𝘛𝘏𝘌 𝘌𝘔𝘗𝘛𝘠 𝘗𝘈𝘙𝘛𝘚 𝘖𝘍 𝘔𝘌 - HOZIER

XIX

"Ouu, I'll slam you in air hockey." Vivienne loved and hated the feeling of the smile creeping on her face. She wanted to be angry, but Gwen never allowed that. She waited in a few moments of silence before speaking. "Just lay it on me, damnit."

"What the hell is going on between you two?" Gwen's voice went soft. She didn't make an attempt to hide the concern in her voice.

"I wish I knew," Vivienne rubbed her eyes, allowing the sunlight to fully wake her up.

"I have to ask..." Gwen started.

"We weren't together," Vivienne waved a hand dismissively. The words I don't think threatened to leave her lips. As much as the topic of Andrew weighed on her, she always vaguely dodged around it when Gwen and Ciarán pried, leaving everyone in the dark.

"Then what is he doing?!"

"God I wish I knew!" Vivienne couldn't help but chuckle at the shock of it all, still processing every emotion her recent months of life had brought her. "It started with those stupid weekly... trips we would take."

"They were dates. Call them dates, babe." Gwen giggled.

Vivienne huffed through her lips. "That's the issue, I don't know what they were to him. They were... a lot to me, but I'm autistic for gods sake! I can't know if he felt what I felt, or if I felt what he felt, or if we felt-"

"And what you felt was...." Gwen led the correct words out of her mouth, and Vivienne finally felt comfortable to say it.

"I really liked him."

The words felt like bricks falling from her shoulders. Gwen hummed in response.

"-And I really liked how I felt with him. He made me feel special, and pretty, and he laughed at my horrible jokes- and he showed me the high life and then appreciated the cheap and stupid things I liked to do," The words spilled from Vivienne's mouth, only stopping when she took a breath. "Then it was all gone. And it was back, and it was gone again. He just.... Wouldn't stick around. But every time he came back I fell for it."

Vivienne ran fingers through her hair, pulling at the strands from stress. "And I've been trying to push him away for my own sake but he just finds a new way to piss me off again!"

"I'm sorry, love. That sounds like a lot." Gwen gave a small rub to Vivienne's shoulder. She knew prying would only make it worse, as Vivienne was never one to fully share her feelings. "Don't overthink yourself on it. I'm sure it'll work out with time." Vivienne nodded, watching as Gwen slid from the bed. "I'm going to go make sure the rest of the band knows to be ready by 5 for tonight. You get settled in."

"You're not going to go yell at Andrew?" Vivienne questioned, and Gwen pursed her lips.

"No, you know I don't get angry." She shook her head, and technically she wasn't lying. She couldn't recall the last time she had raised her voice. "Love ya, rest up."

Vivienne hummed a response as Gwen slid from the room, readjusting her red hair over her shoulder as she took 10 paces down the hall and pressed her keycard to the door. She held back her urge to kick it open, instead just speedily sliding in and closing it behind her.

"Alright, dumbass." Gwen unapologetically shouted, knowing the two rooms between her and Vivienne would be enough to muffle the noise. The sound of her irritation, and the unfamiliarity of her being loud, made Andrew jump. "What the hell have you done now?"

Andrew whipped around, seemingly gazing out of the glass balcony door before Gwen busted in. "How did you-"

Gwen held up the white card between her fingers. "Universal keycard. Now spill."