I jumped looking around myself.
I fell asleep. We were watching a movie, and I fell asleep. Franko didn’t want to leave me alone after we got back to my house and if I’m being honest, I wasn’t pushing for him to leave.
“You all good?”. He asked.
“You’re still here?”. I ran a hand down my face.
“You want me to leave?”. He smirked.
I didn’t but that’s not what I was getting at. I thought he would have left since I was asleep.
“Is it late?”. I asked.
“Almost 11 you want me to go?”.
“I’m starving”. I lifted the lid of the pizza box and took the last slice. “Was I sleeping long?”.
“Snoring the minute you lay down”.
“I don’t snore”. I made a face. “The film must have been rubbish”.
“It’s a classic darling”.
I rolled my eyes. “Do you want to watch something else?”.
“Am I staying over?”.
“Huh?”. Staying over? God, I’d never had a boy in my house this long never mind sleeping here. But oddly I wasn’t against the idea of it. No one was here; my parents were out of town. No one would know he stayed over.
“Well, it’s getting late darling”.
“Do you want to stay over?”. I chewed the inside of my cheek.
“Do you want me to?”. He asked.
“You can if you want”. I shrugged. “I’m going to get-…”. A bang broke through the air causing me to jump. “What was that?”.
He shot to his feet going straight towards the front door.
“Stay here”. He warned.
“What, no, wait it might be-…”. My eyes landed on Alice slumped against my porch after he opened the door. “Is she even conscious?”.
I wanted to know what the hell she hit my door with.
“How the fuck did she even get here?”. He grunted.
I kept my thoughts to myself because if I find out Tommy dropped her off in that state and left her, I won’t be happy.
“Am I bringing her inside?”. He asked.
“Well, we can’t leave her there”. I watched him pick her up in his arms and I closed the door once he brought her inside. “What a mess to get yourself in”. I sighed.
“Where am I putting her?”.
“On the couch, we need to try and wake her up. I’ll get some water”.
How did this even happen? The warehouse was miles away, it was late, and she was shitfaced. I’ll be more pissed off if I find out she walked here. But surely, she wouldn’t, she couldn’t.
I got her a glass of water and when I returned to the living room she was sat with her head in her hands. She woke fast but at least she wasn’t dead.
“Here”.
“I’m sorry”. She muttered. “I don’t even know why I’m here”.
I didn’t know what to say to her. If she was okay, then whatever was going on with her could be talked about tomorrow.
“How drunk are you?”.
“A little mostly tired”.
Was she drinking every night? Was she out partying till all hours? She had changed massively, and it was not good on her. I wasn’t against having fun, but this was becoming too much.
I was afraid the drinking was becoming a habit and not a good one at sixteen.
“You can stay here tonight and sleep in my room. Take the water”.
“I’m such a shitty friend Aubrey”.
I wasn’t going to get into this with her tonight. Not when she was like this and not in front of Franko.
“We don’t need to talk tonight. I think it’s best if you sleep it off and we can catch up tomorrow”.
“Okay and you’re sure I can stay?”.
“Yes”. I nodded.
“Thanks Aubrey”.
A sigh fell from my lips once I heard the door to my bedroom open and then close. I would never turn her away regardless of what we were going through.
“You alright?”. He asked.
I nodded.
“That’s bad darling”. A sigh fell from his lips as he sat beside me. “She ain’t in a good place, is she?”.
“No and I know you dislike her, but she needs help, I need to make sure she’s okay”.
“Aye darling I get that. She’s getting sucked in further and further. Want me to have a word with Tommy?”.
“What do you mean sucked in?”. I asked.
A sigh fell from his lips as he ran a hand down his face. “Sucked into the lifestyle darling”.
Lifestyle? The club’s lifestyle?
“And what lifestyle is that?”. I frowned.
“Our lifestyle, my lifestyle”. He corrected. “Girls want the club life. They want the reputation; the attention and they’ll do anything to get it”.
I wasn’t sure I was following him or understood what he was trying to say. We were kids, what lifestyle could we want at this age? I barely know what I want for dinner most days.
“I see it happen all the time”.
“See what happen all the time Franko?”.
“Young girls come to the clubhouse and never leave”.
My stomach flopped. “And you think that’s what she’s doing?”.
He shrugged. “She ever act this way before Tommy?”.
