These (^) awesome covers were made by Sophiec312. I love them, and will be changing the cover to one of them after this part is posted! If you want to send me anything, PM me! I love to see everything that you guys make, whatever it is! :)
Terry is on top of me trying to get me out of my clothes. I fight against him, screaming for help, looking around hoping to see someone who I know won't be there. However, I am surprised when I do see someone. Tanner. Watching.
I open my eyes; I don't need to see the time to know that only a couple of minutes have gone by. I stare at Sophie for a moment, stroking her hair away from her peaceful face, before turning onto my back. I let out a sigh before sitting up, knowing it's useless to try to sleep again. I slowly get off the bed, not wanting to disturb Sophie. I walk to the desk and pull out the chair, but one of the wheels catches on something. I let out a sigh, bending down to see what is stopping the chair. I find a pair of my pants lying on the floor under the desk. I must have missed them yesterday when I was tidying up the mess. I snatch them up and drop them in the bin next to the desk. I don't want to wear something that Tanner has touched. I want to do the same for every article of clothing I own, but I don't have enough money to buy a whole new wardrobe. I guess I'll just have to settle on washing them with as much detergent as I can. I would go and do it now, but I don't feel comfortable leaving Sophie alone in the room when I know Tanner was able to get in.
I fall down onto the chair, and reach for the TV remote, turning the volume down most of the way when it's on. I lift my feet onto the chair, and lean back, mindlessly watching the show on screen.
A loud ringing starts up, and I look to the bed to see whether Sophie has been awoken by it as I rush to my phone to silence it. Luckily, she still stays oblivious to the world. I bring it to my ear, not seeing who is calling.
"Hello?" I ask quietly. I walk to the door, deciding to step outside. I leave the door ajar behind me.
"Bambi, it's Gerard, how are you?"
"How did you get my number? I haven't called you..."
"The boys gave it to me, is that OK?"
"Um, yeah, sorry, I just wasn't expecting you to call."
"That's alright. I'm just calling to see whether you have any dinner plans? I could answer any questions you have about the situation with the boys, but also it'd be nice to get to know each other better. We haven't really had the chance to talk properly since last Sunday."
"I- uh..." I start. I know that he was meaning when the guys told me about their secret, but the memories of what happened after still creep up. It would be nice to learn more about the secret that the guys kept from me, but am I ready to have the Uncle/Niece relationship with Gerard? Every interaction I have had with him since I found out has been more of him in the doctor capacity.
Eventually my curiosity takes over, and I agree. "Yes, OK, that would be nice. Let me see if I can get childcare for Sophie..."
"She's welcome to come."
"I'd rather keep Sophie out of the loop for now, at least until I have come to terms with it and understand it more."
"I understand," he tells me.
"What time were you thinking?" I ask.
"I don't want to keep you too late, so 7?"
"That sounds great."
"I won't make any reservations until I hear back from you," he says. I am just telling him that I will let him know whether I can make it not as soon as possible, when I hear Sophie calling for me. I end the call with Gerard and return to the room.
"You alright sweetie?" I ask Sophie who is sitting up in the bed. "I was just talking to Gerard."
"Uncle?" she asks, rubbing her eyes. I sit down on the bed beside her, giving a small smile.
"Yeah, Uncle Gerard." It feels weird to say it, but it's nice that Sophie will grow up with the uncle figure that I never had. However, part of me is also jealous, but I know I shouldn't be.
"Why?" she asks.
"I might be going to dinner with him. How would you feel about having tea over at Mrs Wade's tonight?" I don't want the guys to feel like I am relying on them for childcare. They've done enough for me as it is. Sophie claps her hands excitedly. "I still need to check with her."
I change the channel for Sophie and call Chloe, who says she will happily look after Sophie for me. I call Gerard back and he gives me the restaurant's name, and says he looks forward to seeing me, and a part of me feels the same.
The rest of the afternoon consists of me doing my homework that was set today, and Sophie watching the TV. When it's finally time to get ready to leave, I decide to change my clothes, hoping that the clothes I have won't be too casual for wherever we are going.
