Party 'til you pass out / When the party's over

1.23

'Mates, before anything -,' I started, dreading my next words. 'I eh... I want to apologize. Sorry for my behaviour and what happened. I am so ashamed for it, and... Well...'

'It's okay. We know you are sorry, and it was hard to see you like that. But we're glad you're back and you're better now,' Kean said.

'Yeah. Don't worry Syko, you're our friend and we've got your back.' Nicholls smiled at me and I gave him a thankful nod.

'I've missed you all,' I then muttered.

'We're here now,' Lee said. 'And we're fucking ready for what's to come.' I smiled at him, my smile turning into a grin while thinking of the drafts of songs I had written down.

'You'll be in for a surprise,' I said. 'I have met this lad in the clinic, and he is a genius with writing and mixing music. I've jammed with him a couple of times, and he had some great ideas for what I had written. I was wondering whether we could agree to ask him with us to the studio once I am out.'

'Sounds solid,' Nicholls said, immediately taking a sip of his pint when it was placed in front of him. The others agreed and I looked at Alison, who had sat back and stayed quiet the entire time. She smiled at me and shrugged a little, as if saying I told you so. I shrugged too and mouthed a thank you to her, honestly being so thankful now for her to arrange this meeting with the lads and get the hardest part out of the way for me.

'By the way,' Nicholls started. 'Please tell me you guys are something official now?' Alison coughed while taking a sip of her tea and laughed.

'Wasn't that obvious already?,' she let out.

'Obvious, maybe, but with the two of you you'll never know,' Kean added.

'So?,' Lee pressed. I caught Alison's eyes with mine and grinned.

'It's been official for a few weeks already,' I said. The lads hollered and I laughed.

'Fucking finally. Took you guys a third world war and a psychiatric break down, but you finally saw the light,' Nicholls sighed in satisfaction. I threw the slice of lemon from my iced tea at his head.

'Fuck off,' I laughed.

'What? It's true. Only six months ago you both hated each other to your guts!'

'I never hated Alison,' I said, making her make a face. 'She just hated me.'

'I didn't hate you, I hated your behaviour,' she explained.

'Who didn't,' Kean muttered.

'Well, thanks mate,' I said.

'I'm not lying,' Kean threw back.

'I know, that's the worst part...' A silence fell over us as we all sat back in our own memories of what I had been like.

'Anyway, that's the past,' Alison started. 'You were at your lowest, and the only way from the bottom is up.'

'Deep,' Lee chuckled. He held out his pint and she clanked it with her cup of tea. She winked at me, and I smiled thankfully at her for saving the vibe.

*

It was already late in the afternoon when we left the pub, Nicholls and Lee being jolly from their beers, and me just being generally happy about the best outcome. We had agreed on inviting Jordan to the studio as soon as there was sight on my release from the clinic. We wanted to get going with recording since I had infected them with the creative flow that had run through me for a couple of weeks now.

The meeting had taken a lot of stress away from me, and Alison noticed. I felt lighter, the darkness in my head had lessened and there was more space for enjoying simple things, like hanging on the couch with Alison against me and Oskar at my feet, watching a movie. The vibe between us was airy, uncomplicated this weekend, and I realized with a shock that I finally felt something for the first time in a long while. My heart fluttered when I looked at Alison, a warm joy spreading through my body, leaving me breathless every time I realized she belonged to me.