Love Thy Neighbour *editing*

"I swear to God, I will kneecap you."

I wasn't angry with Sian; it was just the way she was. She got carried away with the attention from boys and, in all fairness, she did really like Rick. And besides, it was nice to be on my own. I liked having company, yeah, but I hadn't had a minute to myself for the last few days. I enjoyed being able to think without someone breathing down my neck. But I was at a bit of a loss as to what to do. Yeah, okay, shopping centre, shopping. But I had been round the shops already with Sian and I hadn't exactly been drawn to anything in particular.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out.

"Yes?" I said into the receiver. I could hear Sian sobbing on the other end.

"Evie, you need to come and get me," she wept. There was no way in hell that she could be that drunk already; she'd only left twenty minutes ago.

"What's happened?" I asked, sitting down on a bench.

"I can't- Please, just come and get me!"

I sighed and listened to her giving me a description of the alleyway she was in. You know, I couldn't tell one alley from the other so I was just going to have to guess where she was. It couldn't be that important, otherwise she would have phoned the emergency services. Actually, scratch that; Sian hadn't had anything to do with the police since she had done a runner from them at a marquee night. It hadn't been a pretty evening.

"I'll be there in couple of minutes," I murmured. I hung up on her and sat for a moment. If I had been a bad friend, I would have just fucked off home. But I was a good person and Sian sounded a mess.

What was new, eh?

So I walked out of the shopping centre, looking down each of the side streets as I walked down road. She had to around here somewhere; there was no way she and those boys could have gon very far, the state they had been in before. I had no idea why I was doing this; she had buggered off and left me on my own.

"Sian!" I shouted. She was sitting in the gutter, her hair falling down past her face. Rick was nowhere to be seen but at least he had left her with a can of cider. She didn't even look up. I sat down beside her, not caring about the dirt.

"I'm not a slag, Evie," she murmured. Ah jeez, what had happened? I put my arm around her. She began to cry again. I wasn't going to ask, I really wasn't.

"Where's Rick, Sian?" I asked her. Instead of changing the subject like I had intended, she just began to cry harder. Shit.

"He just fucked off." See, if I had been a bitch, I would have told her that was exactly what she had done to me and she deserved it. So I just thought it instead. What was I supposed to say to that?

"At least he left you some booze," I said, sounding ridiculously optimistic. Sian laughed through a nose full of snot.

"Yeah," she muttered sarcastically, "Great." I was really at a loss for words. Sian never ever cried. She actually didn't. It was always me that cracked.

"Come on," I trilled, pulling her to her feet. "Let's go home and watch some shitty movies." Sian giggled, stumbling about. My God, she couldn't hold her drink. I supported her by the arm, hauling her back up the street.

It wasn't as hard as I thought it would be, getting her on the bus and back to mine. I had thought that it would be a hell of a battle but she didn't even throw up. But she did fall through my door like she'd just come in from a boozy night on the town. I was past the point of being pissed with her; now I was in hysterics, laughing my head off. We went into the living room, slumping down on the sofa and gasping for our breath.

"Have you got any vodka?" Sian asked, throwing her shopping bags to the floor. I pointed to the drinks' cabinet in the corner. Everyone seemed to be out. Again. Wait, no, someone was moving about upstairs. Sian bent down in front of the cabinet and did eeny-meenie-miny-mo. Then she pulled out a bottle of vodka and waved it triumphantly above her head.