Driving Home for Christmas (17 page)

‘Way to take control, Angel,’ he gasped against her mouth as she reached for him, guiding him into her, painfully slowly, savouring the contact. She watched his eyes widen as she moved against him, moving her hips, slowly at first and then quicker as his fingers dug into her thighs. He gripped her harder, keeping her steady as she kept moving, that deep rhythmic pull within pushing her faster and harder against him, until her body stilled suddenly, tensing as he did, collapsing against him.

They lay there in silence for a few moments, breathing heavily, until Megan lifted up her head to look at him.

‘Definitely wasn’t like that before!’ Lucas laughed.

‘I’m starting to see the advantages of being an adult,’ Megan laughed, rolling off him and lying on the bed.

‘When I said I missed you, I don’t think I made it clear how much…’ Lucas grinned, stroking her stomach with a fingertip.

‘I really think you did,’ Megan replied, curling up on him and promptly falling asleep.

Chapter Eight

August 2003

‘My parents will not give me a break!’ Megan ranted, stalking into Lucas’ room, smelling of booze and cigarettes.

‘Do they know you’re here?’ he said seriously, looking at the clock. It was eleven pm.

‘No, I just…I had to get out.’

Lucas rolled his eyes and went out to the landing, ‘Linda? Can you call Megan’s parents and tell them she’s here? And I’ll drive her back tomorrow?’

He walked back into the room and gave her a look that said “look what a position you’ve put me in”.

‘Why do you always do that? You’re meant to be on my side!’

‘I am. I also like seeing you. And if you keep acting like a kid, they’re not going to let you spend time with me,’ he said sensibly. ‘This way, it looks like I’m very responsible, and Linda knows what’s going on.’

‘She doesn’t!’

‘No, but it’s better that your parents think she does, isn’t it?’

‘Urgh!’ Megan threw herself on the bed. ‘Why are you the sensible one?’

Lucas lay down on the bed next to her, staring at the ceiling. ‘Because I don’t have parents on my case to make the most of my potential. Bless Linda, but she doesn’t think I have any potential. All I’ve got to do is get a job and stay out of prison.’

‘I think you’ve got potential,’ she said, lifting her head up.

‘I know,’ he laughed, ‘but the point is, Angel, your parents are the real deal. They have a good life, and that’s what they want for you.’

She raised an eyebrow, leaning her head on her hand as she lay there looking at him, her bright cherry-dyed hair hanging over her shoulder, and her black eyeliner smudged.

‘Heather and Jonathan have everything. They don’t hate their jobs, they’re married, they have a house, a family they love spending time with. They have hobbies and they’re still in love, all these years later. Nothing can ruin that oasis, can it?’

‘Except if their only daughter doesn’t get into Cambridge or whatever.’ She rolled her eyes. ‘Matty never gets any of this.’

‘Matty isn’t as smart as you are,’ Lucas said sensibly. ‘One day you’ll see, when you’re missing one of the pieces of the puzzle, that they had it all.’

‘You were the one who told me to rebel, remember? You said all those years ago that it wasn’t really living!’ she argued.

‘That’s because I was trying to get into your knickers,’ he shrugged.

‘You were not!’

Lucas just raised an eyebrow and grinned at her as he started rolling a cigarette.

‘It wasn’t a life,’ Megan said simply, staring at the ceiling. ‘All I did was try to be what they wanted me to be. I’m still doing it now. Still studying and killing myself to go to a university I’m not even bothered about, just because it’s their dream. My rebellion is just playing in a band and seeing you.’

‘And apparently getting drunk by yourself on a Tuesday night.’

‘It’s the summer!’

‘I know, baby, but…’

Megan’s eyes widened. ‘What weird alternate reality is this? You’re Lucas Bright, remember? Rebel, bad boy, bringer of rock n roll?’

‘I’m the guy who wants my girlfriend to spend time with me. Which can’t happen if her parents lock her up for acting like a kid.’

‘I hate when you’re all sensible,’ Megan pouted.

‘Me too. I prefer it when you’re the stick in the mud and I’m the super fun one,’ he grinned, ‘so let’s return to our regularly scheduled programming, shall we?’

***

A little while later, Megan jumped up in shock, finding herself asleep in Lucas’ bed.

