The Inbetween

Nathan had found his voice again, and was pulling Holly down to sit between him and Max; “Why are you here? Who else has seen you? How long have you been here for? Have you saw mum and dad?”

The last question made Holly’s heart ache because, for the first time in five years, she had managed to go nearly two hours without thinking of her parents. She’d been so wrapped up in everything happening with Nathan that she hadn’t had time to think about them. She looked between Siva, Max and Nathan before sighing and answering him; “No one else has seen me, this is the first time anything like this has ever happened. I’ve never been able to speak to anyone, let alone touch them or be seen by them…” Holly shook her head a little. “I’ve been here on Earth since the accident,” she bit her lip as she watched her brothers eyes harden slightly. “But, like I said, this is a first. And no,” she whispered, “I haven’t saw mum or dad.”

Nathan nodded his head, thanking Tom when he handed him some tea; “We didn’t know if you could… well, I don’t know- Can you drink anything?” Tom stuttered, putting a mug on the table in front of Holly. She bit her lip, shrugging her shoulders.

“I don’t think so,” she shook her head. “Can you all stop staring at me, please? It’s freaking me out.”

“It’s freaking you out?” Tom cried and Nathan glared at him. “Okay, okay, but seriously,” Tom mumbled, taking a sip of his tea.

Holly smiled at him then reached forward, picking up her own mug. She took a deep breath and pressed her lips to the rim of the mug before tilting it back a little. Where she might have felt boiling hot tea pouring down her throat though, she felt nothing, as if there was an invisible barrier between the tea and her mouth. She put the mug back down on the coffee table, shaking her head; “Nope. Thanks anyway, though.”

“So, why are you here?” Jay asked from his seat beside Tom.

“I…” Holly glanced at Nathan, “I’m not too sure. “This is totally new to me, so I- I-” She struggled with what she wanted to say, huffing out air before stopping completely. She took a moment to gather her thoughts as she glanced at the clock. It was twelve pm, and if she only had today to let Nathan know, then she had twelve hours before she’d be pulled into the darkness at midnight only to wake up at eight am on the dot tomorrow morning. She didn’t know how to approach it; would he believe her? Probably not, she thought bitterly. What Nathan had said had also got her thinking; should she visit her parents? As she was thinking, the doorbell rang pulling her out of her thoughts.

“I’ll get it,” Max said, standing up and making his way to the front door that clicked open a few seconds later; “Oh Natalie, hi. Sorry, but now’s not a great time-”

“What do you mean ‘not a great time’? It’s always a great time when I’m involved,” Natalie laughed and must have pushed by Max because he shouted her back to him.

“I just mean today is not a good day,” he tried to make her leave but she was having none of it. “Nath’s not really up for doing much.”

“Well he promised me a shopping day sometime this week and he’s yet to actually take me on one, so today’s the day,” she said then strutted into the living room to find everyone staring at her, except Nathan who kept his eyes trained on his sister before eventually dragging his eyes up to meet his girlfriend’s.

“It’s Holly’s anniversary today!” Max said in a desperate attempt to make her leave.

Holly turned around and watched as she froze in place at Max’s words. She went sheet white and her eyes widened as she looked anywhere but Nathan’s eyes; “Today?” She whispered, “I thought- I thought it was tom-tomorrow. I-I…” She stopped herself talking then closed her eyes, drawing in a deep breath before opening her eyes and smiling at Nathan. “Well, we don’t need to go shopping today.” She came around beside Nathan and sat down just as Holly stood up out of Natalie’s way. The whole time Natalie was moving and speaking, Holly was watching her, and Holly could feel everyone else’s eyes on her but she ignored them.

She wasn’t meant to be here. She couldn’t be here. She’d ruin everything again, and Holly only had twelve hours to tell Nathan. “Sorry,” Nathan started but Natalie winced and cut him off by holding up her hands.

“Don’t say sorry,” she rushed out. “It’s okay; I’ll stay here today or something.”

