in my sleep | elijah hewson

19| leather and lace.

'Give it a couple months and it'll be you lot opening for Martha.' Simone joked.

'Probably, to be honest.' Ryan said. 'Yous all coming over for Dublin? The lot of yous?'

'Yeah,' Kyra said. 'Can't bloody wait, it'll be ace seeing the two of yous in the one night.'

'It will be class like,' Rob added. 'You fuckin' love birds though honestly, I'll have to write Simone a love song or something for Dublin.'

They all sat away for a while, speaking total rubbish because they'd gone two whole weeks without the ability to do so. Every time Josh would swing an arm round Kyra's shoulder Rob would jokingly do the same to Simone. Eli laughed, sat at the opposite side of the table to Martha, he'd just flash her a little smile whenever they met eyes.

He liked how happy she looked when she was with her friends, hearing all the stories Simone and Kyra would tell. The smile she wore was always so beautiful, so genuine and there was something so sweet about how much she valued her friendships. Even with Rob, Ryan, and Josh, Eli thought there was something so beautiful about how she'd known them for a shorter amount of time and still it was apparent how their friendship meant a lot to her.

Kyra and Josh were sweet, they'd hit it off from the get go and ever since had been practically a married couple. They deserved one another, it was clear they were both so happy and everyone was for them too. Eli however, saw the two of them sat with their arms around each other, openly referring to one another as their boyfriend or girlfriend and he wondered was he supposed to be like that with Martha?

Eli's always been an overthink, specifically when it's come to his relationships. He'd always hold himself to some standard, going off of other couples and what they're like over how it all felt in the moment. He'd get too lost in his own head about that kinds of things that the relationships would always go tits up somehow, he didn't want that to be how him and Martha would end up.

She was different, he saw aspects of himself in Martha that made him think she'd understand. They were similar, but not in the way that they'd clash. Perhaps it's why they were so comfortable with one another, being in one another's company felt ridiculously easy, there was nothing to think about it. It all came so naturally.

Martha meant a lot to Eli, it was early days, but she really did.

'What's the scoop? Yous down for another or want to head elsewhere?' Ryan asked them.

'We should head to Martha's so she can play us a new tune.' Rob suggested, teasing her because he knew damn well Martha wouldn't play a song to them until the day the record is released.

'Get fucked.' Martha laughed. 'Yous aren't getting anything.'

'We can head back to mine, I've got beers and stuff.' Eli suggested. 'And a guitars, you know, just in case someone changes her mind.'

'I'm not playing anything!' She laughed.

That was it settled, they all headed back to Eli's for the rest of the evening. The three girls walked with their arms linked, diving in by one of the corner shops to grab some lemonade for back at Eli's. He had plenty of drinks, just no mixers that weren't open and flat.

The guys trailed behind the three of them walking with their arms linked. At his flat, he had a deck of cards he intended on playing, however Rob launched himself down on the couch meaning nobody could sit next to him. Naturally, everybody congregated in his kitchen, pouring drinks or opening beers.

Eventually they were all back in his living room, Kyra and Josh squashed onto one chair, Simone shoved Rob's legs out the way to make room for her and Ryan, and Eli sat with Martha on his lap on a chair pulled over from the kitchen.