The next couple of days go by pretty fast as I spent all of Sunday at Marcus and Em's house, purely because James had to fly to Tassie Sunday morning as they're playing today.
I definitely have been kept busy, entertaining Matteo and Bella but they have also been very good in keeping themselves entertained when I need a break.
But anyway, today is Anzac day and Marcus is having a couple of the boys over to watch the Pies, Bombers game that starts at 3:20pm.
Hawks and Swans game starts at roughly 12pm, so I head over to my brothers house at around 11.
"Heyyyyy." I say to my brother as he opens the door and he smiles, pulling me in for a hug and placing a kiss on the top of my head.
"Morning Tahls." He says before closing the door and we both stand there smiling at each other.
"Were you alright last night?"
"Yeah I was fine. I did get a bit scared though when I was going to bed, but it was my mind playing games with me." I say and he chuckles.
"You know you could've stayed here, Matteo was begging to sleep over at his Nonna's house so Em dropped him and Bella off there last night."
"That's adorable."
"Yeah I know. It was nice and quiet that's for sure, but we miss them so much."
"Yeah, you would've." I say as we walk through the hallway and into the living area where Em is prepping the meat for later today.
"Morning!" I say and she smiles at me.
"Morning, I would come give you a hug but I have meat all over my hands."
"It's alright." I say walking over to her and placing a kiss on her cheek and she smiles. "I'll just hug and kiss you."
"I should've married your sister." Em jokes and Marcus frowns.
"Why?"
"She's more affectionate than you." She says and I laugh whilst Marcus shakes his head.
"Okay so what was last night then?" He says, a smirk appearing on his face and Em nods.
"I guess you could count that as affection." She says and I laugh.
"I aspire to be you two when I'm older." I say which makes them laugh.
"Alright, come and help me set up."
"Fine." I say as I follow Marcus outside where there are a couple tables set up.
"How many people are you having?"
"Oh just a couple of the boys."
"You sure? It looks like you're about to host like 50 people." I say and he laughs then shrugs.
"I just like there to be more space for people to sit and eat, who likes to be claustrophobic while they're eating?"
"I guess you're right." I say and he smiles.
"So who's coming?"
"The usuals. Baz, Laith, Dunks, Ads, Timmy, Dom, Cody, and maybe a few others but they're not sure yet."
"I'm disappointed Libba isn't making an appearance."
"No he will be." He says and I smile.
"Good." I say and he smiles. "So what exactly did you want me to do?"
"Nothing, I just wanted to talk to you." He says as he lifts the lid on the Barbecue and starts to clean it, which I find hilarious since he's gonna cook on it in a couple of hours.
"Oh." I say and he looks at me.
"Em and I have had some discussions around the baby that's on it's way." He says and I nod.
"Okay..." I say confused as to what it's gotta do with me.
"And I know she's only like a month into the pregnancy and it's still very early, but we want you to be his or her godmother."
"WHAT?" I say and he nods.
"But it's so early, you sure you want me and not one of the boys?"
"I'm sure. Baz is Matteo's Godfather, as you know and Alyssa is Bella's. I wouldn't know who to pick out of the other boys as there's too many to choose from." He sighs and I nod.
"Fair enough, but I'm just shocked."
"You shouldn't be."
"You sure there's no one on Em's side?"
"Tahls. We're sure, Em wants you to be his or her godmother and no one else."
"Okay." I say then I walk up to him and wrap him in a hug. "I am so grateful." I add as we both stand there with our arms wrapped around each other.
"Tahls. If something were to happen to me and Em, I wouldn't want my kids to go anywhere else but to you."
"I know. I guess I just didn't expect it." I shrug and Marcus smiles, his hands holding either one of my shoulders.
"Tahls. You're the only sibling I have, so of course I am going to do everything in my power to make you a godmother of one of my kids."
"What about Marie? Wouldn't she get upset?"
"She can't get upset because we had a massive argument a couple of weeks ago."
"What?" I say and he nods.
"Yeah it was bad. I was just trying to knock some sense into me and she said some horrible things."
"What did she say?"
"I don't think it's the time to say it now after the good news I just told you."
"No please I need to know." I say and he sighs, pulling me over so we can take a seat.
