Part Seventeen

I woke up with Max's feet in my face and the sound of him snoring loudly at the opposite end of the bed. I shifted from under him and went back to the spare room. It was empty; the walls were undecorated other than a thick coat of white paint and there were no little trinkets like the rest of the flat seemed to have been bombarded with. I perched on the edge of the bed and took another look around. 

Max had only moved in four months ago and with being busy in America with the lads he hadn't really had time to buy furniture, Michelle had done her best to make it cosy but hadn't concentrated much of her efforts in here because they hadn't really expected to use the room.

I lay back on the smooth mattress, running my hands over the sheet that had been stretched across it. My phone buzzed noisily on the side table so i reached over lazily and picked it up. I checked the time - 8:30 - before reading the text.

"Come c me 2day pls? xx" From Nathan. I ignored it, not knowing the answer to his seemingly rhetorical question. I padded through to the lounge/kitchen, in the shape of an 'L' i could have easily raided the fridge and comfort ate my way through the decision but it seemed i'd lost my appetite recently.

I scanned the room, all of the curtains were drawn but failed to block out the sunlight. Their pale colour and thin fabric was useless against the power of the morning sun.

I welcomed the sunlight, flinging open the curtains carelessly and feeling it’s weak warmth on my skin. I then realised that I’d not exposed a window as I initially though but a set of double doors, leading out to a narrow balcony, just enough space for one of Max’s dining chairs.

I wrestled with the nearest one, quickly getting frustrated but smiling to myself when I’d finally done it and sat back on it, propping my legs up on the metal and closing my eyes. The barricade around the tiny patch of flooring hadn't absorbed the heat of the sun yet so was still cool against my bare legs.

Not long after, i felt my phone buzz in my hand angrily. 

"Hello?" I said answering it mindlessly.

"It's Nath" The voice said slowly.

"Oh right, hi"

"Don't sound to happy to hear from me." He grumbled sarcastically.

"I am!" I exclaimed. "I am"

"Okay"

"I got your text, i just woke up though" I lied.

"Oh, did i wake you?"

"Yeah, but it's not a problem. I needed to be up anyway" More lies.

"Oh right. Why? Doing anything important?" He questioned. 

"No, i just didn't want to waste a beautiful day like today"

"Oh, fair enough"

"So did you want to do something?" I asked, cutting to the chase.

"Yeah, only if you're up for it"

"Okay?"

"Theme park?"

"On a Saturday..."

"Yeah, why?"

"Won't it be terribly busy?"

"I doubt it."

"Well why risk it?" I babbled.

"Do you not like rollercoasters or something?"

"Honestly...No"

"Oh, we could just chill in the park"

"Why don't you just come over here?" I asked, wondering why he'd not suggested that in the first place.

"Me and Max aren't talking"

"But...He said he'd spoke to you?"

"What?" He asked, sounding just as confused as me.

"He said i needed to go and see you? That he'd talked to you-" I paused before deciding to just dodge the specifics "- about what happened." 

"Um...Nope. We haven't spoke since you two came over and-"

I cut him off before he could remind me of that day, not that i'd ever forget it.

"So Max lied?"

"I guess?"

"I'll come over at 10, okay?"

"Half an hour?" He asked.

"No, ten"

"Yeah...it's nine thirty now"

"Oh, okay. I'll be at yours whenever then"

"See you then. Text me when you set off, i'll meet you half way"

"Okay" I hung up and went back into the flat, dragging the chair back in with me and shutting the door.

I found a scrap piece of paper and wrote Max a note saying i'd gone to Nathan's, i'd be back by 5 and i wanted to talk to him. I stuck it on the bathroom door, knowing he'd go in there as soon as he woke up. I then found my pile of clothes and pulled on my joggers and a loose, thin cotton jumper.

I then left, taking my phone and a bottle of water with me and making sure the door shut slowly, making as little sound as possible.

I walked quickly down the 6 flights of stairs, skipping the lift and upon reaching the bottom, quickened into a steady jog. I did a few laps of the park, wheezing unhealthily by the end of it but pushing myself on the last stretch to Nathan's flat and impatiently pressing the buzzer for his flat and cursing when it seemed to take him forever to answer.

"Hey, let us in" I gasped breathlessly. 

"Es, you weren't meant to be for another 10 minutes."

"Just let us in!"

"Sorry"

The buzzer cut off and the front door clicked, letting me know Nathan had unlocked it for me to go up.