Chapter Thirty Nine.
This chapter is brought to you courtesy of a snow day and a revision break.
"Are you sure this isn't Beck's shirt?" Cat asked with a raised eyebrow.
"It's mine, why?" Robbie frowned at her.
Cat sat up a little sharply. "It stinks of perfume and that's not my perfume."
He looked at her again. "It could be Jade's."
"She hates perfume like that; she says it smells of dead flowers and the tears of bees."
There was an uncomfortable silence between them.
"Whose is it, Robbie?"
"I don't know, I've been in fittings today with the wardrobe guys for the show, maybe one of the girls decided to spray perfume near my clothes whilst my suit was being fitted?" he lied, he knew whose perfume it was. Ally's. But how it had come to be on his shirt, he had no idea.
Cat looked at him, studying his expression. She was too tired to argue over it, it might have been true. "In that case, tell her to get some new perfume, it's awful. I'm going to bed."
She kissed his cheek lightly and went up the stairs.
Robbie clasped his hands together as he thought about things. How the hell had Ally broke in?
He glanced over to the coat he'd worn that night to meet her. He remembered Ally slipping her number into his pocket 'for when he realised his mistake'. He quickly grabbed the coat quickly and began digging through the pockets for the small piece of paper. He slammed the number into his phone.
"Hello, honey pie," she purred.
"What the hell do you think you're playing at, Ally?"
She laughed down the phone. "Oh, I don't know what you're talking about."
"The perfume didn't just magically find its way onto my shirt."
"Cat didn't notice then?" She sighed. "Damn it. That would have been fun. I've always wanted to see if she'd write a song about me after you broke her heart."
He took a deep breath. "What do you want, Ally?"
"I want you back, Robbie. We were happy."
"You were cheating on me," he responded with a cold edge in his voice.
Ally took a few seconds to reply. "That was my mistake, now you're making yours. I understand, Robbie."
"Cat isn't a mistake, I love her."
He imagined how she'd be sat now. Her leg idly crossed over the other, her face painted with a smug expression.
"You say that now, but you'll change your mind soon enough."
…
Tori ran a hand through her hair. "Maybe I should call my mom, ask how Jacob is."
André nodded silently. He hadn't moved in the last hour. He was a statue, frozen with shock and terror. He'd called Sherry who ended sobbing down the phone to him and Isaac had to take over, he was good with trauma, it was his job but André could hear Isaac's voice quivering slightly as he spoke. This trauma appeared to be too close to home for him.
Tori reappeared. "He's fine, a little grouchy though."
"What time is it?"
"It's just gone midnight," she replied, sitting back down. "They'll be filing reports on the… alley."
She couldn't bring herself to say the bags which meant Zach wasn't coming back. She wouldn't see him bounding back through the front doors like she had every night after school. As much as she told herself she couldn't get attached to him, she had in a very big way. She couldn't help but see the little bit of André in him and think that was what was ahead of Jacob.
"Wendy rang; my dad wants us around for dinner tomorrow. I put them off."
Tori looked up and met his dead eyes. "Did you explain why?"
"I told them Zach had gone missing. They asked who he was, I just cut the line."
"You'll have to tell them eventually."
He shook his head. "You think now is a brilliant time to do it?"
Tori didn't even offer to reply to him. He was just going to argue with everything she said.
Her phone rang, expecting it to be her mother asking how Jacob liked to sleep at night or something slightly ridiculous that could wait until morning. "What?"
"That's no way to answer a phone call, Tori."
Tori's eyes bulged slightly. That was definitely not her mom. "What do you want?"
"Going to New York made you really blunt, Tori, do you know that?"
She shot out of the door, not that André noticed. "You're the one calling at midnight."
"Fair play, I guess. I just wanted a chat, is that so wrong?"
"It is when I haven't spoken to you in years, Danny."
He smiled; she could feel the shift in his posture just from his voice. "All the more reason to catch up, don't you think? I mean, the last time I saw you, you were rushing off to catch the big city dream with André."
"And I thought I told you I never wanted to hear from you again on the same day," Tori spat back.
Danny laughed politely. "Things change, tables turn, Tori. I just wanted to make sure you made the right choice."
"I did."
"You don't sound too sure about that. Maybe you should say it again but actually believe it this time," he teased. "Speaking of your life choices, Tori, how is André these days?"
"He's fine."
Danny made a surprised sound. "Ah, well, that's strange. I've heard he's lost something."
"That's not funny, Danny. How the hell do you know about that?"
"Oh, it wasn't intended to be funny. I was just making conversation, Tor. And it's amazing what you hear on the subway, some kids like to talk about the interesting things that happened as well as who dropped the kid off."
"Most people call to actually say something, not just waste time."
He coughed. "I'm not most people. I'm the guy that got away."
