Hello everyone! Thanks for being so patient with me and updating! Sadly I may not update this for a while seeing as I need to update my House of Wax story. No worries though, I will update this story as soon as humanly possible! I promise! Thanks to everyone who favorited and reviewed this lovely story. And now, Chapter 3 of I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles.

xoxo,
Seph 3

As we listened to that bit of football broadcast, not the West Ham game of course since we always go to those, Matt walked in, making me smile. I loved that kid. He was adorable, he really was. Especially since the boy had been in his first fight the day before and it was like it hadn't even fazed him very much.

"Hullo, Matthew!" I teased, making him grin. He nudged me playfully and tossed his things on the ground in a corner near the couch before he grabbed a pack of cigarette's and pulled one out. I opened up my hands and he tossed them to me and I pulled one out myself. I placed it between my lips and caught the lighter when he tossed it to me. I lit up my cancer stick and took a puff before Pete opened a window so the smoke would go out and wouldn't set off any alarms. I smiled at him before both boys plopped down on the couch next to me. I looked at them. "So, what we doin' today, boys?" I asked, making Matt roll his eyes. He sighed.

"Can't we just sit here?" He asked, almost pathetically, making me chuckle.

"No," Pete said before he stood up. I heard Matt sigh and saw him stand up as well. I put out my hands, my cigarette still between my lips before the two grasped my hands and pulled me up. I stood up straight and dusted myself off before looking at Pete.

"Where we goin?" I asked before he grinned and pointed up. I grinned as well, making Matt blink a moment in confusion. I smiled. "C'mon, Matt," I said, linking arms with him like usual and grabbing Pete's hand. I led the two along, mostly because Pete let me, and up to the top of Pete's apartment building. I smiled and inhaled deeply. I loved the smell of the air right before it started to rain. It smelled like heaven to me. I turned and looked at the boys; Matt who was grinning at me, his eyes shooting to Pete a moment before I looked at Pete, who was smiling at me, his eyes shinning as well. I grinned at them. "What?" I asked before they both shook their heads. Pete sat down in an empty chair next to a crap table and I sat down in his lap after him.

"Oof! Damn, Cas, warn me next time," he teased before I hit him on the arm, making him grin. I felt his arm wrap around my waist for support.

"Aww, aren't you two cute," Matt cooed jokingly, his eyes smiling down at us.

"Oh shut up and get us some beer," I said, pouting, which only made him grin wider.

"Right away, m'lady," he joked with a bow before he took another drag off of his cigarette and walked down the stairs. Pete and I just sat there in that crappy, unstable white plastic chair. I leaned my head against his shoulder and he leaned his head on mine for a moment. It wasn't anything romantic, really, just the two of us sitting and staring at London as it passed us by like it usually did. The only time it didn't was when the GSE was mentioned in the newspapers, but even then only a few people really knew anything. I was about to say something when I felt Pete bury his face into my neck. If this hadn't been a normal thing, I'd have stiffened and asked him what he was doing, but, this was Pete. Pete and I were great friends, having known each other since I moved here. This was not out of the ordinary for us. His girlfriends could never really get that and my boyfriends couldn't either. They'd always flip out on us, which didn't make much sense to us. To us, it was just...us. We grew up with each other and are just that comfortable with one another.

That was the weird thing with Pete and I. We sometimes acted like a couple, but we had never been anything more than friends and we would probably be only friends for the longest of times. Sometimes Pete would wrap his arms around me and put his head on my shoulder or he'd wrap an arm around my waist, but half of the time it was because he was tired or being protective. I, on the other hand, always leaned my head against his shoulder when I was tired or sometimes sat in his lap when there weren't enough chairs. We cared about each other more than we could really care about anyone, except for maybe the lads of course. They were like family to us, and family wins over all. Whether in the GSE or not, family was everything here, and if you didn't like someone's family, you may as well have just thrown your friendship or relationship out the window.

Of course, that didn't always work. I mean, look at Bovver. He's Pete's best mate...ever. They've known each other since they were kids, practically brothers. The only yank that Bovver's ever accepted was Shannon and that's only because she married Steve(who would crush Bovver if he did anything disrespectful to her). See, with Pete it's because Shannon married in to the family that it's somewhat okay for Bovver to not like Matt, but disrespecting Pete and the rest of the family is a no-no. Me? I'm not exactly family, so I don't really count, even though I've known Pete longer than half of the boys have. I suppose it's not really the point though.

