Hugh & Kate

Chapter Five: The Taxi

Lara and Ruby jumped out of the cab.
"Thanks for that boys, catch up with you tomorrow?" Ruby grinned.

"Will do!" Pat smiled at her.
She giggled and ran into the house.

Lara hung back, watching Hugh help Kate out of the car.
"I'll sort her out Larz, you go in before you get cold." Hugh told her.

Lara nodded, "thanks Hugh." She smiled, and slung her bag over her shoulder. She walked in the house, her head down. He could tell her mind was racing but not as fast as Kate's was.

He walked her slowly to the door. Gently resting his hand on her lower back and guiding her up the steps to the front door.

The night was cold. Really cold. There weren't any clouds but a wind that sort of ripped through you.

They paused, catching each other's gaze, a hand clasped in each others.

"So what is this?" Kate asked, her body starting to shiver as the cold air swirled around them.

"It's me dropping you off and picking you up in the morning, that's what it is," Hugh explained.

"You're not coming inside?" Kate questioned, her eyes had a longing look behind them.

Hugh shook his head, "No," he says gently, "not tonight. I'll see you in the morning though."

Kate stepped closer to him, "this is a big thing for me Hugh. This could go horribly wrong."

"I doubt that very much Kate," Hugh reassured, "you're overthinking it. I promise they'll be so excited to see you."

"I know they will be," she muttered, "I'm excited to see them."

"I know," Hugh pulled away. "It was amazing to see you tonight."

"Yeah it really was." Kate nodded, a small smile forming on her lips.

Hugh pulled his hotel keys from his pocket- "Alright so church is at 9 so I'll be here at 8:30, be ready. Maybe pack a bag, we'll leave straight from church."

"8:30 it is." she muttered, taking a deep breath.

"I'll see you in the morning, okay?"

Hugh's gentle voice calmed her. It reassured her. She'd missed that.

"You sure will, goodnight Hugh." She whispered, pulling him in for one last hug.

"Goodnight Kate," he replied.

Hugh trundled back to the car, he waved to Kate as he stepped into the taxi.

"Right just the Regency hotel on Franklin street please." Hugh told the driver, before darting his eyes back to Kate, who stood at the door.

"All good Hugh?" Dylan asked gently.

"Yeah mate," Hugh replied. "Just tired."

"It was good to see them tonight." Pat said absentmindedly.

"It was actually, must admit I didn't think we'd see em again." Dylan stated. "What'd ya reckon Hugh? You and Kate seemed to be getting close."

"Leave it Dyl? We'll talk about it later." Hugh leant his arm against the window and his hand against his head.

"Chill out mate, not stirring." Dylan replied defensively.

He was definitely stirring. Dylan stirred a lot.
When your head just won't stop swirling, it's hard to have any sort of banter with your mates. It's an awful feeling, but at least it's obvious to you that something is going on when you can't return fire.

It's like his world shifted that night.
Seeing Kate in that bar wasn't planned, wasn't necessary, or even life changing, it didn't feel that way anyway.
The way his world was travelling along seemed pretty much perfect, apart from the fact it hadn't bloody rained, he was coasting along nicely.
He hung out with his mates, played his sport, looked after his stock and loved his family, Ben included, most importantly Ben.

Ben.
He couldn't get his name out of his head.
After all that went on with Ben and Kelsey, how could he even be associating with Kate?

"Why are you thinking about your brother? You should be thinking about the chick you just spent the whole night with." Pat chirped from the back seat.

"What?" Hugh was startled.

"You said Ben. You right mate?" Dylan furrowed his eyebrows.

"Never better," Hugh replied, pressing his credit card against the machine and thanking the taxi driver. "Quick, out ya get!"

The three tired boys made their way up the stairs to their room. They pushed inside, Hugh watched as Pat collapsed onto his bed, and Dylan into his.

"I'm gonna shower, shouldn't be long." Hugh announced, rushing into the bathroom and locking the door.

He let out a heavy breath, running his hands through his hair.
Love wasn't something on his mind at that moment, he didn't even know what love was, does anyone?
On his mind was that girl, the waves of her hair, the deepness of her eyes, the softness of her hands and the worry in her voice.
He hadn't met a lot of troubled people, he knew Mr Nixon, who just complained about everything, he was troubled, but he'd never met someone his own age who saw the world as a dark place.

How was he really supposed to help her?
Maybe going home was going to be a disaster for her? He didn't know what went on in their family, something clearly wasn't right. They were always unsettled, the girls never wanted to be at home, their parents were always either overly chipper or overly morbid and sometimes he doesn't see Mrs Cook for weeks and then she just appears down the Main Street or at the footy.

He turned on the hot tap and watched the immense water pressure hit the tiled floor. The showers at home were quick two minute ones and the water pressure was closer to a trickle than anything else.

He stepped under the water and it was like years of dirt was just being washed down the drain. It certainly washed the tiredness away, it woke him up in a flash.

Another sigh fell from his lips.
This wasn't going to be easy but maybe, just maybe something was going to change.