Page 54 of Can I Tell You Something?
“Content? What are you on about?” Mum says and I have an out of body experience and start shrieking as a distraction.
“What is going on in here?” Dad appears from the kitchen, drying his hands on a tea-towel, but his questions matter least right now.
“No, man, no. It’s not like that.” Cameron holds his palms up in surrender. “I… I like her. I’m falling for her.”
I hear myself gasp, fighting to get past Ryan, who pushes me back with his other arm.
“I’m sorry, Hannah,” Cameron says, leaning to one side to catch my eye. “This shouldn’t be the first time you hear that, and I’ll say it again to you properly when I get the chance later.”
I try to duck under Ryan’s arm and Cameron reaches out for me.
“Don’t you touch her,” Ryan shouts, and then it all happens so fast. I’m pushed hard, tripping backwards over the coffee table, and Ryan is charging forward, knocking Cameron to his back on the floor. The thump of him landing, air whooshing from his chest makes me want to be sick, if the pain in my back wasn’t searing through me already.
“Ryan, stop it!” Mum screams, rushing to my side. “Get off him.”
The two of them are a tangle of limbs, twisting and grunting as Cameron tries to push Ryan off while Ryan struggles to keep him down.
“My…fucking…sister…you…dick,” Ryan grunts out, throwing fists that never seem to land.
“Boys! That’s enough,” Dad shouts, pulling Ryan up by the back of his hoodie. As Cameron scrambles to his feet, Dad grabs him by neck too. I want to run to him, but I’m frozen to the spot, held in Mum’s safe arms on the floor, both not quite believing the scene that just unfolded before us.
Dad opens the doors to the balcony and shoves them both outside into the chilly night air.
“I’m not wearing shoes!” Ryan protests.
“I don’t give a shit. You’re staying out there until you’ve calmed down.”
My gaze falls to Cameron’s feet. He’s not wearing shoes either, just sports socks that cut off at the ankle. He’ll freeze.
“Hannah,” Dad says, crouching in front of me. His hands settle on my shoulders, forcing me to look away from Cameron and directly at him. “Did he make you do something you didn’t want to do?”
“God, no. It was fully consensual, and I’m extremely mortified.”
“So I don’t need to kick him out? I don’t care what time it is. I’ll put him on the first plane home.”
“No, please don’t. I… ugh… I really like him, too.”
“Oh my God, Hannah!” Mum’s hands fly to her mouth. “Congratulations.”
“What is happening?” I wince.
“This is wonderful. We’re very happy for you.”
“OK, calm down.” You would think I’d just announced a proposal from this reaction. Do my parents really think so little of my love life?
Mum loops her arms around my shoulders and Dad wraps his arms around us both. “I told you he had a thing for you, sweetheart.”
“You’re not mad at me?” I manage to squeak out from between them.
Mum lets go and straightens up to standing, clearing her throat as she helps me to my feet. “We are never going to talk about whatever happened on that chair. But no, we’re not mad at you for meeting someone who makes you happy.”
“I’m going to get a drink and pretend tonight never happened,” Dad says, heading for the fridge, and Mum sits down and goes back to her book. Out on the balcony, Cameron and my brother shiver, arms folded across their chests, shoulders up at their ears.
“Can we please let them back in now?”
Dad opens the door, which I now realise they could easily have opened themselves.
“You calmed down?” He asks Ryan, who pushes past him and storms off to his room.
