Scars

Rubbing her temples as she slowly made it down the stairs, Tonya groaned as she heard Stella singing along loudly to Mötley Crüe as she cleared away the empty pizza box and the bottles of wine from the coffee table.

“How the fuck are you so bloody cheery?” she growled through narrowed eyes.

“Why the fuck are you so grumpy?” she countered with a smile.

“Doesn’t your head hurt? I thought you drunk as much wine as I did?” Tonya replied as she followed her best friend out to the kitchen.

“I did, but I also drunk a pint of water before going to bed and have taken some Advil.” Estelle said as she filled a glass with water and took out a bottle of Advil from the drawer before passing them to a thankful Tonya.

“Now, I was thinking we could head out for lunch and do a bit of retail therapy before heading over to see Jake and of course Brian take part in their competitions.” She said as Tonya knocked back two of the small pills.

“Sounds like a plan to me.” she muttered. “Coffee first though.”

“Of course, the machine is already on.” Stella replied as the machine beeped loudly to indicate that it was finished.

Tonya walked over to the machine and took two coffee mugs from the cupboard situated above it before pouring the hot brown liquid into them adding sugar and milk before passing one of them to Stella.

“You heard off Cole yet?” she asked sitting down opposite her at the island.

“He text me last night to tell me he arrived at the hotel and he called me this morning. He’s going to be busy all day with the conference so he said he’ll talk to me when he can.” She replied.

“Fair enough.” She muttered taking a cautious sip of her coffee. “What are we going to do after the competition?”

“Um, we could go have something to eat, maybe a few drinks as well.” She replied with a smile.

“Few being the key word there.” Tonya said standing up. “I’m going to see if a nice bubble bath will help me feel better.”

After taking her bath, Tonya felt much better as she began to get herself ready for the day, taking a little extra time to straighten her hair and do her make up with the knowledge of seeing Brian.

“Whoa mamma!” Stella cheered followed by a low wolf whistle as she entered the living room.

“What? We’re going out afterwards aren’t we?” she asked looking down at her outfit.

“Yeah, but you can’t tell me that this has nothing to do with Brian.” she replied grabbing her car keys off the coffee table.

“No, I can’t.” she replied poking out her tongue childishly as Stella smirked in triumph.

As Stella backed the car out of the driveway, Tonya hijacked the CD player so that AFI echoed throughout the vehicle, both girls singing along loudly as they drove to the mall.

Lunch eaten and with both girls carrying a handful of bags, they headed back to the car, Tonya putting on her new sunglasses as Stella drove off towards the athletics club.

“I saw that.” Stella commented as she pulled into a parking space.

“Saw what?” Tonya replied with a shrug of her shoulders.

“The smile on your face when you saw his car parked over there.” she replied as they got out of the car, Tonya straightening her outfit.

“Wait until you see the smile on my face when I see him.” she replied with a grin as they walked through the parking lot.

They made their way into the large hall where the competition was taking place, their eyes scanning the room for Jake. “There’s Patrick and Liz.” Stella said pointing out Luke’s parents.

“Best go say hello.” Tonya replied with a slight smile as she began her walk over to them. She loved them dearly, and couldn’t have asked for better, more supportive in-laws. However, since loosing Luke, Liz in particular hadn’t come to terms with her loss. She was finding it hard to move on and still mourned her son.

“Hey Patrick, hello Liz.” She greeted cheerfully earning a wide smile from her former father-in-law.

“Hello sweetie, how are you keeping?” he replied as she embraced him briefly.

“I’m good thank you Patrick, how are you two keeping?” she replied with a smile.

“We’re doing just fine. Jake told us about the new salon.” He replied.

“Yeah, I’m really excited. You should treat Liz to a pamper session.” She teased.

“I might just do that, it’s out anniversary soon.” he replied with a wink.

“Hey mom.” Jake said as he appeared next to them, dressed ready for the competition.

“Hey, you ready? Nervous?” she asked with a smile.

