Page 23 of After the Rain
Rain
Aidan’s mum took me by surprise with her warm welcome, but fuck, it felt good. I hadn’t realised how much I’d missed my own mum, especially in the last year, but Bev’s lavender-scented hug and sweet words about being part of the family, regardless of what happens with Aidan, made me feel that mother’s love that I needed. We didn’t even have to tell her that something was going on with us. She’s not daft. She’s seen us mooning over each other, and she definitely clocked the way his big hand had gripped mine when we walked in.
The rest of them didn’t bat an eyelid as we ate, and Aidan informed them that we were officially together. Boyfriends. Although that word seems too trivial for these feelings, but it is what it is.
The tiramisu cake went down very well. In fact, as we sit here playing Uno over coffee afew hours after lunch, another round of slices is served up. I decline, as if I eat anymore, I, well, basically I have plans for Aidan later, and I can’t eat anymore. Let’s just leave it there. Aidan. The man who nipped to the supermarket to pick up the few ingredients I was missing when I started to freak out that I was going to ruin the dessert. He didn’t even bat an eyelid, just grabbed his keys, kissed me on the forehead, and went. He got a thank-you blow job in the kitchen when he got home, so I’m pretty sure he didn’t regret his heroics.
At about five o’clock, we all start getting ready to leave, and I’m swamped in a series of hugs and well wishes from Aidan’s family. Wren grabs my wrist and pulls me into the hallway when I’ve said goodbye to everyone else.
“I’m so glad you and Aidan have got your heads out of your arses long enough to tell each other how you feel. Do youknowhow annoying it has been to watch you two making swoony eyes at each other every time I bring something in or when we’re at the pub?” I smile sheepishly.
“Hashtag sorry not sorry,” I say with a grin. She barks out a laugh and wraps me up in a hug. Wren is tiny and is the only person in this family of giants, besides Bev, who makes me feel tall. A little tall anyway.
“Dickhead,” she says through a laugh. “Butseriously, I’m happy for you both. His anxiety has been so much better with you around. I don’t even know the last time he had an attack.”
I hadn’t even realised that, but now that I think about it, she’s right. He’s had a couple of moments, but when I hold his face and tell him to breathe with me, he soon calms down. And even that has been less and less frequent.
“Pax is going to get fat and lazy,” I say. She gasps in mock horror.
“You take that back. My sweet baby wouldnever.” She slaps my arm playfully, then says, “Coffee at Poppy’s soon? We need all the gossip.”
“Definitely,” I say. Ever since Wren showed me the ropes in my job, we’ve clicked and have been texting a lot. She’s been keeping me up to date on her dating disasters, and then she added me and Poppy into a group chat so she could stop telling the same story twice.
Our group chat is called ‘the power of three’, a nod to our shared love ofCharmed, and is filled with equal parts gossip, heartfelt support, and sarcastic memes and GIFs. I love it. I’ve never been in a group chat before, and honestly, I get a big grin on my face every time I see it pop up in my notifications. The only sad thing is that I can’t help but think Corey would fit in perfectly to the group chat, although we would have tochange the name. Thinking about Corey makes my stomach dip with concern. Is he OK? Is he taking the brunt of Dan and Dom’s sadism now? Fuck. I need to try and get in touch with him without Dom seeing a text from me.
We say goodbye as Aidan comes past us, grabbing my hand as he goes, and we get wrapped up in our coats and shoes again, Pax following us out the door and up into the back of the Land Rover.
When we get home, I can’t get Corey out of my head, but I can’t seem to settle on any plans. Aidan can tell I’m worried about something, judging by how he hovers close but not too close. Fuck, I love that man.
“You OK, baby?” he asks after a couple of hours of me huffing and puffing my way through my thoughts.
“Yeah, sorry. I’m just thinking about Corey.” He frowns in confusion.
“Corey is…?”
“Dan’s brother’s boyfriend. But honestly, I’m not sure that he wasn’t in an even worse situation than me. I want to check in on him, but I know Dom checks his phone.”
“Hmmm. That’s a worry. I’m not sure of the answer, to be honest. But we can think on it. I’ll speak to Nash as well if you like. He knows a guywho’s a detective, so he may have some ideas.” I panic at the word ‘detective’.
“We can’t get the police involved. Aidan, please. It will get so much worse for him if we do. They’ll blame him; I know they will.” He cups my face in that way I love, and almost immediately, I feel myself calm down.
“OK, baby. OK. Don’t worry. We won’t. We’ll think of something else.” It takes a minute for my heart rate to come down again. I need to clear my head, and the only surefire thing for that is to get out in the studio and dance. I need to move my way through this panic and try to clear my head enough to think of a way to reach out to him. I wonder if I can get him to come and join me here. I’m sure we could help him get settled away from those two pricks. Somewhere safe.
“What do you need, baby?” Aidan asks, almost reading my mind.
“I need to go to the studio. Is that OK?” I haven’t had a chance to get out there since he showed it to me on Friday. I’ve been too busy thanking him. But now, I know I need it. And I’m once again grateful that this man gave me something so important.
“Of course it’s OK.” He kisses me on the forehead. “I’ll come and get you in a couple of hours if you’re still out there?” I nod, kiss him again, and head upstairs to get changed.
Eighteen
Aidan
It’s a little after 9pm before I go in search of Rain. He got himself a bit up in his head this afternoon about his friend, Corey, so I wanted to make sure he had some time to process his thoughts. I spent my afternoon changing the bed linens and running some washing, then I fed Pax before I went over to the workshop and picked up the deck planking that I had been doing on Friday. Ladybird is really coming along now. She’ll be ready to launch soon, I reckon.
I spent a couple of hours working, and then I took Pax for a walk down the river to the village and back. I’ve been home for about twenty minutes, took a shower, and now? Now I want to see my man.
I pull on some comfy grey joggers, warm socks, and a black hoodie, then head downstairs to pull on my boots before trudging around the house to the studio. I can hear the sound of musicdully as I approach, and as soon as I open the door quietly, the rhythmic electric guitar and husky vocals of Thin Lizzy’s “Wild One” fill the air. What I see in front of me will be etched in my mind until the day I die.
