Freddie and JJ and I were hanging out when Freddie got a call from Effy.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Cook. He's in trouble, we have to go first thing in the morning," Freddie said.

"Where?"

"Dock road in Gloucestershire."

My eyes were wide open, "That's like 45 minutes away!"

"Effy sounded like it was urgent, we have to go. Are you in, or aren't you?"

I was hesitant, but I nodded, and so did JJ.

The next morning, we met up, took the train, and arrived in Gloucestershire. I found Effy and I hugged her as soon as possible, tears of joy spilled down my face.

"Eff! You're alright! I missed you, and I'm so sorry I yelled at you earlier," I said.

"Hey, it's ok. The important thing is you're all here now," she said, smiling and hugging me back.

"Of course! Freds and JJ are here too. Are you ok?"

"I'll be fine once we get out of this shithole. Oh, looks like Freddie and JJ are doing the race too."

I looked over and I saw the guys with a bunch of old ladies on their backs. What was this, a granny race or some shit?

We watched anxiously to see who would win. Cook needed to win, according to Effy, but surprisingly, JJ won. Cook wasn't happy about it, neither was Freddie. JJ then took the three of them into a room. I couldn't hear anything, the walls were soundproof. But I knew it didn't end well, because Cook stormed out of the room, and JJ was following behind and calling his name.

I followed after them, "What happened?!"

"Well, Effy chose between them, and well, I think you know who she chose," JJ explained.

Cook turned to us, "You all think that I'm scum! You all think you're so much better than me and my dad."

"I'm not better than your dad, but you are. You know better than to leave the people you love," JJ said.

"Fuck off!" Cook said.

"Come on, Cook! Come back! Are you going to give everything up just because of a girl?"

"You don't understand, Bri. I fucking love her! You've probably never been in love with someone in your life, and you probably don't love anyone for that matter."

I went up to him and smacked him across the face, "Don't you dare say that to me! I love Effy more than you or Freddie ever could."

With that, I walked off, and JJ soon followed, "Why do our friends suck?"

"I dunno, but life can't always be perfect, can it?" he said, making me sigh.

"This is all so fucked up," I cried bitterly into his chest.

We landed in Bristol after about an hour. When I got home, I took a hot bath to loosen up and de-stress. I wrapped a towel around my body and went into my room to change into a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants. I went downstairs when I heard the doorbell ring. I opened it to see Cook standing there.

"What do you want, you ass?" I said.

"I just want to talk," he said. I sighed and let him come inside, "I fucking love her, Bri. I don't know what to do."

"Of course! You came here just to talk all about Effy. I'm not going to sit here and listen to you rant about your problems. I've been doing that for everyone for too long. When do I ever get to rant? When does anyone ever give a shit about me? I've been in Effy's shadow for too long, and I'm fucking sick of it," I said, pulling out a cigarette to calm my nerves, "It's not my fault that she can't sort out her feelings. Why don't you talk to Freddie about it?"

"We did, he wants her so badly," he said, taking in a breath, and for the first time, I saw tears coming down his face. I didn't say anything, I just started crying as well, "Why are you crying?"

Instead of replying, I walked up to him, put my hands on his cheeks, and kissed him softly, but slowly.

"Why'd you do that?"

"Why do you think, dumbass?" I said, about to walk away, but he yanked my arm and pulled me closer to him. His tongue went into my mouth as we started making out.

"My mom and brother aren't home," I whispered in his ear, nipping at it slightly.

Almost as if it was on cue, we both ran upstairs, and he pushed me back on the bed.

I rolled over in the bed as he laid down next to me.

"That was amazing," he said.

"Yea, I'd say," I chuckled, then I heard the door open.

"Brianna, I'm home!"

"Shit!" I said, "Hide!"

"No biggie. I'll just hop out the window," he said, giving me a quick kiss on the lips. Before I could protest, he threw his clothes on and opened the window.

That charming fuck.