Issey opened the door.
‘Hey,’ Nick said.
Issey grinned, stepping out of the way to let Nick in. She could smell the cold air on his big black coat.
‘I didn’t hear you leave,’ Issey said, as she turned back towards the stairs.
‘No,’ Nick said. ‘I just got here.’
‘I was just thinking you should come up and have a chat with me and Liane,’ she said over her shoulder. ‘She’s got a face mask on so she looks like shit, but –’
Before they’d even got to the landing, Issey could hear a male voice coming from Ella’s room. She stopped on the landing and Nick stopped just behind her.
‘Fuck off, Els!’ the male voice said. Ella giggled. And then the boy did too.
Issey turned to Nick, holding her hands up. ‘I’m sorry. I thought – She said it was –’
‘Fuck,’ Nick said, his cheeks flushing pink, eyes wide. He turned and headed back down the stairs, Issey following.
‘I brought her a coffee,’ he said once they were back at the door. He held out a cardboard cup from Bean. ‘She brought me one at work the other day and she said she was studying, so …’ He ran his other hand back through his hair, which had already been sticking up at mad angles and was now an absolute disaster. Issey wanted to smooth it back down. She took the coffee instead.
‘Nick, I’m sure –’
‘No, it’s OK.’ He shook his head and tried to pull open the door. ‘We never said – I just assumed – Shit, I can’t open –’
‘You need to turn the lock at the same time,’ Issey said. She handed him the coffee and opened the door.
‘Can you give her that?’ Nick said, giving her the coffee back again. ‘I’m gonna go. Thanks.’
He pulled the door closed behind him.
‘Shit,’ Issey said to the closed door.
Chapter 33
‘Shit. Fuck. Shit.’
‘Who was it?’ Liane said.
‘Nick.’ Issey turned the coffee in her hands. The cup was still hot and the coffee smelled really good.
‘I thought he was in Ella’s room already.’
‘So did I. But it’s someone else.’
‘Seriously?’ Liane sat up, folding her arms on the back of the sofa. ‘Go, Ella!’
‘No. Fuck. He was really upset. Shit. What do I do? He brought her a coffee. He’s so nice.’
‘Maybe she’s just not that into him,’ Liane said, shrugging.
‘I need to go and tell her, yeah? That he was here? I need to give her the coffee.’
‘She might be busy,’ Liane said.
‘I don’t know. They were laughing. They didn’t sound like they were –’
‘Some people laugh during sex, Iz.’
‘I’m going to go and knock. If they’re busy she can just tell me to go away.’
‘Rather you than me,’ Liane said, lying back down and un-pausing Scandal.
‘Shit shit shit,’ Issey muttered under her breath on the way back down the stairs to Ella’s room. She could hear the guy’s voice and Ella laughing. At least it wasn’t sex noises.
She sipped the coffee without thinking and then muttered ‘Shit’ again.
Then she knocked on Ella’s door before she could change her mind.
‘Hang on,’ Ella called.
‘It’s me,’ Issey said. ‘Issey. Sorry to interrupt. But … I need to tell you something.’
‘Do you need to tell me right now?’ Ella said from the other side of the door. The boy had gone quiet.
‘Yeah. Sorry. And I’ve got something for you. I just … I know this is weird. It’s weird for me too. I’m sorry. But if you could just open the door –’
Ella opened the door, but only about a foot. ‘Hey,’ she said.
Issey couldn’t help looking down to see what she was wearing. She was fully dressed.
‘I … sorry,’ Issey said. ‘Um …’
Ella raised her eyebrows. ‘What’s up?’
‘Nick came round,’ Issey whispered, unable to resist a glance past Ella into the room. Not that she could see anything. ‘He brought you a coffee. This coffee.’ She passed it to Ella.
‘Shit,’ Ella said. ‘Um. You didn’t tell him, did you? That I had someone here?’
‘I … yeah. I mean, I didn’t tell him. But I thought he’d popped out and was coming back. So he came up with me. And then we heard that you were with someone. And he left.’
‘No,’ Ella said, stepping back into the room. ‘No, no, no. Shit.’
‘What?’ the boy’s voice said. ‘What’s wrong?’
‘Nick came round,’ Ella said. ‘Fucking SHIT. I need to go and … Where’s my phone?’
