Short Kings Anthem

Part 5

It had been ten days since everyone had been back from Ibiza and three times Lauren had typed a message to Chris before quickly deleting it. They hadn't spoken since the morning after the night before and unbeknownst to the other it was bothering them both. Chris wasn't sure what to say either, it had gotten to the point he even had Theo message Lauren about the video on the triathlon which now had a filming date. He felt a bit pathetic and school boy like getting someone to talk to her on his behalf but he was afraid of some sort of backlash. Lauren was sitting at home clicking through Youtube videos when her phone pinged, it was a message from Harry, she couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed that it wasn't Chris, they really needed to move past this.

Having some drinks downstairs with some of the crew, come down if you fancy it.

Lauren debated it for a few moments before sighing and got up from her chair. She had been spending a lot of time in her flat lately so maybe a night with some friends was what she needed to boost her spirits a little. She changed into a black button down jumpsuit with daisies on, threw on some heeled boots before redoing her makeup and placing the strands of hair by the front of her face back into a clip at the back in almost half up half down do. She grabbed a bottle of wine and a bottle of Jägermeister from her kitchen and made her way to the lift, to Harry and Freezy's flat.

"Ah you're here! You owe Harry a game of beer pong," Cal said to the much shorter woman giving her a hug before allowing her inside the flat.

"Yeah I've not heard the end of it since that day," Lauren smiled referring to the time she went home after the meeting where Chris and her were messaging. Her smile faded slightly when at that moment her mind went to him she heard Chris's unmistakable laugh, looking round the room she found him talking to Simon and Stephen. Lauren wanted to talk to him before the night was over but decided to build up some courage first, in part due to alcohol so she poured herself a glass of wine from an already open bottle, placing hers on the table to be consumed later by whoever wanted it. Everyone bought a bottle with them so it didn't matter who bought what, whatever was left over at the end of the night was a party tax to the hosts, it's where a lot of the liquor bottles in Lauren's flat came from, she didn't remember buying any of it.

"So you decided to venture out of your flat for once!" Harry mocked giving his sort of neighbour a hug.

"I leave my flat most days," she protested although she knew her life was a little mundane as of late apart from the Chris debacle of course.

"Only to go running or go shopping," he replied, he'd seen her become almost of a bit of recluse the past few months since Tom left and he was concerned for his friend.

"Add playing golf to the list and you just described yourself," she retorted taking a sip of her drink, there was no way she was going to let Harry of all people make fun of her social life.

"Someone has one dirty night out in Ibiza and thinks she's the queen of the social scene," joked Harry and Lauren sighed and rolled her eyes. Lauren's failure to let her friends know that night she was leaving the club made them all knowing she had spent the night elsewhere, no one knew who with however.

"Don't you start," Lauren commented, she had enough ribbing from her friends about it. This conversation sparked the interest of Chris who had now been alerted to Lauren's presence. He subtly looked her up and down thinking how good she looked, she definitely knew how to dress for her figure. Memories of him exploring her body filled his head and were hard to shake off.

Lauren had been at the party for approximately twenty minutes, her glass was empty and she noticed Chris had just made his way over to the kitchen so she took her opportunity to talk to him.

"Hi," she started off with a small smile as she stood on the opposite end of the kitchen island to him. She grabbed some wine and filled her glass also, hoping she was acting as casual as she could.

"Hey how are you?" Chris asked sending a smile back. He felt an odd relief that she had come up to him and started a conversation, he desperately wanted to say hello but wasn't sure the right way to go about it.

"Good. Look we don't have to talk about it or anything but I don't want things to be weird we're filming a video next week," Lauren said earnestly, Chris relaxed his shoulders and nodded glad he wasn't getting told off.

"Sorry. I was worried I'd upset you somehow so I didn't want to rock the boat," Chris admitted somewhat shyly. The pair smiled at each other feeling the tension melting away, Chris poured two shots of Lauren's jager as a peace offering they clinked their glasses before downing their shots quickly in a truce.

Clearing the air had worked a treat, throughout the evening the pair had some conversations both on their own and with others. The pair were currently standing next to each other in the kitchen pouting some more drinks out for themselves and a couple of others namely Freezy and Ethan.

"You need to take those off you're making me feel bad," Chris said pouring out the rum, Lauren turned to Chris confused.

"Take off what?" She asked with a glint in her eye.

"Those shoes. You're the same height as me in them," he muttered, pointing to the heels, Lauren nodded.

"I was wondering if you were talking about the heels or the clothes," Lauren giggled sneaking a quick look to Chris as she poured her drink. Chris swallowed slightly then bit his bottom lip, all night thoughts of the two of them kept popping into his mind and if he was being completely honest with himself he wanted a repeat, the feeling growing stronger as the night went on. Now he knew that she was potentially up for it too gave him the confidence boost he needed to make a move.

"Later." Chris then leaned in towards Lauren and their lips connected briefly, far too brief for Lauren's liking but a couple of seconds later the room became filled with people so they acted like nothing happened.

Lauren giggled as Chris took Lauren's shoes in his hand. The pair had now left the party, it was roughly midnight, they were taking the lift up to Lauren's apartment after almost getting caught kissing on the balcony by Simon and Talia. No one has seen the pair slip out together and they didn't think anything of the two separately announcing they were going to make a move home. Lauren went first and hid round the corner for five minutes while Chris went around the room and said his goodbyes

"Much better," Chris announced as he leaned down slightly now Lauren was at her natural height, they kissed until the lift announced Lauren's floor. Lauren unlocked her door with her key and the pair barely stepped inside when lips touched and clothes started to come off. 

Shorter chapter but hopefully just as full of action. Will they get their act together?