Chapter 62

“Thanks for coming” he whispers into my ear, kissing my jaw line. I ignore him to save myself from the humiliation of my reply. I’ll mess up or something. “You didn’t have to” he continues to kiss my neck and I can feel a smirk playing on his lips.

“I-I wanted to” I stutter, turning to face him to stop him kissing me.

“Good” he kisses my nose and I scrunch it up, making him laugh.

-

My phone alarm clock wakes me up at 7am, so I get out of bed and walk to Conor’s bathroom. He told me last night that if I want a shower, I can have one and I shouldn’t need to ask him. I feel rude just taking a shower here but Conor said so.

I tie my hair up (because I washed it yesterday) and step into his shower. I must say, his shower is 10 times better than mine. The water blasts out of all different holes in the wall and its boiling hot. I’ve never been in this shower before but I did go in the other one in his house one time which isn’t near as good as this one. I’ll be having showers here more often.

I change into my uniform while I’m in the bathroom and walk back into Conor’s room. I untie my hair and sit in front of the large mirror, fish tailing my hair to the side. I’m having a good skin day today so I decide to just wear some mascara to school.

I check my final image before walking downstairs and joining Jack in the kitchen.

“Mornin’” he nods at me and I smile. He continues texting on his phone so I go into his fruit bowl and grab an apple. “Conor awake?”

“Nope” I shake my head and he just nods.

“What’s happening after school then?” he puts his phone down and turns his body towards me.

“Well we need to go to mine and get the recording studio”

“Ok, we should take the piss and put balloons around the house and stuff” he laughs and I nod excitedly. “Right, how long will it take to set up this thing you’ve got him?”

“I don’t know, an hour?” I shrug and his jaw drops.

“ONE HOUR!?” he gasps.

“At the least. It is a recording studio, Jack” I nod.

“Oh my god” he moans. “Do I have to help?”

“Yep, I don’t know what I’m doing” I laugh.

“There’s no instructions?”

“There is but that’s too complicated” I groan.

“We can do this Lucy” he tries to motivate me but I just laugh. “Right, you ready?” he jumps up from the bar stool he was sat on when I finish my apple. I do the same and nod.

“I’ll just get my bag” I run out of the kitchen and make my way upstairs into Conor’s room. I debate whether I should wake him up and tell him I’m going to school. I’m barely going to see him today... “Conor, I’m going now” I whisper, shaking him slightly.

“Mhmm” he moans.

“When are you going out with Alex?”

“Ten” he mumbles.

“Have you set an alarm?”

“No”

“I’ll call you at nine then, ok?”

“Mmm” he moans again. I laugh slightly.

“Lucy, hurry the fuck up!” Jack shouts from downstairs.

“Have a nice day baby” I kiss Conor’s forehead and run out of the room. “I’m coming, calm down”

At 9 o’clock I go to the school toilets and call Conor. He answers on the fifth ring.

“Hello?” he croaks.

“You need to get up” I get straight to the point and I hear him laugh slightly.

“I’m up” he yawns.

“No you’re not. I’ll put the phone down and you’ll go back to sleep!”

Honestly, I can read him like a book.

He laughs, “Alright, alright. I’m out of bed now”

“Good”

“Shit” I hear him stumble. “Ow”

“What did you do?”

“Fell over one of your fucking bags” he snaps and I start laughing.

“Right, I’ll leave you to it then. Have a good day!”

“Will do,” he laughs “thanks”

“No problemo” I end the call and go back to class.

I can’t concentrate the whole way through school. Why am I so excited about giving someone a present? The final bell of the day rings, signalling the end of school and I practically jump out of my seat, just like when I left maths yesterday.

I walk with Lois to the school gate and wait for Jack there. When he arrives, we walk back to my house, dropping Lois off at hers on the way.

“Let me get changed first” I tell Jack, running up to my room. I put on my high waisted, light washed jeans with a cropped white sweater. I run back downstairs and see Jack sat on the stairs on his phone.

“Done?” he asks and I nod.

“All the boxes are in here” I tell him, opening the office door. He looks in and his jaw drops on the floor.

“Jesus Christ, Lucy! Why didn’t you tell me there was this many!?” he gasps.

“What did you expect? It’s a fucking studio” I say hypocritically. I was thinking the exact same thing as he was when I saw the boxes for the first time.

“But it’s going to take us hours to carry all this to my house!”

