I sat in a chair next to my mum, asleep in a hospital bed. Teary-eyed, I pulled out my phone and dialed my dad's number. The call connects on the second ring, and I put my phone to my ear.
"Dad?" I said, my voice quiet.
"Vivian, love, hello," he responded.
I took a deep breath, then started, trying to keep my voice steady.
"Dad, Mum's in the hospital," I said. "She has alcohol poisoning. Please don't call Social Services again, though, please. Can you come to Bristol? I'm by myself, and I can't do this alone. Dad, please."
He was quiet for a while, then responded, "I'm on my way. I'll be there in a few hours. I'll meet you at your mum's, alright?"
I started to cry in relief. "Thank you, thank you, Dad," I sobbed, and hung up.
I sunk my head into my hands, staying like that for a few minutes until my tears subsided. After a while, I got up, squeezed my mum's hand, and left the room. Cook was standing outside, waiting for me.
He passed me a lit spliff, which I put to my mouth, my hands shaking.
"I called my dad," I said, breaking the silence. "He's coming."
I started to shake, which Cook saw, and he reached out for me. His arms encased me in a wordless hug.
I pulled away, and caressed his cheek with my free hand.
"Thank you," I said earnestly. "Honestly, thank you."
"Anything for you, princess," he said, softly.
I smiled at that, and he kissed me, barely touching me. Unlike our other kisses, this one was soft, gentle. The only points of contact between us were our mouths, and it was different from the furious, passionate ones we had shared before. This kiss felt like a promise.
A promise of what, I'm not sure. But I was willing to find out.
I pulled away, and said, "Can we get fucked up?"
He smiled, a smirk that promised fun, and said, again, "Anything for you, princess."
♕⋆♕⋆♕
Cook and I sat at a table in the back of Cook's Uncle Keith's pub, drinking beer. I leaned my head back on the wall behind me, and sighed.
"You alrite?" Cook asked me.
"Yeah," I said, smiling at him. "Just tired."
The door to the pub opened, and in came Effy and Freddy.
"Fuck," I said, ducking behind my pint, as if that could hide me.
"Cook!" I whispered urgently.
"Ahh, come off it, Vi, don't be a pussy," he said, standing up and raising his arms.
"Ef! Freds! Over here!" he called, gesturing.
"Fuck you, Cook," I said, sinking down into my chair.
Effy and Freddy walked towards us. Freddy was smiling, and looked at least happy to see Cook, while Effy looked about as reluctant as I felt.
"Freds, good to see you, mate!" Cook said, hugging Freddy enthusiastically, while Freddy laughed and returned the hug.
Meanwhile, Effy and I looked at each other warily.
"Hey," I said cautiously. She nodded in return, and sat down across the table from me.
"How's it been?" she asked.
"Not bad," I replied. "You?"
"Bit of a headfuck, really," she said.
"What?" I said, confused.
"Love," she responded, staring right at me with her blue eyes, as if she was looking right into my soul.
"Jesus," I said. "I'm not sure if," then my voice trailed off as she raised her eyebrows.
She looked around to see where the boys were, busy chugging pints of beer, then lowered her voice.
"He loves you, at least. I could see it at the party. I'm not sure if you do, exactly, but it's close enough," she said.
"So that's why you got jealous?" I said, suddenly feeling antagonistic towards her. "And you know I didn't sleep with your fucking brother, right?"
She laughed, a low, husky laugh that was distinctively Effy's. The boys looked over at Effy's laugh and Cook smiled.
"You two don't hate each other anymore?" he said, laughing. "Didn't you used to want to scratch Viv's eyes out, Ef?"
"Fuck off, Cook," Effy and I said at the same time, then turned to look at each other and laughed.
Cook and Freddy looked at each other, bemused, then Cook said, "Wow, that was hot," with a look at Freddy, who nodded in awe.
Effy and I ignored him, and she said to me, "I'm sorry about that whole thing. I'm a bit of a bitch."
"You're not wrong," I said with a teasing smile. "It's all good, though. Cook's too much of a tosser to fight over, and anyways, Fred's fucking amazing."
"Yeah," Effy said, agreeing, watching Freddy across the table. "He really is."
"So, we're good, right?" I asked her, reaching out for her hand across the table.
"Yep," she said. "We're all good."
We shared a smile, then I called out across the bar.
"Keith! Another round!"
Uncle Keith came out from the bar in tow with four more beers, and Cook stood up with his arms out towards Keith.
"Keith, mate!" he said, slurring his words.
We all laughed.
"Cookie, you're wasted," I said.
"Yeah, yeah, if you say so Vivi," he said. "Let's go play some pool, you fuckers!"
We all stumbled over to the pool table, and Freddy and Cook proceeded to demolish Effy and me in a game of pool.
"Fuck this, again!" I said with a cheer, taking a sip of my beer.
I walked over to Effy to whisper in her ear, "Undo the top button on your shirt, and pull it down."
She winked at me, and did as I said, as I mimicked her movements. I leant over the table to break the balls, noting how Cook's eyes went to the front of my shirt as I did so.
I smirked, then gestured for the boys to go next.
I walked around the table as Cook was lining up to take his shot, and placed my hand on the small of his back, and leaned over the table next to him.
"Vi," he growled warningly, having figured out what Effy and I were doing.
"Take the shot, Cook," I whispered in his ear, noticing how he shivered at my words.
He took a deep breath, and completely missed the shot. Huffing in frustration, Cook stood up as I sashayed back around the table and smiled at Effy.
We employed the same tactics for the rest of the game, and won.
Hugging Effy in triumph, we cheered, and Effy called out to Cook and Freddy.
"Losers have to buy us drinks!"
They rolled their eyes, and we walked back over to our table. Before I reached my chair, Cook grabbed my arm and spun me to face him.
"That was fucking adorable, princess," he said in a deep voice.
"Yeah?" I said, dropping my voice to match his. "All for you, James."
"You're gonna do that later for me too, right?" he said in my ear.
I looked at him fondly, then dropped all expression from my face and said, "Absolutely not."
"Come on, princess," he whined. "Don't do this to me."
I only smiled at him and went back to sit down by Effy.
An hour later and a few pints later, I was completely drunk, and Keith kicked us out of the pub.
"Fuck," I groaned, sliding down the wall until I was sitting on the ground. Effy copied me, laying her head on my shoulder as we watched Freddy and Cook, arms around each other, singing and dancing in circles around each other.
"Come on, Vi, Ef, come dance!" Cook called.
"Nah, we're watching you fuckers! You look like absolute wankers!" I called out jokingly.
I smiled as I watched them, then I heard a buzzing in my pocket. I pulled out my phone, which had lit up with a phone call.
I flipped it open, and saw my dad was called me.
"Dad, yeah, what?" I slurred.
"Vivian, where are you? I'm at the house, and you're gone? Are you drunk?"
I shut the phone immediately, and looked at Effy.
She took her head off my shoulder, and said, "What's wrong?"
"My dad's back," I said.
Fuck.
AN: kinda a long chapter! chapter is based on these photos i found on insta, and i wanted to share these, i just love these photos sm. lmk what you think about this chapter, don't forget to vote and comment! love you all!
all credits go to @/messtonem on instagram
- fie
xoxo