in my heart // n.h a.u

part three

Val is about ninety percent sure she is going to die. Briar, on the other hand, thinks her best friend is just being dramatic. It's a fair point, but with the way Val's head is throbbing and she doesn't want to stray too far from the bathroom, she thinks she has every right to be as dramatic as she wants.

Briar pokes her head around the corner, staring down her best friend in the lounge. "Want a coffee?"

Val glares at her, not in the mood for her ridiculous questions. "Only to throw it back up?"

Briar smacks her lips together. "Right," she says, stepping into the lounge this time and leaning against the door frame as she crosses her arms. "I want to be sympathetic for you, Val, I really do, but this is your own doing."

"Mean," Val mumbles back.

Briar chuckles. "What can I say? Your troubles are self-inflicted."

"I want a new best friend," Val grumbles, clutching onto the duvet spread across her tighter. She's sprawled out across the couch, three pillows under her head and the duvet from her bed over the top of her, while some film is playing on the telly. It's an older one, she thinks, but checking the guide requires her to move from the couch. And that's just too much effort.

"As if you could live without me," Briar scoffs before spinning on her heels and making her way back to the kitchen.

Val mumbles something under her breath about how she could, but they both know that's kind of a lie. Let's be real, Briar doesn't even live with Val and yet she probably spends more time here than in her own flat. Maybe it's got something to do with an issue with her flatmate, but Val likes to believe it's strictly because her best friend is rather fond of her.

The plan for the day is to rest on the couch and do as little as possible, or at least that's what Val plans on doing — Briar, on the other hand, has the bright idea of grabbing lunch at a cafe down the street. "You've got to be kidding me," Val says as she sits up a little too fast, holding her head as she swears the room begins to spin. "I'm not...no, Briar, I'm not going anywhere."

"But a little fresh air will do you good!" Briar cries, making her way over to the window and opening the curtains so the bright daylight shines in. Well, as bright as it can be in the middle of winter in London.

"While that may be true, I'd much rather spend my time watching—" she pauses, narrowing her eyes towards to telly to see what's on "—oh, bloody hell. I'm not watching Hollyoaks."

Briar laughs. "Still haven't watched it since Ben left?"

"No!" Val exclaims, though a little too loud for her poorly head and she winces in response to her own actions. "He's such a pretty boy and I'm still mad they had to kill him off." It is true, Val had always been quite the fan of the show, but the second her favourite character decided he wanted to take up a more dangerous lifestyle, she knew that was the end of him. A very dreadful day Ben was killed in a horrific accident, and an even more dreadful day for Val when she claimed to never watch the show again.

"Guess that means you're free for lunch, then?" Briar questions, her lips tugging into a very knowing smirk. She knows exactly what Val is going to say next.

"I hate you," she says, throwing the duvet off her body and slowly standing up to ensure the world doesn't spin around her yet again.

Val takes the absolute longest to get ready and do her makeup, grumbling and groaning the entire time about how she definitely wants a new best friend. A lie, maybe, but in that moment she is seriously considering it.

The two set off to a small cafe down the road, where they've frequented many times before. Val specifically remembers a time in particular where she sat at a table out the front, drawing the landscape in front of her. A small park is opposite the cafe, and Val was feeling particularly inspired this one day as she spotted a young woman and who she assumed to be her child. They played around the park, both on the equipment and games together, and Val couldn't help but smile as she watched the scene unfold in front of her. She's not sure why that particular memory stands out to her or why she chose to draw the scene, but it's tucked away in one of her sketchpads, almost as if she's keeping it all to herself.