“Never”. I spoke. “But he’s her first boyfriend and she fell head over heels for him within weeks. I think I mean I’m hoping she’s doing all of this to impress him”.
“Getting shitfaced ain’t impressing anyone darling”.
“Then I don’t know”. I sighed. “But I don’t think Tommy is a good influence on her and I’m sorry I know he’s your friend but she’s mine”. I had yet to have the conversation with him about Tommy pursuing Alice so Franko could get to me.
That was for another time, but it would happen because watching her do this to herself wasn’t nice. I didn’t like seeing her sparkle disappear. The light inside her disappearing in front of me.
“He’ll back off”. He spoke.
“But what if that makes things worse?”.
“After seeing her tonight, I don’t think it can get worse darling”.
He wasn’t wrong.
…
I slept on the floor of my bedroom; Franko was on the couch downstairs. He didn’t want to leave last night in case something happened.
“You slept on the floor?”. Alice spoke.
I rolled over onto my back a groan falling from my lips. That was the worst sleep I’d ever had and the most uncomfortable I’ve ever felt.
“Yeah, how are you feeling?”.
“Like shit, I feel shit about everything”.
“Do you want to talk about it?”.
“Yeah, but maybe later if that’s okay?”.
“I think you need to break up with Tommy”. I spoke.
“I know I’m going to do it today”.
“You are?”. I frowned.
She nodded. “I think I need to be by myself for a while. I’m not blaming Tommy for my actions, but I don’t like what’s going on with me”.
Wow. I wasn’t expecting her to say that but I’m glad she didn’t like the person she was becoming. It was a start in the right direction.
“And I’m sorry to you for everything. I’ve been the worst friend ever and I wouldn’t blame you if you hated me right now”.
Hate was a strong word. I didn’t hate her but these past few weeks she frustrated the life out of me.
“I don’t hate you, Alice. Did you piss me off yes, but I’ll get over it. I just want you to be okay. I kind of miss having my best friend around”.
“I’m the worst friend ever”. She groaned.
“How did you get to my house last night?”.
“Can I please get some water before we talk my head is pounding”.
I nodded pushing the covers off me and getting to my feet. “I need to pee, but I’ll meet you downstairs”.
“Is Franko still here?”. She asked.
“I think so”. I shrugged.
I wasn’t sure if he was or not. It was quiet downstairs, so he was either still sleeping or her had left.
“Then I’ll just wait right here for you”.
“Okay”. I smiled.
She didn’t. When I came back into the room she was gone. I wasn’t sure if she had bolted and left, or she was downstairs with Franko. If he was still here that is.
I grabbed a jumper and put it on before making my way downstairs and into the living room. She was still here but Franko wasn’t. I chewed the inside of my cheek.
He just left?
“I’m going to make coffee do you want some?”. I asked.
Why would he leave without saying goodbye? But maybe he left when I was asleep, and he didn’t want to wake me?
“Franko said he was going to bring breakfast and coffee back with him”. She scratched the back of her head.
“He’s coming back?”. My stomach fluttered. I still wasn’t used to the way I reacted towards him. He was never someone I expected to spend time with never mind have strong feelings for.
“You really like him, don’t you?”. She smiled.
“Define like”.
A laugh fell from her lips. “You like him, or you don’t”.
“We’re hanging out”. I shrugged.
“But you like him”. She made a face and pursed her lips.
“Yes, okay, I like him”. I sighed. “I like spending time with him. He makes me feel safe and it’s weird and I can’t explain it but it’s just nice”.
“You’re happy though, right?”.
“We’re not dating Alice”.
“No, I never said that I just mean when you’re with him you’re happy?”.
“Yeah, I think so. It feels right, I like being around him”.
“He likes you to you know. Never stops talking about you apparently”.
I brushed it off with an eye roll. I knew he liked me; we liked each other but I wasn’t sure what the next step would be. I wasn’t sure dating was on the cards after what happened last time.
“I think he’d be good for you”. She spoke.
“Maybe”. I shrugged. “But for now I like the way things are”. There was no need to rush into something that didn’t need to be rushed. As I’ve said we’re hanging out and taking it from there.
Besides, I still wasn’t convinced Franko was a one girl type of guy. No matter how many times he says it I always had the tiniest bit of doubt. I gave in that one time and look what happened.
It came back and bit me on the ass. No matter what we did we always ended up hanging out or bumping into each other so for now I was going with the flow and seeing where things went.