Away: A Prequel

Chapter 21

The trip to Wales was made shorter by the short-cuts Dex was able to remember; we did make pit-stops along the way, for food and such. I had brought along the shopping Cass and I had done the other day... There seemed to be presents in them, so I gathered they were for her mum. I took them, and even got some gifts from Dex and I. Most of the trip was us having a good time, singing along to the radio and playing our car games, like twenty questions. Most of which he won. I think we were about 10-20 minutes away from his mum's when he suddenly went quiet and I knew something was up.

"Dex, you okay?" I asked.

"Just... A bit nervous I guess... I haven't seen her in so long, and the day I turn up, I have bad news about her daughter who was visiting me...." He paused, "Seems a bit shitty, don't you think?"

"Yeah, but at least you can say, you turned up and thought it was better than telling her over the phone. At least then she's not mourning alone, and neither are you." I explained.

"I guess you have a point." He offered a small smile; he frowned again, "I still think we should book in at a hotel nearby, just in case."

"Don't be silly, Dex. I'm sure she'll love seeing you."

"There's a hotel round the corner; they should still know me..." He wasn't listening, as he had already turned toward the hotel, "It's got a pub as well..."

"Alright then, I guess we're doing that..." I frowned, feeling a little annoyed; we were silent for another 5 minutes, before I added, "I know you're nervous, but don't you think it better to get it over with?"

"No, alcohol first. Alcohol makes nerves go away.." He concentrated on the road; he parked outside a classic looking pub, which seemed to have a few locals in at the time.

We entered the building, and the first thing Dex asked for was a pint.

"Anything else, luv?" The middle aged woman asked; she then looked at me, "For either of you?"

"I'll have a pint too." I replied, though I wasn't entirely sure if I wanted it.

The staff were really friendly and got the job done quickly. One of the guys behind the bar seemed to watch Dex, and looked like he was thinking. When he got a look of realisation, he came over to us. He was quite tanned, looked around 5'10 and was around Dex's age, at least I thought so. His face was thin and his nose small. He had grey eyes and short brown hair. I also noted that he had a skeletal tattoo on his right upper arm as he had a tank top on.

"Dex?" He asked, his Welsh accent a lot stronger than Dex's, "That you, mate?"

"Yeah..." Dex had glanced up, still taking swigs from his pint; he didn't seem too bothered someone had remembered him as he flatly responded with, "Oh, hey, Kaleb."

"Not seen you back here for... ages." Kaleb smiled, taking a seat beside him.

"It's been 3 years...." Dex frowned.

"What you been up to then?"

"Been living in London."

"We're going to see his mum." I smiled, trying to seem polite.

"Oh, who's this pretty lady?" He smirked, "It's rather rude not to introduce me to your missus, Dex."

"Kaleb, this is Kayla." Dex rolled his eyes, giving a sigh; it seemed he just wanted to be left alone to drink.

"Pretty." He grinned; he glanced over at the bar, calling to some of his mates, "Oi, lads! Look who's come to town!"

Dex sighed heavily, when a small group of lads - still around his age - strolled over; there were 3 or 4 of them. All different sizes, and they mostly had dark hair, save for one who had blond. This was the one that spoke the most out of them.

"Olly, Dex, here, had just come back to our lovely town to visit his mum. He's here with his missus, look." Kaleb told another lad around the same height with an oval face and pointed nose. He seemed bulky and had strong looking arms.

"Dex? Not seen you around for a while... You go off on one with ya mum again?" Olly grinned, "That's what you normally do, ain't it?"

"I moved to London to get a better job..." Dex seemed too impressed they were all still hanging around.

"And a better girl, it seems." Olly added on, looking to me, "You're?"

"Kayla." I gave a simple smile.

"Nice." He then turned back to Dex, "You going to meet your mum now or what?"

"Not yet..." Dex had kept his gaze on his pint the whole time, despite it now being empty.

"We were just getting a drink after the long drive." I answered for him.

"Ah, well, makes sense." Olly nodded; it seemed he was suspicious of Dex's behaviour, as he told his mates, including Kaleb, "Go show them lads how to play pool, boys. I'll be over in a minute."

Seeing another group of lads a bit younger than them, Kaleb and his other 3 mates went over to the pool table and started to show off that they were able to play it a lot better. Olly, however, stayed at the table.

"Want to explain to me why you're so miserable about seeing your mum?" He had seated himself more beside Dex, who still kept his gaze on the glass; Olly had seen this and moved the glass, causing Dex to look up.

"I don't have to explain shit to you." Dex frowned.

Olly had looked around, before asking, "Where's Cassie? Wasn't she meant to be staying with you?"

There was a long pause from all of us, especially Dex. He had to bite his lip to hold back tears; he lowered his head to lean on his folded arms. He covered his face, indicating something was off.

"That's the problem..." I rubbed the back of my neck, "She was staying with us..."

"She's not ran off with anyone, has she?" Olly asked, shaking his head, "There was one lad here that she was tempted to run off with, and had to put her straight."

"Completely off..." I lowered my own gaze, biting my own lip to stop my tears coming now; the more I thought on what happened, the more they wanted to come.

"Oh..." He finally got what I was trying to tell him; I didn't want to outright say it, especially in front of Dex and it being so fresh. He glanced at Dex, before taking him into a hug, "You silly, twat. You could have just said. I would have told Kaleb and that lot to bugger off ages ago."

"It's still kinda fresh for us too..." Smiling when I saw Dex widen his eyes at the sudden contact; he didn't seem happy.

"That's why you came down to see Susan?" Olly asked, now having let go of Dex.

I gathered Susan was Dex's mum, from the way he was speaking; I explained, "Well, originally we were gonna come down on Friday with Cass.... But, something happened... We thought it was better she heard it in person rather than over the phone."

"Yeah..." Dex finally answered, though sadly and quietly.

"Yeah that makes sense." Olly then offered, "Want another pint on me, before you go?"

"Sure." He answered.

Olly went back over to the bar, once asking me; I had said no, since we still had to drive to Dex's mum's. When Olly was over by the bar, I looked to Dex, asking, "You any better?"

"Why do you think I asked for another?" He raised an eyebrow at me, only slightly looking at me; he had a look on his face that suggested he was anxious.

"I guess this would be like you're meeting her again, since it's been 3 years..."

"Don't remind me." He slouched, "I'm not just anxious about telling her about Cass... But I haven't seen her in so long it does feel like that..."

"You'll do great. You always prove that you'll get through the toughest times, Dex." I hugged him, attempting to smile, "I'll try to be there for you both as much as I can."

"Ta, Pet." He finally looked at me, a small smile on his face.