The sudden ringing of the door bell downstairs got progressively louder and less subtle as the morning went on, time seemed to pass too quickly and the blatantly irritating alarm clock that stood behind the door didn't ever seem to give up, and pressing the snooze button obviously wasn't an option. I finally dragged myself out of bed, pulling on my fluffy dressing gown and heading down the quiet stairs to the front door, the sun was still yet to arise; it wasn't even 8am yet.
Within seconds of unlocking the door I already recognised the red and black flannel shirt and, unfortunately, the tall, fair haired boy with deep, dark circles beneath his eyes and a small smile that looked drained of all its life. He was leant against the doorframe with one arm, suddenly picking himself up as I shook my head at his unwanted arrival. He let himself in as I stood there completely unamused.
'I've not slept all night, you know, jetlag is a bitch', he chuckled to himself as he made his way towards the kitchen, far too comfortable in a home that wasn't even his. I followed behind him nonetheless, rubbing my tired eyes that felt thick with the lack of sleep I'd had myself that night, 'I've missed being here, do you want a cup of coffee?', he asked me, in my own home.
'Welcome home, and no thanks Luke, you just help yourself', I muttered sarcastically, sitting on one of the stools in the kitchen as I tried my hardest not to yawn every few seconds, a permanent frown drawn across my face, 'without this sounding incredibly rude, why are you here?' I asked eventually, once he'd sat across from me, the aroma of coffee taking over the kitchen. We hadn't seen each other properly in nearly two months due to him being on tour, and our reunition wasn't quite as I had expected it to be.
'Well uh, I had a lot on my mind, and uh, I don't know I just couldn't sleep 'cause of the jetlag so I decided to watch a film, which was pretty good, and then I thought about writing something because I haven't in a while and I've missed it, you know,' he paused to take a sip of his coffee and then looked around the room and then back to me, 'and then I just sort of laid in bed for a while, listening to music and debating when it would be an appropriate time to wake you up because we didn't have any coffee in the house'
'It's a Sunday Luke, it's never an appropriate time to wake me up', I muttered, resting my head in my hands as I watched him slowly sip from his cup, letting out a small grin and chuckling as I spoke, tapping out a quiet beat on the mug as he sipped and then playing with his ring for a few seconds, he'd only been gone a few months but he'd changed so much in that time, 'and as soon as you're done drinking my coffee, you can feel free to leave'
'Ah, come on don't be like this,' he yawned and then grinned again, 'we've not seen each other in months, I know you've missed me', I just shook my head at him, covering my pale face as he stood up and made his way over to me, I could feel his face inches away from my own, and then he quietly said, 'you can be as cold towards me as you like, but I've read your blog'
'Shut up', I groaned while trying to cover up a smile, pushing him away from me with one hand, causing him to grab it and laugh, 'okay, you've won, now go home please so I can sleep', it was more of question than a statement.
He grinned and then turned around, walking over to his stool and sitting back in it, finishing his coffee before uttering the words 'so what flowers do you think Amy would like?'
I looked up at him and sighed, Amy was his girlfriend, 'it doesn't matter what flowers you buy her Luke, she'll just be glad to see you after all of this time', I smiled sympathetically at him. I knew they'd been having problems with the whole long-distance thing, and I also knew he'd been trying so hard to make things work between them, 'but if you're really unsure, stay traditional, red roses symbolise love, as everyone knows, so you can't really go wrong there', I stood up and walked over to him, leaning against the counter as he nodded in agreement, 'or if you want to go really deep into it, white roses, they apparently mean new starts and given the situation, that wouldn't be a bad idea', I smiled again and patted him on the shoulder before walking away.
'I've missed you, FaceTime doesn't really make up for the real thing', Luke laughed, and then looked down at his cup, his smile deteorating as if he'd said something he shouldn't have. He looked back up at me and then stood up, 'thanks for the advice though, I just hope it works'.
An overdramatic hug and a seemingly endless goodbye later, I was back in bed and unable to sleep, thinking about how it was always me who sat up with Luke when he couldn't sleep, jetlag or no jetlag, 3am or 8am. I was the one who listened to his stories and dilemnas and tried to help whenever I could with whatever problems he was facing that week, his girlfriend normally being one of them.
That's the issue with being the ''girl next door'', I'll always remain at that.
