The Last One

Anna’s POV:
I throw on an oversized long neck jumper as I creep out of my bedroom. “What happened to Ashley?” Kenny emerges from the bathroom, a towel wrapped around his waist, making me gasp. “Shhh,” I place a finger on my lips and reopen my door so that he can see Ashley’s body under the covers, his hair mangled on the pillows. “Where’s the onesie? Did you…?”
“No, not last night,” Kenny knew of my tendency to have one night stands after we lived together throughout the final rehearsals of the show, when I first joined the company, in London. Kenny follows me to the kitchen as I flip the kettle on, our morning routine. “So how did he end up in your bed?”
“I had a nightmare,” I explain, “I can’t really remember because I was half asleep but he came in and was super lovely and I think I got upset and asked him to stay.”
“Did you sleep after that?” Kenny asks.
“Yeah.”
“You’ve got nothing to worry about then, he obviously didn’t mind,” he smiles, knowing exactly what to say to reassure me, “You know what though? He does look really familiar.” I almost spill his tea as my body shakes with laughter, “He’s in a band!”
“Oh, really?” Kenny takes the steaming cup from me, “I suppose he does look kind of ‘bandy.’ What band though, anyone I’ve heard of?” I grin, Kenny and I share a love of rock music and we often take it in turns to play bands we each like, “Black Veil Brides, dude, that’s where he’s from.”
“That’s awesome, why didn’t you say? Does he know you’re a fan?”
“Yeah,” I reply, “I may have sworn a little when I recognised his face behind the tissue and blood.”
“It’s okay Anna,” Kenny smiles, “He seems really lovely, took care of you last night.” I mull over just how kind he was, “I know, it’s surreal.”
“I bet,” Kenny agrees, “I’m surprised you didn’t sleep with him!”
“Shut up!” I try and scold but we’re already in fits.
“What? You love that guy, and, we both know, it’s not unheard of to wake up with strangers in the house.”
“Kenny!” We’re in hysterics at my guilty pleasure, which I have no shame for and know how lucky I am to have a best friend who puts up with it. When we calm down, I take a deep breath at the now serious expression that’s on Kenny’s face. I know what’s coming.

“About last night…” he starts.
“Yeah?”
“I’m sorry I wasn’t there,” his voice nearly cracks and I can tell how gutted he is that Ashley had to take me home instead of him. “Kenny, don’t worry about it,” I take his hand, “You were with Adam, if he gets in trouble then its game over for all of us. I was in good hands, it’s not too bad anyway, and I would’ve been pissed if you and Ash had been fussing over me.” He smiles, but it never reaches his eyes and doesn’t stay for long. “What did he do?” As much as I want to act dumb and talk about Ashley, pretending to not know this ‘he’ person, I know that there’s no bullshitting with Kenny and he is possibly the only person I can be completely honest with, so I tell him. “Can I see?” I see the surprise flicker across his face as I nod and pull my jumper over my head. Once he’s seen the ugly mark on my neck I lift my arms into the air so he sees my wrists, “Are there anymore?” He asks softly. I begrudgingly bow my head as I lift my top, the fingerprints that were forming last night had deepened as I slept and I can’t look away for a while. “It’s okay,” he places a hand on my shoulder and I snap out of my trance. I step closer to him, he pulls me into a hug and his lips press against my forehead. I don’t cry. Instead, I feel safe in Kenny’s embrace, comfortable against his warm skin. “Right,” I breathe, “Go and get some clothes on and I’m going to shower.”
“It’s quite warm actually,” he smirks.
“Well, you’d be freezing your bollocks off if we were at home,” I remind him, laughing. He laughs at the comment as I get Ashley’s clothes out of the washing machine and head to the bathroom, “We’ll have a fry up after?” A moan of agreement travels down the hallway as Kenny fantasises over my idea for breakfast.