I place the car in park as I look down the street at the restaurant. All of a sudden I get a feeling of doubt about what I am doing. I rest my head back against the headrest trying to compose myself. I close my eyes, but immediately open them again and scan my surroundings, looking for Tanner, afraid that he's followed me and watching. I decide that seeing Gerard is the lesser of two evils, knowing that I'll feel safer if I'm surrounded by people who could stand between me and Tanner. But I'm conflicted because one of those people could be him.
Before I can worry myself any further, and decide to bottle it, I get out of the car and start towards the restaurant. I keep my head down as I walk, not wanting see who's around me. I pull the door open and go to enter, but I don't see the person walking out. I look up at them and mutter an apology for bumping into them before stepping back to allow them to pass.
I enter the warmly lit restaurant, and stop behind people queuing at the maître d' stand. As I wait I look around at the restaurant. Most people are dressed smartly, but it's not too dressy. I look down at my own clothes, and although I'm not too casual, I still feel slightly underdressed. I pull my jacket closer around me and step up to the stand, giving a smile to the woman standing there.
"Do you have a reservation?" she asks.
"Um, I'm meeting someone," I tell her looking down at my watch to see it's just after 7, meaning Gerard will probably already be here. "Their reservation is probably under Milton." She looks down and scans through all of the names before returning to looking at me.
"Yes, he's already here." The woman waves over a waiter and passes a menu to him, talking to him quietly.
I follow after him, looking around as we do, hearing the chatter from the diners. I am so consumed in looking around the restaurant that I don't see Gerard sitting at a table to the side of the room.
Gerard sees me, and stands up to greet me. I smile at him, and there's an awkward moment where Gerard looks like he wants to hug me, but when I sit down he does so too, smiling it off. I'm not quite ready to have that physical contact with him.
"Hi, I'm sorry I'm a bit late," I say, placing my bag by my feet before accepting the menu being handed to me.
"Oh don't worry, I haven't been waiting long." The waiter tells us someone will be over to collect our drink orders in a minute before leaving us to it.
I look down at the menu, hoping to ease the awkwardness slightly. I pretend to examine all of the drink choices, but I already know what I want.
"How have you been?" Gerard asks, breaking the silence. I glance up and then back down to my menu.
"OK, I guess. What about you?"
"Good." Another awkward silence ensues, and I move from the drinks to the food, noticing that the prices go from on the cheaper side to expensive. I focus on the cheaper dishes, knowing I don't have enough to afford anything else. There is a short reprieve when a waiter comes and takes our food order, but then he's gone again.
Gerard places his menu down.
"How's Sophie?" I relax a bit, happy that the topic of conversation is moved onto something neutral. I feel more comfortable talking about Sophie rather than myself.
"She's good."
"How is she coping after... well, you know....?" he asks. I shift slightly at the topic, but it being about Sophie has me answering.
"She's doing well, considering. She has her moments, but it's not as bad as last week. Who told you?" I mumble the question, but I know the answer already. He hadn't said anything when I went to physiotherapy with Levi, so I didn't know he knew.
"The boys. They're worried about you, and wanted advice."
"They don't need to be worried," I tell him, putting my menu down as well, meaning we have to look at each other. I meet his different eyes, and see that they are worried as well.
"Are you sure?" he asks. I sigh, fiddling with the set of cutlery on the table.
"It affected me, yeah, but it would affect anyone who went through that. I'm dealing with it, and like Sophie it's not affecting me as much as it did." I lie slightly at the end, but I know that if Tanner wasn't around I would be dealing with it a bit better than I am.
"I'm always here if you need to talk, and I told the boys that they should be there for you as well. I said that you'll talk when you're ready, and to be patient with you. They really..."
"Are we ready to order?" the waiter asks, placing our drinks down on the table. I clear my throat, and look up at the waiter. Did he hear what we're talking about?
"I am," Gerard says, looking at me.
"Yeah," I agree.
