Brute Force

16

I tipped out my holdall on the double bed and studied the badly wrapped parcel. I wondered if I'd bought the right thing.

It was strange to think of myself having a family Christmas – if you could call it that. First, because it wasn't my family. Second, because my own family's Christmases had been a nightmare. My stepdad would get pissed the night before and come home and beat up my mum. The presents were normally clothes for school, and the dinner was always crap because my mum would be in shit state. The only good bit was not having to go to school.

I threw my few clothes into a chest of drawers and listened to the sound of laughter drifting downstairs. They had lost a partner and a father, but they still had each other. I had no one, male or female; no friends, let alone a partner. I hadn't been lying. They were doing me a favour. At least this trip meant I got to talk to someone normal for a few days.

'Nick?'

Tallulah stood in the doorway.

'One other thing . . .' She didn't quite know where to look. 'It's just that I don't want you to think this can go beyond friendship . . . for now, anyway. Everything is still very raw . . .'

'That's not why I'm here.' I edged past her into the corridor. 'Fancy a brew?'

Her eyes suddenly sparkled and I felt her breath on my cheek. 'At the same time, Nick, don't run away from it.'

'Milk and sugar?'

As I disappeared to the kitchen, I heard her laugh out loud for the very first time.