Prince and the Pauper

Chapter Twenty-One

Last night had been painful between Harry and I, and I was more than glad to see the sun shining through the curtains surrounding the poster bed. We had eaten in almost complete silence last night as we both stewed over the fight between him and Bash, and I had promptly gone to bed. Harry had followed suit a little later, and pulled me into his side, murmuring something about not letting the sun go down on my anger, and I had sighed, and reluctantly obliged. Looking over at Harry still sound asleep, mouth agape and light snores leaving his mouth, I removed myself from the sheets and got dressed quickly. I scribbled a note to Harry saying I had headed to the new hospital where Geordie was, and headed out. The minute the elevator doors opened my eyes connected with Bash. He was sat on a couch in the lobby against the back wall, but the minute our eyes locked he was on his feet scurrying over to me. I shook my head and made a beeline for the door, but Bash bet me to it, and stood in front of me, a determined look etched on his face.
"Listen Devonne I'm sorry about last night-" I held up a hand and cut him off. A wounded expression hit his brown eyes, and I almost felt guilty. Almost.
"I don't know what's wrong with you or Harry, but to me, you were both way out of line. Harry may have started it, but you egged him on. I also know something is going on between the two of you, I may not be clued in just yet, but until you come clean I want nothing to do with you." Bash looked shocked, and when I went to move around him he blocked my path.
"So you hook up with that asshole and now our friendship is out the window? C'mon Dev! We've been best friends for years!" Bash reasoned, and I slid my tongue against my teeth, something I did whenever I was mad.
"Exactly." I spat. "Best friends don't keep secrets, but that's what you're doing!"
"So is your lover, yet you spent the night in his bed last night didn't you?" Bash argued, and I let out a brief laugh.
"I didn't have a choice. I have to stay with Geordie, he's my little brother, and the hospital moved last night. Drake Styles was keen to upturn my life yet again. So yes, Harry and I are living together so I can still visit my brother. Which is where I am headed now, so please move out of my way." A lump found its way to my throat, and Bash tried patting my shoulder, but I shrugged off his touch.
"I heard about that, I'm sorry." Bash said softly. "At least let me give you a lift to the hospital?" He offered, but I pushed him off me the minute he grabbed my arm.
"No. I told you, I want nothing to do with you until you come clean." Bash threw his head back to look up at the ceiling as if asking God why, and ran his hand down his mouth to smother a laugh.
"It's not my place it say." He spoke lowly, making me scoff.
"Bullsh-"
"It's not." Bash said sharply. "Ask your boyfriend the next time he tries to nudge himself between your legs. Or is it just me who is getting the cold shoulder?" My mouth dropped open, and Bash's face contorted with regret.
"Go to hell." I snarled, before pushing past him and out the doors. Luckily he didn't follow, and I took a deep breath to steady my nerves. How could Bash be so rude? He was my best friend, and he knew I had standards, and yet he had talked to me like I was nothing more than Harry's whore. I blinked away my tears and practically tore my way up the already bustling streets of Adlington. I had been walking for a good hour before the new hospital came into view. My cheeks were red from the chilly air, and I was glad I had decided to wear one of my few hoodies. The automatic glass doors to the hospital slid open, and after wandering about the huge building and following countless signs, I found the children's ward. Nicki was sat at a computer behind the nurse station and I smiled as she looked up.
"Honey! How did you get uptown so early?" She gasped, racing around the desk to give me a big hug.
"I kinda moved in with Harry." I mumbled, and her eyes widened. "I didn't have much of a choice." I defended myself, and Nicki laughed lightly.
"I wasn't judging hon. I think it's sweet." I quirked a brow, and she smiled eagerly. "I see the way he looks at you. I also see you smiling whenever you mention him." I blushed and Nicki playfully pinched my cheek, making me groan. "Young love." She winked, and I laughed as I slapped her hand away.
