Flaunt - Van McCann

Through the Darkness

Abby's point of view
"Now I feel bad," I said while burying my hands into the pockets of my denim jacket. "Making you leave them all."

"You're not making me do anything. It's fine- oh hi Larry."

Larry was perched on a small wall on the other side of the road, looking aggravated with his phone pressed to his ear. He gave us a subtle wave, while muttering something to who I guess was still his mother on the phone.

We let him carry on with his own thing, and set off down the road in the direction of my house.

"Is Maddy okay?" Van asked, turning to face me as we walked.

"Yeah, she'll be fine. She just gets stressed out sometimes."

"Opposite from you then?"

"Yes." I laughed. Me and Maddy definitely had our similarities, but her ability to completely freak out in situations totally contrasted my tendency to rarely worry about anything. "But I can see why she's stressing, my brothers can be such a handful at times. I wouldn't want to be left with those little shits either."

He stifled a laugh. "How come she's having to look over them?"

"Mums at work. And I dunno where Jamie is, she didn't say."

He let out a humming sound to show that he understood. It was clear he could handle his drink a lot better than I could, as his full attention and gaze was on me. I could feel myself swaying and uneasy on my feet.

"What does your mum do?" he asked, I think just to keep the conversation flowing.

"She works in the reception of the hospital, not exactly the best job in the world," I explained. "That's why she works all the extra hours she can. She thinks it's best but honestly I think she should just stay at home more, my brothers are complete idiots and I think that's why. Makes me feel bad for not leaving home by now, she's got all these kids to look after by herself and it's hardly fair-" He listened to me babble on without butting in. It wasn't usual for me to open up about my problems, but alcohol never failed to make me ramble on about things nobody else cared about. "-shit, sorry I'm droning on, aren't I," I laughed nervously.

"No. No, I don't mind." He smiled, genuinely, and then diverted his eyes to pavement in front of us. "What does Jamie do? He's what, twenty now?"

"Yeah, he was twenty last month. He's some engineer, couldn't tell you what, like. I don't understand him when he tries to talk to me about work."

"I probably wouldn't understand either," he said laughing. "Music's the only thing I know, really."

"Good thing you're good at it then," I smirked. He turned to me, I could make out the sparkle in his eyes even though the darkness. "Would be a bit of a disaster if you couldn't sing or play a tune."

"I think I'll take that as a compliment," he said, tilting his head to the left slightly.

"You should, I don't hand them out often, you know."

"I feel very privileged, then."

"Oh my God, can you please teach me how to play the guitar one day?" I asked, all words coming out really quickly. I had a sudden thought and couldn't stop myself from letting it out.

"I'd love to! I need a new student, I was teaching Charlotte," he explained. It was strange how he brought her up, he didn't seem upset at all. In fact, he brought it up in a sort of humorous way. I didn't understand how he could pretend to be okay when it happened barely a few days ago.

I laughed fairly awkwardly, debating whether to take it any further. I wanted to let him know that he could speak to me, but I didn't want to spoil his mood and ruin his night by making him think about her. Before I even made my mind up on what to say, he spoke up.