Page 99 of Obedience

‘Are you okay?’ Dylan said softly.

‘Everything's fine, darling,’ Elaine replied through her wide smile, before pressing a deep kiss to her daughter's temple.

Greta laughed through her tears. ‘Dad,’ she sniffled. ‘You do know she can stream those, don’t you?’

Dylan looked at the stack in her arms, then back at Edward, who was looking quite pleased with himself. ‘No,’ she said firmly. ‘I prefer to watch this way.’

Edward placed an arm around Dylan’s shoulders, a wide smile on his face as he jerked her into his side.

***

Greta closed the car door as Dylan continued to wave at her parents, who had insisted they see them off from the driveway.

‘They loved you,’ Greta said softly, watching as her mum blew frantic kisses at Dylan. ‘Perhaps a little too much,’ she added with a chuckle.

Dylan huffed out a short laugh. ‘Oh my fucking God, G,’ she said quietly.

Greta’s heart plummeted as she pushed the seat belt buckle in with a click. ‘What?!’

‘They’re absolutely incredible,’ Dylan replied, her sentence ending with an emotional quiver.

For a moment, Greta watched Dylan, who was smiling and holding a thumbs-up to her dad as he mouthed, ‘watch Milk first, Sean Penn is amazing’, while giving an ok sign with his index finger and thumb.

With her head pressed into the headrest, Greta exhaled; the suffocating weight of the day’s anxiety leaving her body on every last particle of air. ‘Take me home,’ she said softly.

Chapter twenty-five

Of my own volition

In the quiet of Greta’s bed later that night, Dylan lay on her back with Greta pulled in tight. With her head over Dylan’s heart, Greta possessively draped a leg over Dylan’s thighs and wriggled as close as she could.

‘I had an email yesterday,’ Dylan said tentatively, her fingers tracing slow, idle swirls over the back of Greta’s soft vest.

‘Oh?’

‘Yeah, from a bloke called Phil on the Student Wellness Team,’ Dylan couldn’t find any tone other than the melancholy one the whole situation induced.

‘Okay,’ Greta whispered. She pressed a kiss to Dylan’s chest, her chin trembling with the emotion she was clearly fighting back. ‘When is your meeting?’

‘Next week. They’re going to get back to me with a day and time.’

‘Are you taking anyone with you?’

‘You wanna come?’ The joke landed flat the second it left Dylan’s lips. ‘Sorry,’ she added softly.

‘It’s okay.’

‘I’m going alone. I know what I want to say, and it’s getting said.’

Greta responded by squeezing her tighter, as if trying to physically hold them together. ‘What a fucking mess, Dyl.’

‘It’ll settle, G. Kicked-up dust always does.’

Greta sighed against her skin. ‘It’s the mud sticking that I’m worried about, Dylan.’

With her mouth pressed to the top of Greta’s head, Dylan breathed her in as she held onto the moment for a long, heavy beat. The smell of Greta’s shampoo making her eyes softly close. ‘Do you still want this, G?’ she asked cautiously.

‘I want this more than I’ve wanted anything for a very long time, Dylan,’ she said resolutely while tightening her hold around Dylan. ‘And no one is going to take it from me.’