"Brad," I smile innocently over to him but he only pulls me closer. He'd arrived in late last night after going out with his mates for a few drinks and was adamant that he should stay in my bed until I go to sleep. He was snoring only moments after his proposal.
"What?" He grumbles, nestling his face further into my pillow as I run my hands lightly through his hair. The past few days we have gotten a lot closer and he took every minute he could to hug me and make sure I'm fine and I think it's because he still feels bad despite my pleads for him not to.
"Merry Christmas."
"It's the first of the month," he groans, moving away from me and letting a small sigh. "It's not Christmas."
"I'm gonna buy you an elf hat for Christmas," I tease him. "Maybe that'll put you in the holiday spirit."
"I'll be in the Christmas spirit a few days before, there's still twenty days before I even start considering it, though," he frowns and climbs out of my bedsheets, pulling on some jogging bottoms.
"What are you gonna get me for Christmas?" I question, rolling over on the bed as he starts tidying up the room a little bit.
"I've already got your present," he smiles over at me. "And I'm not telling you what it is, since that'll ruin the surprise."
"How much did it cost? I wanna match the price with my present," I say, hoping it isn't too expensive. I feel so awkward when people give me expensive presents.
"It doesn't matter," he replies. "You don't need to price match it anyway."
"Ugh. You're so annoying."
"So are you, Mango," he snarks back at me. "I'm gonna go to the gym, now. I'll see you in a bit."
"You go to the gym?" I ask him, confused. He nods in response as he pulls a jacket on and some running shoes. "How long have you been going?"
"Since we start uni," he chuckles, zipping up his jacket and grabbing his wallet and keys. "I'll see you later, Mango."
"Bye, Simpson."
He shoots me a scowl at the use of his second name before he disappears out the door. I had some stuff I needed to buy today such as new notepads and other stationary stuff for class.
I get up out of bed and do my morning ritual before wearing some mom jeans, an orange shirt and a pearl bomber jacket. I put on some blue, round sunglasses and grab my purse before leaving and locking up the apartment.
I take a bus into town and walk around until I find the nearest stationary store that looked relatively cheap. I grab a basket and go into the store, getting notepads and pens and pencils and rulers and some folders too. When I'm done, I go to the check out and pay for the stuff.
On my way out, I spot the dirty blonde hair of my ex-best friend as she walks past the store with her eyes glued to her phone before she looks around and they fall on me.
A stiff smile is forced on to her face as she stands only a meter away from me, "hey, Margo. Long time no see."
"Yeah, hi," I reply awkwardly, stepping forward to move out the path of a pair of teens that were gossiping between each other. "I heard you and Thomas broke up."
"I heard that you heard about that," Britt grimaces. It's not a surprise to me that she was told about the scene that happened almost a week ago between Thomas, Brad and I. "I'm so sorry for ditching you for him. I'm such a shit friend."
"Yeah, that was a shitty thing to do," I remark and she lets out a sigh of defeat. "I hope you aren't expecting me to come running into my arms. You stood by him after he fat-shamed me, and you stayed with him."
"I just want you to know I'm sorry," she affirms. "I really am. I've learnt my lesson and I'd rather lead Thomas and have you back in my life."
"That's cute, but I need time to recover from being friendless for three months before I can forgive you and let you into my life. I hope you understand."
She nods eagerly, "I do. And I'm sorry."
My phone starts ringing, saving me from an awkward goodbye to Britt and I excuse myself, getting my phone out of my pocket to see Brad ringing.
"What's up?" I ask as I bring the phone to my ear. There's shuffling on the other end before he replies.
"What's your favourite type of transport?" He asks, and I'm surprised that that's the reason he has called me.
"Train. Why?"
"Doesn't matter. Bye."
♡
"Are you ready?" Brad peers his head around the bathroom door, the lock was now fixed, and he looks at me as I sit on my bed. "We've gotta leave soon if we wanna make it in time."
"I've been ready for the past hour, I was waiting for you to finish doing your hair," I raise my eyebrows at him and he chuckles before turning the bathroom light off and walks out, ruffling his hands through his hair. "Shame, it still looks like shit."
"You're just jealous you can't get your hair to look this perfect," he snarks back and I grin, getting off of my bed and slipping on my shoes. We had decided to go to the cinema tonight since we both didn't have classes and were extremely bored. Plus, with student discount, it was really cheap for us to go.
When we make it to the cinema, it's already growing dark since it's Winter and after four in the evening there's barely any light.
"What film do you wanna see?" Brad asks as we look at the options. There weren't many good films that I'd been recommended recently so I shrug. "How about a scary movie? That nun one looks good."
"You might get too scared and run off like a baby," I tease him, nudging his side and he rolls his eyes at me. "How about Hotel Transylvania Three?"
"I'm not watching a kids' film," he huffs as I grab his hand and pull him towards the front desk to buy our tickets anyway. I end up paying for our tickets while he pays for some popcorn between the both of us. "Looks like I'm watching a kids' film, then."
"It's better than some stupid cliché romance film," I tell him as we walk to the right showing room and sit down at the back by ourselves. It was too late for other kids to be here and no one else wanted to see it so we have whole place to ourselves.
Brad puts some drinks and the popcorn between us as he sits to my right and I take a piece, putting it into my mouth before snapchatting that we are here by ourselves.
Brad does the same, snapping a picture of me with a smile and my thumbs up before putting the caption 'rented out the cinema room for her x' with some sarcastic emojis.
"Vampires are scary so I'll hold your hand if you get frightened," I reassure him as the trailers play and he rolls his eyes in response.
"Vamps aren't scary."
"But werewolves are," I inform him and he rolls his eyes, letting me take his hand anyway. The contrast of his warm and soft hands yet cold metal rings sent flutters through my body as our fingers are interlaced. I didn't like the way his touch was sending electricity through my veins and I try to shake off the feeling but he doesn't help by rubbing his thumb across my knuckles as we wait for the film to begin.
My mind is everywhere as I wait for the trailers to finish. Brad's laugh filled my ears as he laughed at some of the film trailers and his touch was sending sparks through my skin wherever his thumb had touched. Why the fuck was I feeling this way about him when he's my friend?
The thought of me liking Brad flashes across my mind and it doesn't feel entirely absurd with everything going on. Us being cuddly and cute together and the way his touch and his laugh and his voice had an affect on me way was slightly worrying.
I did not like Brad Simpson. I was sure of it.
unedited.