Fallen

Chapter Two

I said goodbye to Mark before climbing out of his car and hearing him drive away. As I fumbled about in my works bag for my keys, I soon realised I didn't need them. The front door was ajar slightly, allowing any weirdo or creep to saunter into the place. With an annoyed sigh, I burst through the door and made a point to slam it loudly behind me before following the noise of music and chatter into the kitchen.

"How many times have I told you to shut the door, Ellie? It's dangerous leaving it open."

My sister looked across at me from the kitchen table as did her friends sat with her. "One day, Anna, you'll not lecture me. For one day." She lit the cigarette in her mouth.

"I shouldn't need to be lecturing you, but I always do. You're twenty-six for fuck's sake. Surely you can shut a door."

Ellie jumped up from her seat and pointed at me with the hand holding her cigarette. "Watch your mouth."

I approached her and snatched the cigarette from her to put it out on the table. "And stop smoking in here. It's disgusting."

The anger on her face was evident. Before I could stop her, she grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the kitchen and down the hall back towards the front door. She glanced back at the kitchen as I tried prying her grip from my arm.

"That hurts. Get off me."

She looked down at her hand before letting go. I rubbed at my skin tenderly. "Stop embarrassing me in front of my friends then."

"All I'm doing is telling you to stop smoking in the house. You'll set off the alarms."

"They stopped working weeks ago. Fucking chill."

I flung my arms in the air. "How can I chill when you've just told me we've had no working alarms for weeks. Jesus, El. Now I've got to go out and replace them."

"It's fine. We'll get new batteries tomorrow. Just let me have tonight to relax, will you?"

I looked up at my sister. We both knew she'd be passed out for most of the day tomorrow, leaving me to finish a full work shift and find a shop that was open at night to buy batteries while she laid in bed recovering from a hangover. I wanted to argue back, but right now I just needed to lie down in a quiet room for a while.

"Just promise me you'll shut the front door when you get back later tonight."

She smiled and placed her hands on my shoulders. "I promise, baby sis. Now I'm going to go back to my mates and drink until my body can't take it anymore."

I sighed. "Just stay safe, alright?"

Ellie patted my cheek like I was a child. "Of course."

Somehow, I didn't believe that she would. I marched back into the kitchen before Ellie could stop me. As soon as her friends heard me come in, they fell silent. I looked at each one of them, quickly realising Leah and Sammy were all under the influence of something. The only one that wasn't was Nick.

"Can you make sure Ellie gets back safe tonight, Nick? I'll only worry about her tonight."

He smiled up at me. "Of course. She'll be safe with me."

I nodded. "Thank you. Have a good night."

"And you, Anna."

I glanced at Nick to watch him drop me a wink. I shook my head and smiled. "You never stop do you?"

He shrugged. "I'm naturally charming. What can I say?"

I chuckled and met Ellie in the doorway, kissed her on the cheek and made my way upstairs to rid myself of this uniform and crawl into bed for some much-needed sleep.

*****

That sleep was interrupted by clattering and hushed whispers coming from downstairs. With a groan, I pulled myself out of bed and down the stairs to find Ellie leaning heavily over the kitchen sink. Nick was stood beside her. He rubbed her back and held her hair up as she threw up in the sink. My sigh caught Nick's attention.

"Sorry, I couldn't get her to the toilet quick enough," he murmured.

"It's fine. Better than the carpet like last time."

Nick agreed and watched me head to the fridge to find a bottle of water. I handed it to him and sat at the table as he forced Ellie to drink it between her vomiting. She tried batting it away, but Nick used his charm and wise words to get her to take a few swigs. He made sure she swallowed it before putting her arm around his shoulders.

"Let's get you to bed, El," Nick said, wiping at the corners of her mouth with kitchen roll. She mumbled something incoherent as Nick led her up the stairs and into her room. I followed and helped Nick carefully lay her out on the bed. Nick and I had done this many times that we had our own little routine whenever Ellie came in drunk out of her mind. Nick took her shoes off as I put the bottle of water and some aspirin on her bedside cabinet and a bucket on the floor.

We were finally able to tuck Ellie into bed before creeping out of the room and back down the stairs. Nick headed towards the front door.

"Thanks for looking after her tonight," I said. He stopped and turned. "I don't know what would happen to her if you weren't there."

Nick smiled. "She tried leaving with this dodgy guy tonight, but Leah managed to stop her."

I rolled my eyes. "Of course she did."

"Hey, you should come out with us one night and really see what El's like when she's had a few."

"I'm not going out just to babysit my sister because that's exactly what will happen."

Nick couldn't argue with me there. "It might give me the night off."

I gave him a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry about El. She's very much like our mother when it comes to a drink. I'd never say that to her face though."

Nick laughed softly. "God no, unless you wanted to die. Have you heard from your mum at all?"

I sat down at the bottom of the stairs. "Nope, not a thing. It's been almost a year since she's bothered to call us last. I guess she's got her new family in Spain to keep her busy now."

Nick sat down on the step beside me and patted my knee.

"Good riddance anyway," I murmured. "It's not as though we ever needed her."

"She was a bit useless."

"The worst," I agreed, "but she's gone now and there's nothing we can do about it."

Nick put his arm around me. I looked up at him. "Ellie's lucky to have you."

I smiled and felt Nick's arm squeeze me tight. "Thanks, Nick."

"Goodnight, my love."

I watched as he stood up and quietly let himself out of the house. The place quickly became too silent for my liking so I dragged myself back to bed to get a few more hours of sleep before the day started up again.