“Well it’s the only way” I shrug, pulling out a box.

“No, wait here” he nods, running out of my house.

“Where are you going!?” I shout after him but he continues running away, ignoring me. Ok then... I copy Jack by sitting on the stairs and going on my phone while I wait for him impatiently. I decide to text Conor to calm me a little bit.

To - Conor: having fun?x

A few minutes later, he finally replies.

From - Conor: it’s so good, luce x

To - Conor: good! I’ll leave you to it then x

As soon as I send it, Jack walks in with a massive key chain around his finger and a huge smile on his face.

“Ready?” he smiles.

“Right, what have you done?” I ask worryingly.

“Come here” he uses a hand gesture to call me over. I stand up and walk over to him, and look outside to see the car I nearly died in with Conor.

“Please don’t tell me you drove that here” I say as calm as possible.

“I didn’t drive it here” he says in a monotone voice.

“JACK, WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU THINKING!? YOU’RE FOURTEEN! YOU CAN’T DRIVE!” I scream.

“I’m fifteen in two days” he smiles, proudly.

“I don’t care! If anything, I should be driving! I’m older!”

“Here you go then” he hands me the pile of keys.

“No! You drive!” I throw the keys back at him and he frowns in confusion.

“Okay...” he raises his eyebrow. “Shall we get the boxes in the car boot then?” he hesitantly asks.

“No, we’re carrying them to yours. You went mad at me for getting in the car with Conor so why are you even trying to do this? Conor’s older than you and I almost died then, God knows what you’ll be like!” I ramble on.

“I’ve had loads more experience than Conor” he smiles proudly.

“That’s hard to believe”

“Seriously, I have” he says with a serious face.

“I refuse to get into that car, Jack” I shake my head.

“Why? I live like, two minutes away. We’ll be driving at about twenty miles per hour the whole way. There’s no main roads on the way so we’ll be fine”

"That car gives me fucking nightmares" I shudder but Jack just continues to stare at me with hopeful eyes. I moan, “Just put the boxes in the boot”

It takes us a good fifteen minutes to get all the boxes in the car boot and they only just fit. We had to use some space at the front of the car too and across all the seats.

“You getting in then?” Jack asks, jumping in the driver’s seat while I lock my front door.

“I don’t know...” I trail off.

“You can walk and I’ll meet you there if you’re that scared”

“I’m not scared!” I gasp.

“Alright” he rolls his eyes.

“I’m not” I pout.

“Get in then” he laughs.

“Fine” I huff. What am I getting myself into? I hesitantly strap myself into the passenger seat and look at Jack smirking at me.

“You’ll be fine” he rolls his eyes, turning the keys to start the engine. He slowly puts his foot on the pedal and drives 20mph the whole ride to his house. He’s 10 times better at driving than Conor. I could actually relax during this 2 minute journey to his house, unlike Conor’s ride when I came out of the car shaking. “See, wasn’t so bad was it” he laughs.

“Well you were going slow the whole way. I wouldn’t exactly get on a motorway with you”

“Just don’t tell Conor I drove you, he’d go mental” he tells me while unlocking his front door and dumping the keys on the table.

“I won’t. Who’s car is that anyway?” I ask.

“Mum’s. They usually just share Dad’s car. It’s bigger and better” he shrugs and I just laugh.

We carry all of the boxes up to Conor’s room and start unpacking them.

“Where the fuck do we start?” Jack moans, looking at all the pieces on the floor.

“Well it’s all pretty much set up. We just need to plug in some plugs and fix things in the right places” I shrug. It seems easy.

“I think I’ll just watch” Jack collapses onto Conor’s bed.

“I don’t. Get up!” I demand.

“Hey Lucy!” Anna smiles, walking into the room.

“Hey babe, want to help?” I laugh at her wide eyes. She shakes her head and sits next to Jack on the bed.

“What is it?” she frowns.

“A recording studio”

“Woah” she gasps. “Jack, get up and help”

“Well said, Anna” I smile and Jack rolls his eyes.

It takes us exactly 1 hour and 24 minutes to set up. Just a little bit longer than I was expecting...

“Please tell me it’s finished” Jack moans for the 100th time in the past hour.

“We need to test it first, turn the microphone on and talk” I say, still setting Conor’s computer to the recording studio. I put on the headphones and give Jack the thumbs up to say something.

“Oh baby show me, show me something. Tomorrow I might be hungover, that don't mean nothing” he sings jokingly and I burst out laughing. At least he tried...