We order, and when the waiter leaves, I take a sip of my lemonade. I wait for Gerard to go back to the same conversation but he changes the subject.
"So, tell me a bit more about you," he prompts. I run my finger around the top of the glass.
"There's not much to say," I admit.
"When's your birthday? In a couple of months, right?"
"November, yep." I say shortly. I don't really like talking about it, and don't celebrate it. I decide to get the conversation away from it. "I had Sophie three years ago, but you know that. There's nothing special to say, that you don't already know. I don't know anything about you. How long have you lived here? You sound American..."
He accepts the change of topic and starts to tell me more about himself. "Our family is from America. Your dad moved to England for university, and lived there ever since." My mum never told me that my dad was American, or even how they met. "So, I've lived here my whole life. I have a beautiful wife, and daughter who is around your age, who are both eager to meet you. My parents are also very eager to meet you; however, they won't force you. They understand your situation, and are willing to wait."
I nod, not knowing how I feel about my family wanting to meet me, and what to say. Another silence stretches out for a moment.
"So, how did you meet the boys?" As soon as I said it, I feel stupid, because I know how. "I mean..."
"I know what you meant," he says with a gentle smile. "They were six, and in grade one. We went around schools looking for kids, and watching them... that sounds creepy doesn't it?" he jokes. I laugh slightly, "Anyway, we watched them interact and the two groups of boys at the time were the ones that stuck out for us. There's more to it, but to be honest I don't feel one hundred percent comfortable going into it right now." He looks around at the surrounding tables. None of them were listening to us, and I don't fully understand his reasoning for keeping quiet in public but I get his fear, because I have it to some extent. You never know who is listening, or watching.
"They weren't all friends?"
"They weren't not friends if that makes sense, they had their groups. Trystan, Ryder, Ashton, Brody and Jesse were one, and Storm, Levi and Colton were the other." It's weird for me to think at once they weren't all as close as they are now. I know it was when they were six, but obviously the whole process of the experiment, whatever that may have been, made them all closer. "It was easier on them to go through the process with friends." Gerard pauses as the waiter walks up to our table with plates of our food. I smile up at him in thanks. The pause continues as we begin to eat, and only when half of our plates are cleared does Gerard continue. "The boys knew what they were getting themselves into, it was all explained to them beforehand, but for six year olds to go through what we were putting them through, was tough on them. It wasn't awful, but it wasn't pleasant. We made sure throughout the whole thing that the boys, and girls at the time, were dealing with all of it."
"Why are you still in their lives?"
"To monitor them. Although it's been over a decade, we test them each year to see if and how their abilities are growing. We do physical checkups, to see how fast the body recovers, and test them on each of their abilities, and so far they have gone from strength to strength." I don't know what to think about everything that he's telling me, and I decide to be truthful with him about that, wanting advice.
"I don't know what to think about this whole situation," I say staring down at my food, stabbing it with my fork.
"Like I said to the boys, the only difference between them and every other person on earth doesn't affect who they are. Yes, they have certain advantages in life, that other people don't, but that doesn't make them any better than someone who doesn't. They are still the same boys that you met on the first day of school. The boys are the sort of people who don't let it affect them, we made sure to choose people that we thought would keep a level head, and stay grounded throughout."
I place my fork down on the plate momentarily as I take in what he said. Part of me feels guilty at taking so long to get over what they told me. Gerard probably sees this and continues.
"It's going to take some time for you get over, similar to the attack. But like the attack, you will eventually get over it. Your past is full of people with ulterior motives, and for someone to tell you a secret that they've been keeping from you, it's probably going to affect you more than you expect. It's most likely the time that you were told as well. You were coming down from being drugged, you just learned about Tanner, Terry then proceeded to attack you meaning that the time you were going to use coming to terms with what the boys told you, was filled with getting over Terry instead. The boys fighting also didn't help the situation. Everything that's happened in your past is going to cause times where situations trigger emotions. It's natural, and they, to some extent, understand this."
