I hadn't expected to see Van after he'd left the 3 mornings before, but Wednesday woke me up with a phone call and walk round Maida Vale looking for a good chippy - one that sold proper chips, with proper gravy and proper mushy peas.
It turned out however that there was no such thing, that our end of London apparently lacked the charms of the north. The mushy peas and the gravy.
So instead I found myself lying back in the grass under a tree in the local park, Van rolling a cigarette above me, little bits of tobacco falling into my hair.
"Your parks are shite," he smirked looking out across the grass where a homeless man lay passed out on his back in a sticky puddle of spilt special brew.
"Oh yeah and I suppose Llandudnos a tropic paradise is it? A true example of the miracle that is our planet?"
"Attenboroughs doing a documentary about it and everything," he said shooting me a similar sarcastic smile to the one I had graced him with moments before.
"The sad side of Survival of the Fittest..." I shot back with a teasing smile biting back a giggle and a flinch when he pretended to tip his tobacco over my face. "Fuck you Van," I giggled, laughing harder when he looked down and shot me a wink.
"Oh baby I wish you would,"
"You're such a jerk off," I smirked taking a cigarette from him and lighting it up.
"That was mine!" He exclaimed as I took a drag.
"You want it back?" I raised my brow with a smirk when he frowned and shook his head and rolled another. "Didn't think so..."
"Shouldn't you be in uni anyway, whatre you doing skyving off at the park picking on me?"
I pushed my sunglasses out of my eyes to look up at him, to meet his gaze with a cheeky smile.
"Given the choice between three hours of music theory, or three hours winding your mate up in the park..."
"You should value your education a little bit more," he teased frowning at me with a stern expression that only really suited him because I knew it would be followed with the flash of a smile and laugh as he tipped his head back.
"Maybe, if you think schools so important you shouldn't have invited me out in the first place..." I said placing my sunglasses back over my eyes so as he couldn't see the way they glistened with the beginnings of a bad joke. "If it matters so much..." I said slowly trying to gauge how he'd react.
"Yeah well, your teachers will be around in a day or two... I won't," with that he stole the remains of my cigarette from my mouth and took the last drag for himself.
"I don't think some of them actually know who I am..." I mused exhaling, already missing my cigarette. Van chuckled softly and shook his head.
"You're worse than I was in school you are..."
"Yeah well if you can get by doing very little whilst still getting results... why shouldn't you?" I shrugged sitting up to sit beside him and people watch.
"Think about what you could do if you applied yourself more..." he shrugged, "do you think someone should put him in the recovery position?" He nodded to the homeless man centerfield.
"We'll call an ambulance when we leave," I sighed, "usually he wakes up at about 4,"
"You come here often then," he smirked nudging me a little playfully.
"Me an Katie do sometimes yeah, if we come down before the other two, you don't wanna be around Saff on uppers when you're feeling low...." I said, "she brings the bass down and I pretend im jack white," he laughed at me then holding his hands out to frame my face, one eye squeezed shut like a hollywood director.
"You've got the cheekbones for it," he teased. "You shoulda brought your guitar wi yous, coulda heard some more of your tunes..."
"You've heard the best ones..." I shrugged, "why lower your opinion now..."
"Cmon love you an me both know you never release the best songs straight away..." he chuckled, "I wanna hear second best," he grinned.
"Come to a gig then," I winked pushing him back lightly when he elbowed me in the ribs and told me I was being very unfair.
We wasted a lot of the afternoon like that, but of course when the band were as big as Catfish were getting to be, he didn't have much more than an afternoon to spare and in the end we had to move on.
"Let me walk yous to class," he suggested, I smirked and rolled my eyes shrugging him off. I was beginning to think he really didn't understand the repercussions of fame.
"The indie boys will shit bricks if you turn up at uni..." I smirked, "you dont wanna risk it anyway, stepping foot on that campus is enough to kill your creativity for a year..." I said dryly running my hand through my hair.
"Ah youre being melodramatic I'm sure its not that bad..." he laughed me off as we stood and wandered out towards the other side of town.
"Maybe youre just undereacting..." I shrugged taking a joint from my pocket placing it between my lips and sucking in as the flame licked at the end.
"Everkikely you dont learn in class if you're always high..."
"Stop pissing on my parade Van I'm having fun," I teased taking in a drag and offering him one with a cheeky smile. He accepted despite some passing comment about my being irresponsible. "Besides its only a baby one look at how little it is..." and I was right, there were about two drags each, three if we were lucky.
"You're mad," he shrugged me off inhaling again and blowing smoke in my face with a laugh.
"You cheeky git," I giggled through my choking, going to give him a playful shove, missing when he jumped back and dissolved into laughter himself.
By the time we arrived at my uni we were both struggling to give up the giggles, falling down at a table in the smoking area where I usually met Jazz and the lads before our class.
Van took out his tobacco and began rolling again as I lent my head down on the table and closed my eyes feeling the splinters in my cheek and the sun, the breeze tickling the loose curls by my ear.
"Felicity Connolly, what a rare sight this is... You're in uni... mad..." I recognised Danny's voice instantly and rolled my eyes as I sat up.
"What do you want Danny?" I asked dryly holding in my frustration as he sat down beside me and placed a hand on my hand.
"Can't a guy share a smoke with his favourite girl?" He asked as innocently as he could, still he made my skin crawl and I couldn't help but roll my eyes back so far I thought I'd never see the light of day again.
"Oh yeah, where is Sarah these days?" I asked with a sarcastic smile, resentment for the boy beside me only sharpening with every second he refused to leave me alone.
He burst out laughing as if I'd said the funniest thing in the world, but when I looked across the table to Van, he was looking just as bored as I.
"Youre such a laugh Fliss," grinned Danny, his blonde hair falling into a loose quiff, the wax he'd used that morning catching the sunlight as it melted. "Here aren't you gonna introduce me to your friend?" He nodded to Van, though introductions really weren't necessary.
"No," I shrugged groaning when he pushed me to, insisting that I ought to, that I wasnt being at all fair.
"What? Cmon fliss...."
"Fine," I sighed gesturing vaguely to Van as I did, "Danny this is my mate Van, he likes Fifa and long walks on the beach... hes a casual drinker and a heavy smoker" van bit back a smirk at the dry way in which I was going about these apparently imperative introductions.
"Van this is Danny, he likes the beatles and cheating on his girlfriends... hes a casual wanker and a crashing bore..." I shrugged my shoulders as Van held back a smirked. For a moment Danny looked stunned, a little put out, though no sooner had the sour look of injustice formed had it been replaced with another loud laugh.
"You're such a joker Fliss," he grinned and when I said nothing, simply pulling a face at Van, Van surprised me by pushing his hair from his eyes, shrugging his shoulders and looking Danny straight in the eye.
"Oh fuck off mate!" He groaned shooing the teenager away without a second thought before looking back at me with a smirk. "What a waster," he chuckled.
"What a fucking waster," I bit back a laugh still a little surprised by his outburst.