Chapter 1
"Tomorrow's the day mate!" Ben was jerked from book his book by Martin yelling and sliding across the floor.
"Martin, would you mind not scuffing up my floors dear?" Ben's mom asked sweetly from behind the kitchen counter.
"Yes, sorry Mrs. Wanda." Martin quickly composed himself and sat down at the table with Ben.
"I can't believe you boys are going to finally be living on your own." Wanda said giving them both a tight hug. "You're so grown up I can barely believe it."
"Moooomm please." Ben groaned as she gave him a big sloppy kiss on the cheek. Martin just laughed.
Wanda left them alone to talk.
"So are you all packed up?" Martin asked practically bouncing up and down in his chair.
"Yup. What about you?"
"Oh I've been packed for weeks." Martin couldn't wait to get out of his parents house. Not that they didn't get along or anything, but Martin couldn't wait to 'fully embrace university life.' Which meant partying and being able to bring girls home. Ben would be lying if he said that he wasn't excited about that too.
"Have you heard from Tom?" Ben asked taking a sip from his coffee.
"Yeah, his sisters are going to be helping him move in." Martin rolled his eyes.
Ben laughed. "What? I thought you liked his sisters."
"I do, but I don't want them girlying up our man cave."
"Man cave?"
"Yes, man cave. A place where we can be manly men and not have to worry about girls."
Ben shook his head and laughed. "Are you saying we should put a sign on our front door that says 'no girls aloud'?"
"Not exactly. I'm just saying that unless they are there for a party or companionship they should leave." Martin stood up. "Besides, they always use up the toilet paper anyway."
"I guess that's true." Ben said.
"Alright mate, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow. We need to get everything in order as soon as possible." And with that Martin left.
Ben was running a little late the next morning. His mum wouldn't let go of him when saying goodbye. It was like his first day of school all over again. With the aid of his father, Ben was able to go on his way. He arrived to see Tom and Martin carrying boxes into the flat. They had managed to snag the larger corner unit on the top floor. And besides the owner and one other resident who lived on the bottom floor, the building was vacant. Apparently the owner was picky when it came to residents, but since he was friends with Ben's parents, they got a unit and a discount. All three of them were grateful to Mr. Laurie, even if he was a very odd fellow. Nice, but odd.
"Ah morning Ben! Wonderful morning eh?" Mr. Laurie asked on his way into the building.
"You bet!" Ben replied grabbing some boxes from his car.
"Hi Ben!" Tom's sister Emma said carrying some duffle bags.
"Hello Emma." Ben grunted trying to balance the boxes. He wasn't going to make more trips than he had too. He got upstairs to see that Martin was already unpacked and was moving furniture around in the living room.
"Took you long enough!" Martin yelled.
"Yeah sorry. You know how my mum is." Ben said taking a look around. He had been here before, but it looked different when it wasn't barren. After a few hours they were all moved in. It would still take some time for them to actually unpack and get settled, but all three of them agreed it already felt like home.
"Alright you guys we're off. Unless you need anything else?" Sarah said as her and Emma headed towards the door.
"Nope! We're good!" Martin yelled over the blaring stereo.
"Thanks you two." Tom gave them a hug and saw them off.
"Can you believe it mate?" Martin said making his way over to Ben whilst playing air guitar. "We're finally living on our own!"
Martin played some more while Tom and Ben laughed at him.
"I need a beer." Tom said staring all the boxes that had yet to be unpacked.
"On it!" Martin ran to the kitchen and quickly returned with three beers. He handed them out and lifted his drink.
"To the man cave!" He toasted.
"THE MAN CAVE!" Tom and Ben cheered.
They cracked open their beers and chugged.
"Alright now hurry up and get unpacked. This place needs to be ready by tomorrow night." Martin said plopping down on the couch.
Ben and Tom exchanged concerned looks.
"Ready for what exactly?" Tom asked.
Martin smiled devilishly.
"Martin, what did you do this time?" Ben groaned.
"What?" Martin put his hands up innocently. "You didn't think I wasn't going to throw us a house warming party?"
"A party? Here? Tomorrow night?" Tom put his hands in his wild curly hair. A look of distress plastered his face.
"There's no way we can have this place ready by then. I have to work tomorrow!" Ben picked the wrong day to stop smoking. "Besides, who would come on such short notice?"
"I already invited a bunch of people, but invite whoever you want. You guys don't have to do anything. I have it all taken care of." Martin took another gulp of his beer and smiled.
Tom and Ben were quiet for a moment while the idea sunk in.
"I guess that could be pretty fun. I can invite some of my coworkers." Ben said.
"Yeah, I mean why not? This is our place, we can do whatever we want." Tom said as a smile slowly started to form on his face. "But you get to clean up afterwards." He added and pointed at Martin.
