CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

After Hannah had returned, she sat down and ate robotically, ignoring her aunt and uncles pitiful expressions. She knew they didn't want to hurt her and that they felt bad but it didn't make it any easier. Whilst knowing the story didn't change a thing, it still stung.

Cam squeezed her hand under the table and also continued eating as the silence enveloped the large house.

Hannah and Cameron had both given Sara her birthday presents and after a lot of grateful hugs and kisses on her part, they all went to sleep. The rest of the days passed slowly as they all enjoyed each other's company but didn't mention Jasmine or Chris. Although it was in the back of their minds, it wouldn't do well to talk about it and so, the topic was avoided.

It was nice to be together and although Hannah loved that she now lived alone with her loser of a cousin in London, she also missed having her aunt and uncle around.

Soon it was time for them to return home and after teaching Aunt Sara how to use snapchat and promising to call more often, they began the journey home. Cameron drove in silence, soft music filling the air between them. Whilst the story his parents had told wasn't as bad as it could have been, he knew it had hurt Hannah all the same. And although they didn't show how close they were very often, he couldn't imagine loving anymore more than her.

Or maybe he could.

His mind drifted off to the person in his thoughts as he felt the overwhelming guilt build inside his body. He hadn't told anyone yet. He felt terrible; hiding his secrecy behind an excuse that he wasn't ready. He didn't think he would ever be ready but he couldn't delay it forever.

Before they had gotten in the car, his father had pulled him to the side. "Look after her, yeah?" he had said, hugging his son. "And when you're up to tell us about whoever it is that you're in love with, let us know."

Cameron had laughed it off but now, the L word was all he could think of. He wasn't in love! He was Cameron Adem - he was a player, a man-whore, a slut, a complete idiot as Hannah always told him. Whilst he knew his cousin was always joking about it, he knew it was true. He wasn't in love.

Or was he?

"Hey, Hannah?" He spoke quietly, interrupting the silence and looking at the road ahead, too afraid to meet her eyes. "I'm sorry to drop this on you when you've had a terrible time anyway but I can't really hide it any longer."

When he didn't continue, Hannah spoke up. "Go on," she urged, thinking of all the possible things he might say. He wasn't in any trouble was he? Or ill? Had he done something really stupid?

Knowing her mind would be coming up with the worst case scenarios, he continued, his voice raspy with anxiousness. "I've been thinking of a decent way to tell you for so long but I've wimped out every time. Truth is that, well, I think, um-"

"You haven't gotten anyone pregnant, have you?!" Hannah groaned, interrupting his stammering. To her relief, he only laughed and shook his head, dark curls falling in front of his eyes.

"I think I might be in love."

Hannah almost choked on air, her mind not believing her ears. "What?" she squealed, her voice higher than normal in something between shock and excitement. "With who?"

Cameron bit his bottom lip so hard that he could taste the metallic tang of blood on his tongue.

"With Tyler."

Hannah wasn't sure she had heard properly, her mouth dropping open in realisation. She didn't know what to say, she tried to talk but no words tumbled out. Turning her face away from him, she looked out of the window, barely registering the motorway they were driving on and instead thinking of his confession.

She pictured Tyler. Tall, strong,  baby-faced, messy-haired, goofy-smiling Tyler.

Male Tyler.

"What? How? But, I mean, um, what?" she choked out, her mind reeling. This was too many surprises over one weekend!

"Is that bad?" His voice was so low, so scared that she almost wanted to cry.

"What?" she exclaimed, suddenly realising how difficult it must be for him to open up about such an important thing. "Of course not, you idiot! What's bad is that you've known him for weeks and weeks now and you've never told me anything, not even hinted at it. Don't you trust anymore?"

He took a left, off the motorway and drove into a car park, the screeching of tyres coming to a rest. Shifting around in his seat, he flicked her on the forehead with his fingers and smiled when she scowled at him. "Of course I trust you, I was just scared. I didn't want to admit it to myself, never mind to anyone else. I haven't said anything to anyone else yet, I don't know if I want to."

Hannah pursed her lips, thinking back to the millions of times she had made fun of him for being a player. "So all those girls...?"

Cam laughed, his eyes lighting up when he realised she didn't mind. He felt stupid for it because he knew that his cousin wasn't homophobic in the slightest but there was still that irrational fear in him. He had been raised Catholic and whilst he wasn't particularly religious, he had been to church enough times to know what others thought of people like him.

"Let's just say, I was trying to figure myself out."

