Broken Wings

Part Thirty - What the hell is happening?

A/N Seems you were all in suspense, so I'm posting this quickly, things have been coming to a head for a while, and this is the turning point probably. Sorry, it's rushed and haven't edited at all, so apologise for any errors, hope you enjoy. MZ

Chapter Thirty

The shrill buzz of his house phone woke Aaron from his eventual restless sleep. Immediately on opening his eyes, he remembered Julia, her not coming home for dinner, the sense of rejection hit him in the chest all over again. He shook his head to clear the fog. If she wanted to stay out all night that was up to her. He had to deal with her rejection like an adult, not a bloody child.

Jumping to his feet, he rushed down the stairs to grab the handset, before it rang off.

"Hello?"

A squeak came down the phoneline, "thank FUCK for that." It was Abi. "What the hell is going on out there? I have been waiting for, then trying to call your housemate for HOURS! Is she hung over? Is that it?"

"What?" He was still half asleep.

She huffed, "what the hell, Aaron? Can. I. Speak. To. Julia?" Her words were punctuated. Then he heard her mumble, "I am not being rude, I am just worried!" Presumably to his brother.

As she did that he crossed the lounge, to the corridor that led to her room, then knocked at it, glad that he didn't have to face her and converse, he could hand her the phone then run off and hide. He almost shook himself, that wasn't him, he faced things like this, worse than this. "She came in late last night..." he didn't add I think, as he waited for her to answer. When there was no sound from behind the door, he pushed it open then stopped dead in his tracks. "Um, so she didn't come home last night."

The answering shriek down the phoneline was deafening, "she NEVER does that. Never stays out." Again, she mumbled to someone her end of the call, "I TOLD you something was wrong."

"She stayed out. She's an adult, Abi." He was devastated, both at the thought of where she might be, or rather who she was with, and the fact that she didn't tell him. They were friends, housemates...

"You've lived with her for a couple of months, has she ever done this? Stayed out? Not come home?"

He sighed, she hadn't, but then he hadn't forced her into a corner until this week. Hadn't challenged her every thought. Who knew how she'd react to that.

"NO." Abi was fed up of waiting for an answer, "I've lived with her for ten years, she has NEVER not come home, never done something like this. You know her, or I thought you did. She's different, she doesn't trust people, not like you or I. Something has happened."

He sighed, wanting to crawl back into bed, but knowing that wouldn't happen, "I'm sure it's nothing. Look I'll call her work, she'll be there."

Abi groaned, "call me...within the hour. I need to do some phoning of my own."

With that she hung up.

Aaron dropped into the armchair nearest the window and the two dogs leapt up to his lap. He'd been angry, upset even that she hadn't come to him, that she'd snubbed him. He hadn't even begun to imagine that she wouldn't come home, or if she did, that it would be a problem. He thought back to the first time he met her, the engagement party. She'd dragged herself home after her obvious encounter with bloody Peter. That must be her norm. If she did sleep with a man, she left straight away, didn't spend the night.