Bad Blood

33.

I couldn't believe how quickly Jazz fit into my life. It was, and as cliche as it seemed, like she'd always been there. And Max and Willow were just the sweetest kids. I threw my self right into being an auntie and I began looking after them at the weekends while Jazz worked in a cafe. I also had the pleasure of being invited to her wedding. It was a only a few months away but she squeezed me into her bridesmaids line up.

I couldn't believe how similar we were. We had the same food likes and dislikes. We enjoyed the same films. Though we'd spent our entire lives apart, not knowing of each other's existence, we had an instant bond. She'd been raised by her adopted parents, Sue and Michael, who accepted me like one of their own. I'd gone from being completely alone to having a whole new family. Our birth mother had lost custody of me and then gone on to fall pregnant again not long after and Jazz had been taken away at a day old. Unlike me though, she had always known about being adopted.

'What was your adopted mum like?' She asked me one day. I had sighed happily and told her all about my Gran. 'She sounds amazing. I wish I could've met her.'

'She was amazing.' I agreed. It had been a year since her passing. I think she would've been glad that I'd found my sister. I only wished she'd known about her and had been able to adopt us together.

'And what about that guy you were with when we met? Is that your boyfriend?' I'd had so many questions to ask about her life that we'd barely spoken about mine. I'd not seen him since New Year's Day. He'd left it up to me to contact him and I still wasn't entirely sure if that's what I'd wanted.

'Hes, erm, he was my boyfriend. Now were just...I don't know. We don't really get on anymore.'

'He was really nice when he rang me and explained I had a sister. It's a shame you guys don't talk.'

'We just didn't work well together.' I lied. In fact, we were perfect together. And if it wasn't for what he'd done, we'd still be together. I told the story of our childhood and how I'd moved away for uni and we hadn't spoken for eleven years. Then how we'd nearly moved in together before we had an argument about work. She didn't need to know the truth.

'Why don't you give it another go?' She suggested. I shrugged. I missed his company so much. I missed being able to pick up the phone and talk to him like we used to. In the time we'd been apart I'd had a lot to think about. I had a whole new life now. I'd been able to forgive what my Mum had done to me. I finally understood why my Gran had lied to me. And looking at Jazz and how well her life had turned out, I was filled with such hope for my own future. I'd even got a job at Channel Four as a film correspondent. I would be on television, presenting my opinions to the nation. Everything had clicked right into place. There was just that one, Dan shaped piece missing. 'Invite him to the wedding. After all, if it wasn't for him, we wouldn't have met.'

She was right. And it was a good excuse to reach out to him. I waited until the week before the wedding and began writing out a text to him. That way he could use the short notice as an excuse not to come. I didn't know how to word it. I must've wrote and deleted it a million times. I didn't want to come across too casual. But I didn't want him to think I was inviting him because I had to. In the end and after a few glasses of wine, I bit the bullet and just rang him.

It rang eight times and I was about to hang up. What if he didn't want to talk to me? What if I had missed my opportunity and he'd already moved on?

'Hello?' He asked.

'Hey Danny.' I was smiling nervously to myself.

'Gracey!' I could hear the excitement in his voice.

'How are you?'

'I'm good, you?'

'I'm good, really good. You're not busy are you?' I quickly checked.

'I'm never too busy for you.' He laughed. It was infectious. So much so that I could feel tears filling up behind my eyes.

'Look...I...I just wanted to say sorry...and thanks, I guess.'

'You've got nothing to be sorry for. I'm the one who should be apologizing. I should never have put you in the position I did and I'm sorry I hurt you. Again.' I didn't want to talk about all that. Not yet.

'Are you free this weekend?' I changed the subject.

'Yeah, I'm off.'

'Its my sisters wedding and I wondered if you would you like to come with me?'

'Of course I'll come with you.'

'Great!' I declared. I was stupidly excited. I couldn't wait to see him. 'Well, how about I text you the address and times and stuff and I'll see you there?'

'Sounds good to me Gracey.'

'Great. Cool. Yeah. I'll see you Saturday then. Bye!' I felt like a child when I hung up. I was practically bouncing off the walls. And then an hour later I was sat in my study nervous as hell and panicking about it all. What if we still couldn't talk without being awkward. I could potentially ruin my sisters wedding. There was one person I could talk to.

'Hey chicken, I hope you're well and growing that baby nicely. Sorry for the lack of contact, I hope you can understand why. I've just invited Dan to my sisters wedding (so, I have a sister) and now I'm freaking out. I need a friend! Xx' I hadn't spoke to Olivia in forever. I hoped she wasn't too mad at me. But within seconds she was ringing my phone and we spent the next three hours talking.

'Have you found out what you're having yet?'

'Its a girl.'

'Oh my gosh are you kidding? Olive that's fantastic. I'm so happy for you. I can't believe you're going to be a mummy soon.'

'Only a month to go. Scary, right?' She laughed.

'Its amazing. You'll be perfect. Is Woody excited?'

'He's already picked out a name and we've turned your old room into the nursery.' I felt a pang of guilt. I remembered how Dan had looked at baby names when we thought I was pregnant. As if she'd read my mind, he was the next topic.

'He's gutted about you two still.'

'Yeah?'

'Woody says he's not been writing or joining in with anything. I hope he does come to the wedding and you guys can patch things up.'

'But he might not want that anymore.'

'You can only try.' She mused. 'You'll have to let me know how it goes.'

'I will, sweetie and I will see you real soon, I promise.' We said our goodbyes and I felt a lot better after speaking to her. Now I just had the wedding to look forward to. And seeing Dan for the first time in months.