I know! I'm crap, crap, crap! I've had SO much to do these two weeks it's ridiculous! For those of you that are still reading- THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Long awaited, but I hope worth it- here it is!

Erm, just to say- yeah. You guys will really despise me after this.

I'm sowee :'(

(What's the Story) Morning Glory?

Chapter Ten:

"Truth Will Out"

Well, fuck me.

I'm speechless.

Clinging to my pillow, I let out a muffled scream as my mind recalled the events of tonight. Or should I say, yesterday night.

It was six am.

I moodily sulked in the back of the car, trying desperately to radiate my anger into Chloe so that she would spontaneously combust.

I was still trying to process everything Finn had told me tonight. I was still trying to process his lips actually being on mine.

Jesus Christ, what was I sulking about again?

Chloe flicked her hair over her shoulder, and I immediately remembered.

She's a fucking dickhead.

"Rae, you alright?" Archie muttered after a while.

I replied, never taking my eyes off Chloe's back, "Fine, Arch. I'm just fine and dandy." I said, seeing Finn gaze over to me slightly.

I think he thought it best not to say anything else after that. Wise choice.

"We're here!" Chop bellowed, the car crunching against the gravel of the car park.

I got out first, and gazed around. There were few cars here.

"I don't hear anything." I said, after everyone had exited.

"Me either." Izzy added.

"Just, hang on!" Chop replied, suddenly panicked by the lack of sound.

"Oh, for fuck sake!"

I'm quite embarrassed to say, that I snapped.

"Chop, we're been driving around for two fucking hours to a supposed gig, that may or may not be in this pissin' field- which it isn't. I'm fucking cold, I'm fucking tired, and I'm fucking going home."

I turned abruptly and stormed back out of the car park onto the road. I don't even know where I thought I was going.

That was until, I heard it.

The guitar, that unmistakeable guitar.

"Confidence is a preference, for the habitual voyeur of what is know as…"

"PARKLIFE!" I screamed, turning to the source of the noise.

Everybody else turned with me, suddenly forgetting my dramatic outburst.

"Follow that sound!" Archie declared, pointing in the direction of Damon's god like voice.

I couldn't believe it. I wouldn't believe it.

Until I saw him.

I weaved in and out of trees, the voice gradually getting louder and louder-

"All the people, so many people…"

I didn't breathe for a moment when I saw the small stage centred in the middle of the clearing.

There he was.

There he actually fucking was.

Damon Albarn, had actually set foot in Lincolnshire.

Finn disappeared from my mind for those few moments I stood standing there with the others, in awe of the sight before them. People were glugging their beer and jumping like their lives depended upon it.

I was in heaven.

"I think you owe Chop an apology, Rae." A voice broke me out of my awed daze.

It was Chloe.

I stared blankly at her, my fists fighting the urge to punch her square in the jaw. But she was right.

"Chopper, I'm so sorry- I'll never doubt you again, I'll buy you a drink- I'll let you have parties round mine whenever you want, I'll-"

"Ay! Raemundo!" Chop put his hands up in signal for me to stop. "Look, no harm done eh?"

I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Parties round yours whenever I want though?" he winked.

"Well-" I said.

"Chill mate, I were only joking'" He threw an arm round my shoulders and gestured to the crowd of people. "Now. I need a beer- or twenty." He turned to group. "I dunno about anybody else."

I don't know where everybody had come from, but there seemed to be people for every corner of the United Kingdom. The amount of people who turned up was unsettling.

In Lincolnshire.

Yes, I still couldn't quite get over it.

I didn't think I'd ever say this in my life but, Damon Albarn had to wait. I had bigger fish to fry.

"You told me you loved me" rang around in my head, making my palms sweat.

I had to put things right. School started again next week- and I had to let everybody know the truth. It would be the only way any of us could move on.

Sifting through the crowd, I caught Izzy by the arm.

"Izzy! You seen Chloe?" I yelled over the booming sounds of Charmless Man.

"She's over there talking to Finn!" she pointed towards the edge of the clearing, away from everyone.

Like a flash, all reason left my head.

I stormed towards them so forcefully, I think I might have bruised the bottom of my foot.

"Oi!" I yelled. They both turned in shock.

"D'yknow what?" I said, as I finally got to them. "I really don't know why I've been afraid to tell you what I think for such a long time. You, Chloe- are a scheming, atrocious excuse for a friend. You are a bitch."