I'm shocked to hear him talking about some of the things; I didn't know he knew about Tanner, or even me being drugged. Do the boys tell him everything? But, ignoring the fact that he knew about some of the things, it made sense what he said. I relax slightly, the guilt lessening – I'm not being selfish or rude for taking a long time to come to terms with it all.
For the rest of the meal we avoid talking about the boys, and the experiment, any more as Gerard is aware that he's potentially said too much in public already.
We finish our meals, and the waiter clears away our plates, asking us whether we want any dessert, which I politely decline.
"I've had a great time, but I should pick Sophie up soon anyway," I say to Gerard when he asks if I'm sure I don't want anything else.
"OK, we'll get the check," he says waving over the waiter. I reach down into my bag, and pull out my wallet. I open it, looking to Gerard as he accepts the leather folder from the waiter.
"How much do I owe?" He looks up, before waving his hand.
"Nothing, my treat."
"No, I can't let you do that. You've already paid for my lunch last Sunday."
"Bambi, let me treat you to this. You're family. That means I'm allowed to buy you as much as I want."
I sigh, still holding my wallet, wanting to pay for at least some of my meal, but Gerard slips his card into the folder. "Let me at least get the tip."
He smiles. "OK," he relents.
After Gerard has paid, and I slip a couple of notes into the folder along with the signed receipt, I collect my things and follow Gerard out of the restaurant. I pull my jacket on as Gerard pulls the door open to the night outside. I slip out into the fresh air, turning to look at Gerard as I walk backwards.
"Which way's your c-" I knock into someone, and immediately turn to apologise. It was my fault after all; I wasn't looking where I was going. "I'm so sor..." I get cut off from an angry male voice.
"Watch where you're going," he snaps. I shrink away from him, his tone reminding me of Terry. I look up at his face and see that he's trimmer than Terry was, but their hair colour are similar, with this man's being a lighter blond. His face was smoother, and I couldn't quite tell if that was as a result of his age or Botox. He looked young, but he seemed older. His eyes were grey, and familiar. He was dressed in an expensive looking suit.
"Dad!" I hear Trystan say harshly, causing me surprise as Gerard steps up beside me.
"Mr. Carter," he greets. The man's expression changes. He sticks his hand out for Gerard to shake, obviously respecting him somewhat.
I look around and see a nicely dressed slim blonde woman, who was smaller than me, talking to Ryder as they walk closer. Her plump lips were painted red, and similar to her husband, her face was smooth. Her lips looked too big to be natural.
I examine Trystan and Ryder, and see that they both are dressed smarter than usual, both in collared shirts. They look good. Good enough to kiss? I quickly shake that thought away, feeling embarrassment at the reminder of how I kissed Trystan.
Ryder and, who I assume to be, his mother both see that the other members of their party have stopped. It doesn't take them long to see the cause, and both of their eyes fall onto me and Gerard. Ryder grins when he sees me, but his mother examines me for a moment, before looking to her husband.
"Patrick, we're going to miss our reservation," her voice was high and sweet. It reminded me of a fairy's.
"They'll keep it. We won't be too long..." her husband responds. I stand beside Gerard not knowing what quite to do. Should I go? Trsytan sees my awkwardness and steps beside me.
"You alright?" he asks. I nod. Ryder joins his brother and me, standing in front of me. I can still see their mother though, and notice that she is giving me a once over, her eyes narrowed.
"You know Ry and Trys?" she asks, looking directly at me. I press my lips together and nod. Why do I feel like she's judging me?
"We go to school together," Ryder says, turning to look at his mum.
"Hm."
"She's also my niece," Gerard says proudly. Trystan and Ryder's dad, Patrick, makes a similar noise to his wife. Acknowledging, but also seeming like they don't really care. They're not being unpleasant, but something's off.
"What's your name?"
"Bambi," I supply. They survey me again before looking to Gerard.
"Is the camp still going to go ahead next week? The boys mentioned that because of Levi being in a wheelchair it might be delayed."
