Page 19 of Happiness Under a Summer Skye

‘Jeez-oh, Angel, I’ve never even heard of it,’ Heath said as the band sat in the lounge area of her apartment. ‘But you’ll get through it, and we’ll help all we can.’ The crease between his brows betrayed him.

Anouk, who was seated beside Angelia, reached out and squeezed her arm. ‘I have actually heard of it,’ she said, ‘but I’ve never met anyone who has it. I’m so sorry, Angel, you must be worried sick.’

Josh stood at the window, staring out at the garden below, hands in his pockets, unmoving and silent. It was dark out now and the strings of fairy lights were illuminated, giving the trees a magical appearance.

‘And you think going home to Skye for a while is going to help, do you, love?’ Den asked.

Angelia nodded. ‘I mean, it won’t cure me, nothing will, but I’d really like to see my mum and dad. I know I’m an adult and that probably sounds a bit daft but it’s how I feel.’

Dom, who was on video call on Angelia’s laptop, leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees. Staring directly into the camera, he said, ‘Aye, I totally get that. Don’t you, Den? Put yourself in her shoes, mate. The lass needs her mum and dad at a time like this.’

Den held up his hands. ‘I didn’t say it was a bad idea. I’m just getting my head around it all. There’ll have to be planning. We need to figure out the logistics. She can’t just turn up at home without us planning the visit, look what happened last time. Her folks were overrun with teenagers wanting autographs. I’m sure they don’t want that again.’

‘I’m sure it’ll be fine, Den. We all go home without issue most of the time,’ Heath added with a smile in Angelia’s direction.

Bear stood from his seat and walked over to Angelia. He scooped her up in his arms and held her. ‘If I could take it off you I would, Angel. This is just shitty. I mean totally and utterly shitty.’ He placed her down again and returned to his seat, shaking his head. ‘Shitty,’ he said one last time. He was a gentle giant, so caring and thoughtful.

‘We’ll get you the best care there is, babe, won’t we, lads?’ Dom said with a waver to his voice. ‘You just take all the time you need.’

‘Aye, we’ll get you back on your feet and right as rain, ready to knock your fans’ socks off on the next tour,’ Den added, glancing around for the agreement of everyone else.

‘Don’t stress her out about tours, Den,’ Anouk snapped. ‘She needs to take this one day at a time. You heard what she said about the things that can make symptoms worse. We need to avoid that at all costs.’

Den nodded and his cheeks tinged with pink. ‘Oh, yes, of course, sorry, I didn’t mean to… I was just trying to be positive. I’ll tell you what, I’ll contact the studio and push things back indefinitely.’

Guilt niggled at Angelia when she saw the worry in Anouk’s eyes and the remorse in Den’s. ‘Guys, I’m sorry to drop this on you. I know it must be hard after what happened with Lorelie.’

Heath huffed. ‘Hey, don’t you be feeling bad for something that’s not your fault. And don’t worry about us. We’re big enough and ugly enough to look after ourselves. Our main concern right now is you and your health. There’s nothing more important than that right now. We’re a family.’ He turned his head to peer over his shoulder at Josh. ‘Right, Josh?’

As if coming out of a trance, Josh turned. Angelia could see his eyes were red rimmed and bloodshot. ‘Sorry, what?’

Heath sighed and spoke through clenched teeth. ‘I was just saying that Angel shouldn’t be worried about how we’re feeling just now. She should be thinking about herself. Right?’

Josh cleared his throat. ‘Oh… aye… aye, right. Excuse me for a minute, I need some air.’ He walked through the apartment and into Angelia’s study that had a private balcony, closing the door behind himself.

Heath glared after him. ‘I’m… erm… just gonna nip to the little boys’ room.’ He stood and stormed across the apartment in the same direction his bandmate had gone. It was obvious he wasn’t going to the loo.

Angelia stood. ‘Heath, let me go⁠—’

Heath held up a hand, frowned and shook his head. ‘It’s okay, Angel.’ He disappeared through the same door as Josh and closed it behind himself.

‘Please eat, guys, the pizza’s going cold,’ Angelia said as she stood and walked over to the dining table. ‘I’ll go grab some more wine.’

As the others finally tucked into the pizza, Angelia sneaked over to the door of her study and opened it a tiny fraction.

‘— and I get that it’s hit you hard, but Angel needs our support right now. So put her first instead of yourself, will you, you self-centred arse.’

‘Hey, I know, I know she does, all right? I get it. I do. But… It hurts too much, man. I love that girl so much and it kills me to know I can’t do anything to help her. I feel so damn useless, Heath.’

Heath’s voice softened. ‘I know, mate, I do. But you need to stop thinking like this, because that won’t help her at all. It’s a shock but it’s not life threatening, it can be managed, changes need to be made, yes, but we’ll deal with them together, as and when they’re necessary. And to be honest, we were all in need of a break anyway. This just means we get longer, that’s all.’

Josh lowered his voice almost to a whisper and Angelia had to strain to hear over the chatter of the others. ‘The thing is, Heath… I think… I think I love her.’

Angelia’s heart skipped in her chest, and she held her breath as she listened.

‘Love her like we all do, or, like love her, love her?’ Heath asked, a hint of incredulity to his voice.

Silence.