CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

The music was loud, Hannah's heartbeat pounding along with it. She had decided to come along to a party with Cameron that same afternoon. While she usually didn't like parties and avoided them at all cost, it was the perfect distraction and to make it even better, there weren't many people from her school.

It was a party hosted by a guy from Clearmount High, a fairly local state school. The students at Pemrose were usually too snobby to mingle with regular kids and so, Hannah was pretty pleased not to see anyone she knew well.

Her body swayed to the music, the hem of her black dress floating against her knees. Her hair was tied up high, her makeup lighter than usual and her smile real. Although she hadn't drunk anything at all, she was feeling pretty light-headed and danced along with strangers. The music and the chattering around her was all far too loud for her thoughts to fester and it was perfect.

"You want a drink?" Cameron yelled in her ear as he made his way over, his eyes glowing in the dim light and his smile wide and carefree. "I'll get you a coke or something if you want?"

Not bothering to reply, Hannah threw an arm around him and walked with him, giggling to herself for no reason at all. When they reached the kitchen, Cameron kicked the door shut with his foot, blocking out the music. There was a bunch of people standing around and talking who all looked back at them when they walked in, smiling politely at the two.

"Hey Cam!" a guy yelled out with a huge smile and a Red Bull can in his hand as he made his way over, leaving the pretty blonde girl beside him. "Glad you made it, haven't seen you in a while!"

Cameron laughed and grabbed hold of the guy's hand, banging his shoulder into his as boys do. He held on for a while before turning to Hannah to introduce her. "This is Tyler. He's, um, a mate. And Ty, this is my cousin Hannah."

"Nice to meet you," Hannah chirped although she was a little confused. Something about him seemed familiar although she was sure she had never met him before. His fawn coloured hair was sticking up slightly, as though he had been running through it slightly and he had a cheeky smile which made him look pretty young despite his tall, built frame.

"I've heard a lot about you!" Tyler said with a soft smile. "Good to put a face to the name."

His voice was deeper than Hannah had expected, contrasting slightly with his boy-next-door features. It was when he smiled and his voice tilted that Hannah recognised him.

"Hey! You're the guy that was in our house the other day, right? I remember your name kinda."

Tyler laughed although Cameron only looked between them with a reserved expression, as though he wasn't sure how to feel. "Yeh, I popped in to see Cameron cuz you lot live near my doctors and I had an appointment that day, that's all."

Hannah nodded although she didn't feel so sure, something was nagging at her about him but she couldn't remember what it was. She was distracted however, by Cam opening a new can of Fanta and handing it over. "Here ya go, smelly."

She rolled her eyes at him and took a sip, while her cousin continued talking. "Ty's the one who plays guitar, remember I was telling you that? In Camden?"

Hannah snorted, trying not to choke on her drink. She remembered Cameron whispering that to her in school, quietly so Ash didn't hear. Ashlyn would have a heart attack if she knew Cam went to grimy, weird places like Camden instead of stayed in their modestly middle and upper-class area.

Thinking of Ashlyn wasn't a good idea though as her eyes misted up. "I'm gonna go yeah, grab some fresh air," she told her cousin, trying not to look teary. Although it was sudden, at that moment, she wanted nothing more than to get out. "I'll call you later or something."

Cameron bit his lip and slowly nodded. "Alright. Be safe okay, and let me know if you go home or something."

She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek softly. "Cheers, Cam." She didn't know the words to say how grateful she was for him, how much she needed him in her life. It was too much but she knew he understood. With a wave at Tyler, she turned around and fled, her hair loosening as she stepped outside. The cool air felt fresh on her face and she allowed a few tears to fall, before willing them away. Hannah didn't really know why she was crying but it was a combination of everything. She felt like she had been floating for so long but now, it was more like drowning.

The roads were fairly quiet and although it wasn't too late, the sky was dim. She walked quickly and thankfully, the few people out didn't bother her. She was about to walk to the train station to get home when she stopped, her eyes fixated on a road sign. There was graffiti covering it but she managed to make out the words, the street sounding familiar.

