Lush Life (Tradley au)

Chapter 3- Brad's POV

I'm more than slightly regretting letting James have his party at my house. So far, no one's complained about the noise that seemingly most of the teenagers in town are making, but it's only a matter of time as there's music blaring and people drunkenly shouting. As well as my parents not being around, Tristan's mum conviently announced earlier today that she was going to stay with her sister overnight, which was helpful of her. 

"Brad!" I hear a sudden shriek from behind me. I turn around and get a sudden surprise as my friend Connor launches himself into my arms. "I haven't seen you for ages!" he giggles. Yep, he's definitely drunk. He's loud and hyper 24/7 anyway, but especially so when someone's made the mistake of giving him alcohol.  

I smile and hug him back. "Con, I saw you a few days ago, but it's lovely to see you anyway."

"That doesn't count." he pouts, letting go of me. "A few days is a realllyyy long time." I would tell him the truth, but I don't want to break his little heart. I suddenly spot Tristan in the midst of a group of people. 

"Sorry Con." I say. "I've got to go."

"Why?" Connor whines as he follows me across the garden. "Wait, is that Tristan? Have you met him yet?"

I laugh. "He lives right next door, of course I have."

Connor continues to drunkenly ramble on about something, but because I'm a terrible friend, I ignore him to talk to Tristan. I don't know what kind of drink James gave him, but he's come out of his shell completely- he's talking and laughing with loads of people. Tristan laughs when he sees Connor trying to talk to some girl who seems to be almost as drunk as he is.

"Sorry about my friend." I mutter as I lead Tristan off. "He just gets... excited when he's been drinking." 

Tristan smirks. "Don't we all darling, don't we all." Wow, that's so not the shy awkward Tristan I first met. This Tristan is totally different, but I still like him. A lot.

"This is fun, isn't it?" I say. "I mean, I'm going to totally regret it tomorrow, but oh well, we are where we are." 

Tristan nods. "That's the thing about bad ideas, they often seem like good ideas at the time or we wouldn't do them."

"Wow." I say. "That's wise for someone who's had as much alcohol as you've had."

"You're one to talk." he puts back. Well, he's not wrong there- I've already lost track of what I've drunk tonight. I open my mouth to reply, but change my mind when I hear China Girl start playing. That'll definitely be James' choice. 

"I love this song!" I exclaim, grabbing Tristan's hand. "Come and dance with me, please?" He nods and follows me out to where there's slightly more space. As he spins me around, I realise that this is the second time today that we've held hands- the first was earlier when I was trying to comfort him when James said something stupid. I smile as I recall it.

When the song ends, he sits down on the grass next to me. Before I know it, something light hits my nose. I look up to see that Tristan had grabbed some popcorn from a nearby bowl and was now flicking it at me. 

"Hey!" I protest, flicking some back. We continue our silly antics- dancing, drinking and generally being immature- for a while until it starts getting really dark. People are starting to drift off, and in the end James decides to end the party before genuine chaos ensues, as apart from lots of mess, nothing disastrous happened. When it's just me, James and Tristan stood in the warzone that used to be my garden, we stand looking at all the mess.

"A job for tomorrow, I think." muses James, and I'm inclined to agree. I just can't face this now. "I'll be back first thing." he promises, and I nod. James may be a blabbermouth, but he always keeps his promises. After he leaves, it's just me and Tristan. I make a mental note to try not to do anything stupid. 

"Should I go home, or what?" Tristan asks.

I smirk. "No, you can share with me. It'll be fine..."

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I only used China Girl for the song as that's my favourite ever David Bowie song *tragic loser*

This chapter made me quite happy, and god knows I need that after my appalling physics paper today 😭 the invigilator who fell over in history yesterday and made loads of tables go crashing to the ground when she did was back today, but it was a bit awkward as I couldn't look her in the eye without giggling 😂