It all started with Freshers.....

Part Twenty - Reaching Out

Three days later I was walking out of the hospital and I met Rachel. She was sat waiting on me, sitting idly on the hood of my car. She was dressed for the rapidly cooling weather. She was wearing an old faded pink hoodie which I vaguely remembered to have bought and owned for a short period of time until she borrowed it from me and never gave back.

Tears sprang to my eyes and I raced towards her and threw my arms around her. My best friend in the whole wide world. I was like a child as she hugged me back. I broke down then and cried. I'd broken my heart over losing my best friend and now I was so happy to have her back I couldn't believe my good luck.

Rachel pulled away first and held me at arm's length. "Oh darlin' you're so pale..."

"I'm so happy to see you. Rachel I'm so so sorry," I said before bursting into fresh floods of tears.

"It's okay. I sort of figured you would come round on your own. I'm sorry for being so horrible to you but I knew it would take me talking to you like that to realise what you did to Stephen." Rachel's grey eyes were dancing with worry. She bit her lip and paused waiting for me to speak.

"Rach, I'm so sorry for calling you names, being a brat and for trying to hurt you..."

Rachel pressed her finger to my lips. An odd gesture for her but it was her way of making me shut up. She smiled at me sadly and tipped her head to one side.

"Look I'm not here about me. I'm here to see if you've thought over your argument with Stephen."

I nodded. More tears ran down my face. A cool air made me shiver. It now felt more like winter than Spring. An utter contrast to the beautiful weather the previous week and a bit.

"Yeh I have. Rach, he's never gonna forgive me. There's nothing I can do to fix this," I whispered. "He'd be crazy to come back to a girl who doesn't appreciate him and can't treat him right."

"Yeh that's true but he is crazy," Rachel contradicted me lightly, "But he is crazy, crazy for you and everything you do."

I swallowed hard suddenly nervous. "How do you think I get him back?" I asked Rachel.

Rachel grimaced then looked down at my hand. She pointed towards my promise ring. A ring I'd never taken off. "You never took that ring off..."

"No, of course I didn't."

"Why not?" Rachel frowned as she attempted to understand what was going through my mind.

"I dunno. I just couldn't bring myself to do it..." I trailed off. Why hadn't I taken it off? I rarely took the ring off. It was too special to take off. If I took it off it was put straight back on. No one was allowed to try it on. It meant the world to me much like Stephen and Esme did so why should I take it off? Oh yeh, we weren't together anymore. My subconscious jabbed at me, hitting myself where it hurt, "And why's that? Because of you."

"Maybe the ring is your way to get him back."

"I dunno missus. How is he?" I asked anxiously. I was worried about him. I couldn't get him out of my mind especially if he were as broken as Rachel had made him out to be.

Rachel grimaced. "Not great. He's back at work. Working himself to death at the rate he's going."

"Is he working tomorrow?" I asked quietly. I was numbed. Stephen had always been a worker. He wasn't the workaholic I was but he was a genuinely hard worker. He worked every hour he could get.

Rachel shrugged. "Likely but I'm not sure. Ciara, he misses you."

"I miss him too." Tears leaked from beneath my eyes and I clumsily wiped them away.

Rachel placed her hand on my arm. "Then you know what you need to do... Get that damn boy back. That idiotic loveable fool."

I chuckled despite myself. "What do I do?" I murmured thoughtfully.

Rachel hooked her arm around me, pulling me in tight. "I dunno honey but make it big. Gesture time!"

The next day I called Stephen. I wasn't actually expecting him to answer. I was sat in the hospital cafe. My mind running over everything with Esme. She was gaining weight well and was now four pounds two ounces. Not bad for two weeks. She was filling out. Once she reached six pounds she'd be able to leave the hospital.

He answered on the second ting. I wasn't expecting that. When he answered the phone he sounded wrong. Broken. So unlike his usual bubbly self I almost burst into tears.

"Hey Stephen," I began slowly.

"Hey Ciara..." He trailed off uncertainly.

"Stephen... We need to talk..."

"Yeh. We do..."

"Are you free tonight? I think we need to do this face to face." I bit my lip nervously as he hesitated trying to think of a reply.

"Yeh I'll be there. I'll meet you at the wine bar at eight... Okay?"'

"Stephen... I'll meet you at home."

"Home?" He asked uncertainly.

"The house we lived in..." I explained. "Round nine."

"Okay. I'll see you then."

We cut the call and I pondered over the patchy plan I'd agreed on with Rachel I doubted it would work but I'd try.