He Doesn't Remember

Ch 7

Not edited.

Seth was waiting to walk Donna home from work. She was no longer resisting his company and little Brenton's eyes lit up whenever he saw him. He made a promise to protect them both with every fibre of his being.

His heart swelled just thinking about her as he pushed aside the needs his body was telling him it needed. He wasn't going to ruin any chances he had by being too forward at the moment.

He knew she was counting down the days until she got a divorce from Trey and in his own mind he'd started to count them them down with her each day.

That was as far as he was willing to give his cousin in terms of respect. He'd wait for the divorce but if he was honest he was doing it more so for Donna than Trey. It irked him to know that someone he'd grown up with on a daily basis had turned out to be the one person he'd lost all respect and admiration for.

When his own parents died he and his brother Jonah were only seven and it was Trey's parents who were the only ones in the family to take both of them in. Others had offered to take one or the other but the whole separation of twins was never considered an option when it came to Trey's parents.

They took them in, clothed them, fed them and gave them a roof over their heads. They gave them an education that matched Trey's and if they'd wanted more then all they had to do was ask.

They became the parents they thought they should be to the twins... exactly as if they were their own children. There was a closeness that he revelled in. It was his aunt who first realised just how much he loved Donna although she kept it to herself until many months later.

The day he told his aunt he was bringing home a friend was one of the happiest he'd ever had. They were young and although they hadn't been together he'd had no doubt they would be one day. She called him her best friend.

Then she met Trey and to say the rest is history would be wrong because he persued her relentlessly. As far as Trey knew Seth and Donna were friends. He had no idea how Seth felt. No idea of the tears he'd cried when he was alone and no one could hear him.

No idea he wanted Donna to be his and his alone.

Like a good friend he'd listened as Donna told him all about the first date she'd had with Trey. Like a good friend he held her when she cried because she wasn't sure of the way she was feeling.

Like a martyr he told her it was love.

Her happiness was everything to him and if that meant he had to walk away then that's what he'd do... and he did... and rebelled.

He was the typical teenage rebellion. Drinking, smoking and as much as he hated to remember doing it he'd smoked pot. He was off the rails and there was no sign of him getting back on again.

The day he was caught by Marcus Porter as he tried to break into his car had turned out to be the best day of his life. The man had taken one look at him, unlocked the doors and told him to get in. He'd argued back and yelled and screamed while Marcus had stood by waiting for him to burn out.

He'd got into that car. Why... to this day he wasn't sure but he was glad he did. His aunt and uncle owned a house that would put many to shame but he could still remember the shock he felt as Marcus had driven up to the large mansion. It was huge.

For the first time in months he was quiet and subdued while he followed the man through the house and into a home gym. He'd handed him gloves, pointed to the boxing bag, told him to take it out on that and left him in the gym alone. Ten minutes later he was hitting that bag as if it was the only way he'd get to breathe again.

He'd punched away the hurt he'd pushed aside from losing his parents. He punched away the hurt he felt when Jonah got into the taxi on the day he took up his position after he'd enlisted in the army. He punched away the pain of being alone. He punched away the gripping of his chest that was him losing the girl he loved to his cousin.

He'd lost all track of time that day. He didn't know how long he'd been in that gym. He just knew that when he'd fallen to the floor covered in sweat and tears that Marcus had returned at some point and was sitting quietly off to the side waiting for him.

That was the day he joined the Porter household. He met Marcus' son Lucas and his daughter Julia. He met Christine, Marcus' wife and immediately he felt relief. He felt like he could breathe.

On Marcus' insistence he'd called his aunt and told her he was fine and being looked after. He apologised for the way he'd been behaving and promised not to be a stranger.

His aunt had known a day like that one was coming and wept to think that one of her boys was in so much pain she couldn't help him.

Now as he stood waiting for Donna he promised himself he wouldn't lose this chance. He'd waited years without acknowledging it and tried to push it aside by wining, dining and bedding many women but that first day when he knocked on her door he knew that time was over.

No more would he see other women. They had nothing on the woman who opened that door. She was a part of him and God help anyone who tried to stand in his way.