inspired ; chrismd

[ 11 ]

"I'm not sure about this Chris."

"It'll be fine, I promise."

We are stood outside of Chris' house which wouldn't normally pose a problem. However, the difficulty here is that but Ollie and Kelly, Chris' cousin and sister, have just come home from university on the mainland. Of course, I've met both of them before but neither of them has the slightest clue that we are together now and I'm just a little bit scared. Understatement of the century; Ollie was flirting with me non-stop when I met him, Chris wasn't happy about it - the reason I know understand. 

"Okay, let's do it." He grins and grabs my hand, opening the front door and allowing me through ahead of him. "After you milady."

"Why thank you, fine sir."

After taking our shoes off and hanging up our coats, we hear a loud squeal. A ginger of medium height sprints round the corner screaming something that resembled "CHRIS" OH MY F**KING GOD!" before tackling him into a hug, the two of them falling onto the floor, Chris looking slightly dazed/concerned. Kelly follows the babble around the corner in a more sophisticated and mature manner smiling nonetheless.

Chris finally manages to prize Ollie off him to stand and give his sister a bone-crunching hug. From his videos, you'd imagine them having a more banterous relationship but in real life, they're surprisingly cuddly. Again, I find myself being slightly jealous of how close Chris is with his family but I push this feeling to the side to allow a grin to grace my face as I watch the touching reunion unfold in front of me. As they pull away attention is very suddenly diverted towards me. Ollie raises and eyebrow.

"Hello, beautiful, nice to see you again." Ollie's approach makes me slightly uncomfortable. Either it is very obvious outwardly or Chris seems to have gained some sort of telepathic connection with me in the month in which we have been together. He puts an arm around my waist protectively. 

"Oh, yeah. I forgot to tell you guys. We're together now," Chris says casually, obviously marking his territory slightly. It clearly works as Ollie smirks and takes a step back.

"Sorry boss, won't happen again."

"Just saying, though, Ollie, I 100% predicted this," Kelly speaks up, aiming her speech at Ollie, leaving Chris and I a little confused. "I said that you two would be together by the time we got back and I appear to be correct." I blush violently.

"We weren't that predictable were we?" I exclaim!

"I hate to break it to you honey, but Chris was all heart-eyes over you from the moment he met you. Whilst you were away, all he could talk about was you. It was quite creepy, to be honest." Now it's Chris' turn to blush.

"Right Kelly. Back to London now please," he retorts, pushing her towards the door. Their humour tips me right over the edge causing me to snort and crack up into fits of laughter which the other 3 join in with eventually. The laughter is contagious and anytime we near stopping, somebody cracks and we fall back into the pit of humour-induced tears. It gets to the point where we forget why we are laughing in the first place but by this time, Ollie and Kelly start to calm down and excuse themselves to help Chris' parents with dinner leaving us alone. 

As the humour subsides, he slips an arm around my shoulder and I nuzzle into it acceptingly. We just lay there in a comfortable silence. One of the things I love most about Chris is that silence isn't necessarily a bad thing with him. We can just enjoy the company of eachother without feeling the need to fill the space with words. Sometimes, we just cuddle and say nothing for an entire evening. When you're in a relationship with someone, at the start, the butterflies that you felt when you were around them before you even got together, stay there constantly. However, they would normally leave by now. Somehow though, this time I feel like they're a permanent extension.

"Come on, lovebirds. Dinner's ready," Kelly calls from the kitchen. Chris stands and offers me his hands to pull me up.

"Ma' lady."

"Why, thank you, good sir," I reply feigning poshness. We make our way into the dining room and sit in our normal spaces, mine being next to Chris' closest to the door. An amazing smell of some form of meat wafts into the room as his mum carries the plates of food in. When everyone has a plate, we dig in and god, it was good. Gradually, as we finish, the table drifts into playful chatter, the subject of which drifting from Kelly and Ollie's new university lives to the planned extension to their house and finally, to my career prospects.

"So, Molly, I hear you just left the Royal Navy, yes?" his mum asks me.

"Yes, about a month ago now, I think."

"So what do you do now?"

"I have a job in the bakery down the road," I say defensively. This is a standard conversation between myself and Mrs Dixon; to say we don't get on would be and understatement. She seems to think that Chris is too good for me which hurts quite a lot, to be honest.

"And I assume you're looking for some better work? A girl with your...skillset...should be working in the city, doing some big well paid job not lurking on an island with no prospects."

From a normal person, that would've seemed nice, like an appreciation of talent or achievements however that is quite the opposite with this particular woman. She says it with a hint of malice in her voice, as if she wants to get me off the island. My face drops at this realisation. This reaction towards my just being here is scary; normally I feel as if I'm accepted as part of the Dixon family but now I feel like an outsider. Thankfully, the subject of the conversation is changed swiftly by Chris who notices my discomfort.

After another half-hour of painfully awkward conversation, not improved by the death stares from Mrs Dixon that are constantly shot across the table, Chris and I dismiss ourselves and I leave the house breathing a sigh of relief.

The car journey with Chris is the opposite to what is normal for us. A standard trip is filled with laughter, singing and embarrassing antics however this is silent. The only sound is our breaths, his noticeably heavier than mine for a reason I do not understand. As we pull up at my house, I thank him for the lift and leave him in the car, entering my house as quickly as possible.

When I close the door behind me, I break. Floods of tears fall down my cheeks and my breathing becomes so impaired that I fear I may pass out. That night, I sob until I'm too tired to and then I just lie on my bed waiting for the circling thoughts to leave my head so sleep can take me. Sleep didn't take me. Nothing could.

I'm sorry this took so long! Also, very sorry for the ending but I felt like some kind of drama was just a bit necessary. Love you all, my lil' chickens!

Megan x