XXIII

"Oh wow... they're really going for it." I coughed awkwardly, laughing slightly.

"Mike looks like he's trying to consume Felix." Saint shuddered mockingly, making me bark a laugh.

"That happened fast."

"Mike's not usually like that. He's pretty reserved."

"Felix is the polar opposite, usually. He goes all shy around your friend."

"Huh. So they swap roles around each other? Interesting."

"So, do you have a girlfriend? Evidently, I'm a pretty good wingman if not." I joked.

"I do, actually. She would love you. She couldn't make it tonight- a bit under the weather." Saint grinned, "We should all hang out together sometime, lover boys and Oliver included."

"That sounds good." I nodded, a smile slipping onto my face.

I had more friends! Could I call them friends yet? It was early, but I didn't care. I felt like Saint was my friend, so I was going to address him as such. We had been stood at the bar for quite a while, letting Mike and Felix get on with it.

The band closed up their set, thanking everyone for being a great audience. Saint wolf whistled as they left the stage and normal club music came back on, everyone going back to dancing. Mike and Felix started to dance with each other and I blushed on Felix's behalf- that didn't look PG.

"Somebody's getting lucky tonight." Saint laughed, also looking away from the couple.

I sipped my water, trying to sober up. There was only like one shot of vodka in that cocktail, but it's better to be safe than sorry. I noticed the drummer from the band, Oliver, heading through the crowds towards us. I bit my lip, remembering his stare.

"Oliver! You guys were great!" Saint grinned, "This is Andy, Felix's friend. My new best bud."

He jokingly swung an arm around my shoulder, pulling me into a bro hug and making me grin. We were friends! I blushed at the way Oliver's eyes dragged over me- it was obvious he was flirting. I wasn't brain dead.

"I see Mike and Felix have finally gotten together." Oliver laughed, ordering a water at the bar.

"You mean you saw that coming? They've never before." Saint frowned, looking confused.

I laughed a bit- if only he knew. Oliver met my eyes with a knowing smirk, taking a sip of his water with a wink. That made my heart thud. Saint looked between us, looking confused at our secret knowledge.

"Was that planned?" Saint gasped, finally realising.

"From the stage, it seems like little Andy here is a wonderful wingman. I've heard great things from Felix." Oliver laughed, "Saint, you look like you were just told that Santa isn't real."

"Santa isn't real?" Saint gasped, mockingly.

"So, I finally get to meet the infamous Andy." Oliver grinned, taking a seat next to me and sticking out his hand to shake, "I'm Oliver, but you can call me Oli."

"No fair, I'm not allowed to call you Oli!" Saint pouted.

"You're straight and not my type." Oliver deadpanned, making me blush.

"Oh." Saint nodded, "Looks like I'm fifth wheeling on this whole group..."

"No! I'm glad I met you, I made a new friend." I grinned at Saint, making him stick his tongue out at Oli.

"Wanna dance?" Oli asked, his hand resting on my arm.

"Sure. Coming, Saint?" I asked, purposefully not wanting to be alone with the flirty guy.

Oli sent Saint a warning look, clearly wanting to be alone. I ignored it, pulling Saint to the dance floor. I didn't want to end up adding another guy into the mix, confusing me more. I needed time to get over Jimmy and I should be focusing on my upcoming exams. After that, maybe, but I doubt he would wait that long.

I jumped around with Saint, him pulling out some goofy moves. Shortly after, Oli wandered over and joined in. We danced in a trio for god knows how long, before Saint asked to go to the smoking area. We followed him and we sat on the wooden bench, still chatting as Saint smoked.

"I take it you're not interested?" Oli whispered to me, once Saint was distracted with rolling his tobacco.

"I'm still getting over somebody." I shrugged, blushing slightly.

"So it's not because I'm horrendously unattractive?" Oli teased.

"You're anything but." I mumbled, a blush gracing my cheeks.

That put a smile on Oli's face and he dropped the flirting, giving me some space. It was nice that he respected my wishes. Saint finished his smoking and we headed back inside, finding Mike and Felix- who were still making out.

"Felix!" I yelled to get his attention, making him finally pull away for air, blushing.

"Do you wanna go? We were all going to go somewhere for an after party." Oli yelled, making them both nod.

We left the club and piled into my car. Oli offered to drive, since he was stone cold sober. I would probably be fine to drive since I'd only had one drink and it was a few hours ago, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

I sat up front with Oli, much to Saint's dismay. He kept whining about how he was trapped in the back seat with the love birds- who were making out non-stop. I felt pretty bad, but it was either him or me and it's my car, so sucks to be him.

