Arabella Swift's Story

The thought of travelling the world, playing music every single night, was enough to calm him down. Well, that and the music pounding through his bones. He knew that his hearing would more than likely be shot by the time he was forty- but if he lived that long, it would be enough of an achievement that he probably wouldn't care. For him, making it to the end of the year would be enough achievement. But for now, he was okay. He kept telling himself that as he approached the campsite. On seeing it, it was oddly familiar and strange at the same time. He'd been here so much with Bella when he was younger- but that had been so long ago. A lifetime ago.

As he pulled up, he took a moment to survey the scene. Bella and Ellie, chilling in the back of Bella's truck. And Nate with... Oh. An unfamiliar blonde, who, hair colour aside, could not have been more different to Ellie. This girl was gorgeous- but in a pristine, polished kinda way. Ellie was pretty- but in the same way as a fire or a thunderstorm is pretty. He didn't know if it was a deliberate jab at Ellie or not, but he could see things getting messy in the near future. Hauling his bag out of the car, he headed over to them.

Ellie's head snapped around to look at Bella so fast, she nearly gave herself whiplash. "What French bitch?" She demanded. But before she could get an answer, the aforementioned pair pulled up. Ellie allowed her expression to harden again, staring them down as they approached. The girl was fucking stunning- all money and soft edges and fancy clothes. And besides the blonde hair, she couldn't have been further from Ellie. She was even taller than Ellie.

She continued staring them both down through the interaction. Ellie wanted to hate the girl- who Nate had introduced as Sky- but the truth was, she seemed so genuinely nice and bubbly and warm. She was literally the complete opposite of Ellie, and the more she thought about it, the more she felt like it was deliberate.

But she didn't need to hate Sky, she realised. Sky probably had no clue of what was happening- after all, wasn't she the new French exchange student? She'd heard that Nate was hanging around her, alright. And so her plan was formed. It was Nate she was going to tear down, piece by piece- not Sky. Unless she found out that she deserved it. In that case, she'd take her down as well.

She typed out a quick text to Alex. "Hey, boy. Everybody else here at this campout is in couples- feel like coming and keeping me company? xx"

smiled at Sky. "Hey, I'm Ellie. Forget what you've heard about me, because I daresay none of it's true," she said, laughing a little. The girl had been in school for however long, she'd undoubtedly heard some rumour about Ellie. Ellie turned to Bella. "Oh, by the way, I forgot to mention it- I invited Alex, the guy I met at the gig last week. That okay?" She said. She didn't as much as glance at Nate. Two could play at this game.

"Oh, Bella, Jamie's here. Jamie, this is Sky. Sky, this is Jamie. Jamie's fluent in French, so you'll have someone to bitch about us to," she said, laughing a little.

He'd expected a number of different reactions from Ellie- but being nice wasn't one of them. He just grinned at the new girl, Sky, as Ellie introduced him. "Ma grandmère est francaise," he said to her by way of explanation. Despite the fact that she'd had perfect English, she'd always only spoken French to Jamie as a kid. Which, really, was a good thing, because it meant that he didn't have to put nowhere near as much effort into it in school. He could do reasonably well without any effort at all.

He laughed at Bella's response to Ellie before turning to Nate to start to put up the tents. "Yeah, that's me. It's nice to meet you, Sky. I hope you're not afraid of trouble, because you've certainly found it with us," he remarked. He grinned as Sky swore at the tent. "It's not as bad as it looks, really," he said, glancing over at Nate. "Don't suppose you have the instructions, for a start?" He asked. He could feel the tension as well as any of the rest of them, and he knew that it was only going to worsen as time went on and Ellie's date showed up. He also knew that ignoring it was probably only going to make things worse- but what else could they do? Mention it now and start an argument before the night had even began? Perhaps the alcohol would relax everyone.

Ellie raised an eyebrow as Sky said that she'd only heard good things. Well, that was interesting. Nate hadn't been bitching about her, then. "Trust me- stick around for long enough and you'll hear plenty of shit about me," she remarked. She didn't move from the back of the truck as she waited for a reply from Alex. She glanced up as Sky asked her about the gig, and smiled. "Oh, I've forgotten the name of the band! I was actually only really there for the support," she admitted, grinning. Her phone buzzed with a text, and she opened it up, grinning at

"Sure thing. What should I bring? Besides alcohol, obviously. xx"

She grinned and typed out a reply. "Food would probably be appreciated. And the usual camping stuff I suppose. Come ASAP, they can't seem to put up a tent. xx"

The reply came quicker this time. "Dear god, my manliness skills are needed. I shall be there post-haste, my dear."

She really did like Alex. Not only was he hot and talented, but there was something about his personality that Ellie loved. When she was with him, she forgot that she'd spoken to him with the intention of getting back at Nate. She forgot about the whole Nate thing altogether. This wasn't just about getting back at Nate any more. She found herself genuinely wanting to hang out with Alex, even when nobody would see them together. And she knew that letting him get closer was a bad idea. Letting him in was a bad idea. But while this whole mess was still a problem, she needed somebody like him. After all, he knew the boundaries.

She finally hopped down off of the truck and went over to where they were examining the pile of cloth and poles, just as Jamie asked about the instructions. She bit her tongue, refraining from making a comment about Nate.

He shrugged at Bella's comment, grinning a little bashfully. However, the attention was quickly directed away from him as the girls started talking about dancing and such. He only looked up again as Nate asked Bella why she hadn't been in school. He knew her well enough to know that he response was a lie, but he chose not to comment. That was a conversation that they needed to have alone- he was the only one who had any idea how bad her home life really was.

