How to Stay Afloat

~23: Where She Learns About His Past~

CHAPTER 23:

Where She Learns About His Past

~~**~~

T.W: Mention of S*icide

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," I told Archer again.

We were seated in the living room of my apartment. Spartacus stretched lazily at our feet before yawning and going back to sleep again.

Archer swallowed. "No, I want to." He said softly. "The only reason I didn't tell you earlier was because I was afraid that you would abandon me if you found out." He ran a hand through his hair. "But I've realized that you don't hide stuff from the people you want in your life. You show them the broken parts of you and let them choose if they want to stay."

I placed my hand over his and squeezed lightly. "I've already made my choice," I told him firmly.

He smiled at that. It was a sad smile but it was beautiful all the same.

He turned to me. "You know we just moved here last year, right?" I gave him a nod. I knew that Archer had joined the school at the start of our senior year.

"Well, before we moved to Long Beach we used to live in Upstate New York." He ran a hand through his hair, "There's a reason why our family left New York so suddenly and came here."

The sound of thunder followed by the pitter-patter of raindrops could be heard coming from outside the window. 

After a small pause, Archer continued, "My brother Jordan was twelve years older than me. My parents had him really young. He was kind and he was thoughtful, the only person in my family who I could look up to. He practically raised me." Archer's expression grew distant, "Jordan loved art and music, he even got accepted to Julliard." He closed his eyes like the words caused him physical pain. I squeezed his hand reassuringly.

"But my father didn't approve and making our dad happy meant everything to Jordan. So he went to law school like my father wanted and he passed the bar exam. He even joined a law firm my dad had suggested for a while here in California." Archer sighed. "Jordan was miserable the entire time. He hated being a corporate lawyer, he hated representing rich stuck-up clients. Jordan had always wanted to make a difference with his actions, he wanted to help people. He finally got the courage to quit after a couple of months. He flew back to New York and joined a small law firm as a criminal defense lawyer. My father was furious but Jordan wouldn't be swayed this time. He'd finally found something that he loved doing and he was good at it too, really good. Most of the cases he took were pro bono. He just wanted to help people."

Archer's voice grew hoarse. "He'd been practicing as a defense attorney for a couple of years when he got the call. He'd become relatively well known by then. It was from a man called Derek O'Malley. My father had been the one who had guided him to Jordan. Derek wanted Jordan to represent his son who was being put on trial for the assault and murder of two thirteen-year-old girls. Derek was one of New York's biggest and most powerful business tycoons but that didn't matter to Jordan. He told him he would talk to his son first and then decide if he was willing to take the case."

He took a deep breath. I could tell that this was hard for him.

"Damien O'Malley, Derek O'Malley's son, the person who was on trial for murder was a skinny nineteen-year-old boy and Jordan believed he was innocent when he talked to him. He told me this much. That was the only reason he took the case in the first place. From what we heard from the news, things didn't really look good for Damien, there was a truckload of evidence against him. Everyone told Jordan that it was a lost cause but Jordan took it anyway. And to everyone's utter shock . . . he managed to win."