We got back to Harry’s car and he put my shoes down on the floor, watching as I brushed the soles of my feet free of sand before I put them back on.
“Harry…” I started and he looked down at me, the blue of his eyes illuminated by the light spring morning. “For what it’s worth, I don’t think you’re a bad…”
He surprised me by cutting my sentence short with his lips, pressing them firmly against mine before both of his hands glided against my skin to meet at the nape of my neck. He held me so delicately, gently pushing his tongue into my mouth.
I opened my lips to receive him, not realising how much I’d wanted this kiss and I felt my stomach flutter as he pulled away and rested his forehead against mine.
“I don’t know where that came from,” he said quietly even though we were the only ones there. “But I’ve been wanting to kiss you ever since I first saw you here on this beach. I shouldn’t, but I’ll deal with that later.”
“You shouldn’t? Why? Because I’m poor?” I stepped away from him, putting some distance between us and the heat of humiliation crept up over my cheeks.
“Hey, no.” He pulled me back to him. “Because everyone in my family and hers for that matter, would have me marry Pen tomorrow if they could. They’ve done nothing but talk about it at every opportunity, but I know what I want…”
He reached forward and gave me another quick peck before opening the car door for me and I got inside.
“You never did tell me where you were going earlier,” he said as he started the engine. “Is there somewhere I can take you?”
He looked across at me from his driver’s seat and even though there was a part of me that wanted to keep the inner details about my mums accident and condition secret, I felt as though I’d crossed a line with him. That kiss had told me more than any words could.
It let me know that he was on my side. This was more than me having a one-sided crush on one of the most popular guys in the college.
“I need to see my mum,” I whispered. “You know, she’s in a coma and today I just…” I looked at the understanding expression on his face and more of my wall chipped away. “I need to be by her side right now. If you could take me to the nearest train station, I’ll be forever in your debt…”
He gave me a lop-sided smile and pushed the hair back from my face.
“I’m not about to leave you at a train station, Hughes,” he mused. “Just give me the address and I’ll take you right to the door.”
“But…”
I thought of Pen’s face when she eventually put two and two together and realised that we were both missing from class.
“No buts,” he said firmly, resting a hand on my thigh as he manoeuvred back onto the main road. “Any extra time I get to spend in your company away from Atherton school is an absolute pleasure.”
And with that, he turned the radio up and after I’d put the hospital address into his built in Sat Nav, we sped off along the country roads together and for the first time in who knows how long, I finally felt free.
Chapter 10
After a few hours journey of laughing and talking, it was already well into the afternoon by the time Harry pulled his car up outside the London hospital that my mum was in.
He kept the engine running as he turned to me.
“I really appreciate you taking time out from class to bring me here,” I said picking my blazer up from my lap.
He shook his head and his close curls fell forwards into his eyes.
“Don’t mention it.” He pointed up to the looming building beside us. “I’ll try and find somewhere to park, but If don’t, I’ll be waiting out here for you. What’s your number?”
I read it out to him, and he gave me a test call and just as I was about to leave the car, he pulled me back to him.
“It’s going to okay, Hughes. I promise.”
He squeezed my hand and gave me a quick kiss before I jumped out and closed the door behind me.
I made my way up to the ward I remembered visiting her in before I left for Atherton-on-Sea and took a deep breath before I pressed the buzzer.
“Ward seventeen?” The crackly voice said through the intercom.
“Um, hi. It’s Ally Hughes. I’ve come to see my mum Gillian Rees? She’s in…”
The door buzzed and unlocked before I had a chance to finish and I went inside.
Nurse Brausen, as her badge said, met me as I came through.
“You don’t remember me,” she beamed. “But I was on shift when you were first transferred up here. I usually work on another ward and I’ve been asking everyone if you’re okay.”
“I moved to Atherton temporarily to live with my dad…” I filled her in. Her face did look familiar and that helped to calm my nerves.
She heard me sigh and looked across at me, her uniform straining across her heaving chest.
“Are you nervous, pet?” she asked.
I nodded.
“Goodness! Don’t be. Your mother’s been very stable. She even moved her fingers a couple of days ago, but keeping her like this means that we can lessen the risk of brain damage…”
She paused as another nurse approached her and asked her something and afterwards, she walked on ahead in silence. Every so often she glanced over her shoulder at me to check that I was still with her and hadn’t fainted from my nerves.
Not because seeing my mum made me feel awkward in anyway, but because I wasn’t sure how I would handle seeing her again with all the wires and tubes coming out of her.
Since leaving the hospital, every time I thought of her, I’d pictured her at home in her worn pink dressing gown. Not lying in a hospital bed half there.
I’d been so angry with her just before my dad took me away. Angry that she’d been so careless and frivolous with her driving. So much so that she’d put us in this situation, and I hadn’t been ready to sit and spend lots of time by her bedside.
