A Normal Day At The Field... Or Not...

Lost in thought, I stared at the river, not seeing it. I couldn’t hear the noise of the Slopes, though I felt the presence of others nearby. A can of Strongbow in one hand; more in a bag at my feet; a lit cigarette in the other hand, neglected. Liam and Levi weren’t here yet, and Sarah wasn’t coming this week. Charz had gone to see her Dad for something, and I was sat on my own on the slope, waiting for Liam to arrive.
A sudden flurry of movement, and Tom fell to the ground beside me. I squealed in surprise, sloshing cider down myself. I glared at Tom and he grinned back, then we burst into raucous tipsy laughter. Shocked out of my mental preoccupation, I drank the rest of the Strongbow and finished the cigarette. Grabbing another can, I got to my feet, almost falling on my face in the process. Opening the can, I crossed the slope unsteadily to where Rachel stood by a concrete block talking to Ben, with Tom following behind me.
She smiled as I approached, and I hugged her, then Ben, who didn’t smile, but instead glared at Tom. I sighed, but I knew why he did it. Tom had a habit of trying it on with me when I was drunk, and Ben and Rachel didn’t like it. Rachel had attacked him a couple of times in the past simply for laying on the floor with me. But, like I told her, I don’t need a constant babysitter when I’m drunk. She agreed, and I was now allowed to roam free, as long as did nothing too stupid.
“How is everyone?” I asked, my words slurring together slightly. I shook my head, disgusted, and drank another few mouthfuls of Strongbow. I grinned like an idiot when I looked up from my can.
“They’re fine,” said Rachel, rolling her eyes at me. “Red showed up a few minutes ago, he’s over there.” She pointed vaguely across the slope to where Jared sat with a bottle of WKD in his hand. I grinned, and stumbled over to him, waving bye to Rachel and Ben over my shoulder. I knew Tom was following me again, but I paid no attention to him. When I reached Jared, I collapsed to the floor beside him and burst into loud giggles. He smiled faintly at me, and then hugged me. Troy and Kid Liam leaned across Jared to hug me too.
“Hey Red!” I laughed.
“Hey Jane,” he replied, laughing at me. I knew I was stupid when I was drunk, but it didn’t bother me much. I was having too much fun.
“You got a fag?” Troy asked me, looking desperate. I sighed theatrically, and dug five out of my packet. I gave one to each of them, and kept one for myself. Lighting it, I took a long drag, then blew the smoke into Tom’s face. He coughed, which made me laugh again. There was sudden commotion at the other end of the slope, which instantly drew our attention.
Liam and Levi had appeared, laughing loudly as they had a plastic-sword-fight. I laughed through a cloud of smoke, and stood up shakily. The boys broke off their play-fight as JD arrived, and Levi went over to challenge him to a wrestling match. Liam glared at JD for a second, before turning back and looking straight at me. He smiled at me, and I grinned back, stumbling across the slope below the bridge. When I reached him, I half fell into his arms, almost spilling cider all over him.
“Crap, sorry...” I mumbled, and then I stood on my tiptoes and kissed him softly.
“Hi,” he said, laughing at me. I felt someone watching me, and I looked round to see JD stood watching us, a strange expression on his face. I frowned slightly, and then pulled away from Liam.
“Be right back,” I said, and stumbled away, not waiting for an answer. JD grinned at me as I approached, and I hugged him. He kissed the top of my head, and held me close.
“Hi,” I said as I pulled away from him.
“Hi,” he said, smiling at me. Then he looked up, over my head. “Your boyfriend looks jealous.”
I turned round to see Liam glaring at JD. He saw me watching him, and he smiled at me, but he looked too annoyed for his smile to make me feel any better.
“Damned kids.” I growled, irritated.
“What’s that?” JD asked.
“You kids get too jealous. You were jealous when I was hugging him, and he’s jealous now I’m hugging you. Neither of you want to share. You should learn to play nice.”
JD laughed at me, evidently finding humour in my irritation. I glared at him, and then walked off. I felt both Liam and JD watching me as I walked away, but I ignored them. I fell back onto the floor beside Jared and hugged him tightly. He let out a startled exclamation, and then laughed at me. I laughed too, and everything was alright again.
I drank the rest of my cider, and then I lay down on the cold concrete floor and shut my eyes, putting my hat over my face to block out the light.

