"Bloody hell, you look like a bit worse for wear."

"I won't lie, I'm fully regretting doing Jägerbombs with the lads last night" Delia croaked in response to Patsy's honesty.

Although Delia had moved into hers and Trixie's spare room almost a week

ago, this was only one of a handful of times Patsy had spoken to her new housemate. Delia was looking utterly woeful as she sat at the kitchen table nursing a bottle of Coke, a Flake easter egg, and what appeared to be the remnants of last night's pizza.

"You do know a proper breakfast and a cup of tea would do you more favours than eating that, don't you? I can't imagine old pizza holding too much in the way of nutritional value" Patsy suggested with a wry half-smile. Delia nodded her agreement but made no move to do anything about it.

Patsy set about flicking the kettle on rummaging through the fridge for bacon and eggs. She set three rashers under the grill and pulled a frying pan from the cupboard. The sound of pans clanging made Delia wince and pull her hood over her head.

"Feels like I've got 10 heads on my neck" Delia grumbled, rubbing at her temples.

"Do you want some of this? I don't mind making you something" Patsy responded, already taking another mug from the cupboard and putting three more rashers onto the tray. Being a nurse, it was in her nature to express her caring side even outside the confines of the hospital walls.

"She even looks cute when she looks like she's been dug up... No! Don't you dare Patience Mount! Don't you bloody dare!" she silently chided herself. If she had a type, Delia most definitely was it. Patsy had found herself tripping over her words and feeling her cheeks burn when Delia showed up at the house to enquire about taking the vacant room. She couldn't help it. Delia was gorgeous! A good half a head shorter than herself and a petite little athletic frame that suggested she must play some sort of sport.

As lovely and aesthetically pleasing as she was, it was her eyes that made Patsy's heart beat faster in her chest. Deep blue. The sort of shimmering blue the sea would be if you were holidaying in the Maldives. Everything about her was captivating. Her eyes, her smile that stretched right up to her eyes and lit her face beautifully, her dark hair that she only ever seemed to wear loose around her shoulders. Even her dress sense. Certainly a tomboy and that suited her perfectly as well. Luckily for Delia, only being 22, she could still get away with wearing baggy hats, band t-shirts with the sleeves rolled up and jeans that looked a size too big. Thus, the waistband sitting a few inches lower than they perhaps ordinarily would if they fitted her properly. Also, Patsy had noticed Delia preferred wearing boxers to knickers and found the idea just a little bit endearing. Not that she'd been ogling her, it's was just hard not to notice when her jeans were halfway down her backside.

"Tea or coffee?" Patsy asked, pointing to Delia's mug as the kettle clicked the end of its boiling.

"Oh... tea please." Delia answered, suddenly snapping back to reality. Every little noise was making her head pound even harder.

"Sugar?"

"Yes please, just the one mind."

Patsy brought over two plates of bacon and egg sandwiches, two cups of steaming hot tea along with a pint of water and two paracetamol, "For the hangover."

They tucked in in relative silence. The only noticeable sound was Delia happily moaning as she swallowed the first bite of her sandwich. Pasty found herself suppressing a smile as she watched the younger girl seeming begin to perk up with every bite she took.

Breakfast seemed to have the required effect and Delia found herself feeling a little more human as the salty, bacony goodness seeped into her bloodstream. She realised she must have appeared quite rude sitting there with her hood up, not speaking a word.

"That was lush, thank you" she said, with the twinkle back in her eyes.

"Where's Trixie? I've only seen her once since I moved in. How long have you lived together? Do you both work in the same bit of the hospital?... Sorry, I didn't mean to bombard you with twenty questions all at once, it's just I haven't really seen either of you and I think I ought to know a bit about... You know what, I'll shut up now." Delia said, clearly a tad embarrassed at her incessant chatter.

"No, no, it's fine, honestly. It's good to see my hangover special has worked a treat" Patsy replied. She'd happily listen to Delia witter on all day long in that beautiful Welsh lilt. "To answer your first question, Trixie's on earlies all week but she's off tomorrow so she should be home around 8 tonight if she doesn't go for a drink afterwards. We'll probably order a take-out and get some wine in if you fancy joining us?" Pasty suggested as she set about clearing the breakfast things into the sink. "And as for the rest of what you asked, Trixie works on the Neonatal unit, I work downstairs in AE and we got this place 3 years ago when we qualified. Our friend Barbara lived with us until she got married and moved into Tom's a couple of months ago."

Delia nodded her head at the suggestion of a quiet night in. It would be nice to spend a little time getting to know her housemates. She glanced up at the clock on the wall. 10:15.

"Shit" she muttered under her breath. "Why oh why did I go out knowing full well I have a match at this afternoon?" Delia grumbled, getting up from her seat and making her way to the door. She knew she'd have to get a move on if she was to get there on time. Her sore and cloudy head had made her nonchalant this morning and she still needed to shower and get her kit together.

"Where is it and what time do you need to be there?" Patsy asked, abandoning the washing up and turning to face the brunette.

"We're at home today but I still need to be there for quarter past 11."

"Go and get your stuff ready and I'll drop you off if you like? I don't imagine public transport would be a good idea in the state you were in earlier" Patsy laughed. Delia made to object but thought better of it, knowing she'd never make it if she had to rely on the bus.

"Err... yeah, okay then, if you don't mind. I'll give you petrol money for your trouble. It's only round at St Matthew's near Victoria Park." Delia said appreciatively with a smile, turning back to make her way upstairs to gather her things.