Intrigue

Chapter 47

Malcolm's POV

I spent the evening in which Sean was supposed to be visiting his father pretending to work on an assignment, whilst checking my phone for updates continuously. At around 8pm, I decided that I couldn't wait any longer without knowing whether everything was really okay.

I messaged him. How did it go? Are you OK?

I waited, but he didn't reply. I exhaled sharply, and decided to message Jeremy instead. I'd gotten his number during the night he'd spent over at Sean's, taking care of him with me.

Jeremy, it's Malcolm. Do you know if Sean's OK? He was going to his Dad's today and I didn't hear anything from him yet.

Contrary to Sean, Jeremy replied instantly. He's coming over to mine later as far as I know. I'll tell him to call you.

I tried ignoring the pang in my chest at the realisation that Sean had been in touch with Jeremy and not me, and that he preferred to discuss his visit and problems with him instead of me. Before I could muster a reply, Jeremy had messaged again.

Obviously don't dwell on it, because I know you will. Sean needs to go through a few of the things he's told me over the years.

Thank you. My answer was brief. I tried turning my attention to my laptop again. I still had a long way to go in this assignment.

Sean called around an hour later. He sounded wistful over the phone.

"Hey, love," he said. "Sorry I didn't contact you earlier."

"Hey, it's okay," I replied. "How did it go?"

"I guess it could have been worse. My father's okay, but he's frail... I don't think he'll last too long." He sounded forlorn.

"I'm sorry about that," I said earnestly. "Did you get to speak about the past?"

"Hell, yeah." Sean forced a chuckle. "I don't know what Jeremy told you - I'm probably staying over at his place tonight, I need to map out what I've told him about the situation. Then I'll tell you."

"Only when you're ready," I answered, my heart increasing its beat. "I'm glad you won't be on your own tonight. Although, I wish you were with me, instead," I admitted.

I heard Sean sigh. "Me too, with no offence to this guy here." He exhaled. "Can we meet tomorrow? I want to explain a few things."

"Of course. Evening?" I asked.

"Yeah, we can get takeout or something. I think I'm working in the morning." Sean sounded unsure. "How are you?"

I frowned, wondering how it was possible that he was so distraught but was still checking on me. Altruism had made its way to the surface from the time I'd first met Sean to now. "I'm fine," I replied. "Slightly jealous of Jeremy, though."

He laughed. "Don't be, sweetheart. Tonight won't be pretty. Neither will tomorrow, to be fair. It's time for me to tell you the truth." He exhaled. "I'll see you, okay?"

"Yeah. Take care. Love you," I muttered.

"I love you more," he answered, and cut off the line. In spite of his ambiguous explanation and the anxiety I felt at him acting like the truth would be changing everything, my heart warmed at his last words.

I spent the following day at university, busy with lectures, before going over to Sean's apartment to meet him there in the evening. On Wednesdays I had lectures with Christine, but she'd barely spoken to me today. I asked her about her strange phone call on Friday, and she said that she needed more time to analyse it before she spoke to me about it. I shrugged it off. It wasn't like I didn't have other things to worry about.