CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
'MAKE IT WORK'

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THERE WAS AN AWKWARD SILENCE AS PENNY SAT THERE WIDE EYED AND OPEN MOUTHED, 'YOU DID WHAT!?'

I just stared at the floor, too embarrassed with myself to say anything.

'When?!'

'Last night.' I murmured in reply.

Sitting back in her chair and letting the info sink in, Penny sighed and told me honestly, 'Well, it was only a matter of time before that happened, to be entirely honest with you.'

I gave her a unimpressed look, 'Really?'

'Yeah,' she replied matter of factly, 'The tension between the pair of you lately has been past bearing. I'm surprised it took this long for you to finally break.'

Rolling my eyes, I took a sip of my coffee.

'So go on, tell me what happened.' she said.

I glanced at the blonde girl in disbelief, 'I'm not telling you that!'

'No, I mean how did it happen? You're a stubborn broad, Heidi, you wouldn't have just jumped into bed with him without a good reason.'

I sighed, 'We...were drunk.'

Penny scoffed, 'That's my second question answered then.'

'Which was?'

'Why d'you look like shit?'

Giving her another annoyed look, I carried on, 'My mum phoned yesterday about the break in; as you can imagine, she wasn't best pleased. She was ruthless, blaming me for everything as well as other things. I was upset so I left the house, Roger found me and...we talked and he listened. We came home, had a drink - or two. In a mixture of probably stupidity and drunkenness one thing lead to another and we...well, you can work the rest out for yourself.'

There was a moment of silence between us until the blonde girl asked out of nowhere, 'Did you use protection?'

My jaw almost hit the floor at that being her first question, 'Penny!'

'Well did you?'

I rolled my eyes, 'Obviously.'

'Did you enjoy it?'

'Well, yeah...'

'Then what's the problem?' I looked down at the carpet, unsure of what to say, until Penny suggested, 'It's because it's Roger, isn't it?'

I gave her a quizzical look, 'What do you mean?'

'Well, for a start you've spent so long hating him that the idea of you being anything more than mates is unimaginable. But now that you've slept together, which may have happened in the spur of the moment, you're questioning how you really feel about him. Am I right or am I wrong?'

Staring at her in bewilderment, I asked her, 'How did you manage to gather all that?'

'I've been in a lot of relationships,' she chuckled, 'So...am I right?'

'Okay, so I have become rather fond of Rog, but it's not like we could ever be anything serious. I've not exactly got the world's greatest track record of relationships and all Roger's interested in when it comes to women is the quickest way to get into their knickers.'

'Heidi, when are you going to stop kidding yourself? I've seen the way that lad looks at you and believe me it's more than just physical attraction. He thinks the world of you, darling, and you must feel something for him too or else you wouldn't have slept with him.'

Despite knowing deep down she was right, I just rubbed my tired face and sighed.

'Look,' the blonde girl sat forward in her seat, 'If you don't want to take things further, then that's fine. Roger will understand.'

'But I like him, Penny,' I finally confessed out loud, 'I know that I shouldn't and I fucking hate myself for it, but I really do. The last thing I want is for him to think I'm pushing him away; I've already snapped at him this morning about how last night was nothing but a one night stand, not that I meant it. I always manage to mess things up. I know that Roger feels the same, he said so himself, but I'm just not ready for a relationship. Not right now. God, he's going to hate me.'

'Don't be silly, of course he won't. Roger's too besotted with you for that to bother him,' the blonde girl assured me with a smile, 'Go home and talk to him. I'm sure between the pair of you you can figure something out.'

Simply nodding in agreement, I knew Penny was right and so after more chit chat and another cup of coffee I thanked her for her guidance and began making my way back home, set on putting things right between me and the drummer whilst hopefully at last understanding what it was we both wanted.

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Walking up the steps to the front door, I slowly opened it and stepped inside before shutting it quietly behind me, the silent atmosphere of the house strange as I put my set of keys in the lock instead of the table in the hallway (I wasn't going to make that mistake again).

'Roger?' I called out as I made my way through the house.

I peeked into the living room - not there. There didn't seem to be any sign of life upstairs as there were no shuffling of footsteps. But then, just as I thought the drummer had completely disappeared, I entered the kitchen to see him coming in the back door with his shirt open and his hair sticking to his sweat-covered forehead, breathless from something but with a massive smile spread across his face.

'Heidi, you're back!' he beamed as he wandered towards me.

Confused as to why the blonde was in such a good mood considering an hour or two ago I practically bit his head off I replied quizzically, 'Uh, yeah.'

'Come here, I want to show you something.' he said excitedly, taking ahold of my hand before practically pulling me across the room and out the back door into the garden.

Leading me down the steps onto the patio, he stopped and let go of my hand. He gestured to the green area in front of him, gesturing proudly, 'So, what d'you think?'