‘Ella?’ Issey said from the door, which was still only partly open.
‘Oh, fuck it,’ Ella said. She yanked the door open. ‘Issey, Dylan. Dylan, Issey. Where’s my fucking phone?’
Issey stared at the boy sitting on the chair in the corner of Ella’s room. Dylan. Dylan Jewell was sitting on a chair in the corner of Ella’s room.
‘Jesus McFuck,’ Issey said.
‘I know,’ Ella said. ‘He’s my brother. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you. But I knew you’d freak out. You’re freaking out, right?’
‘Yeah,’ Issey breathed.
‘Nice to meet you,’ Dylan said, standing up and holding his hand out to Issey.
She looked at his hand and then at his face and then she turned and ran up the stairs to the third floor.
‘Dylan Jewell,’ she said, in the doorway of the lounge. ‘Dylan Jewell from Bang!’
‘What?’ Liane said, sitting up. ‘Has he died?’
‘He’s in Ella’s room.’
‘Fuck off!’ Liane jumped up and half ran across the room, before following Issey back down the stairs.
‘Holy shit,’ Liane said, standing in the doorway.
‘Hi,’ Dylan said, smiling.
‘I’m wearing a fucking face mask,’ Liane said. ‘Fuck my life.’
‘He’s my brother,’ Ella said. ‘I know I said he wasn’t, but I lied. He is. Now can we all stop freaking the fuck out so I can find my fucking phone?’
‘Els,’ Dylan said. ‘Calm down. Do you know his number?’
‘Of course I don’t know his fucking number! Who knows anyone’s number? Where’s my bag? Shit!’
She turned to Issey and Liane who were still standing in the doorway, mostly staring at Dylan. ‘Can you go and look for my bag?’
‘I don’t think you even had a bag,’ Dylan said. ‘When you got home, I mean. I remember thinking that. I think.’
‘Why would you remember that?’ Ella said, lifting up her duvet and looking underneath it.
‘Cos as I walked up I was thinking that you might think I was about to rob you. And I noticed that you didn’t have anything for me to steal. No bag.’
‘Fuck.’ Ella sat down on the end of her bed. ‘I don’t remember when I last had it.’
‘Where were you before you came home?’ Dylan asked.
‘I stopped at Lou’s salon on the way back. Fuck. I left it there. Give me your phone.’ She held her hand out to her brother.
Dylan pulled a rose gold iPhone out of his pocket and handed it to her.
‘Wait,’ he said, reaching for it. ‘I need to put the PIN in.’
‘I know your fucking PIN, dickhead,’ she said, already tapping away on his phone. ‘You’ve had the same one since you were, like, twelve.’
Dylan smiled and looked over at Issey and Liane.
‘So you’re Ella’s housemates?’
‘Two of them,’ Liane said. ‘There’s also Paige and Lou.’
‘But they’re not here right now,’ Issey added.
‘Can you two go away for a bit?’ Ella said. ‘Sorry, but the two of you standing there staring at my brother is really distracting.’
‘Yeah,’ Liane said. ‘Sorry.’
‘Good luck with Nick,’ Issey said. ‘Sorry I let him in.’
Th
e two of them stepped away from the door and Ella stood up and closed it, still looking down at Dylan’s phone.
‘No one’s answering at the salon,’ Ella said. ‘Shit shit bollocks.’
They heard a door slam, followed by an extended scream, and then laughter.
‘Did she really think we wouldn’t be able to hear that?’ Dylan said, mouth twisting with amusement.
‘She’s got a poster of you on her wall,’ Ella said. ‘Ugh, I don’t know what to do.’
‘You really like him,’ Dylan said.
‘I really do. I hate that he thinks I’m here with someone else. I hate that he’s hurt right now.’
‘Just go and see him,’ Dylan said. ‘Seriously. I’ll be fine.’
‘If I’m really quick. And I get food on the way back?’ She was already pulling on her boots. ‘I don’t know where the fuck Lou is, she’s usually back by now. She’d better have my bag, shit.’
Dylan handed Ella her coat. ‘I’ll be fine. Promise. Take as long as you need.’
‘And you won’t leave before I get back?’
