Page 50 of The Promise

The end of the summer term at Redwood is nearing, and with the beating sun burning a hole in the ripple of blonde waves on my head, I duck into my car. The AC is already blasting against my skin and Molly’s free flowing rays of yellow sunshine are flying around her shoulders, like an out of control kite.

We’re heading to Molly’s parents’ house today, for the first time ever. I haven’t seen her little sister Ellie since we went skating months ago and I'm yet to meet her dad in person. That’s the main reason for my constant leg bobbing the entire drive there, Molly’s hand landing on my knee consistently, when she notices my nervous twitching. I’m glad I'm the one driving to be honest, as I don’t think I could cope with the hour long journey if all I had to keep me busy were my own spiralling thoughts of insecurity.

What if her dad doesn’t like me?

What if he thinks I'm not good enough for her?

What if he—?

“Ky, you missed the turn.” Molly slices a hole through my worried thoughts and I snap my mind back to the road. A quiet curse leaves my lips and I spin the car into the nearest road to make a U-turn. Molly’s warm palm lands on my bare knee again and for a moment, my nerves vanish like a cloud of vapour in the air, my heartbeat settling to where her hand rests on my leg. I spin the car around and within twenty-seconds, I'm pulling onto her parents’ driveway, the gravel crunching under the tyres of my car. When I twist the key, silencing the engine, my leg begins it’s incessant bobbing again and I can feel Molly’s suspicious eyes landing on me.

My heart is in my throat now, when I look past her at the gaping hole in the front of her house where the door is supposed to be. Her parents have it open, ready for us to walk straight in and join their family dinner. But I'm not family and somehow I’ve forgotten how to be part of a family. I’m not sure I ever learnt how to be, with my mum being pretty much absent my entire childhood and a grandad who had no other relatives aside from me, I never really experienced family dinners growing up. I think that’s what has me practically wringing the sweat from my hands right now and fighting the urge to puke, from the nerves sloshing around in my stomach. Molly stare is locked on me and I can feel the hint of amusement in her eyes, even without having to look back at her. But after a beat, she drags her gaze away from the side of my face and pulls the passenger side mirror down. A finger taps at her shiny, lipgloss stained pout, before she catches me staring at her.

She flicks her long braid over one shoulder and lifts her eyebrows at me. “Can I help you?”

“Yeah, you can actually.” I mutter, leaning over and pressing a hard kiss to her parted, deliciously bowed lips. The instant our mouths connect, my stomach settles and the worry that was just spinning my head on it’s axis has gone. Whilst our lips are tangled I have no nerves, no worry. “Thanks,” I whisper when we part and she smiles with childlike excitement back at me, which only makes my chest tighten with pride. How the hell did I ever manage to get a girl like her? I don’t think I’ll ever understand what she sees in me.

Molly leaps out of the car, coming around to my door and hauling me out on slightly shaky legs. “Calm down,” she says quietly, wrapping both her hands around my bicep and squeezing me in a comforting way. “It will be fine.”

I really fucking hope she’s right.

Well, my girl was right as always. The moment we stepped over the threshold into the Crawford household, I was welcomed with open arms. Specifically by Ellie, who flew across the living room and leapt up to cling to my torso like a chimp. She’s been pretty much attached to my side since then and I’ve not had much chance to actually talk to Molly’s mum, who has been fluttering around the kitchen like an overexcited butterfly, not knowing what to do with herself.

“Dad just called, he’ll be five minutes.” Molly calls to her mum as she lands on the sofa beside me, a bouncy Ellie in my lap. “You ok in here with her? Sorry if she gets annoying, you know how kids are.”

I shake my head and look down at Ellie’s shining eyes, that are currently pinned to Peppa Pig on the TV screen. “Nah, she’s too cute to annoy me.” “Well, that’s sweet,” Molly smiles, before leaning close to my ear and whispering, “but definitely not true, she can be extremely annoying when she wants to be.”

Ellie crawls over my lap and lands on Molly’s knee, laying back against her chest and snuggling into the crook of her big sister’s arm.

