Tomorrow Never Dies

Chapter 27 - "But not my Louboutins. He doesn't deserve that s.hit"

Toby wandered through the living room, receiving greetings from everybody, looking blankly at Michael, and eventually circling back to me and Matty. For siblings, we had always been close, and I was certain that his time away had strengthened our bond further.

"Who's the guy with the funky hair?" he asked me.

"That's my boyfriend," I smiled, and he looked ay Matty.

"She's got a boyfriend!" I laughed.

"Just show me all your photos and tell me all about it," I said. While we had had as many phone calls as we could, the reception in the jungle wasn't fantastic so we'd often been cut off. He pulled out his camera and started showing us all of his pictures, explaining what they were, why they were important, what he was doing to help preserve the species. He was so intelligent, unlike me and Matty, so he'd gone into academic yet practical work, where Matty had gone into sports and I was working on my Arts degree. He was so in love with what he did, and I was glad that he had found a job that made him so happy. Matty too, although he would have preferred to still be playing internationally.

Eventually, Michael wandered over and stood next to me, his hand protectively on my shoulder.

"Michael, this is Toby, my brother. Toby, this is Michael, my boyfriend," I said by way of introduction. They shook hands, and I could see Toby and Matty exchanging looks as if to confirm he was a good boyfriend. Michael placed a gentle kiss on my lips, then took my hand after making sure I was okay to leave the conversation.

"I didn't know what to do without you," he said. "I was like a little lost puppy."

"Aw, babe," I laughed. "Do you want to come upstairs, just chill for a bit?" He nodded and we made our way up to my bedroom. I put on some music through my speakers and we had a little jamming session to Mr Brightside. I sat down on my bed, Michael joining me, and I rested my head on his shoulder, sighing contentedly.

"I like it when you're happy," he told me. "You deserve it, you know?"

"Why?"

"Everyone deserves happiness," he said. "And it's unfair when people who have done nothing wrong feel sad, or angry, or numb, and it's not their fault. It makes me so angry when people invalidate mental illness because they've not been through traumatic experiences, and I-"

"Breathe," I reminded him. I was quite happy to listen to him rant, especially about a topic that was so close to home, but he was getting riled up.

"I'm sorry," he breathed. "I got carried away."

"It's alright," I smiled, kissing him. "It's nice to hear you rant sometimes." I kissed him again, this time straddling his lap and tugging on his shirt.

"Is that how it is, hm?" he asked, pulling off my top. I unbuttoned his shirt and pushed it off his shoulders and down his arms.

"We have to be quiet," I said softly, fumbling with his jeans and pulling them down his legs. I pulled him over to the door to lock it as he removed my bra and skirt. We were both left in only our underwear and soon enough, they ended up in the pile with the rest of our clothes.

***
"That was good," I smiled. "But before we go back down, I'm brushing your hair amd getting rid of the lipstick on your face." I did just that, running my hairbrush through his colourful hair and dabbing around his mouth with a makeup wipe. He glared at me.

"You're worse than my mum," he grumbled.

"It's good to have a bit of motherly love from time to time," I beamed, tying my hair up again. I reapplied my lipstick and put a little concealer on a love bite Michael had left on my neck. Just before we went downstairs, I checked my phone.
w4l: emergency
w4l: call me as soon as you get this its so important i dont know what to do
I called her straight away, not sure what to expect.

"Flora," she breathed, picking up the phone. "Something has happened."

"Yeah?"

"Fucking Kyle has leaked my nudes." I gasped in horror. Kyle was her ex, whom she'd been in an unhappy relationship with for most of our first two years at uni.

"He wouldn't," I said, my voice low. "Even for Kyle, that's sly."

"That's what I thought." She sounded angry, but I couldn't tell if it was dry anger or wet anger, where she'd be about to cry. Her voice was just emotionless.

"How's Ashton taking it?" She paused for a moment, and Michael mouthed have they broken up? at me. I shook my head as I listened to her response.

"He's so pissed off, Flora," she said, and then I heard the crack in her voice.

"I'm on my way," I told her, then hung up. "Michael, Grace's ex leaked her nudes and Ash is pissed at her, we need to go get them in order." I legged it down the stairs, quickly saying goodbye to my mum and brothers as I explained there was an emergency, and flung myself into Michael's car.

"So, you go to Grace, I'll go to Ashton?" I nodded.

"I can't believe Kyle would do that," I fumed. "I mean, I know they didn't part on good terms, but why did he do it now? And why did he do it at all?" Michael swung the car into a parking space, and as soon as I kissed him goodbye I ran up to my dorm. I burst in to see Grace crying on her bed. "Hey, hey, I'm here."

"Why did he do it Flora? So many people have seen it, I trusted him!"

"Because he's a dick," I said. "I'll beat him up, I promise."

"Get your stilettos and stab him in the balls, we can't have him reproducing," she sniffled, but I could tell the idea made her smile.

"That's a plan," I agreed. "But not my Louboutins, he doesn't deserve that shit."

"Since when did you have Louboutins, you liar," she laughed.

"Since twenty seconds ago?" She laughed again. "Come on, lets have a sing song." I put on Hair by Little Mix, a song that celebrated single-dom, but we still remembered our boyfriends. A text came through from Michael.
Michael❤️: he's coming around, still working on it though x
I replied quickly.
good! having a dancey with grace to take her mind off it xx
"'Cause he was just a dick, and I knew it!" Grace sang slightly out of tune, but she was having a good time insulting Kyle. "Got me going mad sitting in this chair, like I don't care!"

"What a jam," I smiled, and I watched my best friend's face light up.

*****
heres your 3rd chapter for the day am i good or what

song of the chapter: my somgs know what you did in the dark (light em up) by fall out boy (this somg reminds me of the pjo movies and as a book fan thats not a good thing but its a proper jam so)