Chapter 3
The sound of a text being received on his phone woke Ste up. Lifting his hands to rub his eyes he fought against the heaviness of his body to get up. Yesterday had been a long day and he was all worn out. Glancing at the clock it was already 12pm. Half the day was nearly gone. Reaching over to his bedside table he grabbed his phone and flipping it up read the message.
'Hey so how about that drink? James'
A smile creeped on Ste's face. Well today would be a pretty good day. He didn't have work later on in the evening so might as well have the drink with James. He was cute. Seems almost too gorgeous looking to be single.
Having texted back he stuffed his phone into his sweatpants and got up to go to the kitchen. Amy had already taken the kids to school and she was at work herself so Ste helped himself getting some breakfast before going out to get some fresh air.
'So what have you got planned for your day off?' Cheryl asked Brendan as he walked down the stairs grabbing some toast before making his way out of the flat.
'Nothing much just you know' Brendan replied before walking out slamming the door behind.
Ste walked to the cafe planning to just grab a cuppa and enjoy some of the sunshine. Summer was nearly over and he loved the summer weather. Sunny but not too hot as the breeze was just the right amount of cold.
Grabbing his order and sitting down outside, he closed his eyes turning his face to the sun to soak it all in.
When he felt someone step in front of him blocking the sun out. Raising his hand to his eyes he opened them slightly.
'What ye doing? You in me way...' Ste said.
Walking to the side of the table Brendan sat down opposite Ste.
'So who was the guy last night? Your friend? Your boyfriend?' Brendan questioned with his usual slight twitches.
'No he was just someone I met last night. Whats with all the questions?'
'Nothing just being nice, making small talk' Brendan quickly replied.
There was an awkward silence. They hadn't really talked ever since Ste had got back. Ever since Ste had said they were over because Brendan didn't have the guts to come with him to Disneyland. Because Brendan had refused to accept they were a couple. Because Brendan had said he loved Ste but then broke all his promises within an hour. Just because Brendan couldn't give Ste the one thing he wanted. A relationship.
'Well I'm off' Ste said as he got up and started walking off.
'Wait...' Brendan said running up to catch up with Ste.
Ste stopped and looked at Brendan. 'What?' He said with a certain definite tone.
Shifting nervously Brendan looked at Ste.
'Please...' was all that came out from Brendan as he tried to reach his hand up to Ste's face to which Ste quickly counteracted and pushed it away from him.
'Brendan I know what you're trying to do. You're just trying to get a rise from me and you've messed with me enough times. Just stop it. Please just stop.' Ste said sighing.
'I've had time to think over the holiday. And I want better for my family, my kids. I want better for me. I deserve better. I deserve better than you.' Ste shot at Brendan before brushing past Brendan.
'Just let me explain!' Brendan shouted after Ste. 'Let me explain!' Brendan shouted again when the first had failed to stop Steven.
Ste turned around. 'Explain what? We've got nothing to talk about! We've in a circle. This keeps happening. I've heard all the lies and promises you have made to convince me. I've fell for it every single time. But I've decided, I've thought it through this time. There will never be a chance for us! MAYBE WE'RE JUST NOT MEANT TO BE!'
Ste expected Brendan to look around paranoid that someone had heard. But Brendan's gaze was still fixed on Ste's.
Brendan got up close to Ste. Please just please let me explain. We can sort all this out. I can fix this. Let me fix this. Brendan had whispered.
You can't do this to yourself again. Ste thought to himself. You can't let Brendan Brady get into you head and leave you vulnerable and broken. But as usual Brendan had this strange thing about him that made Ste almost addicted to him. Brendan was the drug.
'5 minutes' Ste said. 'That's all you get. 5 minutes.'
Brendan smiled inside that at least Steven had given him a chance. Now he just had 5 minutes to convince Ste to take back the man that had broken him so badly.
