Ratbags and Scallywags [bxb]

Chapter 32

A/N: Sorry for the wait! We're getting to the end and it's gonna be goddamn cute, you can bet your sweet ass on it. I will NOT give them a dark ending, I will not give them a dark ending, I will NOT give them a dark ending, I WILL NOT GIVE THEM A DARK ENDING. 

(Mental note with booklored's voice in my head)

Thanks for reading, don't forget to vote if you like it! 

*

Getting a word in with Charlie all day felt impossible, but the icing on the cake was having to go home with Donovan Hughes. Tom was all caught up in school preparations so Mum suggested Donny come home with me and get picked up later. This worked for Tom since he had Donny-related papers being delivered to our address, reason being that his rural location would take longer.

It was awkward to say the least, and I couldn't help but feeling bitter. I get that my family wanted to keep a kid safe, but why was I being dragged into this whole good Samaritan bullcrap with my bully? Did they conveniently forget everything he's done? He was an asshole and no matter what, I hated him.

Mum had me sit in the back so Donny could sit in the passenger seat. We stopped at his house along the way.

From the outside, it looked completely ordinary. White weatherboard exterior surrounded by wooden fencing, barely high enough to keep a dog in. Mum went inside with him while I stayed in the car. They were gone for around ten minutes before he came out carrying a few plastic bags. Mum held one in her hand, but it didn't look like she particularly needed to. Probably just insisted to be helpful.

They opened the boot and threw the rustling bags inside it. They settled back inside the car and put their seatbelts on when I asked him, "That all you have?"

He looked back at me blankly. "Should I steal all my dad's shit?"

Pissed by his reply, I leaned my chin on my hand against the car door and stared out the window. They spent the short drive with broken up, forced conversation. Mum asking Donovan questions here and there, and him responding in a series of grunts or yes's and nos.

We really needed to spend the next few hours with this guy while Tom wrapped things up at school? Seriously? It'd have been so much nicer to spend this time with Charlie instead. He said he had something to do instead, but what? If he finished it before long, he could still come over, couldn't he?

I just had to think of an excuse. No, a legitimate excuse. Like...

Chrlie, can u help me with poetry assnmt

"Aubrey, you aren't gonna join in on the conversation?" Mum asked, glancing at me through the rearview mirror. I slipped my phone back into my pocket. He'd be sure to take the bait and come running at first opportunity.

I huffed back at mum - yeah right. We pulled into the driveway just two minutes later, saving me from an unholy conversation exchange with Donovan Hughes and my mother. This was ridiculous. He could make himself comfortable wherever he liked, but I was gonna go start figuring out some presentation ideas.

The minute we got in the door, I headed up the stairs to my room and threw my bag down by the door. My phone hadn't vibrated yet but my conscious mind kept conjuring up phantom vibrations, anxious for his reply. I slumped on my bed and stared up at the ceiling. Just last week I was in hospital with a near secondary TBI, and today the person responsible was sitting awkwardly in my living room.