Longshot - catfish and the bottlemen

6- Bella

I was shocked that Van joined Larry on offering to walk me home, somehow he went from no calls in three years to come round for a cuppa, come out for a drink, we'll both walk you home. I wasn't complaining though, it felt like old times being with Van and Larry walking through Llandudno sharing one fag between the three of us. Finally we reach the house my dad helped me move in to when I turned 21, only a few months before I lost him.

"Thank yous for walking me." I say, stepping into my garden.

"No worries, take care of yourself yeah?" Says Larry, giving me a hug lasting a second or two longer than I thought it would, leaving Van looking confused. I know Larry won't say anything I don't want him to though.

"It was nice to have you out with us again love, see you soon Bell" he gives me a polite smile, unsure of what to do next. I still smiled at the fact he called me Bell, after three years.

I disappeared off up my drive into my warm house. Thank god I put the heating on before I left as it was absolutely freezing outside. When I wandered through to the kitchen to get a glass of water I make sure to check my phone. 'Came round to drop your shopping off but you weren't in and I had no key, I'll pop round tomorrow x' The text from my brother Ewan has been sitting there for a few hours but it was now 1 AM and I'm working tomorrow so I'll speak to him later.

I dragged myself upstairs and threw on a pair of fluffy pyjamas to keep me warm. Lying in bed trying to fall asleep was once again, a mission. Although tonight the thing keeping me awake was Van. Why hadn't he left my thoughts since we parted ways, why was he still calling me by the nickname he did when we were three years younger? Earlier on we were sat in his kitchen chatting over a cuppa, him going off on how he regretted it all and part of me beloved him, I think he's telling the truth. I can tell by the way he looks at me, he doesn't look at me how he used to and he doesn't look at me how the boys do. Instead he looks at me with a smile that masked his real emotions and his bright blue eyes had a deeper emotion behind them.

Suddenly my phone vibrated on the side of my bedside table, just as I was drifting off. The brightness of the screen took a while to adjust to but so did the message on the screen. "Thank you for a good night, I appreciate it, was nice to catch up. Sorry for getting annoyed but I understand and that shouldn't have been my initial reaction, see you soon hopefully- Van" He was only annoyed for a couple minutes like a normal person would be if they found out the people they're closest to have been keeping something from you. Then he was all kind and caring, emotional too but it showed he cared, after three years maybe he really did care.

The morning light soon wakens me, minutes before my alarm but instead of melting back in bed with a hangover, I get up early and jump in the shower. The hangover I thought I'd have seems to be nonexistent and as the hot water hit my skin I was reminded of last night. Not that I forgot anything, it just wasn't the first thing I thought about surprisingly. I can't believe I was standing smiling to myself about the fact I've been reunited with friends who I thought I'd never be reunited like this with, and Van. Van wasn't hat I expected. I expected him to come back with long hair, skinny jeans that still weren't tight enough and at expected him to carry on pretending I don't exist. But he never. Instead he came back with a new haircut that framed his face pretty well, a lot more muscle than he once had and he actually acknowledged my existence.