A Boy in the Hand is Worth Two in the Head

Chapter 11

For two head strong, independent boys, it was incredible how much both of them looked teary as Matt was loading his bags into Will’s car, which would take him to the station. Matt turned to me, unsure how to proceed.

“Are you coming to the station E.B?” he asked, one hand frozen against his chin, contemplating whether we should hug goodbye or not.

“Sure,” I smiled back. I wasn’t fussed about anything right now. Even a crude remark couldn’t have fazed me; Paul was coming over for dinner tonight.

Matt gave a quick start, scanning over the area to ensure there were no bags left behind. He gave Mr. Doherty a quick handshake, before taking one last look.

“Shotgun!” he called, skittering towards the door. Will laughed a second, before catching my eye. I gave him a quick nod back as we both walked outside.

Matt was hovering against the passenger door, his fingers caught eagerly against the handle. I shrugged.

“Looks like you win buddy, finally.” He gave a whoop as I walked around to the driver’s side. As Will was hauling the last bag into the back, he threw me the keys, as he always did. With a sly grin, I opened the door behind the driver with the key, making sure that the passenger door didn’t unlock.

Ignoring Matt’s horrified face, and almost doubled over so I didn’t hit my head, I stepped cautiously over into the front, before unlocking the driver’s door just as Will strolled up to the front.

Will unlocked the back door for Matt, and I couldn’t help but laugh at his furious face.

“You snooze, you lose little boy,” I cackled. He just pouted for a second, before regaining his easy attitude in time to wave goodbye. I settled my feet into their familiar position on the dash, and sighed. I’d sort of grown to like the kid a little, even though he called me names, cracked onto me when he felt even slightly in the mood, and refused to watch what movies I wanted.

He’d become almost like my own little brother…sans the hitting on me part, of course.

As Will wrenched the car into gear, their odd banter filled the silence; however, it felt empty still. I could tell from the way Will kept hold of the shift stick the whole time with his left hand and only trailed his fingers on the steering wheel with his right that he wasn’t really concentrating on anything properly. A lull allowed me to say what I’d been meaning to for almost a day.

“I’m going to call my dad back,” I announced suddenly. Will’s fingers wrapped slowly around the wheel fiercely.

“How come?” he asked, his voice barely audible over the engine. I could hear Matt’s silence, piercing.

“It’s hard to explain, I'll tell you later,” I said quietly, wishing I hadn’t brought it up.

Matt leaned forward, his seatbelt taut. “Well E.B, I think I might miss you a bit, even if you do make me do the dishes every night,” he chuckled, ignoring my attempt at conversation. I smiled wryly.

“One way street, dear,” I told him. He batted his eyelashes at me, and I rephrased. “Definitely one way.” Will laughed for a second, and the car relaxed again just as we were almost there.

I knew we wouldn’t have but ten minutes before his train would arrive, so I didn’t want to leave anything to chance. There wasn’t another train that would connect when he got a few stations down for hours. The train would be taking him in the opposite direction to my old home, which I guessed was good; I was pretty sure he still had a thing for Josie.

I slung his smaller bag over my shoulder, and dug my heels into the ground, leaving room between the brothers and myself before they started to get reminiscent. Sitting down stiffly on the bench, I tucked the red bag between my ankles, and watched, bemused, as Matt struggled to lift Will on his back.