South London Forever // George Karim

-curry and mistakes and hidden mushroom sweaters-

After Freddie had had a shower, turning on the rickety fan and waiting a moment for the frog that lived in the corner of the bathtub to hop off in alarm and then washing her hair with honey suckle scented shampoo and conditioner, she stood in the tiled room, her shivering body bare as she took a few breathes.

This happened every time, she'd have a boiling hot shower that filled the bathroom with steam and gave her a dizzying headache. 

She wasn't about to stop, it was the only way to get warm before bed, otherwise she'd wake up with cold bones and have to creep into someone's bed. London was wonderful half of the time, with farmers markets near the train station and puddles you could kick at, but it was always cold.

Freddie brushed her hair out and then her teeth as well. She might as well, it would be ages before dinner was ready to eat, because it hadn't been Lockwood and Lucy in the street the first time Chai barked, and it hadn't been them the seventh time either.

She'd convinced herself to get ready for bed and if they weren't back by the time she pulled the curtains shut, she was allowed to freak out.

There was still time. They'd probably just gotten stuck in traffic, or maybe they were buying a few more salt bombs because Lockwood had used far too many while trying to impress Lucy, Freddie told herself as she dried off and pulled on her thick fluffy pyjama's May had given her after she grew out of them.

She still really wanted to wear that cardigan she'd gotten too, but it was hard to break the habit of only wearing her suit. That and the fact she didn't know how it would look. It was green, the same colour as her trench coat, but there were mushrooms on it too and buttons and it might be terrible on her.

Why would anyone want to wear mushrooms, especially colourful ones?

They tasted like nothing, and the texture was weird. Maybe it was a trick, but May wouldn't do something like that. She kept the cardigan hanging up on her clothes rack by the window, but she'd pushed it to the back.

Sometimes Freddie would try it on, just in her room, and feel how loose the soft material was around her.

She was being silly, she decided, and found a pair of socks in the pile of clothes she'd brought to the bathroom, then picked up her crumpled suit and soggy towel, flicking the bathroom fan off so the frog in the corner could return to its normal spot. Freddie hung her clothes back up and took her towel downstairs to hang on the clothesline that would get a bit of the watery sunlight if they were lucky.

The weather was at its best though, with autumn just around the corner. It was her favourite, even if the wind tended to pick up a little more during September to November.

George's voice rose from somewhere downstairs, and Freddie rushed down, forgetting not to step on the creaky step. "Guys? Lockwood?"

"You've been in a hospital, why were you in a hospital?"

Freddie opened the kitchen door with a relieved huff, only to realise George was standing by the fireplace and Lucy clattered around by the sink. "Lucy! Oh my god, I'm so glad you're okay! What happened? Where's Ant?"

George spoke up quickly, "how did she say it right first try-"

"In the last twelve hours, I have nearly been murdered by a type two. Twice. I've jumped from a burning house, fallen twenty feet face-first into a bush, and had a tube shoved down me throat to hoover out me lungs, so give me a second!" Lucy burst, dropping a mug into the sink of hot water that smelt of detergent.