A couple of weeks had passed since their beach walk and October had brought along the snow, falling throughout Scotland as it would be for the next several months. Huge snowflakes fell individually from the sky - landing softly and leaving the village looking more like the scene from a fairytale.
Harry had continued to settle into his teaching role and the kids adored him more than ever. He had even started a little music club after school, teaching kids the basics of guitar or piano if they wanted to and it was going down a treat. Alice was fully convinced he would have a full band going by the end of the school year with the talent he seemed to be drawing from some of the pupils. Like Alice, they all seemed to feel comfortable and safe in his company.
Alice and Harry had gone for more walks and spent some time in the cozy village cafe drinking endless amounts of gingerbread lattes - Harry being just as addicted as Alice. They had shared more kisses, held hands as they walked and Alice couldn't help but feel warm and content inside. He made her smile as soon as he appeared and sent her heart into a flutter when he messaged her in the evenings. She blushed at his compliments and laughed at his terrible jokes, growing closer to one another as the days went by.
Tonight, Hayley was coming over for a girls night in. It was a tradition of theirs that as often as they could, Hayley would come and stay over at Alice's and together they would drink endless amounts of wine, watch movies, eat junk food and spend the night laughing together. Hayley had appeared at Alice's door two hours before she had said she would, overly excited about the night ahead and probably keen to hear all the details on Alice's growing relationship.
'So, how is Harry? You're yet to introduce him to your number one girl,' Hayley said, pouring two huge glasses of wine and handing one to Alice as she plonked herself down on the sofa - under the duvet she had dragged down from upstairs. Alice couldn't help but blush at the thought of Harry. He was constantly on her mind, she missed him when he wasn't there.
'I know I'm sorry, it's been a whirlwind, in a good way.' Alice beamed. Fred was curled up on her knee and as she stroked him he purred so loudly it vibrated through her lap. She loved it during the winter when Fred was cold and wanted to be cuddled all the time - she never had any objections.
'Maybe we could go for drinks sometime?' said Hayley.
'He has a friend you know, Niall. I've not met him yet but Harry talks highly of him,' Alice teased her, forever trying to find her best friend the perfect partner. Hayley just rolled her eyes before turning away from Alice.
'I am not ready to be fucked over again - by anyone,' Hayley scoffed before downing half of her wine making Alice laugh at her sudden change in mood.
'Okay okay sorry, let's not think about Gregg tonight,' Alice said, downing some of her wine in an attempt to catch up. Christ, she would be fleeing if she kept drinking at this rate.'You deserve to meet someone again though, someone a lot nicer than Gregg,' Alice added.
Gregg and Hayley had been on and off for about two years before Hayley had found out the truth. He had been on and off with several other people at the same time and had blamed Hayley for the whole thing. He made out that she was worthless and not enough for him - it had shattered her. Alice was her rock through the whole thing, heartbreak seemed to be an ongoing theme in each of their lives, but thank goodness they had each other.
After the heartbreak Hayley had sworn she was going to stay away from men for the rest of her life, apart from the few drunken one night stands she said she would allow herself - you only live once after all. Alice knew however that behind her feisty and hard exterior, Hayley craved being treated well by someone nice and worthy of her time. Just like Alice they both dreamed of romance and love, a fairytale even - and they both deserved nothing less.
They polished off a couple of bottles of wine in record time, laughed until tears were streaming down both of their faces and danced around Alice's living room to all their favorite cheesy songs. Eventually, they cosied on the couch - feeling tipsy but content, the sound of Fleetwood Mac playing like an underscore in the background. They had moved onto cocktails that Alice had created in the kitchen, probably lethal, but tasty all the same.
'So have you and Harry... you know,' Hayley nudged Alice with her elbow, wiggling her eyebrows.
'Hayley,' groaned Alice, putting her head in her hands.
'Oh come on, I know you guys snog all the time but surely you want more,' she teased.
'I do, I think I do..,' Alice blushed.
'Make the move, you always feel better after a good shag,' Hayley cackled, but Alice didn't reply, her mind was away in a world of its own, thinking of the person who was constantly on her mind these days.
