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Always In My Head: A London Calling Series

The Wild Rover (The Pogues)

“Your alarm is obnoxious,” I heard Harry groan next to me as I reached over to shut off the alarm.
“I know, I’m sorry babe. I have to get up and get ready for work.”
“You are crazy. You don’t need to work. Patrick and Frankie both told you that you are probably too out of practice and that you should just hang out with Alyssa and I today.” He pulled me in to him and his lips connected with my shoulder.
“I am not out of practice. I bartended on New Year’s Eve.”
“And were out of practice,” he whispered.
“Everyone pitches in on St. Patrick’s Day. Alyssa is even bartending so I am spending the day with her.”
“I find it funny that she gets 10 days in England and she is allowing Paddy to put her to work.”
“She misses it the way I do and St. Patrick’s Day is a shit show in any Irish Pub in the world so I may as well pitch in and help out with the shit show I love most,” I said laughing.
“Fine. I don’t want to get up yet though,” he whined. It was 6:45, I was going to meet the crew at 8:00 to help with set up.
“Well, we are taking the tube there this morning. And you are not to drive, Mister.”
“I think that because Lyla is also crazy and helping today Niall is coming to pick me up and they are just leaving their car at O’Brien’s tonight.”
“As long as you aren’t driving today I don’t care. I don’t let people I love do stupid things, especially today. Now I need to get in the shower.” I climbed out of bed and walked in to the bathroom.
“You could’ve at least put a shirt on and not walked across the room naked. I hate you sometimes,” he yelled after me. I laughed as I started music and hopped in the shower. I knew that listening to Dropkick Murphy’s ‘Live on St. Patrick’s Day’ was bound to make Harry cranky this morning but I didn’t care. It put me in a good mood for a fun and perhaps crazy day ahead of me. After showering I threw on my clothes. We had a special shirt for the staff today that was bright green, I’d of course cut mine so that it wasn’t an oversized men's t-shirt. “Are you really bartending in a skirt all day?”
“Yes,” I replied. This wasn’t the first time he’d seen me get ready to bartend and also wasn’t the first time he complained about what I wore to work.
“Will you at least put leggings on under it?” He was propped up on his elbows, hair hanging in his eyes staring at me.
“I mean I guess. But I make more tips this way,” I said laughing.
“You don’t need the money,” he responded. “And I like knowing that your ass isn’t hanging out when you reach for a new bottle of Jameson.”
“You are so not fun.” I went in to the closet and found a pair of leggings that stopped mid-calf and put on a pair of green Nikes that I had specifically for today. “Better?” I asked scowling at him.
“Yes, much better. Now come give me a kiss before you leave.” I went over and crawled on to the bed, leaning down to kiss him. His hand snuck beneath the short skirt and grabbed my ass.
“Hey!”
“I do like the skirt for that reason,” he said laughing in to my lips.
“I’m going to go make coffee and breakfast and make sure Alyssa is awake. Want to put on some clothes and come down for breakfast?”
“I guess. Then I can shower while you do your hair and makeup.”
“I’ll see you downstairs.” One more kiss and I grabbed the second O’Brien’s shirt I had in the room and headed down the stairs to the guest bedroom Alyssa was using. I knocked quietly in case I was waking her up.
“Come in,” she called cheerily. I opened the door to see my best friend standing in front of me in tight, ripped black jeans and a bra.
“You know if my fiancé had opened the door to you standing topless I maybe would’ve been upset.” I leaned against the wall.
“Except you wouldn’t,” she responded. “He’s seen me in a bathing suit that covered less than this and he’s like my brother. The boy is in love with you, you have no worries.”
“I know. I brought you a shirt you can put on,” I threw her a t-shirt that I’d cut a bit for her. She pulled it on and realized I’d made her a crop top and glared at me.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
“Earning you tips. Last year, I showed a lot more tit than I am this year. I made enough in tips that I think I funded a large portion of my trip to South America. I figure you can put this in your ‘Come back to visit my Sissa’ Fund that you need to have.”
“Does this mean you’re going to tell your fiancé not to buy me a plane ticket for a gift?”
