English Rose - liam gallagher fic

33. never saw it coming

Liam

Holly and Noel bounded down the steps, a cloud of tension engulfing them while they obviously tried to act like everything was fine. I don't know if I want to know what happened on their way to Greggs, but I have a feeling from Holly's reluctance to meet my eyes, it had something to do with last night.

I hadn't told her yet. We'd snogged. I poured my heart out, before kicking the sand back over my tracks to make it seem as platonic as I could.

Slouching over the microphone stand, I watched her closely as she rolled a tab, eyebrows creased together and lips slightly pouting in concentration. She still looked rough, her face being a sickly pale hue with enormous eyebags but she somehow still had the same radiance as the girl in the Levi's posters scattered around town.

"Can I have half that?" I asked her, gesturing to the rolly she just made.

"Where's your own baccy?" She said, clicking her tongue before handing me it with her lighter and making another.

"You know I don't smoke baccy," I rolled my eyes, while simultaneously lighting the tab.

I've always known it, just never admitted it. It took me a while to even get myself to accept the fact that I was mad about her. I'd even go as far to say that it's been like this since the start, and all that shite with Erin was just a distraction.

Her giving me the full rolly instead of half was enough to make me grin like an idiot before quickly wiping it off my face before anyone could notice. I watched her make her own tab and light it from the other end of the room, perched on the arm of the loveseat. She was in all my clothes, with her blonde hair in a greasy raggy bun, looking like a smackhead at a bus station who'd ask you for 20p cos their boyfriends in prison and they've had their kids taken off them, and I still thought she was the fittest lass in Manchester.

But in her head it's always been Graham, the southern lad from before. I don't mean to have a chip on my shoulder about him, like it's not his fault that I'm in fucking in love with my best mate, and she has a soft spot for him. She doesn't go on about him, but it's when she does, you can tell, she thinks the sun shines out of his arse.

"Graham said I can stay at his if I ever need to go back down to London again."

"He was proper cute after he'd had a drink bless him."

"Half of his mates are fucking dicks, aw but he's so cute and quiet."

He seemed like a good lad as well, but he's stealing my woman from fucking hundreds of miles away.

-

Holly

Noel's words were doing circles around my head, and so I wasn't planning on staying long when the three of us went back to theirs, just enough for a cup of tea, get my things and go. I needed to talk to Liam, for him to confirm everything. I needed to talk to Noel, just for someone who understands the weight of my situation. But mostly I needed to go home and think. I don't want to let him down and hurt him.

I made a beeline for the space on the couch next to Noel, knowing Liam will be the one to make the tea, and also start boiling the pasta, ready for Peggy to come in from work.

"You need to stop acting funny," Noel told me as soon as we were alone in the front room.

"I don't know what to do, Noel," I told him. My voice was fat, as if I had a cold, and I was scratching at my palms desperately. "I don't know what to do, you need to help me and tell me what to do."

"You're a fucking idiot," he said plainly. "You're meant to be the clever one." He looked at me amused, kicking his feet back on the coffee table and his face fell into a concentrated frown. "How do you feel?"