Loving Lucifer [COMPLETE]

Chapter 7

Missing you terribly... x

A soft smile found its way onto my face.

"Katy's in love..."

"Shut up!" I said, throwing my hairbrush at his face. I hadn't even realised he was standing there.

"You are! I knew it!"

"I'm going to wipe that grin off your face, you little..." I dashed after him, across my parents' house. He laughed and screamed out the same line over and over again until I pinned him against my parents' bedroom door and glared into his eyes. "Shut up."

He stuck his tongue out at me. "Mum and dad are out, you big blubbering idiot."

I let him go.

"I was just playing," he added defensively.

"It's okay. Just...I don't want anybody to make a big deal out of this...okay?"

"Cos last time you were in love you got all embarrassed when he dumped you. Grow up; some of us have real problems."

I could feel my face flushing. My family would never know what had really gone down with the Jason situation. I'd let Danny think I was the immature older sister he thought he had, who couldn't handle being broken up with over the course of a few months. I would bite my tongue because anything I said was bound to hurt him.

"Just please don't tell them yet...it's nothing serious so far and I don't want them to get excited over nothing."

"Whatever you say, sis."

He shrugged me off.

"I'm going to play with Amy for a bit," I said, disappearing into my niece's room and shutting the door behind me. She sat on the floor, solving a small jigsaw puzzle. I read her face, scrunched up in focus, adamant on solving the problem in front of her. I longed for the time when my biggest problem was a jigsaw puzzle. I shook away the thought. Why was I being negative? My brother had no idea of what Jason had done. It wasn't his fault that he thought I was being immature. According to him, all I had gone through was a breakup, while he'd had to grasp the basics of fatherhood through immersion on his own.

And besides, I was at the beginning of a very positive thing now. I wouldn't let Jason ruin this. I pulled my phone out of my back pocket.

I miss you too x

It didn't take longer than two minutes for him to reply.

I want us to talk when you get back...

My heart sank. He'd just said he missed me, and now he was asking for us to talk. This could mean nothing good.

Sure...

I'm not going anywhere, if that's where your mind has wandered.

It just sounds so ominous.

Some of it is. But I'm not going anywhere if you don't ask me to.

I won't.

Don't bet on it, beautiful Kate. x

I didn't reply, at a loss of what to say. Of course I wouldn't bet on it; I couldn't bet on anything anymore. I knelt down and guided Amy until she solved the puzzle, and then we got out her blocks and started building a small town.

"How's work?" my mother asked, "And classes."

"Everything's good," I replied, "I've handed in all my assignments. Waiting for results now. I only have a couple of exams in January. And Terry has always treated us nicely, so I'm quite lucky with shifts. It gives me enough time for myself."

"How's Matty?"

"He's okay," I replied, "Getting straight As on late assignments, as usual." I smiled at the thought, but it wasn't as bright as I would have liked it to be. Matt had really opened up to me about his feelings for Sam after he'd blurted it out, but it had been radio silence since then; he'd said nothing could help the situation and she was in love with Todd. He just wanted her to be happy. It broke my heart to think of my best friend in love with my other best friend, whom he could not have.

"And Samantha?"

"Oh, she's fine. She's spending Christmas with her family."

"Is she still dating that lawyer?"

"Yes. He's actually meeting her back home with her folks for New Year's."

"Things seem to be getting serious," my mother replied. She cut up a piece of gammon and put it into her mouth before adding, "And have you met anybody interesting?"

My brother subtly lifted his eyes off his plate and met my gaze with a smirk, to which I kicked him lightly in the shin.

"I meet people all the time...it's quite busy at college."

"Don't grill her," my father said supportively, "She'll meet someone when she's ready and she'll tell us when she's ready to as well."

"I wasn't grilling her!" my mother said.

"It's fine, guys." I smiled and bit into my gammon, "It's totally fine."

"I just worry that you don't go out...that you're not enjoying yourself. You're so serious sometimes, Katy."

"Mom...it's fine..." I said, looking at her. "I'm actually dating someone, but it's nothing solid yet."

My brother raised his eyebrows but I decided to ignore him.

"Oh..."

"I know I didn't say anything, but I don't want to make a big deal out of it until I'm certain it's going somewhere."

"Of course honey, we understand," my father said, "That's very wise of you."

"I'm just so happy to know you're meeting new people," my mother added, "I just worry about you because I love you dear...you know that, right?"

"Of course, mom. Of course I do."

I opened the middle drawer to get another tea towel, realising the one I was using had become too wet to function. I made my way over to the sink and continued drying up the dishes as my father washed. Dinner had been delicious – my mother was a wonderful cook – but I was glad it was over. The table had been tense, with a lot of questions and revelations I wasn't entirely too comfortable with yet. The truth was, dinner with my family had been uncomfortable since the entire Jason situation – I had always hated keeping secrets, and this was the one I could never tell.

"Katy...don't let your mother's questions rest too heavily on your mind – she's just scratching at the surface because she misses you. She's really not asking you for all the details." He paused, "You were a father's dream in high school; mostly As and Bs, no parties, no boyfriends, generally happy...but your mother was always worrying that you needed to get out more." He smiled at me, "So now that you're not living at home anymore, she constantly needs to know that your life is more than just books and part-time jobs. Me? I'll buy you all the Enid Blyton you could want if you promise to stay seven and at home."

I let out a laugh, but turned my face so he could not see the tears that had formed at the thought of innocence. 

"Thanks for the pep talk, dad...I know she's coming from a good place. It's really fine," I said, after swallowing up my unshed tears. 

"So...am I going to have to beat this guy up or what?"

I put down the plate I was drying and let out a deep, genuine laugh. My father could barely muster up the will to hurt a fly – he was the nicest guy I had ever had the luck to know in my entire life. He looked back down at the pot he was washing with a serene smile on his face, but the thought of his obliviousness immediately wiped my own smile away. The truth was, my father was the nicest guy around, but I knew he would have killed Jason with his bare hands had he been there when it happened.

"Are you okay, Kate?"

"Super," I replied, flashing him a smile.

I was just glad he'd never know.