Loud American pop music emitted from the Saunders club house, an extravagantly large building where Kay liked to use to further her hobby of throwing parties every other day. Henry and his crew gently strolled towards the front door, dressed casually in jeans and shirts. If the noise was anything to judge by, then the majority of St Gloriania was already inside as well as the whole Saunders team.
"You know, Pop music is never really my thing chaps, but I suppose it'll have to do"
"Oh come along Boss, it's worth it for the privilege of attending one of the great Saunders parties, plus you get some drink down you and it'll all fade into the background" That was Arthur, the loader, a well built lad, standing at around 5'11, with black hair and green eyes, next to him was his twin brother, Richard, also known as Dick to his mates, who was lean where Arthur was bulky. Perkins was next to them, a smaller lad around 5'9, he was twisting a ring on his right hand nervously his blue eyes hidden beneath a pop of ginger hair and next was Richie, the driver, quiet and stoic in comparison to the more timid Perkins and boisterous twins, he rarely spoke out of turn and sported a mess of dark blonde hair and blue eyes.
"Plus, we might get to see another one of the legendary clashes between the Lord and Lady" Arthur spoke softly to his crew mates, they all chuckled, albeit a tad nervously. The arguments that raged between Henry and Darjeeling were common knowledge amongst the Sensha-do team, although, unknown to their knowledge, there was a bet going round that they would either end up together or fall out so badly that one of them would leave the team.
"What was that chaps?" Henry paused with his hand on the door, "Oh nothing Sir! Let's get, inside shall we?" with that Perkins quickly pushed past Henry and into the clubhouse, to be overwhelmed immediately with a blast of hot air, the smell of alcohol and his girlfriend, Orange Pekoe.
"Come on Tim, you need a drink quickly!" Pekoe's normally quiet and soft voice was high pitched and quite loud, probably the effect of multiple drinks, or in this case probably not that many at all. Henry chuckled as his batman was dragged off by his ginger girlfriend. The other men quickly made their way to the bar. He was about to follow but suddenly arms encircled him from behind as an excitable Kay launched herself at him.
"Ooof Kay, a little bit of warning next time" Henry chuckled as the blonde gave him a hug from behind.
"Heeeeey Henry, good match today! Your little charge really got us good!" Kay gave a big goofy grin as he turned towards her after she had released him from her clutches.
"Well when you turned towards us, I was expecting us to end up like Chi-ha tan do all the time" he chuckled and winked, "How'd you manage to get hold of the alcohol, I thought the schools were strict on it?"
Kay waved her hand dismissively "Ah I have my ways, they tend to be more lax after a big match, win or lose, gotta keep up our rep of holding the biggest and best parties! How are things with you and Dar, still at each other's throats?"
Henry flushed red, "You know exactly what it's like, she thinks I'm too reckless and constantly berates me, besides" he looked at Kay slyly "I bet Alisa was listening in to the radio anyway" Kay rolled her eyes and took a sip from the red cup she was holding before thrusting it into Henry's hands "Here drink, you've got catching up to do" He sniffed the drink briefly, smelling the sweet sent of Rum and took a large gulp, the honey sweet rum and coke slid down his throat easily and he quickly drained the rest of the cup.
"Ah that hit the spot!" he chuckled at the flabbergasted expression on Kay's face, "Why are you so surprised? We literally drink sherry before a match, they gave up trying to stop us eons ago!"
He turned from Kay to scan the room, Pekoe and Tim were in a corner, the two Richards and Arthur had acquired themselves some beverages and were standing in a small group chatting with Assam, Rosehip and Rukari, however, he couldn't spot Darjeeling anywhere.
"Hey Kay? Where's Darling got to?"
"Aw it's so cute you're worried about her, and you call her Darling as well, daawwwww you two" Henry turned beet red again and spluttered in protest "Kay-No-no, no, it's just a battlefield nickname"
"You sure it's not a bedroom one as well" Kay winked at him, Henry dragged his hand over his face "God damnit woman you are insufferable, why am I even friends with you"
"Because who else would you come to for relationship advice?", she dragged him over to the bar for a refill of his drink, "Come on, we'll go look for -Darling-" she smirked knowingly
Unbeknownst to them, Darjeeling had overheard the start of the conversation, she'd been drinking beforehand to try and calm her nerves about talking to Henry without flying off the handle, she's even had Pekoe nicely braid her hair, and dressed up in a loosely buttoned white shirt and a red skirt, but she heard Henry mention how he thought she thought of him to Kay and lost her never, tears welling up in her sapphire blue eyes, before she blinked them back. No she wouldn't cry over such a petty thing, she was the Lady of St Gloriana after all!
