Always, Alice

Girls Night In

A couple of weeks had passed since their beach walk and October had brought along the snow, falling throughout Scotland as it would be for the next several months. Huge snowflakes fell individually from the sky - landing softly and leaving the village looking more like the scene from a fairytale.

Harry had continued to settle into his teaching role and the kids adored him more than ever. He had even started a little music club after school, teaching kids the basics of guitar or piano if they wanted to and it was going down a treat. Alice was fully convinced he would have a full band going by the end of the school year with the talent he seemed to be drawing from some of the pupils. Like Alice, they all seemed to feel comfortable and safe in his company.

Alice and Harry had gone for more walks and spent some time in the cozy village cafe drinking endless amounts of gingerbread lattes - Harry being just as addicted as Alice. They had shared more kisses, held hands as they walked and Alice couldn't help but feel warm and content inside. He made her smile as soon as he appeared and sent her heart into a flutter when he messaged her in the evenings. She blushed at his compliments and laughed at his terrible jokes, growing closer to one another as the days went by.

Tonight, Hayley was coming over for a girls night in. It was a tradition of theirs that as often as they could, Hayley would come and stay over at Alice's and together they would drink endless amounts of wine, watch movies, eat junk food and spend the night laughing together. Hayley had appeared at Alice's door two hours before she had said she would, overly excited about the night ahead and probably keen to hear all the details on Alice's growing relationship.

'So, how is Harry? You're yet to introduce him to your number one girl,' Hayley said, pouring two huge glasses of wine and handing one to Alice as she plonked herself down on the sofa - under the duvet she had dragged down from upstairs. Alice couldn't help but blush at the thought of Harry. He was constantly on her mind, she missed him when he wasn't there.

'I know I'm sorry, it's been a whirlwind, in a good way.' Alice beamed. Fred was curled up on her knee and as she stroked him he purred so loudly it vibrated through her lap. She loved it during the winter when Fred was cold and wanted to be cuddled all the time - she never had any objections.

'Maybe we could go for drinks sometime?' said Hayley.

'He has a friend you know, Niall. I've not met him yet but Harry talks highly of him,' Alice teased her, forever trying to find her best friend the perfect partner. Hayley just rolled her eyes before turning away from Alice.

'I am not ready to be fucked over again - by anyone,' Hayley scoffed before downing half of her wine making Alice laugh at her sudden change in mood.

'Okay okay sorry, let's not think about Gregg tonight,' Alice said, downing some of her wine in an attempt to catch up. Christ, she would be fleeing if she kept drinking at this rate.'You deserve to meet someone again though, someone a lot nicer than Gregg,' Alice added.

Gregg and Hayley had been on and off for about two years before Hayley had found out the truth. He had been on and off with several other people at the same time and had blamed Hayley for the whole thing. He made out that she was worthless and not enough for him - it had shattered her. Alice was her rock through the whole thing, heartbreak seemed to be an ongoing theme in each of their lives, but thank goodness they had each other.

After the heartbreak Hayley had sworn she was going to stay away from men for the rest of her life, apart from the few drunken one night stands she said she would allow herself - you only live once after all. Alice knew however that behind her feisty and hard exterior, Hayley craved being treated well by someone nice and worthy of her time. Just like Alice they both dreamed of romance and love, a fairytale even - and they both deserved nothing less.