Dylan hugged her, resting his chin on her head and grinding it into her skull in the same annoying way he had done since he grew taller than her. ‘Nope. I won’t leave until you get back.’
‘OK,’ Ella said, taking a deep breath. ‘OK.’
Chapter 34
Ella sat on Nick’s front step. Lou had already left the salon and Ella didn’t want to go home in case he was on his way back from wherever he’d gone after he’d left her place. But she really couldn’t just sit on his step all evening. She reached behind herself and knocked on the door again – in case one of his housemates had been on the loo or in the shower or otherwise ignoring the door, but … nothing.
‘Shit,’ she muttered. She looked straight down the road ahead, as headlights shone off the shop windows and cars turned into the car park opposite the Premier Inn.
She tried to think where he might go if he left her house and he was upset. He’d turn up Seal Street onto the main road, and then would he have gone to the pub? Paige’s pub, maybe? It was worth a try. Ella stood up, leaning back against the door for a second, and looked both ways. She was sure he’d be home any minute. She could almost see him, walking towards her in his long black coat, his ridiculous hair standing straight up in the wind. It made her heart hurt. She wanted to slide her hands inside his coat, under his shirt, across his warm skin. She wanted to press her face against his chest, the V of dark hairs brushing her cheek. She wanted to kiss his neck and smell behind his ear. She wanted to curl up with him in his bed until they were breathing in sync. She wanted to fall asleep with him and wake up with him and eat breakfast with him and lick melted butter off his fingers and his lips.
She pushed open the door of Paige’s pub and walked round to the far end of the bar before returning to the front door and checking the snug. Which was empty. She should take Nick there. He’d love the snug. If he ever spoke to her again.
She walked back to Nick’s house and knocked again, before heading home.
‘No luck?’ Dylan asked when she got back. He was still in her bedroom, but he had her laptop propped up on a pillow on his lap.
‘Nope. No sign of him. You’d better not be watching porn.’
‘Oh my god!’ Dylan said, turning the laptop round to show her. ‘Netflix.’
‘Gilmore Girls,’ Ella said, sitting next to him. ‘Typical. Why are you still hiding in here?’
‘Remember when we used to watch it with Mum?’ Dylan said. ‘And I’m not hiding.’
Ella tapped the space bar to start the show playing again. ‘Yeah. She so wanted me to be Rory.’
‘Remember when you used to write Jess fanfic?’
‘Shut up,’ Ella said. ‘Or I’ll show you some of the Bang! fanfic Issey told me I should read.’
‘No,’ Dylan said.
‘Yep. She’s a big fan.’
‘Of me and –’
‘Of you and everyone. You’re a bit of a fanfic slut.’
‘I can’t believe I’m getting so much imaginary action. That doesn’t seem fair.’
‘You should read it. Might be the next best thing to actual doing it.’
‘Yeah. No. You haven’t –’
‘Oh my god! God, no. Of course not. Ew.’
They watched a few minutes of Lorelei and Luke bantering in the diner and then Ella said, ‘How come you’re still in here?’
‘I did go out. Talked to Paige a bit? She’s nice.’
‘She is. She’s great.’
‘It just felt weird being in the house without you.’
‘Scared of Issey?’
‘Little bit.’
Ella laughed. ‘She’s lovely, really. She’ll be fine once she’s calmed down.’
‘I don’t know if I’m staying that long.’
Ella rested her head on his shoulder. ‘I kind of don’t want you to go.’
‘I can stay ’til tomorrow, I think.’
‘Yeah? We could get a takeaway and watch a film.’
‘Is that the Real College Experience?’
‘Well, there’s the Fuck It List, but if you’re not up for that …’
‘What the fuck is the Fuck It List?’
Dylan paused Gilmore Girls while Ella told him.
‘Someone with a tattoo,’ Dylan said, tapping the page with his finger.
‘Who?’ Ella asked.
‘Remember that German girl in Majorca?’
‘She had a tattoo?’
‘Butterfly. On her ankle. Don’t think I’ve ever slept with a waiter/waitress …’
‘I used to work in a diner,’ Liane said. ‘Just saying.’
Issey elbowed her and Dylan grinned at them both. They were sitting on the other sofa and so far hadn’t done much other than stare at him. Issey’s cheeks were still flushed, her eyes wide. Plus she’d put on make-up and changed into tight jeans and a loose, low-cut top.