I send a quizzical look to Trystan and Ryder. What's their father talking about?
Gerard glances to me and the boys, before responding. "Yes. We feel that he won't be able to be as involved, and we don't want to go ahead without him, so we're settling for pushing it back."
"How long has it been going on now? 12 years?"
"Yeah," Gerard says faking shock and disbelief, shooting another look to me. He knows that I understand what's happened now, having done the calculations. Trystan and Ryder's parents don't know about their sons having the extra-ordinary abilities. I look to Ryder and Trysan who both shake their heads at me, a finger subtly going to their lips. Why don't they know? "How have you and the boys been recently?" Gerard asks changing the subject, as if they've not seen each other recently. Is that how far they're going to keep their secret? They're not even admitting that Gerard is in their lives.
"Good. Me and Lynn have been travelling with our work, as we always seem to be doing," their father replies. I hear Ryder scoff beside me, and I notice Trystan rolling his eyes.
"Is Sophie not here?" Ryder asks me quietly.
"No, she's with a friend," I answer as I hear their dad continuing.
"We got some time off though to spend Trys and Ry's birthday with them."
"It's your birthday?" I ask them. I want to get them something, not only for their birthday but also as a thank you for looking after me and sticking up with all my problems.
"Yeah, in two weeks. The 9th of October."
"Well," Gerard says cheerfully, "Great catching up with you, but we won't keep you any longer." I take my cue to leave and smile at Trystan and Ryder.
"I'll see you tomorrow." I turn to leave but Trystan catches my arm. I turn, and find his head is getting gradually closer to me. What is he doing? I begin to panic. His head misses my face and comes to rest beside it.
"I'm sorry about my father," he whispers, before turning and placing a kiss on my cheek. I blush, looking to his parents and Gerard. What must they be thinking? I'm looking the other way so I miss Ryder moving to my other ear.
"Say hi to Sophie for us," he says before placing a kiss on the same place as his brother but on the other cheek.
Before I burst into flames from my embarrassment, I move back from them and turn and nearly run away from them. I call back over my shoulder to their parents that it was lovely to meet them, before turning to find Gerard walking with me.
"They don't know, do they?"
"No. Trystan and Ryder, in the past, have not been as rule-abiding. Their parents have struggled to keep them in check, and unfortunately they're not around as much as the boys would like. Trystan and Ryder actually prefer when they're gone, like their parents. Even though their parents think that they break the rules for the heck of it, they usually have a reason and it didn't help that they brought themselves up. You know that letter I mentioned earlier, well Trystan and Ryder thought that if their parents were to find out the truth they would be pushed to follow it as a career using all of their talent, and they knew that we wanted them to stay mediocre so as to not draw attention to themselves, so they didn't tell them the whole truth. Their parents thought that they were sending them off to a camp. Of course, when I found out, I was furious. We needed their parents to be OK with what was happening to their kids, especially as they would need support afterwards. All of the boys eventually persuaded me to go along with it, showing me that they would support each other if they needed it, and we've been keeping it a secret ever since."
"Don't their parents suspect something, especially as you're going back every year?"
"Maybe, but they haven't voiced anything. The excuse they have been told is that the camp was such a success that it continued, but only for a week instead. It's not the best of excuses, but it helps that Patrick and Lynn are away regularly, even over their birthday some years."
I stop beside Levi's car and Gerard points over the road to a grey car.
"That's me." I take out the keys, and move them from hand to hand.
"Thank you for dinner," I say. We both stand there in silence, not knowing what else to do. I take a deep breath and find the courage to go for a hug. He wraps his arms around me, and I awkwardly do the same. I let it last for only a second, feeling uncomfortable, before I pull back to see Gerard with a big grin on his face.
"Night. Drive safely," he says before walking around the car.
I get in, placing my bag on the seat beside me. Tonight was awkward, yes, but I have to admit if I look past all of those moments it was nice to spend some time where I was distracted. And, maybe, it will even be nice to get the chance to know the family that I never had better. Maybe they'll be a better family than my mum.