“I’ve learned that I have no control over him and his money. Yet for some reason the jackass thinks he has control over mine. Made me wear leggings under my skirt.”
“Take them off at the bar.”
“I heard that!” Harry called as he walked down the stairs. He peaked in the door behind me as Alyssa tugged at her shirt a little. “She gets the tiny shirt this year, huh?”
“At least I have a shirt on,” she retorted making Harry flip her off. He’d pulled on sweatpants but hadn’t wasted time on a shirt or from my expert knowledge, boxers.
“Well Lyla, Niki and I were the tiny shirt crew last year,” I said. “You and Niall told Lyla and I no and Niki didn’t want to do it alone, so I told her that Alyssa would be her buddy. She wants the money. Visit Sissa fund, dude.”
“Did you call him dude?”
“That’s normal,” he replied. “I’ll go start coffee. You two will need it.”
“This is just what I needed,” she said smiling. “You two give me hope that I will find something that doesn’t suck. And who doesn’t want to be in an Irish Pub in London on St. Patrick’s Day.” She raised an eyebrow at me. It was funny that I’d convinced her to spend this week in England with me as it was an Irish holiday.
“I mean it’s as authentic as you’ll get…in London,” I said laughing. “And I’m sort of sorry that I got you a job for the day but considering you’ll get paid completely in cash I didn’t think you’d care.”
“No, I wouldn’t. It will help me save for a house to get out of Mom and Dad’s.”
“I know. And all of my tips today are going to the Sissa Fund.”
“I love you,” she said hugging me. We’d been best friends since we were teenagers when she’d dated my best guy friend in high school. The last few months had been hell on her. She was in the process of a divorce and I hated being so far away from her. So for Christmas, Harry bought her a ticket to England so she could come see where I called home and have a while to not worry about what was going on at home. We talked every day when we could and texted on the days we couldn’t. He had grown used to popping in on our FaceTime chats and hated seeing that half of the time I cried when I got done because I hated being away from her when she was going through all of this.
“I love you too. And despite him being cranky this morning, he loves you too.”
“I know. Let’s go get that coffee he’s making,” she said and we took off down the stairs. Coffee and food were necessary this morning. And after a quick job on the makeup and hair we were out the door and headed to the tube station. We’d made it about a block when a car slowed next to us.
“Get your ass in the car,” came a voice as the window rolled down. I smiled at Frankie and opened the door to hop in.
“I figured you would already be at the pub,” I said.
“I had intended to be but little Paddy was being pretty cute this morning. Lizzie had him in this stupid leprechaun outfit at breakfast. I couldn’t resist staying a little longer,” Frankie said as he handed me his phone with the picture of his youngest child and only boy in a full on leprechaun costume. I couldn’t help but laugh. Little Patrick was such a happy baby and completely spoiled by his Papa and namesake. Patrick was completely sure that if he talked to the little guy about football now that he’d grow up to be a star player. I loved the days when we’d all be at the pub for a Sunday lunch and Patrick would sit there with him in his lap in one of the oversized wingback chairs explaining the ins and outs of the sport to him. I had managed to snap a photo of them once that Paddy had put in a place of prominence in both his flat and the pub, directly next to the photo of his wife that he had in both places.
“Oh my god, this kid is just too cute. Lizzy’s Mum is coming to watch them today right?” I asked.
“Yeah,” Frankie replied. “So Alyssa, are you ready for a crazy day?”
“Yeah, I mean I’ve worked a lot of St. Patrick’s Days in my life. One of which was in a British pub in Iowa that was jammed full of people who evidently missed the memo that there are Irish pubs not too far away.”
“That was a funny year. But it won’t compare to today,” I said.
“What time did you say that we open?” she asked.
“10:00,” Frankie replied. We’ve got two hours this morning with staff to clear out the furniture that isn’t wooden or plastic and then everyone can take breaks up in the flat now that Niki is moved out.”
“Did she managed to get everything out over the weekend?” I asked.
“Yeah, she and her new guy got the last of it moved out while you were up visiting Harry’s Mum.”
