The lawyer was already at the police station when they arrived. Berry had stopped by a drug store near the station to get something and he sent Stuart to go in first. The first thing he did was go see his lawyer who looked pleased to see him.
After exchanging greetings, the lawyer gave him a brief of what happened and as he listened, Stuart's words became more and more difficult to form.
So what happened was that Berry's friend had run into someone while driving and that someone happened to be an eighteen years old boy who was now lying unconscious in the hospital. After clarifying that all was well and that the boy was safe with the lawyer, Stuart went to see Berry's friend who was still clearing with the police officers.
As he was going in, he bumped into some idiot who wasn't looking and the person quickly apologized, "I'm sorry, my vision is a bit blurred". Stuart wanted to reply but went he saw the person's face, his was left slack jawed.
"Aspen?"
Aspen looked surprised when his name was called and when he regained his bearings and realized that it was Stuart, he rolled his eyes. "Why are you here? Where is Berry?" He asked without even bothering to exchange greetings with Stuart. In his defence they were not friends and being Berry's boyfriend made no difference. There was this passioned dislike he had for stuart and he couldn't quite describe it.
Stuart also rolled his eyes. It was safe to say that he also disliked Aspen. He also did not bother saying anything to him in response and walked inside the office to meet the policeman who was sitting behind the desk. After a brief talk, he was told that the friend of Berry who had commited the act was actually Aspen which actually left him shocked.
This was because Aspen looked sensible, not like someone who would run an eighteen year old over. With slight anger, which he didn't know the reason for, he approached aspen. "What were you thinking about behind the steering wheel that took your attention from the road. Are you blind or something?!" Okay, maybe he was being excessive but this Aspen needed to be taught some valuable lessons.
Aspen just kept staring without a word. Apart from his extreme dislike for Stuart which only seemed to grow every second, he was not very fluent in English and his silence only seemed to aggravate Stuart further.
Before either of them could say anything or throw their fists, Berry came running over with worry written all over his face. "Are you all right? Did you get hurt anywhere?" His worry reflected in his soft voice as he carefully scrutinized Aspen's body.
Stuart felt extremely uncomfortable seeing his boyfriend worry for another man and he got even more uncomfortable when they started speaking in the foreign language once more. Why did Berry have to worry so much? According to his lawyer, except from the kid that fainted from the shock, no one else got injured which meant that Aspen was totally fine.
He heard Berry sigh in relief before he finally seemed to notice Stuart and turned around to face him. "Thank you Stuart. You won't believe how grateful I am to you". Stuart tried his best to smile, he really did but failed miserably so he nodded instead.
Berry seemed to feel his unsettled emotions so he pulled stuart with him to corner, "is something wrong? Why do you look like this?" He asked stuart who was yet to notice that he was wearing a grim expression. Berry raised his hand to touch his forehead easing the lines that had formed from too much frowning.
Stuart sighed and shook his head but refused to say something. He couldn't let Berry know that was somewhat jealous of his relationship with a friend especially Aspen who he really disliked. "It's nothing", he replied, subconsciously bitting his lower lip out of habit, "when do we leave?"
Berry seemed to feel the abnormal vibe stuart was exuding and a much as he wanted to stay and ask more, he had other things to take care of. "I want to see the child in the hospital just to everyone sure that he is alright. You don't have to stay with me, you can go back if you are tired". He tried to sound reasonable but Stuart's heavy gaze told him that he had successfully done otherwise.
Stuarts heart only grew heavier thinking that Berry was sending him away. He knew that he was being an overthinker right now which was unreasonable but he could not help it, "i am not tired, I will stay with you till you are done. When do we go to the hospital?"
Berry looked at Stuart worriedly. He had no idea what was going on in Stuart's mind but from the expression he wore, it couldn't be anything good. Deciding to address this later, he said, "there is nothing to do here so we leave now". Stuart nodded his understanding and wanted to leave to his car but he was stopped by Berry's anxious voice, "can Aspen come with us? I can't trust him with another car". He asked with a pleading voice and Stuart could not say no. He reluctantly nodded before heading to the car.
"What's wrong with him?" Aspen asked, coming to stand behind Berry, "he looks unhappy."
"I don't know, he isn't saying anything. What should I do?" Berry asked. He was panicking again because he did not want to loose Stuart because of a mere misunderstanding caused by poor communication between them.
"Easy, break up with him. I did not approve of this in the first place", Aspen said casually, shrugging and tucking his hands in his pockets. He received Berry's glare but was too serious to acknowledge it.
"Do you seriously think you are in a place to speak right now?" Just so you know, you have a lot of explaining to do when we get to the hospital. Just pray that nothing happens to that kid or I'm sending you back home". Berry said seriously before walking away angrily leaving Aspen staring at his receding figure in slight nervousness.