Love You Forever (2013 Wattys Finalist)

Chapter 6 - Warning Signs

Robert went back in his house, rubbing his arms to warm them up. When he walked in the sitting room, his mum was sitting on the couch with her knitting, an old film playing on the TV, the volume turned low. She looked at him with concern when she saw him come in.

"Are you alright?' she asked. He tried to hold himself still so she wouldn't see him shivering.

"I'm fine, mum," he said mildly, pushing his hair out of his eyes, doing his best to look absolutely normal.

"Weren't you cold?" she asked worriedly.

"A bit. It wasn't that bad."

"Oh," she said, still looking at him like he might not be alright. "D'you fancy some tea to warm you up?"

"No, thanks. I'm fine."

"Alright." After a moment, she asked, "D'you have any plans for today?" He had no fucking clue. Oh, yeah. He did.

"I'm going out for a bit. Take a walk."

"Oh, that's good," she said sounding relieved. "It'll do you good to get some fresh air."

God, he was pathetic. So fucked up his mum was excited when he announced he was going out for a walk. They looked at each other having exhausted every possible subject they could safely discuss, and the silence was making him uncomfortable. He suddenly felt like he needed to get out of the house before the walls closed in on him.

"Well, I'll get ready then," he said, and quickly headed for the stairs, taking them two at a time while his mum said, "Alright, Robbie."

When he was in his room, he didn't waste any time locating a jumper and grabbing a pair of socks and trainers. Within seconds he had them on and was back downstairs, grateful his mum had gone to the kitchen. He could hear her filling the kettle with water to make tea. He opened the front closet to get a jacket. He looked through all the jackets hanging in there but he couldn't find the one he wanted, the one he felt like he needed at that moment.

—-Then—-

"We're going to the shops, mum. D'you need anything?" Robert asked his mum while she sat on the couch with his dad.

"I can't think of anything. D'you need the keys to the car?"

"Nah, we'll walk there."

"We're walking?" Georgie asked, turning towards him suddenly, her eyes wide.

"Yeah," he replied, pushing his hair out of his eyes to see her better. She looked shocked.

"Outside?" she asked, and he couldn't help laughing.

"Yes, Georgie! Outside. I've been locked up for over two months. I want to go for a walk!"

"But it's cold out there," she said quietly, sounding concerned.

It suddenly occurred to him she was frightened. His heart broke for her all over again, and then he felt a murderous rage towards the bastard for doing this to her, for fucking her up to the point where the thought of going for a walk outside scared her. He went to her and put his arms around her.

"Well, then we'll just have to find you a warm jacket, won't we?" he said gently. "I can't wait to show you around a bit. This is where I grew up, y'know?" It worked, she smiled shyly at him

"I'd like that, Robert," she said quietly.

"Alright!" he replied with a big smile, happy he'd overcome her fear.

He looked in the front closet for a jacket for her. He saw some jackets that were his sisters and he almost took one of them, but then he saw his denim jacket with the black hooded sweatshirt he always wore underneath it – his 'lucky' jacket.