The Night We Met

Chapter 59

This chapter's much longer (over 2000 words) so get comfyy!

Riley's POV:

To say I was a little nervous right now would be an understatement. I was shivering with fear right now as we stood outside the front door of Charles's house. I know I was telling James not to worry before when we were driving up here, but now the anxiety is looming in on me and I don't know what to do with myself. In the fifteen seconds we've been stood out here, I've bitten my nails, twiddled my thumb, fidgeted with my fingers and twirled my ring, but none of those gestures could calm me down. It took James having to worm his arm around my waist and gently rub my sides whilst pulling me into him before I could take a deep breath and let my emotions settle.

"I'm right here," he whispers, kissing my temple before pulling away once we see a silhouette through the translucent doors. The sound of a key turning is heard before the door unlocks and I come face to face with an older version of James. They looked so alike, it was almost scary. He had James's dark curly hair, but his had some grey patches, he had the same tall figure, the same childish grin. However, once his eyes meet his son's, the smirk fades into nothing but a lip-bite. He wasn't expecting James to be here, let alone me, his girlfriend.

"James," he whispers. He stares at him for a moment before his gaze lowers down onto me and I find myself cuddling up closer to my boyfriend. I wasn't sure what to expect right now. "You brought a friend?" he asks but James doesn't respond, just stares at him sternly, making me bite my lip too. Things were more than a little tense right now, it was almost frightening. I had never seen James so austere in my life, excluding all of the Aiden encounters. "Come in," Charles says, stepping aside and opening the door wider.

I look up at James as he rubs my hip before nodding his head and leading me inside. Frankly, he was right. As big as this house may be, it wasn't very homely. Jason was six years old yet there were baby toys scattered all across the floor. Most of the toys must have been from when he was first born. Books had been ripped, thrown all across the carpet and the sofas were devoured in cigarette burns. 

I could hear a woman's voice coming from the kitchen. She was on the phone to someone, I think, but she was shouting and her words were slurred as if she was drunk. I wouldn't be surprised. Tons of drinks bottles had been opened and sat on every table available whilst corkscrews lay on the floor. It was more than just dangerous. I'm surprised social workers haven't got involved just yet. Maybe they have though and that's why Jason's currently staying at Deborah's? I honestly had no idea.

"Ri, careful," James says, squeezing my arm just as I was about to step on a stapler. I grip his arm to steady myself and then take a step back, looking up at him worriedly. I know I was the one who said I wanted to come here but now . . . I'm not so sure I can handle this. James sighs, reading the expression on his face and he shakes his head, looking towards his father. "Can we go for a walk, please? We need to talk," he tells Charles. He looks between the two of us before sighing and nodding. 

Since the front door was still open, he holds it for us and gestures for us to go back out so I sigh, still gripping onto James's arm as we go back outside, Charles following before shutting the door behind him.

For the first few minutes as we walked towards the nearest park, we remained in complete silence and to be honest, I felt completely and utterly awkward at the moment. I thought meeting Charles would be nice. I thought he'd have a nice home, a nice wife, happy with his own life, but clearly not. Clearly, there was a bigger picture than the one I had illustrated in my head.

Eventually, after a while of walking with James's hand linked with mine, we reach a grassy hill by the park. It was really beach since the seaside was only a couple of metres away but it'll do. I sat myself down on the grass and James sat himself down right beside me, worming his arm around the back of my body and leaving his hand on the grass by my thigh. I smile at him softly before looking up at Charles. Since the sun was in my eyes, it causes me to squint but soon Charles also takes a seat down in front of us and then his gaze instantly falls onto James. They had to start talking properly now. It was now or never.