Because You're Mine

Lennon and Quinn slept late the following morning, and probably would have slept longer if it wasn't for someone knocking on the door. Lennon sat up, still groggy from sleeping, and looked around. Her TV was on and popcorn littered the floor. Quinn laid on the opposite end of the couch, still asleep. Lennon pushed Quinn's legs off of her and shook her awake, "Clean up the floor," she told Quinn, "someone's here."

Quinn sat up and yawned, stretching her arms out above her. "What do you want me to do?" she asked as the knocking persisted.

"Pick up the popcorn." Lennon stood up and walked over to the door to reveal two police officers. "Can I help you?"

"Are you Lennon Farrelly?"

Lennon nodded, "Yes. Is something wrong? Has something happened?" Lennon's first thought was that something was wrong with Tara, but she and Quinn would have found out about it a lot sooner.

"We have a few questions to ask you."

Lennon glanced behind her into the living room to see that Quinn had finished picking up. She turned back to the officers, "Come in, please." The officers walked inside and Lennon shut the door behind them. One of the officers was short and and had a slight tan with brown hair and brown eyes. The other was tall, blonde, and pale, with blue eyes.

The blonde asked the first question, "When was the last time you seen Grady Walsh?"

"The night before last. Why? What's he done this time?"

The brunette spoke this time, "That's what we're trying to figure out. He seems to have gone missing. Do you mind telling us what happened that night."

It made Lennon nervous to recount the events once more, and one look at Quinn had her slipping into Lennon's bedroom to wait until the officers left. "Well, I had my lock changed, I kicked him out a couple of nights before, and while I was with some friends, he broke in. When I came home he was still here, and I told him to leave, and he beat me then left."

"And you haven't seen or heard from him since?"

"Right."

Lennon spoke with the officers for a few more minutes before they left. "Are you going to be okay?" Quinn asked after she had changed her clothes.

Lennon nodded, "I'll be fine. You go pick up Tara. Don't worry about me."

"I'll come right back."

Lennon shook her head, "I'm fine, really." She gave her sister an assuring smile and walked her to the door. After the door was shut she walked over to her window and climbed out onto the fire escape. She rested her arms on the rail and leaned forward to look at the ground below. The wind was blowing harder than usual, and she glanced up at the sky, it was about to rain.

Murphy seen strands of dark brown hair swirling around outside his bedroom window and he walked over to it, pushing the curtains away completely to reveal Lennon standing there, her back was to the window. He opened it and climbed out to join her. "Is everything okay?" he asked.

She nodded without turning to look at him, "Yeah."

He walked over to join her. He could tell there was something bothering her, but he couldn't figure out what. "Are you sure? You know, if there's anything bothering you, you can talk to me about it."

She smiled and turned to face him, "It's Grady....he's missing. The police suspect foul play. I told them he probably just got drunk and wandered off somewhere, you know, got lost or something."

Murphy nodded, "Maybe he won't come back. Then he'll never bother you again."

Lennon nodded a reply, but he could tell she didn't believe him. It would just be so much easier if he could tell her what he and Connor had done, but he didn't want to risk her hating him. And if it made her hate him, she'd probably call the police on him. He watched a tear roll down Lennon's face, and Murphy wondered why Grady's disappearance made her cry. He reached over, hesitant at first, and wiped the tear away with his thumb. "I know...I know things were bad between you two, but it's okay now." He paused and she turned to look at him. He continued, "I'm your friend Lennon, you can tell me what you're feeling, I'll understand."

"No one ever acted like they cared much for me. All I had was Quinn, and when Grady showed interest in me, I took my chance to be with him, afraid I'd never be able to find someone else. For awhile, I would do anything he said, afraid to loose him, but when Quinn finally made me realize I didn't need him, I couldn't get rid of him. I just....." she trailed off as she looked up at Murphy. She smiled and shook her head, "It doesn't matter now. Good riddance to him, I hope he never comes back."

In that moment, Murphy wanted to kiss her more than he'd ever wanted to kiss anyone, but he wasn't sure how she'd react, so he didn't. They talked for a little while longer, and before they climbed back through their windows, he pulled her into his arms, hugging her. Once again he said, "I'm your friend, you can always come to me. I'll understand."

"I know." He let go of her and with a smile, they crawled through their windows.