A Love Like War

Chapter 1

"Come on, knob face! We have to leave now, I don't fancy being stuck in traffic on the motorway!" Roxanne shouted up the stairs to her little brother.

"Shut up, Rox! I'm just making sure I have all my things!" George called back down to her.

Roxanne and George had were moving back to their dads house. George had always lived with their mum since the divorce, but Roxanne had only moved to their mums for college. This was 7 years ago.

Their mum, Tina, had not long died and Roxanne didn't make enough money to support them after this. George hated his school anyway, she thought it might be a good change for them. Their dad was more than happy to welcome Roxanne back full time, and was bursting with joy to have George staying with him for longer than 2 weeks.

George often visited his dad during the school holidays, and both of them loved spending the time together, but George knew how much it hurt his mum when Roxanne moved away full time he could never bring himself to tell her he would have liked to move too.

Jamie had been preparing their rooms and making sure there was fresh bedding. He wouldn't admit it, but he was extremely excited all for their arrival. In truth, Roxanne's room hadn't needed much preparation. While it has been 7 years since she left, at age 16, he had left it pretty much the same. She visited as often as she could but not as much as he would have liked.

George came barrelling down the stairs, with his backpack in hand. "I don't think I have enough room in my bag for all my photos!!" He looked at Roxanne with slight disappointment on his face.

"Don't worry G, we can always come back in a few weeks to grab some more stuff. Dad isn't expecting us to be able to bring everything on our first trip, and grandma is going to be looking after the house while they figure out the sale of it." Roxanne replied.

"I thought mum had left the house to us?"

"Well she did, but you're not old enough to have it, and I can't afford the mortgage for it. Which is why we are moving to dads. You knew this. Grandma is going to be dealing with the selling of it and then once the sale has gone through, we get the money fifty fifty." Roxanne smiled at him. "Now, have you gotten everything? We really do need to get going." She grabbed her handbag from the floor, her car keys and put her coat over her shoulder.

George grabbed the last of his items, shoved them in his bag and then put his shoes on. They left the house and headed for the car, with one last look over their shoulders, Roxanne and George left for the long journey to their dads.

"What's it like learning Welsh, Rox?" George asked when the song on the radio ended.

Roxanne glanced over to him and pondered before responding. "It's not the worst, personally I hated French more. The most important phrase you'll need is 'ga i fynd i'r ty bach os gwelwch yn dda?'" She replied with a shaky pronunciation, smiling back at him.

"And that means?" He laughed.

"Can I go to the toilet, please!" Roxanne exclaimed, laughing along with him. "That's really all I remember, the rest is just random words, I can barely form an actual sentence together. Besides, you need it less in Secondary than you did in Primary, so as long as you pick up the basics to pass your exam, you'll be fine."

"Did you pass your Welsh exam?" George continued, eager to learn how this whole extra class may guide the rest of his schooling career.

"I did not." She looked at him sheepishly, laughing again. George laughed with her and began to sing along to the next song on the radio.

The rest of the journey was pretty effortless. George badgered Roxanne to stop halfway there, claiming he needed the toilet despite Roxanne knowing he had not had any drinks since they left. However, she didn't protest, truth be told she could do with a coffee and to stretch her legs.

Roxanne walked back to the car, with two drinks in hand. A coffee for herself and a cup of tea for George. He didn't ask for one, but she knew this must be hard for him. He hadn't opened up much to her about how this was all making him feel. She knew their mum passing had hit him hard, she had heard him crying quietly in his room. She had to resist the urge to knock on the door and hug him, but she knew he wouldn't appreciate it. She had to let him grieve in his own way.

While she waited for George to return from the bathroom, Roxanne lit up a cigarette and leaned against her car. She had managed to quit for a few years, but with Tina's illness and work being extra stressful as of late, she had taken the habit back up again.

George would scrunch his nose up every time he saw her smoking, he detested the habit, but understood why she started up again. He returned to the car just as she was taking the last drag on her cigarette and stubbing it out under her foot.

Roxanne smiled at George as she handed him his tea, and got back into the car to prepare to set off again. George thanked her, taking a sip of his tea and plugging his phone into the aux cord.

George had decided he was done with listening to the radio and wanted to listen to his own songs. Roxanne had influenced his music taste a fair amount over the last few years, so he knew she wouldn't mind. George hit shuffle and let the tunes play.

The rest of the journey was slightly quieter, apart from them singing along together, they did not talk much more.

Roxanne was hit with an overwhelming sense of nostalgia when she reached their dads. He hadn't moved since she lived with him, and everything still looked exactly the same. She wouldn't admit it, but she was very happy to be back. She only left so she didn't feel like she had abandoned her mum. In truth, she felt a little relieved that she was no longer obligated to live in a small town in Devon, it was fun while it lasted, but it wasn't home.

She pulled up outside the house and grabbed a few things from the car before looking to George to get out. He looked a little scared, but she knew this was from the whole move, he had been excited to see his dad, apart from the funeral he hadn't seen him in a few months.

Jamie came out to meet them on the doorstep, engulfing Roxanne in a hug a she was first to the door. She hugged him tight while telling him how much she missed him. George followed and hug Jamie too.

After exchanging pleasantries on the door step, Jamie grabbed their suitcases and brought them inside. He had already boiled the kettle and got straight to making them both a brew, after a long drive it was needed. The three of them stayed up for a few hours just chatting before retiring to bed after a tiring day. Tomorrow Roxanne had planned to take George out and get him all new school items. She felt he could do will a full fresh start here, she prayed he would be okay.

A/N: I have posted this on another website too!!