I woke up to the horrific sound of vacuuming. I groaned, burying my head under my pillow to drown out the noise. My brain was literally pounding so hard that I thought it was going to explode out of my skull. Who the hell vacuums this early on a Sunday morning?
I checked the time, realising it wasn't early morning at all. In fact, it was two in the afternoon. If I wandered downstairs this late, I would get an earful from Mum about sleeping in all day. I rolled out of bed, peeling the dress shirt I had slept in off of my back and dropping it onto the floor.
I stretched, trying to wake myself up. I smelt like weed, cigarette smoke and alcohol, which was making me feel queasy. I stumbled into the bathroom, gulping down water from the tap. I fumbled through my medicine cabinet, finding paracetamol. I took some, hoping it would help my hangover.
Next on my agenda was food. Greasy and full of carbs, preferably. I sat on the bathroom counter, pulling out my phone. I clicked onto our group chat, seeing a bunch of incoherent drunk texts pop up from last night. Most of them were from Mick- who was in a worse state than I was the last time I saw him.
'Hungover. Want food. Anyone for spoons?'
I sent the message and rested my head against the cold mirror, waiting for a reply. I thought back to last night and cringed, wishing I didn't remember anything. I had made such a fool of myself- throwing up in bushes and stumbling around in front of Xavier. I had trusted him way too easily, too. It was nice of him to take care of me, though.
On a normal night out, I would have woken up in those bushes this morning. Stumbling home at night with Xavier was certainly better than a walk of shame in the daylight. Not to mention, we held hands- I'd almost forgotten about that.
I had seen his face!
Now that I was sober, I was hoping I would find him a little less attractive, but from what I remember, he was a god. I groaned once again. Trust me to be a vomiting mess when I come face to face with the most attractive man on the planet. Speaking of which, hadn't he told me to text him?
Now that I had seen his face and knew his full name, it didn't seem like a bad idea to give him my number, but I was still wary. I don't think he'd do anything bad with it, but it just seems like a romantic step forward and I'm not sure what I'd even say.
'Meet you there in 10.' -Heather
I pulled myself off of the bathroom counter, pulling on my coat and shoes. I don't think Mum even knows I'm home yet, so I may as well avoid the lecture and leave through the window. I was slightly unsteady as I crawled through the window and edged along the window sill, but I was experienced enough at this by now that I could do it drunk, hungover or sober.
I balanced along the garage roof and shimmied down the drain pipe, feeling less dizzy once my feet were on solid ground. I set off on my walk to Wetherspoons, excited by the prospect of a vegetarian English Breakfast to cure my hangover.
It was only round the corner, so when I arrived Heather was nowhere in sight. I slid into a booth, dimming the light so low that it was barely on. I rested my head against the table, hoping Heather would hurry up.
"You look like shit." A voice chuckled from behind me.
Upon inspection, I realised it was Mike. I waved, rubbing my eyes groggily to get them used to the light. Spoons was pretty dark at all times of day, but I just couldn't handle any light at all right now.
"Where's your other half?" I asked, looking for Mick.
"Pretty sure he died last night." Mike chuckled, picking up a menu to have a look, "Why's it sticky."
"It's Spoons." I shrugged, "Everything's sticky in here."
"Sorry I'm late, I couldn't find my skirt." Heather giggled, sliding into the booth next to me.
I rested my head on her shoulder, groaning. She cooed, patting my head sympathetically.
I pulled out my phone, ordering my veggie fry up and an alcohol-free strawberry Koppaberg. Heather laughed at that, teasing me for being dumb enough to drink Mick's demonic concoction of a cocktail. I sent off my order and the others did the same on their phones, kicking back while we waited.
"Where'd you end up last night, Mike?" I wiggled my eyebrows.
"Marie's bed." He groaned, "Not sure how that one happened. I'd never even met her before."
"Where did you end up is the billion dollar question." Heather smirked, wagging her finger at me.
"In my bed." I played innocent.
"Alone?" She raised an eyebrow.
"To my knowledge, yes I was alone." I teased, raising my eyebrow back at her.
"How the hell did you get back home by yourself? Last I saw of you, some guy was convincing another guy to not punch your lights out after you spilt his drink." Heather wrinkled her nose, "I could barely walk and you were worse than I was."
"I met Xavier." I revealed, making Heather gasp.
"You met him? I thought he was a no-show." She gushed, "Is he hot? What happened?"
"I actually met Xavier, too. He came to get your coat, told us you were safe, but throwing up in the bushes." Mike mentioned, "He said he was going to walk you home."
"You let him walk home with a stranger?" Heather scolded.
"He seemed nice." Mike shrugged, making me grin.
"He is nice. He did walk me home, but before that he got me water and stuff to sober me up." I recalled, "He's unbelievably hot."
"Mike, can you confirm?" Heather turned to Mike with accusatory eyes.
"I'm not into men, but he's pretty hot. Cam's definitely punching, if that's what you're asking." Mike smirked, receiving a joking kick under the table from me.
"You have to get a photo or something? I need to see." Heather pleaded.
