fools x tony stonem [completed]

forty five

Cassie had only been back in Bristol for a week, and she already had gone off the rails.

It was a gradually slow increase into insanity that I was witnessing from her, and it really had me concerned. Especially when she had started collecting slugs and giving them names similar to Sid and Michelle, then pouring salt on them after they began mating.

"Aren't they just lovely," she smiles as she watches the snails shrivel up. "Sidly and Micha, so cute!"

I sit beside Jal on Chris' couch, the both of us watching Cassie as she laughs with glee at the sight of her dead slugs.

"How long do you think this will last?" Jal leans in close to me, muttering into my ear.

I shrug. I honestly didn't know.

The front door of the apartment opens, revealing Chris with his slicked back hair and dressed in his best suit. He was doing pretty well for himself, working as a realtor selling houses, and the company he worked for were kind enough to let him live in one of their apartments that they couldn't seem to sell. It wasn't a surprise they couldn't sell the place though, it was small and cramped and everything seemed to be falling apart, not to mention the noisy neighbors that seemed to do everything except shut up. But Chris had his own place and a good job, and he genuinely seemed happy, so all of us were happy for him too.

"Good evening, girls," he greets us cheerfully, sounding like a hard working father coming home to his children after a long day at the office. He walks over to where Cassie sits with her bowl of dead slugs. "Killing more slugs I see, Cassie."

"Yeah," Cassie tells him with a smile. "I need to go find more."

Since her return to Bristol, Cassie had been crashing on the couch at Chris' place. I had offered her a place at my house, but was surprised when she turned me down. Probably because at my house, I wouldn't let her murder slugs and stay up till the late hours of the night binging on drugs and alcohol.

"You staying for dinner, Freya?" Chris asks me, taking a seat down beside me on the couch. The couch was in a indent in the wall, where the ceiling slanted downwards, so he had to tilt his head to the side in order to fit.

"Look at you, making dinner for yourself," I tease him playfully. "You're growing up on us, Chris."

"Actually, dinner consists of a spliff and a bag of crisps," Jal corrects me. And sure enough when I look to Chris, he's already lighting up.

"I'd love to, but I've actually got to get going," I let Chris down easily. "I was just stopping by on my way to Liam's to check up on you all." Specifically Cassie.

"Freya and Liam," Cassie chimes in from the floor, sitting near my feet. "Liam and Freya, Sid and Michelle... all these lovely couples."

I lean forward, placing a soft kiss atop her blonde hair.

"Be good, Cas," I warn her, like I was dropping my child off at the sitters house.

"Totally," she tells me, giving me the impression that I definitely would be paying another visit tonight.

***

I was curled up against Liam's side, my eyes glued to the television, when he popped the question.

"Your girlfriend?" I repeat, pulling away from him so I could look at his face to make sure he was serious.

"Yeah," he shrugs, like the word was just a word. At least, it wasn't just a word to me. "We've been talking for a while now, so I just figured why not make things official."