I was stood alone on the beach. The dark, rain-filled clouds billowed overhead, and the water swirled around my feet as I stood ankle-deep in the sea. The wind whipped about me, blowing the spray into my face. It was wonderful, stood alone on an empty beach.
“Jane!” I heard my name being called from far away. I frowned. It was Liam’s voice.
“Jane!” This time it was louder; JD was calling me, too. They sounded worried. I looked around to see them far back on the beach, fighting. They were both trying to reach me, but neither wanted the other to get there. I sighed, and began walking back toward them.

I opened my eyes to see JD looking at me, worry in his eyes. His hair was nearly as long as mine and it tickled the sides of my face. I instantly became aware that my head was in his lap, and it puzzled me.
The floor below me was cold and flat, and I realised that I was on the path now instead of the slope. I looked round and saw Liam sat beside me, his hand in mine, looking at me with the same expression JD had. I glared at the both of them.
“At least you aren’t arguing.” I mumbled. I sounded too normal to my own ears, and then I realised that I was more sober than I had been before I had fallen asleep. They both sighed, sounding relieved, and I looked up at them.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, trying to sit up. JD gently put his arm across my chest, keeping me still.
“You passed out,” Liam muttered, looking strained again. “We were worried about you.”
“He wanted to carry you to the hospital, but I knew you wouldn’t want to go,” said JD softly. I glared at them each in turn.
“I didn’t pass out, retards, I deliberately came over here and fell asleep. I didn’t sleep last night, so I’m tired as hell.”
They both blinked in astonishment, looking so alike that I laughed out loud. Then we all looked round as we heard a commotion behind us. Someone I recognised but didn’t know the name of was running towards us at top speed. He stopped a few metres from us and stood there breathless for a minute.
“The cops, real ones!” he called quietly, and suddenly there was a flurry of movement around us. Everyone was moving, clearing up the evidence and gathering their bags and jackets. I swore under my breath, and jumped to my feet. Looking down, I noticed that my bag and jacket were beside Liam. I went to grab them, but Liam picked them up first. I took a step toward him, but swayed dangerously and would have fallen back down if JD had not grabbed my waist and held me to him.
“She can’t walk fast enough,” he said to Liam, looking aggressive. “You bring her stuff, I’ll carry her.” I looked up at him, fear seeping through me at the thought of being carried. Liam glared at him.
“You carry her stuff, I’ll take her,” he said belligerently. I stared at him, horrified.
“How about none of you carry me and I’ll just run along with the rest of you?” I suggested.
They both looked at me, and then they looked back at the entrance to the slopes. I looked with them, and I saw a slight flash of fluorescent green in the distance. The guys had obviously noticed it too. They looked at each other, and said in unison: “Time to go.”
JD swept his arm under my knees, lifting me easily. I wrapped my arms around him and buried my face in his neck. I heard Liam sigh, but as JD began walking away, his footsteps followed. I couldn’t even look up to see if he had my stuff. I didn’t care.
I knew when we had reached the bushes at the camping fields, because the light dimmed and turned green around us, and my feet kept catching on thorns and stinging nettles. I didn’t complain, though, and I kept silent, listening to the sounds around us. I couldn’t hear anything but JD’s breathing and Liam’s footsteps and the occasional muttered curse.
I knew before we saw them that there were people up ahead. I looked up from JD’s neck and stared off into the bushes. A small breath; a twig snapping under someone’s foot; a whisper. It was too far away to be JD or Liam. There was someone ahead of us. JD had heard it too, and stood still, motioning silence to Liam. I moved my mouth closer to his ear.
“It’s ok,” I breathed almost silently. “They’re ours not theirs.” He looked at me sharply.
“How do you know?” he breathed back. I frowned. He was being difficult.
“I just do,” I whispered. There were more sounds from up ahead, round the bend. He looked dubious.
“I don’t know...” he began.
“Do you trust me?” I asked, cutting him off.
“With my life,” he replied instantly.
“Then trust me on this. There are no cops up ahead - they are ours. Sounds to me like Rae.”
We listened harder, and I heard a male voice.
“That’s definitely James,” I confirmed. “Put me down.” JD looked at me uncertainly, but my expression left no room for arguments. He gently put me down, keeping one arm around my waist. I moved away and took his hand to keep me steady; then I walked forward and round the bend.