"The game might start by the time we're done with this conversation."
"I'll turn it on in the background." I say pressing the remote to turn the Tv on just in time to see James and the Hawks boys run out onto the ground.
"Alright get talking." I say and Marcus sighs.
"Well you know how she broke up with Harry right?"
"Yeah that was ages ago.." I say and he nods.
"Well, not long after she got a new boyfriend."
"How did I not know this?" I ask and Marcus shrugs.
"You know she doesn't make an effort to come see us or even send us a text."
"True."
"Anyway, she rang me late at night one night and asked if she could come over, she was whispering and sounded pretty scared, so I obviously said yes cause straight away I could tell something wasn't right." He says and I nod.
"Not long later she comes and I open the door to see a massive bruise on her arm, a black eye and stitches on the side of her head and I freaked out."
"Shit." I say.
"Luckily at the time Em was picking up the kids from her parents house so they didn't have to witness it."
"She told me that this new boyfriend of her's had been abusing her. He'd get mad over something minor. Like there was an Essendon beanie in her drawer that Harry gave her ages ago, she's had it for years, and when he found out that Harry gave it to her, he hit her."
"It had been going on for months and the worst he had done was push her so hard that she hit her head and needed to have stitches."
"Fucking hell. Did she leave him?" I ask and Marcus shakes his head, which makes my heart break.
"No, she was in denial and said that he keeps apologising and says he'd never do it again."
"So he hit her that night?"
"The night she came over she hit her head and came straight here to me after she went to the hospital to get stitches."
"Shit." I say feeling the tears prick my eyes.
"I told her she needs to leave him, yelled at her that she needs to leave him but she just kept making excuses for him and I couldn't believe what I was hearing, so I called Harry when she fell asleep in the spare bedroom, your old room and told him what had been happening. And you know Harry was concerned, and he was blaming himself for them breaking up when it wasn't his fault."
"Wow. So what now then?"
"She's hiding out at Harry's house. Her 'boyfriend' apparently hasn't found her yet, but she's not speaking to me because she knows I was right. According to Harry he did some things way worse then just hit her. I can't even say because it makes me feel sick."
"God that's awful." I say putting my head to my hands. "Should I try talking to her?"
"Maybe, but I doubt she'd listen." He says and I nod then sigh.
"Why did they even break up though?"
"Marie and Harry?"
"Yeah."
"No idea, maybe it just wasn't working. But I'm sure she is regretting her decision."
"Oh did she break up with him?"
"Yes. He's in love with her." He says and I nod, then I shrug.
"I guess she put herself in that situation but I feel terrible for her, no one deserves to go through that no matter the stupid decisions they've made."
"Exactly. I've tried talking to her cause she's thinking of forgiving him, you're my only hope."
"What about Harry?"
"She won't listen to him either, she just wants to prove to everyone that her boyfriend isn't abusive."
"Why though I don't understand. Why would you risk to be with someone who could seriously hurt you just to prove your brother wrong?"
"Yeah I don't know." He sighs and I sigh as well.
I look up at the Tv and see that Hawthorn have kicked the first 5 goals of the game, which is pretty impressive as the Swans are a hard team to beat.
"I feel bad for Harry though, it must be so hard for him to try and convince her that she deserves better."
"Yeah it would. But I've given up, she's not gonna listen to me."
"Understandable." I say looking back up at the Tv and sighing.
"At least the Hawks have started well." I say and Marcus nods
"Yeah, they have." He says focusing his attention on the game and I sigh as I contemplate what to do.
I keep my eyes glued to the screen as I think about whether I should send Marie a message about what Marcus told me. But I haven't spoken to her in a couple months, and she didn't even think about messaging me. And it's not like I never tried. I pick my phone up, unlocking it and pressing on her name. I then scroll through our messages to see that I've messaged her about five times in the past month and she hasn't responded, nor read the message which I find odd.
She always would respond to me when I text her. Yes we never see each other, but we always would text or call each other to catch up on our busy lives.
Something must've happened and I'm going to get down to the bottom of this.
I sigh, focusing my attention back on the Tv as I watch Buddy kick a goal....