“Nice, I felt bad about not being there to help.”
“She was fine. Her brothers all ended up in town too. Which was fuckin’ hilarious to watch them quiz down the boyfriend. They claim that because Niall gave him the seal of approval they are okay with it. But the kid was shaking in his boots.”
“That’s hilarious,” I replied. I turned around to look at Alyssa. “So Niki and Niall dated for a few months like a year ago. It never got very serious because he left for tour in like April and they split before he left. But her new boyfriend is a friend of Niall’s that he introduced her to. Her brothers’ loved Niall because he was a good Irish kid. Niall’s friend is a Brit who doesn’t worship the Irish flag and football team. They started dating in December and this is the first any of her family met him. I’ll have to ask her about it today.”
“That is sort of funny,” Alyssa said. “Niall does worship the Irish flag.” Alyssa had been able to meet everyone last summer when I got her tickets to come to the show the guys had in Chicago. She had clicked with everyone really well so it was fun that she was starting to get to know my England family now that she was able to make her first trip here.
“That’s an understatement. I told him that he’s not allowed to show up wearing it as a cape today and embarrass Lyla.”
“She doesn’t embarrass easily,” Frankie said. It was true, his sister-in-law often encouraged her crazy boyfriend to be even crazier. Frankie pulled in to a parking spot behind the pub and we all got out. We went inside having arrived well before we had intended as we didn’t have to wait for the tube. We both started helping Frankie get the bar set up before the rest of the crowd started to filter their way in. Lyla and Lizzy snuck in together at about 8:10 which caused Frankie to tell them both that he saw the coffee in their hand that had made them late and scold them, until they produced a coffee for him and then me and Alyssa. Rolling in at 8:17 was Cameron in ripped jeans, the green shirt with the short sleeves cuffed and his sunglasses on.
“I’m surprised you’re alive today,” I said hugging him and kissing his cheek. He’d been the unlucky member on the staff that closed the night before. He was Frankie’s right hand man these days now that Frankie was taking a little more time to be a Dad. It meant he was the last out last night and would be tonight as well.
“I slept upstairs,” he said leaning against the back of the bar resting his head on mine. “You haven’t been in at all this week when I’ve been here.”
“I’ve been entertaining Alyssa the last two days and was prepping for her to get here before that.” I took a sip of my coffee, it was laced with peppermint Schnapps. I loved the Salisbury sisters. “Alyssa, come here. You need to meet Cam officially.”
“It’s nice to meet you outside of a FaceTime window,” she said. When Cam and I had dated he got to know her via our numerous phone calls and chats.
“Likewise,” he said. I pushed his sunglasses up in to his hair. I saw him smile in a way I hadn’t seen in a while. “Annie has been excited about you getting here.”
“I’ve been excited too. I needed a vacation.”
“Oh yeah, sorry to hear about the divorce. Annie told me about it.”
“It’s okay, I’m glad it is over. I wasn’t happy and I’m getting there now.” She smiled brightly. How did I not see this coming? I snuck over to Lyla and Lizzy.
“Thanks for the Schnapps,” I said.
“I figured you’d need it. I know I do,” Lizzy said.
“Niall and Harry have instructions to bring refills for us,” Lyla said.
“Did H agree to this?”
“Niall wasn’t really going to tell him,” Lyla said. I had ended up a bit tipsy most of the day during St. Patrick’s Day last year from drinking when a customer would say ‘and one for you’ with their order. Harry had asked me to pace myself and not start in the morning this year. Oops.
“You two are my favorites.” I looked back at Cam and Alyssa. “So I didn’t see that coming.” I pointed at them.
“Neither did I,” Lyla said. “But I’m not surprised.”
“Surprised about what?” Lizzy asked.
“They are flirting,” I responded.
“Are you okay with that?” Lizzy again jumped in with the question. “I mean it is your best friend that you call your sister and your ex-boyfriend.”
“I don’t care. They would actually be good for each other, minus that whole she lives in a different country thing. But if it meant she came over here more often I’d be completely happy about it.”
“True.”
“And they are good for each other. That girl drank Niall under the table last summer.”
