"Ivy, wake up!"

I ignored Rob's voice for as long as he would let me. I hadn't opened my eyes yet and I already knew the room was spinning.

I finally forced my eyes open as Rob came barging into my bedroom.

"What do you want?" I groaned. My throat was too dry for actual words to come out so I just growled at him.

"Larissa keeps calling your phone. Thought you'd like to know."

I bolted up into a sitting position, holding onto the mattress for support. Rob threw my phone onto the bed, and left my room, smiling.

I looked at the phone and saw that I had three missed calls from Larissa. I guessed it was because it was almost noon, and I had told her i would help her paint in the morning. I pressed on her phone number, and called her back.

"Hey, Ivy. I'm sorry if I woke you," she said after answering the phone. My heart raced at the sound of her voice.

"Don't worry about it, I'm sorry I wasn't up sooner," I laughed. "How are you?"

"Better than you, I think," she joked. "You don't need to come to mine today, if you're not feeling up to it."

"Don't be silly, I told you I'd help. Just give me time to shower and get dressed, and I'll be there."

"Okay, thanks," she replied gratefully.

"Oh, can you send me your address please?" I asked, realising that I had no idea where she lived. I walked her home last night but I was really drunk. I'm not even sure how I made it home.

She laughed, and agreed, before hanging up the phone. I quickly got myself out of bed, trying to adjust to how fast my eyes were spinning in my head.

I showered quickly, dried my hair, and got changed into some old, black sweatpants and a white t-shirt. As much as I wanted to look hot when I saw Larissa, I didn't want any of my nice clothes to get covered in paint. I threw on an old pair of converse, and tied my hair up into a loose bun. After applying a small amount of foundation and eye liner, I went out into my living room.

"That was quick," Rob said, frowning at me. "How come you never get ready that fast when I call you?"

"She's prettier than you," I laughed, then picked up a cup of coffee that Rob had made for me.

He walked into the kitchen, and came back with a bacon sandwich.

"Breakfast?"

"You're a good little housewife," I joked, and he grinned.

"Funny you should mention that," he said. "I was wondering if I could move in. You know, officially."

"Really?" I asked. I was surprised by his request. He always seemed really happy living with Tom.

"Yeah, I just... I think it's time to move out, and I pretty much live here already."

I thought about what he was saying, while I ate my bacon sandwich.

"Okay, yeah. But, clear it with your dad first. I don't want him to be upset," I said, then looked at the time on my phone. "I gotta go. See you later."

I took a final bite of my sandwich, then gulped down my coffee, before pulling a grey hoodie over my head, and running out of the door. I got in my car, and put Larissa's address into my Satnav.

When I got to Larissa's house, I realised how drunk I must have been last night. The house was a lot bigger than I remembered. In fact, I only remembered the door. I seemed to ignore the massive building that the door gave access to. It was a detached house, with a large garage, and a driveway big enough for my tiny car, and the huge 4x4 that was already parked on it.

I locked my car, walked to the brown door, and knocked loudly. The door had an obscured glass window, so I could see when Larissa was walking to the door. I felt nervous when I saw the blurred shape getting closer, and my heart rate quickened.

"Hey," Larissa greeted me, as she opened the door.

"Hey, how are you?"

"I'm good," she replied, gesturing for me to go inside.

I walked inside, and was shocked. The living room was as big as my entire apartment. The walls were bare, and there was no carpets or laminate flooring down, so our footsteps echoed.

"Shit, this place is huge," I said.

"Yeah, I know. It's a little over the top. My boyfriend has very expensive taste," she laughed.

I chose to ignore that she mentioned her boyfriend, and turned to face her.

"So... where do we start?" I asked.

Larissa led me upstairs, and into her bedroom. I stared at her ass as we walked up the stairs, and I was disappointed when we got to the top.

"You sleep on that?" I asked, staring at the blow up bed in the corner of the room.

"Yeah," she laughed. "All the new furniture comes on Wednesday. So I've got to finish painting by tomorrow night."

I pulled my hoodie over my head, and walked over to a tin of pale grey paint that lay in the middle of the floor. She smiled, and knelt on the floor, prying the lid off the tin with a screwdriver.

"When we've finished this room, I need to put some new bandages on that," she said, pointing to my arm. I had completely neglected my injury. I pulled the bandage off when I took a shower, and forgot to put a new one on.

"Sorry, Doc," I smiled, and started to stir the paint.

We painted three walls of the bedroom, leaving one wall to be wall papered tomorrow. After spending five minutes with Larissa, I had already volunteered to come back and help again the next day.

I never really liked painting, but we were laughing and joking, and dancing to the music on the radio. I watched as Larissa moved her hips along with the beat, while using the paint roller. She was so sexy, and I couldn't look away.

"What?" She asked, noticing that I was looking at her.

"Nothing," I replied, blushing. I turned back to the wall and continued to paint. I looked back and saw that her cheeks were red too.

"Just about finished here," she said, and turned to see that I had also finished, and was sitting against the door, playing on my phone. "Come on, I'll fix those bandages."

"Okay, I just wanna go for a cigarette first."

"You smoke?" She asked, frowning, and I nodded. "How come I haven't seen you smoking yet?"

I shrugged my shoulders in response.

"I won't be long."

I walked outside and lit a cigarette. I realised she was right. I hadn't smoked around her. Normally when I was drinking, I would smoke like a chimney. However, last night, I only smoked after I walked her home. Truth be told, I was only smoking now because I was procrastinating being bandaged up. I didn't want to smoke while I was with Larissa. I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could, just to look at her, and hear her voice.

I dropped my cigarette down a grid in the road, after smoking only half, then walked back in the house.

"That was quick," she said when I walked in. She was coming down the stairs with a first aid kit. She pulled me into the kitchen.

The floor was tiled with black granite tiles, and the walls were painted red. The cupboards were shiny and black, and the appliances were red. I guessed Larissa spent a lot of time in the kitchen, as it was the first room to be decorated and furnished.

She pulled me to the table, and sat me down, placing my arm on the table and sitting next to me.

I watched her admiringly as she cleaned the wound from the climbing wall. The concentration on her face was adorable. A thin strand of her Auburn hair fell down to her face from behind her ear. It took all my might, not to brush it softly behind her ear.

"Ivy, why do you smoke?" She asked, as she started to wrap up my arm with bandages.

"When I first started, it was a mixture of stress, peer pressure, and teenage rebellion. Now, I'm not sure."

Her eyes darted back to me for a second, causing my stomach to do a backflip, then she looked back to my arm.

"Stress with your family?" She asked, and I nodded. "To do with your sexuality?"

I sighed heavily, then nodded again.

"I'm sorry," she said, sitting up to look into my eyes. "I didn't mean to-"

"It's okay," I interrupted. "I just haven't thought about it for a while."

"Are you hungry?" She asked, changing the subject. I nodded, and smiled gratefully as she finished wrapping up my arm.