In the Beat of a Wing {boyxboy}

Chapter Six

~Wednesday 16th January 2013~

"Aud, are you ready?!" Eden called up the stairs, perching on the bottom step whilst he laced up his black pumps.

"Do I look ready?" Eden glanced over his shoulder, seeing his sister stood at the top of the stairs in only a dressing gown, glowering at him, "the electricity just cut out, what am I supposed to do about my hair?" Eden's jaw hardened, he had specifically asked Corinne to pay the electricity bill, had even given her the cash to do so. In hindsight, a foolish move.

"Right, OK, it's gonna be fine. Come down here and I'll plait it for you, alright?" Audrey sighed, nodding as she walked down the stairs and sat down on the living room floor. Eden perched on the couch behind her, dragging a brush through her damp mess of hair, trying to be both gentle and swift.

"I can get a part-time job, y'know, Edee, if you need me to," Audrey suggested in a quiet voice, grimacing every so often when Eden pulled her hair a little bit too tight.

"You need to focus on school, and be a kid, you don't need a job. It's fine."

"Edee, we have no electricity."

"That's not gonna be a long term thing, Aud, Corinne just forgot to pay the bill, alright? Trust me, we have enough money to last a little while without having to worry," Eden had mentioned the fifty thousand he had recently inherited, but he didn't dare tell Audrey where it had come from. She wouldn't judge, Eden knew that, he simply didn't want to alter the image she had of him in her mind, her innocence was important to him.

"Are you sure, Edee? I really don't mind getting a job somewhere, it'll be good for work experience, colleges will like it," Eden reached to his left, collecting a hair tie and securing it around the end of Audrey's plait.

"If you're wanting work experience, we can find you some volunteering stuff somewhere. You still wanna be a nurse?" Audrey nodded slightly, keeping her movements brief so she didn't mess up Eden's plait, "I'm sure we can get you some-" Eden was interrupted by a sharp knock at the front door, "fuck, that'll be Mal, hold this," Eden passed the half-finished plait to Audrey to hold so it didn't unravel.

"Since when did you start calling him Mal?" Audrey teased, smirking at Eden as he left the room, not bothering to dignify her with a response. Eden's mouth went dry upon opening the door, all thoughts seeping out of his conscious mind as he stared at Malcolm.

He was expecting the man to be wearing one of those same black, tailored suits, really he should have taken into account the possibility that he would have chosen something more casual. Instead, Malcolm adorned some faded blue jeans, a dark grey woollen sweater under that same black felt coat he wore the last time the two had seen each other. Eden simply couldn't speak, too caught up on how Malcolm's clothes hugged his body, flaunting the obviously muscular physique he had.

"Hi," was all Malcolm had to say, or at least all Eden heard, rousing the boy from his fantasies, dragging him back down to reality.

"Um, hi," Eden felt heat rising in his cheeks, only adding to his flustered nature, "come inside, we're just running a little late. Technology problems," Eden closed the door behind Malcolm, leading him into the living room, skillfully kicking a stray bottle of liquor under the couch, hoping he hadn't seen.

"Don't worry about it, there's no rush," Malcolm smiled warmly at Eden, only worsening the boy's nervousness. What on earth was up with him that morning? Eden finished Audrey's plait quickly, allowing her to run upstairs and put on whatever outfit she had previously chosen.

"Edee!" at the sound of his mother shouting, Eden sighed heavily, hoping he could just ignore her, "Edee, where's Archie?! I thought he was supposed to be back early!" Eden caught sight of Malcolm staring at him with a concerned look and merely shook his head briefly.