“That isn’t hard,” Lizzy and I replied in unison.
“You two are so mean. He’s not a lightweight.”
“I know but he’s so easy to pick on.” I was giggling as Lizzy tried to pretend she hadn’t been picking on her sister’s boyfriend.
“Alright team!” Frankie said as he climbed up on to a chair. There were probably 20 of us in here right now. Niki was over with the staff that would be in the kitchen today when I saw her. I waved excitedly before Frankie stared down at me like he was going to kill me. “Annie, pay attention, you’re going to need to know this.” At that Frankie went in to his normal speech that he did before big days at the pub. The prices for drinks, where extra plastic cups were, and his other announcements. There would be water, coffee, energy drinks, and snacks up in the flat so that people could take breaks. He’d worked out a schedule for people’s shifts. Everyone would have at least enough time to sneak up for a nap and something to eat and depending on how long their shift was they’d be able to do that more than once. “I’m glad all of you are here today. Remember, have fun but be responsible.”
“Go’briens!” I yelled. Frankie turned to look at me.
“I don’t miss you working here,” he said laughing.
“Yes, you do!” I yelled.
“No, I don’t,” he replied.
“Yes, you do!” When I yelled my response this time I wasn’t alone. Cam, Lizzy, Lyla, Niki and a few other staff members yelled it with me. Frankie just laughed.
“Fine, I miss you but get your ass to work.” He jumped down and we started to clear all of the couches and chairs out and move the tables around. Most people knew that today would be a madhouse here and that tables were hard to come by but that didn't mean that we didn’t draw a huge crowd. At 9:45 we had everything set perfectly and everyone gathered around together. Cam handed out shots of Jameson to everyone and took one look at me and passed me by.
“You get none,” he said.
“What?”
“You hate whiskey. Pour yourself a different shot.” I had mixed a few pitchers of a green shot that we did back home that tasted like Kool-Aid and poured myself one.
“Everyone have their shot?” Patrick asked. He looked around to see that we all did. “To live above with the Saints we love, ah that is the purest glory. To live below with the Saints we know, ah that is another story.” The whole room raised their glasses. “Happy St. Patrick’s Day to you all.”
“Sláinte!” the whole room yelled in response and threw back their shot. Patrick came over to me and put his arm around my shoulders.
“I saw you skipping the Jameson. As much as I normally give you shit for that, it’s a good plan. I don’t need to peel you off me floor at noon.”
“You are so mean,” I replied. He pulled me in to a hug and kissed the top of my head.
“I’m glad you’re back for today. It doesn’t seem right around here without you being a pain my arse.”
“It’s the least I can do for you.” The doors opened and the crowd started to come in. The weather was surprisingly nice today and we had the windows open to let some air in. Alyssa and I were stationed together on one side of the bar one manning the beer taps and the other getting shots and mixed drinks. We were slammed the first two hours we were open. Both of us had pockets full of tips already. “So Cam, huh?” I said.
“He seems nice and is obviously hot, which you know.”
“I do know. I also know that he’s pretty much perfect for you.”
“What?” she asked seeming shocked. She was in the midst of an order that had several pints of Guinness, which meant she had time in between each pour.
“Yeah, he and I had fun together but you two. You’d be good together, and pretty hot.”
“You don’t care that I’m flirting with your ex?”
“Why would I? He’s my ex and I’m engaged to someone who is pretty fucking perfect for me.”
“I’m glad you think so.” I jumped as Harry slid his arms around my waist.
“What are you doing here?”
“Niall and I decided we’d come early. He said that Lyla would probably need a second coffee so I said I’d join him. I caught that he was pouring booze in all of the cups and couldn’t help but laugh. You were hiding Schnapps from me?”
“Maybe.” I also started to laugh along with him. “It’s yummy and I don’t get super hammered. And be thankful, Cam said I wasn’t allowed the traditional pre-open Jameson shot.”
“I’m glad he did. We don’t need to peel you off of the floor at noon.”
“You have been hanging out with Paddy too much,” I said.
