Even Angels Fall (27 page)

Her hangover is brutal. It always seems to be much worse when she has dropped the night before, which is perhaps another reason to refrain from doing it again? The memories of last night slowly creep into her mind and she remembers the thrill, the absolute high that she felt, and she knows that no matter how much she is suffering now, it was worth it.

Abbey stretches across the bed and turns Alex’s alarm clock towards her, gasping at the time. 1:30pm. She had no idea it was that late in the day. After 15 minutes in the bathroom trying to wake herself up so that she no longer resembles an extra from ‘night of the living dead’, she wraps herself in one of Alex’s zip up tops and ventures into the living room.

Lucy is curled up on the smaller sofa with her legs draped over Nathan. Gemma and Sophie are sitting opposite with their feet on the coffee table, sipping from large mugs of black coffee, and Darren is laid on his back with his eyes shut, his head resting in Sophie’s lap.

“Morning…” Abbey smiles in amusement. Clearly they are all feeling just as dreadful as she is and they look up and smile with little enthusiasm, mumbling incoherently in some form of greeting. There is a cough and a moan from behind her and she turns to see Liam sprawled out on the floor, face down next to the sound system.

Abbey taps Darren on the side and he wearily lifts his legs up. She drops onto the sofa as he lowers his feet back into her lap and she glances over towards the balcony at Alex, who is standing in the doorway looking out over the city. He exhales the smoke from his cigarette and winks at Abbey, smiling sweetly. Her hangover disappears for a moment as she remembers last night at the club and more importantly what happened when they got home. She fights the butterflies in her stomach as she smiles back, knowingly.

“Somebody make the pain go away…” Nathan moans, tilting his head back and rubbing his eyes.

“There, there…” Lucy mumbles, dryly, as she reaches up and pats him on the head.

“Thanks…” He smirks, as he kisses her lovingly, and Liam suddenly pushes himself up off the floor and staggers into the sofa, pausing for a moment while he waits for the dizziness to pass. His face is creased and wrinkled from where he has been leaning on his coat.

“Oh and he’s alive…” Nathan laughs.

“Fuck me what did I drink last night?!”

“What didn’t you drink last night would probably be an easier question to answer!” Gemma giggles.

“I have a vague memory of getting that barmaid to make us our own brand of cocktail…!” Darren reminds him, shaking his head.

“Shit yeah, she was fit…”

“Was she now?!” Sophie muses, as she stops running her hands through Darren’s hair.

“I was only acting as wing man babe…” Darren explains, “He needed all the help he could get, trust me…”

“Whatever, she wanted me…” Liam sniffs, as he walks over to join Alex on the balcony. He lights up a cigarette and starts mindlessly tapping a football about. As they all wallow in the pain of their hangovers, Tom staggers in wearing just his boxer shorts and looking rougher than anyone.

“Morning sunshine…!” Alex laughs.

“Fucking hell I feel like shit…” His voice is gruff with sleep and he clears his throat.

“You look like shit…” Alex confirms, smiling.

“What the fuck went on last night?” He asks, half amused, half perplexed, “I had to let some bird out at about half 7 this morning I don’t even remember bringing her home!” The others laugh at Tom’s obvious confusion and Gemma rolls her eyes at him as he drops onto the sofa beside her, completely lacking in energy.

“What bird?!” Lucy asks, intrigued.

“That blonde lass who was working behind the bar last night…!”

“Oh you fucker!” Liam shouts, and the others burst into hysterical laughter, “I put a lot of time and energy into pulling her, she was having none of it…”

“What can I say mate, she obviously has taste!” Tom smirks.

“And she probably caught sight of your dance moves…!” Abbey quips at Liam, causing the others to howl with laughter again.

“Gutted…” He jokes, holding his head in his hands in mock despair.

There is a brief silence as another wave of tiredness and nausea hits the group and Abbey promises herself she will never drink so much again.

