Friends That Feel Like Family

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I'm sat on Leon's lap, my arms looped around his neck with my legs swinging off the side as Jill and Rebecca sit on the floor. Chris and Claire take the other sofa, laughing at each other from something they're talking about.

"I'm going to grab another drink and some more pizza, want some?" I ask Leon, who smiles up at me with half lidded eyes, shaking his head as he presses a quick kiss to my lips. I stand up, using Leon's shoulders for balance as he steadies his half empty beer bottle, one hand on my waist just in case.

I come back minutes later to absolute chaos. Claire's changing the music as Rebecca rubs her hands together like some evil Bond villain, hopping from foot to foot as the others sit in a row on the sofa I was on. I laugh, stumbling to Leon as I once again slump on his lap, this time with my back to him as he rests his chin on my shoulder to look forwards. "What's going on now?" I ask the gang.

"Karaoke." Jill mumbles, looking way out of her comfort zone as she takes a long drink. I huff a laugh, sipping on my drink as Claire finally chooses a song. The music begins, then her and Rebecca begin singing. They're not actually terrible, and I end up cheering and clapping them on as Chris pulls out his phone, meanwhile Leon's chuckling behind me, his arm snaking its way around my middle protectively.

"Think we could do better?" Leon murmurs, sounding way more light hearted as usual. I laugh, nodding as I turn a little to face him.

"Absolutely."

Once Claire and Rebecca end the song in a fit of giggles, both coming to sit down, Leon pats my thigh to get me to stand, then we're heading up together in front of the TV, picking a song. We end up choosing 'Ain't No Mountain High Enough', since both of us aren't exactly thinking of our favourite songs, just ones we know.

The song begins, and Leon begins belching out the words as I grin and down the rest of my drink before singing along terribly. It's all fun, and I don't feel embarrassed since I'm surrounded by friends that feel like family. The atmosphere is so bright and bubbly, plus I'm a little drunk. We even begin dancing, with Leon wrapping an arm around my shoulders as we lean our heads together, arms swinging and us swaying like pirates singing sea shanties. It's hilarious, even Jill cracks a grin as Claire sits on the floor cross legged singing along.

Once it's over, Leon helps me sit back down, both of us sweaty and out of breath. "So who's next?" Chris asks. Nobody volunteers, so he slaps his knees and stands, creating shock between us all.

"No fucking way."

"It's a miracle."

"Quick, press record!"

Chris waves our comments off, only looking a little shy before he chooses a song and hesitantly begins. Like Claire, he's not terrible, but isn't as good as his sister.

The evening passes in a blur, between all of us rushing to grab more food once it's cooked, to aggressive games of pictionary (Jill wins) and scrabble (Rebecca wins) we all have a great time, until at around midnight Chris decides it's time to wrap things up, and since he's the designated driver, that means the others are leaving too.

We all say our goodbyes, with Claire hugging me and Jill peeling her off, to Rebecca being oddly quiet. Chris and Leon share some short words then they're gone, leaving mine and Leon's apartment in a mess, though most of it was due to me pulling every game out and leaving glasses everywhere.

I sigh, room spinning as I try to begin to collect the rubbish and glasses, but almost fall over a rug. Leon catches me, then takes the glasses from me and sets them in the sink as I throw the rubbish away. "You're so pretty." I mumble as Leon gently grabs my arms, softly smiling down at me.

"And you're so drunk. Maybe you should get to bed and I'll clean up." He offers, scooping me up already as he carries me to the bedroom, helping me take off my clothes before I flop on my back, feeling a headache forming. I groan, throwing a hand over my face as Leon chuckles, disappearing only to come back with a warm cloth to wipe my makeup off. I let him, feeling like jelly he's careful to wipe around my eyes and lips, then kisses me as I smile like an idiot.

"You've got the puffiest lips. Like a blobfish." I drunkenly mumble, brain going slow but words coming fast. "I'd still love you if you were a fish, I'd just keep you in a bowl and feed you all the food you like, and I'd carry you everywhere in a backpack, like one of those see through ones."

I crack open an eye to see Leon staring down at me with an odd look, something between amusement and confusion. I grin, showing my teeth as I give him a thumbs up. He just huffs a laugh, smoothing my hair out of my face as he bends down and kisses my forehead.

"I'll go get you some water, but you'll probably be asleep by time I get back."

I shake my head, arguing as he walks away. He ends up being right though, since I don't wake up until late the next morning, feeling rough and sick.

Leon's there though, holding my hair back as I complain about myself, his hands rub my back as I gag, then he helps me shower when my head feels like it's about to explode. On top of all that, he also cleaned up the whole house, even whilst being a little drunk there's no stopping him.

"Next time, let's just invite our friends out for dinner, yeah?" I groan as I duck my head under a blanket, Leon lies by my side, huffing happily as his arms rest over my middle.

"Didn't you say that last time?"

I throw a pillow at him, then conjur up the energy to turn and kiss his cheek in an apology. He just watches me with love and fondness, just putting up with me no matter what.

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