Edenham Comprehensive

It seems to take an age to reach the Kenilworth Estate, even longer to climb the stairs to Reuben’s flat. He nearly drops his keys as he tries to open the door; Casey gently takes them from him and does it for him. Shamefaced, he follows her inside.

“Hey Reuben,” his mum greets him. She’s sat on the sofa, nose-deep in a book. His eyes widen with alarm, but she looks up at him before he can do anything. “How was your- what happened to your face?” she exclaims, jumping to her feet, the book forgotten.

“I’m fine, Mum,” he mutters, but he lets her examine him closely anyway. “You should see the other guy.”

She gives him a disapproving look. “So you did get into a fight, then. Reuben, I thought we put all that behind us.”

Casey looks at him strangely, but he ignores her. “It wasn’t my fault,” he mumbles. “The other boy was completely out of order.”

Tutting, his mum shakes her head at him. She seems to notice Casey for the first time, hovering awkwardly by his side, and gives her a warm smile.

“You must be Casey,” she assumes. “I’m Reuben’s mum, Sandra.”

“Nice to meet you,” Casey smiles. “I should go. You two probably want to talk in private.”

“No,” Reuben says quickly.

“It’s fine,” his mum insists, biting back a smile. “It’s not every day you get to meet your son’s girlfriend. He’s never brought you round before; it’s almost like he’s ashamed of me.”

“I have brought her round, you just haven’t been here,” he mutters.

Her eyebrows rise. “Oh really? And, pray tell, what do you do when you’re all alone?”

He gives her a look. “God, Mum, it’s not like that. I’ll just pick your mind up out of the gutter, shall I?”

“Reuben, you’re teenagers,” she points out. “I can’t expect you to be happy holding hands all the time. I just want to know that you’re practising safe-”

“And I really don’t need to hear the end of that sentence,” he interrupts, covering his ears with his hands. “Mum, you’re making Casey uncomfortable.”

“I’m fine,” she says automatically, but his mum merely chuckles.

“Okay, I’ll drop it,” she promises. “Though if you do need condoms, Brooke gives them out free and you can even get money from me if-”

“Mum!” he protests.

Giggling, she pats him on the head. “You know I like winding you up. I’m just going to get the first aid kit to patch you up. Don’t get up to anything while I’m gone.”

She heads out of the living room, waggling her eyebrows suggestively at him as she goes. Reuben groans, burying his head in his hands.

“I am sosorry about her,” he mutters. “She can be incredibly embarrassing when she wants to be. I’m surprised she hasn’t broken out the baby photos yet.”

Casey cracks a grin. “I like her. She’s cool.”

“Cool?” Reuben snorts. “You see what you think when she’s interrogating you about your medical history in case you have any genetic diseases you could pass on to our future kids.”

She chuckles. “I’d still swap with you any day, just so you know. How about your dad, what’s he like?”

He stiffens. “He’s an arsehole.”

She knows better than to argue, so only nods. “So was mine, even before he left us. Mum used to be all right before that, though. Well. Normal. More like other mums. She didn’t go out clubbing every night like someone half her age, with men young enough to be her son.”

He gives her a half-smile. “Parents aren’t worth the hassle, sometimes.”

“Oi!” his mum protests as she strides back into the room, first aid kit tucked under her arm. “I heard that.”

Reuben rolls his eyes at her. “Good. Now I don’t have to say it to your face too.”

She brandishes the bag at him mock-threateningly. “You watch it, young man, or I’ll give you another black eye to go with the one you already have.”

“Like you could,” he retorts. She gives him a look. “Okay, okay, I’m sorry,” he mutters. “Could we get this over with?”

She tuts at him. “Casey, could you hold this for me?” She hands her the bag, but not before taking out some antiseptic. “This may hurt a little,” she says matter-of-factly, dabbing it onto the cuts across his face.

“Ow!” Reuben howls, and the other two erupt into giggles. “It hurts!” he says defensively, but his cheeks are hot.

“Of course it does, Rubes,” Casey smirks. “When this is over, you can have a sticker telling everyone what a brave, brave boy you’ve been.”

He shoots her the dirtiest look he can muster. “I hate you. Ow!” He glares at his mum, who took his distraction as an opportunity to finish dabbing the cream into his face. “You’re just doing this on purpose, now,” he accuses her, wincing.

“Of course I am,” she replies, screwing the lid back onto the cream. “I’m guessing you don’t want plasters for them?” He gives her a look. “Thought not. Casey, could you be a dear and get me a bag of frozen peas from the freezer?”

“Sure,” she replies, and heads towards the kitchen obediently.

“What are the peas for?” Reuben asks curiously.

“For the swelling on your eye,” she replies. “You’ll have a nasty bruise there in the morning.”

“Right,” he mutters. “Another thing to thank Tyler flipping Westwood for.”

His mum frowns. “Tyler? Casey’s ex? The one who beat you up last time?”

Last time? But then he remembers the humiliation show, and the rollicking he got when he got home and his mum saw the bruises. She looked about ready to kill someone – probably him.

“Yep,” he says grimly. “Him.”

