Love me // Judd Birch x Reader

14: Iona

"Why are you both acting like it was fucking freezing up there?" Judd said, placing his coat on the back of a chair before walking over to where we were sitting.
"How are you acting like we were in Thailand or something? Shit was cold, damn." Julian mumbled- pulling the duvet tighter around his shoulders to keep the heat in.

I was in a similar position but with an additional hot water bottle underneath the duvet to try and keep it from going cold- but in the meantime was burning my stomach. "You still fight?" Julian asked out of nowhere, turning his head to make eye contact with me.
"You should've seen her when my 'ex' came knocking." Judd chuckled to himself, Julian on the other hand turned around to face me with a less impressed expression.
"I shouldn't have asked." He replied, rolling over to the side.

"Don't you have uni?" I asked him, watching as he rolled around in the duvet to try and make himself warmer. At the sound of the word 'uni' his head pricked up, squinting his eyes at me.
"Don't you have a life outside your love life?" He snapped back.
"Ouch. Noted." I flipped him off and continued to fiddle with the hot water bottle lid.
"Don't take it personal, just haven't been attending my lectures for my masters."
"Boring?"
"Like you wouldn't believe." He proceeded to shove his head into the pillow near him and groan loudly.

Judd came and sat down next to me and I opened the duvet, wincing at the cold breeze it let in. He shuffled and grabbed my waist- wrapping his arms around it and moving me into his lap so we could share the cover without risks of gaps that would let in cold.

"(Y/N)!" The sound of the door slamming open caught all of our attention, our eyes simultaneously looking over to see Iona panting, holding the doorframe firmly with one hand- so much that her knuckles, which on closer inspection were filled with small cuts, were prominently showing.
"Iona for fucks sake ever heard of knocking?" Judd let go of my waist and we all sat up straight to listen to the reason why she was in such a windswept state. She was wearing different clothes than what she'd usually wear, it was almost as if she had dressed up.
"Judd do you every fucking shut your mouth, first at the cocktail bar and now this- don't you have anything fucking better to do than look grumpy every single fucking goddamn day. Don't you have a job to be at? Don't you have something to study? Don't you have some petty crime to commit? Jesus on a fucking motorbike if I hear you utter another word I will make sure the next tyres that are pierced are the ones in the fucking hearse they're going to take you away in after I've finished with you." The only noise anyone could hear after that was Iona's panting, which had gotten heavier since she had somehow managed to say that in one breath. I was trying so hard to conceal the smile that was breaking out on my lips, I'd never seen her this angry about anything and I loved it.

Judd on the other hand didn't even say anything, he just nodded. I quickly glanced at Julian, who had his arms crossed over his chest like a proud dad with a beam that stretched from ear to ear. "Anyways, can you two get the fuck out please I need to speak to (Y/n) alone." They both nodded and left the room one after the other. I moved over and let her come sit on the bed next to me. As soon as the door clicked shut behind them she collapsed onto my lap, hugging my waist with her two arms and head turned towards my stomach.

"What do I do (Y/n)?" She groaned, her voice croaky and her shoulders shaking a little as she embraced me.
"Talk to me, what happened Iona?"
"I don't know how to feel, I thought she liked me (Y/n). We did and saw loads of things together and every single moment that we spent together I want to treasure in my heart and keep it all to myself. Every time I saw her it felt like something lighting up in my chest and heating me when the days seemed to get colder and until I got home. Even when I was at my worst and living felt like a chore whenever I'd see her or she'd message me it felt like everything was going to be fine." I could feel my t-shirt start to get wet and I rubbed her back in circles, trying to comfort her as best as I could as she cried.
"Sarah?" I asked, her head snapped up immediately to look at me and she had a cross between a shocked and puzzled expression on her face.
"Was that a lucky guess or did you know?" Her lips had little cuts and there was some raw skin exposed from where she had been biting and ripping the skin off her lips out of anxiousness.

"I could tell dummy, I think everyone could tell from a mile away that you had heart eyes for her." It was true, Iona and Sarah always seemed like they were lightly flirting and Iona was not sneaky at hiding the fact that every time Sarah walked into the room she'd straighten up and try and fix up her outfit to look better for her.
"But I tried to hide it because I didn't want to risk our friendship and then it turns out she had a boyfriend the whole time. Now every time I see them I want to gouge out my eyes with hot pokers and eat them while the irons still hot." Iona let out a long sigh and let go of my waist, sitting up straight and wiping the tears from under her eyes. I was actually surprised that Sarah had gotten into a relationship, it always looked like she somewhat reciprocated the feelings that Iona had. I knew Julian would have something to say because me and him always speculated on how long it would take for them to get together.

Iona's mascara had now run down her face a little, so I leaned over and fished the face wipes from the bedside table to wipe the tears and makeup away.
"You, Iona are one of the best people I've ever met- if Sarah can't see that then she doesn't deserve you."
"You don't mean that and she doesn't have to see that because clearly she doesn't see me in that way...but it hurts you know? After everything we've done together and time we've spent doing things this is how it ends?"
"It doesn't have to end Iona-"
"Yes it does! I can't be just friends with her anymore! I can't sit around and watch her boyfriend being all over her when I'm the one who wants to be in his place, it hurts (Y/n)!" I bit my lip and nodded, I didn't know what to say to help her because there was nothing really she could do. I would love to say sabotage the relationship and then get with Sarah but that is literally the worst possible advice and furthermore the fact that Sarah got into that relationship in the first place may prove that there were no feelings for Iona in the first place- it wasn't guaranteed that this was the case but giving Iona false hope when she was already feeling low would be cruel, I didn't know what their friendship was like to the full extent but I just wish I had the right words to say to her that would make her feel better.

"It's fine..." Iona mutters, turning her head towards the wall and pulling at the hem of her sleeve to wipe away the tears again.
"Tell her." I said, propping my head on her shoulder.
"(Y/n) I can't."
"Why not? There's no harm in telling her at least she knows."
"That's selfish (y/n), I can tell she's happy it's unfair."
"You're right, but it's either that or distancing yourself until you can be her friend without it hurting...then again who knows what the future holds." She let out another deep sigh and turned around to hug me, burying her face in the crook of my neck.

"Can we come in now?" Judds voice was on the other side of the door, he sounded fed up but I wondered if they had waited just on the other side of the door the whole time.
"No!" Iona shouted back, "Judd Birch remember what I said earlier!" I let out a little laugh and squeezed her shoulders. Judd's footsteps were heard walking away from the door and for the rest of the afternoon I sat with Iona chatting about everything that had happened between them. The fact that she remembered even small details about the things they did together when I knew that Iona's memory wasn't the sharpest showed to me how much she really cared and was present when they were together.

"Why don't we plan a little holiday?" I said, looking at her after she'd cried her heart out and collapsed in my lap again. Her eyes glanced at me and it looked like there were little stars in them.
"Can we go to Bali?" She replied, a small smile placing itself on her lips, "I always wanted to take Sarah there so I could propose to her."