I laugh, and before he can think of another pun, change the subject.
***
I groggily sit up, seeing Talia asleep next to me. Alicia lies curled up in the chair in the corner and I can hear Freya already up and getting ready.
I slowly slide my legs out of the bed, careful not to wake Talia, and creep out of my room, shutting the door gently behind me. My head pounding and my eyes stinging, I go into the bathroom, washing my face to get off all the makeup that drunk me forgot to take off.
I walk into the kitchen, and Freya is ready with a piece of toast, a glass of water, and two paracetamol.
"Freya you're a saint," I mumble before swelling the pills and then downing the whole glass of water.
"I know," she responds dryly.
Last night, a few days after I got home from the date at Tobi's, I had told them everything from start to finish, while we all slowly got more and more drunk. By the end of the night we were all sprawled around my room, laughing and joking.
"Soooo last night huh?" Freya interrupts my chain of thought.
I shake my head, clearing my mind, "what?"
"The text" she supplies, trying to get my hungover mind to remember what happened last night.
"Oh fuck what did I do." I pull out my phone.
Freya raises her eyebrows, waiting for me to figure out what I've done.
I open my texts, and click on the most recent conversation. It's Tobi.
Talia invited us to go ob vacation with hrr and skmon when they go next month
Woll you comr with me?
"Oh fuck," I sigh, "why'd you let me do that?"
"Cause it's funny. Plus you would never make a move yourself to actually tell him you wanted more and neither would he," she says nonchalantly.
"I hate you"
"Hey! What happened to 'Freya you're a saint'?" she exclaims.
"Changed my mind," I shrug, raising my eyebrows at her.
She laughs, and sits down next to me at the table, folding her legs underneath her.
"But for real what am I gonna do?" I whine, putting my head down on the table.
"Nothing," she says, "Just wait to see what he responds"
"But what if he thinks it's weird, like we've literally kissed twice we're not even dating."
"Yeah but you were basically best friends before that. Friends who've kissed twice can go on a romantic vacation," she says.
"Friends who've kissed twice and are wildly in love," I hear from behind me, and turn to see Alicia walking over, Talia behind her.
I roll my eyes, "Good morning to you, too."
They join us at the table and we continue to chat as I wait anxiously for a response.
"So what's this vacation anyway?" Alicia asks Talia.
"Me and Simon wanted to go away for a few days; he's been so busy and I've been feeling sort of stuck in a rut so we figured it'd be nice to relax. And I guess last night I decided it's be fun to make it a double date trip."
"And why were Josh and I not invited?" Freya asks indignantly.
"Don't ask me!" Talia says, hands up, "Drunk Talia has a mind of her own."
My phone buzzes, interrupting the conversation. The girls all lean in over my shoulder as I unlock my phone.
"It's just my brother," I sigh, and the girls all sit back down again.
I chuck my phone onto the table, hoping I can forget that I'm waiting on Tobi's response.
***
A few hours later- the girls have all gone home- and I'm sitting on the couch, scrolling through Instagram. I remember that I never responded to Nathan's text, so I pull up the conversation.
Guess what
What
You're coming home to visit
I have to introduce you to someone
Who? Spill
I've missed your dumb drama
So you know how I've liked someone for a while but I didn't want to tell you who
Yeah.
Are you finally gonna tell me
Please don't say you're still stuck on Katie she was so mean
No it's not her dw
But we're dating now
And I want you to meet them
But you have to promise me you won't judge us
Of course Nathan, you know I'll support you no matter what.
I'm scared
Can I call you?
Okay
I put my phone down for a moment, preparing for whatever he has to say. He's never this serious and it sort of scares me, what if something is wrong? What if she's a criminal or something? I can't think of something that would be so wrong with a person that he would be this scared to tell me. I pick up the phone again, and dial his number.
"Hi," he opens, sounding anxious.
"Nathan is something wrong? Are you okay?" I ask.
"No I'm fine. It's just... dad didn't take it so well."
"Nathan whatever it is you know I love you and nothing will change that. Just spit it out, I'm scared half to death," I say, trying my hardest to be understanding without getting anxious the longer he waits.
"Okay," he breathes in deeply, "the person I'm dating... his name is Ben."
I let out a breath, relieved, "Is that the whole story or is something more?"
"That's all," he says, "I was so scared cause dad didn't know what to do and he left the house and I think he hates me because who wants a gay kid and mom didn't-"
"Nathan?" I interrupt, "I love you so much, and the fact that you're dating a guy does nothing to change that. I'm sure dad will come around, and if he doesn't, fuck him. How about I come up next weekend, I'd love to meet this Ben of yours."
"Thank you," he whispers, sounding relieved.
"Of course, Nathan. You're the best brother I could ask for."
"I love you"
"Love you too. I'll see you next weekend okay?"
"Okay. I'm sure he'll be glad, I've told him all about you."
I laugh, "See you then Nathan, thank you for telling me."
"Bye Jade."
"Bye."
I put down the phone and close my eyes for a few seconds, breathing deeply. I pull out my phone again and send one more quick text.
I'm proud of you
Before turning on some music. I go grab my notebook, hoping to do some writing to get my mind off everything before I have to go to work.
I lie on the floor on my stomach, pencil and notebook in hand, head propped up with my arm.
My pencil has just hit the page when my phone buzzes again. I let my head drop to floor, just wanting some peace. I pick up my phone grudgingly and turn my head to the side, staying flat on the floor. It's a text from Tobi, the conversation of which I had completely forgotten about.
I'd like that
We can spend some actual time together where neither of us are caught up in work
I'm not gonna lie when I sent that I was drunk off my ass but I'm glad I did
Well thank God for drunk Jade
I suppose so
I smile, glad he doesn't find it weird that we're already going on a double date type vacation together. Even though we've been close for a while, we've only just started getting to know each other as anything thing more than friends, so it scares me a bit to be moving so fast, but I know that I trust Tobi with my life.
They're staying at a villa by the beach in Spain, should we rent the one next to it?
Sounds good to me
I'll text Simon to figure out the dates and shit.
I'm excited
Gonna have to order some new bikinis
Me too
The excitement part not the bikini part
Are you telling me you don't wear bikinis to the beach.
Nah
I prefer to wear those ones with the frilly skirts
Ooh yeah I can see you really rocking a sparkly tutu bathing suit
That's my favorite kind
Well maybe I'll just have to wear one
Nahhh you don't need it
You're already my favorite
(A/N: feels good to be back. I'm not gonna set a regular schedule but I'll upload at least once a month. Thanks)