Hannah slapped him on the shoulder, harder than she usually did. "Dick! You didn't have to hurt a million girls to figure out you're gay."

"Pansexual," he corrected, rubbing his shoulder as he rolled his eyes at her attack. "I think." When Hannah only stared at him blankly, he continued. "It means an attraction to all genders, including those that fall outside the traditional gender binaries too."

Hannah laughed, pride swelling inside her. "I know what it means, Cammie. I was just surprised that you know. Have you been stalking me on Tumblr again?"

Cameron grinned, shaking his head at his cousins randomness. It was only when he looked up, he realised he didn't know where they were. He had driven off the motorway so they could talk and had parked randomly. Quite far ahead of them was what looked like a farmhouse.

Hannah watched him from the corner of her eyes. She saw the way his dimples grew when he smiled and the way he could hide his emotions in a heartbeat, just like her. They were experts in falsehood and pretences but for now, everything was so real between the two. "I love you, you know that right?"

Pulling his seatbelt off and stepping out of the car, he waited for her to get out too. "Love you too, smelly."

Together they walked towards the farm, talking about Tyler. Cam told her the small things about him and how they had gotten to know each other, after having met at the back to school party at the beginning of the year. It seemed so long ago that Hannah could barely comprehend how long he had kept it a secret for. Or maybe it was because so much had changed already. Ashlyn and Gabriel were thankfully no longer in her life, she had found out about her father and who he was, she was enjoying herself intending on going into ICT and Cameron was in love with a boy!

"So have you kissed yet?" Hannah asked with a mischievous smile, glad to be distracted from the overwhelming thoughts about her mother and father.

When Cam nodded bashfully, she squealed, clasping her hands together. "Cute! Okay, how about anything else?"

Cameron blushed.

"Oh my God, you've gone bright red! You've had sex, haven't you? Whoa."

He shook his head violently, his cheeks aflame. "No!"

Hannah's eyebrows rose and she pouted, elbowing her cousin. "But it's been a while since you've been hanging out. How come? It's not like you haven't done the hanky panky a million times before."

"Because it's different, okay. Can we just stop talking about this, please?" he begged, groaning when she shook her head, her loose hair hitting him in the face.

"Nope. It can't be that different, don't be scared alright. Just relax and let it come naturally, oh, and make sure you have lube and wear a condom and-"

"Jesus Christ," Cameron cursed as he clamped a hand around his cousins mouth. "Shut up. And why are you trying to give me sex advice when you've probably not even seen a condom in your life?"

Hannah scowled at him although she wasn't embarrassed of her virginity anymore. She had too many trust issues to reveal so much of herself to someone she wasn't completely sure about. "And who am I meant to have it with?" she remarked flippantly, regretting it as soon as Cameron grinned evilly. "Oh God, you're gonna say something stupid now, aren't you?"

"How about Rayne?"

Hannah spluttered, having been taken completely by surprise. "What the hell?"

"Well you were at his house until the middle of the night. Do you mean to tell me that you've never even thought of him like that? At all?"

The idea was preposterous. How could she think anything like that about Rayne! He was just a guy she was doing an English project with. She didn't even think they were friends yet, more classmates. Or at the very most, acquaintances. It was no big deal. Right?

"Well, you must think he's hot though."

Hannah thought about it. It was weird to think of, especially as she'd only thought of guys like Gabriel as hot before. But now that Cam had mentioned it, she supposed it was almost true. Whilst not as ridiculously good-looking as half the guys in school, Rayne had pretty eyes and nice hair. He had a welcoming smile and his laugh was so soft and real.

"He's... cute, I guess."

Cam made kissing noises with his lips, fluttering his eyelashes ridiculously. Hannah rolled her eyes and slapped him, proud when he scowled at her.

They had reached the large white building, the chicken wire around it giving it an edge. There was a hand-painted sign hanging on it which read "Rubie's Rabbit Rescue".

Hannah tried to peer in through the windows but she couldn't see very much, although there was a shadow moving which indicated someone's presence. It was a bit of a sudden decision considering they had no idea where they were or had any clue about rabbits but they decided to enter.

The door swung loudly with a creak and the woman at the desk looked up, pausing from where she had been typing on her computer. "Hello there, I'm Rubie. May I help you?"

Cam shrugged when his cousin looked at him for an explanation. "We were just driving past and stopped out of curiosity, really. Just wondering what your rabbit rescue is."

