I am woken up by a soft snore above me which makes my eyes shoot open. I jump up, looking around me, panic coursing through my veins. I see James asleep on the couch, just where I was sitting and it hits me. We must've fallen asleep whilst watching the movie... shit..
I sigh to myself sitting down on the other couch, trying not to wake up James who is peacefully sleeping with his head tilted back on the couch and mouth open a little. I smile at the adorable sight, before I search the area for my phone knowing that I should probably let my brother know where I am.
I grab it off the coffee table, unlocking it. Thankfully there are no messages or missed calls from Marcus like I expected, which I find a bit weird. Or maybe him and Em aren't up yet to even realise that I'm not home. They would've expected me to come home late, therefore are expecting me to sleep in.
I press on Marcus' name and begin to explain what happened, telling him it wasn't my intention of staying over and I guess it sort of happened because I was exhausted.
Once the message is sent, I get up, picking up the pizza box and plates and walking over to the kitchen. I place the plates in the dishwasher and the pizza box in the fridge as it still has some pizza left in it. It does cross my mind that it has been sitting there all night, but I'm sure it's eatable.
I then make my way to the bathroom where I splash my face with water before pulling my hair into a messy bun. I look at myself for a few seconds, making sure I look presentable before I walk out of the bathroom and head back to the living room where James is now awake.
"Morning." I say and he looks at me, his worried face slowly relaxing as he realises I'm still here.
"Morning." He says then he sighs. "I thought you left."
"Why would I leave without saying goodbye?"
"I dunno, I thought you freaked that we fell asleep and..."
"It's okay James." I say taking a seat next to him on the couch and he nods, then sighs looking at the coffee table.
"You didn't have to clean up, I would've done it."
"I wanted to clean up."
"You're an angel, do you know that?"
"Yes, I do." I say and he smiles.
"Look, sorry about falling asleep it was never my intention." I say letting out a yawn and James chuckles.
"It's okay Tahlia, really, you seemed exhausted and having a few drinks wouldn't have helped either. Even if you wanted to leave I would've have let you, especially since you were tired and had some wine."
"I would've been fine to drive home."
"Really? You sure about that?"
"Yeah... probably not." I say and we both laugh. "God how much did we drink last night?"
"Not enough apparently." James says sighing and I smile.
"Got a hangover?" I tease and he shakes his head.
"No, just a headache."
"Yeah, basically a hangover." I say and he laughs.
"How are you fine? You literally drank 4 glasses of wine."
"It takes a lot for me to get drunk."
"Noted." He says getting up from the couch and walking into the kitchen where he opens a cupboard that reveals all his medicines.
"Don't have some Panadol now, you need to eat first." I say, getting up and rushing over to him and he sighs, looking at me and shaking his head.
"You sound like my mother."
"What? It's true. You'll just feel sick if you take it on an empty stomach."
"Alright fine, what's the chef going to make?"
"You're lucky your name is James Worpel." I say and he laughs.
"And I'm lucky to have you in my life." He says which makes me smile.
"Now you're going to have to show me where everything is."
"Ah yes, so here are the bowls and shit, obviously cutlery, pretty self-explanatory, cups and yeah that's pretty much it."
"Alright. What would Mr Worpel like."
"For your last name to be changed to Worpel." He says and I throw a tea towel at him.
"Too early to be joking about that?"
"Way too early mr." I say and he laughs. "But seriously though, what do you want to eat?"
"There's some bacon that's already been defrosted, so you could cook that up along with some eggs maybe?" James says and I sigh rolling my eyes.
"Pretty please?" He says with puppy dog eyes and that does it for me.
"Alright fine." I say.
"Yesss."
"On one condition."
"Anything."
"You help me cook." I say and James groans.
"But I can't be fucked."
"Neither can I, but someone has to make breakfast."
"Alright fine how about I set the table up?"
"Hey that's an easy job, but fine. I'll let you off this time Worpel."
"Thanks Bontempelli." He says with a wink and I sigh, walking over to the fridge, grabbing the bacon out along with a couple of eggs.
I grab a chopping board out, placing it on the bench where I then cut most of the fat off of the bacon, before chucking it in a pan to cook.
Once the bacon is done I quickly fry up some eggs whilst James puts some bread in the toaster which only takes a few minutes.
It's a huge relief when I finally am able to sit down and fill my stomach up with the feast I've made James and I, and it tastes fucking amazing.
"This is so good." James says and I smile.
"I know. Thank my good cooking skills."
"Can you come cook for me everyday?"
"No, I do have a life yeah?" I say and he smiles.
"Yes, you do."
"What are your plans for the weekend?" James asks and I shrug.
"I dunno." I say picking up my phone and reading a message from Marcus, thanking me for telling him where I am. He also specifies that we're going to Naughts' house tonight.
"Well, looks like I'm going to Aaron's house tonight." I say and James laughs.
"What's new? You two are the ultimate besties."
"Well, he's a very good person with a kind heart, he's like a brother to me."
"I know he is. And I'm glad you have someone like him around you."
"You got any plans tonight?"
"Nah, the boys are probably gonna come around for a few drinks."
"More drinking? Like last night wasn't enough."
"Nah they're gonna drink, I'll be on the waters."
"Uh huh, I totally believe you." I say sarcastically and he laughs.
