Kit and Tully | Love or Music?

16 - Slow Burn

Felice heads off to bed when we get back to the house and Spike goes to curl up on the couch in the tv room. That leaves Tully and I sitting across from each other at the granite-topped island in the kitchen. After what happened, I can't sleep and I'm sure he can't either. I fill the kettle to make a coffee. The morning sun hurts my eyes.

"You knew where I was," he says. "You came looking for me."

"Yes, I saw you. In a dream. Don't you think that's weird?"

"I wish I could remember more." He pushes his hand through his hair and removes the stem of a leaf. He half-laughs and shakes his head, and I can't help noticing the dark circles under his eyes, as he puts the leaf on the countertop and stares at it. "It's hard to believe it wasn't all a dream, but I guess that's the proof we were really up there."

I flush, cringing inwardly at the things I said when I thought I'd lost him, relieved he's no memory of them.

But Tully is so deep in thought he doesn't notice. "The only thing I remember is this incredibly powerful sensation right at the end. Like I had to choose something, but it was super-important to get it right because otherwise everything would be screwed. It sounds crazy, right?"

He exhales and his shoulders slump. "Have you ever had one of those really vivid dreams that you're sure you'll remember, but when you wake up, it's gone completely, and no matter how hard you try, you can't find your way back into the dream?"

I nod, knowing exactly what he means.

"Well, I guess it was like that. I still feel the memory of it there, tugging at the edge of my mind."

"Aonghus was there," I say. "In the tunnel."

"Tunnel?"

"The chamber? Underground?" Surely he must remember that. "In the passage grave?"

"Kit!" Tully's voice is soft. "We couldn't have been in there. It's locked."

But the second entrance. I choke the words back before I say them.

Nobody believes in the second entrance. How could they when no trace of it was left?

I look away, embarrassed.

"I should go," he says when I don't reply.

"Yeah." I want him to stay but I don't know how to tell him that.

"Work," he says. "I need to get cleaned up."

"Does Mac mind you working days?" I ask. "You must be missing rehearsals?"

"What?" Tully stares blankly at the skeletal fragment of leaf on the work surface. "Oh, Mac. No. He doesn't need me. Baz is back."

"Baz is back?" This is a piece of news that Spike somehow missed.

"Yeah, he's broken up with Jenna and moved in with the lads. So they don't need me any more."

"That's a bummer."

"Oh look, it was a dream. It was never going to happen. This is reality." He eyes the stack of videos from More Video For U which he's bringing back to the shop. "I'm lucky to have a job. It helps Mam pay the rent and it puts petrol in the car."

"But surely Black Death are making money?"

"No, they're all broke." Tully lets a small grin break through. "It was a bit of an eye opener."

"Broke? But they've gigs every weekend and 'Plagued by You' is top of the Irish charts."

"You don't need to sell that many records to top the Irish charts. And don't forget there's seven of them, plus manager and all the equipment and the van. When everything is paid for, and what's left over is divided up, it's not that much. Still they're in a great position to break through to the next level. And that's where the money is."