The Flat

5

When morning came, it was easy to pretend to be too hungover for morning sex with Aaron. However, he was so bloody sweet that he brought me breakfast in bed. As I nibbled on some toast I realised that I was in fact very hungover. I drank as much orange juice as my body would allow. Though I was far from drunk, my head was definitely still swimming.

In the daylight, my actions of the night before seemed ludicrous, almost like I'd been someone else. Like I'd been possessed by some other woman who was selfish and reckless. Slowly, the guilt began to creep in. I'd just had sex with another man while on holiday with my boyfriend.

I had had sex with another guy in my boyfriend's parents summer home, with my boyfriend sleeping in the next room.

My eyes began to brim with tears. I buried my head in my pillow. I had no idea how I was going to tell Aaron. I knew that I had to tell him, but I dreaded it. A small part of me wondered how long I could get away with keeping it a secret. I dried my eyes, finished the rest of my toast and tried to push the events from last night out of my head.

Aaron had packed up his Mercedes to go back to the city. I got dressed and went out to the driveway to see Harry sitting in the backseat. Natasha was in the front.

"What's up?" I asked. Natasha rolled down her window.

"I'm not talking to him," she said and I looked over at Aaron.

"I figured you'd want to rest since you didn't feel good this morning. And," he whispered, "it sounds like they had quite the blow out last night. It should be better for everyone if they're separated, okay babe?" He kissed me on the forehead.

Nodding, I looked at Harry who was slumped in the back. He was in a pair of denim shorts, a white tee and sunglasses. His arms looked amazing as he relaxed his head back into his hands. He peered at me over the top of his sunglasses and I quickly glanced back, but refused to fully look at him. Then I got into the other side of the backseat and placed my bag between us. Curled up against my side, I closed my eyes.

Try as I might, I couldn't sleep. I just did my best to keep my body away from Harry's. I had to glue my eyes shut as I heard snatches of boring conversation between Aaron and Natasha as they tried to make small talk. They talked about television shows, the weather, the roads. When they moved into vegans vs vegetarians, I cracked my eyes open and mapped how long we had left on my mobile. Forty-five minutes. Thank goodness.

When the car arrived in Croydon, I occasionally opened my eyes and counted the streets as we got closer to the flat. Once we finally pulled up, I grabbed my handbag and hopped out of the car. The clouds looked heavy. Thankfully Aaron grabbed my handbag from me and took it up to my room.

Natasha was sulking in the front seat, glued to her phone, while Harry threw her stuff out of the boot of the car and onto the kerb. I kept my gaze down, barrelled past them and followed Aaron upstairs.

"Aaron?" I yelled after him.

"In here," he yelled from my room. I followed his voice to see everything unpacked and set up for me. There was even a glass of water and painkillers on my nightstand. "Do you need a bucket? It's fine if you do, that was a long car ride."

"No, that's alright. Thank you,"

He held me sweetly in his arms and kissed my forehead before asking, "Do you want me to stay with you?"

"No. I'm gonna be cranky all day while I nurse this hangover," I said, burying myself in the crook of his neck. I couldn't quite look at his face and I hated how comforting he was.

"Ok. Call me in a few hours," he said as he nuzzled my hair, "I want to make sure you're well. Alright?"

"Yes." I smiled weakly.