shiver | wilbur soot

15

it was brighton day, the day wilbur was not quite looking forward to.

after wilbur and hope met george and jack in the train station, they went for a little walk before heading to a restaurant. they had planned to meet everyone at a bar later on in the evening and then heading back to wilbur's afterwards for more drinks and somewhere to chill.

at the bar, many of wilbur's friends met them and they were also joined by niki who hope was very excited to see, it was evident by the large grin across her lips. the two girls ordered themselves cocktails, even jack joined in on the fun after tasting one of them and loving it. after being in such a loud, dimly lit place, they decided to head back to wilbur's.

bodies were comfortably scattered around wilbur's living room. hope was seated in between george and wilbur on the sofa, but her body naturally radiated towards wilbur as their arms and legs brushed against one another. across from them was niki and jack having their own conversation, along with a few of wilbur's other friends around the room or getting drinks.

hope swallowed harshly, she could not understand why, but thing's felt tense between wilbur and george and she was crammed in the middle of it. it was thick and awkward and just as she was about to get up and get herself a drink, wilbur stood up and asked them both what they wanted.

"vodka coke, please." hope smiled softly.

"yeah," george nodded in agreement, "i'll have the same."

"alright, i'll be back in a minute." and with that, wilbur had dashed to the kitchen leaving george and hope next to one another. they slowly turned their heads towards one another, deciding to make light conversation whilst they waited for wilbur to return with drinks.

hope was already tipsy from the many drinks she had consumed earlier that night, but when wilbur handed her the drink, she gulped down half of it instantly, "someone's thirsty." george laughed.

"mhm." she wiped her lips and placed the glass on the coffee table, "definitely thirsty."

the group sat around, having their own conversations whilst wilbur played music through his bluetooth speaker. hope went and sat herself beside niki for a while, both blabbering nonsense to one another and speaking about topics that none of the guys around them would be bothered about. as for george, he sat talking to wilbur and jack most of the time as he knew them the best. he did not talk to hope much, mainly because he was not on her level and whenever hope was even just tipsy, she would cling onto wilbur like ivy, but he never minded as he was exactly the same around her. 

time ticked on and hope was sprawled out on the sofa, head laid limply on wilbur's lap as she gazed up at him. every so often he would look back down at her, but would quickly avert his gaze if he felt as though he was staring for too long. hearing a familiar song blare through the bluetooth speaker, hope's body instantly sprung up as she grinned from ear to ear.

"it's mine and wilby's favourite!" she exclaimed, slurring her words slightly. but excitement consumed her, it was her and wilbur's favourite arctic monkey's song, 'fake tales of san francisco', "fake tales of san francisco echo through the room! " she laughed at herself after yelling out the lyrics.

"i can't believe you call him wilby." jack glanced over at her, shaking his head in disappointment.

"yeah, i can't either," george glanced at her, "it's funny though."

hope jokingly furrowed her eyebrows at george, "people literally call you gogy." she smirked.

"you do have a point." george nodded in agreement before taking a gulp of his drink.