Wake Me Up Forgotten Faces

2009

Emily kept her eyes on her knees as everyone else welcomed Brian.

"Do I smell some of Val's amazing cooking?" His smooth voice said almost in excitement.

"Oh fuck!" Val exclaimed, rushing through to the kitchen.

"Man, I've missed you guys," He chuckled, glancing round the room at all his friends. His gaze stopped on the small, hunched over figure still sat on the sofa. A soft grin came to his face as he made his way over and knelt down in front of her "Hello little lady."

Her head slowly raised and her hazel orbs met his chocolate brown ones. She smiled and it was then that he saw the bruises.

Although they were old and fading it was easy for him to see how bad they had once been. Biting the inside of his bottom lip he managed to contain his gasp.

"Hey Brian," She smiled, her cute softly spoken voice still the same as always.

"Wanna tell me what happened?" He asked, raising an eyebrow.

She shrugged, her apparent nerves confusing him "Maybe. But, right now, I'm kinda interested in what smells so good in the kitchen."

He chuckled, getting to his feet and helping her to hers "Can't say I disagree."

*

Emily giggled as Brian told yet another Haner family story, his mouth turned up in a grin and his hands moving as he spoke.

"Why weren't we invited again?" Jimmy whined, annoyed he's missed out on all the fun.

The way the 4 guys and girls interacted with Brian's stories showed Emily how close his family were to the band; especially his dad - known to them as Papa Gates.

Brian raised his eyebrows at the drummer's question "Because your last name isn't Haner maybe?" He replied with a chuckled.

"Well, that can always be arranged," Jimmy said in all seriousness. The rest of the group exchanged as he fell into one of his infamous plotting silences.

"Well," Brian said awkwardly "I'm just nipping out for a smoke."

Emily's eyes lit up as her body craved the nicotine. Alan - oblivious to his own faults - hated that she smoked and forced her to stop.

"Mind if I bum one off you?" She asked, noticing the rest looking up at her in shock. She simply shrugged innocently.

Brian, ignoring the looks from his friends, nodded "I've no problem with that."

They both made their way to the Sanders' backyard, parking themselves on one of the garden benches.

Emily shook in excitement as he handed her the cancer stick and lit it for her. The nicotine entered her system and she suddenly felt at home.

"So how come I never knew you smoked?" Brian asked with a smirk, blowing a cloud of smoke from his lungs.

Emily shrugged "Only Hannah knew really, my parents would majorly disapprove."

He nodded knowingly "I know you're waiting for me to ask about your injuries," He said, more smoke twirling from his lips as he flicked some loose ash from his cigarette. He glanced to her over his right shoulder "I'm not going to."

"Your not?"

"Nope." He replied, popping the 'P' "I don't want to push you and I know you'll tell me in your own time."

She smiled shyly, tucking her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them.

The two sat in a comfortable silence - Emily making sure she made the most of her cigarette.

"You coming back inside?" He asked once he'd stubbed out the remainder of his cancer stick.

"Yeah," She replied, breathing out one last lungful of smoke before stubbing out her own and placing it into the bin.

She thanked him as he opened the back for her.

"No problem Patches," He smiled, using the old nickname him and Zach had christened her on her 11th birthday over the phone.

"You remember that?" She asked, almost in shock.

He shrugged, picking up a beer as they passed through the kitchen "Course I do. You don't mind me calling you that?" He answered, sounding a bit unsure.

A grin formed across her face and a warmth spread from her heart round her body, once she hadn't felt for years. "Of course I don't mind."