Before I start I want to address a few comments that were made in the last chapter.
1: I am British, Scottish to be precise, so I will spell words differently to how the Americans do it. There is nothing wrong with how I spell words.
2: I am sorry about the grammar but as some readers have said, a few mistakes can be overlooked and you should focus on the story, not on the punctuation.
3: Someone said the story was too long. I can't help you with that, the story was 5 pages long so why you read all five when you don't want a long story I won't know. Either way I'll say it here; this is going to be a long story, several chapters, several pages long each.
4: Rangers or Celtic? Neither, I'm from a Hearts family so I'm a Hearts man.
Thank you for all the kind words and suggestions for the story.
Story first, sex second.
**
1996
"Hello?"
"Adam, is that you?"
"Yeah."
"It's Liam?"
"Oh hey. What you calling for? It's almost midnight here."
"Sorry, forgot the time difference. It's about your Aunt Jane. Adam she's dead."
Adam played the conversation out in his head over and over as the taxi took him down a somewhat familiar street. His Aunt Jane, dead. He'd known about the cancer for two, two and a half years now but he never made the visit over to see her, he regretted that now. The last time they saw each other he had just told her he was sleeping with her daughter, his cousin.
Oh God Lexi. How would she feel about his return? From his phone conversations with Liam over the past five years she hated him, then she missed him, then she loved him, then she wanted him dead until about the time Jane got cancer and her and Liam lost touch.
The taxi pulled up outside his parent's house, in accordance with her wishes Jane was being buried in Scotland alongside her parents, the funeral was being held later that day but a few people were meeting first at the house. Adam got out the taxi and took his luggage to the front door, he waited a few minutes, taking deep breaths. It had been five years since it he saw anyone, five years since he ran away, even his parents were strangers to him.
Adam held his breath and knocked on the door.
The door was opened by Damien, he was obviously sad but he hid it. He looked over Adam taking in the sight and trying to recognize him.
"Hello Adam."
"Hello Damien."
"You're mum's in the kitchen. You can leave your bag in the back room."
"Thanks."
An awkward silence passed between them, it never broke but Damien walked away, he wasn't happy to see Adam, as he walked through the house it seemed like that was the main consensus of everyone there, people stared at this stranger, one by one they recognized him and looked away with disgust. Adam left his bag in the dining room and headed to the kitchen, his mother Carol was sitting at a table, crying, his father Kieran and another woman stood by her.
Adam cleared his throat after looking in on this intimate moment, all three adults turned and looked at him. Carol recognized him straight away, got up, ran over to him and hugged him tightly.
"Oh Adam." Carol said nothing else, she just held onto her son. It took Kieran to get her off him, he looked at his son, taking in how much he had changed; his short hair was shorter with the front styled, his skin was darker, tanned from his years in the sun and his once bare face now had a smooth goatee on it. Kieran chuckled a little.
"You look like an executive son. If it wasn't for that scar I wouldn't recognize you."
Adam smiled. "Got to look good for my work dad."
The two men shook hands, Carol wiped a tear from her eye.
"So tell us then, where do you work, where do you live, who are you living with...?"
"And why did you leave?"
The second woman finally spoke up, Adam looked at her and immediately knew who it was.
Alexandra.
She too had changed quite a bit. Her hair was longer, not as long as when she came to visit him but it was shoulder length now and dyed a much darker brown than he remembered, her green eyes had a tired look but held genuine happiness behind them. None of which Adam noticed.
He was looking at her enlarged midsection, her hand unconsciously stroking her bump.
Alexandra saw Adam looking at her bump, she smiled. "Five months along. In case you're wondering."
"Who's the father?" He knew there was no chance in hell it was him but a little niggle in his head gave him hope. Or was it fear?
"His name's Ellis, he's in Wales, couldn't make it up."
"Oh." Adam tried to hide his disappointment but failed.
Kieran sensed this. "Alex, take Carol through to the Living Room, I want to talk to Adam alone."
"Sure thing Uncle Kieran." Alexandra helped Carol to her feet, both women supporting each other.
Kieran took two beers out the fridge, gave one to Adam and sat down. "So, start talking."
Adam opened his beer and sat down opposite his father. "About what?"
"Where are you working, where are you living, why didn't you come back? Why did you leave in the first place?"
