Defy the Stars (16 page)

‘Yeah, right.’ I raised my eyebrows. ‘You were that sure you’d win, were you?’

‘I told you I would. Bronco’s an insane game, unless you know the knack of it. Which I do.’ Flynn chuckled as he shoved the money in his pocket. ‘Come on, let’s
find the sea.’

I took his hand and we walked away from the factory and towards the road. It was deserted. We hurried along the kerbside until we came to a sign showing the coastal path Flynn said we needed to
take. It was almost 10.30 p.m. now and the way was dark, firstly across fields then through a wood. The air grew chillier as we walked. Soon the fresh salt tang of the sea grew stronger. Another
few metres and we could hear the roar of the waves.

We emerged from the trees on to a pathway that sloped gently down the cliff towards the beach below. ‘Look.’ Flynn pointed across the dark expanse of water that stretched away from
us, to the brightly lit town across the bay.

‘That’s where we’re headed,’ he said. ‘Starhaven.’

We walked on, side by side along the path, our arms now around each other’s backs. It felt so natural to be holding each other like this and – for a while – our conversation
flowed naturally too. I told Flynn about sixth form and making friends with Emmi again. He told me more about his life since he left the commune, how he’d rented his flat using pay from being
Bentham’s bodyguard, how shocked he’d felt when he discovered just how brutal Bentham really was.

‘I didn’t really think about how immoral it was at first, hiding guns for Bentham,’ Flynn said, his voice full of self-loathing. ‘I only thought about helping Mum and . .
. and that it would be hard to say “no” to my boss, that I’d probably lose my bodyguard job if I did.’ He hesitated.

‘And that your job paid a lot of money, which you didn’t want to give up?’ I asked, drily.

Flynn nodded, a miserable shadow haunting his face. ‘It was just so brilliant being able to have what I wanted: my own flat and the car . . . nice clothes. But none of it made me happy.
I’d thought for so long that having money would make everything else all right, but it doesn’t, Riv. It just means you can buy nice stuff to distract you from how miserable you really
are.’

We walked on in silence, lost in our own thoughts. Flynn seemed like a different person from the boy I’d met nearly two years ago, all mouth and swagger, certain he knew the answers to
everything. He was still confident – and liable to do reckless things, as that game of bronco had proved – but there was a new humility about him too, an honesty and an acceptance that
he had got things wrong in the past. It made him seem more open . . . stronger somehow.

And even more lovable.

It began to rain again as we strolled down the cliff, just a light patter on our shoulders, but enough to speed us up. The path narrowed and grew steeper as we descended. Beneath us the tide was
out, revealing stretches of stony beach. I crept a little closer to the edge of the path, peering down at the sea many metres below.

‘There are lots of little bays down here,’ I said. ‘Do you think there are caves in the rock face?’

‘Come back from the edge.’ Flynn’s voice was suddenly harsh.

I took a step back, irritated. Flynn might be more humble than he used to be, but he still had a tendency to be overbearing. ‘I wasn’t anywhere
near
the edge.’

‘It’s dangerous. Cliff paths can crumble easily, especially when it’s wet,’ Flynn said stubbornly.

‘You’ve got a nerve,’ I snapped, turning to face him. ‘Lecturing
me
on what’s freaking dangerous. You worked for a gangster. You made friends with someone
who has
killed
people for that gangster. You brought him to your sister’s wedding for goodness sake.’

‘I didn’t have anyone else I could ask,’ Flynn said. ‘None of my old friends would have come with me, and—’

‘Well whose fault is
that
?’ I said, the rain wet on my face. ‘You make it impossible for people to be your friend, you’re so spiky and rude.’

‘I know.’ Flynn clenched his jaw. ‘I know I’ve made lots of mistakes. I
know
I’ve done stupid, dangerous things. You don’t need to keep reminding
me.’

‘Really?’ I spat. ‘Coming from someone who just spun around a car park on top of a car, I think you need reminding every second of every day.’

We glared at each other. Then Flynn’s face creased into a smile. ‘Mmm, you got me there.’ He held out his hand. ‘Come on, Riv, let’s not fight.’

I shook my head. ‘You can’t just wash over it like that.’ As I spoke I could feel my anger seeping away and a deep and terrible sadness taking its place.

