Amy's POV.
I decided I'd better go home for lunch, Sarah feeds me enough on weekdays as it is. I waited for Amanda to clip Pebble's lead on, and we left Lou's house, saying our goodbyes. I would probably see Louis later anyway, we always ended up getting bored on the weekends without each other's company. "Sure you don't wanna eat at mine? Mum said there was left over chicken pasta, I think." Amanda said, as we walked down the road with our hoods up to keep out the typical English drizzle. I shook my head. "Nah, it's okay. I should probably go and see what Mum's up to, anyway. Come round after lunch, though?" Amanda grimaced and shook her head. "Can't. I've got a Spanish oral exam on Monday, I need to study or there's no way I'll pass."
Amanda lives two houses down from me, so I waved goodbye and made my way up the road. I unlocked the door as quietly as I could, out of habit more than anything. I took my old converse off and left them by the front door, padding barefoot along the hall. "Amy? Is that you?" Oh, so Mum was in. I walked into the kitchen, pulling Lou's old grey hoodie over my head as I did so. I don't even know how I ended up with it, but it was warm and comforting. "Hey Mum. You alright?" I asked, as I went to the fridge and poured myself a glass of apple juice. "Where have you been all morning?" She demanded, looking up from where she was typing away on her computer.
My Mum and I don't really get on, to put it lightly. We're complete opposites, in almost every way. My Mum is a solicitor, and is job/money driven. Me, on the other hand? All I care about is my music, and I could not give a fuck whether I make money through it or not. Mum thinks my music is a waste of time and wanted me to take Maths and Accounting as my A level subjects. Yeah, right. She's so obsessed and involved in her career that I'm second place to it, she only pretends to care about what I do. I was an 'unhappy accident' for both her and my dad, and we all knew it.
"I slept over at Amanda's , then me and Lou had some Music homework to do." I replied, but she was already typing away, in her own world. I sighed and turned back to the fridge, getting ham and salad cream out. I made myself a ham, lettuce and salad cream roll, then sat down opposite her. "Lou and I got an A* on out last Music assignment." I said, taking a bite. "That's great." She responded, her voice flat. She still didn't give a fuck, no change there. I took my food into the living room and plonked myself down on the sofa.
Things had been so much happier when I was younger, when Mum wasn't so career obsessed and Dad didn't drink so much. We used to go for walks in the park, or sit and watch Disney films together. My parents would call me 'their little treasure' and every night Mum would tuck me into bed. It all changed when I was ten years old, when Dad started going down to the pub a lot more. He'd come home late at night, drunk, ranting and raving on at my mum. Those were the first stages of him becoming an alcoholic. When I was eleven years old, they'd gotten a divorce. Dad moved out to a small flat a tube stop away, whilst me and Mum stayed in the house. Dad became more and more of a drunk, whilst Mum focused solely on money and work. A few years on, Dad met a woman eight years younger than him, called Tracy. Tracy is one of the most repulsive human beings I have ever met; she's a shameless whore who doesn't give a fuck if my Dad is an alcoholic. She buys him the alcohol gladly, which in my opinion makes her worse than him. She never has liked me, and the feeling is mutual. They've been together for five years or so now. Mum, on the other hand, hasn't met anyone yet. Well, actually, she has. She's met plenty of men, whom she enjoys bringing home whenever she feels like it. Random guys just appear at the breakfast table some mornings, something which I do not enjoy. Especially when they try to make conversation with me. And you wonder why I don't like being at home.
I heard the scrape of a chair against the kitchen tiles and footsteps. "Amy? I'm going round to Alice's. I don't know what time I'll be back. Bye!" Mum said over her shoulder as she walked along the hallway. I heard the turn of a key in the lock, then silence. 'Auntie' Alice was her best friend, also her drinking buddy and fellow slut. "Bye." I said quietly, to myself. I took my plate into our small kitchen and started on the washing up that mother had kindly left for me. As I scrubbed at the remains of spaghetti bolognese off a plate, my mood was getting worse and worse. I was tired from the night before, and attempting to communicate with my mother had just put me in a bad mood.
