Status: Active
Starting Over
Chapter Four
“Empty bottles and empty promises, the hardest part of today is a hangover. I got every person I need, and it's gonna be one hell of a messy night! I can't remember last night. I can't remember anything” Football Season is Over - Bring Me The Horizon
Four years, that is how long it has been since I have been alone, for years since I didn’t have to give a play by play to Sean, four years of devoting myself to a relationship I thought would last. Four years I would never get back, wasted rotting away under his grip, and Oli saw fit that I should celebrate my freedom.
This is how I ended up standing at the kitchen bench gazing down at the glasses before me. There were forty-eight, fire-engine red plastic cups filled to the brim with some concoction they had put together, this was a so called tradition in the household, a tradition I was about to partake in.
“Wenever one of us gets out of a relationship we 'ave like this cleansin’ ceremony. We 'ave not actually 'ad a cleansin’ ceremony wid someone 'oo were in a relationship for as long as yer but, er, we will give it a go ey. Each cup symbolizes a monff yer where wiv this dude,” Oli said pouring the last of a mystery liquid into the forty-eighth cup, it was later revealed that in most cases it was a cup a day, since it seemed that no one had been in a relationship for longer then a month they had to bend the rules a little.
“Yer 'ave forty-eight minutes ter finish them all, and if yer fail yer start again tomorrow, but we will be nice and take off the ones yer managed ter drink okay,” he said smiling. He obviously had no idea who he was dealing with, I had been drinking alcohol since I was seventeen, toured with many the band before, and drunk more alcohol then anyone should drink in a lifetime. Every year back home my friend Jamie held a Beerlympic, eight days of beer related games, and every year since its prestigious beginnings four years prior I had won the gold-coated bottle of absinth.
Thirty minutes in, and I was only slightly tipsy though it should be mentioned that the concoction before me was the most disgusting, and most potentially deadly drink I have ever come across. By the forty-eighth minute the boys where cheering and the crowd of seven was now well over fifty, and the only people I recognized near me where Jona and Oli, however Jona was currently flirting with a pretty blonde whilst Oli looked at me in amazement.
“For a wee lass yer can sure 'old yor liquor better then I fought yer would,” Oli said smiling widely before bringing his own red cup of poison to his lips. I nodded pushing my hair behind my ears and grabbing a beer out of the cooler that appeared somewhere between cup fifteen and thirty.
“I’ve been on a lot of tours, and all the guys back home drank, it was kinda a culture back home. Binge drinking, serious stuff,” I said laughing, I brought the cool beer to my lips and took a large gulp.
“I need a smoke luv, care ter join me?” Oli said motioning towards the stairs to the roof. I nodded and followed, he pushed the door open allowing cool air for the second time today to caress my skin, though thankfully there was a basket with a large duvet in it which he picked up and brought with him.
Sitting down on a old lounge chair, we each wrapped the duvet around us sitting close together and I caught my first glimpse of Sheffield at night. Oli patted his abdomen a few times searching for something before inserting his hand into a pocket and pulling out a small box flipping the flimsy lid open and holding it towards me. I pulled out the thin white and orange stick, and placed it between my lips, as Oli mimicked my actions before flicking open his lighter and waited till dark brown cancerous fibers of my cigarette to transform to a glowing amber.
“Yer know, I were a bit weary of yer comin' ter live wiv us. We’ve never 'ad a lass livin' wiv us before, especially a broken lass,” he said inhaling the smoke, letting it fill his lungs before exhaling. “But yer seem cool, like one of the lads and all, and I know I'm bloody well not perceived as carin' and all I want is a right good root. However, if yer like need a shoulder ter cry on or wotever, right, my door is open, right, no strings attached.”
“Thanks Oli,” I said taking in the skyline before me, “For everything, letting me stay here and yeah thanks,” I said. My eyes fought to stay open, the warmth of the duvet, mixed with alcohol, cigarette smoke and jet lag where making sleep become appealing, “I think I should head to bed,” I said yawning, before finishing the last of my cigarette and stumping it out in the can beside me. I stood up with Oli following suit, and made my way down the stairs towards the bedrooms. I noticed a hat hanging on the door to Jona’s room and groaned, he had a girl in there and I was about ready to drop dead.
“Fuck Jona, right, yer can stay in me room if yer want. It is tidy and all cause me mum is like OCD or sumfink, tidy sheets and all,” Oli said placing his hand in the small of my back and leading me to a black door.