"I'm working at a restaurant, been there for nearly the whole five years, managed to get into an assistant manager position."
"In five years? Impressive."
"Well the owner owed me a favour so he bumped me up a few steps. I'm living in California, some town near L.A., it's a place near the beach, very sunny, very quiet. As for why I never came back well it's for the same reason I left."
"Alex."
"Yeah. Fuck I forgot you knew about that."
"Well you were pretty vocal about it. Look son, I'm not going to question what you did with your cousin, I've learnt to get past it since you've been gone, but don't bring it up to your mum, she's repressed it and doesn't believe a word of it. And while we're talking, don't talk to Alexandra either unless she brings it up, she had a lot of trouble, a lot of people judged her and she and Jane never talked for over a year."
"I never knew."
"How could you, it was kept quiet, no-one wanted the news about you and Alex to spread."
Adam put his beer on the table, he tried to look his father in the eye but he couldn't. "Dad, for what it's worth, I'm sorry."
"I know you are son. I know. I'm not angry, I'm just disappointed that you threw away your life because of an argument. Come on then, I think people are heading out to the funeral now."
**
The funeral was a respectable affair, there was a good turn-out and everyone paid their respects without hassle. Carol cried at the loss of her sister, Damien shed a few tears over the loss of his wife and Alexandra came close to crying but she had people around her to make sure she was ok, Adam stayed back so people wouldn't judge but he wanted so bad to be there for her.
Back at the house Adam made a genuine effort to get along with people, they knew him as the cousin-fucking runaway but he was going to prove them wrong and joined in on the conversations, he even joked about his desertion, telling everyone...
"I was going to be a lawyer, until I fell in love. Turns out you can't have a heart in the justice system."
It was a terrible joke but it garnered a few laughs. Despite this Adam knew people were judging him. At around 9 at night Alexandra finally came up to talk to Adam, the two of them went outside to the garden where it was quieter.
Neither of them knew how to start the conversation, so Alexandra took the first move and hugged her cousin.
"God it's been too long Adam."
"It has Lexi. I've missed you."
"I've missed you too." Alexandra let him go. "So your dad tells me you're working in a restaurant, not doing any law work in California?"
"Ah well it was just suppose to be a part-time job that became a career. I just stuck with it."
"You? Adam McAllister? Sticking with something? Never."
Adam had to smile at that. "I fuck up once and people are still going on about it."
"It's not how many times you fuck up it how bad you fuck up. Adam you threw your life away, your education, your job, your family. No matter how many years pass, that is how people will remember you."
Adam was getting a little angry. "Let me guess, now you want to know why I left."
"No I know why you left."
"No you don't. Everyone assumes it had something to do with you."
"But it did."
No Lexi, it had more to do with you than anyone realises." Adam crashed onto a bench outside, his heavy head in his hands "When I saw you with that bleach blonde asshole it killed me Lexi. I loved you with everything I had and I honestly thought you were the one. I also thought you felt the same way."
Alexandra sat down next to her cousin. "Why didn't you come back?"
"Same reason. I was in love with you. I've never stopped being in love with you. I love you so much I hate you, you understand?"
"Well I did tell you not to fall in love with me, I did tell you I was going to hurt you."
Adam chuckled a little, although his laugh was more sad than happy. Alexandra put her arm around him shoulder, he welcomed her warm touch. "I guess you did Lexi."
"For what it's worth Adam I am sorry. I know I should've said this earlier but giving the circumstances it was difficult. I'm sorry for hurting you."
"It's ok Lexi, I know that I should've realised we had no future. For fuck sake we're cousins. Anyway it's past now, you have Ellis, and the baby, I'll find someone someday and pretty soon we'll only see each other at birthdays and Christmas's and births. And more deaths."
Alexandra wiped away a tear, something that didn't go unnoticed by Adam. "Sorry, you just buried your mother today. I shouldn't mention death."
"It's not that Adam. I just don't want us to drift apart again."
Alexandra quickly leaned in and kissed Adam. It was soft and it was quick but it was a kiss all the same. As quick as it began it was over and Alexandra was walking away, almost running actually towards the house. Adam stayed seated, trying to make sense of what happened, he lit a cigarette and stayed outside, slowly nursing it down as everyone else went about their business. When it was finished he dropped the filter to the ground and left for his hotel.
He didn't even say goodbye.
