Love Drunk: Chapter Twelve

Last chapter it was all about Drew and Charlotte! Now that they are together, what does the future hold for them and for the others? Dex once again mustered up the courage to tell Lainie how he felt, but once again bottled it! But what will the final sitting of this famous portrait bring?

It was a quiet morning in the boys' flat. Drew was out with Charlotte somewhere, while Ash and Dex were watching some silly comedy on the television and chatting about stuff that was going on in their lives. Ash was feeling rather anxious, today he was going to tell his brother about Erin. Or at least he was going to try...

"Dexter?" Ash piped up rather softly, almost a whisper.

"Hmmm?"

"Um, there's something I wanna tell you!"

"Uh-huh?"

"Well..." before he could get the words out Dex started to rant about the previous topic they were covering...

"I mean that David guy, he's a good person and he makes her happy but...what he said the other night it just..."

"DEXTER!"

"What?"

"Nothing!" Ash sighed in frustration, his courage had waned and the moment had passed, Erin was going to be so mad!

"I have a feeling he's married or..." Ash rolled his eyes as his brother continued to speculate.

"Oh for the love of...Dexter leave it will ya?"

"I can't!" Dex shrugged, "I don't want him to hurt my freckles!" Ash gave Dex a meaningful look and began to play along.

"Well okay then, have you ever thought that the guy might have a terminal illness and that he's going to hurt her through something he has no control over?" Dexter's eyes widened and he wagged a finger at his older brother,

"Yes! You could have a point there bro!" Ash let out an exasperated growl and left Dex with his daft notions.

Dex was meeting Lainie later on that evening for their final sitting. Drew and Charlotte had been inseparable since they became an item a few days before and Dex had smuggled Lainie into his room twice to continue the portrait. He had deliberately taken his time so he could be alone with her, he envied what Drew had and wished he could have that with Lainie. He worried about Ash, being by himself and put off dating since his cancelled wedding. He thought about actually setting him up with Roxy as Lainie had said her friend was so sad and lonely.

He was going to make the most of his last night with her. He was going to take his time and talk to her, open up to her, like their last sessions he was going to bear his soul! He wanted her to know everything about him, and most importantly he wanted her to know that she was the girl who had captured his heart!

Lainie had been going through her mail, there were a few bills and a letter from David which she found odd because they'd been out to lunch every day, why was he sending her a letter when he could text or phone or even email? Along with the bills and the letter there was a rather official envelope, when she opened it and read it, she almost fainted!!!

"ROXY!" Lainie was yelling at the top of her voice as she burst into the diner's kitchen where her friend was turning on the fryers and cooker.

"What? What's all the racket about?"

"Oh Roxy, we've been visited by a restaurant critic!!!"

"Uh-oh!" Roxy's face turned white.

"No, it's good! We got a FOUR STAR REVIEW!!!" Lainie shrieked and giggled like a schoolgirl!

"OMG!" Roxy exclaimed, and the two girls hugged with excitement.

"They're going to send us a plaque!" Lainie exclaimed, trying to get her breath back.

"That's...well that's just awesome!"

"Oh yeah, David was asking if you'd read his letter yet?" Roxy raised an eyebrow and examined the kitchen, checking she'd done everything.

"Not yet, why?"

"Well he said he put it in the box like four days ago..." Lainie gasped and looked at her friend with a shocked look on her face,

"WHAT? Why didn't he say? I only just got it!"

"Lain, what have I told you about checking your mail???" Roxy scolded, "Anyway he said that he wants to know if you're okay about it and that you keeping quiet about it isn't going to help so...but you haven't read it...I really think you should, he sounded really worried Lain!"

Lainie bit her lip, "I will, after today's shift when I have time!"

"Okay but make sure you do!" Roxy looked at her with those spectacles that made her look like a school mistress.

"Yes mother!" Lainie laughed and began preparing for the busy day ahead.

Charlotte and Drew were having a picnic. They were chatting about music as Charlotte gushed about Drew's guitar skills. "I'm not that great Char!" he laughed bashfully as his cheeks grew hot.

"Oh yes you are, you are wonderful! And the way your grandfather sang along...when can we go and see him again?"

"Whenever you like!" Drew smiled and pulled her close.
"You look like him you know!" she mumbled as she closed her eyes and breathed in his scent, "You have his eyes!"

"Yeah, so does my dad!"

"Where is your dad Andrew?"

"I have no idea. He just...took off one night. Haven't seen or heard from him since! He had a drink problem so who knows what happened to him!"

Charlotte sighed and suddenly felt sad, "You had a hard life growing up didn't you?"

