Max had told the lads to meet him at the ice cream parlor near the school Nathan worked at. Max parked the car and both him and Vanessa got out, Max locking it before they both went into the parlor. The boys were all there besides Nathan who couldn’t make it since the school was still open for a few more minutes. Ali and Megan were also there. The lads all grinned, cheering when they saw Vanessa. “Nessa!” Siva shouted, people who were waiting for their ice cream looking at them. All the lads gave Vanessa a bear hug each.
“Been ages, Ness.” Tom said, putting Vanessa on his lap “How old are you? 14?” He said, joking and she laughed shaking her head.
“9!” She said poking his cheek and he grinned, kissing her cheek. The lads loved Vanessa and vise versa. Ali hadn’t seen Vanessa before since she was only introduced to the others a year ago, months after Vanessa had left with Catherine. Megan of course never even heard of her before yesterday. “Who are the pretty girls?” Vanessa whispered to Tom.
“Well she’s Megan” He pointed to Megan next to him who smiled at her “She’s my girlfriend” He said proudly. “And that’s Ali” He pointed to Ali, who was sat next to Jay. “She’s Jay’s girl” Vanessa smiled at them both and waved, both girls doing the same. Max grinned and went to get ice cream for Vanessa and himself. Nathan came in with his arm around Ellie.
“It’s nice of you to finally show up” Jay said, glaring at Nathan. Nathan glared back before they both broke the silence with laughter. Nathan went to the table and pulled up two chairs.
“You going to introduce us then?” Ali asked, smiling at Ellie. Ellie sat down and smiled nervously.
“This is Ellie” He said simply, taking his seat. Max came back, sitting down and passing Vanessa her ice cream. His smile still hadn’t left his face. Everyone but Max stared at him, waiting for him to continue.
“Care to elaborate on that?” Jay asked, playing with Ali’s fingers.
“I met her yesterday, what else is there to tell you?” Nathan said, with a bit of attitude.
“Alright, don’t bite his face off” Ali said, defending Jay. Jay smiled, kissing Ali’s cheek. Nathan rolled his eyes. He looked at Vanessa and it took his a few seconds to realize who it was.
“Nessa!” He said and she grinned, jumping off Tom’s lap and going around to Nathan. He hugged her tight.
“So what’s going on with you and Catherine?” Siva said to Max, quiete enough for Vanessa not to hear, both Tom and Jay getting closer to join in. Nathan and the girls were all talking, oblivious to the others’ conversation.
“She’s still trying to stop me spending time with Vanessa even though she’s going to be in the same city now” Max mumbled.
“I think you need to talk to her about this. Ask her why she doesn’t like you seeing Ness” Tom advised and the others nodded in agreement.
“I will. I’ll have to take Nessa back anyway”
“You make it sound like you stole her” Jay said and Max smirked making the others laugh.
