Page 113 of Butterfly

“And that scared Ryan?”

“Hell no, Ryan wasn’t afraid of him. Ryan would point to his chin to get someone to mention it so Teddy pummelled them.”

Ollie picked his nails. “I heard Teddy propositioned Ryan. He wanted…he wanted sex.”

Sebastian blew out a breath. “He’s in there for life. It’s not deep, Ollie, and him and Ryan got on. But Ryan wasn’t interested in Teddy like that. He had a girlfriend on the outside. Ryan even joked about it.”

“He joked about Teddy?”

“No, Teddy was there when he did. Ryan said he resisted the temptation of going gay for the stay. Teddy laughed; Ryan laughed. There was no bad blood between them. They were friends, and I know the rumours after he died. I know what was spread from wing to wing. But I’ve always known Teddy was not responsible for what happened to Ryan. Even if he never defended himself or denied it was his doing.”

Ollie bit his lip. “Were you?”

Sebastian’s eyebrows jumped up his head. “Was I responsible? Of course not. Ryan never came to me for drugs, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t go to someone. Other people had their own way of getting drugs. I don’t know who, why or when. But Teddy…he was devastated. We heard him. The sound he made that morning.” He shuddered. “And afterwards they locked him in the seg unit while Ryan’s death was investigated. He smashed the back of his head repeatedly into the concrete wall until he had to be tied down and sedated.”

“Jesus.”

“Yeah, it was bad. For almost a year, he was this empty shell on the wing, a ghost who kept to himself and whose only interaction with people was to fight them. Then you walked in. I was outside my cell that day watching from the landing, mainly Rory, but I caught sight of Teddy after you’d been shown into your cell.”

“And what did he look like?”

“Terrified. He looked completely terrified of you.” Sebastian snorted. “That’s why I noticed. There’s Teddy, this wild, scrappy man who knew how to fight, terrified of this scared-shitless blond kid stepping into his cell.” He shrugged. “He’s a complicated guy.”

“That’s an understatement.”

McDonald’s ordered and paid for, Ollie and Sebastian hurried back to Rory.

Every time the speedometer went above sixty, Ollie tutted.

“I’m doing it for Rory.” Sebastian snorted. “To stop his food from getting too cold. If you took that jacket off and wrapped it around the bag, I wouldn’t have to drive this fast.”

“This jacket is too comfortable to even think about removing it. I may even sleep in it tonight, and Rory will not care if it’s cold as long as he doesn’t have to eat mutton and liver.”

Sebastian frowned, peering through the windscreen. “What is that?”

“What?” Ollie asked. He had his gaze fixed to the drinks balancing on his knees.

“Fire,” Sebastian whispered. “There’s a fire.”

Ollie lifted his head. He didn’t tut when Sebastian put his foot down. He willed him to go faster. They sped towards the orange glow in the sky in silence, but the unease in the car grew and grew.

The drinks slipped off Ollie’s knees when he saw the house. Rory and Sebastian’s house. The front of it was covered in flames. Ollie dropped everything else into the footwell when Sebastian slammed on the brake.

Sebastian was out of the car, running towards the inferno before Ollie had even unclipped his belt. A small crowd stood in front of the house, gasping and clutching their heads.

“Rory!” Sebastian yelled.

Everyone turned to look at him, but Rory didn’t announce himself. He didn’t slam into Sebastian like Ollie knew he would if he heard his name shouted like that.

It was pure panic, and coming from Sebastian, it was even more terrifying.

Ollie had just caught up with Sebastian when he rushed away again, slamming into the gate that led to the garden. It didn’t buckle, and he cursed, stabbing in the combination. Ollie couldn’t face the flames head-on, the heat was too intense, and he used his arm to try to block some of it. It crackled, and spat, and embers drifted into the night sky like fireflies.

Ollie turned back to Sebastian, but he had gone, rushing around the side of the house to get to the back door. Fierce flames didn’t cover the back of the house, but the window had been stained black from the inside.

Sebastian cursed, grabbing a plant pot. He threw it at the backdoor, smashing the glass. Ollie heard the gasps from everyone in front of the house as the fire roared, surging higher.

“Don’t follow me inside,” Sebastian shouted. He grabbed Ollie’s shoulders and shook him. “Don’t!”

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