Ashes to Ashes

Chapter Eleven

The slamming continued as Dan entered the house and marched up to his bedroom and slams the door. The whole house felt as though it was shaking everything they heard a bang. Bea hears Dad remark that they might be needing new doors at this rate, much to Mum's dismay.

Mum came out of the study where she and Dad were and looked knowingly at their daughter. She knew what She had to do; it was just copping the response that Bea was having difficulty preparing for, Dan had a sharp tongue. Bea slowly started taking the steps towards Dan's room. She felt her phone buzz in her pocket. She stopped and took it out; there was a message from Gavin.

Gavin: Hey, I hope you are okay. I just received a bunch of messages from Dan. Did he find out?

Bea couldn't bear to respond quite yet. Everything was emotionally draining her. She found herself at Dan's door. She raised her hand and tentatively knock three times on the door.

The door swings open, Dan sees it's Bea and promptly goes to slam it again. She managed to catch the door.

'Dan! Please! Can't we just talk about this?' Bea struggles to say as she tries to hold the door open.

'Beatrice, I can't do this at the moment.' Bea could tell that he felt a huge sense of betrayal; she could see the sadness in his eyes. Plus he used her full name.

'Well, I can't front up to the cameras tomorrow acting like everything is fine, knowing that you aren't happy with me.'

'But you were happy to lie to me?' He snaps angrily. He was right.

'You know what? You're right.' Bea replies as calmly as she possibly can. She could feel the pressure against her, on the door lessen, so I let go. Dan opens the door and stands there, waiting for his sister to speak.

'Well go on then.' He states.

'Let me just start by saying that I didn't expect this to happen. When we arrived in Brisbane, you know that I was in no state even to consider dating any guy, let alone someone like Gavin.' Bea paused to gauge his reaction; his eyes were red, looked like he had been crying. She could tell this had hurt him. But she had to continue explaining;

'Dan, I would not have gone down this path with Gavin if I didn't think it was worth my time or the tension it may create between us. You are my brother, and I love you. You have every right to be mad, and I'm sorry it had to be Gavin, but it is Gavin.'

'So what is this thing you and Gavin have?' He says slowly after a few moments.

'I don't know at this stage, but I see a future with him. He isn't like Todd or any of the other assholes I've bought into our lives. Yes, he acts like a dick on the field but if you got to know him outside of cricket and the competition; you might get to see that he is genuinely a good person.' Bea manages to take a step into Dan's room and sit on the edge of his unmade bed.

'Your previous boyfriends are what worries me; you have to type Bea. Sure it looks fine now, and you have a habit of thinking about the far off future rather than the present.' He sounds like he is trying to understand, but Bea had to admit he was right about the previous guys she'd been with.

'I mean, you are right. This feels different, though. Why would he put himself in this position? He has come to Australia for the summer; he could have anyone, why would he choose me? Why would he call me every day? Send me good morning messages if he didn't care or want this to work long term? Why would he want to help me find an apartment in Melbourne? Why would he talk about coming out here to visit?'

Dan sighs. This was precisely what he was talking about. Bea gets ahead of herself and read into things too deeply.

'Those could be empty promises for all we know. Until he acts on those things, I don't think you should put so much hope into this relationship, or whatever it is. I can't bear to see you go through all of this again so soon.'