Chapter Seventeen

Heather had a blast that night, as in so many ways it had felt like old times. Including the way she and Kevin were all night. It meant they were the last ones to leave and, though normally it would've only taken five minutes, it took them 30 minutes to walk home. It meant they didn't turn in 'til almost 3.30am and Kevin slept through his eight o'clock alarm. After his mother woke him up at 9.30, he got showered and dressed, swearing under his breath the whole time.

He phoned Stephanie once he'd jumped on the train, so she'd know he wouldn't be arriving until one or slightly later. She wasn't very impressed with him as they didn't have long together this weekend anyway. Kevin had apologised about a hundred times by the time they hung up. He sighed as he made himself as comfortable as possible, the hangover now finally kicking in. As he closed his eyes, he fell into an uncomfortable doze, with his relationships with Heather and Stephanie interchanging rapidly.

In the meantime, Heather woke up at 11.30, feeling quite fresh considering the amount of booze and sleep she'd had. She got dressed as she thought back to the night before and made her way over to Bianca's to help with the clean-up.

"Morning," she greeted her friend semi-happily. Bianca looked pretty rough as she made a non-committed sound and let her in. "You alright?" Heather asked carefully, getting a shrug in response.

"I've been better. Thank you for helping me clean up," Bianca said now as she gingerly bent down to pick up a few bottles.

"Let me do that. You can come after me with the hoover," her friend interrupted, taking the bottles from her. She got a sigh in relief at the thought that she wouldn't need to bend down again.

"Cheers hun."

Heather made her way around the room picking up all the empty bottles, glasses, bowls and packets, and brought them to the kitchen. She then put all the tables and chairs back where they were supposed to be. Bianca then hoovered the whole room as her friend filled the dishwasher and sorted through all the bottles and cans to put them in the right collection. Once the hoovering had been done, Heather quickly mopped the floor as her friend curled up on the sofa and supervised.

"Thank you so much," Bianca hugged her friend gratefully when she'd finished.

"You're welcome," she chuckled.

"Fancy something to eat?" the blonde asked as she opened the fridge and eyed the bacon and eggs; she felt like she would be able to keep something down now.

"Yeah sure," Heather nodded, chuckling again when her friend pulled out the bread, cheese, bacon and eggs; it was their standard hangover cure. "How about I do that while you go shower?" she suggested now.

"You're an absolute star," Bianca told her lovingly and made her way upstairs. Her friend chuckled to herself now as she started getting things ready.

"Hmm, smells good," Bianca made when she came down thirty minutes later.

"I know," Heather grinned teasingly, getting nudged as her friend passed her to get a drink. She served it out as she ignored her.

Bianca filled up her glass again and got her friend an orange juice as well. "This is good," she told her once they'd both sat down and started eating.

"I'm glad," Heather nodded.

They ate silently for a few minutes.

"Hey about what I said yesterday about last night and Kevin…" Bianca started.

"I know, I'm sorry. I should've hung out with Neil, Josh and Mark more, but I had such a good time with Kevin," Heather interrupted with her apology; she really did feel bad about not trying harder and for the way Kevin had pulled her away from her friend's guests.

"No, I know, I was going to say maybe I was wrong about forgetting him just yet," her friend surprised her, making her jaw drop. "I mean, I could be wrong and set you up for more hurt, but his behaviour last night suggested the situation isn't as clear cut as all that," she explained. It had looked like there might still be feelings from both sides, despite what he'd said a few weeks ago.

"So, what do I do now? It's not like I can tell him again or try coming on to him, I'd be actively getting in the way then," Heather asked her confused.

"I'm not sure," Bianca said honestly, picking at her eggs. "Maybe for now, just do nothing. Keep acting normally like you have been doing," she suggested, getting a slow, thoughtful nod before they both focused on their food again.

"I think I'll go home in a bit. Spend some time with my folks," Heather said once they'd both finished their food. They hadn't mentioned Kevin again.

"Sure thing. I'm just probably going to veg out in front of the TV anyways," her friend answered.

"Sounds good too," she chuckled.

"Yup. And you know, don't worry too much about things. It'll sort itself out," Bianca said now, giving her friend a hug before she left.

"Thanks, hun. I hope so," Heather nodded and headed home.