A Happy Birthday fic for Shaz, kva kva, hehe.

Home fucking home. I'm not sure what's so sweet about moving back to the house you grew up in when you've left university but there are no jobs and the only person offering me one is my dad. He isn't even paying me well, though he said I can stay at home rent free, I just have to pay for food. I guess it's not a bad deal, better than being unemployed and claiming benefits.

Four weeks, six days and eleven hours since I left my beloved house, the place that I actually called home for the last few years. It was the place where I fell in love, where I fell out of love, where I was cheated on and where I cheated. It was lived in and it was appreciated, it was torn apart at parties and put back together the next morning.

The memories will always be there, in that house in Exeter, with my friends.

I used to think Exeter wasn't far from home, from Bristol. Geographically it's closer than Birmingham, Leeds and America, where all of my friends went to university. Yet I rarely made it home and my family rarely made it down to see me. I hadn't realised just how far away it felt until I moved back to Bristol and left some of my friends behind.

'Hey bitch, I've missed you.'

I wrapped my arms around Katie's shoulders, regardless of her words, I'd missed her too and it was so great to see her again.

'Hey bitch?' I raised an eyebrow and stared at her sceptically, dropping my bags at my feet. 'What sort of greeting is that?'

Katie rested a hand on her hip, giving back just as much attitude. I'd forgotten how much I missed her until that very moment when she was right there, kissing me on the cheek and holding me like a recently found lost puppy.

'You fucked off to Exeter for three years; I've not forgiven you for abandoning me.'

'I'm back now,' I smiled, giving her one final squeeze before collapsing onto the sofa. The journey was terrible, not least because of the four bags I was attempting to carry. The train was full of football fans; I'd chosen the wrong day to travel. I hadn't reserved a seat because Bristol wasn't that far, yet again I was proven wrong.

'Thank fuck for that.' Katie landed beside me on the sofa and flicked through the television channels, stopping on some reality television series I'd managed to avoid whilst studying.

xxx

My first evening back and Mum wanted to cook something special, I wasn't really in the mood but who was I to argue with free food? I was still a student at heart, mooching off others, taking advantage of anything free. I was appreciative really, of everything they'd done for me over the last few years. Money had been tight after they lost the house and even when their luck began to change I knew that money was still an issue. Despite the fact they got the house back, they were living on the edge again. They still sent me money and food cards. If it wasn't for them I'd have gone hungry for at least a couple of times every month. My housemates appreciated it too.

'Erm, why are mum and dad eating each other's faces in the kitchen?' I asked, sitting down at the table with a glass of water.

'Haven't they told you?' Katie asked, picking up my glass and drinking half of it. 'Mum and dad are in love.'

'And that's new?'

She groaned and recited words that probably came from our mother. 'They've rediscovered their love from before they were married; they're going to renew their wedding vows on their anniversary.'

'That's what that weird invitation was all about. I was really confused because it said Jennifer Macsomething and Robert James Fitch.'

'They've been acting like teenagers for months.' I squeezed my eyes closed and tried to rid myself of the visual. 'You're lucky you've been somewhere other than here.'

'That bad?'

'Worse.' Katie finished off the water and turned the glass upside-down. 'James threw water over them when they spent two hours snogging on the sofa last night.'

'Nice one.' I laughed, snatching the glass back from my sister. 'Where is the little perv?'

'He's not so little anymore,' said Katie, pouting. 'He's taller than you.'

'Really?'

He must have heard us talking about him, or it was one of those coincidences, because he walked in the room looking as doleful as ever. His hair reached down past his eyebrows, his nose still a cute button and his jeans looked like they were about to expose more I would have liked to have seen.

'You're back?' he asked, sounding almost gleeful until he cleared his throat and slid into a seat beside Katie. 'I'm giving up my room for you.'

'You mean our room, which you stole when I moved out,' said Katie, rolling her eyes.

'You didn't need to move back in,' he grunted, brushing his hair from his eyes. 'Fucking girls.'

The last time I was home, Katie had her own apartment so I slept in the box room on an old bed. James had the big bedroom, the room that Katie and I shared for the majority of our teenager years. I didn't mind sleeping in the small room and I don't think Katie did either, when she moved back a few months earlier.

xxx

'Can we turn off the light?' moaned Katie, covering her head with her pillow, her screams muffled by her sheets.

