Jacob Banks - Worthy (Song for Chapter)
So, this is the last chapter I'm going to upload in 3 weeks!
Because myself and the rest of my amazingly awesome U21 England teammates are heading to New Zealand for the Indoor Netball World Cup 2016!
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Chapter 13: Beneath the stars
Tayte's POV
The next morning I awoke first and wasn't surprised to find Keane still sleeping peacefully next to me. I smiled at his soft and tranquil features, I checked the time 11.45am and carefully sat up and leant against the headboard, Keane moved into me more so his head was basically on my lap. A knock came on the door around midday,
"Come in," Noah appeared looking like he'd just come out of the shower,
"I knew he's still be asleep" I looked at him, "Sorry morning" he smiled, "I mean afternoon"
"Afternoon, feeling refreshed?" I asked,
"Very much so and I feel bad that Keane had to drive when he was hungover and tired and you know, with his head screwed up" he said,
"I know, I feel the same. He was really in no state to drive"
"Well Mum and Dad are about to cook a sorry brunch, because they feel really irresponsible and bad and also the fact that all they do is argue all the time"
"Well you're going to have to tell them he's still asleep" I said,
"I already told them he was going to be sleeping, but they wouldn't have it," I smiled,
"Parents hey" I said,
"Parents indeed, I'll be back, you don't mind do you?"
"Now that, is a stupid question," he grinned at me and left the room. I ran my fingers softly along Keane's shoulder and down is arm, he didn't even stir.
Noah's POV
I ran down the stairs and into the kitchen,
"So what do they want?" Mum asked,
"Nothing...Keane is still sleeping, like I tried to tell you he would be" she sighed, but Dad didn't look too surprised.
"There's a new restaurant opened we want to try, its Jamaican food. I want to see if it brings back any memories" Mum said, "Maybe we'll go for dinner later?"
"You'll have to run that by Keane, but it sounds lovely, as long as...we wait for Angelo...to get back"
"Yes, okay. I'll go book it now"
"I thought just said...oh never mind" she walked out of the kitchen,
"Your mother doesn't listen, it's not just you and when she has her mind set on something, it's happening and that's it" Dad said, "Plus we're both feeling guilty about Keane having to drive and the fact he doesn't talk to us" Dad said,
"Keane will open up, just give him time and keep trying with him" I said,
"Oh we're not going to stop. He'll finally forgive us for abandoning you all one day"
"He has forgiven you and you didn't abandon us really"
"We should have told him"
"Then tell him this and not me. I know how much he loves you. But he is so stubborn and he doesn't tell me everything, Tayte is just about managing to get Keane to always talk to him. Keane's heart beats for everyone else and sometimes I think he forgets he needs to beat for himself too," Dad hugged me,
"I love you son"
"I love you too Dad,"
I grabbed a breakfast donut, yes you heard me, that's from us living in America. Mum makes them, but we had some imported. It's an iced ring donut with bacon and sausage meat. I took one for Tayte too and two OJ bottles,
"Got you a breakfast donut" I said,
"You legend, thank you" he said taking it, I set the juice down on the side and then climbed into the window that was directly in front of the bed,
"He looks so adorable" I said,
"And he'd whack you on the upside of the head if he was awake"
"Well it's a good job he's asleep then" I laughed,
"But your right, he really does" Tayte said,
"Mum's decided we're going out for dinner instead, to a new Caribbean restaurant that's opened"
"Well Keane is going to be thrilled about that" he said,
"I don't know why they don't just talk it out, because it sure as hell needs to be done"
"I'm sure it'll happen, with a bit of persuading from our behalf"
"Can I go travelling with you next year? Like when I break up for the summer?" I said randomly, I saw Tayte smile at my sudden change of subject,
"What about Angelo's job?"