“Thanks again Oli,” I mumbled as slumped lifelessly on to the comfortable king-sized bed below me.
Four years, that is how long it has been since I have been alone, for years since I didn’t have to give a play by play to Sean, four years of devoting myself to a relationship I thought would last. Four years I would never get back, wasted rotting away under his grip, and Oli saw fit that I should celebrate my freedom.
This is how I ended up standing at the kitchen bench gazing down at the glasses before me. There were forty-eight, fire-engine red plastic cups filled to the brim with some concoction they had put together, this was a so called tradition in the household, a tradition I was about to partake in.
“Wenever one of us gets out of a relationship we 'ave like this cleansin’ ceremony. We 'ave not actually 'ad a cleansin’ ceremony wid someone 'oo were in a relationship for as long as yer but, er, we will give it a go ey. Each cup symbolizes a monff yer where wiv this dude,” Oli said pouring the last of a mystery liquid into the forty-eighth cup, it was later revealed that in most cases it was a cup a day, since it seemed that no one had been in a relationship for longer then a month they had to bend the rules a little.
“Yer 'ave forty-eight minutes ter finish them all, and if yer fail yer start again tomorrow, but we will be nice and take off the ones yer managed ter drink okay,” he said smiling. He obviously had no idea who he was dealing with, I had been drinking alcohol since I was seventeen, toured with many the band before, and drunk more alcohol then anyone should drink in a lifetime. Every year back home my friend Jamie held a Beerlympic, eight days of beer related games, and every year since its prestigious beginnings four years prior I had won the gold-coated bottle of absinth.
Thirty minutes in, and I was only slightly tipsy though it should be mentioned that the concoction before me was the most disgusting, and most potentially deadly drink I have ever come across. By the forty-eighth minute the boys where cheering and the crowd of seven was now well over fifty, and the only people I recognized near me where Jona and Oli, however Jona was currently flirting with a pretty blonde whilst Oli looked at me in amazement.
“For a wee lass yer can sure 'old yor liquor better then I fought yer would,” Oli said smiling widely before bringing his own red cup of poison to his lips. I nodded pushing my hair behind my ears and grabbing a beer out of the cooler that appeared somewhere between cup fifteen and thirty.
“I’ve been on a lot of tours, and all the guys back home drank, it was kinda a culture back home. Binge drinking, serious stuff,” I said laughing, I brought the cool beer to my lips and took a large gulp.
“I need a smoke luv, care ter join me?” Oli said motioning towards the stairs to the roof. I nodded and followed, he pushed the door open allowing cool air for the second time today to caress my skin, though thankfully there was a basket with a large duvet in it which he picked up and brought with him.
Sitting down on a old lounge chair, we each wrapped the duvet around us sitting close together and I caught my first glimpse of Sheffield at night. Oli patted his abdomen a few times searching for something before inserting his hand into a pocket and pulling out a small box flipping the flimsy lid open and holding it towards me. I pulled out the thin white and orange stick, and placed it between my lips, as Oli mimicked my actions before flicking open his lighter and waited till dark brown cancerous fibers of my cigarette to transform to a glowing amber.
“Yer know, I were a bit weary of yer comin' ter live wiv us. We’ve never 'ad a lass livin' wiv us before, especially a broken lass,” he said inhaling the smoke, letting it fill his lungs before exhaling. “But yer seem cool, like one of the lads and all, and I know I'm bloody well not perceived as carin' and all I want is a right good root. However, if yer like need a shoulder ter cry on or wotever, right, my door is open, right, no strings attached.”
“Thanks Oli,” I said taking in the skyline before me, “For everything, letting me stay here and yeah thanks,” I said. My eyes fought to stay open, the warmth of the duvet, mixed with alcohol, cigarette smoke and jet lag where making sleep become appealing, “I think I should head to bed,” I said yawning, before finishing the last of my cigarette and stumping it out in the can beside me. I stood up with Oli following suit, and made my way down the stairs towards the bedrooms. I noticed a hat hanging on the door to Jona’s room and groaned, he had a girl in there and I was about ready to drop dead.
“Fuck Jona, right, yer can stay in me room if yer want. It is tidy and all cause me mum is like OCD or sumfink, tidy sheets and all,” Oli said placing his hand in the small of my back and leading me to a black door.
“Thanks again Oli,” I mumbled as slumped lifelessly on to the comfortable king-sized bed below me.
♠ ♠ ♠
two updates in two days... i've been inspired by the prospects of going to the beach!!i've been waiting for like three months for this, and it will be epic!