I loved reading all the comments on the last chapter and hearing where you guys are from, it's so cool to have people from so many places reading my story.
So my question for this chapter is what has been your favourite part of the story so far? Mine is probably either the chicken nuggets kiss in chapter 26 or when drunk Brad barges into Ella's room in chapter 26 so let me know yours :)
"I'll miss you" Gemma pouts as she pulls me into a tight hug.
"I'll miss you too" I mumble, swaying her from side to side.
"I'll miss you more"
I grin.
"No, I'll miss you more"
"We get it" Tris mutters, rolling his eyes playfully, "you'll miss each other"
"I'll miss you too, Trissy" Gemma says, pulling away from me and squeezing my brother tightly, "don't get jealous"
He just smiles to himself and hugs her back. When she pulls away, she grabs her suitcase and wheels it onto the train. As the engine rumbles and the train starts to slowly roll away, my best friend appears in the closest window, waving her hands with a beaming smile on her face. We wave back and watch her eventually disappear out of sight but I can't help but wish I was on that train with her. A sigh escapes my lips.
The last couple of days in the flat had been tense, to say the least. Brad and I have completely ignored each other. It's like we've gone back to pre-relationship Ella and Brad but it's worse because we are in a relationship. And I'd barely spoken much to my brother until we made this trip to the train station. With Gemma and her bubbly personality being around the place, it had made things less awkward than they should have been and she'd wisely been keeping us out of the flat by suggesting things to do and places to see. But now she was gone again and I'm dreading life in the flat without her.
The drive home is quiet with the hum of the radio just murmuring in the background. The traffic is a little slower than usual but I just try to focus on the beautiful sights of London beyond the car window.
"El" Tris asks, looking over at me when we're stopped at a traffic light, "we're alright, aren't we?"
I glance over at him and any anger I have left melts away at his sad expression.
"Yeah, course" I say softly.
"Are you alright?" He asks, concern lacing his voice, "because I feel like you haven't had the best couple of days"
"No, I'm okay" I assure him, "it's just that I had that argument with you and then I had an argument with Brad and I think I'm PMSing as well" I shrug.
"What were you and Brad arguing about?" He queries, setting off again as the light turns green. His tone is very casual but I know that he's far more interested in the argument than he's letting on.
"He called me selfish and I called him a prick" I tell him, omitting all the important details, "why? What did Brad tell you we were arguing about?"
I know that there is no way Tris hasn't interrogated Brad about why I was storming out of his room calling a 'prick'.
"He said you were being selfish" he replies, "why did he think you were being selfish?"
"I stole some of his pizza"
Tris looks at me with a deadpanned expression. It's not a lie; I did steal some of his pizza.
"You know you can talk to me about stuff, El?" My brother says softly.
But I feel like I can't tell him stuff. Not about things I should be telling him about. Not about me and Brad.
"You know you can tell me if you're seeing someone?"
I could tell him. I almost do. But I can't stop thinking about what he said when he thought Blake was interested in me.
I can get over you going out with a guy, just don't make it one of mates.
"Is that why Brad said you were being selfish? Because he knows that you're seeing someone and you haven't told me about it"
Oh god, he thinks I'm seeing someone but doesn't suspect it's Brad. He smelled Brad on my clothes and still doesn't think it's him. Is it really that ridiculous of an idea to think that Brad and I would be together?
Maybe from Tris's perspective it is...
"Tris" I say, "I will tell you, I promise, I just... I need to smooth a few things over first"
He's quiet for a few moments, before he speaks.
"Okay" he nods, "Yeah, I can live with that"
I don't know whether to feel relieved or not. He seems more open to the idea of me being with someone than ever. But he doesn't suspect it's Brad. He doesn't even suspect it's one of his friends. Perhaps he'll surprise me and be completely accepting of mine and Brad's relationship.
Or maybe being surrounded by Gemma's happy-go-lucky attitude for several days has made me way too optimistic for my liking.
Overthinking becomes my new best friend over the course of the day. I need to talk to Brad but I'm aware that the conversation is going to end in me agreeing to tell my brother about us. And my mind keeps going to all the possible scenarios of what will happen after we tell him. The constant fear of permanently losing Brad is persistently nestled in my thoughts.
My saving grace is Sophie. Later that day, I receive a text message from her asking me if I'm a fan of The Wombats because she has two tickets to see them later that night and the friend she was originally taking had to bail. I love The Wombats and even if I didn't, I'd go; I need an excuse to get out of this flat and out of my own head.
That night, I'm done getting ready for the gig and I'm in the kitchen pouring some of the apple vodka I got from Tris for my birthday into my hip flask when the buzzer for the flat rings. I assume it's Sophie and when I answer it, I'm right.
"I'm nearly ready," I tell her.
"I'll come up now"
"The door's unlocked, just let yourself in"
I go back to the kitchen to finish pouring out my vodka and as I am, Brad walks in. Shirtless, may I add. He ignores me and walks to the fridge, but I can't help but stare as the muscles of his naked back move when he reaches for something in the fridge.
I wonder if he removed his top on purpose to tease me. Fuck you, Simpson. I'm supposed to be in a mood with you, not lusting after you.
I turn back to decanting my choice of vodka into the flask and eventually see him turn back around in my peripheral vision. I can feel him watching me and probably judging me for my alcohol consumption. Sometimes, I think he thinks I have a problem.
Once my flask is full, I screw the lid back on and frown. I know it's straight vodka but one flask doesn't seem like a lot. Maybe I can sneak some more in somehow. Maybe one of the lads has another hip flask I can steal.
Maybe I do have a problem.
My thoughts are cut off when I hear a loud sigh. I turn my head towards Brad with a blank expression on my face.
"What?" I ask flatly. It's the first thing I've said to him in three days.