"I promise you I won't drink."
"I don't care if you do, just thought you wouldn't wanna get a beer belly ya know." I say and James' mouth drops, which makes me die of laughter.
"You think I'm going to get a beer belly? Honey do you know what I do for a living?"
"Yes." I say unable to breath from how much I'm laughing.
"Do you not see these muscles?"
"I do." I say and he smirks.
"And you love them."
"Hey! You pointed it out, but I did noticed you put on a bit more muscle."
"So you did look then?" He asks and I roll my eyes.
"It's fine, I'm hot." He says and I roll my eyes throwing a napkin at him because I left the tea towel in the kitchen.
"Smart move, throwing a napkin."
"I've got nothing else do I?"
"Should've kept the tea towel with you."
"Well, I know for next time." I say and he smiles.
"But you didn't deny what I said..."
"Shut up Worpel."
"So you agree with what I said?"
"There are two options. Maybe I agree, or maybe I disagree but you should already know the answer."
"How would I know the answer?"
"Noosa?"
"Ohh." He says then he smirks. "Ohh, right, right."
"So when does training start back for you?"
"I actually start back on Monday."
"Oh wow, already?"
"Yep, that's it, breaks done."
"That went fast didn't it?" I say and he nods.
"It went very fast, but I am keen to get stuck into next season."
"Yeah I could imagine, Hawks have some young guns."
"We sure do." He says with a smile and I smile too.
"Anyway, I should really get going, thank you so much for last night."
"You're welcome." James says getting up and clearing the table which I also help him with, before he walks me out the door.
"You know you're welcome here anytime right?"
"Oh yeah I know." I say and he smiles.
"Well, we've gotta organise another one of these catch ups."
"We do." I say and he smiles.
"How about we do something more active next time?"
"Oh yeah, like what?"
"I have something adventurous in mind."
"I'd like that." I say and he smiles.
"Alright well I'll text you the details during the week."
"Alright cool, thanks." I say and he smiles before opening his arms and pulling me into a hug.
"I'll see you soon." I say and he nods.
"See you soon." He says and I smile as I walk to my car, getting in and starting the 20 minute drive home...
------------------------------
"I'm home." I yell from the front door which causes Marcus and Em to peak their heads through, both of them smiling.
"Why are you two smiling like that for?"
"Because. You stayed over at Worpel's." Em says and I roll my eyes.
"Did Marcus not read you the message, we fell asleep on the couch, it was never meant to happen." I say as I walk through the hallway, taking a seat at the bench and Marcus chuckles.
"I did read her the message. I guess you were tired, and the alcohol wouldn't have helped, so maybe you accidentally fell asleep, or maybe you deliberately stayed... I guess we'll never know."
"I swear to you we both fell asleep on the couch." I say and Marcus smiles.
"I know, I'm only messing with you. And even if you didn't, I don't have an issue with it."
"You don't?"
"No, I know Worpel is a good bloke and he'll take care of you, besides your love life is none of my business until the guy becomes your boyfriend."
"Imagine if he was like this three years ago, the amount of boyfriends I would've had jeez." I say to Em who laughs.
"Hey I wasn't that bad... was I?"
"You were pretty bad." Em says and Marcus sighs.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't want you getting hurt, but I now know I can't protect you anymore."
"I'm glad you know that now." I say and he smiles. "So what's the deal for tonight?"
"Oh, Naughts and a couple of the other boys are having us over for a barbecue, and cause you know we start training on Monday, it's tradition, every year one of the boys hosts, and this year it's Aaron's turn."
"What before training?"
"Yeah, it's just something Libba started after 2016, and we've kept it ever since."
"So that's why we always go to barbecues before you all head back to training." Em says and Marcus nods, then frowns.
"You didn't know?"
"Well no."
"I thought it was obvious." He says and Em shrugs.
"Maybe it was but hey free food so I'm all for it."
"Same." I say and Marcus smiles.
"Well you guys better start getting ready, we're leaving soon."
"What already? Isn't it a bit early?"
"Well you kind of spent all day at Worpel's house."
"Shit we must've woken up late."
"You did... 12pm to be exact." Marcus says and I sigh. "It's 4pm now."
"Well, I better go get ready." I say getting up and sprinting upstairs to have a shower. I get upstairs, running straight to my walk-in-robe and grabbing a towel and some essential things such as a bra and underwear before deciding on what my outfit is going to be.
Once I've decided on a pair of jeans, a top and cardigan, I debate on whether I should wash my hair or not as it's filthy, but I don't think I have enough time to wash it. Ahh fuck it. I say as I turn the water on, ripping my clothes off. I get in and the hot water warms my body up instantly, sending a shiver down my spine. I run my hands through my hair, that is now wet from the water, before applying shampoo and conditioner, one at a time obviously.
Surprisingly I make it back downstairs fully ready by 5:30, the time Marcus wanted to leave.
"Just made it." I say, feeling flustered from all the rushing around and both Em and Marcus chuckle.
"World record I reckon." Em says grabbing her bag and heading out the door with both Marcus and I following behind her.
"Did you even wash your hair properly?" Marcus asks and I nod.
"Of course I did, I just didn't dawdle." I say, opening the car door and jumping in.
"Fair enough." Marcus says as he starts the engine and we make the journey to Aaron's house....
***
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