It was a while later. When we had rounded the corner, we had found a few people: James, Ben, Slipknot Ben, Rae, Laurah, Donna, Tom, Jared, Troy and Kid Liam. Now we were all sat in a circle, me between JD and Liam. They still had some alcohol left, a few cans of Strongbow and several bottles of beer. JD was holding one of my hands, and Liam was holding the other.
It was so very strange - I liked Liam, a lot. But I also liked JD, and more than just as a friend. And I knew that he loved me - also as more than a friend. When I stopped to think about it, JD was everything I wanted. Someone to trust, someone I could talk to, someone that I genuinely liked and who liked me back. I felt comfortable around JD.
And with Liam, I was always worrying that I would do something or say something and he would leave me. I looked first at Liam, then at JD, and in that instant I made my decision. I sighed.
“Liam,” I whispered, looking at the floor.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Come with me please.” I said, standing up. JD looked at us and went to get up too, but I motioned to him to stay there.
“I want to talk to Liam in private.”
JD looked anxious, but he let us go. I led Liam back the way we had come, deep into the bushes.
When we stopped, I still couldn’t look at him. I felt his eyes on me, but I couldn’t look up. Then suddenly, his arms were round me and he was kissing me, one hand on my waist, the other brushing the back of my neck. I was startled, and I almost lost myself in his embrace. Almost.
I pulled away forcefully, breaking his grip. He looked at me, annoyed and uncertain, and I met his eyes.
“I’m sorry, but I don’t want this anymore. It’s better if we’re just mates.”
He looked so shocked. I thought he would understand after I pushed him away that this is what was wrong. I thought he would know. I sighed, and hugged him carefully. He didn’t respond, he just kept staring forward, his arms half outstretched. I looked at his face once more, and then I stepped delicately around him and returned to the circle.

As I reached the circle, JD jumped to his feet and was at my side in under a second. I smiled up at him, and he smiled back.
“Where’s Liam?” he asked.
“Back there.” I motioned behind me to where we had gone.
“Why?” JD asked. “What did you do to him?”
“I broke up with him,” I murmured. JD’s eyes widened in surprise. I smiled slightly, and stood on my tiptoes to softly kiss his lips.
As I went to pull away though, one of his hands went back behind my head, his other one at the base of my spine, pressing my body to his. He kissed me long and hard, making me dizzy. When he finally let me go, I could hardly stand. He kept one arm about my waist as we walked back and sat down as part of the circle again.
Nobody commented, but they were all smiling to themselves. And so it carried on as it had before. JD kept me pressed to his side, his hand on my waist. Liam came back a few minutes later. He smiled at me, and glared at JD, but he didn’t comment either. He sat down on the other side of me again, though he was a little further away, and he rejoined the conversation.
A few minutes after Liam had come back, JD whispered to me: “Jane, will you go out with me?”
“Aye,” I replied, kissing him softly.

It was dark now. The cops had long gone, but we stayed where we were. It was a beautiful night, with no clouds to hide the stars and the full moon. We had decided to camp out - coming up with a lot of lies in the process - and we all just stretched out to sleep where we were.
I was sat beside JD, who was fast asleep, and I was looking round at everyone. Liam was sleeping close by my other side, but he wasn’t close enough to touch, unlike JD, who in fact had had his arm around my shoulders until I had sat up. I looked across the circle to see Rae lying beside Slipknot Ben. His arm was round her shoulder, and they held hands in their sleep, fingers interlaced. I smiled to myself.
Perfect happy ending.
I heard JD murmur my name, and I turned to look at him. He looked so gorgeous when he was asleep, even more than usual. He looked so innocent, it was unnatural. I smiled, then leaned down and gently pressed my lips to his. He remained asleep, just like I thought.
I lay back down beside him, leaning my head on his shoulder again. He began mumbling in his sleep once more.
“Jane... Jane... I love you...”
I smiled to myself.
“I love you too honey,” I whispered.