Alice hadn't ever had an 'official' boyfriend. She had seen guys, dated a few times during her Uni days - her late teens and early twenties had consisted of a lot of partying, a lot of experimenting and a shit ton of drinking. That's what you do at Uni though, right? However, since moving back home she had become a fan of the more chilled out life, she had been quite content being single and starting a relationship with someone hadn't really crossed her mind until now. She had never felt fully invested in someone, no-one had really caught her eye so to speak and life had so many other things going on for her before now. Maybe that's what made Harry so different - she hadn't found herself becoming so attracted to someone before, someone quite as intriguing or someone she wanted to spend her time with.
'I really like him Hayley,' Alice sighed, taking another sip of the cocktail and wincing at the strong taste of vodka that warmly passed down her throat.
'I know you do babe, you light up when you talk about him,' she replied, 'Don't be anxious about feelings Alice, go with them... he's clearly into you too,'. Thank god for Hayley, always the voice of reason Alice needed.
'I'm nervous though, is it too fast? He makes me feel so.. happy,' Alice thought about Harry as she spoke, the kisses they had shared and how she craved more of him each time they were together. His kind words, his charming humor - he really was like something from a fairytale. Alice was really falling for him, it was a new feeling for her and she didn't half mind it.
'Nothings too fast when it feels right Alice, you just know, don't hold back on something because your afraid of what others might think. It's your life babe, and we both know better than anyone else that life can be cruel and far too fucking short,' Hayley said, wrapping her arm around Alice's shoulder and pulling her into a hug.
'You right,' Alice replied, squeezing Hayley back before leaning back on the couch, her eyes looking up at the ceiling - the room slightly spinning due to the strength of the cocktails.
'Shit, I should drink cocktails more often - they make me wise,' Hayley said suddenly and Alice turned to look at her unable to keep her face straight. "What?'
'Aw, I love you Hayley,' Alice chuckled, grabbing the glass from Hayleys hand and standing herself up on legs that could have been slightly more steady. 'Okay - Pina Colada or Pornstar Martini?'.
*
The early morning sun poked through the curtains of her bedroom as Alice squinted her eyes, trying not to wince at the hangover she could feel brewing. Together her and Hayley had polished off four bottles of wine and the mixture of cocktails Alice was making had kept them going until the early hours of the morning. What a night it had been though, one of those nights that's unplanned and turns out to be one of the best. Cheesy pop hits had boomed through Alice's house as they sang at the top of their lungs - much to Fred's dismay. They had even ended up trying to learn the dance routines to some nineties classics before they stumbled upstairs to bed at god knows what time - Alice doesn't even really remember coming up to bed.
ALice then felt Hayley roll over to her, finally awake as she was and by the looks of her - feeling just a rough. Makeup was smudged down her cheeks and her hair resembling something similar to a bird's nest. Although awake Alice could see that Hayley didn't want to fully open her eyes, the sun being too much for her too.
'My head is going to explode...,' Hayley groaned.
Alice laughed, but as soon as she did she regretted it, 'Oh god, even laughing makes me want to spew,' she said, feeling an array of emotions flow through her body and a cold sweat sending shivers up her spine.
'If I spew, it's going to be bright pink from those damn cocktails you made,' Hayley replied. Suddenly her face turned a whiter shade and Alice watched as Hayley quickly hopped out of the bed. She watched her best friend fly from the room and heard her crash through the bathroom door down the corridor. Although it made her feel nauseous, Alice couldn't help laughing as she heard Hayley heaving in the bathroom, clearly all the contents from the night before deciding not to stay down.
Alice pulled Fred up onto her lap from his sleeping position at the bottom of the bed and sank back down into the cozy duvet. Her phone buzzed on the bedside table and the loud ping made her wince. She blindly reached out to find it, grabbing it and squinting at the screen in the still dimly lit room. It was Harry: Hey, did you have a good night with Hayley? H x
Alice smiled through her hangover, instantly feeling slightly better - even a message from him had her beaming from ear to ear. She replied, slowly as she tried to focus on the screen. Hi, must have been. Hayley's currently spewing and my head is banging! Xx
She popped her phone on her belly and gave FRed a little stroke, his purrs filled the room and he stretched out - already asleep, comfy with his favorite person. Alice could still hear Hayley regretting each cocktail she had as her phone vibrated again - I know the perfect solution for that. Hang in there! H x
She wondered if he was going to message her some sort of hangover cure but her head was hurting too much to look at the screen any longer, she would see it later on. She threw her phone down and rolled over, snuggling into Fred and falling back to sleep - the sound of Hayley heaving as she threw up all the evidence from the previous night still ongoing.
