The next morning I woke up, curled up on Danny's couch, with a blinding headache. I slowly stumbled down the stairs to the kitchen in search of some water and hopefully a strong painkiller or two.
As I manoeuvred my way into the kitchen I was greeted by some very hung over looking faces. Tom was attempting to cook some breakfast but didn't seem to be able to concentrate long enough to actually put the food on the pan. Dougie and Lucy were slumped over the table clutching their head and stomach respectively, from the look of her it had been Lucy's turn to make friends with the toilet.
Ruby seemed to be pretty sprightly, busying herself around the kitchen. I fell into one of the kitchen chairs and rested my head against the cold table.
Just as I did this, Lucy jumped up and ran quickly in the direction of the toilet - looks like she and the toilet had more to discuss!
Danny walked in a few minutes later, and without saying a word he swung the fridge door open, grabbed the orange juice and loudly guzzled it down.
"AAAAAAAAHHhhhhhhhhh now im ready for the day!" Danny exclaimed as he drained the last of the juice from the carton. There were a few murmurs of response from the kitchen's various occupants but noone really acknowledged him.
We spent most of the day lying around the boy's house watching TV and recuperating after the night before. Lucy seemed to have broken off her friendship with the toilet and the incessant painful banging in our heads had lessened to a mere thud every now and again when we got too excited.
After watching yet another re-run of "Will and Grace" I ventured upstairs to gather my things before going home. As I blindly wandered up the stairs in a hung over haze I bumped into Harry, who hadn't really ventured out of his room too much during the day.
"Oooh sorry im in my own little world" I said as I steadied myself on the banister. "Its ok im a bit the same today - shots are not my friend!! You heading home?"
"Yeah think I need to head home and make myself look human again" I said as I made my way into Danny's room to get my stuff. Harry followed me in and sat on the bed. "So did you have a good night last night?" he said while trying to flatten his hair roughly with his hands. " yeah it was a good laugh we haven't all been out together in ages, but mother of god are my head and feet paying for it now" I moaned with a chuckle. I sat on the bed beside him and leant against the pillows behind me. "Tell me about it I've barely been able to move out of bed all day."
we sat on the bed engrossed in a comfortable silence staring at the ceiling.
"How the hell have I not noticed those stars on Danny's roof before, when did he put them up" Harry said as he stared at the ceiling with a seriously confused look upon his face. He was scrunching his nose up and squinting his eyes like some kind of weird mutant rabbit. I couldn't help but laugh at him. "what are you laughing at?" "Your face I've never seen someone look so confused in my life …… and my best friend is Danny Jones for god's sake" I snorted through bursts of laughter.
"Hey it's not that funny" he said with a smile. He rolled on his side to look at me, still silently giggling at him. After I had calmed down I turned to look at him. He had his eyes loosely closed, they flickered open as I turned towards him. He placed a light smile on his face. I could feel the butterflies in my stomach beginning to emerge from their cocoons again. This was the second time in less than twenty four hours that I had found myself in a very close proximity to Harry, wanting nothing more than to kiss his soft, supple lips.
I closed my eyes in an attempt to stop Harry gaining access to my thoughts. I could feel his warm breath lightly blowing against my face, moving the wisps of hair that had fallen in front of my eyes. Although my stomach was churning with a mix of stale alcohol and nerves, and my head was a whizzing roundabout of thought, I felt immensely comfortable, I didn't want to be anywhere else in that moment.
I could feel his breathing becoming slower and deeper in rhythm with my own. Just as I drifted off to sleep I felt an arm lazily snake itself around my waist and rest itself comfortably against the bare skin between my t-shirt and shorts. Gently grazing my skin with his own.
"Jesus, Lola when I said id give you a lift home I meant today!" I said as I walked into my room. I was greeted by the sight of Lola and Harry asleep on my bed. They were lying facing each other; Harry had his arm wrapped around her pulling her in closely to him. Her head was rested just below his, nuzzling into his chest. If you didn't know better you would think they were a couple, they looked very natural together. As much as I was happy for Lolly, Harry was not a one girl guy, he got bored very easily. I really hoped that Lola wouldn't take too much from this. I walked slowly out of the room and went down the stairs.
A little while later, Harry walked into the kitchen looking very sleepy. "So you're out of my room then?" I said lightly. "Eh yeah must have fallen asleep when I was in there chatting to Lola." he mumbled while opening the fridge. "Looked pretty cosy to me mate." I said tentatively. "We just fell asleep, man. I mean come on its Lolly." Harry said quickly while rummaging around the fridge for food. I felt bad for Lola; he didn't even seem to recognise that Lola was of the female species, let alone that she really liked him. After piling a plate high with food Harry muttered that he was going back to bed.
