Bleak

Chapter One

Eleven months prior

"How many times? We are not having a house party! Mum and Dad are trusting us to look after you and the house while they're away, and I'm not going behind their backs like that." James huffs, as Caine and I continue to pester him, using all our strongest powers of persuasion.

"Come on, lad," Caine urges, being unusually sweet. "I mean, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Hmm, let's see," James replies, clearly preparing some long-wnded lecture. "Just a rough estimate, but I'd say, maybe two or three fights, at least one couple getting it on in one of our beds, possibly a blowjob, definitely snogging, at least three items broken, most likely the expensive ones and to add to that, I'm not having a replay of Chrissie and Liam!" I gulp as reprecussions of when my ex boyfriend and I were caught making out, half-naked on the living room couch. Though I am unable to see for myself, I can feel oodles of colour flooding my cheeks at the awful memory, which is inconvenient for my confidence as it stands, seen as my buoyant ginger curls do not at all suit my cherry-red embaressed expression. That day was probably the most humiliating day of my entire life, and certainly one I won't ever be allowed to forget. Thankfully, Caine moves the subject swiftly on before I'm overwhelmed with sickness due to my increasing temperature, "Nah nah nah, mate, you're overthinking. We'll make sure that don't happen,"

"I'm not risking it, Caine," He finishes firmly, before pushing his chair away from the table and leaving the room. I hear his footsteps gradually quieten as he makes his way along the hallway and out of the front door, slamming it in the process of exiting.

I roll my eyes, having regained a shard of my authority. "Well that went well, Sherlock,"

He glares at me, unamused. "Wind your neck in, I'm doing my best," Before he too gets up and leaves the room, and though I cannot hear his movement, the repeated slam of the door certains me that he, too, has left the house, leaving me home alone. I chuckle to myself at how childish my brothers can be. I contemplate going out myself, initally wondering whether to visit Finn so I can copy his maths homework, as I always do when we have Mr Abrushi, though I instead decide to make myself something to eat. Searching the freezer, I retrieve an unopened pack of potato wedges, that merely need heating up. Following the instructions, I prepare half the packet in a bowl, and then take them up to my bedroom, where I switch my iPod on at the wall and select the 'shuffle' option to randomly play through the playlist of my favourite songs. Time passes by considerably rapidly and I am surprised when 8:00pm approaches and I realise it has been three hours since my brothers left the house. I am trying to decide whether or not to call one of the two – preferably Caine, as James appeared to be in somewhat of an unfriendly mood when I last saw him – to check that they are alright, yet my eyes almost pop out of their sockets as my bedroom door suddenly swings open. After my split-second heart attack fades, I verify that it will be either Caine or James, but I'm proved wrong again as my cousin Teal pops his head round the door.

"Jeez, I'm not that bad looking, am I?" He teases, spotting my mortified expression. As I attempt to steady my rapid breathing, he merely stands and laughs at me, before closing the door and stepping further into my room. "You should learn to keep the door locked when you're upstairs – I could have been anyone!"

"I thought you were anyone!" I exclaim, half-annoyed at the scare, half-relieved at his occurrence. He shacks his head from side to side, tutting, as he flops down onto my bed, burrowing his head in my pillow. "What're you doing here anyway?"

He rolls over onto his left side so that he has a clear view of me, currently slouched in my comfortable purple chair, scrolling through my Instagram feed on my phone. "I was bored,"

"Oh, so what am I just your stand-by option?" I say sarcastically. He clicks his fingers in a purposeful way which he knows irritates me.

"Love you, babe," I stick my middle finger up at him, though he can tell I'm smiling regardless. Suddenly, he snatches my iPod from its speaker and begins to search through my variety of songs. He scrunches up his face when he notices my playlist comprises of mainly Green-Day and 5 Seconds of Summer. I giggle at his disliking and return to my Instagram newsfeed, sighing as my best friend Annie posts yet another photo of herself posing in the mirror wearing nothing but a pair of bed shorts and a cropped vest. I won't lie; Annie is unbelievably pretty, with a figure like a super model. She owns the most wonderful golden locks which trail down right past her waist and her eyes are a delicate shade of blue which could make the sky blush, also, though she smears layer after layer of make-up, I have seen her without it multiple times at sleepovers and holidays we have had together, and in my opinion, she is just as flawless without as she is with. It isn't initial, but halfway through a song I don't recognise, I realise that Teal must have downloaded some Muse albums onto my iPod. I open my mouth in disbelief, though I'm laughing at the same time. "You're unbelieveable,"

"And?" He replies smugly, kicking his feet up onto my desk chair. I pull a face at him, which he is quick to immitate, sending us both into an array of splitting sides. "So how's mission house party coming along?" I shrug and shoot him an expression of dismay, which he interprets as meaning that the chance of talking James round is a longshot. "I bet I could persuade him," He grins suspiciously. No. Just no. Teal's idea of 'persuasion' would most likely be either blackmail or terrorism.

"Don't bother," I snap abruptly, promptly dismissing the minute possibility that my cousin's words could have a successful effect on James' views. "Knowing you you'll just make it worse,"
"Good to know you have faith in me," He chortles, but I'm appreciative that he doesn't push the matter.

Caine and James arrive home at around 10:00pm, having spent the evening together at the pub. Though Caine is technically still a child and therefore not legally allowed to buy alcoholic beverages, the landlord down at the Wooly Sheep turns a blind eye, given his close liking to Caine. He won't admit it aloud, but though he puts on this tough, bad-boy armour, it's obvious to all the he has a soft spot for the sixty-odd year old coger, whom he has known since he helped him out of trouble with the police at around my age. When they were home, I could quite clearly tell that Caine had consumed much more drink than the former, as he was engaged in his own interpretation of the song "Let it Go", as he and a very unimpressed James meandered into the living room, where Teal and I were sat watching Netflix. James ordered Teal to leave and ushered me to my room so that he could sober Caine up, and so I sensibly decided to change into the vest top and leggings I wear to bed, and get an early night.