"Fair enough." He chuckled.
"Yeah, yeah, this could be fun. We should let Mr. Laurie know." Ben sipped his beer.
"Already did. He said he would take care of any noise complaints." Martin beamed.
Tom and Ben nodded in approval.
"Well then it's settled." Martin lifted his beer in another toast. "Party here tomorrow night!"
They all cheered and chugged the rest of their was exhausted when we went to work the next day. He had been unpacking all night and was definitely going to take a nap before the party. Ben worked in a bookstore stocking shelves. It was a nice sized place and the owner just bought the coffee shop next door and combined them into a mini Barnes & Noble. Ben really liked working there. All his coworkers were very cool and they had grown rather close over the last year. His favorites were James and Wade. They were both the same age as him, Martin and Tom. James was average height, brunette, and almost as wild as Martin. Going out to the pub with him always lead to interesting events. Wade wasn't so tame herself. She had grown up with 5 older brothers, so barely anything surprised her. To Ben, Martin, and James she was just one of the guys.
"Tired mate?" James asked seeing Ben rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah, a bit. I moved into my new place with Martin and Tom yesterday."
"Oh how'd that go?" Wade asked putting some books up.
"Good actually." Ben rubbed his neck. "Martin already planned a party."
James laughed. "Well that's not surprising."
"Yeah, he planned it for tonight." Ben handed Wade some more books.
She chuckled "Wow, just couldn't wait could he?"
"No, never."
"So are we invited or what?" Wade asked.
"Don't be silly of course we are." James said. "Of course we would still come if we weren't."
"Very true." Wade agreed. "So what time and what should we bring?"
"It starts around 9 and bring any type of alcohol you want." Ben replied.
"Is it alright if I bring someone?" Wade asked.
James and Ben looked at each other in shock.
"It's not a date you gits. My friend Amanda just got back into town and she's been bored."
Ben shrugged. "I don't see why not."
"Great." Wade hopped down from the ladder she was on. "Besides, I think her and Martin would hit it off."
James and Ben laughed at the thought of Martin having a steady girlfriend.
"I'm serious you two! She's really cool and I think they'll get on." Wade insisted.
"Just don't tell Martin what you're up to or he'll avoid her the whole night." James warned.
Wade just stuck out her tongue and got back to work.
Tom spent the day with Martin unpacking the remaining items and getting the flat party ready. Well, he would put up a few items then hear Martin call him from the other room. He heard Ben go to his room and shut the door.
"Tooommmmm!"
Tom groaned. His room would have to wait until tomorrow.
"What now Martin?" He yelled walking to the living room.
"Did you invite anyone?" Martin asked. He was standing on the dining room table with a tape measure for some reason.
"What the hell are you doing?" Tom asked dumbfounded.
"What I'm doing is not important. Did you invite anyone?" He seemed to be measuring the distance from the table to the ceiling. Tom decided not to ask and to believe there was a reason for his madness.
"I don't really have anyone to invite. All my friends from boarding school aren't around. It's just you guys really."
"Well you'll meet all of our mates tonight. Ben just said his coworkers James and Wade are coming. You'll like them." Martin hopped off the table and disappeared into the kitchen.
Tom returned to his room and sat on his bed. He had been in a funk since coming back from school. He had lost touch with all his older friends when he left and the friends he made at school went off to different universities. Now he was nervous about the party. Ben and Martin had made all new friends while he was gone so he wouldn't know anyone.
Maybe I should just hide in my room tonight.
Martin gathered up a bunch of plastic cups and set up the dinning room for beer pong. In the kitchen he must've rearranged the layout of the drinks and food a dozen times. He didn't want any congestion in traffic when people were getting drinks. To Martin, party planning was an art. Once he was finally happy with how everything was set up he realized it was 8:30. He stopped by Tom's room on the way to grab a shower.
"Keep a ear out for the door in case Ben doesn't wake up in time." Martin watched Tom as he just nodded. "Alright, what's up with you?"
"What do you mean?" Tom asked.
"You've been sulking in here since I talked to you earlier. What's wrong?" Martin sat down next to him.
"I'm just nervous about tonight I guess."
"Why?" Ben asked emerging from his room.
"Guys, I'm not going to know anyone."
"Oh is that all?" Martin huffed and stomped off.
Tom's brows furrowed in annoyance.
Ben was more sympathetic. "Look mate, you'll be fine. I'll make sure you meet everyone. You're going to be meeting all these people eventually." Ben walked over and patted Tom's shoulder. "Just drink yourself into oblivion if you get really nervous." he joked.
Tom chuckled. "I guess you're right."
There was a loud knock before the front door opened.
"Ben?! Martin?!" James called out.
Ben smiled and looked at Tom. "Party time."