"Just... whatever you're doing..." he gestures to the flask and the half-empty bottle of vodka, "just please don't do anything stupid"
"That's like asking me to not be a bitch" I say in an amused tone as I pick up the hip flask and stuff it to the bottom of my bag.
"I'm serious, El" he sighs.
"I'm not gonna do anything stupid"
"Are you going out?" He questions.
"Yeah"
"You're not going on your own, right?"
"No" I reply.
"Who are you going with?"
Since when did Brad become Tris?
"My pimp, Dave, is taking me out to work the street" I tell him with a straight face, "he figured that if I can get the lead singer of a band to sleep with me, I can easily get some willing punters in"
He doesn't look convinced that I'm telling the truth, believe it or not.
As I start to screw the lid back on the vodka bottle, the sound of the front door is heard, indicating that Sophie is here.
"Oh, that'll be him" I say, moments before Sophie walks in.
"Hey" she smiles at the two of us.
"Hey" Brad smiles back as he walks around the kitchen island and over to her, pulling her into a friendly hug, "nice to see you"
"Oh wow, a shirtless hug from Brad Simpson," she says with mock-excitement, "the fangirls will be jealous"
"Yeah, yeah" he titters, rolling his eyes playfully as they part. Sophie's eyes fall to the Vodka bottle on the counter.
"You planning on getting lashed tonight, Ella?" she asks, "because you're on your own, I'm driving"
"Good, I can get even more pissed than I'd planned and you can look after me" I say happily.
"I hope you're a fun drunk then"
"No, but I'm probably less selfish and argumentative than usual so there's that" I quip, before looking up at Brad, "wouldn't you agree, Brad?"
He stares back at me with a flat expression and the atmosphere suddenly becomes a little awkward and tense.
"Brad, wouldn't you agree that I'm normally selfish and argumentative?" I reiterate, but he turns away and ignores me, "he does, he told me the other day" I grin at Sophie.
"Yes, Ella, that's exactly what I said" he mutters sarcastically, rolling his eyes at me.
"Right" I smile and nod, agreeing with him.
"Ella?!" I hear my brother call loudly.
"What?" I shout back.
"Come here"
I huff but follow the sound of his voice out of the kitchen and towards the living room. He and Anastasia are spooning on the sofa whilst some action film plays on the television.
"What?" I ask.
"Are you going out?" he asks, his eyes scanning over my leather jacket and ripped skinny jeans.
"Yeah"
"Where? And who with?" He asks.
"Tris..." Anastasia groans before I can respond, "she's nineteen, not nine"
"I'm just want to know who she's going with" he argues, before turning back to me, "is it the person who came in the flat before?"
"Yeah" I reply. I'm guessing by the interrogation that he doesn't realise it's Sophie.
"Is it... a boy?"
He tries, bless him, to sound so casual as he is posing the question to me.
"Yes, it's one of my boyfriends, Dave, he's pimping me out for the night so I'll just be wandering the streets of London, providing anyone with a bit of money full access to my vagina" I shrug nonchalantly, an annoyed look crossing my brother's face, "it's so exciting, like will I get an STI? Will I get pregnant? Will I get murdered? Who knows!"
"Seriously-" he groans before a pair of hands are placed on my shoulders.
"I'm taking her out" Sophie assured him, "we're going to a gig, no one is going to have sex with her for money, no STIs, no babies, I promise" she adds and she steers me out of the living room using her grip on my shoulders.
Soon enough, Sophie is driving us through London with my Indie playlist on blast through the car's speaker system.
"I'm so ready for a night out" I comment as I gaze out of the window, watching the lights of London pass by under the dark night sky, "the past few days have been long"
"Is this something to do with the tension between you and Brad?"
"Something like that..."
"What happened?"
I'm not sure what to tell her. I'm not sure how much she knows about me and Brad. I know her and Brad are good friends but he's never mentioned whether he's told her about us or not. But I think I can trust her.
"So, you know me and Brad are together, right?" I begin, looking over at her.
"Um, he hasn't told me explicitly" Sophie replies with a small smile on her face, "but his eyes light up every time someone mentions your name so I thought that something might be going on between you"
God, could he get any more adorable?
"I thought you didn't like him" she smirks.
"I didn't" I say.
"But he won you over?"
"Mm" I hum, "he put in a lot of work"
The venue isn't too far away from the apartment. It's only a small gig venue and can probably only a fit a few hundred people but I prefer to see artists in smaller venues. It always feels more intimate, and you're more likely to get a better view.
The queue to get in isn't that long and as soon as we get through, we make a beeline for the bar. Sophie orders herself a non-alcoholic cider and when she's paid for her drink, the bartender turns to me.
"Can I have a Vodka lemonade please?" I say.
"Single or Double?" he asks.
Fuck it.
"Make it a triple" I reply, which makes Sophie snort from beside me. The bartender chuckles but starts to pour me my drink anyway.
"You better be able to hold your drink, Ella" Sophie states, shaking her head, "I am not looking after you all night"
"I can hold my drink better than all the men I know"
She just laughs and I pay the bartender, before taking a long sip of my drink. I cringe at the burning rancid flavour of the vodka. Maybe I shouldn't have had the triple...
I glance over at Sophie to see her pulling her phone out of her pocket. The screen is lit up and I can see a new message on the screen from a sender named Simpson. My eyes flit over the words on the screen.
Can you please look after her and make sure she doesn't do anything stupid?
I roll my eyes.
"Tell him to fuck off," I say, taking another sip of my drink.
"You know, it's only because he cares about you," Sophie says in a soft tone, "maybe you should listen to him"
"I don't listen to men" I comment, taking another larger gulp of my drink.
"Fair point, neither do I" she muses as she types out a reply, "I won't mention the triple vodka lemonade"