I'm Yours Only, Sophie J Brain [i am malala young readers edition txt] 📗

feeling. Nicky wasn't sure when it had started but when he had been talking about his sister, her stomach had suddenly decided that it had a life of its own and started to flip, then her heart had joined in by beating a mile a minute and when Chris had mentioned seeing her again her whole body felt like it was radiating. What on earth was happening? She had never felt this way before ever, even the last time she had never felt this way, it had been so rushed and passionate that that was all she felt. Now everything was different, they didn’t need to keep it a secret and they could take things as slowly as they liked.

She saw Greg walking across the street and waved at him “Greg, can we talk?”

He stopped next to her and glanced in the direction Chris had left “were you just talking to Mr Williams from school?”

She shrugged “we are friends, listen Greg I need to talk to you.”

“What’s up?” he replied.

“It’s about your father.” As she told him, she could see his face become distorted with rage and his fists clenching and when she was finished he didn’t say a word.

“Greg,” she whispered “please say something.”

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

 

Nicky wasn’t sure how long they spent looking at each other. It felt like hours, days even, but she it couldn’t have been more than a few seconds. Her mind was racing, trying to work out every possible outcome, most of which ended with Greg being angry at her.

She tried to reach out to him but he flinched back, the rejection of his action stung deep in her heart. They had known each other since they were babies and she had hoped that out of everyone he would understand. Kevin was his father but she was his best friend, practically his sister, and she had thought that he would see it from her side. She couldn’t lose anyone else.

“Greg, please say something” she repeated.

Her words seemed to break him out of whatever trance he was in but instead of speaking, he turned around and ran down the street. She took off after him as fast as she could, once again mentally berating herself for never being good at anything sporty. She needed him to listen to her; surely he would give her a chance to explain why she hadn’t told him. Surely he wouldn’t hate her forever. She started to think about her dad, she hoped he wouldn’t hate her forever either. Nicky was sure that eventually her father would believe her, she just needed to wait for the initial shock to be over.

“Greg!” she yelled, or at least tried to, her lungs were hurting from running and she had a stitch in her side, forcing herself to slowdown she watched as he ran further away from her. She narrowed her eyes, where was he running to? She couldn’t think of anything in that direction that would be of any interest, then she realised. He was running to the cemetery.

 

“I’m coming.”

At the sound of his sister’s voice, Chris stopped knocking and took a step away from the front door.

He didn’t know what to say to her, it had been so long since they had spent any time together. He knew that he would need to apologise but he wasn’t sure that he knew how.

The door opened and his sister’s very large framed consumed his vision. She was a very petit person naturally and her pregnant stomach caused her to look twice her normal size.

She regarded him with surprise “Christopher, what on earth are doing here?”

He held up his bags “Thought I’d pop by for a day or two. I brought something for the baby.”

“You really do pick your moments” she sighed “All right come in if you must.”

He followed her into the house and sat down in her lounge. Something was wrong. He could sense it in the tone of her voice, she sounded generally annoyed at him for turning up, which was odd as Michelle was usually so welcoming to family. Their third cousin once removed could show up out of the blue and she would still invite them in for a chat.

He glanced around the house and noticed that the shelves were looking empty “have you been robbed?” he asked jokingly.

She laughed “you know just making room for the baby. What are you doing here?”

He raised his eyebrows “I told you, just needed a break and wanted to see you. That’s okay isn’t it?”

“Of course it is.”

He looked down and noticed that she was rubbing her hands together nervously. Something was on her mind that much was clear; ever since they were children she had had that nervous habit. She always rubbed her hands together when she had something big weighing on her mind.

“Chelle what’s going on?”

She looked up sharply “nothing is going on” she snapped “other than you turning up out of the blue like this. I haven’t heard anything from you in months and now you think you can just waltz in here as and when you please. Where were you when we needed you? When I needed you?”

Chris lurched back at her sudden outburst, had he really been so absent from her life? He always tried to call her at least once a week but now that he thought about it, it had been a while since he had got around to it. Well he had turned over a new leaf and would make sure that he called her twice a week from now on, but why was she in such a state? “What do you mean, when you needed me?”

She shook her head “It’s nothing Chris; forget I said anything, what’s on your mind?”

“Chelle, I am your older brother”

She snorted “by eighteen months.”