"I mean just you, me and Keane" he looked at me carefully,
"You and Angelo aren't breaking up are you? You do still love him right? Wait...what the hell has he done to you?" I chuckled softly at his protectiveness,
"Of course not, I love him and...he's done nothing wrong. I just...his work, even though is part time is basically full time and he'll be busy...then he'll go to England and...I just think I'd have a blast with you two and Angelo wouldn't mind"
"Well then, I know Keane will love that plan, but he'll be worried about you and Angelo, so good luck when you tell him"
"I can handle him, he has a soft spot for me" I said, Tayte grinned. We then went quiet and only the soft breathing sounds from Keane could be heard, "Are you going to wake him up?" I asked,
"I'll let him sleep until two and then I'll wake him"
"I would say good luck with that, but Keane isn't that bad at getting up"
"Your right, the one and only time I've struggled is when we were going to the airport to fly to Dubai I think and all three of you were in the 'I'm not getting up for anything' mode" he said, I laughed and then headed off out for half an hour.
When I came back into the bedroom, I laid on the bed upside, hanging my head off the edge, Tayte had just walked out of the bathroom. He rolled his eyes and grinned at me.
Tayte's POV
"Mum's booked the table for 7pm, so it's happening whether Keane wants it too or not" Noah said from his upside down position,
"He's going to love that" I said,
"I did try to forewarn them" He replied, "I did try,"
...
I let Keane sleep longer than I said I was going to, he deserved it, therefore when it came to 2pm I didn't have the heart to wake him. So when half three had just rolled past and Noah had been in and out of the room 5 times to see if I'd woken him up yet, I decided to do just that,
"Babe, you have to wake up now," I said softly, touching his shoulder and shaking it gently, he moaned softly making me chuckle, "Wakey wakey handsome," I then planted my lips onto his, when I pulled away his eyes were open,
"Now that, was a great way to wake up" he mumbled,
"Don't think I'm going to be making it a habit" I teased, he stretched his arms,
"Morning handsome" he smiled,
"Try afternoon babe"
"What time is it?"
"Nearly 4, I didn't have the heart to wake you"
"Sleeping beauty has awoken" Noah said jumping on the bed, "Have you told him?"
"Told me what?" he asked,
"Oh...Mum's booked a table at a new restaurant for 7pm, it's a 'sorry' dinner"
"Great" he said, "Are they just going to keep...why they can't just talk to me?"
"I told Dad that...they both feel bad. We all feel bad about you having to drive and everything"
"You two don't have to feel bad about anything and you both should know that"
"It's hard not too"
"Is Angelo back yet?" Keane asked changing the subject, I watched Noah's face carefully,
"Nope, he'll be back in time to go out for dinner," is all he said, followed by, "I'll tell the parents your game for dinner, I'll be back" and he left,
"You need to talk to him about Angelo, I think somethings happened, or something is going on between them" I said,
"What's Angelo done? What did Noah say?"
"He said Angelo hasn't done anything and that their fine, but there's something off. I tried, but he closed down on me, I'm sure you'll get more out of him. He wants to go traveling with us next summer and when I said about Angelo he said he'd be working"
"I'll speak to him before Angelo gets here, thanks baby"
"He's my brother and I care about him deeply too"
"I know you do, I know," Noah came back 10 minutes later and said,
"Mum and Dad want to talk to you Tayte," I kissed Keane, he nodded and I left the room.
Keane's POV
"What's going on with you and Angelo?"
"Nothing, jheez"
"Don't take that tone with me" I said, he then broke down, the tears began to roll down his cheeks, I crashed my arms around him, "Hey Noah, buddy"
"I don't know" he cried,
"Talk to me, you don't know what?"
"I don't know what to do"
"Well you can talk to me for a start"
"I don't know if Angelo loves me anymore"
"Oh Noah, don't be ridiculous; I know how much he loves you, where's this coming from?"