"Where shall we go?" Oli asked, starting the engine.

"Oh! Andy showed me this really cool spot on the hills- we should go there!" Felix piped up, pulling away from his kiss.

"I'll give you directions." I smiled.

Oli flipped on the radio and a song by 'Cannibal Corpse' began to blare out, making everyone cringe and cover their ears. That was way too loud for the current vibe in the car. I spun the dial, turning it right down. Everyone laughed, shaking their head. Oli flipped through a few songs before he landed on one we all knew.

We all sang along, the roof still down. I smiled- the cold night air refreshing. As we drove down my street, music blaring, I found myself hoping it woke Jimmy up. I shook my head, that was mean. He was always waking me up with his obnoxiously loud parties, so it's only fair.

Oli pulled up to the hill and we all climbed out. I took my usual seat on the car bonnet and Oli and Saint joined me, the couple heading off somewhere- probably to make out. We chatted for a while, mostly about the scenic view in front of us. Partially about the band and university.

"I'm gonna go for a smoke." Saint announced, sliding off the bonnet of the car and walking off somewhere.

"And then there were two." Oli joked.

"You were really good tonight- on the drums I mean." I complimented him.

"I thought you left after the first song?"

"No, we watched from the bar. Part of my plan to give the couple some space."

"Smart." He laughed, "So you come here a lot?"

"Uh, sometimes. I like how quiet it is." I explained.

"It's nice up here." He agreed, looking across the city, "Big drop."

"Big drop." I jibed, silence settling over us.

We sat like that, for a while. Looking over at him, I noticed he was looking straight out with a face filled with awe. It was truly a beautiful sight, I had to admit. That's one reason I came up here so often.

"Do you prefer the city or the countryside?" He asked suddenly, turning to look at me.

"Well, that's tough. I prefer the city for many reasons, but I absolutely love the sea. I wish I could have both."

"I mean, it's not like coastal cities don't exist." Oli shrugged, "I prefer the countryside. More peaceful."

I nodded, understanding. I personally found the city more peaceful. In the countryside, everyone knows everyone so you're never truly alone- you stand out. In the city, I can blend into crowds of people; just another face. I liked to be alone like that.

I hadn't thought about coastal cities. Maybe I would go to Uni in one of those places. I really wanted to be close to the sea. We used to go swimming a lot as kids and I would love to be able to swim in the sea more often. One of my favourite things to do on holiday is swim in the sea- just floating in the sun. I guess I'll look into it later.

"Deep in thought?" Oli pulled me back to reality.

"Sorry. Sitting here does that to me." I blushed, twiddling my thumbs.

"It's cool. Me too." He sighed, "Penny for your thoughts?"

"Just thinking about where I should go to Uni. You?"

"This summer."

"What about it?"

"What the hell I'm gonna do. It's coming up fast and I've got no plans." He admitted, "I was kicked out for being Bisexual, so I can't go home over the holidays."

I frowned, looking at his face. He seemed pretty apathetic towards his situation, despite the difficult situation. That was tough. I was really glad I had such an accepting family, I couldn't imagine how difficult it must be for the people you love most to not accept you. Luckily, the only people who hated me were people I didn't care for... and Jimmy.

"Have you got a place to stay?" I asked.

"Yeah, the Uni are good with that. I just have no company- everyone else goes home." Oli sighed.

"Well this is home for me." I shrugged, "If you ever want to hang out, I'm down. I have a car too, so I'm an ideal candidate."

"Give me your number- you and I are spending summer together." Oli grinned, typing my number into his phone.

"Sure. Hopefully Felix will visit, too. I'll miss him."

"You guys got really close, very quickly. He talks about you as if you've been friends since you were kids."

"He was my only friend, before tonight. I was in a bad place before meeting him."

"Does that make me your second?" He asked excitedly.

"Nice try. Saint's my number two; You're number three." I joked, making him pretend to pout.

"I heard that!" Saint cheered, coming back from his cigarette break, "I'm number two! Second the best, lads! Woo!"

Saint was screaming at the top of his lungs off of the edge of the cliff. I burst out laughing, seeing the couple scramble back towards us at the sound of his yells. He began beating his chest, parading around and yelling. Felix and Mike looked beyond confused.

"Felix, my friend, you have to come back over summer. Andy said he'll miss you and I need friends." Oli yelled over to Felix.

