Love Mum. x
Riley laughed, but he quickly stopped when his head throbbed and his eyes hurt. Ugh, hangovers were so not worth the effort.
Reaching for the water made the room spin, but he needed those tablets, and his mouth felt like shit. As quickly as he could without retching, he swallowed down two tablets and half the water, and then collapsed back onto his pillow, a sheen of sweat already coating his brow.
Fucking hell, how much did I drink last night?
Blindly reaching for his phone, he managed to grab it, squint one eye open, and check the time—12.35. And he still felt like utter crap? That didn’t bode well for the rest of the day.
He had a text alert on the screen, but it took a couple of seconds before his eyes focused enough to read who it was from.
Alex.
A horrible feeling crept up his spine, and Riley had a vague recollection of wanting to tell Alex everything last night.
Had he actually done it? He couldn’t remember, and for the first time since that night at the lodge, he honestly believed Alex was probably telling the truth about his memory loss and everything else Riley had been obsessing about was a load of bollocks. Not that that made anything clearer, and—oh fuck it, now was so not the time for deep thought.
With a great amount of trepidation, Riley opened the message and tried to read without having to use the bucket his mum had so helpfully supplied. The text was just one line.
I fucking hate aniseed.
Ahh, that was the godawful taste in his mouth. They must have had shots, and something told him it was he who’d started it off. He had to close his eyes for a bit to let a wave of nausea pass before he could even attempt to reply, and then all he could manage wasSorry :(
Alex would know what he meant.
He must have dozed off after that, because he heard the door close, and when he opened his eyes again, his phone was a little wet from his sweaty palm. He had three new messages. All from Alex.
Why would you do that to me?
Riley? Wake up you lazy fucker!
If I have to lie awake dying, then so do you!
The glass of water had been replaced by a fresh one, condensation dripping down its sides. His mum must have been in not long ago. He’d have to make it up to her with cleaning or something.
This time when he gingerly sat up, he still felt like shit, but the room wasn’t spinning and he managed to sit up against the headboard without wanting to throw up. And fucking yes! She’d left him a plate of toast, too, and another little note.
Wasn’t sure what you’d be in the mood for.
Come upstairs if you fancy something more substantial.
Mum x
She was seriously the best. He didn’t make a habit of getting this bad, but on the odd occasion he did, his mum always sorted him out. His dad would take the piss as soon as he surfaced, and Charlie—he stopped and grinned.I wonder if Charlie’s faring any better than me?
A loud growl from his stomach reminded him there was toast to be had.
After polishing off both slices, Riley downed the water, took two more tablets, and picked up his phone to reply to Alex. Hard to tell from a text message, but it didn’t seem like Riley had spilled his guts and made a fool of himself last night.
Am awake now. How you feeling?
He wondered if Alex was still up or had gone back to sleep, but the reply came back quickly enough, which answered that.
Like shit still. You?
Bad, but better than I did earlier.He closed his eyes for a bit, waiting for his phone to buzz and debating getting up and going in search of more food. His mum might cook him a bacon and egg sarnie if he begged.
Eventually the lure of grease and fat got the better of him and he got up, albeit still a little unsteady, and slowly climbed up the stairs. His mum and dad lived in a three-storey townhouse, and they’d given Riley the room on the ground floor. It was the only one down there, along with a downstairs loo. His room had access to the garden, but so did the garage, so it wasn’t that much of a pain. Only Charlie insisted on getting outside through Riley’s room—just to annoy him. On a normal day, Riley loved being there on his own, but now the stairs seemed mountainous, and it took an age for him to get to the top.
