Carnage: Book #1 The Story Of Us (Volume 1)(69)

For some reason I was freezing, so I smiled at him and said, “Marley George Layton, would you please get in here and give me a cuddle, I’m freezing my f*ckin’ tits off.”

He smiled back and said, “Fuck, it must be cold, coz you’ve got some f*ckin’ tits to freeze off there girl.”

He kicked off his shoes and got into bed next to me, repeating an act that we had carried out throughout our lives, up until these past five or six years. We both lay on our sides and I spooned into his back.

“Don’t you dare fart on me,” I told him.

“Oh please George, don’t make out, we all know you’re the farter of the family.”

“Yeah right Marls, anyway, at least when I fart it smells of roses, yours smells like something crawled up your backside and died.”

“Hark at you, f*ckin’ Avon arse.”

We both fell silent after trading insults, then I quietly said. “Marls?”

“Porge?”

“I’m so glad you’re here.”

“I’m so glad you wanted me here.”

“Let’s never not talk again.”

“No problem.”

“Porge?”

“Marls?”

“I am so sorry for everything.”

“I know you are Marls, let’s go to sleep.”

I slept soundly the entire night with my brother there to look after me; when I woke in the morning he was gone but I now felt like I was done with the crying and ready to face the world again.

My Mum was sitting on a stool at the bench top, flicking through a magazine when I walked into the kitchen, the radio was playing and my Mum instinctively lent across to turn it off as I came into the room. “Morning, its fine Mum, leave it on, please.”

She beamed. “Are you sure George?’

“I’m positive Mum, what time did Marley go?”

“He left about five, he had a flight to catch, they’re on a chat show or something in Ireland tonight.” I proceeded to make myself a coffee, aware of my Mums eyes on me.

“Thanks for looking after me Mum, sorry for all the trouble.”

“Georgia, you’re my daughter, looking after you will never be any trouble, I’m your mother, it’s my job to look after you.” I give her a cuddle and a kiss on the cheek. “You’ve had a lot of calls here and at the shop and someone called Cam dropped your keys off, Ash bought them over with her; they’re on the hall table.”

Shit, Cam, I would have to get in touch with him and explain where I’d been all week. I nodded as my Mum reeled off the messages, they were mainly from the girls at work, then she said, “Sean has called a couple of times a day, every day, he begged to come and see you but your Dad and Bailey were having none of it, but what do you want George? Do you want to see him? If it’s going to set you off again, then I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

She watched me, waiting on an answer as I sipped some more of my coffee. “Seeing him won’t set me off, I don’t think anything will set me off like that again, I don’t know why I reacted like that but, it won’t happen again.”

“I do,” my Mum stated. “Because you bottled everything up, you can’t do that George, you need to open up a little bit, let us all back in, we love you and we all want to help you move on. Who’s this Cam? Ash said he’s really nice.” Oh shit, how do I explain this one? “He’s really nice Mum but I don’t know if he’s for me.”

“Why, you need to move on Georgia, you really do; Sean’s not spent the last four years sitting around moping, he’s in the paper nearly every day with a different girl on his arm, all of them stunning… slutty looking but stunning.”