Head in the clouds

Twenty Five- Morgan

I sat on the sofa, looking around the house I'd seen dozens of times in our facetimes last year. Nothing had moved from what I could tell. His awards still littering shelves, framed records dotted everywhere. A pretty basic décor theme without much colour but I guess that was Theo. He used to say he only came home to sleep and eat really so he didn't see the need in decorating too much, especially since he was away for such long periods of time too. He only kept this house here so he didn't need to stay with his mum and sisters when he came home.

Speaking of his mum, she had me cracking up. Apparently he didn't want some stranger getting his shopping so he text his mum on the drive over. She turned up 5 minutes ago and was still asking a million questions on the doorstep. I was trying to not be nosy but honestly, she was settling my nerves about being around him right now.

He made a valid point about him doing the right thing and I really shouldn't be mad about it, I think I was more pissed about him just leaving me hanging like that, but knowing he'd been suffering like me for the past 9 months made me feel a little better about it. At least I wasn't alone in it. I wasn't sure what I wanted from him right now, what I do know is I'm starving and I want my friend back. That's it. Everything else is kind of in a mess of the floor.

"Oh my god. Mum. I can cook pasta." I snickered.

"Are you sure? I can just come and cook-"

"Mum."

"It's not a problem."

"Mum. I'm fine, I've got it. Go home. Thank you for the shopping, I appreciate it, I will come around tomorrow."

It always confused me, seeing people's normal relationships with their parents. Compared to mine who I'm lucky to get a card from for my birthday, it just seemed weird. Like I knew Theo's relationship with his mum was probably more normal than mine but it was bizarre to me. It was the same with Ava and her parents and Noah with his dad. I guess parental relationships weren't something I'd consider myself an expert in.

The front door closed and Theo sighed, pushing the living room door open gently.

"Sorry about that. She's a little mad."

"She's hilarious." He rolled his eyes before nodding for me to follow him through the house. "You should've let her in. I bet she's missed you like mad."

"One more day won't kill her. Besides it's not like she didn't pick me up yesterday or she didn't call me every day. You know how it is right? They just don't leave you alone when you're away."

"I do not. The only people who care I'm away normally are Noah and V." He slowed down shuffling through the bags as I sat down on one of the stools opposite him.

"Your parents are up in Leeds right?"

"Yeah."

"But they don't-"

"I'm gonna save you the trouble. I don't really speak to them. We send cards back and forth. Birthdays and Christmas and whatever but that's it. I used to go see them but just got shit about me being stupid for going down the music route so I just stopped going. I'm sure I kind of mentioned that in LA." His face soured a little. "It's fine. I don't care. I'm good with it. Ava's mum and Noah's dad step in sometimes though. Usually call once a month and lecture me on eating right." He chuckled. "Which is hard on tour right?"

"So hard. I think I have eaten every type of takeout and restaurant possible. That's why I'm usually at mums for the next fortnight being force fed every type of meal she can imagine."

"Living the dream huh?" He chuckled. I watched him closely once he'd finished putting everything away, starting to cook as he rambled on about what else his family did to cope with him being all over the world. Facetime calls, weekend trips where they all met half way and a whole host of other things. The whole time all I could think was I got a fame invite to my sister's wedding. One I knew was a fame invite because I didn't even know she was engaged.

Sarah and I had never been super close in all fairness. She was a few years older and I'd barely seen her since she left for uni a few years before I did. We were both going through that horrible teenage girl stage where we hated each other when she left and then I had no doubt she was taking my parents side on the career thing because she was following their dream of being lawyers and I was the only person in the family who refused.

"So, what are you doing between now and tour starting? You've got like 3 months left right?"

"Almost yeah. 2 months and 2 weeks now I think." He nodded, sliding the plates down on the table before coming back to me. "Not much really. Rehearsals. Some studio time. There's a new single dropping end of next week so I've been sorting that. Video shoots and everything. But I have my sister's wedding that same weekend so that's going to be fun." He cocked his head. "Ava's away on a shoot in Italy and Noah has an away game so I'm alone for it and I think it's just so she can say 'Morgan Branning was at my wedding'. I have no doubt there's going to be a load of the people from my school year there too so it's going to suck."

"You have a plus 1?" I raised an eyebrow. "I'll come with you, we can spend the whole night laughing I'm sure they'd hate it." Tempting. "Unless you really want to go alone?"

"I do not."

"So, I'll come then. It'll be fun." Theo stopped walking when he reached me, just before his hips hit my knees. I nodded slowly, agreeing to letting him come with me. I'd probably regret it later but whatever. Making plans with him whilst I could at least felt somewhat normal. His brown eyes staring into mine made the hairs on the back of my neck stand to attention, a shiver jolting down my spine that made me look away, down to my unpainted finger nails as I picked at them. "Morgs?" He reached forward, lifting my chin gently. "Don't go shy on me." He put a tiny bit of pressure on my knees with his hips until I opened them, letting him push between them to get closer. He changed how he was holding my face, running a thumb over my cheek gently as his fingers tangled themselves in the hair at the back of my neck. "We've got a lot of catching up to do. I'm thinking I'll come down to London in a few days so you're not alone over there."

"I'm super busy Theo. You don't-"

"I can't take you out from 200 hundred miles away Morgan." My heart thudded in my chest. "And no before you suggest it, I'm not dating you through Zoom." I smiled quickly, leaning my head slightly into his hold. "See I know you so well, I knew that was going to be what you said."

"Was not."

"It was and you know it." He pushed his other hand between my back and the chair, pulling me closer into him. Each movement done so thoughtfully, leaving my skin tingling under his touch as I started to burn up. "Stay the night Morgan." I opened my eyes. "I'd make an excuse about me being used to having people around on the tour bus or whatever but I really just want to have you here for the night."

"You think that's a smart decision?"

"I don't really care right now. All I know is I want to kiss you and not have to watch you leave right away again. I want you in my bed, in my clothes, in my arms. Just one night before you go to London and I make excuses to come see you and do it again." I could feel his breathing getting heavier as my shaky hands landed on his chest. "Please stay." I nodded. Not even thinking about it. Subconsciously making my decision before my brain could remind me how bad this could be. He let out a short sigh before dipping his head back down and kissing me, pulling on the back of my neck to kiss me with everything he had and if the kiss in the club was mind numbing, the only way I could explain this one was that he had taken my brain out of my skull and kicked it across the English Channel. It was long gone.