She glanced down at her drink, alcohol wasn't something that the female St Gloriana students regularly indulged in, but their first Co-Ed victory, and with it being against Saunders, they decided to let their hair down, figuratively speaking of course. Making up her mind, she finished her drink, tossing the cup into one of the waste bags dotted around the room and began stalking after the unaware Henry. Kay noticed her coming and quickly vacated the area to the safety of her sub-commanders.
Henry span around just in time for him to be shoved against the wall by his fellow commander, her normally ice cool blue eyes filled with -something- he wasn't sure, but all thoughts of that ceased to exist as she connected her lips with his.
Henry froze for a moment, he couldn't lie to himself, he'd thought about doing this multiple times but not quite like this but sometimes you just had to take what you were given, so he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her close, deepening the kiss between them, lips moving softly against each other as the initial shock of contact wore off. She tasted like the rum he had just been drinking, her body warm against his.
They were unaware of the fact that the entire room had gone quiet as the stunned members of both male and female St Gloriana teams gawked at their commanders and the Saunders lot followed suit, Henry and Darjeeling slowly broke off, still watching the other.
"So err, not that I'm complaining but where did that come from?"
Darjeeling blushed and stuttered "I-don't know"
Henry rolled his eyes "Always cautious, just like your tanks" he smirked playfully
Her eyes narrowed "Why you- mmph!" her response was cut off as he kissed her again, moaning into his mouth, before breaking it off and slapping him
"Ow! Seriously?!" he rubbed his cheek, now flaming red
"That was for being so, so…..YOU earlier"
He let go of her but she didn't step away "Oh and you weren't being so stubborn and just sitting in a field practically begging to be slaughtered!" both of them started bickering rather loudly, still unaware of the crowd they had drawn
Assam, Rosehip and Henry's team all collectively sighed, it was going to be a long night.
The morning after, Henry's house
The Sun peaked through a gap in the curtains of Henry's bedroom, illuminating the mess that had been left behind, clothes were throw all over and a messy head of hair was barely visible from beneath the covers of the king sized bed, a few birds could be heard chirping in the background, before being drowned out by the alarm clock, which had also been thrown to the other side of the room.
Beep Beep Beep, Beep Beep Beep, the illuminated numbers on the clocks display showed 8:30AM. At first there was no response from the bed, but after a few minutes of beeping there was an agonised groan, as it's occupant emerged from the cocoon of quilt and sheet. Henry rubbed his eyes, his head was aching, and his stomach didn't feel much better either, he blearily made his way across the room, tripping over on cast aside jeans and landing face first. He just groaned and still lying down on the floor, slammed a hand down onto the clock, silencing the alarm.
Henry lay in silence for a few minutes, before picking himself back up, grabbing a towel from the rack and heading into his en-suite shower
After about ten minutes in the shower, he emerged slightly fresher and more alive and began to quickly tidy his room, gathering up all his errant clothes and pulling his bed sheets back to allow it to air out. His stomach rumbled again, reminding him of it's food starved pain. He didn't even need to glance into the mirror to know he looked a mess, but he didn't care, it was only him and his crew in the house, he unlocked his door and stepped outside into the corridor only to trip over an unconscious Arthur, cursing as he fell.
Grappling with the bannister, he pulled himself back up to his feet, then landed a solid kick to Arthur's right arm, the loader jolted awake, smacking his head against the wall,
"Oh bugger me sideways- leave me be moth- Oh, you're not mother" Arthur squinted at Henry.
"Congratulations, you've still got your eyesight, I'm surprised after how much you drank last night"
"You're one to talk Henry, especially after what you got up to as well" Arthur chuckled, then clutched his hands to his mouth "Oh I'm gonna be- OUT OF THE WAY" he made a quick dash for the bathroom and Henry could hear the sound of him retching the contents of his stomach into the toilet.