“It’s a well nice day today, man…” Liam announces, as he kicks the football up into his hands and leans on the door frame opposite Alex, “we should do something, instead of being stuck inside the flat all day…”

“Stuck inside the flat…?” Alex repeats the words back to him, “Jesus Christ I’m not keeping you all fucking hostage you know, I mean you can go home…!”

Liam laughs but ignores Alex’s comment, as he knows, just like everyone else does, that he would never ask any of them to leave. This is their home.

“Like what?” Darren yawns.

“I dunno… a kick about maybe?” The lads scoff at the idea as the girls groan in unison at the mere mention of football.

“What would we do?” Sophie asks.

“Sunbathe…”

“I’m actually liking this plan…” Lucy raises her hand in agreement.

“You’re having a fucking laugh aren’t you?” Tom groans.

“You’ll feel better for it man, trust me! When I played Sunday league I was always battered from the night before, but after a game I felt fine…”

“You played Sunday league?!” Alex tries to hide the amusement in his voice as he frowns at Liam.

“Yeah, but he was pretty shit…” Nathan jokes.

“Was I fuck! I’d run rings around the pair of you…”

“I doubt it…”

“Sounds like a challenge to me Matthews…” Liam grins, goading him.

“Alright you’re on…!” He nods.

“Oh what? You’re kidding? I can’t play football in this fucking state…” Tom drops his head into Gemma’s lap, “I’m rough as a bears arse! Which knobhead bought that bottle of Tequila last night?!”

“That’d be you, mate…” Alex laughs, “Don’t worry, you can go in goal…” And Tom hangs his arms dramatically across his face, shaking his head at the thought as he pretends to cry.

It is easily the nicest day of the year so far. There isn’t a single cloud in the sky and it is hot, really hot. The park is full of families sharing picnics, children riding bikes and teenagers impressing each other with tricks on their skateboards. There is a queue about a mile long at the ice cream van parked by the entrance and the café is heaving. All the tables outside are occupied and Abbey stares over at the arcade, smiling to herself. That’s where it all began, the first day she skipped class with Lucy, Nathan and Liam.

It is completely empty at the moment; all the games flash brightly but stand unoccupied as the weather is far too nice to be indoors. Abbey lies back on the grass, feeling grateful towards Liam for having this idea. The mid-afternoon sun warms her to the bones and it feels relaxing and comforting. The pain of this morning is slowly ebbing away as she dozes next to Gemma, who has rolled her t-shirt up above her waist. Sophie sits cross legged beside them in the shade from a nearby tree, shielding her fair skin from the harsh rays, and Lucy is lying on her stomach reading one of her magazines.

“Come on Tom, pick it up…!” Nathan laughs.

They have been playing football for almost an hour now with the occasional break in between. Abbey is uncertain who is winning, she only knows that Alex and Nathan are playing against Darren and Liam, and Tom seems to be on his own in goal. He has thrown up twice already, but is still standing… for now.

The heat had become too much almost instantly and after about 10 minutes, they had all removed their tops. Not that Abbey is paying any attention to the others; but she is certainly enjoying the game more than she expected to thanks to the view from the side lines of Alex running gracefully, with his muscles flexing and sweat glistening on his body. Sitting with her girls on a large picnic blanket, with food and drink and good music on the radio, while watching the boys battle it out on the pitch? She seriously couldn’t be more perfectly content if she tried.

There has been quite a lot of play fighting and a fair few disagreements so far, mainly between Liam and Alex, and the banter is off the scale. ‘Boys and their competitiveness’ she sighs, fondly. There is a loud cheer from Nathan as he scores a goal and Tom leans forward on his knees, coughing and spitting onto the ground in front of him.

“At least you can use your hangover as a reason for being so shit!” Liam laughs.

“He might be shocking in goal Dobson, but we’re still kicking your arse…”

“Don’t be getting cocky Ireland. It’s not over ‘til the fat bird sings…!”

The girls laugh as they watch Liam and Alex break out into a play fight in the middle of the field and Tom uses the distraction to rest for a moment, sitting down and leaning forward on his knees.

“Still with us mate?” Sophie shouts over, and he waves half-heartedly while taking deep, steadying breaths.