With a shuffle through the small silver, beaded bag hanging off her shoulder, she found what she was looking for. A scrap of paper that she had shoved in her purse. She squinted in the moonlight and then looked back up, smiling when she realised she had been correct. Acorn Gardens. This was Rayne's road.

Without really knowing what she was thinking, she wandered down the road, her eyebrows raising at the houses. Whilst they weren't falling apart or anything too drastic, they were very small and the road had a few dips in it. It didn't take long until she got to number twelve, a small white house with rickety shutters and a dull blue door.

It was pretty stupid, considering she hadn't even called or anything but she rang the doorbell without a thought. It was only when the door slowly opened and a women peered out that Hannah realised she had no idea what to say.

"Yes?" the woman asked, her blonde hair a little frizzy and an apron around her waist. Her eyebrows were up and she looked so sceptical that Hannah almost turned around.

"Um, is Rayne home?" she managed to stammer, her cheeks tinging pink when his mother looked her up and down, suddenly conscious of her makeup and short dress.

"Oh, are you a friend of his?" she asked, now smiling warmly as she opened the door wide and gestured for her to come in. "I'll call him down for you, darling, what's your name?"

Hannah answered her shyly and stepped inside although a part of her was wondering what she would say to Rayne. He wouldn't be happy that she had just turned up out of nowhere, especially considering he hadn't wanted her to come over in the first place!

A set of feet pattered across the worn carpet and a round face peeked out from behind Mrs Parker.

"Hiya!" the little girl yelped, her blonde pigtails lopsided on her head. "Who are you?"

"Sky! Don't be so rude!" her mum chided, shooting Hannah an apologetic look as she ushered her into the living room. It was small and the furniture was old but it was so homely, the lights bright and photographs and children's drawings covering the walls. "This is Hannah, Rayne's friend. Go and get your brother."

Sky stamped her little feet and sulked before turning around and yelling. "Rayne!" she called out from the bottom of the stairs. "You got a visitor!"

Her mum stopped from where she was picking up the toys on the sofa and glared at the little girl. "Skylar Marianne! If I wanted you to scream like that, I would have done it myself. Go get him nicely."

But before Sky could turn around, Hannah heard Rayne's voice. "Yeh, what happened?"

She tried to think of what she would say but all thoughts flew out of her mind when he walked in, a small grey t-shirt on and red pyjama bottoms. His face contorted into shock as he stared at her. Another little girl – similar colouring as Skylar but younger – stood behind him, her eyes wide in wonder.

She knew she looked out of place with her fancy black dress and high heels, cheeks contoured and hair curled perfectly. But his stare was so unnerving that she couldn't think of anything to say. "Erm, hi?" she stammered, her usually calm and collected persona dropping in front of this very normal family.

"What are you doin' here?" he asked, his voice harsher than she'd expected.

Her breath froze but before she could formulate a response, his mum hit him over the head with the back of her hand. "My goodness, what is wrong with you? Don't be so rude! I'm so sorry, dear, don't be put off. You take a seat and I'll fetch you some pie, that's if these greedy monsters haven't finished it all. You like apple pie, right?"

Hannah blushed at her kindness and she played with the edge of her bag, feeling so out of her depth. "Er, I think so. I've never had pie before but thank you. You don't have to go to so much trouble though, I didn't mean to come. I, um–."

Rayne cut of her with a noise that sounded in between a choke and a snort. "You've never had pie before?!"

She shook her head, hair falling in front of her face.

He laughed at her then and Hannah relaxed, realising he wasn't angry but just very surprised. And she could hardly blame him. He'd only just given her his address that morning and she had turned up without a warning!

Mrs Parker had bustled to the kitchen and so Rayne spoke to his eight year old sister. "Sky, go get some ice-cream too. She can't have her first ever bite of homemade apple pie without ice cream just cuz mums tryna be healthy."

Skylar frowned, stomping her little foot on the ground. "I don't wanna go," she grumbled. "I wanna watch you. Tell Hail!"

