smoking by eleven : the 1975

Menswear

"George!" His mom called, her loud voice echoed along with her footsteps coming upstairs.

"G, your mom." My tired voice trailed off as I shuffled under the sheets of George's bed. He groaned, sitting up from the ground. "You know, you didn't have to sleep on the floor."

George and I have slept in the same bed countless times, since we were little. But tonight we fidgeted when I offered him to sleep with me. He just shrugged at my comment, running his fingers through his tangled blonde hair.

George stepped out the bedroom and into the hallway, calling for his mom. Their muffled voices yelled back and forth. Suddenly, the door swung open. "Charlie, do your parents know you're here?" His mom asked.

I looked back at George and back to his mom. "You haven't told her?" I mouthed, he shook his head in response.

"Hm?" Mrs. Daniel waited for an answer. I opened my mouth to say something, but I couldn't make out the words. "Spit it out, Charlie."

"My parents kicked me out. I have nowhere else to stay." I blurted.

"I don't think it's appropriate for you to stay here." She growled.

"What do you mean?" I asked, looking back and forth to George and his mother. "I've been practically living here since I was five."

"Exactly," she nodded. "You've over stayed your welcome."

She can't be serious. "Fine." I grabbed my bag from the floor and pushed past George's mom.

I was almost out the front door until George called after me, "Charlie, wait!"

"What do you want?" I groaned, turning on my heels and facing him.

"I'm sorry," he huffed.

"Yeah. So am I. That you didn't even once, try to defend me"

What was I supposed to do?" George scoffed. 

"I don't know!" I yelled, "You should have said something, at least!"

"It wouldn't've made a difference." He said, rolling his eyes.

"Do you know how many times I've been there for you? Do you know how many times you and your Mom have come knocking on my door, begging for money?" I growled. I knew I would regret what I said, but in the moment, I didn't care. "And we gave ti to you! Because you were my best friend. But in the last few days, you haven't been acting like it."

"And you think that's my fault?" George snapped, "You've been with Matty!"

"This has nothing to do with Matty, George." I said, "Why would you think that?" 

"Because I love you, dammit Charlie. I'm completely and hopelessly in love with you." He blurted, "And you ruined that."

-

George's words played like a broken record in my head. 'I love you. I love you. I love you. And you ruined that.'

I didn't know what to think, whether I should go back to George, and attempted to stitch his heart back together, be mad at myself for being so blind with George's feelings, or to run to Matty in hopes that I could forget about everything after a few good drinks. And, that's where I was heading, driving down the dark and empty road to Matthew's house.

I raised my knuckled to the front door, and knocked. The door opened. "Hey," Matty spoke. He looked over my shoulder and peeked behind me. "What are you doing here?"

"I need somewhere to stay," I mumbled, rocking on the heels of my feet.

"Um, sure." He responded, opening the door to let me in. A girl with short blonde hair sat on the broken down couch placed in the living room. She held a burning cigarette between two fingers.

I instantly regretted choosing to stay with Matty, instead of sleeping in my car.

"Who's this?" She asked Matty, a grin spreading across her lips.

"Gemma," Matty paused, clearing his throat. "This is Charlie."

She swept her curly hair away from her face and held out her hand in my direction. "Nice to meet you." Gemma spoke. I nodded, not being able to put words together. 

"Gemma came from Manchester, to see me." Matty announced.

"With Matty being here, I haven't seen him in months." Gemma said. She swung her arm around Matty's shoulder while he shifted awkwardly.

"Oh, nice." I mumbled. "I can find another place to stay, since you two haven't seen each other in a while. I wouldn't want to intrude."

Matty stayed quiet. "No, please, stay." Gemma pleaded, seeming completely oblivious.

-

I sat on the edge of Matty's bed, listening to Gemma's voice rambling to Matty, downstairs. I guess you could say I was jealous, but above all, I was utterly confused. There was a knock on the bedroom door, and Matty walked in.

"Hey," I sniffed, slipping off my boots and crossing my legs onto each other. Matty forced a smile in my direction and sat down next to me.