do, she's never going to forgive me,” he repeats.
“Cedric, we’ve all made mistakes. But if we have one hell of a support system that just wants us back, that's gotta mean something more.”
“They're still looking for me,” he says softly.
“I can promise you this, just like I promised Charlotte, if you come with us, you can explain your side and we'll take it one step at a time,” I tell him, as he looks at my hand and grabs it. I pull him into a tight grasp. If he wanted to prove his innocence there's only one way he knows he can do.
Darius lowers his weapon, holstering it. He calls out to the others outside to do the same. He brushes past us as he looks for the weapon that Cedric said he had.
I can't believe that we found him but the question is how deep does this go and can he take himself out of it. There's one woman that believes his innocence. Jackson calls ahead letting the club know that we were on the way back and this time with a rescue.
As we ride back to the compound, I run a mental list through them only to know that someone else will have others alongside. He hangs on tight as we approach the compound through the gates and through the winding roads.
The thunderous roar of the engines start to settle as we get to the main part of it. His teeth chatter behind me from the cold wind. He's half starved running on low hours of sleep. He's had to be on high alert for the past few weeks filled with paranoia of every step he takes.
He got off my bike and looked at me, “Did I miss much?”
I nod my head. He continues, “She really said yes to you. Does she trust you?”
“I would hope so if it meant coming to get you instead of the other way,” I growled.
Right on cue, Charlotte comes in full sprint, pushing through the doors, with Finn trailing along. When she gets to Cedric, she runs into him giving him a tight, breath stealing hug. He reciprocates, breaking down every emotion he has had. Finn joins along with the group. They stay like this for what feels like ages.