I always wanted a sibling, someone to lean on in difficult times as I was growing up. Someone who understood exactly what it was like to have an addict as a mum, who more often than not, didn’t give a shit about me. But when Sean first started at Redwood, I changed my mind about the whole sibling thing. Watching him and Lois fight like cat and dog, really put me off the idea of having a female version of me, following me around like a horrible smell all the time. Don’t get me wrong, Lois is great, but as a little sister she’s a pain in the ass, and from what Sean tells me, she was even worse as a child.

The front door clicks open, making my heart jump into my throat, choking me instantly when the smell of spicy aftershave hits my nostrils and a male voice floats through the hallway.

Molly’s dad is here, oh my god, ok, just breathe Kyle.

I can’t breathe though. And when Molly takes my hand like a child and leads me out into the hallway, towards the thickening smell of her dad’s aftershave, my stomach clenches with anxiety. I need him to like me, I need him to approve and to trust me with his precious daughter. Ellie bowls through the gap between mine and Molly’s legs, making a beeline for her dad’s outstretched arms. He swoops her into a tight hug, peppering kisses all over her chubby little cheeks.

When he finally places her down his eyes find mine, then Molly’s, then mine again before he speaks. “Hi, how are you both?” His eyes crinkle in a comforting way, even though I’ve never met the man in my life, I somehow feel like I’ve known him for years.

“Hey Dad,” Molly sings, releasing my sweaty hand and diving into his embrace. She turns back to me after a lingering hug with her dad and grins, taking my hand in her's again. “This is Kyle, he’s my boyfriend.” Oh shit, her boyfriend, ok, I could get used to hearing her say that out loud. I stretch out my hand to Molly’s dad and he takes it in a strong, yet friendly handshake. His smile widens when he says, “Great to meet you son, Molly talks about you constantly, so I feel like I know you already.” A bellowed laughs leaves his mouth, at the same time as Molly’s elbow attempts to jab a hole in his ribcage.

“Dad for gods sake, don’t embarrass me already please.” She hisses, throwing me a teasing wink when her dad isn’t looking. Jesus, I love her so much.

“So, what do you do at Redwood Kyle?” Robert says, patting a firm hand on my shoulder as Molly sniffs the roast chicken scented air that’s filtering in around us.

Before I can respond, Molly yells over her shoulder as she saunters off towards the kitchen. “He catches pucks.”

She’s a pain in my ass.

I turn back to Molly’s dad with a shy rake of my hair. “I’m a hockey player, goalie to be exact.”

“Oh,” Robert’s eyes light up with childlike wonder. “Molly used to skate, did she tell you?”

I glance over at my girl, in the kitchen helping her mum dish out plates of roast chicken and mashed potatoes. “Yeah, she showed me up on the ice more than once, she’s a great skater.”

“That she is.” Robert says, a twinkle in his eye when I turn back to him. He’s got to be around fifty years old, but the bright shine to his rosy cheeks and the way his eyes sparkle in the sun, makes him look twenty years younger.

Dinner was delicious and the entire evening was spent with the four of us sitting in the living room just chatting, laughing so hard my stomach hurt and watching cringy romance movies that the women chose. This house is so comfortable, so homely and warm that I feel like I’ve lived here for ages, when in reality, I only stepped foot in here for the first time almost four hours ago. Ellie was sent off to bed with a deep frown etched onto her face around 7pm, after she stuffed her tiny cheeks with mashed potatoes and carrots, making grabby hands at me as her mum carried her up the stairs. When Molly’s parents head up to bed around 11pm, I finally get a chance to have my favourite girl to myself. It's the first opportunity I’ve had since we got here at 6pm and I'm fucking desperate to get my lips on her’s. Molly stretches as we climb the stairs together, me trailing behind her. “Jesus, I'm tired.” She yawns, running a hand down her lightly freckled face. She pushes open the door to her bedroom and hauls me inside by my elbow, before lifting her t-shirt over her head and wiggling out of her shorts. She looks like a perfectly wrapped present, as she runs a hand through the tight waves created by her braid and all I can think about is how fast I'm going to rip my gift open in the next five minutes. But first, I have a bone to pick with her.

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