^Broken Whiskey Bottle- Post Malone
Summer Week 5

"Passion is energy. Feel the power that comes from focusing on what excites you." ~Oprah

"You seem different."

I looked up from my menu. Maddy was the one who had spoken, narrowing her brown eyes as she stared at me from across the table.

"She's right, Cather." Bethany quipped in, putting down her own menu. "Ever since the festival you've changed."

The four of us were in Frankie and Bennys, our favourite restaurant since we were eleven. Tilly, after weeks of silence, was finally free to hang out. If anything, I felt she was acting different. Then again she had always been quiet.

I picked my menu back up. "You guys are just seeing things."

Had I been acting different? Happier maybe?

Romain had been picking me up after work all week. What happened on the beach hadn't happened again, but I was glad for it. Our relationship was more than sex. I enjoyed hanging out with him.

Maddy was quick to change the subject. "Have you heard from Mitch, Bethany?"

Bethany rolled her eyes, however she flushed. "Ever since I drunkenly called him at the festival, I might as well have asked him to marry me."

To think, if Mitch wasn't obsessed with Bethany and she hadn't called him at the festival, I would never have bumped into Romain and none of this would have happened.

"I can't believe you guys got wasted." Tilly said with a small laugh. "It's unlike all of you."

Maddy shrugged. "We're getting older. It's about to happen eventually."

Bethany picked up her menu again. "Besides, it's not like we've done anything that extreme."

I shifted in my chair.

Maddy, my best friend, practically my sister, noticed this like she noticed everything.  "I need to go to the bathroom. Cather, come with?"

With a feeling of dread, I stood from the table and followed. Bethany and Tilly were too focused on their menus to really care.

It was the moment that we reached the bathroom Maddy said, "Come on, spill. And don't lie, I know you too well Cather."

Maddy was a beautiful girl. Dark skin, dark eyes, dark hair; we were polar opposites. It was moments like this, when she was passionate about something, that I questioned why she didn't already have a boyfriend.

How could I lie to her? How could I lie to the girl who'd been by my side for as long as I could remember?

So I told her. Everything. I told her everything.

When I was done, Maddy had her arms crossed. I'd never seen her so serious before. "Do you love him?"

As I told Romain and I's story, my heart rate had sped up. Despite this, I wasn't ready to admit anything serious. "Of course not! I-I like him. A lot. I trust him."

"Well obviously." Maddy said, sounding like a disappointed parents. My stomach was in knots.

"Maddy-" I began.

"I mean, you submitted to his magic wand more than once, so..."

I burst out laughing. I couldn't help myself. Finally, the Maddy I loved was back. The Maddy who never took anything seriously. The relief that I felt knowing she wasn't upset was overwhelming.

Just then, the bathroom door opened and Tilly walked in. "Are you guys alright? Bethany's getting hangry and you guys are taking ages."

"I needed a sponge stick." Maddy lied, referring to what normal people called 'tampons'. She came up with the name when Mia found her stash when she was four.

Tilly, always the quite and timid one, raised an eyebrow in disbelief. Thankfully, she said nothing. With one last glance at my best friend, we left the bathroom, each holding a secret.
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Summer Week 6|Last Week

"It's easy to make mistakes. It's living with the consequences of them that's hardest."

I'd been throwing up all morning.

My parents were out of town on business trips, Maddy was in Cornwall, Bethany in Church service and Tilly wasn't picking up her phone as usual.

For these reasons, I called the only person left I could think of.

Romain was over in ten minutes flat. He walked in smelling of smoke, however that didn't bother me. I was having intense cramping and the pain was becoming unbearable.

"I need to take you to the hospital." Romain said as I clutched my stomach. I was sat on the bathroom floor, him crouching over me, running a hand through my hair to calm me down.

I looked into his blue eyes, a few tears streaming down my face. "I-It hurts-"

Lifting me off of the floor, Romain carried me through my house and outside to his family's Range Rover. Placing me on the backseat, he didn't bother with seat belts as he jumped into the front and sped out of the drive.

The pain was getting worse. I was laying across the back with my hands holding my stomach. I'd never been in such agonising pain before.

A half an hour had gone by when we reached the closest hospital. Romain didn't bother with parking, he went straight to the Emergancy section.

Jumping out, he gently lifted me out of the back before running up the hospital steps. Before I knew it, I was being rushed into a room and placed on an uncomfortable bed.

I was scared. I couldn't see Romain. I just wanted it all to slow down to let me think.

I could hear a doctor speaking, however could not understand what they were saying through the pain. Next, I heard someone curse in French.

"She's going to be okay."

The words had me opening my eyes. The room was bright and smelt of disinfectant. A nurse hovered over me as she put an IV into my right arm.

"What is it? What's wrong with her?" I heard Romain demand.

I suddenly felt very tired.

"I believe your friend has viral gastroenteritis." The doctor diagnosed. "She will have gotten it from something she ate, most likely. It can be treated and will pass in the next few days."

Romain let out a deep breath. "And you're sure?"

"Well, I'll have to do some tests of course, which will come back to her in two to three weeks. Meaning I'm going to need her details, if you can assist?"

"Of course." Romain said and I could hear the distress in his voice. "Her parents are out of town. Should I call someone?"

"There is no need." The doctor ensured. "Once we've done the tests and she's given her prescription, she can be discharged immediately. You're alright to bring her home? She'll need bedrest and a toilet close by."

I didn't hear the rest. I was far too tired. Against my better wishes, my eyes fluttered closed and I fell into a deep sleep.

••

Romain was the one to wake me up. Now early afternoon, we made a slow walk to his car. They'd done the tests, he'd told me, they'd be ready in two to three weeks as the doctor had earlier said.

I was just relieved to be going home.

Immediately, I was put on bedrest by Romain. He'd offered to call Bethany now that she was out of church service, but I said no. She did not yet know about Romain and I's relationship and this was not the way I wanted to tell her.

Watching Friends, Romain kept refilling my glass of water and making sure I ate little things at a time. When it came to throwing up, he'd hold my hair back. When it came to things more...private, he'd go downstairs and wait for me to call him back up.

"This probably sucks for you." I said later in the night, snuggled under my duvet as I watched Romain flick through the channels on the TV.

He looked over and frowned. "Not at all."

"Where did you get your motorbike?" I asked. I'd wondered ever since that night on the beach.

Romain turned back to flicking through the channels. "I got a job and used half of the money to buy it from a guy my dad knows."

"Huh." I said through a yawn. I then added, "Thank you for staying."

Romain shrugged. "It's cool."

"Where does your family think you are?" I asked. I'd barley talked all day in fear of vomiting, so finally felt stable enough to have a conversation.

Romain put down the remote to give me his full attention. "They don't ask. I don't answer."

I sensed tension in his words. Biting my lip, I refused to ask him more details. Everyone had their family issues, some more extreme than others. 

"It's getting late." I said, only just noticing the time. "Shouldn't you be heading home?"

"And let you sit here all alone and dying?" He scoffed. "No chance."

I opened my mouth to reply when his phone suddenly rang. It was as if lightening had fired down and struck him where he lay, as he was up and standing in seconds, the phone to his ear just as quickly.

"I need to go." He rushed out before running out of my bedroom. I stood to follow, however by the time I was down the stairs, I heard a car engine and Romain was gone.
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The Next Morning

"Wear your tragedies as armour. Not shackles."

It was early morning when I decided to finally call Romain and check that he was okay. It was at this exact time that someone rang me.

I was out of the house and running to catch the bus in seconds, for Bethany had gotten into an accident.