“Yeah, a little nervous.” He replied a small sigh escaping his lips.

“You’ll be fine.” His mother assured him.

“Yeah, you’ll kick their butts.” Stella chimed in with a wide smile, Tonya gently smacking her arm, her eyes catching sight of Brian over her shoulder.

“I’ll be back in a minute.” She muttered with a smirk as she made her way over to Brian who had his back to her as he talked to Louise.

“Hey.” she said with a wide smile, her hand sliding affectionately down his left arm, her eyes sparkling as she met his, reaching up on tip-toe to kiss his cheek. “I thought I’d come wish you luck.”

“Oh hey.” he replied looking relieved to see her. “And thank you.” he added leaning down to kiss her cheek as he took hold of her hand.

“Hi, I’m Tonya,” she said suddenly turning to Louise who was still stood next to them, a disgruntled look on her face, “We met the other day, I’m Jake’s mom.”

“Louise, Brendon’s mom.” She said with a smile as fake as her nails as she took hold of Tonya’s extended hand for a brief handshake.

“I’ve gotta go, the competition starts soon, but I’ll see you later yeah?” he asked bringing her attention back to him.

“Yeah, good luck.” She replied, leaning up to kiss his cheek once again, slowly letting go of his hand as he began to walk away. “I’ll see you around.” She said to Louise with a forced smile before she turned to walk back over to Stella who was sat next to Matt.

“I take it that was the bitch you were telling me about last night?” she asked as Tonya sat down next to them.

“Yeah, that’s her.” Tonya replied with a grimace.

“She’s been after Brian since he started coming to the club, I was thankful, it took the heat off me.” Matt said with a smile.

“Isn’t she married though? I’m sure she’s wearing a wedding ring.” Tonya replied.

“Oh yeah, but she is one very neglected, horny as fuck house wife.” Matt replied with a chuckle.

“Well she better stay away from Brian.” Tonya muttered quietly as the room was put into silence as the competition was announced to be starting.

~*~

“Congratulations sweetie, I’m so proud of you.” Tonya exclaimed as she wrapped her arms around her jubilant son who wore a winner’s medal around his neck.

“You’re dad would be proud too.” Liz said Tonya took a step back and allowed his grandmother to embrace him.

“Very proud.” Patrick added with a proud smile and a wink.

“Congratulations dude, you did excellent.” Brian said as he cautiously joined the group.

“So did you.” Jake said pointing to the medal that hung around Brian’s neck.

“Yeah, well done.” Tonya said, feeling herself blush as he came to stand next to her. “You both deserved to win.”

A faint throat clearing caught Tonya’s attention and pulled her gaze from Brian to Liz. “Tonya sweetie, who is this?” she said smiling at Brian.

“Oh, Liz, Patrick, this is Brian.” Tonya said quietly, “Brian, this is Liz and Patrick. Jake’s grandparents. Luke’s mom and dad.”

“Nice to meet you.” Brian said warmly as he held out his hand towards Liz only for Patrick to take it with a sideways glance in his wife’s direction.

“Nice to meet you too son.” He said.

“Are we going out for this celebratory meal or what?” Liz said shortly.

“Yes love. Are you two ladies joining us?” he asked turning to Stella and Tonya.

“Um, I’ve told Matt that we’ll go out with them.” Stella said quietly.

“Oh, um…” Tonya started, Brian stopping her with a hand on her arm.

“Its okay, go out with them, we can go out some other time.” He said with a brief smile.

“You sure?” she asked quietly.

“Of course, you should celebrate with Jake.” He replied.

“Thank you. I’ll talk to you soon.” she replied.

“Bye.” He said simply watching as she linked arms with Stella and followed Jake and his grandparents who had gone on ahead.

“Jake is staying over with Liz and Patrick again tonight isn’t he?” Stella asked quietly.

“Um, yeah why?” she asked glancing at her best friend who wore a smirk.

“Because we’re meeting up with the guys after we’ve eaten.” She said.