‘Shit!’ She started looked for her clothes. ‘My parents are going to kill me for being out this late!’

Lucas burst out laughing, watching her trying to untangle her underwear.

‘What?’ she asked, pulling them on and doing up her bra.

‘Just…nostalgia. Some things don’t change however old you are.’

‘Hey, their house, their rules,’ she grinned, moving back to kiss him. ‘This was really…something.’

He held her chin and kissed her again. ‘It really was. Up for a few more walks down memory lane before you go back to London?’

‘We never did that on memory lane!’ Megan pulled her dress over her head, turning around for Lucas to zip her up. ‘But yes, I would love to spend some more time with you.’

‘Good. I’d love to hang out with Skye too, sometime. If that’s okay…’

He watched as Megan pursed her lips, thoughtful, pulling up her leggings.

‘Don’t have to though, we can keep this just about us. I know trusting other people with your daughter is a big deal.’

‘I trust you,’ she shrugged, tailing off.

‘Either way, it sounds good to me,’ Lucas said softly, kissing her palm. ‘You going now?’

‘Well, as soon as you’re ready to drive me,’ she said primly, ‘I can’t be seen leaving Lucas Bright’s house at…two am! The scandal!’

He stood up wearily, reaching for his underwear. ‘Anything to keep your reputation intact, kid.’

***

September 2002

They were sitting in her room. She was lying on the bed, feet up against the wall, and he was across the room in her armchair, rolling a cigarette.

‘You can’t smoke that in here,’ she said for the hundredth time.

‘I know.’

‘So why bother?’

‘Something to do?’ Luke shrugged, examining his black painted fingernails.

They sat around, unsure of what to do any more. School was about to start again, and something had shifted over the summer. Megan had started dating Greg, the boy from the baker’s, and Luke was sort-of-almost-nearly seeing this girl who worked at Blockbusters. They’d pretty much spent their summer buying cakes and watching movies, each nudging the other forward in the quest to find someone to stick their tongue down your throat. Fliss was about eighteen, had tattoos and piercings, and looked permanently unimpressed with the world. But she did lend them certificate 18 movies with no questions asked, so Lucas thought it must be love. Greg was in their year at school, one of those rugby boys with the winning smile. They’d known him before his growth spurt, back when he’d been this normal shy sort of boy. Then suddenly he was six foot, the braces came off and he had abs. He was the dream scenario for all those Year nine boys just desperately hoping that they were the lucky duckling who was destined to be a swan. Even if it meant getting bashed in the head by a bunch of posh gits every Sunday.

‘We need to do something!’ Megan growled, bored out of her mind. Tomorrow there would be school and GCSEs, coursework and nothing else but ‘focus, Megan, focus’.

‘We do stuff!’

‘We listen to music and watch dumb movies, and talk about the same shit over and over! I want to do something that will change something.’

‘Write a book,’ he shrugged.

‘More work, no thanks.’

‘Paint? Collage? Macramé?’ Lucas listed the things his mother had picked up and dropped each month for the last year. ‘Pottery? Candle-making? Stamp collecting?’

Megan sat up. ‘Hey! How about you teach me to play guitar?’

Lucas looked up from underneath his dark eyelashes. ‘You can’t be serious.’

She shrugged.

‘Meg, I love ya, honestly mate, but…you think I could teach you something without us wanting to kill each other?’

She fluttered her eyelashes and trembled her bottom lip, thinking of her dad’s acoustic guitar downstairs. ‘It could be fun…’

‘It could be hell.’

‘All right, you play, I’ll sing,’ she compromised, ‘pick something.’

‘Megan, I’ve known you for almost ten years – when have you ever sung anything? Except belting out “Summer of ’69” when it comes on the radio? Which sounds terrible.’

Megan widened her eyes and just grinned. ‘Try me.’

***

The next couple of days passed quickly enough, with Heather doing at least three more ‘last minute’ shops for things that were apparently absolutely necessary. The girls for the most part read their books, went wandering around the village, baked gingerbread cookies, listened to music with Jonathan, or played guitar.

‘Is this right?’ Skye looked at her fingers, stretching across the frets. Megan adjusted them a little, then nodded.

