Swell (Complete)

Chapter Twenty-Four (Part Two)

"And now I'm staying here, waiting up, why can't I shake it?
Weighing up everything that I've been chasing
Slipping right through my hands,
Now I'm just gonna let it, I'm just gonna let it land."

....

It was one thing to imagine being in somebody else's place on a date, but actually planning one made Will feel like he was caught in a rip.
He cursed himself for not asking Adora during music that day.
They had a day decided, but that was all.
Should he walk to school so they could go places together on foot?
Should he borrow a car from the family so he could drive?
Would she be comfortable getting around on the back of his bike longer than just the trip from the hospital to her home?
Why hadn't he asked these questions during music? Or even during lunch after music?
He tapped the corner of his pick on the rim of the guitar's sound hole as he sat on his bed.
He was taking a break from the band's playlist and going back to some of his old favourites.
"Hey, can I come in?"
Marti's voice drew his attention to the door and he suddenly felt sick.
History repeating.
Her best friend kissing him, asking him on a date. Shit.
"Sure." His voice was low and husky as he tried to swallow the imaginary water.
Marti smiled and sat opposite him on his bed, for a while she just sat and smiled at him.
"What?" He finally spoke up, unable to handle the discomfort of her expression.
"Adora told me she kissed you." There was a gentle teasing on Marti's tone and it made his shoulders slump in relief.
"Yea." He looked down at his sheet music with a warm face.
"I suppose it was inevitable really." Marti continued.
"What do you mean?" He frowned up at her.
"Well, it works, you two work. At least, I think you do. I mean the date will help decide, but still..."
Had Marti foreseen Adora asking him out?
"I have no idea what to do..." He confessed.
Marti giggled. "Want help? Oh my gosh... Does Tom know yet?" Her excitement suddenly broke into seriousness.
"I-I haven't really seen him outside of class."
Tom was with Debbie, but would it still hurt his brother that Adora liked Will instead of Tom?
His heart suddenly sank and he began to think he should tell Adora he couldn't do it.
"Well, I guess... Debbie will keep him busy enough that it shouldn't matter. You know she asked him to the dance right?" Marti forced a smile. "Will you ask Adora? We're going dress shopping on Saturday in the city."
"Um..." Will hadn't really thought about the dance, at all. He barely remembered it was a thing outside of band rehearsal, let alone thinking about going.
"I don't know if there's anyone I want to ask, I mean, I did think about Iain, but when he punched Tom... It's just inappropriate now, you know?" Marti had a strange energy about her this afternoon, part of it humbled him, and part of it worried him.
Was she really OK with Adora and him going out?
He knew Adora was different to Liss, he was actually positive that Adora would go out of her way to make sure Marti didn't feel left out, Liss had been more focussed on her own feelings than others.
Adora was the opposite, Will was sure of it.
"Well, I guess you could ask Brett if he is thinking of going. Or his cousin."
"Urg. Gus is a shit." Marti snarled and Will was taken aback.
"What?"
"He basically tried to rape Adora at the waterfalls Sunday, I watched the whole thing, they didn't know I could see, but he was all over her and she was trying to push him off, in her gentle way."
"You're kidding?" Will thought about the relationship between Brett and Adora, her devastation when he'd been attacked.
"No. The sooner Gus goes home, the better."
The thought of Adora's card popped into his head and he fell silent.
Could it be Gus?
He hadn't been there at Dodge's party, at least not that they had known. Would he attack his own cousin so he had reason to come and stay?
"What's wrong?" Marti's erratic energy suddenly tamed with worry.
Will tried to think of any moments he'd seen Gus with Adora; there hadn't been many, but he knew they'd had a summer relationship.
"Nothing, I just, I think you're right. The sooner he goes home, the better." Will nodded.
"Right. Of course I'm right, now, what are we going to do about you, Tom and Adora? Should we tell him, or let him find out through the grapevine?"
Will struggled to reconnect to the conversation now the idea was in his head. He imagined Gus trying to force himself onto Adora; her small frame struggling against him by the waterfalls.
He didn't know Gus, but Brett did. Maybe Brett could kill Will's suspicion.
"It's probably not fair to not tell him." Will finally responded to Marti's expectant look.
"Good."
All he could do was nod; the weight was sinking into his chest as he thought about Brett's attack, his cousin, and Tom.
Was it going to be worth it? A date with Adora?
He'd been surprised, but the idea now left a well of excitement in him.
He had to at least try.
He'd just have to talk to Brett, and Tom.



