Typhoon & Tempest

Chapter Ten

"Dammit." Jack hissed. She went to nudge Lily's shoulder before remembering she'd be hitting her swollen-Yuric-infested one and instead swayed on her feet. "I have ones of Ryan and Andrew if you want to repeatedly stab them?"

Lily's smile dropped at the mention of them. "Have they been calling you still?"

"I wouldn't know - I blocked them."

"Really? What if it's an emergency Jack?"

"Then they can call someone who will help and actually cares." Jack watched Niall walking on ahead. He was probably eavesdropping - she would be. "Haven't you blocked them yet?"

"No." Lily muttered, looking down at her feet. "What if they need something?"

"Lily, there's a difference between want and need." Jack said. "If they really need something, they'll find a way to do it themselves. They just want to pester us and want us back in town. Who wouldn't? We're great fun."

Lily sighed. "I can't block them Jack. It could be an emergency."

"What is it with you and emergency calls?" Jack stopped them in the path, Niall carrying on. She kept one eye on the blind boy and the other on Lily, who bit her lip in hesitation.

"When my family died, the emergency services tried calling my grandmother." Lily admitted. "She didn't pick up the phone. The only reason I wasn't put in the foster system was because of Aunt Ollie - my mum wrote in her will that if anything happened, I'd be safest in Ollie's care."

"Ah." Jack realised. "Was that because Ollie was your mum's best friend or more because Ollie knew the old supernova?"

"Both, probably." Lily fiddled with her fresh sling, lost in memory. "A lot of hassle would have been solved if my grandmother had picked up the phone, though. I don't want anyone else to be in that position."

Jack grew a lot of respect for Lily. She'd gone through a lot these past few years and she was still sane, still standing and unharmed - if being half paralysed and scarred counted as unharmed.

"Are you guys coming?" Niall called to them, waving at a large building at the end of the cobblestone path they were on. "This should be the pub."

Jack and Lily raced to catch up with him and looked to where he was pointing. The pub's architect must have taken inspiration from the classic English look; there were pillars framing the door and lots of picnic-like seating around the pub. It was built from stone and brick with a chimney billowing dark smoke. The sign swinging in the wind made Jack's expression fall.

"The pub is called Barbara Inn?" Jack deadpanned. "That's a boring name."

Lily chucked. "As in Barbara Ann? Like the song?"

Niall beamed, his cheeks creasing. "Yes! You're a music fan? Do you listen to The Beach Boys?"

"Well it wasn't originally by them, it was sung by The Regents." Lily corrected with a soft smile. "But yeah, I like music. My dad's a music nutter and it rubbed off on me, I guess."

Niall's grin somehow got wider. "That's awesome, what do you like to listen to?"

"Um, a mix of things? I quite like Lorde's stuff."

"No way! I like her stuff too. I like a lot of the old classics though, my mum listens to a lot of stuff from when she was a kid." Niall said. "Do you listen to any old bands?"

"Like, what, Rolling Stones?" Lily pursed her lips in thought. "I haven't listened to everything but I do like I Can't Get No (Satisfaction)."