boys don't cry. [h.s]

two

January

Saturday night, Isabel and her housemates had decided to have a girls' night in rather than go out – a rarity, and one that Isabel had to cherish because she was normally made to go out both nights of the weekend.

They ordered in a takeaway, got The Notebook up on her laptop and all squeezed into Scarlett's bed in their pyjamas. Of course, rather paradoxically, a girls' night nowadays included Liam, Lydia's boyfriend.  

Officially, Millie, Scarlett, Lydia and Isabel rented the house, but since September Liam had been staying over every night, and after Christmas he had officially Moved In, bringing the remaining ten belongings that hadn't already surreptitiously snuck their way into Lydia's room round in one measly cardboard box.  

Normally, girls find it annoying when their friends are always around their boyfriends, and although the rest of them often moaned about Liam, they secretly loved having him around. He did most of the washing up around the house, and most of the tidying too (the domestic goddess that he was) and he never complained when they all made decisions about food or nights out without him.

Isabel suspected this had something to do with the fact that he didn't pay any rent and felt bad, but she liked him all the same.   Of the four girls, Lydia and Isabel were the only two with boyfriends. Scarlett had just come out of a long-term relationship and Millie was, as Louis called her, the ultimate definition of a mess. Every other week she had her heart broken, and that meant every other week, as her best friend, Isabel had to pick up the hysterical, over-dramatic pieces.  

"Why can't I have a relationship like this?" Millie cried dramatically, tears swelling in her eyes as she watched Noah and Ally kiss on the screen.  

"Soppy bitch," Scarlett laughed, poking Millie in the side lightly.  

"This film is so overrated anyway," was Isabel's only comment, and like usual when she spoke about films, everyone ignored her.  

"Relationships aren't all they're cracked up to be," Lydia interjected wisely, and Liam, who was quietly pouring over his mathematics textbook with his head in her lap, nodded in agreement.  

Millie threw a pillow at them with a wail of indignation, and she and Scarlett launched into an emotional lament about the woes of single life. Isabel only half listened, chewing on her nail absently   It was true that relationships weren't all they were cracked up to be, but it seemed that impending marriage was even worse. She had just got off the phone with her teary mother, who'd explained to her amidst an abundance of apologies that Isabel's brother James' engagement was really taking its toll on her bank balance.

Worried that she and her step-dad would have to cut into their lifelong savings for their retirement, they'd asked Isabel if she could work a few extra shifts so they could cut her allowance.   Her mother's request wasn't unreasonable, having tried her to best to financially support three kids through uni, and Isabel would much rather work more than have her parents worse off money wise. The problem was not the working – it was who she was working with.  

She'd called in sick on Friday afternoon, the thought of seeing Harry again leaving her a little sweaty and nervous, but faced with her mother crying down the phone, Isabel had to swallow her fear of the awkwardness and ring her boss, asking for another shift to bring her total up to three a week. He'd given her the Sunday evening slot, adding brightly that Harry worked that shift too.  

"I know you two get along so well," Dan had added as Isabel resisted the urge to burst into tears on the other end of the line.

"Harry was asking after you when you were sick."