Smiling Politely

Lexi lay in bed and stared up at the ceiling. Josh was sprawled out next to her, his pale blue boxers low on his hips and his raven hair jutting out at all angles with one arm across his illustrated chest, the other dangled precariously off the edge of the bed. She looked at him and smiled, he looked like a little kid. She peeled the sheet off of her and crept out of bed, easing the door open and closing it quietly behind her. It was just getting light outside but the flat was too hot to sleep anymore. The four boys spread across her living room floor seemed to disagree as they snored quietly, Mike making the odd noise every so often, still determined to be the loudest even in his sleep.

"This flat is like a little sweatbox," Lexi nodded as she joined her best friend in the kitchen.

"Can't sleep?" she asked Kaylah, who's slightly faded pink hair was sticking up at the back, her own much shorter, dark purple hair was probably doing the same.

Kaylah nodded and drank a mouthful from the mug in her hand, "We need air con."

Lexi blinked at her friend, "It gets hot like 2 weeks of the year."

"A fan then."

Lexi shrugged, too tired to form an articulate argument.

"So the guys are nice. I was pleasantly surprised," Kalyah mused, hugging her mug of what Lexi presumed was coffee the way she would caress it every so often.

She nodded, "Yeah they're pretty decent."

"I had my doubts. Band folk and everything. Track records and stuff," Kaylah was mumbling incoherently but Lexi knew exactly where her friend was going so her next question was just for clarification.

"What are you getting at?"

Kaylah set her mug down and leaned against the counter, turning to face her properly, "I just mean... you had it before and, well, you changed your mind. And stuff didn't go smoothly for a while. I don't want to see that happen again. I can't watch you do that to yourself again."

"It's different now. Josh is different."

"But what you and -"

"Don't say his name," Lexi's expression was stony.

Kaylah held her hand up, "Okay, I won't. But what you had was more, you were together for a long and really intense time. You guys were in lo-," Lexi looked at her cooly and she changed tact, "Maybe you're right and maybe it is completely different this time. And you know what? I hope it is. I really, really do because you deserve it to be different. I'm just asking that you're careful."

"I will be. I am," she said quietly, staring down at the black and white tile beneath their feet, "I just. I screwed it all up so much last time. Can't do much worse than that again can I?"

She looked at her friend almost pleadingly, like a little kid needing reassurance from a mother.

Kaylah nodded, "We all learn from our mistakes I guess."

There was a small commotion from the living room and both girls poked their head around the doorway to find Mike trying to release himself from Luke's iron grasp, "Get the fuck away from me man, I'm not your bird."

Lexi giggled, it was cute that Luke missed his girlfriend so much, watching Mike freak out was a bonus. Her bedroom door opened and Josh stuck his head out, his hair even more messed up than it was when she had left him and the creases from her pillow marked down one side of his face. She was too far away to hear what he was mumbling to his friends as he staggered past them into the kitchen.

He made some more random noises and something that sounded like 'sleepy' before pretty much crashing against Lexi and wrapping his arms around her shoulders, burying his face in her hair.

"Coffee?" Kaylah asked.

His head shot up and he finally opened his eyes fully, "A brew would be sweet mate."

"Is someone putting the kettle on?" Mike had apparently freed himself and was leaning on the doorframe.

Lexi nodded as best she could with a drummer's head resting on top of her own, "What you wanting?"

"Coffee would be awesome. Three sugars please," he smiled sweetly.