Greyscale [✓]

Chapter 37

CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN

"I've never had another cousin before, other than Cam of course," Hannah mumbled, head down as she subconsciously counted every step she made, dreading going back to her house. She had upped and left without thinking about what she was leaving behind and now that the sun had set, she knew she had to return. Alex had offered to walk home with her, one arm flung over her shoulders as he helped hold her in place. Whilst she had known Alex through Kalila and her cousin's boyfriend Tyler, she hadn't been particularly close to him. But knowing they shared the same blood was strengthening and when the shock wore off, the two of them were glad.

She had stayed with the Davis family for hours, looking through old photo albums and listening to the stories she should have been brought up knowing. Her father wanted to know everything about her, asking question after question as her half-siblings listened carefully. Little Liam had eventually fallen asleep on the sofa beside her, his chubby legs resting in her lap and her hand smoothening down his dark blonde locks.

Before leaving she had finally admitted how she had stalked her father on Facebook in order to find his business and followed him home that fateful day. Alex had only laughed loudly, standing up with a start. "If you'd have just waited for me to accept your friend request a few days later, you woulda saw I was a mutual friend and could have asked me 'bout Uncle Chris anyway."

Hannah grinned wryly at that, remembering how she had purposefully deleted Facebook from her phone just before going to Rome in order to block out the world that always threatened to suffocate her. She was sick and tired of all the popularity contests and the way people climbed on others to reach to the top.

She was sick of people like Ashlyn and Gabriel and hoped that they had finally decided to leave her alone.

"You should come over to my place soon someday, alright?" Alex said, as they crossed the road, streetlights warming up the city in an array of dull gold. "I'd love to show you all the old home videos I have of everyone, really, but mostly of me and Alice. You woulda loved her and she would have been so excited to know about you, she always was a sucker for drama."

They shared some more stories, giggling together as they thought of Cameron and Tyler's reaction to their little discovery. By the time they reached her street, Hannah's heart seemed to have grown heavier, pressing against her ribcage with fear. She didn't know why but there was something about facing her aunt and uncle again after all that had happened that caused chills. Her phone had been out of battery from the moment she stepped off the plane and Hannah knew they would have been worried sick about her whereabouts without any way of contacting her.

Alex had offered to call Cameron and let him know but she had refused. For a few hours, Hannah wanted to forget about that half of her and focus on the half she had just discovered.

"Want some moral support?" Alex asked, looking down at her with concern shining back at her but she only shook her head, pushing him towards his girlfriend's house.

Hugging goodbye and promising to come over to his place with Kalila soon, Hannah took a deep breath and knocked on her front door. With the chaos earlier, she hadn't thought to take her keys with her. But she needn't have worried; the minute Cameron opened the door and realised it was her, her pulled her towards him in the tightest hug she had ever received.

"You're strangling me, you oaf!" she mumbled into his t-shirt, spluttering as she tried to catch hold of her breath. But inside, Hannah was secretly over the moon – Alex was great and all but he could never be a better cousin than Cam.

"Don't you ever run away like that again," he chided, frowning. "Or else I'll lock you up somewhere so you can't escape."

She only laughed in response, clasping her hands close as she heard footsteps running towards her. Before she had a moment to collect her breath however, her aunt pounced on her, both telling her off and mumbling I-love-you's in the same breath. "I'm so sorry," Sara whispered, over and over again. "I'm so sorry that we failed you, I'm so sorry, my baby."