'I have two more pages when I'll have reached the end of the chapter,' I replied, attempting to keep my attention on my book and not Katie's sighs of complaint.

I guess we'd both forgotten what it was like to share a room. I'd already had to demand half of the wardrobe for some of my things and a couple of drawers. It was like she hadn't even realised I was coming back, had just taken over all of the storage like she did when we were teenagers. At least then she had the excuse of being the bitch who took what she wanted, things were different now.

'Done yet?'

I ignored her until I came to the end of the last page and flicked off the light before she said anything more.

'Fuck Emsy, I wasn't ready yet,' she shouted, turning the light back on and rearranging her bed covers. I pretended she hadn't spoken, lay back against my own pillow and tucked the duvet up around my neck. Sometimes Katie was never satisfied, it had escaped my memory just how infuriating it was to live in such a small space with her.

xxx

I entered the kitchen in the morning to find my parents having breakfast; unfortunately they chose each other's lips as their meal. To save from being sick I grabbed the cereal box and went into the dining room. Katie and James were already eating, looking anything but happy with what was going on in the other room. Finally, they came in with a plate of pancakes, lemon and sugar.

'Good morning Fitchs,' said Rob, a huge smile spread across his face. Jenna sat down beside him and they rested their hands together on the table, sending gooey eyes at each other.

'Girls, we're going away for a few days,' said Jenna, looking at Rob. 'Could you look after your brother?'

'I'm fifteen, I don't need a fucking babysitter let alone two.' James groaned, banging his spoon against the bottom of his bowl.

'It's just a couple of days.' Rob reached an arm around Jenna's waist and she squealed when his fingers travelled a little lower.

'Get a room,' I muttered, staring into my bowl and ignoring their coupling.

'That's what we plan to do.'

xxx

Katie picked up a magazine and flicked through it whilst I changed the television channel, anything to ignore the parents heated disagreement about which suitcase to take on their little trip. The very thought of it made me feel ill, so I did everything I could to ignore them. Once they'd finally left the house Katie threw her magazine on the floor, turned off the television and stared at me.

'What?'

'When are we having a party then?' she asked.

I groaned, the last thing I really wanted to do with my first days back in Bristol was trash the house. 'Err, never?'

'Don't be fucking tight.' James entered the room and lay himself down on the sofa, pushing his holey socks into Katie's face; she coughed and pushed them away. 'Fitch family party, I thought you two were right party animals.'

'It's called growing up,' I snapped, though I wasn't done with parties, I couldn't be bothered explaining my reasons to either of my siblings.

'That's settled then.' Katie stood up. 'James says yes, I say yes, majority rules. But you can't invite any of your perverted friends.'

'That's not fair, I bet you'll be inviting all of yours.'

Katie rolled her eyes as James towered over her; another argument. Maybe being home wasn't the best choice after all. Finally the two of them relented.

'Fine, you can invite three people maximum and that doesn't include Gordon, he's a fucking idiot.'

'He's my best friend.'

'He's your sex buddy.'

James turned a deeper shade of pink; he lowered his head and brushed his hair over his face, sitting down again. Katie grinned in victory. I wasn't sure what was going on but it all sounded pretty weird to me. James was a self-confessed pervert, he loved tits as much as me.

'Ems and I will go buy some booze, James you'd better clean your shit up before we get home. Party starts at eight.'

xxx

'What was that all about with James earlier?'

Katie pushed the trolley down the alcohol aisle completely ignoring me as she placed bottles and cans into it. I rolled my eyes and helped her with a crate of beer before asking again.

'It's nothing.'

'No, it's something.'

The trolley stopped abruptly and a couple of bottles of Vodka bashed into each other. Katie paused, considering her answer. 'A couple of weeks ago I caught James and Gordon getting each other off.'

'What? What happened?'

'They were sitting on opposite ends of his bed jacking off, watching each other. He's scared I'm going to tell mum he's gay.'

'Is he?'

'He says he's not, that he's just experimenting.'

