For No One (p.m)

chapter 1

Shifty business, planes. You pay to hop onto a giant metal tube with who knows how many other people - including their luggage - and put all your trust into two people at the front of this tube with some buttons, a good quality walkie talkie and a steering wheel to keep you alive until you land on a different spot in the world. Mind boggling, isn't it?

Although I guess I haven't got much of a choice in this - dad was charged for murder and locked up immediately. And though I began identifying as an adult a while ago now, the judge and jury decided to fly me from Australia to England to live with my brother rather than be in the same country at all as my dad. I would consider that just a tad dramatic, but I'm not in charge of it at all.

After nearly a day of children crying, uncomfortable seats and airplane food I was free in London airport, trying to find my way around to the exit. Being quite a paranoid person, I began to panic when I didn't find my brother immediately. I was pacing around the exit for a solid 5 minutes before I heard familiar laughter from behind me and span around instantly.

"Ben!" I smiled, relieved. I dropped my bags and jumped onto him in a bear hug, tackling him to the floor. We grinned and continued to lay there for several minutes, as businessmen and women walked around us either with their heads held eye or glaring down at us. "Come on," Ben sighed, standing up. "We've got to get back to my place before 7. Wendy's made us dinner" He smiled cheekily and picked up one of my bags, and I took the other.

He lead me out of the airport towards his car, before putting my bags in the back carelessly and jumping into the drivers seat. I closed the back door and ran to the passenger side and got in. "It's been way too long since I last visited London" I grinned, smooshing my face onto the window as we drove. "Yeah, since you last visited London. It's not like I'm your brother who lives here or anything." Ben mocked, watching me out of the corner of his eye.

"Cool it, spunky. We'll have none of that attitude! Anything interesting happened down here in the past year and a bit?" I leaned back into the chair and waited for his answer. "Damn, not much. Paul McCartney purchased a house a few streets down from us. Amy was born. We got new neighbours. I got beaten up for defending the black family across the road. Miss Hargraves - the old woman from the store passed away last year. That's all I can think of" He sighed as we pulled into the driveway.

"Paul McCartney, he's from the Beatles? Is that the one?" I scratched my head and opened the door. Ben nodded and did the same, "Glad to see you picked up on all that" He joked, opening the back door and grabbing a bag and passing the other one to me.

After we'd locked the car, the front door swung open and out ran Wendy, pushing straight past her husband and embracing me in a tight hug. "Hi Wendy! I've missed you!" I smiled and hugged her back. She grinned, grabbing my hand and pulling me inside. Ben scoffed as we ran past him once again to which I smirked.

"You'll be staying in the guest bedroom down the hall. Just throw your bags in here, there's someone you still need to say hello to!" Wendy opened the door to my new room and walked back to the kitchen. I hurriedly tossed my bags onto the floor before running after her. "Amy, you remember Auntie Val? She sent you postcards and toys. And you spoke to her on the phone last week!" Wendy was kneeling down next to her 2 year old daughter. Amy smiled shyly and walked up to me with opened arms. I smiled back and lifted her up, hugging her.

"Hello beautiful! How has your day been?" I bounced her slowly, making her giggle and blush profusely. "Are you alright to look after her for a while? I need to set the table for dinner." Wendy sighed, beginning to walk out of the room. "That'll be fine. Call me in when it's ready." I carefully put Amy down and grinned as she grabbed my hand, tugging me along. "I'm being babynapped!" I yelled playfully, earning laughs from the next room.

"Where are you taking me, princess?" I smiled as she dragged me into what I assumed was her bedroom. "Dolls" she stated simply, making me stifle my laughter. "Oh" I replied as she closed the door and sat down on her carpeted floor. "This is Bella, That's Ruby" she explained carefully, handing Ruby to me as I sat down. "They're very pretty, aren't they?" I smiled, stroking Ruby's hair. She nodded and started playing with Bella. I joined in with her game for about 5 minutes, before Wendy called that dinner was ready.

"Come on," I stood up and reached to grab her hand. "We can play more after dinner." Amy smiled and took my hand as we walked back out to the dining room. Wendy and Ben were seated, waiting to eat. "Oh, sorry." I smiled and quickly put Amy into her high chair before sitting down next to her.

"Minestrone soup?" I asked as we began to eat. Wendy nodded cheerily with her mouthful of it already. I grinned and spooned some into my own mouth, making an audible noise causing Ben and Wendy to laugh as they tried not to spit their soup out. Dinner finished at around 8:30pm, and by that time Amy was complaining about being tired, so Wendy took her to bed.

"I might head off as well. Jet lag's a killer.. Thanks for having me, Ben" I smiled and gave him a hug before walking towards my room. I hugged Wendy along the way and told her I would see her in the morning. I looked into my new room that was scattered with bags and sighed, deciding to deal with it in the morning. I put on a pair of pyjamas, brushed my teeth and got into bed.