"The past few weeks I've been feeling it, just small things, stupid things, then the week just gone spent in Windsor has made me feel it even more. I understand that it's his family, I totally get that. But I felt ignored, like I shouldn't have been there. Angelo has probably realised that I'm more trouble than I'm worth. That our family is more trouble than we're worth. Then with the age gap, he's a 29 year old man and I'm just an immature 21 year old"
"My honest opinion is that you are acting crazy and that you need to talk to him. Tell him all that you have just told me. And just so you know, you are always going to be too good for anyone, because you are an incredible person with the kindest heart I know. There is no one on this earth that I would rather have sat in front of me as my brother, you Noah, are irreplaceable and you always will be," he dived onto me and clung on like a sloth,
"I love you so much, you actually don't know how much" he said,
"I think I can guess", his eyes twinkled when he looked up at me,
"Thank you"
"Any time baby bro, anytime"
Tayte then came into the room with a face on him, oh boy, here we go,
"That face doesn't look happy" I said, he got on the bed next to us,
"It's fine" he smiled, "I just don't want to talk about my Mum or being pregnant or Forrest or moving in a long, long time,"
"Note to self, avoid subject at all costs and if the parents bring it up, do everything in my power to stop them or change the subject" I said,
"Exactly that," he said, "Are you okay Noah?"
"I am, thanks, when Angelo gets here I'm going to have a heart to heart with him,"
"Well I'm going to have a shower since it's nearly quarter past 4 and I have yet to get out of bed," Tayte an Noah chuckled,
"Yeah, you need one, you smell" Noah said,
"It's the truth" Tayte added,
"Charming" I fought my way out of bed and into the bathroom, leaving Noah and Tayte laughing on the bed.
As I let the water attack my skin, my mind wandered. I was genuinely heartbroken that Noah felt the way he did and I really hoped they worked it all out.
And we were back home again the home where it all began, where we all grew up. Even though I wanted to believe that things would be okay, that we would experience no trouble. I knew that this family hadn't finished being toyed with. I knew there was more to come, I just didn't know when and that was what frightened me the most.
When I left the bathroom, it was around half an hour after I went in, Tayte was sat topless on the bed on our laptop,
"Feeling refreshed?" he asked,
"Yes thanks, where's Noah?"
"Angelo arrived about 20 minutes ago, so I take it their talking,"
I filled Tayte in with all that Noah had told me, his response being the same as mine,
"KEANE" Mum's voice hollered,
"If I'm not back in half an hour either they've killed me or I've killed them, so come and check okay," he laughed,
"Understood" I walked passed Noah's room and the silence was unnerving, I was about to knock when I could hear quiet voices. I headed downstairs, Mum and Dad were in the kitchen,
"Good sleep honey?" Mum asked,
"Yes thanks" I replied,
"Son we need to talk" Dad said,
"I know, but I don't want to"
"We all have to do things we don't want to do, that's part of life"
"So what are you saying? You and Mum didn't want to abandon us? That you wanted to tell me you were spies, but didn't because that's part of life. Bullshit Dad"
"I know we should have told you, I regretted it every day, knowing you were so clueless, so out of the loop and we are sorry Keane, we are so sorry. We know you haven't forgiven us yet for abandoning you, over leaving you to grow up fast and look after your brother and sister and we fully accept that, we do"
"Sorry is just a word, it doesn't mean a damn thing to me. We thought you were dead for Christ sake. We didn't know where you were, what had happened to you, whether you were ever coming back. I lost count the amount of times I had to put on a brave face and say that you'd be back soon, that you must have left for a good reason, that everything will be okay. So I am sorry if I'm off with you, I am sorry if I'm angry at you, but you bought it all on your bloody self"
"And we can't even begin to tell you, from the bottom of our hearts how proud we are of you. There wasn't a day that went by, that you and Noah and Arii weren't in our thoughts. And I know sorry doesn't mean a damned thing to you, but we'll keep saying it and we will prove that we mean it. We are going to keep fighting with each other until we realise that life genuinely isn't easy and as a parent all you want is the best for you children and sometimes we make the wrong decisions, sometimes we mess up. But we are only human. We are family Keane and no matter what we will always be there for you"
"Hell do I know that life isn't easy, because every fucking day that went by and you still weren't back, I didn't just have to persuade Noah and Arii that we'd all be fine. I had to persuade myself too. I was 19 years old, I wasn't a kid, I was 19 and you still didn't tell me, you didn't even leave me anything, any indication to where you were. You can say all you want that you regret it and I know, I know it's in the past and that I should forget about it, build a bridge and get over it, but I can't, because it still hurts, you were lucky Noah and Arii were still young enough to miss you, still young enough to forgive you. And I'm not saying that I didn't miss you and that I'm not ever going to forgive you. But Christ, I feel like we're never going to stop fighting and it hurts"
"Keane, we fully and completely understand"
"But you don't" I snapped,
"We do, it's something we won't ever be able to take back, something we're just going to have to live with. And truthfully, you don't ever have to forgive us, because we will never know what you truly went through, how you truly felt and that is fine. But just let us try and be your parents, talk to us about things, let us know when things get difficult again, We weren't there for you and it pains me every day, but we are now and all we ask is for baby steps. We won't push you, we'll just love you and you can tell us to back off at any time and we will. Just remember that this is hard for all three of us. We love you with our whole heart Keane and we always will," Tayte then appeared, which meant the half hour must've been up,
"Everything okay?" he asked looking at us all, "Or do I need to get lawyers involved?" he was such a goof,
"It will be, someday, it will be"
...
