What Happened at Half Term?

CHAPTER TWO

Kieran noticed the lights shining through the house and was thankful that he hadn't been the first to arrive. The countryside was beautiful but in early February, it was way too cold to be caught outside waiting for someone to let him in. Hauling up the load of bags he had carried with him from the coach stop, he stopped at the door and knocked. He peered through the curtains into the living room and saw balloons, disco lights and a table set with red cups and plenty of alcohol. Kieran smirked to himself thinking that the drinking games would be on point tonight. Bringing his attention back to the door, he heard footsteps and a second later, Bree appeared, opening the door to him with her hair in a messy bun, a wide smile and in comfortable clothing. There was a balloon half blown up in her hand and she was breathing heavily.

'Sorry Kieran, I almost didn't hear you! I got lightheaded all of a sudden because of these bloody balloons, it's giving me a right headache and testing my lungs too'. She sighed heavily and dropped the balloon, noticing the bags Kieran was carrying.

Together, they began to load the bags into the living room and Kieran took in how great the house looked.
'It's alright babe, I can see you've been busy. How long has this taken you?'
'I'll be honest, I got here at like 9am, I couldn't sleep because I was so excited.'

'Hmm, why didn't you just come with Erin and Elijah on the drive up? Erin would have loved to have you with her for the journey. Well, not just her I suppose'. Kieran was a subtle person, he knew of the chemistry between Bree and Elijah but knew that the two of them were the types to shoot the messenger.

'Oh god, not this again. Listen, Elijah is sexy as hell. If he asked me for a ride, I'd take two but him and I together? It's a recipe for disaster. He's an absolute arsehole, to everyone else he's nice but with me, he treats me like I'm not even there sometimes. Things have happened in my life where I'm just tired of games, I don't want to be messed around and Elijah doesn't feel like someone I could trust'.

'I think you should give him the benefit of the doubt, you and Kieran may be more similar than you think'

Bree shot him a look of pure malice and Kieran shot his arms up in surrender.

'All right, all right, I won't mention it again'.

Bree scoffed. 'And besides, talk about undercover romance, why aren't you and Erin official then?'

Kieran was taken aback. How the hell did Bree know about it at all? Yes, he knew Erin and Bree were best friends but Erin had always expressed her desire to keep things between them a secret as she herself wasn't ready to start committing to anyone.

'Wait a damn minute, how do you know about any of that?'

'Come on Kieran, I'm not an idiot, when you're best friends with someone, you can always spot the tell tale signs. I'm 100% sure you guys have been going at it for at least a year or so.'

Kieran debated denying everything Bree was dropping but Kieran was the worst liar.

'And don't bother lying about it, we all know not to tell you any secrets because you've got the worse tells'

Kieran sighed.

'Gosh Bree, I'm a little out of my depth here now.' Kieran fell back onto the sofa and slumped. 'It's hard being with Erin, I don't think she knows it but I've liked her forever. Elijah's my best mate, how do I even go about admitting I've got feelings for her? And now I'm sleeping with her, I'm shitting bricks because I'm sure he's gonna whack me one when he finds out I've been getting it on with his sister. This trip isn't just important because of exams but because I was going to finally tell her how I feel. I don't want to be just friends with benefits, I want to be her boyfriend'.

Bree kept her focus on Kieran and her heart broke a little. 'Oh Kieran, that's the sweetest thing I've ever heard, come here'

Bree leaned forward and held on to Kieran, after a moment's hesitation, Bree felt Kieran cuddle her back too.

'I think you and Erin could be a great match, I'm going to say go after her and be confident, whatever happens, you're friends are here and we support you both'

'I don't want to shit on this moment, but why are you being so nice?'

'You know Kieran, I don't know either.'

'It's just that, you've been so cold the last year. I mean, Erin's vented to me about it when she's been stressed'

Bree stood from the sofa suddenly and paced the room. She looked restless and sad.
'Bree, I'm sorry, it's okay. I shouldn't have said anything and Erin was only worried that's why she mentioned it'.

'No, no, it's okay. I can't be mad if it's true.'

Bree could feel her eyes welling up, how could she start to open up about everything that happened last summer? She didn't want to feel this way anymore. It hurt so much that Erin had spoken to Kieran only because it was true. She had begun to close off from her best friend.

Bree's voice was quiet. ''I'm really tired of feeling this way. I don't want to feel cold anymore'

Kieran stood and held her hand. 'I understand'

'Oh god.' Bree was laughing between tears. 'That was a lot, I'm sorry, let's shake off this funk because we've still got a lot to do before the other get here'

He took this as his cue and smiled ruefully. They began tidying away the bags and collecting the scaps of decoration in the living room.

'Hey Bree?'

'Yeah?'

'You're friends are here for you too'

Bree could feel herself welling up again. 'I really appreciate that'

Kieran smiled back at Bree and got back to work. This trip needed to go well because it started to suddenly feel like there was a whole lot more on the table and than their upcoming exams.