Don't Let Me Fall Again

Chapter Seven - Return

Awkward was barely a word to describe the tension on the way back to America on the plane. Sinead refused to sit beside Ryan and I, forcing Sam and Drake to swap seats with her and James so she could sit in the row in front with him. So that meant that I was stuck with Kyle and Scott on my right side, and Ryan, Sam and Drake on my left. Luckily, they didn’t annoy me, obviously noticing how pissed off I was with my darling sister.

When we arrived in the airport in Boston, Ryan, Kyle, Sam and I went off to find Ryan’s car in the parking lot beside the airport. Eventually when we packed everything into the car, we were driving back to Roseville. We dropped Kyle and Sam off at their houses, and after that we dropped into the local pizza take-out because we were starving. I was sad to leave Ireland, but almost happy to get back to normality. At least here I’d be able to get away from Sinead’s icy glares whenever I wanted to.

Being back in the house was strange. When we walked in, everything was silent and it reminded me of the time when I found my dad. That’s why we usually left the radio on all the time. Travis used to say that we were weirdos, but he was the scumbag who started it all. Sighing, I brought my suitcase up to my room and began putting everything back in its place. Ryan plonked himself onto my tiny single bed, nearly falling off in the process, and went on my laptop to put on some good music.

‘Do you want to stay in mine tonight?’ he asked, logging into his new Facebook account.

I laughed. ‘Well I’m hardly going to refuse the offer with the way things are with Sinead … I’m sure she’ll be more than happy to get rid of her total shame of a sister for a night … But anyway, is there anything new and interesting on Facebook?’

‘Well, unless you count Kevin Rankin eating an apparently “delicious chicken sandwich” as interesting, then no …’ he chuckled, but then his smile dropped.

I frowned, walking over. ‘What’s the matter?’

‘Nothing,’ he said, clicking something. ‘Nothing’s the matter.’

I read the screen, looking for something for him to hide. ‘You’re a nutcase,’ I said, rolling my eyes.

‘A nutcase?’ he said, grinning. ‘Why thank you, my love.’

‘Yeah, you won’t be saying that when I lock you up in a mental asylum when we get older,’ I winked.

He smirked. ‘I think it’ll be the other way around by the time I’m finished with you.’

I packed my school uniform and other bits and pieces into a bag for the night in Ryan’s, said goodbye to James, who was watching television in the sitting room with Sinead, and got into Ryan’s car. We drove over to his apartment, listening to an old Nirvana CD on the way, and talked about how great being in Ireland was. He even said that he was dying to go back, but I told him that we’d have to stay somewhere away from Cormac.

‘He will warm up to the idea,’ Ryan tried to reassure me, taking my hand in his.

I sighed. ‘Yeah, but he’ll be like a glacier warming to the idea, and glaciers take a long, long time to melt.’

He pursed his lips. ‘We can always add some fire to the equation,’ he grinned.

‘Meaning what?’ I frowned.

‘The baby. Once he sees the baby, he won’t be able to keep being angry with any of us.’

I nodded, considering the idea. ‘But let’s not talk about it now …’

After we managed to drag Ryan’s suitcase and other bags up to his apartment, we were exhausted. Ryan jammed his key into the lock on the front door, and opened it. I was just about to follow him in when he suddenly held out his hand, restricting me from moving any further. Rolling my eyes, I tried to push past him and turn the lights on, but he refused to stop blocking my way.