It was then a mad rush to get ready, once I'd changed in around 10 minutes I knocked on Noah's door. He opened it 5 minutes later and before I could speak encased me in a bear hug,
"Thank you" he whispered, pulling away, I could see he'd been crying, as had Angelo who'd just come into my view,
"Keane, you know I'd...," he began, but I stopped him,
"I know, I know"
...
We all bundled into one car and Dad pulled off,
"So I was thinking that we should maybe go to Northern Ireland for a couple of days" Tayte said,
"Oh My God yes" Noah exclaimed turning around, we laughed,
"We have friends there if you need to stay somewhere" Dad said,
"Looks like it's on, thanks Dad" I said,
"Woooo, we're going to Ireland, the Northern one," the car filled with laughter.
We got to the new restaurant dead on 7,
"Rice 'N' Peas" Noah chuckled, "How original"
"Now Mum, behave please" I said,
"Keep an open mind" Noah added,
"And be polite" Dad said,
"You're all hilarious" she answered smiling.
So Mum's parents were black Jamaicans, who left Jamaica to move to England just before Mum was born and she grew up on Caribbean cooking. They died 18 years ago, but Mum kept cooking all the food she grew up on. Being an only child she spent most of her time with her parents. Dad was born to English mixed race parents, he has a younger brother who he hasn't seen in over 15 years, they basically disowned each other. That's why we never really speak about any other family, we're all that matters and all that we need.
Inside the restaurant wasn't your stereotypical Caribbean restaurant, it didn't feel gimmicky and fakely produced. It felt genuine and warm and welcoming. We were seated at the table called Jamaica, coincidence or not. All the tables were named after the Caribbean islands. We browsed through the menu and were all pleasantly surprised. From rice and peas with jerk chicken, to ackee and salt fish, fried dumplings and plantains. To beef and oxtail soup, red snapper and curried goat. It had it all. I just hoped it tasted half as good as Mum's,
"I don't know what to have" Angelo said,
"Can I make a suggestion?" Mum asked, "that being we get two different platters and therefore we have a variety and anything not included you wanted to try we could get also"
"That's sounds like a good idea"
So that's what we did, along with a jug of grape soda, ting and rum punch. The atmosphere with the music, the people and pictures was incredible. The feast that was set in front of us was definitely picture worthy, so when Noah pulled out his phone and set about taking pictures, I couldn't help but smile,
"Noah, any time you're ready, we'd like to eat sometime soon" I said, he stuck his tongue out at me, but stopped. So like I said before, we got two platters of a variety of different dishes, too many to list, Noah did have fun listing everything off to Angelo though,
"I think Lolo's found a new favourite type of cuisine" Noah teased, Angelo just grinned. They were sparking fireworks of love and it made me smile. Even though everyone is allowed to have a breakdown and lose it every once in a while. Noah was, Noah is such a happy soul and when he broke, every part of me broke too, because besides Tayte, he was the only other person I couldn't live without.
