Count On Me

Part Fifty Four

Chapter Fifty Four

Lizzie hugged Freya, hard. She was more of a sister to her than Janis had ever been, and whilst that hurt so much to say, she always felt as though she wasn't enough, it was ultimately still VERY true. She loved Janis, had...still did, she missed Janis every day. But then she had spent her whole life missing her, and Janis had gone and lived her life, to the full, to her own limits. Not the same way that she, the second best, put-up-on daughter lived her life. She had spent every moment trying to create a perfect image, a perfect persona, and all the while, she was broken inside, always wondering why her sister had left, why her parents despised her, and what she could do to make them love her. She'd half lived her life whilst her sister painted a thousand towns red with no care for what that meant, to Lizzie, her parents, anyone but herself.

Impulsively, she kissed Freya's cheek.

The other woman grinned, "What was that for?"

Lizzie sighed, "for being so nice to me, for making me feel part of your family. You have no idea what that means to me. Being here, it's everything, you have no idea."

Freya didn't try to draw that out, didn't try to dissect it, she just grinned, "Don't worry about my wonderful nephew. OK? He'll be fine with us. Just go and make him happy for the afternoon."

"We're going to pack up his flat. That's all."

Freya winked, "of course you are, young love and all that."

Apparently he lived in apartment number six, on the third floor. The lift wasn't arriving with any speed, so she took the stairs. At a jog. After all, she was excited, dare she say longing to see him? She still found it hard to even think about how important he was to her, but she had to think about what it meant...at some point.

She was both breathless and on edge when she reached the correct door. Taking a very deep breath for many reasons, she raised her hand to bang on the door, but then paused. The door was unlocked and slightly ajar. But she reasoned that he did know that she was coming. Her heart rate raised a notch as she wondered what he was planning. Where would she find him? What was he going to do? What were they going to do? Something to make her blush, she was sure of that.

She craved that.

With a smug grin on her face, she pushed open the door, the words 'Hi honey, I'm home', poised on her lips, then stopped in her tracks.

Oscar was stood there, naked bar a pair of gym shorts, his bronzed and beautiful body so tempting, so stunning. She had to rein in the desire to fly across the room and hang around him koala bear style. Because stood in front of him was Krystal. Lizzie had only seen her once, but she couldn't forget the apparent perfection, the beauty...the jealousy. Though she didn't seem so perfect today. She had her hands spread over his bare chest. Lizzie sucked in some air, as a red mist settled over her eyes and she fought the desire to punch that bitch.

Stepping into the room, with a steadiness that betrayed the trauma she felt inside, she was about to screech, "Get you filthy hands off MY man." When said bitch flung her mid thigh raincoat off her shoulders and tried to drape her naked body around Oscar, she snapped mouth closed, and stepped into the room. No more Ms Nice Guy.

"What the FUCK do you think you are you doing?"

Her voice caused them both to freeze, then two pairs of eyes flashed to her, one guilty, anxious, terrified; the other gloating, smug and she knew contrived. She thought she'd feel different, that she'd hate Oscar, want to scratch his eyes out. But he looked petrified.