You're the place my life begins. [l.s]

Part I

“You’re the place my life begins,

And you’ll be where it ends.”

      Harry is sitting cross-legged on the carpet of Nick’s living room when the subject is brought up for the first time. He, Ed and Lila are the only ones left after Nick’s birthday party is over, and they have gathered up in a circle to share alcohol, weed and some of their wisest advices. Well, Louis is there too, but he’s sleeping on a very uncomfortable-looking couch. At forty past five in the morning, the music has already been turned off and people have already left. The party has started as a BBQ by the pool in the morning, and finished as a huge mess of drunken people dancing, making out, chatting and smoking joints in every spot of his house. It has been wild, and now his entire house looks like it has been taken over by a typhoon. Red cups and bottles are scattered all around the place, and there’s food in almost every piece of furniture, there is a broken lamp and he is pretty sure he was not wearing tight leather pants four hours ago, -yet he is not very sure about the reason why he is wearing them now. But he thinks that the massive cleaning he will have to do will be worth it, because he has never had that much fun in his entire existence.

            The four people who are awake are talking, holding cups of some weird brand of alcohol someone has brought. By the long words written on the tag, they figure it is probably German or Italian (but it’s actually a bottle of Bacardi mojito). Given that alcohol makes people philosophical and emotional, the topics they have chosen go from love and past, to how old they are getting, and settling down.

            Between slurred words and weird metaphors worthy of a true hipster, no one makes much sense, really.

            “Love is like a sock,” Nick says, with his index finger held high as if he is teaching a lesson to his pupils, he looks thoughtful and concentrated, “you are not complete without the other.” He finishes his sentence by closing his eyes dramatically and the other three only nod with serious looks on their faces, amazed by the older man’s wisdom.

            They bring their cups together and make a toast. “To love”, they say in unison as their cups meet in the middle of their circle. After a minute, Lila, a girl with blue hair who has been dating Ed for almost two years, says, “you mean that you are a sock or that love is a sock?” She makes this question in a very serious manner, with her eyebrows knitted together and the corners of her mouth going slightly downwards in concentration, unaware of the little sense the whole conversation makes. Nick sighs in annoyance; he has always thought that this girl takes things too literally sometimes. But he guesses he can’t blame her, not many people have the capacity to understand an aureate vocabulary like his.

            “I mean that you are a sock, therefore you are not complete without your partner,” Nick explains with exaggerated hand gestures and Harry chuckles, “and love is the whole context, got it?”

            She nods thoughtfully and Ed smiles, kissing the side of her head. It’s when a chill goes down Harry’s spine and he shivers, the hair on his skin going up a little. It is really chilly in there, so he rubs his hands together, hoping that the friction will provide him some warmth. He takes a look at Louis’s direction, and wonders if the man is cold. He studies him for a second, and notices how his hands are hidden between his thighs; a sign that he is indeed cold.            

            “Why a sock, and not a shoe?” Lila asks all of a sudden, and Nick widens his eyes, exasperated. He looks murderous and more than ready to commit a crime. Ed only laughs at the absurdity of it all, whilst Harry gets up from his spot. The younger lad walks all the way across the living room to the couch where Louis is sleeping, taking off his coat in the process.