"Well, he said I should text him sometime. I could ask for one?" I proposed, being met with a vigorous nod of agreement from Heather, "What should I say?"
Heather simply picked up my phone, pulling up the contact 'stalker' and typing out a message.
'Thanks for walking me back last night.'
She pressed send and I shook my head at her. She was so bossy. Our conversation was interrupted by our food coming, which had my mouth watering. I groaned in satisfaction, looking forward to devouring it.
"Mike, did you really order gin?" I gagged, "Is your liver not screaming for help?"
"I'm not the one that drank a whole cup of Absinthe cocktail." Mike reminded me, which was a fair point.
We dug into our food, trying bites from each others plates. I adored every bite of mine, not because it was amazing quality, but because it was greasy, cheap and there was a lot of it. Perfect cure to my queasy hangover.
My phone chimed half way through the meal and I threw my cutlery down, picking it up. I blushed at his reply, shielding the phone screen from Heather's view. She tried to take the phone form me, but I pocketed it.
'You're most welcome, beautiful.'
I finished eating, Heather whining about the text occasionally through the meal. I ignored her, not used to talking about relationships with her- especially not talking about boys. It didn't really bother me that Xavier was a guy, since I had considered the possibility I was gay before, but I wasn't fully used to it yet.
I pulled out my phone once I was done, trying to figure out what to reply. I bit my lip, feeling nervous. Usually I didn't care what I texted people, especially girls, because I wasn't attracted to them. Not like I am towards Xavier.
"Do you need help?" Heather smirked, watching me sit perplexed.
I nodded and showed her the screen. Her face melted and she cooed, pinching my cheeks. I pushed her off of me, going red again. She took my phone, typing out a reply and handing it to me to send it myself. My mouth dropped open at what she typed.
'I'm not sure what that word means, could you remind me with a selfie?'
"Heather, that's so cringey!" I shuddered, "There's no way I'm sending that."
She made eye contact with me and tapped the send button, sticking out her tongue. My mouth dropped open as the text sent through to Xavier. I settled a glare on her, picking up my phone off the table. It chimed and I looked down, hiding the text from Heather.
My whole face must have lit up at the text because Heather instantly knew he'd sent me a selfie. He had sent me a selfie, but it wasn't one I was going to show Heather. He had wet droplets down his face, suggesting he'd just gotten out of the shower. The other big giveaway was the fact he was shirtless.
"This isn't a PG thirteen photo, Heather." I warned.
"He sent you a nude?" She screeched, bringing attention to our little table.
"No! God no!" I exclaimed, "He's just shirtless."
"Just cover up it up with your hand if you're that worried." She rolled her eyes.
I did as she suggested and showed her. Her eyebrows shot up and she looked from me to the phone screen several times. She eventually nodded.
"You are punching." She teased, her and Mike giggling.
"He looks even better in daylight." Mike remarked, peering at the photo.
I felt a pang of jealousy and I pulled my phone back from their wandering eyes, looking over it myself. He had abs and muscles to die for. Not to mention, his v line was so pronounced that I couldn't help thinking about... I need to get a grip.
"You can tell he has washboard abs under Cameron's thumb." Heather pretended to swoon, "He's a hottie."
"His tattoos are nice, too." Mike commented, making Heather grin.
"I do love a tattooed guy." She mused.
"He's mine." I snapped, surprising even myself.
I felt jealousy bubble over, not liking Heather talking about Xavier that way. I apologised quickly after, claiming that I didn't know what came over me. I was pretty sure it was the same thing that was telling me when he was close or not- some innate pull towards him.
"Sorry, Cameron. He's not really out of your league, it was just banter." She pouted, making me feel bad.
"I'm sorry for snapping. I'm all over the place, to be honest." I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her to me for a quick hug.
"I should get going. I need to check that Mick's still alive." Mike waved goodbye, "Good luck with lover boy."
"I actually need to get back to Mums, before she tries to ground me for a week." Heather apologised, slipping out of the booth, "Bye, Cameron."
I waved goodbye, finishing off my drink and leaving too. I looked around outside, unsure of what to do with the rest of my day. I didn't really want to go home, because now I'd be lectured for staying out all night. I pulled out my phone instead, dialling the number that was becoming more and more familiar to me.
"Is everything okay?" Xavier's panicked voice came through the receiver instantly.
"I'm fine." I reassured him, "I was just wondering if you could hang out."
"Oh... I was actually about to leave town, Cameron." Xavier's voice was dripping with disappointment, "I'd love to, but I can't postpone this."
"Right. That's fine, bye then." I tried to not let my embarrassment show. Trust me to put myself out there and get shot down.
"Wait." Xavier blurted, "I really do want to hang out. How about Friday evening? I'll be back by then."
"If you like." I tried to play my excitement down.
"I would like. It's a date." He confirmed, making my heart pound, "I look forward to it, Cameron. In the mean time, what did you think of my last text?"
"It was enough to make me want to see you, wasn't it?" I bit my lip.
"Touché. It's your turn now." He flirted, "Bye, Cameron."
"Bye, Xavier. Have a safe trip."