'Of what?'

'The garden,' he rolled his eyes jokingly, 'Use your eyes, woman!'

I finally realised, 'You cut the grass?'

'Yeah, the grass; the grass that you'll remember was like a jungle! I thought to myself this morning whilst looking out the kitchen window - I wonder when was the last time it was cut, definitely not since I've been living here. So I decided to make myself useful and get out the old mower I found in the shed; took a while, but I got her going again. I'm not just a pretty face, y'know?'

'I can see that,' I looked up at Roger, a big proud smile spread across his face. I couldn't believe he'd done this, especially after how I spoke earlier, 'You've done a beautiful job, love - far better than I could have done. You didn't have to go to the bother. I really appreciate it, thank you.'

'S'alright. After this morning, I felt I needed to make it up to you anyway.'

Remembering that was the reason I needed to talk to him in the first place, I asked the blonde, 'Speaking of this morning...can we talk about that, please?'

Roger nodded, 'Sure.'

Sitting down on the back door steps with the summer sun shining brightly down on us, I linked my arm with his and patted it lightly, 'First of all, I want to apologise for snapping at you this morning.'

'No, Heidi, I'm the one who should be apologising for that,' the drummer quickly intervened, 'I never should have asked what I asked in the first place. It was thoughtless and to mention Rosie like that was just plain insensitive.'

'It wasn't insensitive, Rog,' I assured him, 'You were concerned and I overreacted, as per usual. I was hungover and I took my shit mood out on you. I'm sorry.'

He just smiled understandably.

'Secondly, I want to let you know, despite what I said, last night was amazing and more than just a drunken mistake. I've been denying how I really feel for while now and I want you to know that I feel the same as you,' I felt my cheeks turn pink, 'I do like you, Roger.'

The drummer just chuckled, looking around me, 'Have you got this written down or something?'

I elbowed him in the side, blushing even more, 'Shut up.'

'Sorry,' he squeezed my hand reassuringly, 'You were saying...'

'But...' I struggled to find the right words, until deciding on putting it simply, 'I think we should take this slow. As much as I wish it was, my head's just not in that zone right now, especially after everything that's happened recently. I hope you're okay with that.'

Watching the blonde's facial expressions carefully, he just shrugged and replied casually, 'It's fine.'

My eyebrows furrowed in confusion, 'Really?'

'Well, considering all you've been through, it's only understandable. The last thing you'll be thinking about right now is going out with me. Besides, you know what I'm like; can't seem to keep a girl for more than five minutes anyway. I'm a disaster when it comes to relationships, it's probably for the best.'

Although I understood the drummer's response, I had to ask, 'Are you sure you're okay with this, though? This morning you were so happy and now I feel like I've just gone and ruined it all.'

'Of course you haven't, love,' Roger told me, 'Look, we can make it work. This doesn't have to be anything serious, we can just take it one step at a time. You said it yourself; a little fun never hurt no one. Let's keep it that way for now, it don't matter to me.'

Looking up at the drummer, I gave him a genuine smile, 'You're too nice to me, d'you know that?'

'Yeah, I know.' he rolled his eyes jokingly.

I chuckled, 'Thank you, Rog.' before holding the side of his face and pecking him sweetly on the cheek.

Pulling back, the two of us looked at each other for a second, unsure of what to do, until Roger leant it and pressed his lips against mine, igniting butterflies in my stomach as he stole a kiss - not that it was in any way undesired.

'I'm gonna go take a shower, these clothes are sticking to every part of my body.' the drummer announced when the had kiss ended, the moment most certainly over.

'Charming.' I quipped.

'Y'know, Heidi...you're more than welcome to join me if you want.' he smirked.

I couldn't help but smile, 'I'll think about it.'

'Well, the offer's there.' he coaxed, beginning to walk away.

Thinking he was out of earshot, I couldn't help but giggle to myself, until I heard Roger ask behind me, 'What? What's so funny?'

'Nothing, nothing.' I mumbled, covering my mouth to hold back more laughter.

'You're crazy.' the drummer commented, now chuckling himself, as I listened to his footsteps fade away and disappear out the room.

As I sat there on the back door steps, I smiled to myself as truth was I couldn't help it. It was the absurdity of it all - Roger and I. Only a couple of months ago we couldn't go five minutes without falling out and now here we were acting like a couple (even if we weren't). Nevertheless things were changing, as strange as it would be getting used to. And I'd be lying if I said I wasn't looking forward to what was ahead...

-

Hey guys!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter. Again I can only apologise for the wait but I just wanted to be happy with what I wrote before publishing it. Hopefully I'll have a bit more time to write as I've left my job in preparation for moving away and attending college at the start of September. I don't know how often I'll be able to update when that begins, I'll have to wait and see, but I'll do my best to find time to write and keep this story updated.

All my love,

Anna x