“You usually think that’s a good thing.” The two barstools at the end of the bar opened up and Harry slid to that side and saved one for Niall who was over talking to Lyla, she was waiting tables for this shift. Niall appeared quickly when he saw the empty stool.
“Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Niall,” Alyssa said.
“Same to you, Alyssa. Having fun working today?”
“I am.”
“She’s also getting to flirt with Cameron,” I practically sang.
“You know…you two would be good for each other,” Niall said.
“I shockingly agree with that,” Harry added.
“That’s settled.” I turned to look for Cam. He was at the other end of the bar switching out some empty liquor bottles. “CAMERON EUGENE!”
“Goddammit Ann Marie, how many times have I told you not to use my middle name.”
“A million, at least.”
“Well, consider this is a million and one. Don’t use my bloody middle name.”
“I’ll make you a deal. If you ask Alyssa out on a date I’ll avoid the middle name for at least the rest of the day.”
“Sissa!” Alyssa yelled smacking me and starting to turn red.
“I was going to do it later when we all had a break together but if you have to be a complete shit and do this now then fine. Alyssa, if the two crazies you’re staying with don’t have you busy tomorrow night, how about I pick you up and take you out for a date?”
“She’s free!” Harry yelled.
“I’ll pick you up at her place at 7:00,” he replied.
“Okay.” I reached to high-five Harry.
“Good job, Dimples.”
“Good catch, Sugar. Now can I have that shot of Jameson you weren’t allowed to have?” I poured a shot for both he and Niall and set it in front of them. He took the shot before standing on the run of his stool to lean over the bar and kiss me. “I love you.”
“I love you.”
“Stop making out!” Nate yelled as he walked over to us.
“How did you two luck out and not have to be here for the 8:00 set up?” I asked.
“I require my beauty rest,” Kim replied.
“I had a conference call at 8:00,” Nate said.
“We are the middle relievers, well he is,” Kim said. “I’m not really working today. Frankie told me that after trying to help on New Year’s Eve he’s done with me working here.” Kim had taken a bottle of champagne and hidden in Frankie’s office. It didn’t take long for us to find her but she was most of the way through the bottle. She didn’t want to work on St. Patrick’s Day, it was during the NCAA tournament and she had declared that she would babysit all three kids for an entire weekend if it meant she could have basketball on the TVs. Frankie was easily sold on that as it meant a weekend trip with his wife and no kids. Something they hadn’t done since she got pregnant with Little Paddy. They needed the time and I knew that Kim and Nate needed the practice. I knew it wouldn’t be long before they started trying to have kids.
“You two are already doing shots,” Nate said as he came back behind the bar to hug and kiss both Alyssa and I.
“I figure she’s ahead of me already,” Harry said.
“Oh she is?” Kim asked.
“Peppermint Schnapps in the coffee,” I said. “I blame Lyla.”
“Good call! Can I get a beer and that TV on a basketball game?” I quickly handed her the beer she needed and switched the channel.
“So Alyssa has a date tomorrow night,” I said smiling.
“You are nuts,” Alyssa said laughing.
“You do?” Kim asked, not even taking her eyes off of the basketball game.
“Yeah, with Cam,” Harry replied. He’d given up his seat for Kim and was standing in the pathway that was usually for servers to get in and out. We had a very limited food menu today and not a lot of places to sit so as lunch time arrived we were starting to slow down. I saw Niki sneak out of the kitchen, as she approached I hugged her.
“A date with Cam?” Nate asked as he poured a round of shots for a couple of college aged guys who were standing at the bar. He clearly knew he needed to take over for me because I was leaning against the bar with Harry wrapped around me.
“Who has a date with Cam?” Niki asked. She handed a plate of food to Niall and put Harry’s in front of Kim who started to eat his lunch. He just laughed. “I’ll get you another order, Harry. Annie, did you want something to eat? Just for you I have french fries on the menu today.”
“I want a giant plate of fries,” I said laughing. “And a grilled cheese. Oh and Alyssa has a date with Cam.”
“I can totally see that,” Niki said. “If it is a decent date maybe we can all meet back here for drinks. Though Cam may want to go somewhere else. He’s lived here for a week.”