“No she can’t,” Holly said with her arms crossed over her chest. “She can’t be here today, Nathan,” she pleaded with her brother. Nathan furrowed his brow at Holly before shaking his head just as Natalie was about to ask what he was looking at.

“No,” It was Nathan’s turn to cut Natalie off. “Maybe you should just go. No one’s going to be much fun today,” he said, glancing at Holly who was slightly glaring at Natalie by now. Nathan loved Natalie, he really did, but there were just some days where he could do with being away from her. Today was most definitely one of those days.

“No, honestly, I don’t mind,” Natalie whined, shifting closer to Nathan and wrapping her arm in his. Nathan looked uncomfortable and untangled his arm, starting to shift away. “Baby-”

“Really Natalie,” Jay cut in, “Just go home,” He made no job of trying to be subtle. “Just call in a couple of days or something.”

Holly smiled at Jay, thanking him for his attempt to get her out of the house. Natalie narrowed her eyes at Jay and looked around the table at everyone before glancing behind her at Max and back again; “Okay, what’s going on that you need me gone for?” She stood up and put her hands on her hips and pouted her lips slightly.

“It’s just been a difficult morning,” Siva said.

“Yeah, and it’ll be an even more difficult day if you stay so…” Tom made a shooing motion with his hands and Natalie looked furious.

“Don’t talk to me like-”

“Oh my God, just leave!” Holly yelled, picking up the pen from earlier and firing it towards Natalie. Her voice echoed around the living room and Natalie’s skin turned grey. Her eyes widened in fear and she turned on her heel and scarpered from the house, crying hysterically as she went and slamming the front door behind her. There was a stunned silence in the room as everyone stared at Holly, who had a small smile playing on her lips. “What? She wouldn’t leave!”

“Well yeah, but, the pen?” Tom asked, motioning the way Holly threw the pen. He laughed when Holly just stared at him, “Brilliant, you always were brilliant.”

Holly felt better then; Tom seemed to be getting used to the fact that she was here as he had now visibly relaxed, and the others seemed to be following his lead. Jay pulled his legs up underneath himself and leaned on a cushion from the sofa. “So what are you going to do now?” he asked and Holly felt five pairs of eyes lock onto her.

“I…” She had to tell Nathan, but not in front of the others. “I need to talk to Nathan,” she finally said, turning to her right to face him, “Alone. And soon,” she whispered. Nathan didn’t hesitate to grab Holly’s hands and pull her up from the sofa and to his room. When they got there he let her hands go as she sat on his bed. He closed the door and he sat down on her right side, holding onto her hand again.

“Holly is this all really happening?” he whispered after a few minutes of silence.

She paused before answering him; “Yes. And Nathan, I need to tell you something. I don’t know what’s going on today, but something’s telling me that this, all of this,” she waved her free arm around, “Is only going to work today.”

“What? Why would it only work today?” Nathan said suddenly, pulling her hand slightly.

“I don’t know, Nath,” she said, “And if I can only do it today, who know when the next time will be?”

He nodded his head in defeat, “So what was it you wanted to tell me?”

Holly took a deep breath. This was it; her big brother was finally going to hear the truth about what happened five years ago. “It’s about the accident,” she started, looking down at their hands; “Well, it can’t really be called an accident, I guess. I-”

“About what?” Nathan asked, rubbing circles on her hand.

Holly looked up, startled; “I just told you, about the accident!”

Nathan frowned; “About…? Holly, your mouth’s moving but I’m not hearing anything past ‘about’.” Holly’s stomach dropped; how else was she supposed to let Nathan know what happened if she couldn’t physically speak about it? “Holly-”

“Oh no,” she muttered and stood up, starting to pace. “No, no, no, no, no…”

“Holly, what’s wrong?” Nathan asked, watching her wear a hole into his floor.

“I can’t…” She stopped and hunched her shoulders. “Nothing. C’mon, let’s go.” She left Nathan’s room without another word leaving her brother to follow her, confused and overwhelmed.