The Safe Haven

In the rush to get away from his mother, Alex hadn’t really thought his actions through. One upside of being the apprentice in his job was that his boss had given him the company van to use. It meant that Alex had to keep it clean and well maintained but if things got bad he could sleep in there for a few nights. Although the back was full of their gear he could lay across the front seats. He could stay with Finn or Ollie for a night or two as well, but then what? He couldn’t couch surf forever. Or he could afford a few nights in a motel, but even the cheap dingy place on the edge of town where the local sex workers rented rooms by the hour would soon become too expensive for him. He could go and live with Clara, she would never turn him away. But her home life was delicate at best and he didn’t want to be the cause of more stress that would make her mother’s **** issues any worse than they already were. All his relatives were too far away to be of any help. After hours of driving around with no destination in mind, Alex finally gave in and went to the only place he could think of where he could stay for a while.

He stood at the front door and thought about using his key, but it didn’t seem right somehow so he rang the bell.

“Alex, what are you doing here?”

“I’m sorry Fi, I couldn’t think where else to go.”

Fiona noticed the anguish on his face, then the bag in his hand.

“You did the right thing, come on in. Let's get you settled.”

As Fiona closed the door behind him a naked Dani appeared in the hallway.

“Oh, hey Alex,” She frowned with confusion, “What’s going on?”

“Alex is going to stay with us for a while honey.”

“He is?”

“It’s only for tonight Fi, I’ll sort something more permanent out tomorrow,”

“Stop being so polite, you’re not going to find a place to live in that quickly. Now listen to me sweet boy, I’ll not have you spending a fortune on some rat-infested dump. You’ll stay here as long as you need to and until you are good and ready to move on. Okay?”

Dani was about to say something when Alex dropped his bag and burst into tears. He fell into Fiona’s open arms, burying his face in her shoulder and instantly soaking the fabric of the red bathrobe she had put on to open the door.

Over his shoulder Fiona mouthed silently ‘call Clara’, Dani nodded and disappeared into her bedroom.

Half an hour later a sweaty, panicked Clara arrived. Dani, now wearing sweat pants and a T-shirt let her in.

“I ran here as fast as I could. What happened? Is he okay?” She asked, trying to catch her breath.

“He’s had an argument with his mother, a big one. He’s in the living room.”

When he saw her Alex jumped up and hugged Clara, nearly knocking his raspberry wine over in the process.

“Are you okay? What happened?”

They sat down and as Alex started to tell Clara what had happened Fiona poured her a glass of Raspberry wine. By the time Alex got to the part where he left the house their wine needed refilling.

“So then you came here?” Asked Clara.

“No, I didn’t know where to go. I drove around in my work van for a couple of hours, I was looking for a cheap motel or something but I couldn’t find one I could afford, well not for more than a few nights anyway.”

“You did the right thing coming here.” Said Clara

“That’s what I told him,” Fiona said.

“Have you told your sister?” Asked Clara.

“Yeah, Sophie is pissed.”

“What? How can she be angry with you? She must know …”

“No, no, not with me, with mom and the situation as a whole. You think I’ve got it bad? My sister takes the brunt of it. I’m sure she protects me from the worst of it. She’s got even less of a life than I have.”

“I can’t believe she tried to forbid you from seeing me! What on earth was she thinking?”

Clara and Alex didn’t notice Dani giving her mother a funny stare, Fiona shook her head at her daughter, who sighed heavily.

“She needs help, but she won’t admit it. Until she does I can’t live there.”

“Fiona is right, stay here until you get back on your feet.”

Alex looked at Fiona, “I’ll pay rent, just let me know how much and ….”

“Alex, you are an apprentice electrician, you don’t earn enough to pay rent. However, it’s been a long time since we had a man about the house. You can earn your keep in other ways.”

Dani giggled, the hint was not lost on her and Clara but it went straight over Alex’s head.

“I’m sure Fiona will keep you busy Alex,” Said Clara, winking at Fiona.

“Of course, that’s a great idea. I’ll do anything you need.” He replied happily.

“Anything eh? Interesting,” Then Fiona turned to Clara, “are you sure you don’t mind? We could wear the poor boy out.”

Clara laughed, “Oh I’m fine with it, you go ahead and get your pipes serviced. Just be sure to leave enough energy in him to fix a few things for me.”

Then Alex said, “Sorry, I don’t know much about plumbing, but I’m happy to have a look at those pipes for you anyway.”

“Sweet boy.” Fiona smiled.

Dani burst out laughing, “Oh this is going to be sooooo much fun.”

They spent the rest of the evening slowly succumbing to the effects of the Raspberry wine and putting the world to rights. There was no talk of sex or relationships, no more lessons in love from Fiona, that wasn’t what the mood called for. What Alex got that evening was unconditional love and support. He was emotionally and physically exhausted and a little drunk when they all went to bed around midnight.

Clara had decided to stay the night, when they got to their bedroom Alex wasn’t sure what she expected of him. He stripped to his boxers and got into bed just as Clara came in from the bathroom. She smiled at him, took off her top and bra, then her jeans but left her panties on and slipped into bed next to him.

She stroked his hair, looking into his eyes she smiled, “Shhh, it’s okay. Just close your eyes, sleep.”

Which is exactly what he did.