The Brothers Down The Street

Chapter 59

The next morning I drove up to Gale and Ian's, they hadn't had Lilli in a while and quite frankly I was too busy to have her.

I felt bad, I wanted to spent more time with Lilli than I had been but she wasn't planned and therefore was an unexpected inconvenience but I loved her nonetheless and just had to juggle her in with my busy schedule. It's not like she'd remember any of this anyway.

"So Ross, ay?" Gale asked as I removed Lilli from her travel cot and handed her to Ian.

"Yeah." I sighed. "Problem?"

"Do what makes you happy." She said. "And if Grace keeps giving you a hard time you know where to send her."

"Thanks Gale but I can handle Grace." I smiled.

"We've seen." Ian laughed. "Nice shot by the way."

"Just wish Dad was as supportive as you." I sighed, placing Lilli's ready made formula bottles in the fridge.

"He wants what's best for you love." Gale said.

"He just doesn't think I'm capable of deciding that on my own." I replied.

"Well you know your dad, he's very strong willed and Ross is dangerous."

"And Dad isn't?" I questioned with a laugh, shutting the fridge door.

Gale shrugged. "Just consider yourself lucky Ross is still breathing."

I laughed. "I suppose."

A knock came from the door and Gale got up from the couch to open it. "Ross, we were just talking about you." Gale said.

"Good things, I hope." He scoffed.

"As good as they can get with you." She laughed.

"I'll take that as a compliment." He replied. "Maddy here?"

"You should be at the garage." I stated, walking into his sight which my arms crossed.

"You mean alone, with you Dad?"

"Scared?" I asked.

"Course not." He answered. "But I was wanting to talk to you without him prying."

"So your sure you've got everything?" I asked Gale.

"Of course and if not you're a two minute drive away." She assured me.

"Let's go then." I said to Ross as we walked out of the front door and to my car.

"So you survived a night with Will then?" I asked.

"That's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about." He said.

"I'm scared." I laughed.

"Well Will stayed up at our parents last night."

"Don't even get me started on your parents, your Mum came into the pub last night shouting the odds like she was some sort of super Mum herself." I snapped.

"Want me to talk to her?" He asked.

"I've fended off worse than an overly involved mother." I laughed. "So, you were saying?"

"Will and I can't stay in the same place, we'll kill each other." Ross said. "So I was thinking-"

"That you and I should move in?" I finished with a questioning tone.

"Yeah."

"It's a big step Ross." I told him. "And Lilli just got used to seeing Will all the time."

"She's a baby Mads, she probably thinks we're all the same person."

"Let me think about it?"

He nodded and we pulled up at the garage.

"You two don't talk to each other." I instructed, waving a hand between my dad and Ross.

* * *

Ross had left for a call out ten minutes ago and surprisingly Dad had managed to keep his mouth shut for that long. "Maddy-"

"I know what you're doing to say and you can't change my mind." I snapped.

"Then I can't stop you." He said. "Just think about what kind of future you're going to have with him."

"A loving one." I told him.

"Then that's all I can hope for." He said, not looking up from the car he was working on.

My phone rang from my overalls and I instantly began digging for it before bringing it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Mads it's a two man job." Ross said from the other side of the phone. "Needs towing, and I've not got a tow pole."

"I'll be there soon, send me the whereabouts." I ordered, hanging up.

"Who was that?"

"Ross, it's a two man job." I replied, grabbing a tow pile from the side and heading towards my car.

The cold bar was snatched from my hand and my dad glared at me. "I'm not sending the two of you on a job, it'll never get done."

"And I'm not leaving you two alone because you'll kill each other." I snapped. "I'm a professional."

"Oh please, Ross told me you did it in the garage." Dad spat.

"Then we'll both go." I hissed.

We both go into my car although I ended up riding shot gun with my dad driving.

* * *

"Why do you hate him so much?" I asked as he sped down the road.

"He reminds me of myself." Dad said. "And I'm not a good person."

"Yes you are, you're different to the person you used to be." I argued.

"Exactly, Ross has all that to come. Now, it's drag races and car theft, then its burglary and mugging and before you know it he's like me."

"Ross would never kill someone, he's giving all that up for me." I said.

"How romantic." He mocked.

"He looks after me, just like Will did, alright?" I questioned.

"Alright." He said.

"We're here now." I said as we turned the corner and saw Ross with a man that had dirty blonde hair. "Dad! It Nic-"

I was cut off as we were forcefully slammed into. I was winded as the car suddenly spun, jolting me back in my seat. Dad tried to regain control of the car but it was too late and we'd crashed through the barrier on the side of the road and were milliseconds away from toppling over the edge of the cliff. Amongst the chaos I heard Ross yell my name. Another tap from the car and we were pushed over. My land latched around my dads as we tumbled down the large drop.