She gives him a measured look. “The fight wasn’t about her, was it?”

“Not... entirely,” he says reluctantly. “It was just about stuff in general. Mum, the guy hates me.”

“That doesn’t mean you should stoop to his level,” she tells him, sounding stern.

Reuben sighs. “You’re not going to tell Dad about this, are you?”

“What do you think I am, stupid?” she scoffs. “He’d think you were losing it all over again. He thought you solved your anger issues, and so did I.”

“I can’t help it, Mum,” he mutters. “This guy... he just grates on me like no one else.”

“Do you need to see a psychiatrist again?” she asks.

“No.”

“’Cause you know we’ll find the money if you need it,” she assures him. “That isn’t a problem-”

“Mum,” he interrupts her, but his voice is gentle, “I’m fine.”

She smiles, but it’s tainted by the sadness in her eyes. “You know, you’re so much like Callum. He was always so stubborn, so strong. I’m proud of you. You know that, don’t you?”

“Yeah,” he murmurs, remembering Tyler’s words with a grimace. “I do.”

She strokes his head, still smiling at him. Casey pokes her head round the door, an apologetic look on her face.

“I couldn’t find any peas,” she informs them. “Will chips do?”

His mum chuckles, her easygoing air returned, and gets to her feet. “Chips’ll be fine. I have to go to work now, but could you look after him for me, make sure he stays inside? I don’t want him getting into any more trouble.”

“Yeah, sure,” Casey replies, smiling at her. “And I, um, I promise we won’t get up to anything while you’re gone.”

His mum laughs, a proper, full laugh that seems to fill the entire flat. “I never thought you would. But just in case, there’s a box of condoms in the bathroom cupboard on the top shelf.”

“Mum,” Reuben mutters, but he’s not annoyed. Not really.

“I’ll be back in the morning,” she tells him, kissing the top of his forehead. “Behave yourself for Casey, yeah?”

“Yeah,” he says softly. “Bye, Mum.”

She gives him one last smile before heading for the door, shutting it gently behind her. The flat is suddenly utterly silent, except for the quiet hum of the washing machine.

Casey holds up the bag of chips meaningfully. “Do you want this or not?”

“Yeah, why not?” he mutters, taking it from her and pressing it to his eye. “How bad do I look?”

“Not awful,” she replies honestly. “Your eye’s going an attractive shade of purple and you’ve got a few cuts, but all in all, it could be a lot worse.”

“Like Tyler,” he grins.

She looks away. “Yeah. Like Tyler. Reuben, what happened?”

“He... said stuff.” He’s reluctant to elaborate, but he knows that won’t satisfy her.

She narrows her eyes at him. “Like what?”

“About my family, about Callum,” he replies evasively. “I just saw red and punched him.”

“You did more than that,” she tells him, shaking her head. “Rubes, if I hadn’t pulled you off him when I did, you could’ve killed him.”

“Big tragedy that would’ve been,” he mutters.

Her eyes darken. “You don’t mean that.”

“Don’t I?” He looks at her closely. “Are you seriously telling me you’d be upset if he died?”

“Yes, I am,” she says evenly. “Whatever else he is, he’s still human. He doesn’t deserve to die. No one does, no matter what they’ve done.”

Reuben merely snorts. “He knows,” he says, deciding his safest bet is to change the subject. “He knows about me and you.”

Her eyes widen. “What? How?”

“Georgia told him,” he says dully. “It’s okay, you can say I told you so.”

She looks grim. “I hate to say it but I did warn you.”

“I know,” he mutters. “I just thought...” He sighs. “It doesn’t matter. He knows we’re trying to get rid of him.”

“Then we’ve got even more reason to keep going,” she says firmly.

He looks at her, surprised. “You’ve changed your tune.”

She shrugs. “I guess I realised you were right. It’s not ideal, not by any means, but we can still do it. We’ll just have to be cleverer about it.”

Reuben stares at the floor, but it isn’t the mismatched patterned carpet he’s seeing. “What do you think he’s going to do?”

“I don’t know,” she confesses. “I really don’t know.”

He nods, almost to himself. “And what should we do about Georgia?”

“Hang, draw and quarter her?” Casey suggests, only half-joking.

He looks derisive. “What happened to no one deserving to die, no matter what they’ve done?” He winces suddenly, and presses the bag of chips closer to his face.

“You okay?” she asks, concern seeping into her voice.

“Yeah, fine. You couldn’t get me some paracetamol, could you?”

“Sure.” She rummages in the first aid kit for a few seconds before pulling out a packet of painkillers and handing it to him. Muttering his thanks, he punches out two and swallows them dry.

“Much better,” he mumbles, shifting his position on the sofa so he’s more comfortable. “You don’t have to stay with me, you know. My mum wasn’t serious.”

She smiles at him. “Whatever makes you think I don’t want to stay?”

He smiles back, and she settles into the sofa beside him. Rooting around down the sides, he pulls out the remote and clicks on the television. Just for tonight, they can pretend that they’re perfectly ordinary teenagers curled up on the sofa watching TV.