‘I knew what I was doing on the car,’ Flynn insisted, letting his hand fall to his side. ‘I
told
you I’d be all right and I was. Why didn’t you trust
me?’

‘Because last year you said you loved me and you went away and I don’t see how I can trust you after that.’ A huge sob rose inside me. It didn’t matter how much Flynn had
changed, or how much I loved him. I could never get away from the fact that he’d left me. A tear trickled down my cheek. ‘It doesn’t matter what your reasons were, you
didn’t love me enough to stay.’

Flynn gazed at me, his hair wet against his head, his eyes glistening. ‘It wasn’t that, Riv. I did love you, I
do.
I’ve never stopped.’ His voice cracked.
‘The real truth is that being with you was right, but everything else in my life was wrong. And because it was wrong I couldn’t see straight and the reason I got so angry was part of
the whole thing . . . I didn’t think I was good enough to deserve your love.’

‘That’s a stupid way to look at it,’ I muttered.

‘I know,’ Flynn said, ‘but let’s face it. I’ve got a lot of form for being stupid, as you’ve just pointed out.’

I laughed and reached for his hand. Suddenly I felt better. ‘A year ago you’d have been furious if I’d said all that to you.’

Flynn took my hand and squeezed it hard. ‘You’re not the only one who’s grown up, you know.’

I laughed again and we carried on walking along the winding cliff path. The rain teemed down as we reached the stony beach at the bottom. Clouds shrouded the moon, but the white tips of the
waves lit up the sea as they sucked and spat pebbles back on to the ground.

As we walked along, I started shivering from the cold. My clothes were damp against my skin and my body ached with exhaustion. I tripped over a large stone and, though Flynn’s arm around
my shoulder prevented me from going flying, my ankle ached when I tried to put weight on it.

I limped for a few steps, then stopped. Flynn was peering at the beach ahead.

‘What is it?’ I asked.

‘I just want to check something, wait here a sec.’ Before I could say anything, Flynn vanished into the darkness. I sat down on the damp stones and felt my ankle. It wasn’t
badly hurt, but right now, as tired and cold as I was, it felt like the last straw.

A few moments later and Flynn was back. He held out his hand and pulled me to my feet.

‘I’m afraid we can’t get to Starhaven. At least, not right now.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘I mean that that the tide’s coming in and we’re going to be stuck in this bay until it goes out again,’ he said.

I stared at Flynn. ‘The tide’s coming in?’ I gazed up at the sheer rockface around the bay, my heart sinking at the thought of having to climb back up the
cliff to escape the water. ‘Are you sure?’

Flynn gazed out over the dark sea. It was broken only by small ripples of white. The bright lights of Starhaven shone in the distance.

‘Yes,’ he said.

The rain was still falling heavily. My hair was plastered to my face. I brushed it away, feeling like crying.

‘It’s like we’re on a different planet,’ I said, swallowing down a sob. ‘A million miles away from everything. A million years.’

Flynn pulled me towards him. His hands on my back felt strong and warm. ‘I don’t care where I am, so long as you’re here too.’

I held him tight as the rain poured down around us and on us. Thunder rumbled in the distance. I shuddered at the sound.

‘It’s like the world’s ending,’ I said.

Flynn held me more tightly.

‘I wouldn’t want to be in a world where you aren’t,’ he whispered.

We clung to each other as a crack of lightning flashed through the sky. Over Flynn’s shoulder, the sudden blaze of white lit up the far corner of the beach. A dark shape loomed up, then
vanished again as the lightning died away.

‘What was that?’ I pulled apart from Flynn and pointed to the end of the beach.

He followed my gaze as more lightning split the sky. This time we both saw it clearly.

‘It’s a hut,’ Flynn said.

‘Come on.’

He helped me hobble across the stones to the little wooden shed. Flynn yanked at the door. It swung open. We went inside. It was empty. Almost derelict in fact, with bare boards on the floor and
walls and the wind whistling in between the slats. A blanket had been laid in the corner, next to a couple of candles and a box of matches.

‘Looks like someone uses this place already,’ Flynn said.

‘Maybe that means the tide doesn’t get this far up,’ I said.

Flynn nodded. ‘Yeah, you’re right, otherwise this would be wet.’ He held up the blanket, then spread it over our shoulders. ‘Come on, at least this gets us out of the
rain.’