Apparently Pete and I sat like that for quite a while because Matt walked up to us and raised an eyebrow. He wordlessly handed us our drinks and lit himself another cigarette. He walked in front of us, facing London and stood to where he wouldn't be in our way before doing what we were doing, just gazing and enjoying the serenity of it all. Sadly, Pete couldn't take much more silence.

"So, Matt, what brings you here, mate?" Matt turned and looked at him a moment before grinning.

"It's quite an interesting story, but here goes. Back in the states I went to Harvard, yeah, Harvard. I was two months shy of my diploma when someone on campus tried to bust my roommate for his coke problem. Well, when our room was searched, they found his stash in my shit. He had been storing it in my closet the entire time. Anyway, as much as I would have liked to fight it, it would have been a waste of time. He's a rich boy...like...real rich. Daddy gets him everything he wants, kind of rich. So, I accepted the expulsion they gave me and came here." I was quite for a minute.

"Bastard...what was his name?" Matt made a disgusted face and spat out the name.

"Van Holden."

"Van Holden? Sounds like a cunt. If he'd have done that to me I'd have beat the seven shades of shit out of him," Pete said, making me laugh and shake my head before taking a drink of my beer.

"Yeah, you probably would have," I said, which made Matt grin. "But I'm with Matt. I mean, especially since our little bloke couldn't fight before and his dad's Mr. I'm-Rich-And-Powerful, so I'd have given in to." Matt smiled over at me and then Pete looked down at me and poke me in the side, making me squeak and twitch.

"Don't lie, my little Firecracker," he said playfully, making me pout. Matt laughed and Pete looked up at him. "So what were you studyin' before this geezer stitched you up?" He asked curiously. I saw Matt take a drink of his beer.

"History," he said. I looked up at Pete who grinned.

"History? I teach history!" He said proudly. Matt looked at him, both stunned and surprised.

"You teach?"

"Yes...cheeky slag," Pete said, making me laugh. "History and P.E. What do you think the GSE paid a bloody wage? Mate, I'm smart as fuck," he said with a nod. I chuckled and stood up, rubbing my arms.

"C'mon, boys, in," I said as I tossed my cigarette off the side of the building and grabbed my beer. Matt followed in after Pete, who followed me. We all went down to Pete's apartment and slipped inside. I finished off my beer and went in to Pete's room. I looked through his stuff before finding a t-shirt big enough and pulled off my clothes, save for my undies, and slipped on the shirt. I walked out to the boys and plopped down on the couch in between them. I trusted these two boys. I looked over at them. "What now?" I asked. Matt thought a moment before Pete wrapped his arm around me and I leaned in to him.

"Why don't you tell me why you came here?" Matt asked, making me grin.

"Alright. It was about...geez...15 years ago, I think. I was six then. My dad and mum had gotten divorced and fought for custody and blah blah blah. Needless to say I came with dad, who decided to come to England since he had a few friends over here that could get him a job. They had their divorced because mom had cheated on dad with one of his co-workers. I moved into the neighborhood where the Dunham's were and bam, insta-friendship," I teased with a grin. "Well...except with Bovver...who still hasn't accepted me." I heard Pete chuckle. "I swear it's like he never will," I said before shaking my head, making Pete and Matt laugh. I pouted. "Shush," I said, hitting them both.

"Ow," they said in unison. I sighed and looked at the clock. It was nearly seven. I looked at the boys.

"Take out and a movie?" I asked. The boys looked at one another and nodded.

"Sounds good to me...what movie?" Pete asked as he got up and left to retrieve a take out menu from the kitchen. I looked at Matt, who shrugged.

"Umm...we can waaatcchhh..." I got in the floor in front of Pete's TV and began to sift through his movie collection. "Oh! Oh! Let's watch this one," I said, holding up an old favorite of mine, making Matt laugh.

"Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?" I glared at him and hit him.

"Shut it, Buckner. It's a good movie," I scolded before Pete returned, shaking his head at us. He handed Matt the take out menu. "You already know what I want?" I asked him. Pete nodded in response and sat down, looking at the movie.

"I didn't even know I had this," he said, making me laugh.

"Then it's probably mine or it was a gift that someone gave you, but you never really watched it...or at least remember watching it," I said before Matt handed Pete back the menu and told him what he wanted. Pete picked up the phone and put in our orders before we sat back and got to talking. We decided that we wouldn't start the movie until the food came.