I could see tears welling up in her eyes, but I still didn't stop- not even when Finn protested.

"You enjoyed it didn't you? Tormenting me? Poor, ugly fat Rae. She's never going to get a boyfriend is she, well at least not looking like that." I found that I was crying too.

I turned to Finn. "Why do you think I had to get Archie to pretend to be my boyfriend? Because no one else would!" I threw my hands up in exasperation.

"Why- would you do that Rae?" Finn said, gobsmacked.

"I told you at my party, Finn." I folded my arms. "Don't be dim."

At this point, there was me standing there hard faced, despite the tears trickling down my face, a sobbing Chloe- and an angry looking Finn.

"I- I have to leave." Chloe muttered through tears, she turned on her heel and ran.

I glared after her. That's it, run away.

"The truth hurts dunnit?" I said out loud.

Finn turned back from where he had be watching Chloe and faced me. "She just got a call."

"Oh yeah? I 'spose that's something else she wants to rub in my face. The fact shes got a mobile, and I aven't." I folded my arms tightly.

"Her Dad got in a car accident tonight." He said numbly.

"What, was Chloe driving?" I said bitterly.

"He's dead, Rae."

I looked straight at him, my eyes wide. All Finn did was shake his head at me, before turning away from me.

"Who are ya?" he whispered, as he walked away.

All I could do was gaze after him.

Fuck.

Fuck.

I decided the only thing I could do now was get drunk.

Very, very drunk.

I went to lay down in the grass, behind the stage so that nobody could see me. And I couldn't see anybody.

"Ey, ey lads- hang on a minute. You alright?"

My eyes snapped open, my beer that I had been holding had spilt and seeped into the grass.

"What?" I said dazed, sitting up. "Oh, er- yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"

"Well, you're lying in a field- presumably knocked out- and you haven't moved since we started our last set."

It occurred to me then, that there was no music playing.

"Wait- wha?" It was dark, so I squinted to see who the mystery stranger was. My head span, but I stood up as best I could- almost falling over in the process. I still couldn't see his face.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He said, clasping my arms to keep me steady.

"Oh, I've fucked everything up!" I cried onto the stranger's t-shirt.

"I'd say I've done that from time to time. What have you done?"

I went to explain my entire life history starting from the point Finn has dropped into my life, up until the events of tonight.

"Well, if your mate Chloe is suffering- don't you reckon you should help her out?" I nodded meekly.

"And as for this Finn bloke- well he sounds all over the place, are you even sure you're ready for this Rae?"

I felt like I had been for ages. "Yes." I mumbled.

"Well, then! Go and sort it."

"Why are you here?" I asked out of the blue.

"I'm visiting my gran! She's lives in Grantham."

"Unlucky." I slurred.

"Why are you here? Boyfriend troubles?"

"What makes you say that?"

"You're bottles broken- kind of hints to the frustration."

"I'm pretty sure I was born broken." I muttered glumly.

He chuckled. "Aren't we all." He pulled back, arms on my shoulders "Well, Rae. I'll tell you something, things always have 'an habit of sorting themselves out. You feel like you've got no one now- but trust me, the minute you turn around, you'll have friends. You will." He shook me lightly and chuckled, "Remember- if they don't like it, fuck 'em." He released my arms, and trudged back through the grass- leaving me to stand there contemplating the last ten minutes of my life.

Stranger bloke was right. I did need to sort it- starting with Chloe.

"Thanks Chop." I said through the window.

"Anytime, mate- just let me know how she is, alright?"

I nodded in answer, and turned to face Chloe's house. It was now or never.

I realised that it was about four am, and I assumed her family would be at the hospital- but there was no harm in trying.

She opened the door after a few minutes.

"Chloe-" I said, sticking my foot in the door when she tried to close it. "Chloe- I'm sorry."

"Save it, Rae."

"No, listen- I wasn't thinking, I was just so angry at you. You have to understand. But then, Finn said-"

"Finn said what?"

"You're dad, Chlo."

She stood staring at me for a while, tears welling up in her eyes again.

"Please, come on- let's talk."

"About what?" she said suddenly, becoming defensive. "About how much of a bitch I am?"

I was quiet for a moment.

I knew it wasn't the time to say it- but if there's one thing I've learnt this summer- it's that lying gets you absolutely nowhere. "Chloe, why can't you understand how you make me feel all the time? Why don't you understand that I feel ugly, unimportant, even inferior in comparison to you? I didn't mean those things I said to ya- that you were a bitch, but I'm constantly in your shadow trying to fight my way out."

