A sharp knock at the door startled me out of my slumber, and it took me a few seconds to assess my surroundings and realise that I was still on the sofa with Van sleeping in my lap, however, it was now much darker outside and I panicked, remembering that we were supposed to go out tonight for my birthday. I carefully stood up, trying not to wake Van, and stumbled over to the front door, still slightly disorientated from sleep.
"Hey!" Lola chirped, her and Bob standing in the doorway, holding a carrier bag of what I assumed was alcohol. Her grin disappeared when she noticed my messy hair and attire, which was just a pair of knickers and Vans t shirt, "what happened? Aren't we going out?"
"I'm so sorry, me and Van were-" I yawned, "we fell asleep, after you left." I replied, though Lola's face told me that she knew what we were really up to. She laughed and stepped inside, Bob entering behind her into the living room. I followed after them, seeing Van now awake, sleepily rubbing his eyes and pulling his joggers back on.
"So are we going out or not? It's half 5 now and we just spent 25 quid on booze," Lola moaned, lifting up the carrier bag.
"Yeah, we're still going out," I stood up, stretching, "I'll just go freshen up and get changed, Van you better do the same," I giggled, ruffling his mop of hair.
We both headed upstairs, Van heading into the shower as I went into Larrys room to find him sprawled out on the bed fast asleep.
"Larry, wake up," I said, throwing a random sock at him, hitting him right in the back of the head. He lifted his head in surprise, his eyes half open, "get up you lazy shit, we're going out in a bit, Bob and Lola are downstairs,"
He mumbled something I couldn't quite understand and rolled onto his back, rubbing his eyes.
I chuckled and made my way into our bedroom, brushing my hair out and tying it up into a bun, which surprisingly turned out pretty good. I put on a very small amount of makeup and got changed, wearing a jumper and my favourite mom jeans with my trusty docs, then threw on a jacket and within 15 minutes was back downstairs to see that Bondy and Benji had arrived and were sat downstairs, beer in hand.
"Here you go birthday girl, happy 20th," Van said, cracking the top off of a bottle and handing it to me.
I took a sip, giving a smile to everyone before standing up.
"We going out then?" I said, grabbing my phone off the side table and leading everyone out the door and into the night.
Though there was no rain or wind, the air was cold and you could see your breath. We all walked together, chatting, laughing and drinking, when we reached a park, made up of a climbing frame and a squeaky old set of swings.
Van immediately ran forward to jump the gate, eager to get a swing.
"You childish prick," I laughed, even though I did the same thing seconds later, me and Benji battling for the second, and Van killing himself at the effort I was putting in for this.
"Hey! It's my birthday, you have to let me have it!" I cried, giggling as Benji sighed and gave up, joining the others on the floor in front of us.
We passed round my birthday bottle of vodka until it was gone, all of us fairly pissed. After a while I was too unsteady to be able to sit on the swing without falling backwards, so me and Van both joined the others on the floor, all of us in a big circle, like we were about to start playing duck duck goose or some shit.
"I almost forgot we're playing our second gig tomorrow night," Benji slurred, taking a drink from his beer.
"Shit yea," Lola said, turning to Bob "you better not get too drunk otherwise you won't be fit to play, you're such a baby with hangovers," she joked, however the hazy look in Bobs eye told us that he was already too far gone.
"Oh fuck it," she laughed, nudging him playfully with her shoulder and shaking her head.
We continued chatting and drinking for a while, Larry playing some 'bangers' from his phone, which had so far consisted of Stayin' Alive, Jailhouse Rock and I Believe In A Thing Called Love. A varied playlist, to say the least.
A vibrating sound caught my attention, and I looked down to see Vans phone laying on the floor next to him, an incoming call on the screen. His hand reached down to snatch it off the floor, however I caught sight of the name before he could hide it.
Lily.
The name rung a bell, though the alcohol was not helping me remember where I knew it from. I looked up to Van, who's face held worry and concern, and suddenly it fell into place.