He carried on as if he had not heard her “and as your older brother, if something is bothering you then I want to know what it is.”

She sighed and sat back in her chair “you have to promise to stay calm.”

He nodded “What’s wrong?”

“Paul and I are getting divorced” she answered “he left me for someone else.”

 

Nicky ran as fast as she could to the cemetery but once she arrived she couldn’t see Greg anywhere. Oh dear, she must have been wrong and she certainly wouldn’t be able to catch up with him now. She should have taken him back to El’s and told him there, at least then El could have held him down and stopped him from running off.

She sat down on a bench and sighed softly, everything was going topsy turvy and she couldn’t stop it from happening. Her dad wasn’t talking to her and Greg had disappeared and she hadn’t even told Ant and Penny yet. At least she had Eloise and her mother on her side, thank goodness.

She glanced around at the gravestones behind her, Kevin was buried somewhere here. She didn’t remember where exactly, it had been years since she had been to his grave, but he was there somewhere, rotting in the earth.

She walked into the cemetery and ran her fingers along the top of the gravestones as she walked up the path. Prickles of memory began to form and she found that she knew exactly where she was going; she knew how to get to Kevin. She wanted to turn around and go home but her legs weren’t listening to her brain and they carried on moving towards Kevin’s grave. She realised that she needed to see him, to put it behind her, she had to talk to him too, even if it was via a slab of stone.

As she got closer she began to hear shouting from the direction of the grave and almost turned back, if someone was not happy she didn’t want to interrupt them, then she realised she knew who it was.

She ran up the path and saw Greg stomping on the ground around the gravestone. She rushed to him and pulled him away. “What are you doing?”

“You should have told me” Greg thundered “you should have told me when he was alive.”

She blinked “You’re upset with me.”

“With him” he bellowed “not with you, with him. How could he do that? He was your father’s best friend, you were basically his niece. How could he do that to you?” He was shaking so she took hold of his hand and squeezed “I should have told you.”

He nodded statically “I would have flogged the bastard. To think the whole time we were dating, he was looking at you in that way. My own father.” His eyes widened “what about Eloise? Did anything happen to her?”

Nicky shook her head “I just asked her, he didn’t try anything.”

“That goodness for that.” he murmured, his anger had seemingly subsided however it had been replaced with sorrow and guilt “I should have known”

Nicky realised that there were tears in his eyes and realised that her own were watery “how could you have known?”

“I should have guessed” he cried “you never wanted to come to the house and when you did you always made sure he was out. I just assumed that the two of you had had a fight, I didn’t know that he had tried to do that, why didn’t I know?”

“I didn’t tell you.” She replied, stiffing back tears.

“I have no one left now.” he sobbed “mum left before I could remember her and dad was a sick pervert. I’m all alone.”

She snorted, how could he think that?, they had been friends since infancy and he had Eloise. Of course, he didn’t know about Eloise yet.

“You have me” Nicky answered sharply “and my family and El. She loves you very much.”

Greg scoffed “as a friend.”

“No as more than a friend.” Nicky insisted “she just finished telling me how much she loves you.”

Greg blinked “she loves me?”

She nodded “Yes and now you have to tell her so you can be together.”

“I’ll go see her now” he answered eagerly, his sorrow and guilt replaced with hope and love, “you coming?”

She looked back at the grave and shook her head, she had things to do first “I’ll stay here.” She sat down on the ground “Thank you for believing me.”

He shrugged “Of course.”

She glanced back at the grave and saw the mess that had been made. Earth had been brought up and flowers had been crushed and thrown everywhere. “You didn’t need to make so much mess.”

“It was like that before I got here.” Greg shrugged as he began to walk away.

Nicky watched him leave and smiled, maybe things were looking up after all. If Greg and El managed to sort themselves out then at least she could say some good came out ofit. She turned back and ran her fingers alone the inscription of Kevin’s name. She needed to talk to him, to let out her feelings, but she had no idea where to start.

 

“What do you mean he’s left you?”

“You promised to remain calm” Chelle reminded him “this is not calm.”

Chris let out a slow breath, Chelle was right, he wasn’t behaving calmly. He had shot up and made a beeline for the door as soon as she had told him. He couldn’t help it. She was his sister; he needed to