“Yeah… fine…! Just gonna go find a fat lass… ask her to sing…” He pants, shaking his head with absolute exhaustion as he collapses onto his back with his arms outstretched.

One thing Abbey can’t fault about living up North, are the sunsets. The sky over Leeds is painted a beautiful, deep pink with streaks of orange and red illuminating the delicate whispers of cloud. It is late evening but still pleasantly warm, and she closes her eyes as the gentle breeze swirls around her. She loves this time of day - particularly at this time of year - and the view from the flat balcony is breath taking.

Alex places two glasses of red wine on the outdoor table and wraps his arms around Abbey’s waist, resting his chin on her shoulder.

“Wow…” He states, taking in the scenery.

“I know. It’s hard to believe there isn’t more beyond this life, when you see something like that…” She contemplates, out loud. Alex stares at her thoughtfully and she turns to face him, feeling a little embarrassed by her deep and meaningful insight, but he smiles and nods in agreement.

“I certainly hope there’s more…” He whispers thoughtfully, “Although I can’t think of anywhere I’d rather be than right her, right now…”

“Well, that makes two of us…” Abbey leans forward and as their lips touch, Alex reaches up into her hair, pulling her body tightly against his with a longing intensity. The others, for once, have actually gone home and they are completely alone. Apart from Tom, who is currently comatose in his bedroom, snoring so loudly that the walls are vibrating. It has been a long day. One filled with fun and laughter, completely trouble free, relaxing in the park in the glorious sunshine without a care in the world. It is exactly how it should be for people their age.

Alex begins to laugh as he grudgingly breaks away from Abbey, moving inside and switching on the sound system so that it drowns out Tom’s rhythmic snores. He turns up the volume and the soft acoustic melody of Damien Rice starts to play.

“That’s better…” He laughs again, “It’s a good job I don’t need much sleep, living with him all these years would have driven me fucking crazy!”

“He’s had a rough day…” Abbey jokes, “Being monstrously hung over and having a football repeatedly kicked in my face, isn’t exactly my idea of fun either…!”

“Oh? And what is your idea of fun?!” Alex smiles mischievously, tracing his thumb across Abbey’s bottom lip.

“These days…? Anything that involves you…” She answers without thinking, and his expression softens.

“You really feel that way?” He asks, surprised.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“I’m not exactly a catch am I? Teenage runaway, hooligan, criminal…” He shrugs, sadly, “You could do better…”

“That isn’t who you are… ” She frowns, “Besides, I’m messed up too in case you hadn’t noticed! Who isn’t…?”

“You’re anything but messed up, Abbey. You’re beautiful…” He rests his forehead lightly against hers, “and you make me want to be better…”

Alex’s whispered confession warms Abbey from the inside out and she smiles as he tilts her chin up to look at him. Without another word, he steps forward and gently places his right hand in her left while sliding his free arm around her waist and they begin to dance, slowly and sweetly from side to side as the sunset lights up the city behind them.

Alex never breaks eye contact and Abbey can see the self-doubt and insecurity that he manages to keep so well hidden play out across his face. He looks so vulnerable, and his guard is completely down as he slows to a stop and they stare at each other for the longest moment.

“I love you…” He whispers with a pained expression and Abbey’s breath catches in her throat, “You are the bravest, strongest, most giving person I’ve ever met. And I’m in love with you….” Her head starts to spin as she stares up into Alex’s wide eyed expression, trying to grasp what he has just said. She struggles to find the right words and before she can answer, he speaks again, “And I’m no good for you. I know I’m no good for you. You deserve more than this, something normal, something safe… more than what I have. But you really do make me want to be a better person, Abbey. You make me want to try and I’ve never had that before. I feel like you know me… and I… I just…”

Abbey reaches up and holds Alex’s head firmly between her hands, forcing him to stop talking and look at her. She doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry at his sweet and increasingly insecure outburst but she finally manages to compose herself as she stares deeply into his beautiful eyes with a burning sincerity.

“I love you too…” She whispers.