Hidebound

Chapter Fifteen

"You have to tell him" I say quietly as we continue sitting in the car. Our seatbelts now buckled.

I can feel as Harley's eyes turn to look at my profile, almost in amazement, like she can't believe what she's hearing.

"No way" she huffs out a chuckle, shaking her head. It makes me look at her, catching her eyes. Her tears are gone now but the tear stains on her face remain. She smooths a hand through her hair to push it out of her face and to get rid of the few strands that had got caught in her tears.

"You have to tell him Harley" I repeat but she shakes her head no and looks away from me. "You can't move her and not tell him". I know what she wants, she wants me to tell him but there is absolutely no way in hell I'm doing that. Hex and Harley need to talk about their mother together; they are her children, not me.

"You can't tell him for me?" She asks warily, her tone pitiful. I shake my head and watch as she hides her face in her hands and groans loudly.

"He's home all day today, maybe you two can go out for lunch?" I recommend but almost immediately after think it's a bad idea. The last place Hex should be or would want to be when receiving news like this would be in public. That's just asking for another parole violation.

"Fuck no" Harley reads my mind "you need to be close, he'll need you" I nod in agreement. It's not a fact of if Hex will lose his shit, it's when and Harley's putting a lot of hope into me being the one to calm him. I might be able to help a little bit but if he decides to let his anger take control there isn't much I can do.

"Should I tell him today?" Harley asks as she turns the car on.

I shrug "the sooner, the better" I reply. Who knows how long we'll have before Harley's forced to put Wyonna in hospice and I know Hex will want to have some type of involvement in picking the home. I know he'll want the best for Wyonna.

Harley takes a deep breath and nods in agreement as we pull out of the car park and head in the direction of my apartment.

*

Harley was nervous, she spent the majority of the car ride home fidgeting and asking me unimportant questions surrounding Hex. Like what mood he was in this morning or if he'd be awake when we get to the apartment. She even asked if anything had possibly pissed him off at work yesterday.

I was nervous too and I hope that the anger management and therapy classes had paid off.

Hex's car is still sitting in the driveway when we pull in behind it. There's no sign of mum being home and I hope she stays out and about at least until after the siblings talk.

I open the car door and stand up, leaning back in when Harley doesn't do the same.

"Are you coming in?" I ask as I watch her nervously tap her fingers on the steering wheel as she looks into the windows of the apartment. I look through them too but fail to see Hex in any of them.

"Yeah, I'll be in in a moment" she answers. I give her a small, encouraging smile as I shut the door and make my way to the apartment. I can already feel the anxiety taking over my body as I walk up the front steps.

I hear movement from the kitchen and know it's Hex immediately when I don't see mums shoes by the door.

"Hex?" I call out as I take my shoes off. The sounds from the kitchen halt and I hear the pad of his feet tapping the floor as he walks around the corner to face me.

"Hey baby" he makes his way to me in only track pants, his chest bare and his tattoos on display. By the look of his bed hair and tired eyes he must have just got out of bed. There's a smile on his face, not what I expected when he knows where I have just come from.