As I walked out of the kitchen, leaving Danny staring into space as usual, I felt nerves rise in my already unwell feeling stomach. How had I let myself get into that position? Danny would kill me if I went near Lola. As much as Danny was my best friend, he would not trust me with her. He had good reason to not trust me. My definition of a long term relationship is if the girl manages to not bore the hell out of me after two weeks. That very rarely happened and if it did they were most definitely gone by the third week. I just couldn't get Lola out of my head. She was special. She knew there was a much deeper side to me. Most girls fell for the confident, arrogant persona I had created for myself. They liked my cocky nature. I guess I acted like I was some kind of "bad boy" but to be honest that wasn't me at all. I was a pretty confident guy but I was also full of insecurities. Around Lola I felt I could show those insecurities without being judged. Whenever I was around her I felt good about myself. I really liked her and just wished I could tell her but that wasn't going to happen. I know she doesn't see me like that. To her im just one of the lads, Danny's grungy band mate, a friend and only a friend.
I awoke with a start, hearing a door of the next room close loudly. I was alone, there was no arm wrapped around me holding me close. Had I dreamt it? just as I tried to gather my thoughts Danny walked into the room. "Ah so you're both up now come on ill give you a lift home." I quickly gathered my things in a fluster, not really fully awake. After the short drive, I got out of the car, promising Danny I would call over later with some of my mum's food. I walked slowly down my drive thinking about all the events of the last twenty four hours, not really sure if any of it made sense.
I was absolutely exhausted after the last night's activities but being a good friend. I kept my promise to Danny and strolled into the house later that evening laden down with my mum's lasagne, which just so happened to be Danny's favourite. Danny had my mum wrapped around his little finger. I think she is still hoping that we will get married and have lots of babies. I don't think she has ever given up hope since she walked in on me and Danny kissing when we were fourteen, little did she know that there was little or no romance involved. He just wanted to know if he was a good kisser or not after a girl he had asked out had turned him down. The poor thing had gotten it into his little head that he would never get a girlfriend because he was a bad kisser, all because ONE girl turned him down. It didn't last very long though, as a week later the most popular girl in school admitted she had a crush on him and Danny was back to his charming yet cocky self.
I sat at the table as the four boys wolfed down their dinner. For at least five minutes all that could be heard were the sounds of chewing and the clatter of cutlery against their ever emptying plates.
Danny sat back in his chair, stretched his arms out and released a raucous burp, to which I quickly responded to by slapping him on the back of the head. "What I was just showing appreciation for your mum's culinary skills" he said with a smirk. As the other boys finished up their meals they followed Danny's lead by letting loud burps fill the air. It was like their grotesque version of the dawn chorus.
Whenever we are tired me and Danny tend to fall into a mode of conversation that only contains one word answers and various random noises that seem to have a multitude of meanings, yet we always seem to know what the other is saying. Tonight was one of those nights. We were all splayed out on the couches, none of us really having the strength or energy to sit up properly. We were half way through watching a movie when I noticed Harry staring at me. "What?" I announced in his direction. "Oh uh nothing eh I was just trying to figure out what the hell you two are going on about" he said quickly. I thought I saw a light blush creep up his chiselled face as he turned his attention towards the television. I snuggled down into the couch getting lost in my thoughts, not really paying any attention to the movie any more.
I was unaware that I was not the only person in the room lost in their own thoughts of confusion.
"Lolly! Come on lolly wake up!" my eyes flickered open to be met by Danny's piercing blue eyes. "What time is it" I said as I attempted to stretch out. "Its just after ten come on ill walk you home don't think you want to sleep on the couch again" he was right I needed my nice comfy bed. I got up and we left the house to start the short journey to my house.
We walked along in a comfortable silence, listening to the noises of the neighbourhood, dogs barking, music blaring from people's cars and the odd bird chirping in a tree. Shockingly enough all I could think of was Harry. "What's up Lolly? You look all confused" I heard Danny say, it took me a few seconds to remember that he was walking beside me I had been so distracted by my thoughts. "Nothing ….. Ok well actually that's a lie. Im all confused about Harry. Most of the time I don't think he is in anyway interested but then he does little things that give me a glimmer of doubt. What do you think Dan, am I being stupid?" he looked at me for a minute then looked straight ahead, I could see he was trying to choose his words carefully. This in itself told me he didn't think that Harry was interested. "Well for one you aren't being stupid. Harry is acting a little weird these days and I can't really put my finger on why but saying that unfortunately Lolly im pretty sure he only sees you as a friend." As he said the last part he wrapped his arm around me and pulled me towards him, knowing that, that isn't what I wanted to hear. My heart sunk, I know Danny would always be honest with me, but I also know that if he thought there was even a tiny glimmer of hope he would tell me, always wanting me to be happy. As we arrived at my door he pulled me into a big bear hug. "Come on, chin up it's not the end of the world it just means you are available for when Johnny Depp comes and sweeps you of your feet" he said with a grin. I couldn't help but smile at him. "Thanks Dan you're the best." I gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked into my house.
As I lay in bed that night I thought about how much, above everything else, I valued Harry as a friend. I couldn't let my feelings come between us. He meant too much to me. That's it I just had to get over him. Not that, that was going to be an easy task but it had to be done!
