Leah and Evie were like two little children at a sleep over. They lay in their beds, looking up at the ceiling and giggling ridiculously. The two of them spoke about anything and everything as the sky grew darker.
"I can't believe you fell off your bike," Evie chuckled, thinking back to that day.
"It was actually a very scarring experience," Leah replied, making Evie laugh even harder. Her dopey little grin made Leah join in and soon enough they were both giggling.
It got later and after having some ridiculously weird conversations, they were both tired.
"Night. I love you kiddo," Leah said before rolling over.
"Night. I love you too," Evie said, rolling over as well and settling down to sleep.
***
Today the five of them were going to watch a basketball match. They'd been for a long walk in the morning and now they were relieved to be able to sit down.
It was very exciting to watch and they got really into it. Being athletes, they were all very competitive and it was as if their lives depended on the result.
After all the excitement, they headed out for dinner and went to a fancy looking restaurant.
"You know somewhere is nice when they have leather menus," Evie laughed as she admired it.
"You also know it's fancy when you can't understand what it says," Ellie said, not sure what any of it was.
"Do they have chicken nuggets and chips?" Leah asked, scanning the menu as everything else sounded way too out there for her.
"Of course you only want beige food," Keira teased her.
"Chips are yellow!" Leah tried to argue.
They all ordered and waited for it to be brought over. All of them chattered away, being able to find something new despite spending every waking minute together for the past week and a half. It was sad that they only had a few more days before they headed home but for now they were having so much fun it didn't matter.
Music and dancing had been one of their favourite pass times so it was to no one's surprise that as soon as they were home, Leah's play list was on and they were all dancing round the patio.
They bounced up and down and laughed at just how stiff Ellie was.
"How can you be a goalie and be that stiff?" Lucy laughed.
"I'm not sure," Ellie replied truthfully.
***
The next evening they all headed out to the arcade. Obviously, they had to put a competition in there.
"Most tickets win," Lucy said.
"Loser buys a round?" Leah suggested with a laugh.
"What happens if I lose? I can't buy a round," Evie said.
"Better do well then kiddo," Ellie told her.
"Bring it on," Keira said. They all split off, Evie and Keira heading straight to the basketball machine.
Evie went first and her basketball team days helped massively. Keira was less good but she still rocked it.
"God I'm sweating," Keira laughed as she collected her tickets.
They went off to do a 3D zombie simulator and agreed to split the tickets they made in half.
It was extremely fun and they both shrieked and laughed as wave after wave of zombies came their way.
"Oh shit," Evie yelled as a zombie leapt down, scaring the life out of her. They ended up dying and got out of the simulator, both giggling.
A woman was standing with her children, giving the two of them very dirty looks. Keira and Evie exchanged a glance and went to join the others. The woman followed not far behind.
"Can we help you?" Ellie asked.
"Keep your child under control. Cussing. I mean how inappropriate," the woman said angrily, glaring at Lucy. With that she stormed off.
"My child?! How old does she think I am?" Lucy asked as the rest of them fell about laughing.
"Well you do look pretty old," Evie said with a cheeky little grin.
"Oi! Or I will use my motherly powers and make you stand by my side," Lucy joked.
"Sorry mum," Evie told her with a fake salute.
They carried on going round the arcade, enjoying it a bit too much for grown adults. After counting all their tickets, Lucy had come out on top and Ellie had finished bottom.
"I'll be buying us drinks then?" Ellie laughed as they walked to find the nearest pub. They sat together in a little booth.
"The table isn't sticky," Evie said in shock.
"We aren't in England now," Leah laughed.
Ellie walked over with a tray of beers and a lemonade for Evie.
"Sorry kiddo," Ellie apologised.
"It's alright. Should probably take a break anyway. I've drunk more on this holiday than the rest of my life combined," Evie said.
"Well you are only seventeen," Lucy pointed out.
"Yeah but the first time I got drunk was 14 so really I've got a few years under my belt."
"Fourteen?!" Keira asked, shocked.
"Wouldn't recommend. Especially when you have football the next day. Those laps will never leave me," Evie chuckled and the rest of them laughed. Classic Evie.
***
Today was their last morning before they got their plane home in the afternoon. They weren't wasting it and sat out on the roof. The music was on loud and the vibes were good.
All of them danced together, pushing away the thought of packing.
Soon enough, they couldn't fight it any longer, and they reluctantly began to gather everything together. The house only took a slight bit of tidying as since the roof incident, they'd tidied as they went.
In the taxi home, they drooped a little. It was tiring and despite the coffee that Evie and Ellie had got them all earlier, they had no energy.
As soon as they were in the air, all of them dozed off.
Lucy looked around. Keira and Ellie were curled up either side of her, both of their heads resting on her chest. Leah and Evie were on the other row. Leah was fast asleep, her head propped on Evie's sleeping head. It had been a perfect holiday and as sad as it was to be going home, she felt nothing but happiness.
***
Jet lag was horrendous. Evie and Leah felt like they'd been brought back from the dead. Trying to fix their sleep schedules was extremely difficult.
Jamie and Jemma were in London for a few days and despite feeling like shit, Evie was going to make the most of having them around.
Ella was just as energetic as usual and it took considerable effort to keep up with her antics.
"Being outrun by a toddler," Jamie laughed as he watched his sister chase after his daughter.
"She's quicker than she looks," Evie replied, finally getting Ella into her arms and beginning to tickle her, making her roar with laughter.
The next day and Jamie came to drop Ella off. Evie was being left in charge of her for the afternoon/ evening.