Once the food came, we all sat down together on the couch and I put in the movie before beginning to eat at my chow mein. As we sat there and watched one of the most amazing movies ever, I sang and finished my food, tossing the empty carton onto the table in front of me. I then snuggled up to Pete, like usual, and rested my head on his shoulder. I felt him turn to look at me, but stayed focused on the movie itself. A small grin formed on my face though. I heard him chuckle and hit him on the chest. Matt looked over at us and shook his head before he laid down, his feet in my lap. I rested my arms on his ankles and stayed in my position against Pete's shoulder. After a while I heard snoring and turned, grinning when I saw that Matt was asleep. I nudged Pete, who looked over at me and then at Matt, grinning a bit as well. I stood up and turned off the movie before looking over at Pete, who stood up and stretched I smiled at him and grabbed his hand before pulling him into his room. He raised his eyebrows.

"Horny, are we?" He asked, making me roll my eyes and hit him, letting go of his hand.

"You're terrible," I told him before flopping down in his bed. He pulled off his shirt and slipped into bed as well, wearing a pair of sweat pants. I looked over at him and he looked at me.

"Pete, do you think Bovver will ever stop hating me?" I asked him, making him laugh.

"Maybe, love, I don't know. He's a strange one, Bovver is. You'll have to prove yourself." I blinked.

"Pete...I don't even know how to prove myself to him. I think he hates me because I'm getting in to his time with you. I mean, he's your best mate, and here I am hogging up his time with you. Why? Because I'm a bird," I told him, using slang, which I knew made him giggle. I rolled my eyes and looked up at the ceiling. "I'll have to save you from dying or something to get his approval," I muttered.

"Well now, I wouldn't go that far. You've done that plenty of times, love," he told me, making me look over at him, raising an eyebrow. "In fights," he clarified, making me nod.

"Ah, gotcha," I said before I sighed and looked up. "Pete..." I trailed off. "Why did you ever embrace me into the GSE anyway?" I asked him. "I mean, I was just some...little girl on her way to school who got jumped and just happened to hit the guy in the face with her backpack." A soft chuckle rang through the room.

"Easy, Cas. When we were kids, I had never seen a girl do that, besides, it was mostly Steve who ran out there. I just checked to make sure you were okay. I remember the look in your eyes when I talked to you," he said. I could hear the smile in his voice. "I'd never seen anyone's eyes sparkle like that before. You were so thankful," he said, making me nod. It was true. I heard him sigh. "Hey, let's get some sleep. I know you have work tomorrow and big brov will want you in on time," he said. I chuckled.

"Yeah, the last thing I need to tell Steve is that I was up late in bed with you," I joked. I felt Pete's hand hit my arm, but it didn't move. I laid there for a moment, trying to ignore the odd sensation in my arm where Pete's hand was. I opened my mouth to say something, but heard Pete's light snoring and smiled a bit. I closed my eyes and rolled on to my side, trying to get some sleep.

During the night, a heard a loud clap of thunder and awoke with a start, looking around. I sighed though when I realized where I was and laid back down on the bed. I felt around for Pete and realized he wasn't there. I blinked and sat up. I whispered his name before another clap of thunder was heard. I jumped and looked around, feeling somewhat panicky. I had a sort of fear of storms since, well, my father died in one. Someone broke into our house when I was growing up and killed my father, who was stopping the guy from getting to me. So now it's just something that I have a problem with. Every storm, I like...relive his death and that terrible night.

I looked around for Pete and when a flash of lightening lit up the room, I saw someone in the doorway and nearly jumped out of my skin. I saw them approach me swiftly and press their finger to my lips. I looked and saw that it was Pete and sighed.

"It's alright, Cassie. It's just me. I needed a drink of water," he told me. I nodded a bit and laid back down. I felt the bed sink in next to me where he was laying down. I rolled on my side and curled up, cuddling into the covers. Another clap of thunder and I scooted closer to Pete. I heard a small chuckle escape his lips before he rolled over and wrapped his arms around me. He kissed my temple and whispered," Shh, it's okay Cas. I've got you. No one's going to get you," he told me. "No one will ever get you," I heard him say before I nod and close my eyes. I felt him bury his face in my hair before I evened out my breathing and soon, I was asleep.