It's Not A Question But A Lesson Learned In Time

When I woke up the next morning I probably felt the most rested I had in quite a few days. I was still wearing what I had been last night because when I got to my room I had literally just fallen into bed and gone to sleep. I glanced at my phone to see another 15 messages and 9 missed calls. I decided to check them later, and after quickly changing I went downstairs to find Joe watching TV in the front room and Lee still out cold on the sofa.

“Morning.” Joe smiled when I sat down next to him. “I finally get some company. He’s crap.” He added throwing a pillow at Lee, who didn’t even stir.
“I get the feeling he had quite a lot to drink last night.”
“…Yeah. He did have a fair few!”
“So what are you watching?” I asked turning my attention to the TV. “Ah. Friends.”
“Every day.” He grinned.

We didn’t say much else for the rest of the episode, the next time anyone spoke was when Ben entered, looking tired.
“Afternoon. My little alcoholic buddy.” Joe smirked.
“I didn’t have that much. Hey… What’s he doing here?” Ben finally saw Lee asleep on the couch.
“He fancied going for a ride when we left last night, so he badgered me to take him with us.”
Ben nodded in understanding, glanced at Lee once more and then without a second hesitation, jumped on him. We heard Lee cry out in shock, and I guess pain.
“What the hell man?!” he yelled at Ben.
“Morning honey!” Ben grinned stupidly at Lee as he tried to push him off.
Ben fell onto the floor, still laughing.
“Ben. Stop tormenting the poor child.” Hannah laughed walking into the room as well.
“Sorry mum.” He smirked, standing up. Hannah feigned insult as Ben gave her a quick kiss. “So I’ll see you after work then yeah?” he asked. Hannah nodded.
“I’m sorry I’ve got to work Frankie. I’ll be back around five though.”
“It’s fine.” I told her. “See you later.”
She said a last goodbye and then left.
 
I spent the day hanging out with Ben, Joe and Lee mostly. Justin was working, but Stoo came and joined us some time during the afternoon. We pretty much spent the time walking down Oxford Street in the heart of London. It’s like the busiest street in the city! At around four thirty we stopped at a Starbucks for some drinks, Hannah was going to meet us there in a while as well.
I told Ben what I wanted and went to get a table. A minute or two later Lee came over to sit down too.
“Hey. Listen. I just wanted to apologize for last night.” He said, looking down at the table.
“Why?”
“I’d had a lot to drink. So, if I made you feel uncomfortable or anything. I’m really sorry.”
“It’s fine. Honestly. I’m used to people when they’re out of it. My dad and his mates are like perfect examples.”
Lee laughed a little.
“Err. This might sound a bit random. But, would you like to have dinner with me tonight?”
“Oh.” I felt myself blush slightly. “Yeah sure, that would be cool.” I nodded.
“Cool. Yeah. That’s awesome.” He gave a nervous laugh. Any further conversation was interrupted by the other guys rejoining us with the drinks.

By the time Hannah joined us we had all pretty much finished our coffees and other assortments of drinks and were just about ready to head home. Hannah grabbed a coffee to go and we walked to the underground, tube station thing. I tell you, some of the stuff in London is going to take a lot of getting used to. I’ve only ever been on the tube once before and that was when we went to New York for the weekend when I was seven. I’m not sure which I remember to be busier!

We were split up in the carriage, Hannah and I had managed to get seats, Ben, Lee and Joe were standing close to the doors and Stoo was sitting on the floor between them. I don’t know why he insisted on sitting down, there was barely enough room to stand, let alone sit on the floor!

We had about a half hour wait until we got to whatever the station was that we were getting off at. And then another twenty minute trip to get back to where Ben had parked.
“Hannah… What should I wear on a date out with Lee?” I asked her around half way back. I felt myself blushing profusely as Hannah turned to me wearing a massively smug grin.
“I knew it!” She exclaimed, earning a light hit on the shoulder from me; the guys weren’t that far away. “Sorry. But I knew it wouldn’t take him long. He may have been drunk but after he met you he was raving about you for ten minutes straight until he decided to accompany you home.”
“Ok great. Now are you going to help me? I don’t do dates! The only guys I ever really talk to are gay, or my dad’s friends for god’s sake!”
“Chill out kid! Blimey!” She laughed. “I’ll get you all sorted out when we get home.”
 
“Are you sure about this?” I asked her, looking at myself in the mirror. She had put me in a plain black tank top, with the top of a white one slightly visible at the top, along with a pair of red skinny jeans and original black and white converse.

“Yep, completely. You don’t want to look too formal, you’re not going anywhere really fancy. But you don’t want to look like you’re wearing your pajamas.” She grinned. “Now let me do your hair and makeup.”
“You know… I think I’m capable of doing my own thanks. I have been for several years.”
“I know. But I’m still going to do it.” She insisted, pulling the seat out from under the dresser and forcing me to sit down on it.
As she started to do my hair I glanced in the mirror, worrying about what she was doing as she got out straightening and curling irons.
“No no!” she exclaimed. She turned the mirror so I couldn’t see. “You’re not allowed to look until I’m finished. I promise you’ll love it!”
I sighed and gave in, letting her just do what she wanted and trusting her.