“Excellent Jack” I praise him and he bows.

“So are we done?” he asks me and I think through everything, making sure we haven’t missed anything out.

“Yep” I nod.

“FINALLY!” he shouts, high fiving me and picking me up to spin me around in the air.

“Go get changed” I laugh when he puts me down. How he’s comfortable in his uniform, I will never know. He rolls his eyes and walks out of his room, returning two minutes later in black jeans and a grey t-shirt. “Beautiful” I say in an accent and he rolls his eyes.

“Can we blow up balloons?” he laughs and I roll my eyes, nodding afterwards. He runs downstairs and brings up a box full of balloons, birthday banners, party poppers and even cake candles. I’d very highly doubt Conor would want a birthday cake...

“You be blowing up the balloons while me and Anna put up banners” I tell Jack and he nods half way through blowing up a balloon. Me and Anna put banners on the wall along the stairs, on his bedroom door, through the lounge and in the hallway. We were aiming to do the majority of the house but all the ‘birthday boy’ banners ran out. I’m tempted to put up girly ones...

We go back into Conor’s room and see at least 20 multicoloured balloons covering the floor.

“Woah!” Anna gaps, kicking them about.

“He just texted me saying he’s on his way back and will be ten minutes” Jack informs while tying a full balloon.

“Ok” I nod and sit next to him to help him blow some up. We trail about 70 balloons though the house, up the stairs and in his bedroom in the space of ten minutes. That is skill...

Conor’s POV

I unlock the front door and walk inside the house to see ‘birthday boy’ banners all over the walls, and multicoloured balloons covering the floor. Oh my god...

“Jack what the fuck have you done!?” I shout and Alex bursts out laughing. Jack starts laughing and runs downstairs.

“We decorated” Jack explains and I start laughing.

“We?” I frown. Anna probably helped or something.

“Lucy’s here” he smiles. I hear a balloon bang from upstairs and Anna screams. I rush upstairs and see Lucy stood outside my bedroom door with Anna, laughing at something.

“What are you doing here!?” I gasp, pulling Lucy in for a hug.

“I was setting up your present with Jack and Anna” she says during the hug. I pull away, hold her shoulders and frown at her.

“Where is it?” I ask in confusion.

“It’s in your room” she laughs. I look over at my bedroom door where the ‘birthday boy’ banner is.

“Really?” I laugh, pointing at it. I roll my eyes and open the door. “How many balloons did you blow up!?” I gasp. I can’t see my floor. The balloons just fill it.

“Never mind the balloons!” she laughs, moving some away from the corner of my room. My eyes grow at what she’s showing me. Fucking hell.

My jaw drops to the floor as I walk over to the small recording studio in the corner of my room. It has a microphone next to it with some headphones and is all set up with my laptop.

“Ooooh my... Fuck” I gasp, running my fingers along all the buttons, sliders and switches. She must’ve spent a fucking fortune. “Lucy! How much did this cost you!?”

“I can’t tell you how much your present was Conor!” she gasps.

“It must’ve cost a fucking fortune!”

“It was worth it” she shrugs. “You were saying how your camera quality would be shit”

“Lucy, this is way too much!” I shake my head. I literally can’t accept this, no matter how much I want it. Imagine all the covers I can make on this...

“You don’t like it?” her face drops and my eyes grow wide as I shake my head furiously.

“I fucking love it Lucy! I just can’t believe you’ve actually got this. I can’t accept it!” I shake my head again.

“It took me an hour and a half to set it up Conor. If you’re asking me to give it back because I spent some money on you, I’m going to kill you” she glares at me and I start laughing.

“Oh my god” I gasp, not believing this is real. How the fuck has she done this!? I pick her up and spin her round in the air. “Thank you so much!” I smile, kissing her when I put her down. “I fucking love it. This is the best present I’ve ever had”

Even my parents wouldn’t get me this. They’ll probably give me £300 when they’re back from work. I’m not complaining but it doesn’t have any thought into it. Lucy’s present is just... Wow.

“I’m glad you like it” she smiles.

“Fuck, I love you so much”

“I love you” she laughs.

I start getting familiar with all the buttons and things you can do with the software on the computer for hours. It’s 10 o’clock and all me and Lucy have done is record stupid stuff and blast some music through the speakers while Jack, Alex and Anna play on the Xbox all night. God knows what they’ll be like when Jack gets his PS4.

