Three Years, Five Months and Eleven Days

Chapter Twenty

     I woke up to find Michael nudging me gently and the sound of rain hitting the roof. ‘Debby we need to go,’ he told me. We were still on the couch in Beth’s house and it was definitely still the evening.

     ‘What time is it?’ I asked, rubbing my eyes sleepily.

     ‘Just after eight,’ he told me. ‘Rob’s gonna worry if we don’t go back now.’

     ‘Rob’s already worrying,’ I warned him. ‘But that doesn’t mean I want to go out in the rain. We’ll just call him and explain.’

     ‘He won’t believe you,’ he said. ‘In just two days I’ve learnt that Rob doesn’t trust us at all. He probably thinks we’re only here to do things we can’t do with him around. As you said, he’s already worrying.’

     ‘Fine,’ I sighed. ‘We’ll just have to steal an umbrella from here.’

     We collected all my things and located an umbrella, then made our way out the door. As I locked the front door behind me Michael asked ‘So is Beth still mad at you?’

     ‘I’m not sure. I talked to her before you got here and she obviously wasn’t happy, but she told me she understood,’ I explained. I turned to him and shrugged, pocketing my spare keys. ‘I don’t really know what that means. She’s talking to me at least.’

     ‘Well that’s better than nothing,’ he agreed. ‘I can’t imagine you being happy while she’s angry with you, and I’d rather you were happy.’

     We were walking now and he was holding the umbrella over my head and staying close. The air was cold and wet, so I could feel the heat from his body. Suddenly I stopped, threw my arms around his neck and kissed him, long and deep. I forgot that we were standing in the rain, with no coats and only and umbrella, I forgot that I had been cold, I forgot that I was torn apart inside by Beth leaving. All there was in the world was Michael and me and I didn’t need anything else, as long as he was there, kissing me, his body pressed against mine.

     Eventually he moved away, but only a millimetre, so that our faces were still almost touching.

     ‘What was that for?’ he asked, looking pleased.

     ‘With everything that’s happened in the last four days, I can’t remember the last time I kissed you properly,’ I told him. ‘And I know I’m miserable and that it can’t be fun for you.’

     ‘Even when you’re miserable, I still want to be with you,’ he said. ‘I don’t care.’

     ‘You’re sweet to the point of almost being cheesy,’ I teased him.

     ‘We’ll that’s better than me being a jerk, isn’t it?’

     This made me smile. I let go of him and we linked arms, walking off into the rain, both in considerably better moods than we had been in a minute or two before.

     We walked in silence; content just being in each other’s presence. We were crossing the main square of St. David’s, almost at my house, when Michael brought something up.

     ‘I’ve been thinking,’ he started. ‘If I’m going to be here for almost four more weeks we’re going to need a way to get around.’

     ‘What d’you mean?’ I asked. ‘You can walk everywhere in St. David’s.’

     ‘Yes but what if we want to go to Haverfordwest?’ he pointed out. ‘Rob can’t spend the rest of his summer chauffeuring us places.’