Tomorrow's Blues

26. Midnight Talks

For the whole morning, Ellie, Alice, Sam and I cleared up the mess we made. Catherine had left the house, trusting us to tidy everything up, giving us a bit of a stern talking-to. I couldn't blame her at all for being angry. The state we'd left the patio area in was appalling, to say the least. But we cleaned and tidied and threw away all the rubbish until you couldn't even tell we'd all got smashed.

Ellie and Sam left pretty quickly after – truth be told, I was pretty sure they were a little scared of Catherine. She was lovely and kind, but she was also the stricter parent. We'd finally woken up Ryan, who was barely alive. While Catherine was still out, Ryan stayed for breakfast and we cooked ourselves bacon sandwiches to help the hangovers. I hadn't seen Joseph since I'd left his room – I imagined he didn't want to be around a group of hungover and grumpy people.

Ryan left after breakfast, and Catherine came back home from her morning out. She gave us the 'I'm not mad, I'm just disappointed' talk, and while Alice seemed unbothered, I took it to heart. I hated disappointing Catherine – she was like my second mum. And I supposed she was the only mother figure I had, now. Last night had been a great distraction for me, but Catherine's scolding had brought back memories of when my mum would tell Alice and me off if we ever misbehaved – which was often. But I didn't cry.

When Alice and I were later lying on the sofas, wallowing in self-pity, the doorbell rang. We both glanced at each other, but neither of us moved.

"I'm not going. This is not really my house. I doubt it's for me," I said stubbornly.

Alice scowled. "I'm not going either. I didn't get to sleep in a nice comfy bed last night and now my back hurts."

Needless to say, being hungover did not bring out the best side in either of us.

Finally, Catherine appeared and looked over at us. "Neither of you fancied answering the door?"

"Sorry, we're stuck to the sofa and cannot physically get up," Alice said, sinking further into the cushions.

Catherine rolled her eyes but answered the door. "Oh, hello, can I help you?"

"Um, I'm looking for Ana?"

I immediately sat up. That was Harry. I exchanged a glance with Alice, her expression concerned. I knew her so well that I could tell what she was thinking – are you okay to see him?

Catherine looked over at me questioningly. I sighed and got up reluctantly. Might as well do this now. I briefly realised that I looked terrible, but then thought that I no longer cared about that with Harry.

When he saw me, he smiled, and then his eyebrows furrowed in worry. "Ana, hey. Can we talk?"

I nodded and gestured for him to step backwards so that we could talk outside. I shut the door behind me before turning to Harry and crossing my arms, waiting for him to talk.

He rubbed the back of his neck in a nervous gesture. "Ana, I am so sorry about yesterday. I don't know what I was thinking, taking you on a boat. That was so stupid and tactless. I am really sorry."

As I looked at Harry, I believed him. I believed that he was sorry. I could see it in his expression, I could see the remorse in his eyes. But honestly, looking at him now, I just didn't really feel anything for him. "Harry, look, I forgive you for the whole boat thing. I can see that you're sorry. But–"

"Oh thank god," he interrupted, and he wrapped his arms around me in a hug. I stiffened and didn't hug him back. "I mean, you really have no reason to forgive me. I was such an idiot." He pulled back and glanced down at my outfit. "Are those your clothes?"