My sunshine // Layne Staley

6

Layne Staley POV

After that Lily went back home, I go to the bathroom . I wash my face and I brush my teeth. Holding the toothbrush, I can My knuckles much better. Maybe before I was overcome by anger and I hadn't even noticed it Lily was right, they weren't exactly okay, but at least nothing serious. I put on my pajamas and go straight to bed because the evening had really tired me As soon as I lie down, the memories of that evening immediately come back to me. I don't know what demon possessed me when those two called her that , I couldn't see anymore from anger. I know maybe I was a little rough, but those bastards deserved some good punches. But it doesn't matter to me because I would do it again a hundred thousand times and even more if necessary.
I was surprised by Jerry, I've never seen him pissed off like that before! You can tell he cares a lot about Lily. But then again, who do I want to fool to? I care a lot about Lily too. From the first moment I saw her I was struck by her beauty. Her kindness, her humour, her cooking skills, the way she talks about the things that she likes. Maybe I have a crush on her, when she says she doesn't want any boyfriend every time it's like it breaks my heart. I shake these thoughts from my head and try to fall asleep. I close my eyes and think of Lily. Maybe something could happen in the future...

Mike Starr POV

When I come out of the bathroom, Jerry is at the door. Welcome back Jer! I say "The bathroom is free? Because I have to piss immediately" he asks. "Yeah, I just finished so it should be free"
I say and Jerry heads for the bathroom. I go to the kitchen to get a glass of water and see Sean also drinking a glass of water. "What are you doing here? I thought you went to sleep?" I say
"Now I can't even go drinking? And anyway I'm still not sleepy" he says "Yeah, me too" I say
"God, did you see how Layne reacted? If it hadn't ended badly I would have burst out laughing from the reaction" Sean says "Of course I saw it! It looked like he was protecting his little girlfriend." I say. Sean and I look into each other's eyes and laugh. I guess we were thinking the same thing. "Look, it seems obvious to me that Layne has a crush on Lily." Sean says "Well, it didn't seem like it to me. Then from how he reacted today it seemed far from clear that he had a crush on her" I say and start laughing. "You were right to ask Lily if she had a boyfriend" I say. "But you were great to say that he could be his girlfriend. You should have seen Layne's face! I swear I was bursting out laughing" Sean says and we laugh.

"Sean, we need to make both Layne and Lily jealous. And in my opinion, deep down she also has a little something for him. In recent months they have created a beautiful friendship. And then after what happened tonight, it would be foolish not to understand that he cares about you." I say. "I have a plan. Since it's past midnight, I can say tonight. So tonight instead of going to a pub. Let's organize an evening where we play games. Like spin the bottle and 7 minutes in heaven for example. Tonight we're going to make Layne jealous. For the 7 minutes in heaven we only do three rounds. One where Jerry has to happen with one of us so Layne and Lily can talk while the other goes to the bathroom. The second Lily with one of us.

You know I would prefer her to be with me since one hour I told her if she wanted to be my girlfriend. I can already imagine Layne's reaction. And finally a round with Layne and Lily toughter." I explain. "Man, I think that's a genius plan. Then we think about it better later Now I'm sleepy. Sean says "Me too" I say And we go to our shared room. I'm already thinking about the plan, and I can't wait for tonight. It will be fun.

The next morning

I get up at 9.00, because today I have to see an apartment around 10.15am. I go to the bathroom, I take the usual shower and put on a pair of black trousers with a white sweater. I go to the kitchen And the first thing I do is make myself a nice cup of coffee accompanied with some bread and jam. After breakfast I brush my teeth, put on some perfume and start walking towards the apartment. It's an apartment not too far from my father's house. As soon as I arrived in front of the apartment, the real estate agent was already waiting for me. "Good morning, I hope I didn't keep you waiting" I say "Good morning Miss Cantrell. Don't worry, You're even early " he says and we enter the apartment. From the outside I thought it was a little small, but it's not. It's certainly not huge but it's enough for one person. 

