String of Fate

Chapter Five

I'd always done my best to protect my son after the heart break that I had felt when my wife had died, the red string disappearing from my life with her. Since then, I lived for Charlie, protecting him, making sure that his life was happy. I went as far as to make sure that he had good friends, too. Sadly, I scared all of them away over the years – except one. Shane had withstood every one of my tests. He'd lasted five years so far. I didn't know if that meant that he was a good friend or if he was just hanging around the kid with the crazy dad.

Now, Charlie was sixteen and he didn't seem to need my help anymore. He had started to keep some things from me, like some of his friends. It turned out that he was a popular boy. Due to all the secrecy, I didn't think that he was even going to tell me when his string appeared, that's why I was so surprised when he did. Charlie did it well, too. He'd sat me down to explain everything and then brought the girl to meet me. Sophie seemed like a nice girl and they were good together.

A month had passed since then and I was starting to feel sorry for Shane, which was something that I never thought would ever happen. Now, Shane was being ditched again. At my house. In my hallway. Charlie had got a message from Sophie and he was rushing from the house, pulling his shoes on as quickly as possible. "Sorry, Shane, her parents said that we could meet up before she goes away for the weekend. I really want to see her again before she goes. We'll definitely go to the cinema tomorrow instead. I'll even treat you to the cinema and food beforehand."

"No worries. Can I borrow that DVD you said that I must watch before the movie?" Shane asked, gesturing to the stairway behind him. He did seem a little bit upset that he wouldn't be watching it with Charlie but at least he would get to watch it.

"Sure. It's in my room. Just go and grab it. I'll see you later." Charlie replied, gesturing upstairs. He finished slipping on his shoes, grabbed his jacket, and almost ran from the house, slipping the jacket on as he walked down the path. It was nice to see him so happy and in love, but it was a bit sad to see him ditching his best friend all the time for this girl. I did seem to remember Charlie mentioning something about it being Shane's birthday soon.

"What movie are you borrowing?" I queried as Shane turned towards the stairs, not knowing why I was trying to make a conversation. I hated the fact that I had to look up to him, too – I was the same height as his nose, and I wasn't classed as a short man. He told me the title of the movie – my favourite movie – and I blurted out the question. "Do you want to stay for a pizza and watch the movie?"

"Yes, please." He answered, looking extremely happy. I couldn't help but smile back at him. He actually looked like a little kid when he smiled and it was kind of funny. Lately, all I'd seen from Shane is him scowling, so, it was a pleasant change to see him smiling. That was always a good thing.

"So, go and get the movie from Charlie's room. I'll dig the pizzas out of the freezer and then we'll cook them before the movie. I'll see what else we have there too." I told him, heading out to the kitchen to raid the freezer.

Thirty minutes later, we settled in the living room with plates piled with pizza, a few smiley faces, and a couple of turkey dinosaurs. I managed to find a bottle of pop in the cupboard and we brought that in too, filling a glass each. I had a feeling that he was sitting too close to me, but I put the thought to the back of my mind and watched the movie.

At the end of the movie, I had kind of fallen asleep. I had gotten so comfy. Shane nudged me awake, and I realised that I had been leaning on his shoulder. I jumped up, now wide awake. "Oh my god, I'm sorry, Shane. Not only did I fall asleep during the movie, but I also fell asleep on you. Can we just, kind of, forget about that part of it?"

"Sure thing, David." Shane replied, making me breathe a sigh of relief. That would have been awkward. He glanced at the TV, and I did, too, seeing the DVD menu playing on loop. "That was a good movie. I'm guessing you've seen it a few times."