Trust

✍ Preparations

2 weeks later

"Superman."

"Batman."

"Superman."

"Dude. Seriously." I grabbed a chip and threw it at my brother. "Batman can and will kick Superman's arse. All he needs is some kryptonite and Superman becomes a wimpy cry baby."

Adam picked the chip up from his shirt and tossed it into his mouth, chewing noisily as he took a swig from his can of Pepsi. "Are you kidding me? Batman's a human being. Superman's an alien with superpowers. Plus, he can fly. I don't see how you can argue with that."

"Would you two just give it a rest already? You're giving me a headache," Evan growled from the driver's seat. He glared at Adam and me in the rear view mirror. "Either you guys change the topic of discussion or we're listening to the radio for the rest of the way."

Adam smirked. I raised my eyebrows at him. I'd never noticed how arrogant his smirk was before. It probably developed not long after Evan arrived. Evan wasn't exactly the best example.

Adam leaned across and said conspiratorially, "Well, someone's crabby today. Must be his time of month again."

 I tried not to laugh. "Adam!" I elbowed him as hard as I could from across the seat. He laughed then swore as he spilt Pepsi on his jeans.

"It was a new pair as well," he whined. "When did you get so violent?"

"When did you become such a pain in the arse?" I shot back.

"Serves you right," Evan gloated. His laughing blue eyes met mine in the mirror and he winked before turning  his attention back to the road. It wasn't long afterwards that he turned up the radio, effectively drowning out any other hopes of a conversation.

The rest of the trip was uneventful. Hardly anything ever ended well when it involved Adam and I in a moving vehicle for more than half an hour, but surprisingly, the rest of the seven hour car trip ended in nothing more than a pair of Pepsi-jeans and an unfortunate mishap with a hotdog that left me with Mustard-shirt.

"This wedding better be worth all the travelling," Adam grumbled as he grabbed his bag from the trunk of the car.  He slid his sunglasses onto his head. "Do you know if there're going to be any hot chicks?"

I rolled my eyes. "I don't suggest hooking up with any girl, Adam. Most of the people at the wedding are going to be related to you."

Adam groaned dramatically. Evan took my bag out, passed it to me and we headed into the hotel lobby. While Evan checked us in, Adam and I roamed around. He was saying something about regretting his decision not to bring his swimming gear when Evan sauntered over.

"I've got room 205. You kids are in room 206, across the hall from me." He tossed the key card to me. I grabbed it and hurried after Evan as he headed in the direction of the lifts. "Your mum and dad will be in room 210."

"I have to share with Adam?" I frowned. "No offence, but he's kind of the worst flatmate ever."

Evan shrugged. "Not my problem."

"Is there room service?" Adam pressed the button for the lift. "I'm getting kinda hungry."

I stopped listening after that. My phone had buzzed with an incoming message. It was a photo of Chase all glammed up in a suit Evan had specially ordered for him for Jenny's wedding. Everything- from the shirt to the jacket to the pants- were made to fit him like a glove. He had been smiling softly when the photo had been snapped, his head tilted to the side as his fingers played with the skinny black tie around his neck. His grey eyes twinkled with gentle humour as he looked at something beyond the camera. He'd captioned it:

I be on my suit and tie.

Like the look?

I quickly fired off a text as I entered the lift with Evan and Adam.

Love it. Very 007.

I slipped the phone back into my pocket, becoming aware of how both males were staring at me.

"You guys are so in love, it's sickening," Adam said, pretending to gag.

"You weren't much better with Becky Litt," I reminded. Adam scowled.

"Don't get too involved, Pops," Evan piped up suddenly. I looked at him in utter suprise. His face was completely serious, brows dipping slightly into the middle. His eyes had darkened a little, his lips pursed into a thin line. "Sometimes, you think you're ready to swim so you jump into the deep end, but…" he let his words trail off as the lift stopped moving and the doors slid open. "I know you think…" Evan shook his head. "I mean, Chase is great and all, but just be careful, Pops."

I frowned. "You don't like Chase?"

Evan bit his bottom lip. "No. I do like him."

"Then what do you mean?" I said. "He's not going to hurt me, Evan."

Evan's expression switched into something I couldn't read. "Oh darling, they never mean to." He looked stricken for a moment, like he wanted to say more, but stopped himself at the last moment. His blue eyes were cloudy as he walked out of the lift. Adam stared at his back for a moment before looking at me. He shoved his hands into his pockets, looking more than a little uncomfortable. I wanted to say something to lighten the mood again, but Evan's words swirled around in my mind, repeating themselves again and again like a broken record.

They never mean to.

They never mean to.

They never mean to.

I had no idea what he meant.

*****

That afternoon, Jenny arrived at the hotel and whisked me away to get my bridesmaid dress sorted out. She looked really different from the last time I'd seen her. She'd tanned a lot over the summer. Her black hair was now cut into a pixie cut and she'd straightened it. If I'd seen her on the street, I probably wouldn’t have recognized her.

"So I was talking to this guy, right? And he's all like, 'Whatcha gonna do, bitch,' and  gets into my face and everything so I get really pissed at him." Jenny bit into her doughnut. "So, like,  I did the only thing possible: I kneed him in the balls, right? And the wimp is like rolling on the ground, groaning and cussing me out and says he's gonna call the police and shit. Oh, and you know what the worst part was?" She gave me an utterly scandalized look. "I'm the one who gets charged with assault. I mean, that guy had it coming to him. How dare he insult Quentin." She took another huge bite of her doughnut, chewing fast. "I mean," she said, spewing doughnut crumbs. "That was such bullshit."

I was laughing. "Uh-huh."

"Right?" Jenny threw her arms into the air suddenly, almost smacking a passer by in the face as she did so. She didn't seem to notice as she kept talking. "Like, this world is so utterly screwed up."

I was almost doubled over with laughter. "Right."

"So anyway, how's things going with you and Adam? Who's the really hot guy I saw back there at the hotel?" Jenny nudged me, wiggling her eyebrows outrageously.

"He's my godfather. His name's Evan."

"He's positively yummy," Jenny said. She finished off her doughnut and wiped her hands on a serviette. "How's your mum, by the way? Is she coming to the wedding? Please say yes. I really hope you say yes."

I smiled. "She's doing better. She's definitely coming to the wedding. In fact, it's all she has been talking about for the last few days."

Jenny clapped her hands in undisguised glee. A few people gave her funny looks as they walked past. "Wonderful!"

I laughed along with her, but there was a slight sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. After the wedding, my mum was going for the bone marrow surgery. The diagnosis from Doc Peters had been that after the surgery, mum could swing either way- towards life or towards death- and no matter how much I tried to think about it in a positive way, the odds of her survival continued to keep me awake at night.

A/N Next chapter's going to be more exciting, I promise! Have a good weekend, everyone <3