A/N: and here's the last one for a while.
I walk over and place my hand on her shoulder. She turns her head and when she sees it’s me she leans into me slightly so that my arm is around her and she’s tucked against my side. Her skin is soft and warm and she smells like alcohol. ‘Why aren’t you with that guy?’ ‘He was kind of an asshole.’ She’s not drunk. She only had one drink and she’s not too bad at holding her alcohol. Nothing like Mitch and Scott who can barely manage a beer. ‘Is that why you looked sad.’ She shakes her head. ‘I was coming to find you and then I saw you talking to that girl.’ My breath catches. What exactly is she trying to say? ‘I know I have no right to feel jealous because I was flirting with another guy and we’re not dating.’ She sighs and tries to work out what to say next ‘It’s just that whenever I’m on my own and my love life’s not working out, you’ve always been there and the idea that you might not be because you’re with someone else is sort of hard to deal with.’
It’s the most we’ve analysed what happens between us in a long time and I have absolutely nothing to say for a while. She seems to lose her confidence during my silence and sounds embarrassed when she continues ‘It’s nothing honestly, it doesn’t matter, forget I said anything.’ I move to face her and put both of my hands on her shoulders. ‘Kirstie it’s ok. I feel the same way.’ I don’t really. She feels a bit annoyed because she won’t have anyone to have sex with. I feel hurt and jealous because the girl I like is flirting with someone else. It works though, she smiles up at me and then, after looking around to check that the others aren’t nearby, kisses me gently. ‘My place?’
In the taxi I text Kevin to tell him that I’ve left and that I’ll see him tomorrow. Kirstie runs her fingers absentmindedly up and down my arm and explains to me that she’s telling Scott that she went home with the asshole from earlier. My fists clench when she tells me what he said to her and when she notices she grabs my hand in hers and squeezes it softly. ‘It’s ok. He was just an idiot.’ She leans her head on my shoulder and I turn to kiss her hair. We stay like that until we arrive at her apartment block. She pays and thanks the driver and then we climb out of the taxi and make our way to her apartment holding hands. She reaches out to open her door without letting go of my hand and we walk into her lounge.
‘Give me a minute. I’m just going to the bathroom.’ I sit on her couch and wait for her. There’s a picture of her and Scott and Mitch from a few years ago on the table and I pick it up to look at it. They’re all hugging each other and grinning and I smile too. ‘Um, Avi.’ Kirstie says as she walks out of the bathroom, playing with her hands sheepishly. I put down the picture and focus on her. She looks uncomfortable. ‘Are you ok.’ I ask her, standing up and resting my hand on her arm. ‘Um I’m fine, I’m just sort of on my period and I feel kind of blergh and you should probably go because I’m not exactly in the mood.’ ‘I can go if you want but I’d rather stay here and make you feel better if you’re not feeling great.’
I mean it in a friendly way. I was thinking mac n’ cheese and movies. I saw her eyes widen and realise that she might have understood it differently ‘Uh Avi I’m not really in the mood to er have you ‘make me feel better’’ Her awkward finger quotes and slightly nervous expression make my heart melt a little bit. ‘Kirst, I mean that I wanted to look after you. You’ve had to deal with that asshole and now you feel kind of off and I’m your friend. I want to make you food and watch movies with you. That kind of make you feel better.’ She bursts into an unexpectedly radiant smile. ‘Ok then, hurry up and feed me.’ She winks and walks away from me and I shake my head as I watch her leave.
Twenty minutes later we’re sat on her couch under a blanket with a plate of macaroni each and Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire in the DVD player. ‘Mmmmm, this is great.’ ‘Well you know, just one of my many talents.’ We watch the movie in silence for a while. Every now and then my eyes wonder to her face. She’s so absorbed in the film. Smiling at the jokes and frowning whenever something bad happens. She sometimes mouths the lines as the characters say them. It’s one of the sweetest things I’ve ever seen. She catches me staring at her and jabs me in the leg with her foot. ‘You’re supposed to be watching the movie.’ I put down my plate and once her attention is back on the film I grab her foot and start tickling it.
She squeals and barely avoids spilling what’s left of her macaroni on the rug. ‘Avi, you are so dead.’ She puts her plate on the table and half-jumps on me, desperately trying to pin me down. I squirm away from her and we end up in a tangled pile of blanket and limbs with her mostly on top of me. She stops trying to tickle me and removes the blanket from between us. I straighten out my legs and she rolls over slightly so that her body is better aligned with mine. She lies her head on my chest and I wrap my arms around her waist. ‘Let’s just watch the movie, this is my favourite part.’ ‘Whatever you want Kirst.’