"I suppose!" Drew squeezed her gently, "But my gramps was there for me, so were Dex and Ash! Mr and Mrs Maloney were like a second family to me. They treated me like one of their sons. Then Mr Maloney died and it was my turn to be there for Dex!"

"Poor Dexter!" Charlotte felt even more sad.

"Ash was closer to his dad, but somehow it hit Dex harder. He went a bit crazy, before his dad died Dex had got a job for a film company that specializes in animation, but after the funeral he ran away! Ash called the police and filed a missing person's report with them but since Dex had taken his stuff with him, they didn't treat it as priority. About five months later he turned up again with his body covered in tattoos and a bad attitude that we soon beat out of him! It was too late for him to get his job back so he went back to University to study music, I went with him and he dropped out! But I got my Masters and then my Phd out of it so I was pretty content! Dex never told us where he went or what he did during those five months, and we never asked!"

"What happened to him after that?" Charlotte leaned in closer to Drew for warmth as a cold breeze hit them.

"He worked for an advertising company drawing stuff and making up slogans, by the time we turned thirty he'd decided we were finally going to form a band. I was working as a scientist and Ash had climbed the ranks in the fire service. It just happened, and here we are now! Dex is a lot calmer and settled, apart from his longing for Lainie downstairs, Ash is seeing someone I think but he won't let me in on it, and me? Well I have you! I'm a happy man!"

Charlotte smiled and breathed the air, "I like being with you Andrew!" she giggled softly, "But it's getting cold, so can I be with you indoors please?" 

Drew laughed and lifted her to her feet. "Your wish is my command!"

Charlotte invited Drew into her flat for lunch. He'd argued that she made the breakfast for their picnic but she insisted on making him a nice salad followed by ice cream.  

As she prepared their meal, she suddenly felt the urge to tell him something. Something she had kept to herself over the past few days, something that had been on her mind ever since she was told. "My mother told me that Arthur Kennedy, of Kennedy Constructions, is not my father!" Drew was about to sit down on a chair when he stopped in mid air,
"Huh?"

"Yes, she just came out with it, after 35 years Andrew! She blurted it out! And the funny thing is, she told me the day she arrived and didn't mention it again after that! So here I am, left high and dry wondering what to do! Because this flat here, it belongs to him. He bought it for me after...I ran into some trouble!"

Drew frowned, "So you have no idea who your real father is?"
"No!" Charlotte replied flatly, "If Arthur really isn't my father. My mother tends to make up dramas where there is peace and quiet and watch the carnage with a smile on her face stroking a furry cat like Blofeld!" Drew let out an uncontrollable laugh at the James Bond reference, it was so unlike Charlotte to crack a joke like that! He liked that side of her, it was nice!
"Well honey, I think you need to find out the truth!" he coughed loudly in an attempt to stop laughing.

"Yes Andrew I know, but that would involve telling my brother and..." Drew piped up in the middle of her reply,
"I'll help you Char, until we know the truth, he doesn't need to know squat!" 

Charlotte gave him a grateful smile and plated up their lunch. But in the back of her mind, she was growing concerned for the feelings she was having for him, getting bigger and more intense every day. It worried her when really it should have been making her happy...so why wasn't it?

Ash and Erin sat in silence on her couch. She was indeed mad at him for chickening out of telling Dex about them! 

He tried to put his arm around her but she rebuffed him and wouldn't speak! It hurt, but for some reason he just couldn't say it out loud, "I'm in love with this girl, she's a bit younger than me but she's amazing and we're very happy!" yeah it was so easy! So why was it so hard???

Finally Erin spoke, "I'm going away for a few days, to my parents'!" Ash felt a sharp pain in his chest and he found it hard to draw breath.
"Will I still get to see you?" Erin scowled at the wall, refusing to look at him and replied sarcastically,
"Well they live in Twinbrook so unless you can fly like Superman...then no!"
"Erin..." Ash tried to move closer to her but she stood up.

"No Ash! You had one thing to do, one SIMPLE thing! Clearly I mean very little to you or you'd have told your brother, your precious little brat of a brother..."

"Hey!" Ash stood up to face her, "Don't ever talk about my brother like that!"
"See what I mean?" she laughed bitterly, "He always comes first doesn't he? Despite the fact that he would drop you for that Lainie chick in a heartbeat! You still stand by his side like a loyal lap dog, in the shadows! As he takes all the glory of being the singer and writer of your band!"
"Erin that's enough!" Ash was getting angrier by the minute but it didn't seem to bother her.