‘Someone off a reality show,’ Dylan read and his cheeks flushed.
‘Ooh!’ Issey leaned forward. ‘Who?’
Dylan glanced sideways at Ella. ‘I can’t really say. Sorry. But they were in a band as well, so I can tick that one off too.’
‘Was it Perrie Edwards?’ Issey said.
Dylan nibbled his bottom lip, looking at Ella again.
‘No point looking at me, mate. I don’t know who you’ve shagged.’ She grinned.
‘I really can’t say,’ Dylan said. ‘I’m in enough trouble as it is.’
‘When you’re already in trouble,’ Paige said, ‘you might as well get into more, that’s what I always say.’
Dylan laughed. ‘You sound like Noah. You know, from the band? Yeah. No. I think it’s more, sort of, baby steps for me.’
‘Goody two-shoes,’ Paige said. ‘Like your sister.’
‘Well brought up!’ Ella argued. ‘Standards! Morals!’
‘You know it says “friend’s brother or sister”?’ Dylan said. ‘What if it was your sister’s friend?’
‘Who?’ Ella shrieked.
‘Standards! Morals!’ Paige mocked, laughing.
‘Jessica Wilkins gave me a hand job at your eighteenth,’ Dylan said.
‘Holy shit,’ Ella said, punching him on the thigh. ‘I knew you weren’t charging her fucking phone.’
‘I mean, I did charge her phone too,’ Dylan said.
‘Ugh,’ Ella said. ‘At my own party. Dirty little bastards.’
‘Someone who doesn’t speak English,’ Dylan said. ‘There was a fan in Amsterdam.’
‘Just one?’ Paige asked. ‘Come on.’
‘No, really!’ Dylan said, sitting up straighter. ‘I don’t like … It’s not the kind of thing …’
‘You don’t sleep with fans?’ Issey asked.
Dylan dipped his head and rubbed the back of his neck. ‘I mean … I have. But usually I’m drunk or … something. And I don’t really remember.’
‘Morals,’ Ella said, sarcastical
ly. ‘Standards.’
‘But I said a while ago I wasn’t going to do that any more. It’s too risky. And it’s just kind of … sad. The other guys in the band …’ He shook his head. ‘I mean, we’re young. And there are opportunities. But it’s not for me.’
‘Any more,’ Paige said.
Dylan glanced at her and smiled. ‘Yeah. No. Not any more.’
‘I always kind of thought you’d be having orgies,’ Issey said.
‘You’ve mixed up fanfic and reality again there, Iz,’ Ella said, rolling her eyes.
‘Definitely no orgies,’ Dylan said.
‘Unless they just don’t invite you,’ Paige suggested.
‘Fuck,’ Dylan said, his eyebrows pulling together in a frown. ‘Maybe they don’t invite me to the orgies. Shit.’
Chapter 35
‘Where’ve you been?’ Ella yelled, as she ran down the stairs.
‘I’ve got your bag,’ Lou called out, turning straight into the kitchen.
‘I know!’ Ella said. She followed Lou into the kitchen. ‘I really need my phone.’
Lou had put Ella’s bag down on the breakfast island and Ella immediately started rooting through it for her phone. ‘Where’ve you been?’
‘I went for a drink after work. What’s up with you?’
Ella pulled her phone out, half hoping for a message from Nick, but at the same time scared of what it would say. There was nothing.
‘Fuck,’ she muttered.
Lou was drinking milk straight from the bottle.
‘We need to talk about that,’ Ella said, pointing. ‘But I need to tell you some other stuff first.’
‘What?’ Lou wiped her mouth with the back of her hand.
‘OK,’ Ella said, taking a breath. ‘OK. So.’
‘Is it something bad?’ Lou asked, frowning.
‘Not … bad. But. Basically I didn’t tell you something. And now I need to tell you. And you’re probably going to be pissed off that I didn’t tell you. But I had a good reason and –’
‘Just tell me!’ Lou said. ‘You’re stressing me out.’
‘OK. OK.’ Ella fiddled with her phone, then put it face-down on the table. ‘OK.’
‘Ella!’
My Heart Goes Bang Page 19
