Is it possible to be addicted to a person? Since the day Cook met Effy he hasn't been able to stay away. His body gets desperate for her some days, to the point of wanting to hurt himself for not treating her better. He watches as she yawns deeply and opens her eyes to the cloudy morning. She looks up at him with confusion. He knew she wouldn't remember the night before.
"Morning Eff." He nods while taking a drag of his spliff.
She snatches it out of his hand and inhales deeply. She doesn't really care what happened last night. She hasn't slept that well in months, and it's nice to wake up to someone other than herself. Effy knows they didn't have sex, she could tell if they did. She's not sure why they didn't though. She figured Cook would jump at the chance. She hands his spliff back to him and sits up.
"I'll walk you home, yeah?" Cook stands up and offers a hand to help her.
As he pulls her up she finds herself pressed against his chest and his arm around her waist. His eyes travel from her eyes down to her lips and she has a feeling any minute he's going to lean in and kiss her. But he doesn't. Instead, he just stares at her and whispers, "Fucking beautiful." before letting go and stepping back to start walking. Effy smiles to herself as they walk. Flattery usually doesn't have an affect on her, but he said it with such conviction, as if no one could ever tell him otherwise.
Something about Cook was so irresistible to her. Even when she was with Freddie, she missed Cook's passion. He was the bravest person she knew. She could tell he rarely thought about anything he said. He would just speak whatever was on his mind. He wasn't afraid to go after what he wanted. When he wanted Effy, he got her. He just couldn't keep her.
Cook can't help but keep looking over at Effy as she walks. Losing Effy to Freddie hurt Cook's pride, but it really broke his heart first. He can't believe that he and Freddie used to fight over her the way they did. Effy never belonged to Cook, but she never belonged to Freddie either. Effy Stonem doesn't belong to anybody. This realization kills him to think about, but it's probably true. He knew from the minute he met her that she was trouble. She'd probably say the exact same thing about him.
"What's on your mind, Eff?" He asks to break the silence.
"You reek of booze." There was a lot on Effy's mind, but she couldn't share any of it with Cook. She smiles as he pushes her playfully. She watches him pull a cigarette out of his pocket and light it. Effy's staring critically at him, and she realizes just how beautiful he really is. His eyes tell a story that she'd never even attempt to understand. Sometimes she wondered why Cook even stayed around. She treated him like shit. Maybe at the beginning he didn't want anything more than sex from her, but she knew how he felt by the end of the first year. She knew how he felt and she continued to screw him over anyway. Then she remembers why…Freddie. Maybe Freddie could actually be happy now. Maybe he could finally relax. Effy put him through hell, and she wasn't afraid to admit it.
"You want to come in?" Effy asks as they approach her house.
"I want to. But I can't." He replies, and can read the clear disappointment on Effy's face. He can tell she just wants someone near her, someone besides her mother to talk to. He's not used to her wanting him around the way she does all of a sudden. Then he remembers why…Freddie. She lost her boyfriend less than three months ago.
"I promised JJ I'd meet him at the pub this afternoon."
Every since Freddie died, Cook's been trying to be a better friend to JJ and everyone else. He could easily ditch Jay and walk up those familiar stairs to Effy's room, but he was tired of choosing a girl over his friends. She just nodded and opened the door to walk inside.
"Hey Effy," he started before she took another step, "Naomi's having a party tonight, if you'd like to come." He knew she'd probably say no, because a party was a lot for her to handle. She thought for a few minutes before she looked up and smiled at him.
"Sure. Pick me up at 8." Her answer caught him off guard, so he didn't even think when he responded with "It's a date." She raises an eyebrow at him but doesn't respond, like she's waiting for him to save himself. He doesn't want to. He doesn't want to give her the satisfaction of making him look stupid.
"You heard me, princess." He nods as he turns his back to her and makes his way down the sidewalk. Effy has no response. She just rolls her eyes and slams the door behind her. It's gonna be an interesting night.