She felt the anger from all the years bubble slowly to the top. "No, you're the guy that clings on despite being unwanted."
"Ouch, that hurts. Are you sure this isn't because you made your mistake before leaving LA? You're a little bitter about the whole thing, aren't you? You can't say I didn't give you a chance to change your mind. You can't say you didn't enjoy our final kiss, Tor. You loved every second."
"Never call me again," she answered frankly.
"Are you sure that's what you want, Tor?"
She didn't even answer him before killing the phone line and, with any luck, killing the last of his hopes.
That was the other reason she'd been so keen to run away to New York with André. Danny had tried to kiss her, he'd succeeded briefly but then he'd refused to back off and accept she didn't want him back again.
…
Jade stared out of the window; it was the same view as it had been yesterday and the day before that. It didn't change. But the sky did. Yesterday, it had been so overcast that the stars were hard to pick out. Now, it was a clear sky and she was able to identify some of the constellations she loved. It helped her as a kid when she couldn't sleep and her parents argued late into the night. When Josh used to sleep in her room because he was afraid and there was no room for her, she would stare up at the night sky and pick out the stars from the charts her father bought her to make up their problems.
Beck opened his eyes, he'd been sleeping but it wasn't a pleasant sleep. It was more a nightmarish slumber where you cannot awake even if you needed to. "Jade?"
"I'm here," she whispered, she released the blinds and they swung back together.
"You're awake?"
She nodded. "Tori called, asked if I could check the children's ward for Zach."
"Did you find him?"
"Nope, she's really upset. Danny called and threw a few spanners in the works."
Beck rubbed his eyes. "Hey, have you told Cat about me coming home yet?"
"I haven't exactly had time to tell her that between the various family dramas but maybe if you tune in next week?" Jade joked, sitting back on the bed. "We could make a reality show with the amount of things that have happened to us."
"As long as I get the attractive guy role, you can do what you like." He took her hand. "You should get home; they'll be kicking you out again soon."
"Let them try. We're suffering a great blow to the family again."
"My mom is going to be fine."
Jade tilted her head slightly. "I know. I just don't want to go home."
"Why not?"
She kissed him lightly. "I've missed you."
"What do you mean? You've been here every day…"
"That's not what I mean, I hate going home to the empty double bed. I don't like it."
Beck chuckled. "You always complain you don't have enough room when I'm there."
"That's still not the point I'm trying to make." She rolled her ocean green eyes at him. "It's always been me and you, even in high school we were sharing your bed in your RV. I'm used to it, it's familiar and I feel safe."
"And people say I'm the sentimental one."
She looked at him, a sulky expression covering her pale face. "Promise me you'll never leave me again."
Beck smiled, kissing Jade's hand. "I promise you, Jadelyn August Oliver, you will never have to spend another night alone when I get back on Sunday night."
"That's a bit unrealistic," she said with a small smile. "But I accept your promise."
He smiled at her. "God, I love you."
"Eh, you're not too bad yourself." Jade smiled back at him. "What? I have to retain some of my image."
Beck laughed lightly as Jade climbed into the hospital bed next to him.
Her lips brushed the edge of his ear.
"I love you too."
…
Robbie was the first up the following morning. He laid breakfast on the table ready for everyone, checked his watch and waited for the mail to arrive. He could have put money on Ally sending something in the mail; it was her pathetic style to do something like that. She couldn't think of any original things to do to attempt sabotage his relationship.
But it surprised him when there was nothing in the mail amongst the various bills and pay checks.
"You look confused," Cat said, placing her arm around his waist. "What's wrong?"
He looked at her, she was still wearing her baby pink dressing gown. Evie had been dancing around Cat's legs deciding what cereal she wanted from the cupboard.
"I was expecting a postcard from Lucy and Annie, that's all."
Evie glanced up at the patio doors. "Like that one?"
Robbie didn't look up. "Like what one?"
Evie tugged his sleeve, pointing at the postcard stuck to the outside of the window.
"Who put that up there?" Robbie asked urgently.
Seth shrugged; his hair was still messy from waking up. He was sat at the table with his toast. "Not me, it's too early for that kind of thing."
"Do what?" Blaise skipped into the kitchen, already dressed and fully awake.
Robbie opened the door, taking it down from the outside.
It was a postcard from Paris originally with the Ponts des Arts on the front. The lover locks hanging on the side of the bridges. He turned the postcard over to read the fancy italic writing that made him feel sick.
'Take me here one day.'
So yeah, I thought I'd surprise you all with this chapter.
I better get back to my revision… sigh.
Don't forget I'm back on Saturday officially; the rest of the story is planned out!
It has been finalised and nothing shall change it… Haha. I say nothing… Something will.
Love always,
Chasing Midnight.
(I remember I watched an entire TV series instead of revising that day. It was a good day.)