I reached out for her hand. "You're my best friend, you know that- I just want you understand. Because I may not be pretty, but I can tell a fucking good joke." I smiled meekly.

She stared at me blankly, a tear trickling down one eye.

And just like that, she reached out and pulled me into a firm embrace, shaking from crying.

I muttered things like, "It's gonna be alright," and, "You're okay." Because honestly? I didn't know whether she would be 'okay' for a while.

Mentally, I ticked off Chloe box on my checklist.

I contemplated not leaving her, but her mum and nan were there, I resolved to see her immediately tomorrow- right now, there was someone else I needed to fix relations with.

I don't know about anybody else, but it felt like the Me/Finn saga had been on-going for years on end.

My gut told me where to find him.

And my gut was right.

He was sitting on a bench, head leaned back, arms crossed over his chest- fag in one hand.

"Hi." I said quietly, as I sat down beside him.

He didn't open his eyes. "Hi." He replied emptily.

I didn't quite know what to say after that. I hadn't thought this far ahead.

"I love you." He said quietly.

I almost choked on air. Hearing him say it aloud like this was so different to how I had imagined this scenario when I sat alone in my bedroom.

"Look, Rae. I'm not clever, or witty like Archie. I'm not charming or sweet like Chop. To be honest with ya, I don't say much about anything," He finally opened his eyes, "but I don't say anything I don't mean."

I still had no words, which was very, very peculiar.

"I don't know when I knew Rae, but I think I felt it long before we were friends, long before- Chloe." Standing up, he threw his cigarette into a patch of grass, and began pacing lightly.

"This has got to stop. You and me. We were friends weren't we? Before all this came along and fooked us both up?" He stopped and looked at me. "We can't keep fighting, we can't keep doing this," he gestured to the both of us. "It ain't right, and it ain't fair. On either of us."

I stared down at my feet.

"Well say something, will ya?" he cried, with a hint of humour in his voice.

"You're right." I spoke, speaking finally.

He raised his eyebrows. "You're right Finn. We can't keep doing this."

"So, what are ya saying? Do you wanna be- with me?"

I sighed. "Actually, that's the opposite of what I'm saying."

The shock on his face was more than apparent. "I-"

"Finn, I like you. A lot. You're so," I waved my hand at his body, "You."

He stuck his hands in his pockets, almost in embarrassment. "But there's so many things you don't know about me. There's so many things I don't even know about myself."

He looked up towards the sky and exhaled.

I knew now that I cared about Finn, but I wasn't even mature enough to emotionally view myself in a positive way- how could I handle a relationship with the fittest bloke in Lincolnshire?

The thought of Finn seeing me naked made my stomach churn.

"If that's how you feel." He said after a while, plonking himself down on the bench once again- hands still in his pockets.

"Don't you remember what great friends we were, before all this?" I smiled, staring up towards the sky.

It surprised me when he chuckled in return. "Yeah. You 'ad no trouble takin' the piss back then."

"Yeah! Coz you had no trouble bein' a cock, twenty four seven!" I laughed.

Finn turned to me, his hair blowing slightly in the warm summer breeze.

"So what now?" he asked.

I held out my hand. "Now, we're friends."

He stared straight into my eyes for a long while, and I suddenly remembered the reason why Finn was the fittest boy I had ever laid eyes on. Because he wasn't just a fantasy, he was real. A hint of sadness invaded his eyes, but he pushed past it and managed a ghost of a smile.

"Friends." He confirmed, reaching out and shaking my hand.

And just like that, the Finn box was ticked.

So here I was, lying in bed- feeling pretty pleased with myself.

In one night- I had managed to fuck everything up, and sort everything out again- by myself. If that ain't being a responsible adult, well, I don't know what is.

My good mood was suddenly interrupted by the dawning threat of the beginning of College next week.

I remembered school last year, me- alone; Chloe had gone and made other friends, I had had no one. But that wasn't going to be that way this year. Because this time, I had friends.

I actually had friends.

And I, Rae Earl am pretty fuckin' happy about that.

I silently thanked the stranger in the dark; he really did know what he was talking about.

Ahhhh! Did you like it?

I know what you're thinking- they still haven't got their acts together! But it's only chapter 10!

Still got the entire school year to go!

Oh and who will be the first to guess who the stranger guy is! I'll be shout to shout you out next chapter!

Much love,

-Laura