Three Years On

Chapter Twenty-Three

Hey guys, I'm back! I spent a lovely week skiing in the Austrian Alps, but unfortunately I did a lot more reading of Jane Eyre and a lot less writing of this then I wanted, so I haven't really got that far. But I'll do my best :D

This one is dedicated to xoxoFizzyxoxo for all her lovely comments on every single chapter of this and Three Years, Five Months and Eleven Days :D

Enjoy!

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     Michael didn’t mean to make Debby feel intimidated, but he was worried that that was exactly what he had done. He hadn’t even planned for this evening, but it came about of its own accord. The afternoon had been great, with Jordan and Debby doing some real bonding, but Michael had stupidly informed all of his friends that he was back in Warwick and had brought his girlfriend with him. Jordan then doubled the effect, by telling everyone how amazing she was. So before Michael really had a chance to process what was going on, there were at least thirty of his friends in his flat and they were all there to meet Debby.

     It was a fully-fledged house party within almost no time at all, and it became harder for Michael to keep track of where Debby was. After spending half an hour in his kitchen answering questions about her for his friend Molly, he finally broke free and went about to look for her.

     As he walked around the flat he was still shocked at how many people cared this much about his relationship with Debby. To be fair, it was no longer completely about her, it was now just your average gathering, but it was for him and her that they’d come in the first place. There was a crowd of about ten in the kitchen, fifteen more in the living room, and the last few were spread between the two bedrooms and the bathroom.

      He found her in his bedroom, with two girls who had been in his year at Warwick University, Anna and Freya. When he walked in they were on the bed giggling hysterically.

      ‘Nice to see you getting along,’ he commented, moving to sit next to Debby on the bed. Debby just took another glance at the girls and a fresh round of laughter burst from them. ‘What’s so funny?’

     Debby lent against him slightly, still laughing, her head rested on his shoulder and one hand gripping his shirt at his chest. ‘Sorry,’ he heard her say beneath all the laughing.

      He moved his hand around her and kissed her on the forehead. ‘You guys were talking about me, weren’t you?’ he asked. Debby moved her head away from his shoulder again to look at him and gave a little nod, then started laughing again. Michael couldn’t help a grin from spreading across his face, and just mock sighed. ‘That’s fine, I’ll leave you to it.’

     Michael got up and left the room again, actually feeling pleased. He didn’t care that they had been talking about him, probably lightly teasing him; Debby was getting on with his friends, and that was what he really cared about.

      ‘There you are!’ a voice greeted him as he reappeared in the sitting room. It was Jordan.

     ‘What’s up?’ Michael asked him, as Jordan placed a can of beer in his hand.

     Jordan raised his shoulders in a shrug. ‘Not much,’ he said. ‘I was just wondering how Debby’s doing. It’s a lot of new people for her to be meeting at once.’

     ‘I know,’ Michael agreed. ‘I feel kind of bad, but apparently she’s great with making friends. Her, Anna and Freya are in my room laughing about me or something.’