*
Alice and Hayley were sitting on the couch a few hours later. They had both slept for a while longer, showered off the night before and were feeling a lot fresher than when they woke earlier that morning. Snow had started to fall again outside and an afternoon of Grey's Anatomy was just what they needed as they nursed off the hangover. They had changed all the bedding and dragged the spare duvet and pillows down to the sofa where they made the room cozy and relaxed, putting on their comfiest clothes and finding all the snacks they had left to devour.
Just as they were thinking of making themselves a late lunch, Alice's doorbell rang.
'Wonder who that could be,' Alice said as she lifted herself off the sofa and padded through to the hallway. Once she opened the door her eyes landed on Harry, his beaming smile and sparkling eyes looking down at her from his height. Any trace of her hangover left her and she felt her whole face light up just from the sight of him. She looked down to see that in his hand was a tray with takeaway coffee cups and a brown bag that looked full to the brim with goodies from the cafe.
'Hey,' Harry said, as he smiled at Alice - leaning in to give her a soft kiss on the cheek, 'Thought you guys might need some coffee and pastries to help you feel better, it's my favorite hangover cure,'. Alice couldn't help but smile up at him. He looked as handsome as ever with a plain white tee paired under a brown leather looking jacket, sleek and effortless as per usual. His curls were getting longer, falling slightly over his forehead yet still looking perfectly styled.
'You are such a hero,' she beamed and moved to the side to let him in. Alice took the coffee from him as he shook the snow from his hair, pushing his hand through it. She loved it when he did that.
'Come through, join us, we were just getting cozy in the living room,' she said.
'You sure? I don't want to intrude, I'm happy to just hand over the goods,' he laughed, stepping over the threshold and stripping out of his coat, popping it on one of the hooks by the door.
'You could never intrude, I'm so glad you're here,' replied Alice, leading him through to where she had left Hayley and Fred. As soon as Harry stepped into the room Fred shot down from the sofa and made a beeline for him. He rubbed himself forwards and backwards on Harry's leg as Harry chuckled and crouched down to clap his little best friend.
'Hey little guy,' he murmured, giving Fred a satisfying scratch under his chin. Hayley looked up from her phone and her eyes lit up instantly.
'You must be Harry,' she smiled, getting up from under the duvet and making her way over to him. Harry stood up just in time for Hayley to throw her arms around his shoulders and give him a huge hug - Hayley had a way of making everyone feel welcome and loved, Alice always says that's what she loves most about her.
'The one and only, nice to meet you Hayley,' Harry hugged her back, smiling over at Alice who stood behind Hayley. 'I hear it was a good night last night,' he went on as Hayley let go of him and made her way back over to the sofa.
'Well, from what I remember before Alice made her deadly cocktails, it was fab,' she then put her head in her hands, her hangover clearly still getting to her. Harry laughed and held up the brown paper bag he was still holding, his beaming smile lighting up the room.
'I brought a very late brunch - if you guys can stomach it. I left it a couple of hours so you could sleep off the worst of it,' and with that Alice watched as he turned on his heels and walked through to the kitchen, beginning to dish up the delicious things he had brought with him.
'Alice was right,' Hayley called after him, jumping up from the sofa again '...you are a gem!'. She grabbed Alice's hand and pulled her through to the kitchen after Harry, the two of them standing by the door and admiring the handsome man putting together their brunch. They could see Harry blushing and trying to hide his smile at Hayley's complement as he pulled croissants from the bag and popped them onto the tray he had already found.
Hayley turned her head away from him and whispered into Alice's ear, 'Girl you done so good,'.