“Starting without me?” I pout at Kenny as the smell of sausages frying greets me as I walk through the threshold into the kitchen. “You took too long,” he sighs.
“Excuse me,” I gasp, “I had to bloody ninja my way around my bedroom to get my clothes.”
“That’s too bad; I can’t believe I missed that!” A third voice fills the kitchen and my mouth falls open as Ashley laughs at me, one leg in the air and my arms in some weird and wonderful arrangement, being a ninja. I immediately rearrange myself, standing like a normal human being as I sarcastically retort, “Well good morning, sleeping beauty, nice of you to join us.”
“You didn’t actually get changed as well did you?” Ashley laughs at the possibility.
“I ran down the hallway before my towel fell and changed in Kenny’s room.”
“You really didn’t think this whole ‘I’ll let a stranger sleep in my room’ thing through, did you?” Ashley continues to laugh at me. “Actually, that’s never usually a problem for her,” Kenny winks at me suggestively.
“Shut up, Kenny.”
“What!” Ashley raises his eyebrows.
“Yes, Ashley, I’m not unknown to have the odd one night stand. And I handled the whole stranger in my bed thing just fine thankyou,” I gesture my outfit of ripped black shorts, a yellow vest and ¾ length leather jacket with a blue bandana tied around my wrist. “Hot,” Ash states. “I would say the same thing to you but I’m not sure that a stitch onesie tied around your waist counts as a passable outfit,” I laugh as he gasps, pretending to be hurt.
“It’s okay though, breakfast is ready!” Kenny saves the day and we all settle at the table, our stomachs grumbling at our full plates. “Man, English breakfast is my favourite thing about touring there,” Ashley sees my grin and realises, “You already knew that didn’t you?” I swallow my mouthful, nodding, “But we would’ve been having this with or without you.” Conversation is light as we clear our plates and Ashley gets changed while we pack our bags for the day. “It’s okay, we’ll clear up later,” I reassure Ashley as he looks at the few pans and saucepans on the side.

Kenny and Ashley are deep in conversation about the part of the show where Kenny is on stilts when I rush over to them, having locked the door. “Thankyou so much for last night,” I say to Ashley when their laughter subsides and I can manage to get a word in. “It’s okay, I really enjoyed myself, minus the shitty circumstance that we met under. Although I was gonna try and find you in LA anyway.”
“What?” I gasp through a laugh.
“When I first saw you perform I was sure I was going to talk to you, and after I did I was sure that I had to see you again.” He says this confidently, simply, as if Kenny isn’t on the right of me. “Are you serious?”
“Yes Anna, you’re beautiful, sexy and, after getting to know you a little bit last night, I’d like to get to know you some more. Can I have your number?” I mumble for him to pass me his phone before clumsily typing my number in the space. “Thanks,” he flashes his incredible smile and I can’t believe that that actually just happened. “It was great meeting you,” I pause as we stop at the corner of the street. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing each other again,” he smirks before bidding Kenny goodbye and continuing in the opposite direction to us. Kenny nudges my arm before we settle into our usual light conversation and he smirks at me as a smile creeps onto my face when I reply to the text that makes my phone buzz in my pocket: You’re washing powder smells amazing as well! Thanks again, Ash x
“Ashley’s number works,” I grin as he shakes his head and puts his arm around me, happily.

The day passes quickly. I’m sad to replace my outfit for my dancing clothes, but eager to change back as we break between rehearsal finishing and the show starting. I stroll towards the beach and eat my dinner in the warm evening sun, the sound of the waves accompanying the sound of laughter as I chat to Ashley over the phone. The show is successful, as usual, and we stay at the bar for about an hour before splitting up; some of the cast and crew go bar hopping and some go to Clare’s apartment. Kenny and I decide to have a quiet evening in and spend our time talking, drinking tea and admiring our joint effort of padding out the balcony floor with pillows and draping fairy lights at every possible opportunity. We relax completely and share stories of how we use to imagine ourselves doing this as children and our luck that, unlike so many, we get to live our dream. Kenny announces that he’s heading to bed, so I follow suit, packing away pillows and heading to bed, falling immediately into a restless sleep. I tiptoe across the hallway and creep next to Kenny’s bed, “Anna?” He croaks.
“I’m sorry, can I sleep here?”
“Sure hun, nightmares again?” He pulls me close as I nod. Thankful, for his presence, I manage to drift off to sleep and wake up feeling refreshed.

Notes

I wrote this about three times so hopefully it's good.