Sighing, I took the rubber gloves off and chucked them in the sink, wandering back into the hall to grab my bag and guitar. Music is a total outlet for me, especially when I'm in a mood like this. It's like an escape from reality. I tucked my legs up underneath me and rested my guitar in my lap. I completely lost track of time as I strummed away, editing and scratching out lyrics I'd already written, singing and testing out how they sounded with the music.
I was interrupted by a loud knock on the door. I sighed and stood up, stretching my arms out as I walked towards the front door. I hoped it wasn't Mum back early. Louis was stood on my door step, his brown hair dripping with water, shivering. "Lou! Come in, fuck, it's freezing out here." I shivered and shut the door, dragging him inside. I chucked him a towel from the spare room downstairs and he began rubbing that mop of hair dry. "What're you doing here?" I asked, going into the kitchen. He followed me, still rubbing his hair. "Nice welcome, thanks Ams" He grinned at me from under the towel. "Shut up. Do you want hot chocolate?" Lou folded up the towel and put it on the back of a chair. "Yeah. Had a fight with Kyle, and Mum said she was tired of us arguing. So I left, needed to get away." He ran a hand through his now slightly drier hair. "Bit fucked off, to be honest." I grinned at him over my shoulder. "Makes two of us then." He hopped up on the counter beside me. "Really? What's up?" I poured the hot chocolate out before answering. "Just Mum being a bitch and not giving a fuck. As usual." I tried to smile at Louis, but it probably came out as an awkward smirk. "Aw, Ams. At least we have each other, ey?" He said, smiling sympathetically at me.
I grinned at him and grabbed the mugs of hot chocolate off the counter. Back in the living room, I sat back on the sofa next to Louis. "Been playing?" He asked gesturing at the pieces of paper that surrounded us and the guitar on the floor, as he took the cup of cocoa. I nodded, taking a sip. "Yeah. Messing around with some new lyrics." Lou nodded. "Cool. Oh, I wrote some more lyrics today. I wrote the beginning a while back, but I dunno I just thought of them. It's called My Summer. I'll sing it for you tomorrow or something, yeah?" I nodded in agreement and moved closer to him. "Wanna watch a film or something?" I asked. He nodded. "Yeah, what film?" I shrugged. "Whatever." Lou grinned at got up, going over to the DVD shelf. He selected one and pushed it into the player. I caught a glimpse of the DVD case and groaned. "Awh, Lou, not this again!" Louis grinned. "Yep." He'd chosen The Notebook, his all time favourite film. Not that he'd admit that to anyone but me, boys aren't really 'supposed 'to like that sort of film. The first time Amanda had dragged us to the cinema to watch it with her, he'd cried like a baby. Bless. "We must've watched it, like, at least a hundred times!" I whined. Lou spun round and launched himself at me, jumping on top of me and squishing me. "Louis!" I yelled, laughing whilst trying to push him off me. He laughed and dug his fingers into my ribs, making me scream and squirm underneath him. He knew just how ticklish I was, but luckily, I knew he was too. I dug him right back in the ribs, wriggling my fingers until he was a giggling mess on top of me. " I can't breathe!" I gasped, trying to push my best friend off me. He scrambled off me, still breathless from laughing. His face was red and his huge smile was making the corners of his eyes crinkle up. I couldn't help but smile at how happy he looked.
He sat down behind me, pulling me against him so I was in between his legs. He pressed play on the remote. I pulled a blanket up around us and rested my head against his chest. He rested his chin on the top of my head and sighed happily. A bit into the film, he spoke. "Ams?" "Mmm?" "Do ya know, we'd be a good couple." Well, that was random. But true. Plenty of people had asked us if we are going out. We aren't, we really just are that close. We always said this to each other, but both of us know it'd never happen. We've been best friends for too long. "We would be." I agreed, snuggling closer to him. He kissed the top of my head gently.
This is how it always is with Lou and me. Comfortable, close and honest. Cuddling up and watching stupid movies. Feeling safe. Perfect.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Just a filler - Niall will be in it later :) xx
