April Fools(5)

"I never had a choice when it came to you. I don't just want you, I need you."

He was right. As much as I had tried to fight it at first, I knew all along that my heart belonged to him.

"Do you remember how I told you that I had a difficult time after Sienna died?" I nodded. "Well I started to see a psychiatrist who told me to keep a diary. They said that it might help if I wrote my feelings down. It felt weird at first, how many men do you know who keep diaries?" His eyes turned sad, "But how many men do you know who have had to bury their little sister? So I tried it and it actually worked. I'd write in it whenever I felt angry or upset. Just like song writing, it gave me an outlet for my grief. As time went on, I started to write in it when I was feeling happy too. It made me feel like I was sharing things with my sister. I've carried on ever since, I guess it's just habit now. Can I share something with you?"

"Of course."

He smiled before retrieving something out of his pocket. He unfolded the piece of paper and began to read,

"I met a girl today. She was crazy. And funny. And sexy. And smart. And beautiful. I don't even know her name but I know how she made me feel - alive. She welcomed me to the twenty first century. Literally. She will never know how much I needed to hear those exact words. I've been living in the past but that's about to change."

He looked up from the paper, "I guess now you know."

I smiled, my eyes brimming with tears, "Now I know."

***

We spent the majority of the day in the bedroom. We also tested out Isaac's theory about the shower. He was right, it made a lot less mess than the bath. We decided to go home when it started to get dark, which wasn't very late now that it was October.

"Have you had a nice day?" he asked as we pulled away from the house.

"No." His head shot around so fast, I was surprised that he didn't give himself whiplash. I giggled, "I've had a perfect day."

He pretended to wipe his forehead, "Phew, you had me worried then."

After an hour of playing i-spy and the 'would you rather' game, his phone began to ring. It was linked up to the hands free in his car so it interrupted the quiet music that had been playing. He frowned, "It's my mum, do you mind?"

"Of course not."

He pressed a button to accept the call, "Hi Mum, is everything okay?"

"Hi sweetheart. Yes, everything's fine." I grinned when she called him sweetheart. "But I've just had a worrying call off Abbie."

My grin faded as Isaac immediately clicked the 'hold' button before putting in an ear piece. I narrowed my eyes at him, wondering why he didn't want me to hear the rest of the conversation. He pressed the hold button again before speaking, "Yes, I'm here. Carry on." A few seconds later, he shook his head, "That's not my problem. She's not my problem." He gripped the steering wheel tighter until his knuckles turned white, "What did she say word for word?" He took a deep breath and I watched his face flood with disappointment. "Don't worry, I'll take care of it. Bye."

I sat there quietly, waiting for him to say something. When it became clear that he wasn't going to, I couldn't wait any longer, "Is everything okay?"

"Mmmhmm."

"Why are you lying to me?"

"I'm not lying. Everything's okay, I can take care of it."

"Take care of what?"

"I'd rather not talk about it."

"Well I want to."

He turned to face me, "April, please trust me and just drop it."

"Why did you take your mum off speaker phone?"

He sighed, "Because I don't want to drag you into family shit."

"It didn't sound like family shit, it sounded like Abbie shit. Why did she call your mum?"

"Because she's being typical Abbie."

"Meaning?"

"Meaning I've been dealing with her childish behaviour for years. She's in trouble so she rang my mum knowing that I would help if my mum asked me to."

"What kind of trouble?"

He shifted in his seat, "I don't know, that's what I need to find out."

"Why can't you say no?"

"Because Abbie doesn't know the meaning of the word. You know what she's like, it's best to keep her on our side for now. Please just trust me on this one."

I turned to look out of the window as I spoke, "I trust you. It's Abbie who I don't trust."





Chapter Four

We drove the rest of the way in silence. I was relieved when we pulled up in the car park behind his place. He ran his hand through his messy hair and I noticed how he kept the engine running. He took hold of my hand and began to stroke it reassuringly, "I'll be back as soon as I can."