inspired ; chrismd

[ 1 ]

"Molly?"

Behind me, I hear a familiar northern accent and spin round excitedly to greet it.

"Vikk!" He opens his arms and I jump into them, enveloping him in a massive hug. A small tear slips from the corner of my eye onto his hoodie.

"I missed you." I say into his chest.

"You too. I can't believe you're really home. You've missed so much."

"Well, you'll just have to fill me in then." He chuckles and, slowly, we both pull away.

"The car's this way." He smiles at me, gesturing towards my left. We step in sync, my massive suitcase jumping on stones, gradually catching up with every last detail of what we had missed over the 4 years where I had been gone. After a short walk, he skips behind me excitedly, places his hands over my eyes and laughs.

"You ready?" The glee in his voice is contagious.

"For what?" I play dumb, knowing for sure what he is about to reveal. Suddenly, light flows into my eyes and I look up to the bright red SUV that is parked in front of me. My jaw drops.

"This is..."

"F**cking amazing? I know!"

"You gonna show me around then?"

"Go for it." He opened the door to the beautiful vehicle. "How about we go for a ride? I know a route where I can show you all the best bits."

I squeal and jump up and down before getting into the passenger side.

"Where do you think you're going?"

"I'm getting in the car dipsh*t?"

"Wrong side." I open my eyes wide yet again.

"You're serious?!"

"Do I look like I'm joking?" I raise an eyebrow. "Okay, well. If you don't want to..."

I spring out of my seat and run around to the driver's seat. He slides in beside me, handing me the key.

"All yours." I laugh in the absurdness of the situation. Somehow, my bags had ended up in the back and I was holding Tesla keys. I must be dreaming. Life just doesn't normally work like this.

Looking down at the keys one more time, I slot them in and press the go button. Quite unlike I was expecting, there is no roar of an engine, only silence. (God, I sound like a Tesla salesperson.) I press down on the acceleration and we move out of the car park.

After a decent length of driving and just chatting, he turns on the radio. A unfamiliar song begins to play.

I'll be needing stitches. A voice whines through the speakers.

"What the f**k is this?!" I exclaim. I've never been one for modern music and Vikk knows this but this song is just ridiculous.

"Stitches." He shrugs but I lean forward and press the off button.

"None of that thank you, mister." He chuckles at my choice of language.

"No probs then. We're nearly here anyway. Take the next exit and I'll give you directions." He smiles at me. "The guys are gonna love you."

"I'm just that fabulous." Both of us laugh at my sarcastic comment. I turn off at the junction and we make our way towards what Vikk calls the 'Sidemen House'.

Pulling up at the house, Vikk takes out his phone (an iPhone, a constant source of debate between him and myself, a faithful Android user) and begins to text someone before getting out. I follow suit, grabbing my suitcase and bags from the back seat, following him to the front door of the house. He opens it for me, taking my rucksack from my shoulder to help me out with the already awkward enough manoeuvre.

"We're here guys. Come and say hello!" He yells out as he closes the door then addresses me. "You stay put, I'll take your bags upstairs to the spare room."

"Thank you." He heads upstairs just a tall, blonde guy with gelled hair slides down the banister.

"Heya!" Jumping down in front of me, he extends his hand for me to shake. "I'm Simon."

"Molly." We exchange grins but our handshake is rudely interupted by a bearded man, a few inches taller than Simon launches himself down the stairs also.

"Hey, I'm Josh. I take it you're Molly? Vikk said to expect you."

"That's me." Shyness takes over but the two of them don't seem fazed. Simon gestures towards a hallway and lead me to a living area, two sofas on either side, whilst Josh goes to grab drinks.

"Was your journey okay?" He asks me.

"Yeah, it was good. I got a seat which is a good thing. Normally the Portsmouth trains are packed."

"Portsmouth?" Damn it, well it was always going to come up sooner or later.

"I'm in the Royal Navy." My cheeks flush. I always get a little awkward when talking about my career choice because people never seem to believe me.

"Really?" I nod. "That's f**cking sick! What do you do?" Somehow, his enthusiasm makes me feel a lot more confident in what I'm saying.

"I'm a weapon engineer officer. Pretty much, I fix guns, missiles, radar things whilst travelling the world." He looks at me in shock.

"Really?"

"You really don't believe me, do you?" I chuckle to myself.

"It's just too cool. I don't know."

"Well, Vikk can vouch for me. I'm telling the truth. I just came off HMS St Albans."

"Drinks guys." Josh walks in holding 3 cans of Coke.

"Did you hear about what Molly does?" Simon asks him as he sits down, handing us each a can.

"No, why?"

"She's in the Royal Navy. She fixes guns." At this point, he sounds like a kid that had been given the keys to a sweetshop.

"You must be sick at CoD then." Josh hints at me, grabbing a pair of controllers and giving me one. He turns on the PS4 just as Vikk walks back in.

"What we playing?"

"Black Ops." Josh answers and sits down next to me.

"Ready to lose?" I challenge.

"Fighting talk. I like this girl Vikk."