Chapter 37

Elspeth turned to look around the room, quickly, slightly panicked. The other bed didn't even have sheets on it, and the smell in the room made it obvious what they'd been 'busy' with, even if the sounds hadn't. Stood with the door half-open, Brianna watched the tears begin to appear in her eyes and spoke up.

"Uh... could you give us a few minutes, Mrs Downing. I'm still getting dressed."

"Oh, of course dear." Came the slightly confused reply. "I'll... your father and I are in reception, dear. We'll see you when you're ready."

"OK, Mum." Elspeth breathed a sigh of relief and smiled as she eased the door closed, turning round to lean on it. The tension held for a moment, until Brianna giggled, and the tears started rolling down Elspeth's cheeks.

"Oh, honey, come on. What's wrong?"

"It's..." Elspeth pushed off the door, turning around to pound on it with the bottom of her hand. "I didn't want this yet, it's... it's not time for this yet."

"Time for what?"

"To tell them."

"About us?" Bri smiled, gently. "I'm not that bad, am I? What, don't they like the English much?"

"Bri, they don't know I'm gay."

"Oh. I thought..." Brianna sat up, trying not to sound accusative. "I thought you'd told them."

"I keep meaning to, but... how the hell do you bring that up in conversation. I couldn't do it on the phone."

"What about at Christmas?"

"I... we were..." she twisted on the spot for a minute, then looked up, drying her eyes. "I should have done it then, I know, but... it's so hard."

"It's easy. 'Mum, I like girls, what's for dinner?'"

"Really? How did you tell your parents?"

"Well... it was kind of taken out of my hands." Brianna admitted, sitting back down on the bed. "My mum had flu, my dad came home from work. She told him Tony's up in his room with his friend, and Brianna's out at the youth club. He went to put some washing away, and Tony wasn't in his room, Tony was at the youth club."

"So you were in your room with a friend."

"Erica Dryden..." Brianna nodded. "We... well, when he pushed in we could have done with the clothes, let me put it that way."

"That must have been awkward."

"A bit. We shouted and screamed, me about privacy and him about the sanctity of his house — at least he waited until Erica went home."

"What happened?"

"Mum got better. She knew he was more surprised than anything — I'd had a few boyfriends before, but nothing serious — and she knew I was upset at being found like that, but... well, if he'd thought I'd be there he'd have knocked, he's good like that."

"That's it?"

"Pretty much. They knew I wasn't a bad kid, that I took things seriously. I didn't have much choice about being serious, under the circumstances." She waved at her scar self-consciously.

"I... I don't think my parents will be that understanding."

"Really?"

"They sent me to a Catholic girl's school, Bri." Elspeth pointed out, forcing herself to her feet and starting to gather some clothes together.

"Right... So you can probably blame it on them, then." Elspeth mustered a faint smile at the joke, but it didn't last. "What do you think they'll do?"

"I don't know. Throw me out, maybe. Cut me off. I'll be... I'll be an embaressment."

"If they'd do that, do you really want to carry on talking to them?"

"They're my family, Bri!"

"Can't choose your family."

"Easy for you to say, your family accept you."

"I know, I'm sorry." Brianna hugged her gently and began to do up the buttons on her blouse.

"Are you... are you going to tell them today." Elspeth caught the hesitation in her voice, and looked up from the buttons to see Brianna staring fixedly down. Lifting her chin, gently, she stared into the fearful brown eyes.

"They aren't going to split this up, no matter what." She promised. "I'm going to tell them, today. And then I'm coming back here tonight, whether they're happy or not." Brianna's hug nearly squeezed the air out of her, and she flopped down on the bed when she was finally released. "Come on, then."

"What?" Brianna looked, thinking she'd missed something.

"Get dressed."

"Me? I was going to get some study done this morning."

"Well you wouldn't have gotten any study done if I'd been here, so you aren't loosing anything." Elspeth pointed out, opening more drawers, selecting more clothes. "And, anyway, if I'm going to turn my back on my parents I want them to at least appreciate what for, and..." she turned round, and Brianna was stood right beside her.

"You want the help?" she offered, taking the clothes out of her hands, gently.

"I just want you around." Elspeth whispered. "Sorry."

"That's what I'm here for, darling."

Lorraine emerged hesitantly from the door, to find her parents and the twins waiting in the car at the bottom of the steps.

"Hi." She greeted, brightly, slipping into the back seat. "How is everyone."

"We're fine, dear." Her mother replied, turning slightly to look back at her. "Your father told us about your trouble with Terry."

"Tony." She corrected, with a grimace.

"Right, yes. Well, don't worry dear, we'll have it fixed up in no time. We're staying for dinner tonight, so he can come with us."

"Mum, just leav..."

"Lorraine!" she snapped, in that familiar tone of voice. "I said, we'll fix it. He sounded like a very nice young man, your father said, didn't you Andrew."

"Yes, dear." He nodded, giving Lorraine an apologetic smile in the mirror. Lorraine just looked away to see the twins giving her the same look.

"Mum, we broke up. I can't go inviting him to dinner, it'll give him all the wrong signals — you spent a long time telling me about not sending the wrong signals." Alice snickered, gently, and Adam's smile threatened to get out of control until their mother turned round to stare at them.

"Lorraine, I am not going to sit down to dinner with Bob and Lily Downing and listening to them talk all about what her boyfriend's like without having something to fight back with. It's not even as though Elspeth's much to chase."

"I like Elspeth!" Lorraine objected, loudly, fighting down the urge to defuse the argument instantly. Telling her mother the truth about Elspeth would just make for an awkward evening meal, if they were all eating together.

"I like Elspeth too, dear. Very nice girl. Nice personality... I suppose."

"Mother, I am not inviting Tony. If I'm — unattached — it happens."

"Isn't there someone else you could ask, then?

"Mum, I don't..."

"Lorraine! Don't you understand how these thing's look, dear? What do you think Bob and Lily will have to say about you when you get home, knowing that Elspeth has a boyfriend and someone as pretty as you doesn't."

"I don't care what they think."

"Well you should! Shouldn't she, Andrew?"

"What?" he only partly feigned surprise. "Sorry, dear, I'm concentrating on driving." He kept his eyes firmly on the road until she turned away, then winced in the mirror at Lorraine again, which wasn't a great deal of help.

"Find someone else, ask them. We've all day for you to think of someone."

"Mum, I don't want to ask anyone else. I don't want to ask anyone!" I don't want to put them through dinner with you! she silently added.

"Lorraine, we've come a long way to see you today. The least you could do is put yourself out a little for your family, don't you think? Even if you've grown too big for Inverurie, we still have to go back and live there."

"Yes, mum." She mumbled, and her mother turned away, satisfied. Alice's gentle hand on hers was the only sympathy any of them dared show.

Skidding through the lobby, Tony smiled broadly at the clusters of people beginning to dot the place and headed up the steps at a pace, turning into the corridor a little slower and then stopping when he realised there was someone already at the door.