"You don't think it's a bad idea? I mean the bad blood between our families is something worthy of World War three." Nicki rolled her eyes, but the look on her face told me she was taking the conversation seriously. She ushered us over to a pair of chairs and we sat down.
"I think you've been on your own for a long time, Devonne. You were in pre-school when your mother left, barely a teenager when your father left, and then your brother was taken from you. That's a lot for a young woman to take on board. Now a handsome, genuine guy has come along and is helping you with the load. Why should his DNA take away from all the good he has brought you?" Nicki reasoned, and I found myself nodding along.
"I think I can look past Dante being his brother. And if I can do that then I'm sure I could handle is bastard of a father, albeit there'd be very awkward holidays." I cracked a smile, and glanced over to Nicki.
"But you don't know if Geordie could?" Nicki finished for me, and I nodded, relieved I didn't have to say it. Nicki thought about it for a moment, and then patted my hand reassuringly. "I've never met Geordie really, given his condition when he first arrived, but I know you pretty damn well. And if you raised him to be anything like you, I'm sure he'd understand." Nicki offered a warm smile, and I took a deep breath.
"Nicki," I paused, pondering whether or not I could ask her something so personal. Besides Donna at the diner, Nicki was the only mother-like figure in my life. I had learnt a lot from her, but it always seemed like it was a burden to ask her about personal things. I shook off the thoughts telling me I was being annoying, and asked anyway.
"Harry and I had our first fight last night..." Nicki made a sound of amusement, like she knew what I was about to ask and the answer was so simple.
"It's inevitable you know." She explained. "No relationships have a smooth ride."
"It was about another boy."
"Oh Lordy." She sighed, and cracked a smile.
"My best friend, Sebastian."
"Sebastian eh? That proves how big of a fight it was then. I've only ever heard you call him Bash." I looked down at my lap at her comment. It was true. It had always been a shared joke between us, and calling him by his full name truly was like punch in the gut, really sending the blow home.
"The initial fight wasn't even so bad." I grumbled, picking at my nails. "But the aftershock was. Harry got all jealous, and then he hinted something to Sebastian about him knowing 'who is is'" I spoke with quotation marks.
"So you think Sebastian is hiding something from you? And somehow Harry knows?" Nicki asked, and I nodded.
"Maybe Harry was just being territorial and spoke in the heat of the moment. Males and their pride are something quite disastrous."
"They both admitted it." I argued, and Nicki inhaled sharply. "Harry said it was better if I didn't know, and Sebastian said it wasn't his place to tell." We both sat in silence for a minute, contemplating what the big secret was.
"Well I've seen how protective Harry is of you. Last night when you broke down he looked a mess, not knowing how to console you." My heart panged at the memory. "I say if Harry says you're better of not knowing, he's trying to prevent you from getting hurt again. Maybe you should listen to him." Nicki suggested gently. I looked up from my nails, and Nicki offered a sympathising half-smile.
"What about Sebastian? Do I avoid him then?"
"My grandmother always used to say you can read a guys intentions by his reactions." Nicki said with a wry smile. "She used to tell me if a male acts staunch and irrational around another male it's something fickle, but if he acts composed and determined it means he's being cautious. How did Harry act in the fight?" I thought about it, and groaned.
"Composed in a primal manner." Nicki laughed, the sound resembling the mothers in the local park when they saw their child stumble onto their behinds before quickly springing back to their feet.
"But when it was over was Harry still angry or was he calm?"
"Calm. He cooked salmon for dinner. Salmon. He pulled a fancy meal out of thin air." I tried hiding the amusement in my voice, but it snuck through. Nicki and I shared a glance and I nodded in conclusion.
"So Harry is onto something." I mused, and Nicki shrugged.
"My grandmother would certainly think so. And I'd never admit it to her face, but she's usually right." I bit my lip, and sucked in a steady breath.
"I suppose I owe him an apology then huh?"
