English Rose - liam gallagher fic

25. picking up good vibrations

I wasn't going to go to the pub in the same sweaty clothes which I'd been wearing all day, so I made a whinging Archie wait until I got changed into some cooler clothes consisting of a plain white t-shirt and denim shorts.

I was too stubborn to ask Graham which pub it was, and we went to a random one in Camden on a whim.

We ended up in The Good Mixer as the name rang a bell and I was overwhelmed at the price of a pint - £5!!!!!!

We sat at a circular table with two seats either side of it.

"I can't believe the price of these fucking shite watered down pints," Archie tutted, sipping at the shite pint and pulling a face.

"I know it's fucking shocking," I said, getting bitter and folding my arms across my chest. "Get a fucking better pint at The Wayfair."

The Wayfair was the shitest pub in south Manchester that was on the brink of closure due to lack of business as a result of their SHIT pints.

I looked up from my pint to see Graham and Alex(?); the latter of whom immediately caught sight of me and told Graham I was here.

He looked slightly different from when I seen him as he wasn't wearing a geeky jumper, but a navy blue t-shirt, black leather jacket and jeans.

I made eye contact with him and waved happily and he pushed his glasses up slightly awkwardly and gave me a smile before walking over to our table.

"Alright Holly?" He greeted me, placing his hand on my shoulder and I stood up to greet him with an awkward middle aged woman hug.

"Hiya mate," I said.

"How've you been?" He asked, placing his hand on my waist.

"Yeah sound," I told him, thinking of the development of the Groucho, "it's all good."

"How's errr.. Liam?" He asked, trying to remember his name.

"Yeah he's alright," I said and tutted, "we've had a couple of wobbles and he's just split with his girl but all in all I reckon he's okay. How's you been?"

"Yeah yeah great," he said.

"And the band? How's that been going?"

"Yeah that's fucking great n'aw, we've just released the album," he said and I laughed as his Essex accent became prominent in his excitement.

"Really?! You never said nowt!" I said, hitting his arm and I seen him go red.

"Well, we've just been to Japan," he said and my mouth dropped open.

"And to think I've buzzing to be coming down to London," I laughed, "anyway this is my friend Archie, he's come down wi' me."

"Alright mate," Graham said and held his hand out for him to shake.

"Alright darl'," Arch replied with a grin and shook it, making a point to give it a firm shake. I laughed at his flirting.

He knew there was nothing to become of it, but it was just his way of exerting his masculinity and intimidating straight men.

"You's should come sit with us," Graham said to me and I looked at Archie, who just shrugged, picked up his pint and stood up.

I grabbed my bag and pint and we followed Graham over to the table where his friend Alex sat.

"Hiya, I'm Holly," I said, and Alex nodded with a happy smile.

"Oh, yeah I know," he said in a posh accent, "Graham pointed you out on the billboard around the corner, I'm Alex."

"Nice to meet you, mate," I said.

"Yeah you too."

"I'm Archie."

"Alex." They shook hands and Archie took a drink of his pint.

-

Graham was looking fit, I'm not gonna lie, but I'd promised Archie and Archie had promised me that we weren't gonna get off with anyone.

"When's your thing again?" Graham asked me, as we sat at the bar as more of their friends filtered in and the pub grew more roudy.

"Tomorrow," I said, taking a drink of my pint.

"That'll be dead good for you that," he said nodding, "have you had many people asking for you since the adidas thing?"

"Yeah I have actually," I laughed, growing red in embarrassment. "It's dead weird, like they kept telling me I'd be massively in demand and I don't get how they predicted it."

"Well," Graham said, raising his eyebrow and cocking his head to the side.

"What?" I asked, laughing at him.

"It's not like you're difficult on the eye or anything, is it?" He said boisterously with a shrug. He was less shy when he'd had a drink, which was something I didn't realise last time. "Like, you're obviously fit."

"Cheers man," I laughed, awkwardly flipping my hair away from my shoulder. "It's boiling down here man. I thought it was warm in Manchester."

"Yeah I know it's like 30 odd degrees," he told me, huffing.

"I dunno how you can wear that mate," I said, prodding his chest as I referred to his leather jacket. He pretended to stumble back.

"Woah maate go easy on us," he said, mimicking my accent, causing me to laugh embarrassingly loudly. "Don't want no trouble here like."

"That's annoyingly accurate," I laughed at him, which only got worse as he started doing an Ian brown walk.

"That's how you sound," he said to me, raising his eyebrows as he looked proud of himself. "And that's how you walk."

"Fuck off," I laughed, taking a drink of my bottle of Heineken.

"You are SUCH a fanny," he laughed at me and my bottle. "You need a pint, and I know it's fuckin grim but you just need to get it down ya."

"Honestly mate, I wish I was as drunk as you," I said, laughing at him.

"I'll get you a drink if you want," he offered.

"I've got one, mate," I said, gesturing to my bottle.

"Drink faster then!"

"You doing another tour anytime soon then?" I asked and he shrugged.

"Yeah, in October," he told me. "I've been wanting to get this band to support but the boys won't listen to them cos they're proper underground. You might know them actually they're from Manchester!"

"Who is it?" I asked.

"Midnight Green, they played a gig down here a couple of weeks ago," he told me and my mouth dropped open in shock.

"Fuck off!" I said, "that's my best mate's band. Martha and Jarvis."

"Yeah yeah! They're so good!"

"Aren't they?! I fucking love them," I said with a smile on my face. "Deffo get them to support ya."