Outside

20

"Can I come over? I have booze and Bob's busy tonight so I've no one to drink with" Lois rushes her words the second I answer the phone, hardly even taking a break to breathe when she talks. It makes me giggle, the fact that she can't just wait for Bob to be free another day so that she can drink with him.

"Right now?" I asks her, and when she tell me yes, I tell her to come right over with a smile even though she car see me and I end the call with a quick goodbye.

I quickly get changed out of the hoodie Van lent me, and the jeans that are beginning to get uncomfortably tight, and I swap it all for a basic outfit. Nothing too much since it's just a little drinking session with my best friend to pull me out of reality and into the dizzy world of intoxication, nothing out of the ordinary.

The door randomly slams shut after about half an hour of me scrolling through some random websites to look for any jobs available, indicating that mum and dad have disappeared without even saying goodbye, leaving me to just wait for Lois to show up at the door with her contagious laughter and that smile I haven't seen for days.

Domino is the first to jump up when the doorbell rings, of course he is. I follow behind him as he races down the stairs, jumping and scratching for the door to be opened and reveal the visitor which is Lois. A huge smile on her face, bottle of smirnoff in her hand, a bag of whatever else in the other.

I put my hands together, looking up at the clouds, catching Lois' confused expression in the corner of my eye as I pray to the man in the sky, "I'm thanking God for giving me you" I laugh when she jokingly tells me to 'fuck off' and I invite her into my home, quickly shutting the door behind so that no more cold than come in. The two of us make our way into my bedroom, and Lois places the beverages on my desk, dropping the Asda bag to the floor before sitting herself down on the cushioned desk chair.

I regret getting so excited when she turned up and I regret letting my happiness take over my boredom when she put the vodka down on my desk, because the second her gaze fell to the spot under my skin, her smile dropped and her eyes widened, just like Larry's did except he kept his smile, whereas she just looks utterly disappointed.

"What are- oh Lyla, you didn't" Her voice lowers, not a whisper- more like a hiss, as if someone could overhear and calls me out for having these marks on my neck, even though no one else is in except Lois and I.

I don't reply. I stand sit on my bed silently waiting for her to show her disappointment in me with words instead of having furrowed brows and a straight line for lips, waitingfor her to say something along the lines of-

"You're an idiot" she says, pulling the words from my mind and bringing them into existence, "not even a month and you've already shagged him?"

"It's actually been longer than a month Lo" I correct her and a grin spreads across my face, "and weren't you encouraging me to be Van's groupie the other day?" A laugh escapes my lips when I suddenly remember her saying that exact thing.

"You shagged him then?" She asks, already knowing the answer but clearly wanting confirmation from me so that she can just tease me even more being sure that it's true.

I nod without saying anything in response as I wait for her to either slap me across the face or jump around the room in excitement because her best friend slept with someone who has a huge fan base of girls who'd love to be in my shoes. But she doesn't do either of those, she just sits there smiling up at me in a cheeky manner.

"Yous need some serious makeup lessons if you're gonna be shaggin' a lad like him Lyla, those fuckers are hardly even covered" she laughs out loud, teasing me further until I just roll myself off the bed and lay on the floor wondering why my life can't just be drama free like other girls my age.

Because other girls my age don't get with boys who are in bands, getting famous and touring the world without any problems in their lives. Other girls my age go out partying with their girl friends and have one night stands with lads they'll never see again, unlike me who owns one friend who's female, and five who are male. Unlike me who slept with a man who'll soon be back on tour, along with my best friend, leaving me alone to wallow in self pity until they all come back. And even then I can't be sure that Van will want me like he does now, I can't be sure that I'll even see him again, I can't be sure that he'll even come back to London to stay like he did before.

"C'mon then spill, how was the date?" Lois asks, cracking open a can and passing it to me before getting one for herself.

I giggle at her enthusiasm and begin to tell her what went on, "wasn't like romantic or anything but it was really cute, very Van-like" I say, sitting up a little bit so that I don't choke on my drink.

Lois listens to everything, from me rambling on about how adorable Van's face was when it lit up at the sight of our photo strips, which I'd since stuck on my mirror, to me moaning about how drunk we got to the point where we could hardly walk up the stairs of the b&b. I told her about the end of the night, how gentle he was and how often he'd ask if I was okay, if I wanted to carry on, if I was comfortable. How he asked me again to go on tour, how I've actually been considering it since the first time he asked me, how I just don't know whether I want to take that step yet.

As I was telling her, I could tell she was loving every bit of it. She isn't one of those who'd get bothered or weirded out that some guy took her friend on a date, she wouldn't ever get jealous or bored when I ramble about my achievements. Lois is the type of person who'd just sit and listen and ask questions because she's actually interested in what people have to say. She actually cared about the date and she actually wanted me to tell her what happened, she even ordered me to add every single detail in. I'm betting she tried to imagine it all in that mad mind of hers, it wouldn't surprise me.

"Man, Bob better step up his game or I'm gonna make Van take me on a date" she jokes, and I shake my head at her playfully.

We're already five cans and half a bottle of vodka in when I've finished my story telling. The two of us are completely and utterly wasted by this point, to the point where Lois insisted we laid out in the garden and watched the stars despite it being wet from the rain and absolutely freezing due to it being the beginning of Autumn.

I still obeyed though it was a stupid idea at this time of year, and I followed her out onto the wet grass and soaked it all up as we gazed up at the sky. Pointing out different stars and naming them the weirdest names we could think of. Although we could hardly even see them because of how dizzy we are, because of how fast the world is spinning beneath and around us.