Henry snorted, rubbing the side of his neck, then flinching as his hand made contact with what seemed to be an extraordinarily large bruise. "Hey Arthur, did I fall over last night or something?"
Arthur poked his head out of the bathroom door, before bursting into laughter "Oh God no, you don't remember?" he disappeared briefly, flushing the toilet, "Come have a look in the mirror"
Henry made his way past his loader into the bathroom, there on his neck was a hickey.
"Oh? Oh! Wait what" Henry looked at Arthur in bewilderment, "What? Why? How? And most importantly, Who?"
"Oh the others are gonna love this, come on I smell bacon" Arthur pulled Henry downstairs into the shared kitchen, already sitting at the table was Orange Pekoe sipping on some freshly made tea, whilst Tim was just prepping some eggs to put in the pan, whilst bacon sizzled under the grill.
"Pekoe? What are you doing here, I thought Darling didn't like her girls staying at ours?"
Pekoe giggled, "Oh I don't think that'll be a problem anymore, especially after what you did"
Henry looked agape at her for a moment
"You know I think I can see the cogs slowly beginning to turn, bloody hell Henry how much did you drink last night?" Richard came walking past, patting Arthur on the shoulder and with a sleepy Assam in tow.
"Dar-She left this on me?"
"Yup!" that was Rosehip, 'Is the whole bloody team here today?' Henry wondered
"Let's just say that you two alternated between arguing and attempting to bite the others lips off" Richie followed behind Rosehip, the rest of the group broke into chuckles.
"Right, right" Henry was quite flustered "and where is she now?"
"Oh, Kay took her home after we dragged you out, she should be awake right now"
"Right, I'll be back"
Henry darted out of the kitchen, the sounds of his teammates laughter following him, dashing into his room he threw on a clean pair of jeans and a t-shirt, some trainers then ran out of the house, making his way towards where Darjeeling and the other girls lived.
Stopping just outside the front door to get his breath back and composing himself, he went to rap his knuckles on the door, but it was already opened. Darjeeling smirked at him from inside, her hair down, dressed in a white fluffy dressing gown and nursing a cup of tea
"How did you know I was here?"
"You're extraordinarily loud when you're out of breath, and Assam texted me"
Henry rolled his eyes "Of course she did, anyway, I figure we need to talk, seeing as you're responsible for this monstrosity on my neck"
"If I recall correctly, you rather enjoyed the process"
"Well clearly, otherwise I wouldn't be standing here would I? Although you could have been more precise, but I guess it's in your nature" Henry winked, as Darjeeling blushed
"Yes – well, come in I guess, we do need to talk I suppose"
"Gosh could you make it sound any less like a chore" Henry responded shutting the door behind him, voice laden with sarcasm.
"Sarcasm is ill befitting of a gentleman Hal" Darjeeling gently chided him
"Well I didn't realise ravishing my neck was considered ladylike behaviour"
Darjeeling had the grace to look abashed "Well you are right there, as much as I hate to admit it"
"I'm right when it comes to multiple things, tanks, you and me, I could go on"
"You are most certainly not right about tanks! Wait, you and me?"
"Oh come off it Darling, we've been dancing around each other for 3 years now, the others even have a bloody betting pool going"
"So that's what Assam and Pekoe have been giggling about, I thought they were just both infatuated with -your- crew mates"
"Hey! Don't blame my lads for that!"
Darjeeling put her tea down on the kitchen table, unlike the men's house the kitchen was spotless, except for a little corner that Henry assumed was Rosehip's
"Look Hal, we've both got responsibilities as commanders and to the school as a whole, we can't repeat last night it was a- "
She was cut off by him cupping her face gently, sapphire blue eyes met ocean blue, her breath hitched as he leant in and gently brushed his lips against hers
"Darling, I understand where you are coming from, I really do, but the teams won't be affected by this, I'm pretty sure they'd rather we be like this than constantly arguing over the radio, and don't you dare tell me it was a mistake"
Her defence collapsed just like that, it was all for show anyway, as she melted into his arms, hangovers forgotten. Her lips sought his eagerly. They remained locked together for a time, before Henry's stomach rumbled, and he reluctantly broke away from her
"Ah yes, so how about a breakfast date?" he cheekily asked
"You are an insufferable rogue!" she replied, a mischievous smile on her lips
"So that's a yes then?"
"If you're the one paying"