'With his best friend, who is a boy, yeah,' I said with a smirk.

xxx

By nine the house was full of people, mostly friends of Katie's I assume, I only recognised a handful of people from college and around. Then there were friends of James who I had never met before. Despite Katie's best efforts he ended up with half the guest list. I didn't really care when a girl with short black hair and a pierced lip caught my attention. She was wearing a tight fitting short dress, hugging her breasts and hips and showing off her legs.

'Close your mouth, she's gay and she's single.'

'How did you,' I asked, staring at Katie who watched the girl.

'I asked around, made sure to invite some straight gay girls to get into your pants. Just please, if you go upstairs, stick to our bedroom, I'll take Mum and Dads and James can do whatever the fuck he pleases as long as he stays out of our business.'

I rolled my eyes. 'I'm not here to fuck anyone.'

'No? I am.'

'It's been a month since I broke up with Mel.'

'And? Rebound sex is the best kind, surely you know that by now? A bit of no strings attached fun is just what the doctor ordered.'

'Yes, Doctor Fitch,' I mumbled, sipping on my glass of punch, allowing my lips to wrap around the straw in a seductive manner as I stared across at the beautiful dark haired girl.

She caught my eye and made her way across the lounge.

'Show time Emsy, good luck, bet you can't pull before me,' she laughed, dancing across the room towards a tall guy with equally short black hair. I laughed and shook my head. Then I turned my attention back to the girl.

xxx

We sat on the sofa kissing, my attention fixed on her lips and her thighs and every inch of her body that I could touch without taking her clothes off. She was attractive, she was intelligent and she was everything I liked in a girl. I lay back against the sofa as she nibbled on my lower ear, the gentle nibs of her teeth made me feel like the rest of the room was empty.

'Would you like to go upstairs?' I asked, remembering Katie's words. Rebound sex could work; it could always lead to more, if I wanted it to.

'Soon,' she whispered, the word rolling off her tongue as she licked and sucked my neck. I laced my fingers into her hair as she worked her way from one side of my collarbone to the other.

'What the fuck?' I jumped up, pushing her off quite abruptly before apologising. 'I'll be one minute and then we can go upstairs, okay?'

She frowned but nodded as I rushed off up the stairs after James and Gordon, their fingers interlaced. I wasn't thinking about what I was doing, just needed to know, to see for myself what Katie had told me. I pushed open his bedroom door and there they were, lay on his bed, their lips joined in an embrace. James turned pink, Gordon rolled his eyes, muttered something and rushed past.

'What's going on?'

'Fucking sisters,' he snapped, sitting up against the wall.

'Don't be so angsty James, what are you doing?'

'Err, kissing, would have been nice to have some privacy.'

I raised an eyebrow. 'You were kissing your best friend.'

'So?'

'So, he's a boy.'

'What the fuck Emsy? You're gay, you go around kissing girls, what's the fucking problem?'

'Like you said, I'm gay.'

'Right?'

'Are you?'

'No.'

'Then what are you doing?' He opened his mouth to speak. 'And don't you dare say you're experimenting.'

He stared at his hands, his cheeks turning brighter pink as he lifted his head up and brushed hair from his eyes.

'I still like girls.'

'But?'

'I like boys too.'

'So you're bi?'

'No.'

'James.'

'I just like both, why does it have to have a name?'

'It doesn't.'

'Now you've poked your nose into my fucking business can you leave me alone?'

'Fine.'

xxx

Back in the lounge, I searched the room for the girl. It was too dark to really see much but I pushed through the crowds anyway, going without left me frustrated. I wanted her more than I'd realised.

'Where's your girl?' said Katie, stepping close enough to shout into my ear.

'I don't know, I saw James and Gordon so I left her, I can't find her.'

'Sorry babe, looks like I win.'

She walked off, her bum swaying from side to side as she danced into the arms of an attractive man. His hands rested a little lower on her hips, grinding his crotch against her. She seemed lost in his seductive charm.

Suddenly I'd lost interest, the girl was gone and I was bored. I grabbed myself a final drink and took it up to my room. When I opened the door I dropped the glass.

'I wasn't sure if you were coming back, so I thought I'd come to you. Figured you'd be back eventually.'

She lay on the bed, her clothes in a pile on the floor, her drink on the bedside table. I chewed on my lip and marched across the room, pulling off my dress and throwing it onto her clothes. Maybe I hadn't lost interest after all.