“Conor?” I hear Mum shout from downstairs. I immediately run downstairs and see my Mum stood at the bottom of the stairs with a card and a present in her hand. “I tried coming home earlier but they kept me behind at work” she sighs, handing me my gifts. “Happy birthday!”

“Thank you Mum” I smile, giving her a hug. “Where’s Dad?”

She sighs, “I tried to bring him home”

“He’s at the pub? On my birthday?” I roll my eyes. It doesn’t surprise me to be honest. I’m not really that bothered though. I fucking hate my Dad. He’s the one that got my Mum in hospital one time for making her drink so fucking much and giving her an overdose. She’s cut down on her drinking so much since then but she still drinks every now and then on weekdays through Dad’s persuasion.

“I’m sorry” she apologises.

“I’m glad he’s not here, Mum. Don’t worry about it” I smile and hug her again. I hear someone walking down the stairs and my eyes immediately shoot up to Lucy. “Lucy’s here” I tell my Mum.

“Hey Lucy!” she smiles, bringing Lucy into a hug. “Nice to see you again!”

“Aw, you too Angela” Lucy smiles. How the fuck has Lucy remembered her name?

“Open your present then Conor” Mum laughs. I roll my eyes and open the card first. She’s wrote a massive paragraph about how proud she is of me and stuff, and ends it with ‘Lots of love from Mum and Dad xxx’

It pissed me off because I know Dad didn’t have any participation in this card, and Mum just included his name out of politeness.

And like I said, the card has £300 in it.

“Aw, thanks Mum” I smile at her and start to open the large present, to reveal a MacBook Pro. “Fuck! Thank you so much!” I gasp. Lucy’s mouth is on the floor right now, although her present is ten times better than this.

“Is that the right one you were telling me about? The man in the shop was offering me a MacBook Air but I was convinced you said MacBook Pro” she rambles on. I was telling her the other night about the newest MacBook but I didn’t say I wanted it. I love it, of course, but I’m surprised she even remembered I mentioned anything about it. All I said was it’s the best MacBook in my opinion.

“Yeah this is right! Mum I didn’t say I wanted it!” I gasp. “You didn’t have to”

“You always do this. I get  you something crap and you complain, but when I get you something you like, you still complain. I can’t go right with you” she rolls her eyes and Lucy starts laughing.

“Sorry, I love it” I laugh.

“Good” she smiles.

“Come and see what Lucy got me!” I gasp and drag Mum upstairs.

“Oh my god, what is it?” she gasps, walking over to it.

“It’s a recording studio” I tell her.

“So you’re finally going to do something with your voice” she laughs and I roll my eyes. “Lucy, this is amazing, thank you so much” she smiles.

“It’s nothing” Lucy laughs and I roll my eyes at her.

“I’ll go and say hi to Anna and Jack” Mum reminds herself and walks outside the room.

“Alex is here” I shout after her but I don’t get a reply. I just shrug and start taking my MacBook Pro out of the box.

“I can’t believe she got you a MacBook Pro” Lucy gasps.

“Your present is better” I shrug. I have a feeling she thinks that this is better than a recording studio.

“Is it hell! I’d do anything for one of those” she sighs.

“Lucy, shut up. I’d choose yours over this any day” I say truthfully and she smiles.

“Can I touch it?” she whispers.

I start laughing, “Yes?”

She runs her fingers along the keys as I turn it on.

“Oh my god” she gasps.

“You’re so weird” I laugh and she rolls her eyes. I’m literally dead after today. After setting up the MacBook and connecting it with the recording studio, I turn everything off and join Lucy in my bed. She convinced her Mum into letting her sleep again. Legend...

“You didn’t tell me about your day” she pouts.

“You won’t be interested”

“I will! I want to know”

“Well it was huge for a start and there was like a massive cinema screen in the room with computers all over the place,” I start explaining and her eyes are looking into mine the whole time. She looks fascinated...

“Sounds like you had fun then” she laughs when I finish explaining.

“It was amazing” I nod.

“Isn’t Alex sleeping?” she frowns.

“Yeah, he’ll sleep in Jack’s” I shrug and she laughs. “So we can do whatever we want” I start to leave kisses down her neck.

“They’ll come in” she moans. I get up quickly and lock the door, before getting back into bed. “They might hear” she whispers but I shut her up by kissing her soft lips and running my fingers up her thigh.