I led him through to the lounge so we could get Sophie and drop her home. Lucas laughed as he saw her face. “What happened?”
Ah, yeah. Sophie was still in a deep sleep when we came downstairs, so of course that meant we had to draw on her face. “Kai and James,” I replied. “And maybe me and Holly, too.” The boys were still at it, doing some big drawing down her arm. Sophie was a heavy sleeper anyway but when she’d been drinking it was almost impossible to wake her before she was ready to.
“Okay, I think that’s enough now,” I said, trying to grab the eyeliner off them.
Kai snapped his hand away before I could get it. “Not yet, princess. I have one last thing to do.” I rolled my eyes and pulled Lucas down on the sofa and leant over to see exactly what they were doing.
I gasped for two reasons. One, they’d drawn a massive cock on her arm. Two, they’d used my eyeliner to do it.
“Hey, what the hell? That’s mine!”
“Remember what I told you last night,” he said, smirking I remembered, even though I was wasted. Apparently, I didn’t need make-up. I wasn’t completely convinced and would still wear it, though.
Sophie groaned and stretched. “Tegan?” she slurred, holding her head. “I’m dyin’.”
“You’re just hung over, hun. Or possibly still drunk.”
She groaned again and said, “I’m thinking about having sex with Kai.”
Kai looked at me in sheer horror.
“Okay, want me to tell you to meet him upstairs?”
Lucas put his hand on my leg.
“Yeah,” she said.
“Kai, will you meet–”
“No,” he snapped. “Sophie, sober up already.”
She laughed and cracked her eye open to wink at him. Now I wasn’t shy when it came to guys but there was no way I could say that in front of them. Christ, if they’d overheard me saying something like that I’d move towns.
“Okay, you want to say bye, Tegan, and I’ll carry the pisshead to the car,” Lucas said, standing up and cradling a still very intoxicated Soph in his arms.
I gave everyone a hug goodbye and stopped by the front door to look at how awful I looked in the mirror. Messy bed hair looked great on Kai but did nothing for me. Kai grabbed my wrist and turned me around. “Just the way you are.”
I felt the air leave my lungs as if he’d just punched me. He gave me that little bit more strength to believe that I was capable of more than what I was doing and didn’t have to hide away quite so much.
“Thank you,” I said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. He nodded and took a step back.
We dropped Sophie off at her house and dropped Lucas’s car at mine so we could go for a walk. I needed the fresh air to clear my head. He took my hand as we walked along the path. It was a gorgeous, warm morning and for the first time in ages I was looking forward to the day.
“So, how was it last night?”
“It was really good.”
“Did you get drunk?”
I winced. “Yeah, a bit. I was nowhere near as bad as Sophie, though.”
“Did Kai look after you?” I nodded. Where was this going? “You’re pretty close, aren’t you?”
“Yeah, he’s a good friend.” I watched him closely. His face was emotionless, blue eyes flat. I had no idea what he was thinking.
“I’m glad he was there for you,” he said, smiling. It was a genuine smile, too.
We turned the corner and I froze, realising where we were. Lucas looked up and then back to me. “Are you okay? Do you want to go?” His voice sounded so far away.
Everything inside me hurt, I could barely breathe it was so painful. I could feel the water rising, lapping around my face, threatening to take me under.
Why did I come here? Those six words crushed me every time: In loving memory of Simon Pennells.
Chapter Thirty
Lucas
She stood so still and stared at his grave. I wish I had known where we were walking. “Tegan, baby, come on.” I pulled her to me, wrapping my arms securely around her. “Do you want to go home?” I felt her nodding weakly against me chest. I took her face in my hands and kissed her forehead. She didn’t look upset. She looked empty. I wasn’t sure which one I prefered.
The walk back to her house was silent. I had so many questions but I wasn’t sure where to start. “Do you think you should see a counsellor?” I asked.
Her grip on my hand loosened a fraction. “No.”
I do. “They might be able to help.”
“Will talking to someone bring my dad back?”
“Well, no, of course it–”
“Then it won’t help.”
“They can help you deal with it, babe.”
“I am dealing with it, so please drop it.”
“Tegan, I think–”
She shook her head. “No. Drop it. I don’t want to talk, not to anyone so can we just forget it, go back to mine and watch a film.”