Page 49 of Crying in the Rain
Kris stepped inside and slowly moved along the hall, watching Ade set down the TV, which appeared to be in one piece, and then flit about, flicking a speck of dust here, straightening a coaster there, examining book spines, plumping naked cushions…
“Ade.”
…rubbing at a spot of something on the coffee table. “Would you like a drink. Cup of tea? I’ll put the kettle on. We’ll have to sit in the kitchen, I’m afraid.”
Ade moved to walk past Kris, who knew better than to try to physically stop him and stepped aside.
“How do you have your tea? Weak? Strong? You have milk, don’t you?”
Kris watched on silently as Ade lifted the kettle and flipped the lid open, turned the tap on…and fell apart. The kettle landed in the sink with an ear-ringing clunk, cold water sprayed everywhere, and Ade slid to the floor, his face broken and white.
Without a word, Kris turned off the tap and dropped to his knees beside Ade, utterly powerless, while Ade sobbed and gasped, his arms wrapped protectively around his head as if someone was raining down blows on him. Aware it might be the worst thing to do but desperate to do something, Kris gently rubbed Ade’s back to comfort him and give him some connection to reality. Ade didn’t react in any way, not even when Kris startled at a movement in his peripheral vision.
Not Fergus, thank God.It was the woman from the radio station cafeteria—presumably the ‘Pip’ who’d called Ade that morning—and she didn’t seem at all shocked by what she was witnessing.
“I need…” Ade gulped.
Kris waited, then asked, “What do you need, Ade?”
He started to get up. “I need…” He wasn’t sobbing now. He was wailing like a wounded animal.
Crying himself, Kris wrapped his arms around Ade, holding steady as Ade fell against him. He glanced up at Ade’s friend, who was biting her fist, tears streaming down her cheeks, but her eyes, locked on Kris’s, conveyed another emotion besides fear and distress. Jealousy.
I’ve taken her place.But what could he do? Ade was so out of it, he didn’t even know she was there.
Pip turned away and, after a moment’s nose blowing, turned back and stepped around them. “I’ll put that kettle on,” she said.
“No,” Ade said thickly, pulling away from Kris to peer up at her through swollen red eyes. Snot hung from both nostrils, and his usually spiky hair was a dark, sodden fringe stuck to his forehead. “Pub.”
“Pub,” Pip repeated in blatant disbelief. “Are you serious?”
Ade sniffed and nodded.
Pip studied him a moment and put the kettle back on the side. “Better wash your face first.”
Ade gargled a laugh and tried to stand again. He wobbled, and Kris caught him, eyes meeting. “Let me help,” Kris offered and slowly rose to his feet, pulling Ade up with him.
“Bathroom,” Ade said and staggered away.
Kris wiped his eyes on his sleeve and gave Pip a watery smile. “Hi, I’m Kris.”
“I know,” Pip responded dryly. She examined him suspiciously for a few seconds and then held out her hand. “Pip,” she said. Kris shook the offered hand. “I suppose, as my GBF has a serious case of love at first sight, we’d best get to know each other, huh?”
“I hope the ‘BF’ is more important than the ‘G’.” Kris tried to say it lightly, but what he’d told Ade about being out at school and the bullying he had endured all came back to the same thing. He wasn’t just out; he was outspoken, sometimes to an extreme. It mattered a great deal to him, though perhaps not as much as making a good first impression with Ade’s friends. Pip still had him under scrutiny, and he started to fret. He redressed. “Sorry if I offended you. It’s a bit of a sore point.”
Pip nodded. “For me too.” She gave him a friendly nudge. “I’m sure we’ll get along just fine.”
Kris carefully released a sigh as Ade came back into the kitchen, looking moderately more human now he’d washed his face. He’d stopped crying, although the occasional gulp still escaped.
“Have you done the introductions?” he asked them both.
“Introductions and mutual causing of offence,” Pip said with a playful wink in Kris’s direction.
“Oh good,” Ade said. “I’m glad you’re not standing on ceremony. I’m all out of tenterhooks.”
“Do you really want to go to the pub?” Pip asked. “If you do, then that’s absolutely what we’ll do, but…”
But Ade didn’t look fit to go anywhere.