"Right I've got her travel cot. We aren't far so call if you need anything," Jamie said.
"Yep I'm sure everything will be great," Evie responded. Ella was perched on her hip, smiling despite having no clue what was going on.
"Thank you again for this," Jamie said as he disappeared down the path and got into the car. After waving them goodbye, Evie and Ella went inside and hopped straight into doing ridiculous activities.
Ella was obsessed with the book 'We're going on a bear hunt' and the two of them spent ages acting it out, Ella squealing every time Evie pretended to be the bear. It was exhausting and after a while the two sat on the sofa with the TV on.
Leah had been out seeing some of her friends and she arrived home at about half past three. Evie was fast asleep on the sofa. Ella was lying on her chest, also asleep. It was adorably cute and she stood admiring them for a second before Ella began to stir a little.
This woke Evie up.
"Tired?" Leah asked with a little laugh.
"No. We were just resting our eyelids. Weren't we Ella?" Evie said. Ella nodded even though she didn't know what was happening.
They did a lot more activities before they set about making some dinner. The house was a complete mess but for Ella's joy, it didn't matter.
The three of them played some more after dinner and then Ella began getting cranky. It was a rush to build the travel cot before she got over tired.
"How difficult did they need to make it?" Evie groaned as the cot once again collapsed.
"There must be a piece missing," Leah said, unsure what was going wrong. They began to search the living room.
"Ha! Got it!" Evie cheered excitedly as she pulled it from underneath the sofa.
After making sure everything was sorted, Evie laid Ella down into bed.
"Night night. I love you Ella," Evie said, planting a kiss on the toddler's forehead. She babbled in response before quickly falling off to sleep, shattered from an afternoon full of activities.
Leah and Evie sat on the sofa, exhausted from jet lag and looking after a small child.
They were awoken a few hours later when the doorbell rang. Forcing themselves up, Leah answered it as Evie tried to pick up Ella out of her cot without waking her.
It was a success and she passed her to her brother, the baby still asleep.
"Thanks E," Jamie said, kissing his sister on the cheek before carrying his daughter to the car.
***
When Evie opened her phone, her heart dropped. No way. How had that happened?
She stormed downstairs, desperate to find Leah. She was at the kitchen table having a cup of tea.
"What's this?" she said, shoving the phone in her face and trying not to cry. Leah scanned it. Poor Evie.
"Oh baby I'm-," she began to say.
"Don't oh baby me. How do you think they found out?" Evie said angrily as she tried to stop the shaking in her voice.
"What? I didn't tell them," Leah argued, offended that she'd even think that.
"How the fuck do they know then?" Evie screamed. This was all too much. It was meant to stay a secret.
"I don't know but it wasn't me."
"I trusted you. I told you something I'd never told anyone before. I doubt you meant to let it slip but you must've. How else would they find out?"
"Maybe Jamie told them. Or your mum. Or your dad."
"No one would listen to them. They'd listen to you."
"Oh so just because I'm well-known that means I'm a shitty person," Leah shouted. She felt so angry. She'd never betray Evie like that. Evie shot her a look that said that in this moment of time, she did think she was a shitty person.
"I've been here for you this whole time. I'd never fucking betray you," Leah said, slamming her hands angrily on the table in an attempt to get Evie to stop arguing. This completely shifted the situation. Evie's face was taken over with fear. Obviously she knew that Leah would never hit her but right now old habits were taking over.
"Finish your dinner. Then maybe you can go back out again," her mum said.
"I'm not hungry," Evie groaned, stomping her feet in frustration.
"Eat it."
"No."
"Eat it!" her mum shouted, slamming her hands on the table and making her practically jump out of her skin. Then in one swift movement, she flicked off her slipper and yanked her daughter from her seat.
The smacks on her legs were sharp and painful, the rubber sole of the slipper beating hard on her skin.
"Mum, stop," Evie begged, the tears pouring down her face.
"Please, please I'll eat all my dinner," she shrieked, desperate for it to end. This didn't work and the beating carried on, sore and undeserved.
Evie ran from the room and to the front door.
"Evie! Evie!" Leah called after her but she got no reply. Leah felt terrible. She hadn't meant to react the way she had.
Desperately she tried calling her, unsurprisingly getting no response. Fuck. What could she be doing? She knew that she was vulnerable and she prayed that she wouldn't do anything stupid.
Now she did what she always did when situations got tough. She called her mum.
Once Amanda had agreed to come down and stay, Leah began texting the Arsenal girls.
Leah: Has anyone heard from Evie?
Lotte: Not since this morning
Jen: Is everything okay?
Viv: What's happened?
Leah: I've been a bitch, that's what's happened.
Lotte: Do you need us to do anything?
Leah: Lotte please can you call her? Don't be suspicious just ask her for a coffee or something. If she says no then just casually ask her what she's up to
Beth: What's gone on Leah? Is it serious? Is she in danger?
Laura: Is this about the article?
Manu: What article?
Jen: Oh shit just read it. Poor girl. Someone find her
Leah paced up and down the kitchen as she waited for Lotte to reply. Oh fuck. She was a bad person. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. They better find out where she was soon.
Lotte: Got a reply. She says she's busy right now on a walk.
Leah: Where?
Lotte: The moors
Leah: Ok thank you
Lotte: Need anything else?
Leah: All good. Thanks for the help.
She ran outside before hopping into the car and speeding over to the moors. Other people honked disapprovingly as she tried desperately to get there, praying it wasn't too late.
***