Count On Me

Part Thirty One

Chapter Thirty One

'The ball's in your court now.' Those words echoed in Lizzie's ears as she tried, desperately, to function. Nate appeared within seconds of Oscar disappearing, and she'd been tied up with sorting out food for them all. Her two day hangover was staying away for as long as she was busy, but she had spent an exceptionally large part of the weekend behaving to excess, and that wasn't like her.

She knew the consequences weren't far away. But with Nate sat on a stool beside her talking about everything he'd done on the weekend in great detail, she was glad that she was holding any ill feeling at bay.

Before dinner time she had a text from Vicky, which echoed her feelings.

"OMG, feel like death, talk about delayed reaction. Was fun though, and now that you've got a more stable babysitter, we can do it more often. What you reckon? Hope it's...going ok ;)"

She laughed at the winky face that ended the message. Vicky was hanging on for any gossip, any gory details, But there wasn't anything to share. She hated that the word 'yet', hung in the air. Because Oscar was planning something, she wasn't sure what, but he was starting to lay down his intentions and she was petrified.

Oscar had come to the local gym, partly because he hadn't worked out properly in weeks, but also because he knew that Lizzie both needed, and would be frustrated by the space he was giving her. He ran on the treadmill, his earphones pumping thrash metal at a ridiculous volume into his brain, it was his greatest motivation. Then he moved to weights, making his body scream. But that sort of pain blocked out the emotional turmoil that was so new to him. He thought of Lizzie every time he closed his eyes, and particularly those odd moments when she let go, when she'd let him in, both physically and emotionally. The more he thought about it, the more he realised that he had to date her, treat her, make her feel special. That was so important, he'd not even tried to show her how he felt, yet he expected her to drop everything he threw her way, snippets.

His mother was his key, as predicted his parents had adored Nate, and he'd loved the attention, the love and of course the toys that they bought him. That made him chuckle, Nate's face when they gave him gifts for no other reason other than he was there.

They needed time away, the two of them, when they weren't being parents, weren't tied up with the trivialities of life, and when she wasn't grieving for her sister. They needed time for them. He just had to make her realise that.

He showered at the gym, taking ages to ensure he left calm, collected and in control of his emotions. Then drove back, arriving at the very moment Nate, bathed and in his pyjamas walked into the lounge, and demanding a story from him. When he had his son settled and almost asleep, he slipped downstairs to find Lizzie cooking dinner. Some sort of curry that smelled amazing.

"Wow, that smells divine!"

She glanced over her shoulder and smiled a real unguarded smile. And it warmed his heart, no animosity, no anger...just Lizzie, relaxed. He wanted to see more of that.

"You want a beer?" he'd reached the fridge before she nodded. Handing her one he sat at the table and watched her work.

"So you had a good weekend?"

She stopped at his question then slowly turned to study him for a moment; he knew she was searching for any signs that he was teasing her, winding her up. So he gave her, what he hoped appeared as, a warm smile.