The woman stood up, pushing her glasses from where they rested on her nose onto her head, settled between red curls. "Well, we rescue rabbits that have been neglected or abused and nurse them back to full health, rehabilitating them back before they can be adopted by new, loving owners."

Hannah looked around, noticing the leaflets on rabbit welfare piled up on the desk. "Aw, that's quite sad. I bet loads of people buy their young kids rabbits as pets around Easter time, not realising what a big responsibility animals are. And then they get dumped."

The woman nodded, seemingly pleased with her words. "Exactly! Have you had rabbits before?"

Hannah shook her head. "No but we used to have cats when we were younger before we moved. Could I have a look at the rabbits? Is that allowed?" The idea of adopting an animal hadn't crossed her mind but thinking of a poor unwanted bunny made her sad. She knew how it felt.

"If you'd like then sure, of course. But you would need to do research before adopting, rabbits are ten year commitments. They become part of your family, if you let them."

Cameron looked a little unsure but he knew his cousin had always loved animals so he nudged her. "Cmon then, let's have a look at them."

When Rubie led them outside, they were amazed at the rows of sheds and the many, evidentially happy, rabbits hopping around. They were split into groups of two or three, nibbling on the grass and chasing each other. "All of our rabbits have been neutered which not only helps with the baby problem but also with aggressive behaviour and uterine cancers which are fatal."

Rubie went on to tell them all about rabbits, rather impressed that Hannah was listening so well and being so understanding. The girl had a lot of common sense and she could see that she adored interacting with the inquisitive ones that approached her, hoping for a treat.

Cam stood back and watched the way Hannah moved, like ink in water. So flowing and free that he almost forgot how much had been burdened on her. They stayed for a while, Hannah making a friend in the kind lady until it was time to go home.

"Thank you so much for everything you've told me, it's been really interesting."

Rubie smiled. "No, thank you. It's always a pleasure to promote animal welfare and I'm glad you learnt some things."

They were ready to go when something caught Hannah's eyes. It was a small rabbit, barely the size of a football, hiding behind a bush. He was by himself in a small pen, all alone. His fur was messy and pale grey with a white underside and one of the ears had evidentally been bitten off. All in all, he was a bit of a mess but Hannah had never seen a cuter bunny before.

She walked towards where he hid and crouched down, smiling when he looked up at her and trembled in. "Aw," she muttered, putting a hand out for him to sniff before stroking the top of his head, careful to avoid the tuft where his ear should have been.

"That's Ash," Rubie began from behind her. "He's had a rough time as you can see, poor thing is terrified of people. But he seems to like you."

Hannah looked over at Cameron with the biggest puppy dog eyes she could manage and he groaned, trying not to smile to show his acceptance. "Are you serious, Hannah?"

She nodded at her cousin, her eyes shining as she looked at the little fluffball. "He's adorable! Can we have him?"

The woman pursed her lips. "Usually we don't adopt rabbits out to inexperienced owners but I'll make an exception this time. You seem like a bright girl and Ash has taken a liking to you which he's never done before. Provided you fill out the forms and agree to the conditions, you may be able to take him today."

And that was how they ended up back in the car. A small, scared bunny in a box settled on Hannah's lap and a boot full of hay, rabbit food and other essentials.

"You can keep him in the house on two conditions," Cam began, trying to look annoyed but failing. It was physically impossible for him to be mad at her when she was grinning ear to ear, cooing at the fearful rabbit.

"One, you gotta litter train him."

Hannah nodded, having already read the articles on litter training that Rubie had kindly printed out for her.

"And two, there is no way we're calling something this innocent and cute, Ash. Ashlyn has totally ruined the name for me, you gotta rename him."

Hannah beamed.

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A/N: Although the rabbit part is completely random and not relevant to the story in any way, i purposefully included it because I recently adopted a rabbit who was left behind after a pre-teen couldn't handle looking after him. I know a lot of young girls buy rabbits because they're cute and they seem like easy pets and think they can be in a cage but that is far from the truth. Rabbits need lots of space to run and hop and can't be confined - my bunny lives in my bedroom and I only lock him in his cage (which is still pretty big tbh) when there are young kids around that will poke and prod him or if I'm tidying up. I know a lot of young girls are on wattpad so i was hoping to educate you with just a glimpse of how much of a commitment they are. Please don't get one if you're unsure and always adopt instead of buying! If you're interested, my sister made my bunny a instagram accounts (username: pebblesthebun) lol so you can follow him to keep up with our lives :3