She began curling most of my hair, so that it was almost in ringlets instead of the slight curl my hair normally held, and straightening a few odd bits at the front and then did something at the back, which I couldn’t quite work out without seeing it. My hair took, in total, about forty five minutes, which wasn’t that bad considering how long it could have taken her. She then started on my makeup, she didn’t do much; she just added some eyeliner and mascara to my eyes, a light layer of blush and some pale lip gloss stuff. She took a small step back to look at what she had done and a grin broke out across her face.

“Ok. I’m finished.” She told me as she turned the mirror back around.
My breath caught as I looked. I actually looked quite decent for a change… she had pulled my hair back into a kind of messy bun thing, but where she had curled it even the bits hanging down looked really nice. The makeup didn’t make my face look too dark, or too fake.
“I look…”
“You look like your mom.” She told me. “You look beautiful.” She added with a smile.
I couldn’t help but smile at her as I gave her a hug.
“Thanks. I probably wouldn’t have done that if I’d done my hair myself.”
“I know. That’s why I did it for you.” She smirked. “You know what would look really cool? Well, I think it would.” I waited for her to continue “Dreadlocks.”
I thought for a second.
“Wouldn’t I be getting to similar to my mom’s style?”
“No. I mean, I know she had them for a long time. But if you could pull them off, you might as well make the most of the chance. Plus it would drive your dad insane!”
“Ok. We can talk about that tomorrow or something. Because I think Lee’s picking me up in a minute. Are you working tomorrow?”
“Nope. Day off. We can hang out all day.” She grinned. There was a knock on the front door and I suddenly felt my heart beat faster. “Go on. You’ll be fine. Just don’t get too drunk!”

We both went downstairs and found Lee standing in the front room, next to Ben who was sitting watching TV. Lee was wearing a plain dark blue button down shirt and a pair of black jeans, along with a pair of black and white converse like my own.
He smiled at me when I walked into the room and rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.
“Ready?” he asked and I nodded. “We’ll see you guys later then.”
“See you. Have fun!” Hannah called as we walked to the front door.

We walked to Lee’s car and he opened the door for me to get in the passenger seat. And then, after shutting it, ran around to the drivers’ side and climbed in himself. On the way to wherever we were going there was minimal conversation. We mainly stuck to simple ‘how are you’ kind of discussions, but eventually that ran dry and we were left in, luckily rather comfortable, silence.

It was about twenty minutes later when Lee pulled the car into a spot at the side of the road. He shut off the engine and quickly jumped out to run around and open my door again before I could even take of my safety belt.
“Thanks.” I smiled. He shut the door again and locked the car. I looked at the restaurant that he had parked outside of; Nando’s.
“Oh crap. You’re not a vegetarian are you? Cause we can go somewhere else if you are.” He suddenly asked.
“No. No, I’m not, this is fine.” I reassured him and he relaxed again.

We walked through the doors and were hit by a mixture of smells and small wave of heat, radiating from the ovens that were visible on the other side of a counter to the right of the room. As we waited at the front desk thing, where there was a sign saying; Please wait to be seated, I looked around the room, it was packed with people and the sound of dozens of different conversations creating amazing noise.
“Hey. I’ve got a reservation under Jackson.” Lee told the waitress who had finally come over to the desk.
“Oh yep. Follow me guys.”
She led us up a set of stairs to another, considerably quieter, seating area, and to a booth that had a ‘Reserved’ sign on it. We sat opposite each other and she gave us each a menu before leaving us to have a look.
 
The journey back was a little less awkward. After being able to talk more during dinner and find more ground to cover with the conversation we both felt more comfortable, even in the times filled with silence.
“Thanks a lot.” I said as we stood at the front door, waiting for someone to open it. “I had a really nice time.”
“Awesome. Me too. We should do this again soon.” He smiled.
“Yeah, definitely.” I nodded.
“Err. Well I guess I should probably head home. I’ll see you… soon.” He lent forward and kissed my cheek lightly.
“Yeah… See you later.” I smiled.
He gave a last small wave as he walked back towards his car, before shoving his hands in his pockets and turning back fully in the direction he was going.

As soon as he had shut his car door, the front door of the house swung open and Ben stood with a big grin plastered on his face.
“So, how long have you been standing there?” I asked
“Since about… thirty seconds after the car pulled up outside. I was already at the door when you knocked.” He smirked. I rolled my eyes and laughed as he stood back to let me in. I walked into the lounge and collapsed on the sofa. “Hannah will be here at precisely eleven thirty tomorrow morning. She said to be up and at least getting ready when she gets here, or you’ll seriously regret it.” Ben told me as he sat down on the other sofa, I laughed again and nodded. “Oh, and she told me that if Lee didn’t have you home by ten, I was to kick his ass. But as it was only ten past ten, when you got home, I think he can be let off. Just make sure you tell Hannah that you got back before or at ten. What she doesn’t know, won’t hurt her.” He added.
“Noted.” I smiled. “By the way. I know you’ve already done a lot for me just by letting me crash here, and you can totally say now, but would I be able to give my friend back in Cali your home phone number? Cause I need to be able to talk to him, but I don’t want to use my cell at the moment, it will drive me mad if it keeps going off like it has been.”
“Well I’ve this thing that I can connect to my landline. I don’t exactly how it works, but it’s for international calls and it makes them cheaper, and it’s easier to use. So my phone bill won’t be too big, but you can still call home. I can set that up if you want?”
“Yeah. That would be awesome. Thanks.” I grinned. “We can sort that out tomorrow then.”
“Yep. Happy days.”