-----------------------------------
The Hawks end up getting smashed by 41 points, with the Swans just too good for them. The problem with the Hawks is that they start well, but can't finish what they start. But that's what happens with a young group. Sooner or later they'll learn, it may take a while, but once it happens it's gonna be good.
Aaron and Baz are the first two to arrive, and I plant a smile on my face as the news that Marcus told me is still sinking in. They can both tell I'm off when I don't reply to their banter but instead just hug them both and sit down, turning my attention to the screen where they're previewing the Pies and Bombers game.
"I'll be back, just gonna go to the bathroom." I say getting up and walking inside. I walk upstairs and head to the bathroom in my old room as I've kind of missed it, and want a bit of privacy.
I walk into the ensuite, closing the door behind me where I sit on the toilet and sob.
I feel so helpless with Marie. I can't even process what she's going through. The poor girl, she does not deserve this, no one does. And I hate that I can't do anything to help her, I know how this will go, I will try and help but she will just push me away as she always has done.
I can't blame her, she's probably in two minds and if I also go and yell at her, it won't make the situation any better.
I know that if I do head over to Harry's, I will try and understand what she is going through, and try to reason with her, but also tell her that this is not right, and that this is not what a relationship should be.
No man should ever lay his hands on a woman, and no woman should ever lay her hands on a man. Cause yes, it does happen both ways even though everyone believes it's always the man being the abuser, but it doesn't mean it can't happen the other way.
Obviously there is a difference between play fighting and actually hitting someone out of anger, or because something they did pissed you off, there is a line, and as soon as you cross that line, that's when things get bad, and that's when it becomes 'normal.'
I am brought out of my thoughts when I hear a knock on the bathroom door.
"Tahls?" Aaron says and I straight away wipe my eyes but there's no point cause I probably look like shit anyway, now that I've been crying.
"It's unlocked." I say and he pushes the door open before closing it. He practically runs over to me when he see's the state I'm in.
"Hey what's wrong? Did something happen? Did Worps do something? I swear to fucking god if he did something I will..." He starts and I stop him.
"No, it's not James, I love him and wish he was here with me right now." I say sighing and I see him relax a bit.
"Okay so what is it then?"
"Marie." I say and he frowns.
"What about her?"
"She's got a new boyfriend, been with him for a couple of months or whatever and he's... he's..." I say and Aaron's eyes go wide.
"He's abusing her." I finally manage to spit it out and Aaron's mouth drops.
"What? But wasn't she with Harry Jones?"
"Yeah, she broke up with him and got a new boyfriend and yeah, he's made her get stitches."
"That fucker." He says shaking his head. "He deserves every one of his fingers to be chopped off."
"Agreed." I say and Aaron pulls me to his chest.
"I'm so sorry." He says and I sigh.
"I just don't know what to do." I say looking at him and he nods. "I feel helpless."
"I know Tahls, I know. But there's nothing you really can do unless you go and speak to her."
"I'm thinking about doing that, but I don't know if she'd want to see me."
"Of course she would! You're her sister. You two should be like bangers and mash." He says and I laugh.
"Bangers and mash?"
"Yes." He says and I nod.
"I guess so."
"You just gotta word it the right way, not like how everyone else has been just telling her to leave him, because it's probably much complicated then that." He says and I nod.
"Yeah you're right. I just don't understand what goes through people's heads to hit someone."
"I know. It's disgusting." He says and I sigh, grabbing some toilet paper and wiping my eyes as Baz walks through the door.
"You alright?" He asks and I nod, I look at Aaron who puts his thumb and pointer finger to his mouth, dragging it from one side to the other and throwing away the key and I smile at him as I know he won't say anything.
"Yeah I'm okay." I say and Baz nods.
"Well the other boys have rocked up and they're looking for you, and James texted you." He says and I laugh.
"Were you looking at my phone?"
"I heard the text and saw who it was, I didn't read it."
"Sure." I say getting up and looking at myself in the mirror.
I splash my face with water before drying it with a face washer, before the three of us heading downstairs.
I say hello to the other boys before we dig into the meat that Marcus has cooked and get stuck into watching the footy....
***
Hey guys, hope you enjoyed this chapter
How terrible about Marcus and Tahls' sister Marie 🥺 - will definitely be a chapter where Tahls finds out more about her situation!
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Next update out soon!