Love & War | Brad Simpson ✔️

25. "Will you stay with me?"

When I step into the flat early that evening, I hear what sounds like a small party has gathered in the kitchen.

I haven't been gone that long, have I? I guess I have been gone all afternoon. We needed to get a few bits of food like bread and milk, and I'd also made an appointment at a nearby hairdresser's. I'd been thinking about getting a change for a while and spontaneously decided to have some lavender and pastel blue elements put into my hair and had a few inches chopped off the length so it just sits on my shoulders. Even though it was a significant change, I was really happy with the result.

Making my way into the flat, I walk into the kitchen to see a small group of young adult males have congregated in there. There's four of them but they can clearly make enough noise for double that. Two of them are stood up, with another two sat at the kitchen island. One of them I vaguely remember having a brief chat with about Brad at the party we had the other week. There are two half empty crates on the counter, one with beer and one with cider, whilst the rest of the bottles are dotted about the kitchen.

When they notice me walk into the kitchen, their laughing and conversation stops abruptly.

Subtle.

"Hi" one of the guys who sat at the kitchen island says.

"Why are you in my kitchen?" I ask rather bluntly, raising my eyebrows at them.

"We're Brad's mates" another tells me.

"Ah" I nod, "I thought you'd replaced all the members of The Vamps"

That earns me a few chuckles from around the room as I make my way over to the fridge.

"You must be the famous Ella then" the first guy pipes up, the smirk clear in his voice.

"Infamous" I correct as I open the fridge and start putting items of shopping away.

"Brad's told us all about you"

God, is there anyone he hasn't 'told all about me'?

"All bad things, I hope" I retort as I shut the fridge and turn back around, just as Brad walks into the kitchen. As he makes eye contact with me, a small smile spreads across his face.

"Hi" he says. I give him a small smile in return as he comes to step beside me, whilst I start to put away the rest of the shopping.

"Aren't you going to formally introduce us, Brad?" One of the guys pipes up with a large grin on his face.

"Oh, right, er, this is Ella" Brad tells them, "she lives here"

"Yeah, we figured" another smirks.

"She lives here" the one who originally asked Brad to introduce me mimics snarkily, "like you haven't just spent the last three hours telling us all about her"

"Ella, these are my mates" Brad says, ignoring him and pointing each of them out, "that's Will, Jack, Dev and Ethan"

Dev and Jack give me a small smile and a wave. Dev was the one who said hi to me when I first walked in. Will gives me a small nod; he was the one who I spoke to briefly at the party. Ethan just looks me up and down and I'm getting shady vibes from him so I decide I don't like him.