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There was no arguments at all that evening and it felt right, it felt...normal. Like Mum said, 'baby steps' and that I could handle. We got home at 9.30pm and Mum and Dad said they were going to bed because they were meeting Jen and Forrest tomorrow and spending the day with them,
"Send Mum my love" Tayte said,
"We will do, we'll get them both over before she leaves" She replied,
"Goodnight, we'll be back in the evening, don't wait for us to eat"
"Night" we said as they disappeared upstairs.
"Keane, Tayte, we're looking into Northern Ireland" Noah called. We found him led against Angelo with his laptop on him, "So we're better off flying from Heathrow, since if we fly from Manchester we have to change at Heathrow anyway and it's only an hour 20 flight"
"Whatever you say bud, we need to find whereabouts in Northern Ireland these friends of Mum and Dad live and if we can actually stay with them, but go ahead and look for stuff for us to do, we'll sort it all out tomorrow evening when their back" I said,
"Okay, oh this is so exciting" he exclaimed. I slumped down on the opposite sofa and was soon joined by Tayte who bought us all a drink in.
"How long are we going for?" Noah asked,
"As long as we're welcome to stay, something like 3 days 2 nights, maybe a day more?"
"Hmm, okay"
"Is that okay for you your highness?" I teased,
"It'll have to do," he retorted smiling. I flicked the TV on after a while and a re-run of Empire came on, "Holiday planning can wait" we laughed,
"Cutie you've already seen this one" Angelo said,
"That is not the point," I rolled my eyes. My phone then rang, an unknown number, I hesitated, but answered anyway,
"Hello?
The day will start great, with smiles all around. For days there has been no reason to frown. But then a call comes and it changes all. For it causes havoc and the walls start to fall
Who is this?"
Tayte, Noah and Angelo all looked at me. The phone went dead,
"Who was that?" Tayte asked,
"I don't know"
"What'd they say?" Noah asked. A text then buzzed through, I opened and read it,
"Exactly that," my phone was passed around,
"Shit" Tayte mumbled,
"Forget about it, what'll be will be, there's nothing we can do about it, so let's not let it bother us" I said,
"Who are you and what have you done with my brother?'" Noah said with a smile.
"Funny" I retorted, "Let's just have a fun 3 weeks"
"Amen sista" Noah exclaimed.
Yet in the back of my mind were his words.
The day will start great, with smiles all around.
For days there has been, no reason to frown.
But then a call comes and it changes all.
For it causes havoc and the walls start to fall.
After Empire had finished Noah got back on looking for places for us to visit and by 11.30pm he'd planned what we were doing and where we were going. He then decided he fancied a mcflurry so dragged Tayte with him to get us all one,
"Thank you" Angelo said, "Noah told me what you said"
"I love you Angelo and you make Noah unbelievably happy. I have no clue what bought this on, for him to think like that. But I know you didn't feel that way"
"I'm not going anywhere. I've never met anyone quite like Noah and no one is ever going to replace him. He's irreplaceable"
"Those were the words I told him, so if you keep telling him that every once in a while then maybe he'll start believing you"
...
We bring ice cream and free freshly baked apple pies, because the lady behind the counter fancied the pants off of Tayte" Noah announced,
"I thought she was going to propose" Tayte said,
"Well, you are okay to look at" I said,
"Only okay?"
"That's all you're getting at the moment"
We ate our Mcflurries and apple pies outside,
"It's going to be a hot night" Angelo said,
"Oh My Cas, can we sleep outside tonight?" Noah asked, "I'll get blankets for us to lie on and anything else we need like lanterns and torches and stuff. It's warm and doesn't really get too dark, please"
"Go for it" I said,
"Yes" He said punching the air and then gulping down the rest of his apple pie before running off inside. By half past midnight we were all settled and led together looking up at the stars.
"No matter where we are in the world, we all sleep beneath the same stars" I said, "Never forget that"
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Hope that'll do you!
Next update: 3 weeks time!
Love you all
GTRxxxxx
Copyright © Georgia T R Wing