“Here is good,” Kim said. She knew there would be basketball on for her. “He will go wherever if Annie tells him to and if he thinks he stands a chance with Alyssa. Nate and I are in.”
“We are too,” I said.
“Lyla and I will be here. Hey Nik, how did you move go over the weekend?”
“It went well. Though my brothers were nightmares to Tom. I thought the night would never end. Until he finally said that you had called earlier and it clicked with them that he was your friend. Then they stopped acting like a bunch of fucking twats.”
“Poor guy, your brothers can be brutal. But the new place is nice?”
“Yeah,” she said.
“I need to come see it soon,” I said.
“We should hopefully have everything settled in the next few weeks and then we will have everyone over for dinner.”
“I am in,” Kim said. “You have the best dinner parties.”
“She’s a chef, it doesn’t count,” I said.
“It does. She wins in that area,” Kim replied. She was the only person in the bar not wearing green today. Kentucky played later and she needed her blue on.
“Fine. Whatever.”
“I do have some new things that I want to try out on everyone before I make them for Frankie. I wanted to do some new specials for April.”
“Your taste testers are ready!” Niall and Kim high fived each other. The fact that all three of them were still this close made me happy despite Niall and Kim’s weekend fling and the few months that he and Niki were together. Lyla snuck over and stole a fry off of Niall’s plate before kissing him.
“You hungry?” he asked her.
“Starving. My break is in a half hour.”
“Are you going to go upstairs?” I asked.
“Nah, I’m going to steal Niall’s chair and let Kim teach me about basketball,” Lyla said.
“I like you more and more every day,” Kim replied laughing.
“Did I hear you shout the full name at Cam?” Lyla asked.
“Yeah, he has a date with Alyssa tomorrow,” I said. Alyssa had somehow managed to end up leaving Nate by himself so she could go change the keg in the back.
“Lizzy!” Lyla yelled. Her sister was standing only a few feet away.
“What?”
“Cam and Alyssa. We called it! They have a date tomorrow.”
“Nice! That should be good.”
“We are all meeting up for drinks after,” Niall added.
“Here? That will be fun,” Lizzy said. “Frankie is here tomorrow so I’ll meet you guys up here too. It will be like old times!”
“It will be,” I said as I turned to look at Harry. “You look cute today.”
“Niall tried to dress me,” he said. He was wearing a green plaid shirt and black jeans. “He said that I couldn’t claim my eyes were my green.”
“I think you could’ve.”
“I know. My hope was also that you’d pinch me bum all day.” I reached down and pinched his ass quickly. “Like that.” He leaned down to kiss me.
“Stop making out!” Nate yelled. Alyssa finally returned with flushed cheeks. “You were making out too. Weren’t you?”
“What?!” She was shocked by Nate’s question.
“She was,” Cam replied. “But don’t be an arse. She shouldn’t have to tell you anything.”
“So you’re going to tell him?” Alyssa asked laughing.
“Yes, because he won’t leave either of us alone. And neither will Annie.”
“I wouldn’t,” I said. “Nate just has a sense for when people are making out. Okay so while you’re both here, after your date tomorrow we are all meeting here for drinks. Let Alyssa have a decent night at O’Brien’s when there aren’t a bunch of drunk people and all of us are working. Only Frankie works tomorrow night.”
“I am okay with that,” Alyssa said.
“I guess I can share the night with you idiots,” Cam said. He looked happy and the smile on Alyssa’s face told the whole bar she was. I don’t know how I hadn’t put this together before today but I should’ve. Cam was a decent guy and deserved someone nice. Alyssa deserved a lot better than the hand that had been dealt to her over the past few years. It was going to be fun to see where this went. If anything, Kim and I were proof that sometimes all you need is a big change and a lot of adventure.
“You’re already planning out their kids’ names aren’t you?” Harry whispered in my ear.
“Maybe.”
“This is why I love you, even when you’re crazy.”
“I love you,” I said turning around to again kiss him.
“All this making out. It’s St. Patrick’s Day, not Valentine’s. Get a damn room!” Nate yelled.
