A.S.A (Van McCann fanfiction)

Four

"No, no, no, that's not it. That's not it!" Van laughed as he shouted at the four lads that I'd 'met' half an hour ago as they tried to convince me on how they got their band name. Van seemed almost surprised when I'd told him that I had no idea on how they got their band name and when I asked him why; he just shrugged it off with a "thought you'd know, that's all."

"Yeh, well that's how it happened." Bondy said and the others chuckled and looked at me to see if I believed them. Giggling, I looked over to Van who was sat with me on the sofa, in-between me and Larry, laughing at how cute he looked with his hands in his hair, his eyebrows...wait, what's happening to me? I met this guy yesterday. Y E S T E R D A Y. But I hadn't really, well he'd met me yesterday but I'd seen him before but only when I was enclosed in a crowd of one thousand. Somehow, I still felt closer to him but maybe it was just me who thought that. It always was.

I'd found it awkward when Van introduced me to everyone because I already knew their names, they knew my name too but obviously acted like they didn't once I caught Van giving them a look as if to tell them to stop whatever they were going to give cheeky remarks on.

"No, no, that's still not it! Lads, she's far too clever to work out that you're full of shit." Van laughed and they all looked at me pulling me out of my thought track. "Hmmm?" I mumbled back at them, looking over to them. Van shook his head once more before he started telling me about the name.

"So that's how you got the name for the band then?" I asked after he'd finished explaining his one off story.

"Yeh, seemed like an apt thing to do, yous know?" He smiled as his eyes lit up with the memory of his childhood and I caught a glimpse of longing in his eyes.

Bob, Benji and Larry had all gone out to the kitchen to grab some drinks whilst Bondy set up the TV for a game of fifa leaving me and Van sat alone on the sofa. I realised how close we were sitting, his arm hanging loosely around the back of the sofa gently scraping my bare shoulders every so often sending chills through my body. It was hard to stay sane with Van constantly talking to me and looking at me 'discreetly' but I just brushed it off thinking of a reasonable explanation for his actions.

Suddenly, just as I was about to get up and ask where the bathroom was, Van said something to me quietly, making me laugh out of habit.

"How are you not cold?" I turned to him smiling, eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

"What d'you mean?" I asked quietly as he reached over to the table in front of us, picking up a cigarette before lighting it quickly. Suddenly, as the smell of tobacco entered my nostrils, I instantly regretted even being near him at this current period of time. Memories of last year flooded my mind, how bad I got, how bad I was. I'd stopped smoking last year when it had all got too much, as well as the other things. 'I had to stop' they'd said-

"You're wearin' a dress Abby." Van smirked, exhaling the smoke as he pulled me out of my haze once again.

Rolling my eyes I looked at him sarcastically. "Really? I never could have guessed."