But now, all I wanted was to see her open her eyes again. I’d hated our hard life in the London council estate, but now it was all I wanted. I missed it. I stopped, surprising myself with my statement. I never thought I’d hear myself say it. But I missed my old life. I missed being poor.
The Nurse stopped by and door and turned to me, her heavy chest leading her way.
“I know you’re aware that your mother is still quite sick,” she said carefully. “But I’m sure if she can hear your voice, it would do her a world of good.”
I nodded slowly, my heart pounding.
“Is…is she in pain?” I asked and the nurse rested her hand on my shoulder.
“No, dear. That’s one thing we’ve been able to manage successfully, but take your time, it’s a lot to take in.”
She gave me a squeeze and walked away back do the corridor. I watched her go, wishing that I could have had her moral support to take me in, but I was seventeen, not seven. I didn’t need her to hold my hand.
Despite whatever condition she was in, she was still my mum and supporting her was all either of us needed.
The room was quiet when I walked in and the open window beside her bed cast a light breeze about the room.
I inhaled deeply as I saw her in the bed, a thick tube coming out of her mouth leading to machine that pumped continuously along with the rhythmic sound of beeping.
“Oh mum,” I whispered, and I walked up alongside her bed. The lamented card stuck to the wall with Bluetac warned ‘only the patient is permitted on the bed’ but I wanted to be near her.
I eased myself up on the mattress and curled in around her, nuzzling my head against her upper arm.
Not having her comforting hand stroke my hair or hear her voice reassure me that everything was going to be okay was a reality I had to get used to… for now.
I listened as her chest rose and fell and imagined what she would ask me. Would it be completely out weird if I spoke to her?
“I don’t know if you can hear me,” I whispered, glancing over at the door to make sure no one
had come in, “but I miss you. I miss the comfortable chaos we had at home and I’d give anything to have it back.”
I paused, looking at her, as though she would respond before I continued.
“I’m in Atherton-on-Sea, your hometown. It’s beautiful and guess who came for us? Dad. He was here. He’s your next of kin still and he’s been great. He cares, mum. He really does but you have to let him go.”
I felt the tears prick at the back of my eyes and I bit my lip to try and contain them. Letting go was a big deal for her, but after seeing how invested my dad was with Beth and their unborn baby, I wanted the best for my mum. I wanted her to find someone else and move on and be happy. I didn’t want her to be pining after a man who was happy with someone else.
“I just want you to get better,” I said quietly, burying my face against her skin. She melt of clinical hospital soap, but all the same it sent a warm rush over my body. As long as she was breathing, I didn’t care what she smelt of.
“There’s a lovely boy that dropped me here, mum,” I continued. “He’s posh and I don’t know him well enough yet, but you’d like him. He’s a breath of fresh air in that place.”
I hesitated, thinking of him as he stood beside Pen while she poured the entire jug of water over me.
No, I wasn’t going to tell her that part. In case she could hear me, I wanted everything to be positive.
I closed my eyes against the soft breeze and allowed my body to relax alongside her. She was worth the three-hour journey. Every time. And I would have done it again in a heartbeat.
My phone buzzed in my blazer pocket on the chair. A phone call and at this time it would have either been Harry or my dad.
I froze when I thought of him. The school would most probably have contacted him when they realised I was a no show, but he wouldn’t understand that I’d had to leave and see her now. He didn’t grasp the fact that no matter how shit my life was in London. It was mine.
I prised myself away from her as the nurse knocked on the door and came in.
“I don’t mean to interrupt,” she said gently, “But we have to change her tube now. You’re welcome to wait out in the family’s room by the nurses station and we’ll call you back?”
I looked over at my mum. Beautiful, peaceful in the bed and shook my head.
“I should be getting back to College. Thank you though, I didn’t realise how much I needed that.”
She gave me a sympathetic smile.
“Sometimes we don’t know how precious life is until we’re tested. Feel free to come back as much as you need. I’m sure it will be good for her too.”
I gave my mum a kiss on her pale cheek, thanked the Nurse, said my goodbyes and left the room. I made it to the lifts just as they opened, and I bumped into Harry before the tears that I’d been holding fell down my cheeks.
He wrapped his arms around me and held me against him as the doors closed.
“It’s okay,” he breathed stroking the back of my head with his firm hands. “It’s okay.”
We stayed like that for a moment before he pulled away to look at me. His light eyes searching over my face.
“Whatever you’re feeling, we can handle it,” he said gently. “Let’s get some lunch and you can tell me everything.”
I wiped at my face as he pressed the button for the ground floor and once out into the sun again, he entwined his fingers with mine and guided me to where he’d parked his car.
We drove to just outside of London to a restaurant that he’d looked up on his phone in silent contemplation and I loved the fact that he didn’t try to fill it with awkward unnecessary chat. I just wanted space to think. To process everything that I’d seen and as we sat opposite each other, eating bowls of pasta and washing it down with coke I realised how lucky I was to have met someone like him.