"Apology? You didn't react in a typical Abel-pride manner did you?" I screwed up my lips and Nicki scolded me with a light slap on the leg.
"Let me guess. You acted agreeable and smiled when he talked, but you didn't speak yourself. Keeping him on his toes and wandering where your head was at?" I coughed awkwardly, embarrassed how dead on she was, and Nicki tutted playfully.
"I suggest you go see your brother, and then go home and give Harry a big kiss. My grandmother also said in a relationship their was one bedroom to fix an unhappy man in ." My eyes widened.
"Nicki!" I gasped and she blinked in confusion before realising what had been said, and she looked horrified, before shaking her head.
"I meant the kitchen!" My face paled and my face formed an 'O' shape. Nicki bellowed out a laugh, and I hid my face in my hands.
"I mean that could work too..."
"Okayokay!" I stood to my feet and glanced around. "Which room is Geordie in?" I scrambled for a exit to the conversation and Nicki giggled, pointing to a room a few doors down, and I scurried off. I entered the new room, and shut the door behind me. I exhaled loudly as I saw Geordie laying there, the room silent besides the occasional beep from the ventilator helping him breathe. The room was considerably large given it was just Geordie, and it made him look even smaller. A small chair was tucked in the corner of the room, and I pulled it beside Geordie's bed, and took his fragile hand in mine.
"Hey little man." I whispered weakly. He looked so frail in the big bed, it was frightening. I knew the nurses were keeping him hooked up to IV's to supply him the his needed nutrients and fluids, but he still looked too thin.
"God I miss you." I admitted. "I even miss your constant attitude." I tried lightening the mood, but I couldn't fool myself. I knew the chances of him being able to hear me were small, but I had hope that maybe, just maybe, God would grant a miracle and he'd hear me. Maybe even wake up.
"I have some news. Big news actually." Despite the fact that his eyes were closed, I found it hard to look up at him. "I've fallen for a boy, Geordie. I know it seems impossible that me, the ever-sarcastic and adversarial Devonne could be in love." I managed to let a short laugh slip. "But I have. It happened so quickly, and unexpectedly I couldn't have stopped it if I tried." The scene was almost comedic. Me defending myself to a ten-year old in a coma. But I had to try and convince myself this would all be okay when he woke up. That if I could practice the speech enough before he woke up, I'd have the guts to say it when he was awake.
"And it doesn't mean I don't care about you anymore. You'll always be my number one man. I even moved in impossibly early just so I could stay with you. But there's just one teeny-tiny problem..." I practically gulped in a deep breath. "He's the brother of Dante Styles. And I know, I know, that this is going to be a big pill to swallow. But Geordie," tears leaked from my eyes, and I wiped them away, "I've been alone for so long now. And I don't know if you'll ever wake up. For so long I've always thought I'd be alone, Geordie. Mum and dad didn't want me, so why the hell would anybody else?" My voice cracked, and it was getting impossible to wipe away the tears. "Nobody has ever given a damn about me. Sure Nicki and Donna feel sympathetic...but I've never felt loved. Never. And I've always wanted to be loved, more than anything else. For somebody to see that I have even a fraction of worth, you know?" I made a whimpering sound and I sucked in a breath. "And Harry...he makes me feel loved. He makes me feel important. And it's been incredible that just for once, somebody is taking care of me. It's a cold world out there bro, we know that more than anybody in this town. Nobody can make it on their own, and it doesn't make them weak. It makes them strong for holding on so long, and they fall down not because they let go, but because their hold snapped off for being so worn out. I'm worn out, Geordie. I have been for as long as I can remember. " My head collapsed onto the bed beside Geordie's hand and I let out a loud sob.
"So please try to understand." I pleaded. The ventilator beeped in response, and I dragged a hand down my face to collect all my fallen tears. "I will always hold you up brother. And I believe that when I fall from holding you, Harry will catch us both. Because he loves me, and I truly love him."