Lure To The Woods

XXV

"Are you sure you don't want to come?" I doubled checked, fluffing my hair in the car mirror.

"No, you go spend time with your friends." Xavier smiled reassuringly, "If your friend's just been through a breakup, the last thing he's going to want is to hang around with a couple all evening. I'll meet them all another time."

"Awfully considerate of you." I complimented, "Are you sure you don't mind picking me up after?"

"Of course I don't mind, Cam. I want to make sure you're safe, after all- you know what the risks are." Xavier frowned, "Just text me whenever."

"Okie doke, thanks." I smiled, pushing the car door open.

"Have a good night!" He called, giving me a wave as I pushed the door closed.

I watched the car pull off into the night as the warm feeling in my chest dimmed gradually. It was still weird being around him and we didn't do much physical stuff, but we were still getting to know each other. He hugged me a lot and held my hand, but that's pretty much it.

I sent a small wave to the guy who used to be in charge of watching me at night- it had obviously been a while since I had seen him, since I had been staying at Xaviers. He sent a nod in my direction, hanging back as I walked into the pub and out of the dreary weather.

The pub wasn't overly busy, considering it was a Tuesday night, but it had the usual crowd of avid pub-goers. Spotting my group was pretty easy, since they were roaring with laughter in a corner booth. I was met with cheers as I strode over, making a smile slip onto my face.

"It's the man, the myth, the legend!" Heather clapped, "No lover boy with you?"

"Another time." I chuckled, slipping into the booth and giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"We were just talking about the day we all met." Mike chuckled, sliding a drink towards me.

I snorted at the memory, grinning as I took a sip of my drink.

"Do you remember? Tiny year seven Mick was caught with his Dad's flask in assembly on the first day." Fred reminded me, "They knew that you and Heather were involved because you threw up half way through the powerpoint welcoming us to our new school."

"He's been a bad influence since day one." I shook my head, "What year seven steals their Dad's flask?"

"What eleven year old drinks from some random kids flask?" Mike shot back, which was a fair point.

"You never did let me live down throwing up on you, Fred." Heather groaned.

"You got it on my new school shoes!" Fred exclaimed, "Some of us could handle our drink."

"Don't act like that's normal for a year seven." Oscar snorted, "You've got a problem."

"We all do." Fred shrugged, sipping his drink.

"I'll drink to that." Mick cheered, clinking his glass to Fred's.

"Idiot." Mike muttered, "I can't believe I got in trouble that day. I wasn't even involved, but they couldn't tell Mick and I apart so I got shit for it too."

"Having to go to group sessions about peer pressure as punishment clearly didn't do shit to help." I chuckled, "Fred still ended up becoming a drug dealer."

"I would have put my bet on Mick back then." Oscar mused.

"I wouldn't have." Mike scoffed, "He would just give everything away for free and burn into his own stash."

"Probably." Mick admitted, smirking.

"Ava and I were in detention for bunking class when we met you guys that day." Oscar frowned, the table going quiet.