Chapter 13

JACK

I finish getting ready and check my phone to see if Rhea is telling me she's about to arrive, but the message icon is missing from my phone. She's probably just running late.

The expected knock comes on my door and my heart skips a beat. "Come in."

A loud creak fills the air, reminding me that I really need to see if building services will come and see to the door for me. Then again, all of the others in the flat do the same, so it's not like I actually have much to complain about.

"You ready?" I ask Rhea. "I owe you for the slushie, so the first round is on me."

"Who are you talking to?"

I freeze and turn around, surprise filling me at the sight of my little brother standing in my room. "Eddy? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school?"

"Half day," he responds. "But Dad didn't come pick me up like he was supposed to and I didn't know where else to go."

My heart aches. "Oh, Ed. I'm sorry."

He grimaces. "Not your fault."

"Have you tried calling Dad?" I don't know why I ask, I already know the answer.

"Three times, but he's away with his girlfriend until Sunday."

Frustration grows within me, but not towards my younger brother. "He didn't even tell me."

"You think he told me? He sent me a message an hour ago saying as much and that he'll see me on Sunday. There's no food in the fridge, and that's even if I can get home."

"You can stay here until Sunday," I promise. "We'll do some fun stuff. There are some go-karts I can see if we can book. Oh, or an escape room."

"You need more than two people for an escape room," he points out.

"I can probably find someone to be a third person for that." My mind immediately goes to Rhea.

"Are you sure I won't be in the way?" The expression on his face breaks my heart. He's thirteen, he should be doing his own thing, not standing in my dorm room looking like he thinks I'm going to throw him out. But everything that went on with Mum's illness robbed him of that part of his childhood, and Dad acting this way is definitely making it worse.

"You're definitely not going to be in the way," I promise, heading over to him and pulling him into my arms.

For a moment, I don't think he's going to hug me back, but then he wraps his arms around me and holds on tightly. A small sniff comes from him and then he's crying in big fat sobs. My own tears respond, falling down my cheeks.

"I miss her, Jack." His voice cracks as he says it.

"I know. Me too." More than I ever thought possible.

Another knock sounds on my door and we pull apart even as it opens.

Rhea steps inside, a concerned expression on her face as soon as she realises I'm not alone.

"I'm sorry, I was about to message you," I say, wiping away the last of my tears. "My brother's here."

"Oh. Erm, I can go..."

"You had plans?" Eddy asks.

I look between the two of them. "Yes, but they can be rearranged, right?" I look at Rhea, hoping she understands.

She nods. "Of course." The way she looks at me is full of concern, like she can tell things aren't great right now.

"This is Eddy," I introduce him. "And this is my friend, Rhea."

Eddy eyes her warily. "A friend-friend, or like Sonja is Dad's friend."

Rhea chuckles. "Sorry, I'm guessing Sonja's the girlfriend?"

Eddy nods. "She has a cat she keeps bringing to the house and it's bullying Mr Mittens."

She raises an eyebrow at me.

"Mum's cat," I answer.

"Ah. That's not good," she responds. "But I'm just Jack's friend-friend. We met because I lost my granny nearly two months ago."

Understanding dawns on my brother's face. "I'm sorry for your loss." It sounds a bit robotic and practised, but I can see the sentiment means a lot to the gorgon.

One of her snakes slithers down onto her shoulder, making Eddy jump.

"Rattle, not now," Rhea murmurs to the snake.

I smile, feeling very affectionate for her as she stands in my room and clearly does what she can to make my brother more comfortable with the situation.

"I should get going," Rhea says with a smile, heading towards the door.

"Rhea! Wait." I follow her out into the corridor, reaching out to grab hold of her arm. I tug her back around with a little too much force, making her crash into me. I steady her with a hand on her arm, but neither of us do anything to move apart. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know he was coming, and he only just turned up, I was going to message you..."

"Whoa, Jack, slow down. It's fine," she assures me, the expression on her face saying it really is.

"I just...don't want you to think I'm blowing you off." It matters to me that she doesn't think that. I don't want our friendship to end because of Dad's bad planning.

"You're not. Your brother needs you, I think it's really cute that you're spending time with him." She smiles up at me, and I realise I want to do anything to keep seeing that expression on her face.

"I'll make it up to you," I promise.

"You really don't need to."

"But I want to," I say softly. "I don't want to lose you over this." The thought of not having her around is harder than I thought it would be. I don't really know exactly when it happened, but she feels like one of the most important people in the world to me right now, and here I am blowing her off.

"Lose me? Jack, that's not going to happen."

"Right, I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me." I step back, putting some much-needed space between us.

"It'll just be the emotions," she promises, placing a hand on my chest. "Message me in a bit?"

"I will do," I promise.

"And have fun with your brother. You probably both need it." She pulls away and I instantly miss her touch.

I watch her leave, feeling disappointed that I won't get to spend time with her even if I know she's right and that my brother needs me.

I take a deep breath and head back into my room.

"You didn't tell me you had a girlfriend," Eddy says as he looks up from his phone.

"Rhea isn't my girlfriend," I respond. "She's just a girl who is a friend."

"Then why do you look so disappointed?"

"That's in Dad."

"Oh." He looks down at his knees.

I sigh and go to sit next to him on the bed. "How often is he doing this?"

"It's the first time he's gone away with his girlfriend," Eddy responds. "But she's there all the time. I'm pretty sure she doesn't like me either. She made mushroom soup for dinner the other night."

"You hate mushrooms."

He nods. "And served it with bread. Dad loved it."

"What did you eat?" I know he didn't fill up on bread, he's gluten intolerant.

"I managed to eat about half of the soup, but I was just hungry after."

I take a deep breath. "Okay. So let's start by having some lunch, then we can plan what we're going to do for the weekend. I'm guessing you don't have any spare clothes with you?"

He shakes his head.

"My t-shirts will probably drown you, but it's better than nothing. Your school trousers are just going to have to wait, but we'll make sure your shirt's washed before you go back."

"Thanks, Jack."

I smile at him, wanting to assure him that I've got his back no matter what, but it doesn't really seem like enough given the situation. But I guess showing him is the next best thing.