"Awe. My bezzie said he'd miss me!" Felix cooed, pinching my cheeks playfully, "Of course I'll come visit you. I'll miss uncle Daxx, too- that man's top notch."

"You know what we should do?" Saint piped up, turning to face us suddenly, "We should all go on a camping trip, after exams and before we all leave. It'll be good to celebrate!"

"Considering it came out of Saint's mouth, that's actually a good idea." Mike gasped in mock surprise, making Saint send a playful glare his way.

"I'm up for it." Felix grinned, squeezing Mike's hand.

"Great idea." Oli nodded.

Everyone looked at me and I nodded, actually looking forward to it. Tonight had been one of the best nights of my life, so far. I had made three new friends- albeit, I hadn't spoke to Mike. Any friend of Felix's was a friend of mine, at this point.

"You better bring your girlfriend." I reminded Saint, "I'd like to meet her."

Another friend to add to my collection.

"Definitely. The day after exams finish, this is happening. It's official. I'm even making a group chat. Could you drive us all, Andy?" Saint asked.

"Sure, but somebody will have to sit on someone's lap. Car only seats five."

Everyone whooped at that. I felt my face ache from how much I was smiling, making my heart thud. I hadn't ever had friends, let alone ones who made group plans. Did I have a squad now? I was so excited, it was almost unbelievable. I'm on cloud nine right now.

Everyone sat around chatting as a big group for a while, before somebody pointed out that the sun was rising. My eyebrows shot up- were we really out all night? That was another first for me. We all sat on the bonnet, the couple on the roof, as we watched the sun rise. It was peaceful.

I yawned and Oli laughed, piling everyone into the car. Oli drove us to the uni dorms, dropping everyone off. I felt sort of jealous, wishing I lived there too. They all saw each other everyday. I pushed those thoughts away, revelling in the moment. I climbed out of the car with everyone, saying our goodbyes.

"See you soon, buddy." Saint grinned, hugging me so tightly he picked me off the floor, "I'm honoured to be your second best friend."

"We're ranked?" Mike gasped, having missed that conversation.

"You're number four." I shrugged with a smile, making everyone laugh.

"You've taken last place on the podium, Mike." Oli chuckled.

"Careful my girlfriend doesn't bump you down." Saint teased, poking Mike's side.

"Careful your girlfriend doesn't bump you down." Mike shot right back, killing Saint's laugh.

"Oh shit." He cussed, shaking his head, "Didn't think of that."

"Sure you're fine to drive, Andy?" Oli asked.

"I heard exercise gets it out of your system, do a lap. Pronto." Saint joked, jogging on the spot.

I rolled my eyes and raced him to the tree and back, making the whole group laugh as I overtook him. I came to a stop at the group and he panted over, looking at me in bewilderment. I laughed and shrugged.

"He plays football, twat." Felix rolled his eyes, poking him.

"I'm seriously unfit. I could cough up a lung right now." Saint panted.

I laughed, shaking my head at his antics. We all hugged goodbye one more time, all promising we'd organise the camping trip. I climbed into my car, starting the ignition. It had been over seven hours and lots of water since the cocktail, so I was fine to drive.

I headed towards home, needing bed asap. It was such a goodnight, but I was ready to sleep. I was lucky Felix and I had managed to swap our Sunday shift to a Friday one. If I had to get up for work in about an hour, I would drive straight into a tree.

I pulled into my driveway and I hopped out, creeping through the house. It was early in the morning, so I didn't expect Connor and Daxx to be sat at the breakfast counter with bowls of cereal.

"Morning." Daxx nodded, looking at me over, "Is that my shirt? I don't get fashion."

"Did you have fun, hun?" Connor asked, sending me a soft smile.

"A lot." I beamed, "Goodnight."

"Night." Connor yelled after me, "I love you."

I jogged upstairs, kicking off my shoes and pulling off my jeans. I couldn't be bothered to change into pjs, collapsing onto my bed. I heard a knock at my balcony and my eyebrows furrowed, looking up from my bed. Jimmy fucking Wellot.

I stood up, looking at him. Had he really just ran up the hill to see me that fast? I had just arrived back at home. He must have been watching for me. I went to the door handle, trying it. It was locked. He looked at me, asking me with his eyes to unlock it. I looked him over- he looked rough. Probably because he was out with that girl all night.

I reached for the handle, pulling it.

The balcony blinds closed and I headed back to bed, diving inside my comfy sheets. It didn't take me long at all to fall fast asleep. Sweet dreams.