‘Is it uncomfortable?’

Skye nodded.

‘Then it’s right.’

‘Wasn’t this painful when Trouble was teaching me,’ Skye said slyly, strumming a little with a leopard-print plectrum Megan had found in her jewellery box upstairs. ‘Is he going to show me any more?’

‘You want him to?’ Megan asked casually.

‘Sure, he was good.’

So Megan asked, and around Lucas came to sit in their living room with his acoustic guitar, and a pocket amp for Skye. Jonathan nodded, and shook his hand. ‘Good to have you back around, son. Sorry for all that messy business.’

That messy business being my daughter? Megan thought irritably, but Lucas had kissed her when she met him at the door, so she was in a good enough mood to let it go.

Heather walked in, dropped off gingerbread cookies in the shape of hearts, nodded at Megan with approval, and went back to polishing the silver, and ticking off her ‘To Do’ lists.

After half an hour with different chord progressions, Skye could play ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Roll Over Beethoven’.

‘She’s a natural, isn’t she Meg?’ Lucas grinned at Skye as she strummed uncertainly, going a little bit red at the compliment. Must be the Bright effect, Megan thought, it targeted McAllister girls. Her daughter was usually busy working out what someone had done wrong, trying to unspool their secrets, not blushing when they gave out compliments. It made her feel a little better about her own weakness.

‘Meg, wanna play with me?’ He grinned, that boyish, charming grin and she wanted to kiss him and smack him.

‘I haven’t played in years.’

‘So sing.’

‘I haven’t sung in years either,’ she shrugged.

‘That’s not true,’ Skye frowned, ‘I’ve heard you in the shower, you’re really good. Why don’t you sing that one that was on the tape in the car, the one you wrote?’

Lucas brightened at this. ‘You’ve got one of my tapes?’

‘We were listening on the way down. Didn’t even realise it was there,’ Megan shrugged.

‘So, you remember the words?’

Of course she remembered the words, they were sewn into her like every other memory. But did she want to start all that again? Singing had felt like home. Or rather, singing with Lucas had felt like home.

Megan sighed. ‘Baby, pass it here.’ She gestured to the guitar, then slipped the strap over her head and ran through a few scales to warm up her fingers. ‘I’m a bit rusty,’ she warned them.

Lucas nodded at her as he started playing, taking the lead with his fancy finger work as she strummed in rhythm. She started singing, like birds taking flight, and though her voice seemed croaky and worn to her own ears, Skye smiled. She kept eye contact with Lucas, waiting for him to come in with the harmonies. She’d always loved how their voices merged together and made something better than either of them.

We keep making the same mistakes

Over and over and over again.

Travelled down one more lonely path

Where I couldn’t find a friend.

But something about you catches my eye

Makes my heartbeat wild.

And I’ll keep making that same mistake

Over and over again.

Her eyes were glued to his as they sang, and her chest threatened to split with the intensity of it. On one hand, it was all too much, singing with him, kissing him, laughing with him, but on the other it felt like home. And like the song said, maybe she was ready to make those mistakes again. Just for a little while.

‘I had no idea you were cool, Mum.’ Skye stuck out her tongue.

‘Thanks very much! Guess who’s not getting presents for Christmas?’ Megan grinned.

‘You’re joking, right?’ Skye said seriously. ‘Because I meant it as a compliment.’

‘I knew exactly what you meant it as, cheeky monkey.’ Megan rolled her eyes and passed the guitar back. They looked up to find Lucas staring at them, grin playing around his mouth.

‘What?’ they asked in unison.

‘You guys aren’t like other people, are you?’

‘Not a chance,’ Megan shrugged, looking at Skye.

‘Anna says we have no choice, living with eccentric artists as we do,’ Skye informed him, ‘although she says Mum’s innate need to be a good person gets in the way of a lot of creative energy.’

‘Anna says a lot of things.’ Megan rolled her eyes.

‘Are you going to stay for dinner with us, Trouble? We’re getting fish and chips!’ Skye said, trying to tempt him.

‘I-uh…don’t know?’ He looked to Megan, nodding his head at the kitchen door where her parents were currently stuffing the turkey.
They’re fine
, she mouthed at him.
With you, at least.