Debbie frowned as she saw Adora waiting by her locker before school.
"What do you want?" She asked her ex-friend as she opened her locker and started to hastily swap books.
"Advice."
The word made Debbie freeze and look at Adora; the word had been quiet, uncertain and piqued her curiosity.
"Oh?" Debbie leaned against her locker and raised her eyebrows in waiting.
Adora looked down at the ground and tucked some of her long hair behind her ear. No ponytail today, Debbie would be going crazy with the fly-aways that would be occurring in the Thursday's breeze.
"Well..." Adora was struggling, and Debbie felt some kind of satisfaction in that knowledge. "I asked Will out."
"What?" Debbie laughed.
Adora glanced at her uncomfortably for a few moments before she looked back down. "I asked Will out on a date, and I don't know what to do."
Debbie was trying not to laugh too hard as she went back to moving her books in her locker. "Why ask me?"
"You know how to do dates; you know how to make the first move. I-I've never done that before, and I kissed him in music and..." Adora's fumbling shyness and embarrassment was making Debbie's morning.
"You think Will is better than Tom?"
"What?" Adora's face was mortified at the suggestion of competition between the brothers. "No. Tom just... Debbie... Please. I think I really like him."
Debbie paused and studied the pale face before her, after a few moments she groaned and looked back into her locker. "Fine. But have you guys told Tom yet? Because you should."
"I think Will is going to do it before form room." Adora looked around the growing crowd of students in the hall. "So, this morning."
"Good." Debbie felt a brief flash of love for her old friend, almost proud that she had made a move on a boy. "So, what is planned so far?"
"Not much. Just us going out tomorrow after school. I'm going to take him to the cove."
"Of course you are." Debbie rolled her eyes. "Tom's date on repeat. How original."
"Well, no. Just... Shit." Adora's hiss made her look at the short brunette. Adora's face was furrowed in a frown and she had a hand on the back of her head.
"What?"
"I think someone just pulled my hair." Adora's voice was indignant and Debbie couldn't contain her snort.
"Why would they do that? It's more likely that it got caught on someone walking past. You're that short it could have been a bloody bracelet or watch." Debbie smirked.
"Yea, right." Adora rubbed the back of her head a few times before lowering her hand. "Should I not take him to the Cove?"
Debbie closed her locker and sighed. "Well, the thing is Adora, it's you. So I guess its fine. Are you guys going to walk around town or ride?"
She leaned against the metal door and folded her arms over her stomach.
"I-I hadn't thought about that." The little colour in Adora's face faded and Debbie tried to imagine Adora and Will riding one of their bikes around during the date.
It was an amusing image to imagine Adora on the back of a motorbike, or Will trying to stand on the back of her push bike.
"Well, maybe you should, and while you're at it think about food and what you might do when it comes time to say goodbye at the end of the date." Debbie said with a factual tone. "Those are what you want to think about. Good luck." Debbie pushed off her locker and left Adora standing alone.
At least if Adora was dating Will, Tom was safely hers. The thought gave Debbie a soft smile and she pulled her mobile out of her pocket.

'Tell me when you get to school. Xoxo.'

She sent the text off to Tom and wondered how he would handle the news that Adora had kissed Will after rejecting him.
Not that it really mattered; Debbie was there for him anyway.