His ex-girlfriend.
My stomach filled with nervous butterflies and anger, as I furrowed my eyebrows and opened my mouth to speak, though could not form any words.
"Kath, I-"
"Why is she calling you?" I whispered, not wanting to draw attention to us just yet.
"I-I dunno, I swear, Kath, I don't know," he stuttered, his nerves obvious. I knew he was hiding something, the fear in his eyes showing that there was something he didn't want me to find out about.
"Can I see your phone?" I said calmly, though the anger that was coursing through me made it difficult to not lose my temper.
"No- er, why?" He said, rubbing a hand through his hair in frustration. We were still talking moderately quietly, and the rest of the group were obvlivious to what was going on, still laughing and drinking.
"Because I know you're lying, are you hiding something?" I questioned, grabbing his phone out of his hand and watching as he held his head in his hands in defeat as I opened his texts, his most recent being to Lily, this morning. My eyes welled as I opened the messages.
Lily: so when are we meeting up then? Seems like we have a lot to talk about;)
Van: tomorrow, outside the pub at 3
Lily: I can't wait x
"You were going to meet her?" I cried, standing up and backing away slowly. All heads snapped up to look at me, except Van who was already watching me, guilt etched onto his face. Lola stood up aswell, noticing the tears running down my cheek as she ran to my side, her hand on my arm.
"Kath, it's not like that!" He shouted, running over to me.
"Then what is it then? Because it sounds like you were going to meet up with your ex girlfriend behind my back!" I snapped, earning a gasp from the group, and a frustrated sigh from Van.
"We were just gonna talk, nothing was going to happen!" He cried, the veins prominent in his neck.
"Talk about what? You said you split up a year ago, surely there's nothing to talk about? I knew there was something still going on with you two by the way you were acting when she saw you that night, I can't believe I was so fucking stupid to believe you weren't interested in her anymore," I said coldly, swallowing the lump in my throat.
"Kath please, just fucking listen-"
"Have fun with Lily tomorrow, tell her I said hello," I say, sarcasm evident in my tone. I mumble a 'see you later lads' to Bob, Larry, Benji and Bondy, and take Lola's hand, walking away.
I hear Van shout 'fuck!' And the smash of a beer bottle against the concrete, but don't bother turning back.
----
"Are you alright, Kath?" Lola's voice is like honey, so soothing and comforting. She enters the living room of her flat with two cuppas, placing one in my hand with a smile.
"Yeah, I guess," mine on the other hand is husky and lifeless.
"Fancy filling me in on what happened back there?"
"I don't even know, his ex girlfriend started calling him so I got angry, obviously, and I asked to look at his phone, and saw he was texting her this morning, orginasing what time they should meet up," Lola's mouth drops open.
"You're joking," she gasps,"what a prick, I can't believe he'd do that."
"Me either," I sighed, "but I should have guessed this would happen, the first time we went out on a date to see him play at the pub, she was there, and she came up to him, they were all over each other. I stormed out after a while cos I got fucking sick of him looking at her like a fucking angel when he was meant to be there with me," I cried, getting angrier the more I thought about it. I could feel my eyes beginning to well up again.
"I just really thought I could trust him," I whimpered pathetically, putting my head in my hands as Lola reached out and wrapped her arms around me.
"It'll be okay, I'm sure everything will sort itself out. You two are great together, and I know he really loves you." She attemtps to cheer me up.
"Yeah, I guess," I sigh, exhausted from the day's events, "happy birthday to me."
Lola laughs half heartedly, an apologetic smile on her face.
"You're welcome to stay as long as you like, Kath, you know that." She says, gathering the empty mugs off of the coffee table.
"Thanks, but I'll have to go home tomorrow, I can't avoid him forever," I yawned, laying back on the sofa, my eyes suddenly feeling incredibly heavy, "I love you Lola," I whispered, feeling her ruffle my hair before turning the light off and leaving the room.
