Tonight The World Dies

Chapter 24: Brian

To my surprise, when I awoke the next day, it was past ten o'clock. The light was obtrusive to my eyes, but at least my headache had dulled to a low hum. I groaned as I rolled over to pick up my phone and see if anyone had texted me. Zacky had. He was apologising for what he said last night; I replied, telling him not to worry. He'd been right, it was my fault. But, I didn't have time to dwell on my miseries now: Avery would most likely be awake and ready to come home and I needed to get up and go get her, before heading to the impound to collect our things from the car before it was crushed. If Matt's recollection on the event was correct, then the car would be in a state beyond worth fixing. It wasn't the best of cars anyhow, and we'd only brought it for functional everyday use after Avery had decided to sell her Mustang to someone who'd have the time to keep it running - because it wasn't as if we didn't have the money. But, nonetheless, it had been getting old, and kept breaking down at inconvenient times and we'd needed something more reliable to get around in.

I pulled on a pair of jogging bottoms and doubled back to pick up a shirt after I remembered that Val would probably be downstairs somewhere. It was nothing she hasn't seen before but, I felt it would be common decency to cover up, and sure enough when I got downstairs I found Val was sitting in the kitchen at the table with a mug of coffee in one hand, her phone in the other and Pinkly curled up on her lap.

"She must like you." I commented tiredly, nodding toward Pinkly as I made my way over to the coffee maker, picking up the pot in order to pour myself a mug. I caught Val smile, before she placed her coffee down and began to gently rub the little Maltese's head.

"How are you feeling?" Val asked. She must've been up for a while because her face and hair was fully made up to her usual standard.

"Better." I answered before taking a sip of my coffee as I made my way toward the table to take a seat opposite Val.

"I took the liberty to find out where they took your car," Val said, sliding a piece of paper across the table toward me, "it's about a forty-five minute drive from here. They're expecting you. I said you might be there today or tomorrow, depending on how you felt." Val explained. I thanked her and picked up the paper, reading over all the info she'd put down.

"Did they mention what state the car was in?" I asked.

"They said it's not worth fixing." Val told me. I nodded; it had been what I'd been expecting.

I let out a sigh and ran my hands through my knotted morning hair.

"Are you okay?" I heard Val ask.

"Yeah, I just..." I paused and shook my head, "this is all just one horrible mess".  I muttered, before lifting my head back up to look around the kitchen. I wasn't even looking for anything in particular, but I felt it was necessary. "I need to get ready, so I can go get Avery." I said, abruptly standing from my chair before heading toward the hallway in order to make my way back upstairs.

"Brian." Val called, stopping me in my tracks. I turned around and met with her gaze. "You should probably take one of those pills before you do anything." She suggested, nodding toward the packet of painkillers still out on the counter from last night. They'd been pushed to the side, neatly put out of the way -  probably Val's doing because I don't even remember actually placing the tray back inside the box.

I went over and slipped one out of the tray before popping it into my mouth and washing it down with a mouthful of coffee.

"I know you didn't want me to say anything last night, but you need to hear this." Val said out of the blue. I looked up and gave her a frustrated look. She didn't seem fazed by it, and after placing Pinkly down on the floor, she stood and made her way to me. "I didn't tell you, because Avery was meant to tell you the night we came back...but I'd told her, if she wanted to keep it a secret, then I'd keep it from you."