We huddled together at the back of the hut. Flynn put his arm across my back, nudging my head down against his chest. ‘Why don’t you try and sleep,’ he said. ‘Or is your
ankle hurting?’

‘No, it’s better now I’m not walking.’ I tucked the blanket under me and nestled closer to him. We sat in silence. I had always marvelled at how easy it was for us to be
together without speaking, as if the normal need for words to fill the void between two people just didn’t apply to Flynn and me. Now I marvelled twice over at how this was still the same
despite the fact that we hadn’t seen each other for months.

As we sat, holding each other, I started to feel warm for what felt like the first time in hours. I yawned, my body rising and falling against his.

‘Sleep, Riv,’ Flynn murmured. ‘Sleep. I’ll stay awake . . . keep watch.’

‘Keep the vampires from my door?’ I smiled. ‘Like in the song?’

‘Yeah.’

‘With your undying, death-defying love for me?’

‘Go to sleep, Riv.’

I closed my eyes. And I slept.

I woke, feeling warm. The whole blanket surrounded me, pulled up over my head and down to my toes. For a moment I had no idea where I was, then all the memories of the day
before rushed through me. My eyes sprang open. I was in a hut, on a beach. Strips of bright light shone in through the tiny gaps in the walls. Where was Flynn?’

I turned sharply, expecting him to be on my other side.

But he was gone.

‘Flynn?’ I sat up.
‘Flynn?’

No reply.

Blinking the sleep out of my eyes I struggled to my feet and hurried to the door. My ankle ached a little, reminding me of our clamber down the cliff last night, then all the terrible events
that had preceded it.

I pushed open the door. Light flooded the hut, blinding me. I held my hand, shielding my eyes from the sunshine.

Wow. It was a beautiful morning. The sun was already high in a clear blue sky. I tilted my face up to its warmth for a second, then peered across the bay, looking for Flynn.

The tide had clearly risen then retreated again and the sea was now in the distance, leaving a long stretch of beach that led to the town we had been aiming for last night.

There
he was – a thin, dark figure far away near the sea, silhouetted against the sun. He was bending over, picking something off the stones. Then he turned back, as if sensing me
watching him.

He raised his hand. I waved back, then pushed my hair off my face.
Ugh.
It was all matted, in dry, salty clumps at the side where I’d slept on it. Flynn was walking back towards
me now. I glanced down at my clothes. They were covered in dirt. So were my legs and arms. My face must be the same, as well as streaked with make-up. I stood, self-conscious that I must look truly
hideous.

Flynn was running now. I held my breath, watching as he drew closer. He was so beautiful, all lean and muscular, with that perfect face. A bunch of seaweed dangled from his hand. What was that
for?

A second later, he reached me, his eyes more green than gold in the bright light.

‘It’s beautiful here, isn’t it?’ he breathed, dropping the seaweed at my feet.

I drew back as he tried to kiss me. My stale breath would totally spoil the effect of this lovely morning.

‘Don’t. I look horrible,’ I said.

Flynn blinked in surprise. ‘Riv.’ He hesitated. ‘I don’t know how to tell you just how beautiful you are to me. Right here. Right now. Always.’

I stared at him. ‘Shut up, I’m a mess.’

‘No.’ Flynn took my face in his hands. He smoothed the skin under my eyes with his thumbs. ‘I love you.’

I gazed into his eyes, my heart swelling. ‘I love you back.’

We kissed, then Flynn bent down and picked up the bunch of seaweed. ‘I got this for your ankle.’

He made me sit down, while he pressed the damp green fronds around the tender area. The seaweed felt wonderfully cool against my skin.

‘Thank you,’ I said.

He kissed me again. We sat on the stones, watching the tide come in and out.

‘That wasn’t quite the last night together I’d imagined,’ he said softly.

I glanced across at him and in that moment all the trauma of the past twenty-four hours seemed to melt away. For the first time since Cody had forced me into his car, I felt at peace.

It wasn’t the sparkling sea or the bright, fierce sun. And it wasn’t knowing that here, on this beach in what felt like the middle of nowhere, we were safe.

It was being here with Flynn, without drama or trauma.

And in my heart I knew the truth, the clear, undeniable, powerful truth.

We belonged together. It was really that simple.

‘Maybe we should give ourselves one more try at it,’ I suggested, shyly. ‘You know, have the whole of today and tonight, then go to the police tomorrow.’