The early morning rain made the school traffic worse than normal. Nobody wanted to be outside. Will had tried to convince Tom to walk, but all Tom could think about was that the clouds were threatening to open up again.
Marti sat in the middle of the backseat as they crawled the short distance along the Esplanade towards the school.
"Tom, seem as things are so slow... I have something to tell you." Will broke the vocal silence and his voice was that grave that Tom frowned in his direction as they approached the round about.
Marti shifted in the back seat and Tom glanced into the rear-view mirror.
What was wrong?
His stomach started to twist for his siblings. "What?" He forced himself to look back at the car ahead of them as it took off through the round about. He eased his foot down on the accelerator and moved up.
"Adora kissed me, and we're going on a date tomorrow."
The words were low but clear, for a moment his foot pushed the pedal all the way to the floor.
"Tom!" Marti's voice screamed from the backseat and by the time he had slammed on the brakes, they were on the other side of the round about, and he had pulled over to the side.
His hands clenched the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles were white.
Will seemed to sink back in the passenger seat.
"What did you say?" Tom looked over to his twin; almost a complete reflection of his own face, except Will was a pale shade of shock from the round about run.
"Adora asked him out." Marti leaned forward between the seats. "What the hell were you doing then Tom? Trying to get us killed?"
"You're OK with this?" Tom looked at her angrily.
"Tom, I have to be, it's not my choice, it wasn't his either, Adora made the first move, Adora asked the question. I respect my best friend, and you should respect her too. I'm walking from here." Marti snarled at him and he watched over his shoulder as she pulled her bag across the seat and got out of the Jeep.
His heart was racing from the near miss at the round about.
Will was looking down at his shoes.
The silence was electric between them and Tom let go of a long breath.
Marti was right, of course. He was with Debbie now, and Will definitely wasn't doing this to hurt him.
"Do you like her?" He asked quietly, the car idling as the traffic crawled by and Marti disappeared from view on the sidewalk.
"I think I do." Will nodded slightly.
He thought about the excitement Will had held when Elissa had made her move.
It was always going to be the three of them; Will, Marti and whoever injected themselves in between his siblings. Tom remembered some of the hurt he felt that he had been left behind when the trio had gone out in Richieville.
Tom felt the anger slither from his body as he looked at the road ahead. Will was a much better match for someone quiet like Adora.
It wasn't like she had immediately made the move after dumping him, and he did have Debbie.
Glorious, devoted Debbie.
He closed his eyes. Will could have kept it secret instead of risking a fight between them, but he hadn't.
"Are you OK? Do you want me to cancel it?"
Tom looked at Will with a surprised frown. "What?"
"Well, if it upsets you..."
A weak smile crossed his face and he shook his head. "No. I blew it well and truly with Adora, and Debbie is head over heels. Don't cancel. Tell me the plans though, are you going to ride around on your bike with her?" Tom put the blinker on and started to look for a break in the traffic to pull out of the car park.
He could see the relief even from the corner of his eyes as Will's shoulders sank back into the seat.
"I was going to borrow Mum's car." Will said thickly. "I haven't really asked how she feels about riding around. We actually haven't talked much about what we are going to do."
"You should. Are you just going to have dinner?"
"Well, we're going after school." Will looked out of his window as they started crawling to the school again.
"Have you checked the weather? She's always cold, so make sure you have warm hands." Tom remembered walking along the pier with Adora and the shock of how cold her little hands had been.
"It's meant to be mild, cloudy but dry." Will muttered.
If it hadn't been Brett, at least Will would try and treat her well and keep her safe.
"Do you want to borrow this?" Tom gestured to the dash of the Jeep.
"No, Mum's car will be fine. But, thanks."
It was as close to a peace offering and blessing as Tom could manage.

____

Hey guys!

It's come to my attention that Wattpad has a mind of its own when I post, it takes a lot of spaces out in between words and I thought when I first started to see it that I had been typing too fast and not pushing the space bar hard enough, but the spaces are in the original working document, and as I write this note there's no missing spaces in the post!

Let's hope it stays that way WattPad!

<3