Rayne rolled his eyes at his sister's theatrics and turned to his youngest sister. To Hannah's surprise, he didn't say a word, instead moved his hands swiftly in the air. The little girl nodded, smiled at Hannah and skipped out of the room, following her mum.

"Hailey is deaf," Sky announced bluntly, watching Hannah's confusion change to understanding. "She had meningitis when she was a baby and it damaged her hearing but that's good because it's very dangerous mummy said and–"

Rayne strode over and clamped a hand over his sister's mouth. "She doesn't need to know our life stories Sky, shut it."

Skylar glared at her brother but grudgingly listened, settling back onto the sofa in silence.

Hannah bit her lip and tried to explain. "I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have come. I didn't mean to. I was just walking past and–"

Rayne's eyebrows jumped up as he peered down at her. "Wait, you were walking past here?"

Hannah giggled. She knew Rayne expected her to live on the other side of the area, near their school. Whilst she didn't live too far away from it, she didn't have a mansion like he was expecting. "Believe it or not but I don't confine myself around Pemrose, you know."

He looked abashed, only then realising that she hadn't looked at the falling apart living room in surprise or disgust. He hadn't felt ashamed when he saw her sitting in his living room with family, only shocked. "Sorry, didn't mean to–"

"Indirectly call me too stuck up to set foot around here?"

Rayne groaned although he was grinning, glad she hadn't taken it personally. "Sounds worse when you say it out loud to be honest."

Hannah laughed out loud, properly and her heart swelled. She needed a proper laugh and now, she was glad she had come. Mrs Parker strode back in with a tray, the prettiest pie Hannah had ever seen nestled on it. Hailey followed behind with a shy smile painted across her face and sat next to Rayne, leaning her head against his waist as he played with her hair. All of them sat down on the sofas around the glass coffee table, eagerly watching the pie. The steam rose in the air and Hannah thought that she had never smelt anything so wonderful in her life.

"Wow," she murmured, just looking at it.

Mrs Parker glared at her children who were all fixated on the pie. "You greedy lot can only have some once Hannah's done, you understand?" she commanded, simultaneously moving her hands in the air to sign for Hailey.

Sky pouted but Hailey seemed happy enough, content to just watch her family. Whilst it was obvious the family was close, Hannah was pleasantly surprised to see that Hailey was most attached to Rayne and that he signed everything he said regardless of what it was, for her to understand.

It was, well, kind of cute.

Her eyes widened when she tasted the pie and she refrained from moaning into her plate. "Oh my God," she exclaimed with her mouthful, too caught up in the taste to mind her manners. "This is amazing, Mrs Parker!"

Rayne's mother beamed, evidentially chuffed that she had liked it. "Call me Carla," she answered, rolling her eyes at the way her son was shovelling ice cream into his mouth as though he had never seen it before. "Girls, once you're done, it's off to bed, alright?"

Skylar didn't seem too happy but Hailey nodded and signed back something which Hannah assumed meant okay. Rayne piled the plates on top of each other when they were done and took them to the kitchen as the twins waved bye and made their way upstairs.

"I'm really sorry for coming so late Mrs–, I mean Carla," Hannah said as she looked at the clock. It was nine thirty already! "I'll be going."

"Dontcha wanna do some of our essay while you're here?" Rayne asked, leaning against the doorframe.

Hannah tried to ignore the strip of pale skin peeking out from where his t-shirt was riding off and looked back at the clock guilty. "I don't want to intrude, it's pretty late."

Rayne rolled his jade eyes, a fact Hannah was rather pleased about. It meant he was getting comfortable around her or maybe it was because he was in his own territory. "I don't mind, c'mon let's do a little. There's not much time left before we'll have to give it in and we've barely done anything."

He gestured at her to follow him up the stairs and when Hannah looked over at his mother in confirmation, she only smiled. She couldn't help the way her heart jumped as she walked up the stairs and into his bedroom, she'd never felt more comfortable than with them all.

Was this what it was like to have a normal family?