Other People's Heartache

Holidays Hang-ups and Hangovers

Oh yeah! Putting another part up because people actually seem to be reading this! Thanks for that by the way. Really didn't expect much of anyone to care about this, but it seems like at least a few of you do. Will probably put up the next part Sunday or Monday. Thanks for reading! Seriously.

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This became a common occurrence over the next couple months. I'd text them all randomly when I thought of something funny, or just wanted to talk, and every couple weeks I'd get told about a party and what time they were meeting at the pub. My job was going well, too. Lizzy and I had girls nights a couple evenings every week and she came out with me and the guys a couple times, it wasn't quite her scene, but that's okay. My first project finished and I got assigned to a larger project and all was going well on that front. Lizzy even introduced me to her friend Cassie, and she and I have been building a friendship as well. Lizzy has not given up on Dan liking me, but I just don't see it. He's really sweet, yeah, but he's really sweet in general, not just with me. She doesn't buy into it. I'd be lying if I said I didn't like him, but I'm not looking for a relationship and hanging with the guys is enough for me right now.

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It's been about six months since I moved here and my birthday is quickly approaching. It's then that I start to get some serious bouts of homesickness. I go days where I just want to cry all day because I miss my family and I think about buying a plane ticket and going back to the US frequently. Kyle is my lifesaver in those moments. It's the beginning of festival season so he's been sneaking me in to see some performances since he's worked with the rigging for some of the shows and knows some people. He's also, finally, decided to join the band that Dan is forming. I have yet to hear them perform, something about Dan being shy and the songs not being ready to perform as a band. Whatever, I'm sure I'll hear them perform eventually.

I'm there a few months later when they are trying to decide what to name the band because Dan Smith is just not working anymore (and his drunken idea of Dan the Smith just sucked). Let me tell you, these names are horrible. I don't know where they are getting their name ideas but they are all just horrible. That is, until someone suggests a very obvious choice; Bastille, after the French monument and the holiday on which Dan was born. It's great and it fits perfectly. They start working hard on making this music and don't go out as much, but they still make sure they invite me to come and hangout with them at the pub.

New Year's quickly approaches and the realization that I've been here for almost a whole year comes crashing down on me. Lizzy and Cassie come over to my flat, which I have been refusing to leave during the holidays, to cheer me up and force me to participate in some quality girl-time. I spent Christmas with Cassie since she didn't go home this year, she decided to stay in London for the holiday, and then I spent part of the newly discovered (well, newly discovered to me) Boxing Day with the guys so that I could give them the little trinkets I had picked up for them over the past couple months. They were all very thankful and had all pitched in to get me a weekend trip up to Scotland at a spa (apparently I looked like I needed to relax, which I guess I did) which I gratefully took and brought Lizzy with me.

But New Year's...New Year's was a holiday that I had spent with my best friend Alice the past five years, and it was making me miss her like crazy. I hadn't really thought about any of my New Year's traditions because they are so engrained in me, but when I realized that Alice wasn't here to participate, I completely broke down. When Lizzy and Cassie invade my flat in an effort to cheer me up they found me curled up under a blanket on the couch with the TV on and tissues scattered around from my inconsistent bouts of crying.