“Fuck off!” Harry replied before kissing me again.
“All this PDA when there is a game on,” Kim said. “Blasphemous.”
“Whatever,” Lyla said as she rested her head on Niall’s shoulder and he fed her another french fry. I caught Cam wink at Alyssa before leaning down and kissing her in front of all of us.
“Whoa!” Harry and I both said at the same time.
“Now you’re all going to make me wish Tom was off and here. Only a few more hours and he gets to join the fun.”
This was just the sort of thing that made me love my friends and this place. O’Brien’s was full all day. Everyone wanted to be Irish on St. Patrick’s Day and where better than here. At some point later in the night as everyone started to relax and have a few more drinks the crowd parted so that Niall, Nate and Alyssa could play music. Nate and Niall on guitars and Alyssa on a fiddle. Frankie and Patrick both looked proud of the way their bar was functioning, despite the fact that at 3:00 I declared I was done and started to drink with Harry. Patrick told me I’d made it two hours further than he had guess and three further than Frankie had. Niki was off as soon as the kitchen was closed as we weren’t serving dinner tonight. She joined us just as Tom arrived. Lizzy snuck away to go tuck the kids in and Lyla sat in awe of her boyfriend. This was my little family all crammed in to this bar. There wasn’t a way I’d rather spend St. Patrick’s Day than with this crazies.
“You’re going home,” Harry said. I was a bit tipsy but not nearly as bad as I’d been by this time the year before. “Alyssa, are you coming with us?”
“Yes, let me go see Patrick to get my money,” she said. She hurried over to the bar to find him.
“I need to get Lyla in bed too,” Niall said. She was nearly asleep on his shoulder at this point.
“I’m ready to go watch basketball in my bed,” Kim said. She had such odd sleeping habits during the tournament because of the time difference.
“And I’m ready to listen to her shout at the TV in bed,” Nate said. “And maybe finally make out with her since all of you assholes have been doing it all day.”
“You weren't kidding about how much money I’d make today,” Alyssa said. She had a roll of bills in her hand. “Best St. Patrick’s Day ever.”
“I’d agree with that,” Cam said as he snuck up behind her. “I’ll call you when I get up in the morning. Maybe I’ll come pick you up before 7:00.”
“Sounds perfect.” She leaned over and quickly kissed him. It made me happy to see her happy.
“Well, we are taking off too,” Niki said. “I have to be back here before lunch tomorrow to get the kitchen ready.”
“See you tomorrow night,” I said. It wasn’t long before we were all on the train headed back home. Kim was watching basketball on her phone and Alyssa was gushing about Cam. We walked to our house before saying our goodbyes to Kim and Nate who headed towards theirs. “I’m really glad you didn’t make the bed this morning.”
“You haven’t even taken your clothes off,” Harry said laughing at me. I’d fallen face first in to my pillow. I felt him pull my shoes off and my leggings before going for my skirt. I pulled my bra off under my t-shirt and tried to crawl under the cover. “Arms up.” He pulled my t-shirt off of me and pulled his from yesterday on over my head. “Your shirt smells like beer. You aren’t sleeping in it.”
“Fine,” I said before planting my face back in to the pillow. I felt the bed sink and Harry’s arms wrap around me.
“I love you,” he whispered in my ear.
“I love you.”

Notes

More hilarity about when this was originally posted with the original author's note, St Patrick's Day! This is the last standalone that will be in order of time, the rest will be posted as I write them.

A quick treat for St. Patrick's Day and all of the fans of London Calling ! If this is the first that you're meeting Annie, Harry and all of their friends head over and check out London Calling. This is a series of one-shots that tie into the full story. A new chapter of London Calling is coming soon as well as the completion of that story!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! Be safe!

Comments

@xXFluffy_GruXx
I'm glad you liked it. I have every intention to tell more of their story but this was just the perfect way to explain their beginning.

raybansncoffee raybansncoffee
8/12/17

YASSSSS girl. Lyla and Niall are adorable!!

xXFluffy_GruXx xXFluffy_GruXx
8/12/17