Things We Don't Normally Do

FORTY

Ethan demanded a rematch, so they ended up downing another pint each, far too quickly. The second time, Ethan finished his beer with a large lead but Alex—just to be annoying—insisted he had cheated. Ethan, of course wanted another rematch as a tie breaker and this was when Gib and Lux had joined them at the bar.

"What's this then?" Gib's voice came up from behind them, "You two are having your own party here?"

"Nah mate, she's insisting I cheated." Ethan laughed but was also looking more worked up than he should over a drinking game, "But she also refuses to do a rematch."

"Nah, nah! I'll do a rematch, just not with beer. I don't have the luxury of a big enough gut to hold that much beer in me." Alex smirked. She may have just lost her filter.

"Did you just call me fat?" Ethan barked out a laugh that almost sounded like a clucking chicken, "You lot, she's fat shaming me!"

"Oh the violation!" Cal laughed.

"To be fair mate, look at the size difference between you two!" Gib offered, taking Alex's side, "Completely different weight classes."

"Oh I will not be taking this from you, Gibber!" Ethan said in mock offence, "You cannot bully me for my weight!"

The back and forth exchange between the four went on for a couple more minutes before Alex slowly backed away and tiptoed away from the pot she just stirred. She walked back to the table, taking the seat next to Harry, who was talking to Will and Mia—with the girl back to being all smiles at the table. She seemed perfectly nice, but the slight twitch at the corner of her lips gave away her distaste towards Alex.

Alex pushed the uneasy feeling down, determined not to let one person out of a massive group, completely ruin her fun. But the little encounter was definitely enough to leave a bitter taste in Alex's mouth.

Harry turned towards Alex and gave her a drink—a margarita with the ice now more than partially melted. He squeezed her hand from under the table, as Will carried on talking.

Feeling anxious about Mia's proximity, Alex was having a really difficult time not letting the uneasy feeling resurface. She felt intimidating enough even before the awkward encounter in the bathroom—with her perfectly manicured appearance, the hourglass body, the makeup and without a single strand of hair out of place. Maybe it was shallow or prejudiced on Alex's end to have judged the girl purely on appearance earlier, but now Alex felt it was perfectly justified.

So it was a relief when she and Will finally moved on to another conversation, now with Josh, Freya and Tobi.

"Should we get out of here?" Harry leaned closer into a whisper.

"Please." she didn't mean to sound as desperate to leave as she did.

Harry chuckled in response. And much to the protests of Harry's friends, they left the pub shortly after, getting an Uber and arrive back at his flat by 6 PM.

"Still up for dinner?" Harry smiled as he closed the door behind them.

Alex was taking her shoes off at the door—something that Harry still found very endearing. She smirked in response to his question she was tired and her mood had been very much dampened by Mia's secret hostility.

"Aww!" Harry came up to her, giving her a quick squeeze, "In a mood? That time of the month?"

Alex rolled her eyes, actually getting annoyed at the joke. But she said nothing and just walked over to the living room to plop herself on the couch.

Now maybe if they were more attuned with their emotions, they would've actually talked about this more. Maybe Harry would've prodded more and asked what was wrong. And maybe Alex would've told him about Mia and what she overheard in the bathroom. But neither of them were that emotionally matured. So he let it go and tried to move on from the uncomfortable atmosphere. And she pushed the uneasiness further down, sweeping the negative emotions under the rug.