Barely Breathing

Chapter 17

We were piled into Liv’s little car and everyone made small talk on the way to the Mastin’s house. I was squished in the back between Marcus and Dave as Reece sat in the front with Liv. We drove down a small road and Liv slowed the car down in front of one of the nicest houses in the street. She drove up the steep driveway and parked by the door. We left all of our bags in the car because Liv said “Don’t worry, I’ll drive you guys to your hotel after dinner.” Liv and Reece got out of the car and Marcus and Dave jumped out either door. Reece came over to the door that Marcus just got out of and held his hand out to help me to get out. I grabbed it without hesitation; I was feeling light-headed because I was about to meet my ‘boyfriends’ family. Even though the relationship was fake, the situation I was in, felt 100% real. We walked in the already open door, with Reece still holding my hand. We walked down the hall and were greeted with a very enthusiastic woman.

“Reece I have missed you so much darling!” she said, her accent was thicker than Reece’s. All I could think was ‘oh my lord you are the cutest parent I have ever met in my life!’ She gave Reece a huge bear hug and Reece let go of my hand to return the hug with much enthusiasm. They pulled back and his mother put both her hands on Reece’s cheeks and examined him with a smile as if she was making sure he was still who he was. He smiled and she released his face. He took a step back to stand next to me who was standing watching in awe of their adorable relationship. He didn’t shrug her off like most boys I’ve met, if anything he welcomed it. I suppose though that most 17-year-old boys still lived at home.

“Mum” he began, “this is Taylor. Marcus’ cousin” he said as he put his arm over my shoulders.

“Hi, Mrs Mastin, it is lovely to meet you” I said. I felt so nervous.

“Oh sweetheart, it’s Deb. It is lovely to meet you too hunny” she said as she pulled me into a hug. I could feel her smiling next to my cheek and I couldn’t help but smile in return. We pulled back and I noticed that there were two younger girls that had engulfed Reece in a massive hug. Marcus, Liv and Dave were no where to be seen but oh well, they were big boys…physically at least…immature boys. Deb and I stood there smiling at the huge cuddle going on. Deb grabbed her phone and took a sneaky little shot of it. She nudged my elbow and showed me her phone. She was posting the photo to twitter, oh my lord god love this woman! I smiled a huge grin at her and gave her a little thumbs up. We looked back at Reece and the girls. They had pulled out of the hug now. Reece turned to face us and introduced me to the girls.

“Taylor, this is Georgina and Philippa, my other sisters. Girls, this is Taylor, Marcus’ cousin” he said.

“Hey guys, nice to meet you girlies” I said. Georgina came over and gave me a welcoming hug.

“It is so nice to finally meet you!” she said. The word ‘finally’ threw me off, I decided to ask Reece about it later.

“Yea you too” I said with a smile. Philippa gave me a huge cheeky smile and gives me a hug too. Wow this family is big on hugging, I like it!

“Taylor, Reece talks about you whenever I talk to him. I am so happy to finally meet you!” she said. Hmmm, I give Reece a look as if to say ‘oh do you now?’ he blushed crimson red and said ‘Phil, shut up!’ I giggled and gave her a squeeze.

“Where did Liv, Marcus and Dave go?” I ask deb.

“Oh they’ve gone outside because Darren is cooking a BBQ” she said. She started walking towards the back door and waved me to follow. I did so and Reece came with me, he put his hand on the small of my back and I instantly felt better. This relationship we have is going to ruin me mentally, I can see it now, hopefully it ruins me physically too if you know what I mean. We follow Deb outside and find Liv, Marcus and Dave chatting to a man with glasses that I recognized, probably from one of the million photos Reece has of his family and friends in his apartment. He looked up when he heard us come outside.