Page 26 of Lovers in Lockdown

Ellie:Tell me something I don’t know.

Honey:Yeah, he saw me. But no, I didn’t finish him off, so you can put your tongue back in your mouth and cool yourself down. I’d gone to get some water in the night and there he was. He… made his mayo… and then he saw me and I just ran for it!

Ellie:Wow. But can we stop with the food references please and just say it like it is. Jizz is jizz. Since when were you such a prude?

Honey:For goodness sake, fine! He jizzed, saw me and I legged it. Happy now?

Ellie:See, that wasn’t hard, was it? So, then what happened?

Honey:This is all very embarrassing, so I’m just gonna type it quickly and you’re going to be a very good friend and not make it any worse for me than it already is, deal?

Ellie:Pinky promise, solemnly swear and all that jazz. Now get to it, you’re killing me here.

Honey:Went for a walk in the morning. To avoid him, obviously. Fell asleep under a tree. It rained. A lot. Had to walk a stupid number of miles back home. Finally got back to the flat. Noah thought the leaves and shit in my hair meant I’d been out shagging some dude in a bush. Somehow, he ended up finding out that I had, in fact, seen his entire solo performance the night before. We nearly kissed, but got cockblocked by the fire alarm. And then to top it off, we had a randomly deep conversation about absent parents. So, yeah, to sum up, I don’t know what the fuck is going.

Ellie:…

Honey:?

Ellie:HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA *wheezes* HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Ellie:HOLY SHIT!

Ellie:*laughing-crying emoji* *laughing-crying emoji* *laughing-crying emoji*

Honey:Are you quite finished?

Ellie:Sorry, sorry! But holy shit, Hon, that’s the funniest thing I’ve ever heard. How the hell did you end up falling asleep? Actually, no, that’s not even important. YOU NEARLY KISSED HIM? WHAT? Let’s talk about that please.

Honey:Don’t get too excited, it won’t happen again. Even if I want it to.

Ellie:And why the hell not?

Honey:I can’t let myself really, can I? We’ve still got months of lockdown left and he’s Reid’s brother. It would be too messy. Thank God I start teaching my art classes online this week, so at least I can avoid him.

Ellie:God, you’re such a party pooper. I wish you’d just let loose and follow your vagina’s desires. And then call me straight away to tell me every little detail.

Honey:Seriously, El, go give yourself an orgasm and sort yourself out. You’re too horny for your own good.

Ellie:Roger that. But in the meantime, if you happen to catch Noah petting his pony again, unleash your inner porn star and finish the poor boy off. Love you.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Noah

Mid-afternoon on Friday and I’m bored out of my fucking mind. I’ve barely seen Honey over the past few days. I know that she’s teaching her art classes online now and needs time to prepare for them each day, but I have a strong suspicion she’s using them as an excuse to avoid me.

And it’s annoying me.

Because as much as I hate to admit it, I miss her. I miss the sounds she makes when she eats, the way she can’t look me in the eye when she’s talking about herself, the way she doesn’t know how to react when I flirt with her. Jeez, I even miss her misplaced concerns about my health. She hasn’t told me I’m going to die in a while and life just isn’t the same without one of Honey’s terminal diagnoses.

But I know having some space from each other right now probably isn’t the worst thing. Everything got a bit heavy the other night, we entered dangerous territory and for a moment, I let my resolve slip. And even though all I want to do is press her up against a wall and show her that cooking isn’t the only thing I’m good at, it just can’t happen.

It’s not even just about my friendship with Reid. It’s that even though we might not know when lockdown will end, we know that itwill. And when that day comes, I’m catching a flight and heading back to China.

Honey’s a forever kind of girl.

And if I can’t give her forever, then I can’t give her anything.

---