Page 26

Over the next week, Valerie and I fell back into our easy friendship, our friendship that always bordered on something more but we never crossed that threshold.

"Do you want me to hold that for you?" I asked Valerie as we walked out of class.

"Huh- what?" She said, dragging her eyes to my face.

"Your bag." I clarified.

I took a closer look at her face. She had dark circles under her eyes, her face was pale and she seemed groggy, not quite in the moment.

Then I realised. Today was the day that her dad and brother would be coming. I took another look at her. That isn't how someone would usually react to seeing their family for the first time in seven months.

"I'm fine." She grumbled, being stubborn.

I sighed and pulled her bag off of her shoulders and onto mine.

"Thank you." She said quietly.

"Today is the day that your dad and brother visit, right?" I said casually.

She gave me a surprised look, like she was shocked that I remembered. She nodded.

"And how do you feel about it?"

"I feel fine." She was picking at her fingers. "I'm excited to see my brother." The ghost of a smile crossed her face.

"And your dad?" I asked. The weak smile vanished.

Her mouth opened to reply but before she could, a voice shouted, "Val!"

We both turned our heads in the direction of the voice to see a tall, blonde man striding towards us.

"Will!" She practically screamed before flinging herself into his arms, not caring about the people stopping and staring. "I didn't know you'd be at my Uni!"

"I wanted to surprise you." He said, grinning.

Then his eyes shifted to me. Valerie pulled back from his arms before following Will's gaze. "This is my friend, Thomas."

"Your friend?" Will said.

"Yes." I replied. I wanted to reiterate the fact that I was her friend but then decided against it as it soon wouldn't be true.

"Your friend that is carrying your bag."

"Yes?" Valerie said, looking uncertain.

He looked like he was about to say something else but before he could, I interrupted with, "I'm Thomas, Thomas Verner."

"I think I've read about you." Will said, looking between me and his sister. "You own Verner hotels, don't you?"

"Something like that." I replied vaguely.

"Where is he?" Valerie asked her brother. As soon as the words left her mouth, she looked so vulnerable I couldn't bear it. I wasn't entirely certain that if I saw her father I wouldn't punch him square in the jaw.

"He's ah- he's gone to a bar." Will said. At least he had the decency to look sympathetic.

"A bar?" Valerie almost whispered.

"You know how he gets, Val. It isn't his fault."

"He doesn't want to see me or make amends does he?" She said quietly.

I vaguely felt like I shouldn't be there but I also couldn't leave Valerie alone so I stayed in place.

"No Val, he really does. It's just he needed a drink."

"Needed or wanted?" I chimed in and instantly regretted when I did. This wasn't my family. This wasn't my business.

I was prepared to take my words back and apologise to Valerie when she surprised me by looking at me with a ghost of a smile on her face.

"What did you just say?" Will said, taking a step towards me. "You don't know anything about my family."

"Will, don't." Valerie sighed, already looking exhausted from the day. "He's my friend."

"Yeah some friend that seems to have a lot to say."

I just stared at him. I didn't need to say anything to him. Valerie may love him but he allowed her father to treat her like that and he brought her father to the one place she has ever felt sanctuary. Here. With me.

"Look, let's just cool off please." Her eyes pleaded with her older brother. "Bloody masculinity." She muttered under her breath. She was right.

I managed to grit out, "Yeah sorry about that. I overstepped."

"No problem, mate." Will clipped. It was clear he didn't like me either but was pretending for the sake of his sister. That was one thing I liked him for. He was putting her first. For once.

"How about us three go to a cafe and grab a drink before dad comes?" Valerie said brightly. "That way you two can get to know each other better." We looked at each other uncertainly. "Or will your egos not allow that?" She rolled her eyes.

"Do I need to get to know him better?" Will said, unconvinced at the same time I said, "Yes, let's go."

"Will." Valerie slapped his arm lightly. "Thomas is important to me. And so are you."

"Fine, fine."

"Great! I know the perfect cafe."

They started moving towards the exit and I found my feet blindly following them but I was still stuck ten seconds in the past.

Thomas is important to me.

I don't know why, but my heart started to beat faster and my mood rapidly fucking improved.

I did know why.

"I can drive us." I offered.

"Don't be silly, we can just take the subway." Valerie reasoned.

"There are creeps on there." Will and I said in exact unison.

"Well lucky for me, I have two giant bodyguards right in front of me." Valerie grinned up at the both of us.

Will eyed me suspiciously.

"My Porsche would be nicer." I commented.

Will rolled his eyes. "Of course you have a Porsche."

I was about to open my mouth with a retort when I heard a sound to my right that sounded eerily similar to a foot stomping on the pavement.

"Can't you two just get along?!" Valerie huffed. "Will, Thomas is my friend. Therefore you need to be nice to him like you would be to Mable."

Will eyed me before saying, "Fine. I'm sorry."

"Thank you." She sighed.

---

"See, the subway wasn't that bad." Valerie said, smiling.

I'd beg to differ. Will and I sat in silence the whole journey, clearly not a fan of each other while a man dressed in a neon pink jumpsuit was slumped on the floor, sleeping opposite us, cherry flavoured vape in hand and a seventy year old woman was offering imaginary people that didn't exist, popsicles.

I refrained from saying this however, as I knew it would hurt Valerie's feelings.

"It was disgusting." Will said. "Worse than the tube, and that's saying something."

A knot formed between Valerie's brows before she quickly wiped the look from her face and swivelled around to face the coffee shop we were in front of.

"Well, we're here now and that's what matters." I said, side-eyeing Will when he wasn't looking.

Valerie smiled at me, causing my heart to stutter in my chest, before turning back round and walking to the door.

We went inside and sat down at a small table while Valerie ordered for us, chatting to the man behind the counter. Will was eyeing them suspiciously.

"You're quite protective over her." I observed.

"I'm an older brother." Will replied.

"Is this the first time you've seen Valerie since she moved?" I asked tentatively.

He turned his head slowly to the side. "What did she tell you about that?"

"I'm sure you can guess." I replied with a clipped smile.

"No, seriously, she barely talks about why she left or when she'll be back. I'm worried about her. She's drowning in student loans when she could have gone to a University in the UK for a tenth of the price. She barely picks up my calls, I barely hear from her. I don't know what to do."

I considered this. I looked over to Valerie where she was laughing and chatting with the man behind the counter. She would be back any second. I didn't owe this guy anything, brother or not, and I knew for a fact that she wouldn't want me saying anything.

"You should talk to her. Ask her how she's feeling." I smiled just as Valerie walked over with our drinks.

"Sorry guys, we were just catching up. You getting along yet?"

"Yes." I replied. Will stayed silent.

"Dad's just texted me, he wants to meet us here."

Valerie visibly stiffened. Will took a sip of his drink. "You should really give him your number, you know."

"Yes, probably."

"We better get going then, we can take these drinks with us, right."

Valerie plastered on a smile and said "Yes, let's go."

Will got up and went ahead but just before Valerie could leave, I held her arm. "Valerie, wait."

She turned to look at me. "If anything happens, you call." I gave her a reassuring smile. She nodded, her face void of any joy. A look of determination passed over her fae.

"Thank you Thomas, really, thank you. But I can face him, I know I can."

---