"Ashton...I love you! I really do! But I can't be second best to your brother, I just can't! Dexter is a big boy, he'll win over Lainie eventually and you'll be left alone again, like you said you were when he started seeing Rosalie! Does he ever think about you? About your feelings? No! He's selfish Ashton! He thinks of nobody but himself! Remember the gallery thing? How he deliberately arranged for his showing to be on the exact same day as the diner opening because he was jealous that the girl he fancied was kissing another bloke after a date???"
"Erin..."
"No Ashton that's not normal, appropriate behaviour! He's an ignoramus!"
"ERIN!!!" Ash could feel his temples threatening to explode.

"Do you wanna know why I defend him all the time? Why I forgive him EVERYTHING? HUH???"
"I..." Erin stammered.
"I forgive him because he is seriously screwed up! Despite our family being very close and both of us being pretty in awe of our father, when Dex hit his teens, he didn't get along very well with him, and it just got worse after that. He had a massive row with him the night he died! Dexter thinks to this day that he caused our dad to die of a heart attack! Because he was caught smoking weed with Jeremy in our garage and when dad reprimanded him for it he told him he was an adult, he had no right to tell him what to do. When dad said he may be an adult but he was still under his roof, Dex told him he wished he was dead! It was the drugs talking of course, but when dad dropped dead half an hour later..." Ashton's eyes filled up with tears...

"...Dexter never got over it! He ran away, he did some crazy things and got some really crazy tattoos, then five months later he turned up acting like Jeremy's evil twin! It took a severe kicking in the woods one night to straighten him out! Drew and I, we...and I'm not proud of it, we broke his arm and a couple of his fingers, he spent three nights in the hospital...he was black and blue! But he bad mouthed my mum and...he needed disciplined! If we hadn't done it he'd have killed himself the way he was going on! He took dad's car and almost drove it off the bridge he was so drunk! I was angry, Drew was angry, mum was...devastated! But we got him out of that dark place and made him the man he is today!"

"So if you think he's selfish, childish and jealous? Yeah you're right, but he's got a good heart and he's sacrificed a lot for me and for Drew! He's been through so much in his 34 years that you could never comprehend! Sometimes Dex behaves like a child...because he's afraid of growing up!!!"
"Ash I..." Erin felt a lump in her throat as she tried to get her apology out.
"Save it!" Ash spat at her, "Go to your parents, hate me if you want, but DO NOT EVER put down my baby brother!"

"ASH!" Erin cried as he headed for the door.

"I'll see you around!" and he was gone, not even looking back as Erin broke down in tears.

Dexter was waiting for Lainie to do her special knock on his door so he could let her in...

...but his brother arrived instead, throwing the door open and slamming it shut with a face like thunder. "Ash what..." he mumbled as Ash raised a hand to tell him to drop it and retreated to his room with another slammed door. 

Just then the special knock came and Dexter's heart jumped in his chest with excitement.

When he let her in she looked like she was crying. She rushed past him and into his room not looking at him once! He called to her, "Freckles?" but she didn't respond!

And when he reached his room, she was standing on the spot weeping, her body trembling.

Dexter's instincts kicked in and he took her in his arms and held her tightly, "Freckles talk to me!!!"

"Oh Dexy!" she cried.
"What is it? Tell me, baby you're killin' me! I can't stand seeing you like this it's breakin' my heart!"

Lainie buried her head in his chest and sobbed, "David's leaving Dexy!"
"He's what? Where? When?"
"He's moving to Lucky Palms! He wrote me a letter a few days ago and I only just got it today! He's got a job in the casino, some magic show he's always dreamed of! He's the first guy I've actually liked since..." she stopped talking suddenly, Dex rubbed her back and coaxed her to finish,
"Since what freckles?"
"Nevermind!" she sniffed, Dexter winced as Lainie squeezed him with all of her strength and wept even more into his t-shirt.
"Freckles I..." he tried to speak, "...baby I'm so sorry!" and he genuinely was! He hated this, it was torture! If it was a choice between this or seeing her with another guy, he'd choose the latter every time!

"When does he leave?" he managed to ask as she let her grip loosen.
"Friday! Three days time!" Dexter suddenly made a decision,
"Then go!" he replied sternly.

Lainie looked at him in surprise, "What?"
"Go, be with him! Spend these last days with him, every minute you can! The painting can wait freckles! I just want you to...remember the time you had with him!" 

Lainie looked deep into his blue eyes, frozen on the spot until he repeated,
"GO!" she gave him a warm hug and ran as fast as she could to find David...

...as Dex was left alone in his room with his unfinished painting...

...and a broken heart!

Well, there you go! I told you on Facebook that someone said goodbye! You won't see David again I'm afraid but chapter thirteen will bring someone new into the mix...someone who will make Dexter look like a saint believe me! ;)