Page 91 of The Two Halves of My Heart

If I’d really loved Maddison, truly, wholeheartedly and unequivocally, shouldn’t I have been supporting him? But I knew, love didn’t work like that. It was about give and take and compromise, not just handing over blind support. This couldn’t be the only option for Maddison, and I truly believed that.

The journey dragged as I kept the car in the slow lane of the motorway and my hands glued to the 10-and-2 position. My phone hadn’t stopped buzzing, but I refused to even glance at the screen while navigating traffic. Mum would have to have a fit on her own and wait for me to phone her when I stopped.

The traffic jammed up the closer I got to London, and I forced myself to find some patience. Easier said than done. My heart had been beating the entire way like I’d run the whole journey, not stayed, sitting behind the wheel.

The robotic voice and small triangle pointed me in the direction of Oliver’s house, and a ball of trepidation knotted in my stomach as I worried over what he might say, or worse, that he’d refuse to help. Maddison hadn’t held back in his drunken barrage last night, and I’d not spoken with Oliver about his own feelings towards Mads. But I had to believe that he wanted the best for him. Like I did.

You have reached your destination. I breathed a sigh of relief as I parked on the street outside a surprisingly residential-looking house. I’d anticipated a swish modern apartment block maybe. Either way, I was here, and now the knot of nerves had migrated to my chest.

I fired a brief message to Mum with the promise to explain all, later, before I turned off my phone.

The brass numbers read 87, and I rang the doorbell. My foot tapped on the concrete step, as I scanned for movement through the pane of glass. I took a breath, and another and switched feet to drum up another beat. A dishevelled-looking Oliver appeared around the door, and I jumped forward before he had a chance to say a word.

“Oliver, I’m sorry for turning up unannounced, but I need your help. Can I come in?” I pushed forward, not waiting for the invite.

“Um, sure. Grace? What are you doing here?”

“It’s Maddison. He needs your help. Our help.” My words came out in a rush.

“Okay…” he scrubbed his face. “Give me a minute to grab a shower, and I’ll come home.”

“No,” I grabbed his arm, halting him. “He’s in London. He’s got a big fight tonight with a guy who runs the scene here. He won’t listen to me, but I hoped he might think things through if you talk to him. Or we can do it together. He can’t do this, Oliver. He needs to stop—it’s too dangerous. Even his friend Leo is worried he’s going to get hurt, or worse, end up in something he can’t get out of.” My words ran into one another as I stressed the importance of this.

“Okay, okay, calm down. Do you have the details? Where it is?” Oliver took my hands in his and focused his eyes on mine.

“Yeah, Leo told me everything.” With Oliver grounding my anxiety, my voice was barely a whisper.

“Okay. We can go and try and talk him around. But you need to stay calm, okay. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

I flung my arms around his neck in gratitude, the relief of his words releasing me from the internal hell I’d been walking through. By coming to Oliver, sharing this, I already felt that spark of hope that had all but been extinguished flicker in my chest again.

“Hey, it’s all right. We can do this together.” It took him a moment, but his arms slowly inched around me. I hadn’t realised how much I needed someone else to support me in this.

“If the fight is tonight, why don’t you fill me in on the details and we can work it all out? I promise, we’ll get there and speak to him—and force him to see reason.”

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