"Take a look, Miss Cantrell" the owner says And I start observing. The first room is very large.In the center there is the living room with two sofas and a television and behind it a kitchen with all the furniture, the oven, the fridge and the table.Then there is a small corridor where there are three rooms. To the right is a medium-sized bathroom. And on the left the two rooms which are not too small. "I like it. It's not as small as I expected. How much is the rent? I ask "I knew she would like it. The rent is $600 a month. The owner says. 600 dollars? But it's a deal! "Perfect, I'd like to get it." I say. "So I'll give you the keys right away. If he wants, he can move in tomorrow. However, I warn you of one thing. The condominium water is connected to all apartments. If it doesn't work, well everyone will have this problem" the owner says "But does it happen often? I ask "Maybe once every 5 months. If you don't believe me you can ask whoever lives here. But they always resolve themselves within a few hours. So you don't have to worry too much" he explains "Okay, let's see if I can carry my things these days. 

"Take your time, if you need anything just ask. Sorry but now I have an errand to do. We will see each other soon" he says "Goodbye and thanks for everything" I say. Since it was lunch time, I go to a restaurant to eat something. As I head to the restaurant. Layne walks past me "Hi Layne, how are you? How are your knuckles? I greet him and hug him. Hi Lily, how are you? Don't worry they are already healing. What were you doing? He asks me "I was going to a restaurant. I just bought an apartment and since it's getting late I'm going to eat there. If you haven't eaten yet we can go together" I propose to him "I was actually going home to eat, but if it's not a problem I'd like to go to the restaurant with you" he says "Of course you can come, you would make me happy. Right here there is a very good Italian restaurant. When I was in high school, some of my friends and I always went there" I say "Okay, so let's go to this Italian restaurant!" He says. When we arrived, a waiter approaches us "Welcome gentlemen, do you have a reservation? "No" I say ."Don't worry, there is a free table down there on the right" he says And he accompanies us to the table. We sit down and start reading the menu.

 "What do you usually take Lily? Layne asks me "Or gnocchi alla Sorrentina which are gnocchi with sauce and cheese. Or spaghetti Bolognese" I say. "Are you ready to order" the waiter says "I'll have gnocchi alla sorrentina, please" Same for me too" Layne says. "Your dishes will arrive immediately" the waiter says and he goes away. "Since you were out, maybe you didn't hear Jerry's call to you" Layne says "Yes indeed, what is it about anyway? I say "Sean and Mike came up with the brilliant idea of organizing a night where we drink and have fun playing some games" Layne explains. "Oh god and what kind of games should we play?" I ask "They said we'll think about it tonight. So are you coming tonight?" Layne asks me "Yes, I'm curious now" I say. Meanwhile our dishes arrived. And we start to eat.

"God these gnocchi are delicious!" Layne exclaims "I told you they were good" I say. While we're eating, two girls approach our table. "Oh God, but you're the one who sang in that pub a few months ago!" One girl says "God you were great. And then you're also very cute" the other girl says. "Thanks" he says "Would you like to join our table? A girl says Before Layne could respond I intervene "First of all I'm not a ghost and second of all we're eating so please don't disturb us" I say bored "Sorry if we didn't see you, but you know I don't look at who's next to me when there's someone as cool as him. And then I don't think he minds" the other girl says convinced. This time Layne beats me "Yes, I would be sorry, please leave us alone" He says in a slightly angry tone "Okay beautiful, we'll leave you our phone number so maybe next time you can go out with us" And they leave their phone number on the table and leave.

 Layne gets up, takes the piece of paper with the phone numbers written on it and throws it in the trash. "Let's keep eating Lily" he says and continue eating. "I'm stuffed.I'm going to the bathroom for a second" he says "Me too, sure go ahead" I say. While he goes to the bathroom, I head to the register to pay. "It's $20 dollars" the cashier says and I pay. Meanwhile Layne came out of the bathroom. "Can we go or do you want to get something else? I ask "I'm full I told you. I'm going to pay" he says "There's no need, it's already done" I say "Why did you pay Lily? I wanted to offer" he says "Do you remember when you paid me for the cake ingredients? This time I offered" I say "Next time don't fool me anymore" he says smiling. "At least let me take you home." "Okay, that can be done." I say And we walk towards Layne's car. "However you could have taken their number. Those girls were really beautiful" I say "They might have been beautiful, but not for me.I don't like it when girls act like this" he says. After 15 minutes we arrived at my house "Thanks for the ride, Layne"I say ."Don't worry it was the least I could do. See you this evening" he says "See you this evening, Layne" and I enter home.