Whispers At Night.

“Ivan, I can’t believe you knocked at the wrong house!” Josef giggles, I punch his arm lightly and scowl.

“Shut it. I haven’t been here in years, alright?” He rolls his eyes and holds open the gate for me. I courtesy and he salutes, walking out behind me and pulling it to a close. I feel him tug on my arm and I turn around to see him standing with his legs crossed awkwardly and his arm out, bent, waiting for me to link my arm to his. I fan myself with my hand and giggle, “Oh, how sweet of you!” He winks and I link my arm with his.

“So, where to now m’lady?” I pout and he grins, mocking my slightly feminine features.

“If it’s not this house- which is obviously wasn’t,” I wink, “-then it’ll be the next one along, to the… Left!” I proclaim and point the way.

“To the left we go!” Josef shouts and we skip off towards the next house. We are such girls.

~

“Are you sure it’s the right house this time, Ivan?” Josef mocks, a huge smile on his lips. I nudge him in the ribs.

“I’m very sure, Josef. Now shut the hell up and ring the doorbell!” He giggles and reaches up to the doorbell. As soon as he presses down on the small bell, the door swings open to show an angry-looking red-headed girl.

“I told you to go away! I don’t want to see you! Just piss off!” She screeches and we stand there, staring at her wide-eyed. She rolls her eyes and slams the door shut on our faces.

“Dude, she’s so pissed at you.” Josef mutters, breaking the awkward silence that fogged the air around us. I shoot an evil look at him and he looks away. “What do we now then, Ivan?”

I sigh, “If we manage to get her mum to open the door and speak to us then we should be okay…” He nods and salutes, reaching up to ring the doorbell once again. As he does, the door swings open and he stumbles into the door slightly. I suppress a giggle as his cheeks go a bright red and he steps back quickly and hides his face behind his hair, staring at his shoes.

“I’m so sorry, Jess is in a bad mood today and I believe she thought you were someone else. Come in, please,” I grin up at Jess’s mum as she moves aside to let us into her house.

“I’ve missed you, Jane,” I say as I wrap her in a hug, “It’s been too long.” She returns the hug and wraps her arms around my shoulders.

“Don’t start, you’ll set me off!” She replies as she pulls away from the hug, rubbing my arms lovingly, “But I’ve missed you too, Ivan. I’m glad you’re back.” She smiles, tears brimming her eyes and I roll my eyes jokingly at her.

“You always were one to cry easily.” I tease and she chuckles.

“Jess and Mark are upstairs, but Pete is in the living room. Come and sit down, you two must me knackered!” We both nod. She leads us into the door to our left and as soon as we walk in a man stand up, a huge grin plastered across his face.

“Ivan, my boy! It’s so good to see you! Damn, you’ve got really tall…” I grin and skip across the room - yes, I skipped! - as he held his arms out to hug me.

“It’s great to see you, Pete. But you’ve shrunk.” I grin before reaching out to hug him.

These people have always been more than family to me than my own family. Jane and Pete have always been there for me, and they’ve taken me in countless times. I’ve always thought of them as my second parents, and that made it even harder to leave when I did…

I hear footsteps coming down the stairs just outside the door and I shake myself out of my thoughts and turn my attention back to the amazing people around me.

“Oh yeah! Jane, Pete… This is Josef.” I smile and push Josef forward slightly. He waves shyly and I can see the red tint of a blush forming on his cheeks.

“It’s nice to meet you all, Ivan talks about you all the time; he adores you.” As he finishes, a tall dark haired guy walks into the room. He talks to Jane with his back to me and Josef.

“Mum, are they here yet? Jess said that Zachary was at the door, and he turned up with some other guy. She’s really upset…” I hear him sigh and his shoulders slump. Jane opens her mouth to speak, but before she begins I chip in.

“M-Matt?” I stutter, and he turns around quickly.

“Ivan?” Shock is evident on his face as he mumbles out my name, “Oh my god, Ivan! You’re finally here!” The shock leaves his face and is replaced by a massive grin. He leaps forward - quite literally, he leaped at me, it was almost scary… - and tackles me to the floor in a hug. “I’ve missed you so much man!” I giggle and wrap my arms around his neck from my place underneath him.

“I’ve missed you too, Matty. But can you please get up? You’re squishing me.” I wheeze for emphasise and he rolls his eyes, but gets off me nonetheless.

“Oops.” he grins and this time I roll my eyes. Suddenly a small bright red head appears in the doorway.

“What the hell was that loud crash?” She asks, her voice full of angst and worry. “Did anyone get hurt?”

Matt turns around to face the girl, “No-one got hurt, Jess. We’re all fine, don’t worry.” He smiles and I can’t see her anymore, but I can hear her as she lets out a sigh of relief.

My eyes go wide and my mouth goes dry, and Josef grips my arm, whispering in my ear, “Are you alright, Ivan?” I shake him off and nod, telling him that I’m fine without words. There’s only one thought going through my head right now, just one word…

“Jess?”