Who else would have skipped school to take the newbie outcast three hours away to a hospital to visit their sick mother for ten minutes and buy them lunch?
Even though he’d been hanging around Pen and her posse, he hadn’t done anything and certainly didn’t owe me any of this.
I finished a mouth full of Bolognese and put my fork down.
“I don’t know how I’m ever going to repay your generosity,” I sighed gesturing to everything in front of us. “I mean, I wouldn’t have been able to do any of this without you. I… just thank you.”
He gave me a light smile, so much that it made my stomach flutter.
“I didn’t do any of this for gratitude, Hughes,” he said easily. “I’d stayed the night elsewhere and as I came back, I saw you walking in the opposite direction. You looked as though you had the weight of the world on your shoulders and… there’s something about you that just keeps me coming back. What is it that has me captivated?”
I shook my head, embarrassed slightly. No one had said anything remotely similar to me, in fact, the nearest thing had been a silly boy called Jason back when we were in Year 10 who’d told me I was the only thing he thought of before going to sleep.
The thought of him saying it made me cringe and smile and in turn, Harry laughed.
“What are you thinking?” he asked. “Was it something I said?”
I scraped the hair back from my face and pushed more food into my mouth to prevent myself from answering and making a fool of myself.
“And that’s also what I like,” he continued, amused. “You’re not afraid to just fucking eat. Girls at Atherton have this thing about eating salads only.
I forked in another mouthful and we both laughed.
“I don’t know what you’ve been through,” he said eventually after we both finished, and the waiter took our plates. “But having you here at Atherton has changed my whole perspective…”
“On poor people?” I finished.
He raised his eyebrow at me, amused.
“No. On how there’s a whole world outside of Atherton and getting into the best universities and sometimes I wonder how much is what my parents want and how much of it is what I want.”
The bill arrived and he lifted the booklet and looked at it.
“I think its okay to still be figuring things out,” I said reaching for my phone. “Sorry, I don’t have any money on me, but I can pay with my phone.”
Harry smiled at me.
“Now what kind of date would this be if I made you pay?” He winked as the waiter came back and I felt my cheeks flush as I watched him take a wad of notes from his billfold wallet.
Afterwards, he guided me back out to the car and helped me in before getting in on the other side.
“I could get used to this every day,” he said as we drove away. and he reached across for my hand and pulled it over to his side to hold.
I ran my thumb over his skin, still not quite comprehending how I’d started my time at Atherton sitting on the courtyard steps to get away from the humiliation in the dining hall and then here I was with one of the leaders of the crest club, holding his hand while we drove together fast in his car.
But there was a part of me deep down that refused to let my guard down fully. A part of me that screamed to proceed with caution. If only I’d listened.
Chapter 11
By the time we got back to Atherton Bay, the sun had just started its decent and the hazy early evening light cast everything in a beautiful glaze.
Harry pulled his Range Rover up in the space we’d parked in earlier and he turned the engine off.
“Before we get back to the mad house,” he whispered as he climbed out.
My phone buzzed. It was my dad again and at nearly six o clock I should have been home already, but after the fall out with Beth that morning, I couldn’t face her false caring smile at me. No. I wasn’t prepared to go back home just yet.
I ended the call and got out the car to join Harry who took my hand to guide me down.
“Your favourite spot?” I teased lightly.
He nodded and gave me the smile that I was certain all the girls swooned over.
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“You can’t beat the view you get when you stand here… you can see the other side of the Bay for miles.”
I looked to where he was pointing and took a deep breath when I turned back to see him looking at me.
“I shouldn’t be out here with you, Hughes. Forget about Pen. Our families, yours and mine, we…” He turned to face me. “The Crest Club is more than just a society, it’s a way of life. A legacy that’s passed down through the men in many families here. I don’t want the Club to come between us.”
I blinked back at him, not knowing in what way, but before I could ask, he closed the gap between us and pushed me back against his car.
His hands snaked up my body to rest behind my neck, holding me in place while he kissed me.
I moaned as I felt his solid body pressed against mine and he allowed my hands to untuck his shirt and move beneath it, running against the smooth skin of his back.
His breathing changed under my touch and he kissed me harder as his fingers travelled the length of my body to cup my arse and I lifted me up.
I wrapped my legs around his waist, ignoring the fact that my skirt was probably revealing too much of my legs and he pushed his hardening cock against me.
Feeling how aroused I got him sent a shiver of excitement through me and I let out soft moan, eager to take things further, but he pulled away to look at me as my phone buzzed again and he smiled when he realised it was wedged down in my bra.
“I should get you back,” he said regretfully, putting me down. “Your Father will be calling a search party out for you next.”
“I don’t want to. I can’t.” I thought of Beth again and her terse words and the tense atmosphere.
He trailed his fingers over my collarbone until he got to the dip in the blouse where my buttons were undone and reached in to pull my phone out.
Diamond - A British Academy Rich Boy Bully Romance (Atherton School Crest Club Book 1) Page 7