Bella proved herself as a leader as the tent started taking shape. Even if Ellie and Nate were pointedly avoiding each other, there was enough of them to make up for that lack of communication. Considering how different Bella and Sky seemed to be, they also seemed to be bonding well. Ellie's niceness was a little strange, but Jamie felt like that was only because he was so used to her being... Not quite that nice. Then again, none of the rumours that flitted around the school about her were particularly nice either, so it was entirely possible that she was just returning the favour the majority of the time.

After a while, when the frame of the tent was almost entirely up, a newcomer appeared.

Ellie listened to the two girls ramble on, resisting the temptation to roll her eyes. Once they didn't decide to put on an impromptu recital when they were drunk, they'd be fine. While everyone else was distracted with the tent, she went back to the car and retrieved her camera from the bag. "Oi, bitches!" She yelled to get their attention, before snapping a shot of all of them and laughing. Her camera was near-professional standard and weighed a shit ton, so she put it back into its case, slinging the strap of the case across her body and going back to finish helping.

After a while, yet another car pulled up. She recognised this one and straightened up, beaming. Alex got out, carrying a carrier bag full of food and drink. A backpack was slung over one shoulder as well, with a guitar case slung over the other. She went over to him, grabbing him in a hug. He returned it easily. "Hey, El," he said, looking up at the others. "C'mon, come meet everybody," she said, grabbing his arm and bringing him over to the others.

"Everyone, this is Alex. Well, Jamie, obviously you know him, but everybody else. This is Bella, Nate, and Sky," she said, pointing them out in turn. He grinned at them.

Alex had stopped in his local supermarket on the way to the campsite and had stocked up on supplies. He'd spent a lot of time camping with his friends as a teenager, and knew what food was ideal for a bunch of teenagers on a campout. He'd also gotten two six-packs of beer, not knowing what they were drinking. He'd also brought his guitar, knowing how musical Ellie's friends were.

She seemed pretty eager for him to meet her friends, and he grinned as she introduced him. "Hey. Ellie said that my tent building services were needed," he said, before noticing the half-assembled structure behind them. "But judging by that structure, I don't know if you guys do or not!"

He put down the bag of food. "I didn't know how much food you guys had, and I got paid for a session today, so I bought plenty. Undoubtedly we'll eat it," he remarked.

He really needed to talk to Bella. She seemed rattled, and she didn't look too great either. Had she lost weight even since the last time he'd seen her? Fuck, things had to be worse than he'd presumed. He laughed at her comment- but it was true. It had been years since anybody else had been introduced into their friend group, and now there had been two people in the same day. Although it was entirely possible that they wouldn't be staying long- knowing Ellie and Jamie, that was.

Once the tent was up, the drinks started to be passed out. He nodded as Bella asked him if he wanted a drink. "Yeah, cheers," he said, taking it from her and opening the can. He didn't usually drink beer, seeing as he usually drank to get blackout drunk. But now he didn't have to.

The tension in the group was tangible, now that the distraction of building the tent was gone, and Ellie's date had arrived. He took a mouthful of his drink, before looking over at Sky. "So, Sky, what kind of music do you like?" He asked. "Think carefully about your answer, we're all quite passionate about our music here," he remarked, grinning.

Ellie didn't allow herself to even glance at Nate to gauge his reaction. She accepted the beer from Bella, cracking it open and taking a swig. "So, what activities have we got planned? An old fashioned sing-along? Oh my god, we could recreate that Bohemian Rhapsody scene from Wayne's World!" She said, slapping Bella on the arm in her excitement.

"The backseat would be a bit cramped, Ellie," Alex remarked, grinning, before looking over at Sky as Alex asked her about music.

"I'm not saying we're judgemental or anything, but if you don't like rock, you're gonna feel really out of place here," Ellie remarked. "Still, as long as you're not into country, we won't judge you too much," she said, laughing a little. "Also, I'm hungry. Bella, fancy helping me sort out food?" She asked, starting to search Nate's bag of food for something half-decent to eat. "Do you think they'd deliver pizza to us?" She asked- half joking, half-serious. Pizza was really what she wanted, if she was honest.

Alex took the beer, thanking Bella. He laughed at Jamie's question and then Ellie's comment. "Well, I can't speak for them, but I won't judge you for what music you listen to. I've played guitar for just about every genre you can imagine- even dubstep that one time. That was an... experience, to say the least," he said, grinning at Sky. As Ellie started to wonder about food, he rolled his eyes. "Ellie, do you ever think about anything except food?" He asked teasingly. "Yeah, photography," she called back. "Selfies and pizza, that's Ellie in a nutshell for you," he commented to the others. In response, Ellie yelled at him in what sounded like Russian.

"So, Sky, I missed where you're from. Excuse me for presuming, but I'm guessing you're not from Liverpool with that accent," he remarked, taking a mouthful out of his beer. "Have you lived here long?" He asked, glancing at the others. Jamie seemed to be making his way through his beer pretty steadily- then again, he wasn't saying much, so he didn't exactly have anything to distract him.

Jamie let the others do most of the talking, just like he always did. In these types of situations, he usually ended up feeling like he was somewhat on the edges- even with Bella there. Usually, he didn't let himself drink for that reason- but he just didn't feel like refraining from it tonight. Everybody else would be getting drunk, anyway.

He laughed at Skye's response. "No, we won't be killing you over that, then. We're still probably going to drag you along to some concerts, though, especially if Bella gets her way. You'll be living in concert venues," he remarked, laughing a little as he took another mouthful out of his beer. "Big bands, small bands, obscure bands, immensely famous bands... We do them all. Then again, if you've been to see Metallica, nothing we go to will shock you too much," he said.

"Hey, Bella, remember that gig we went to where there was like, what, ten people there? Including the band," he said, laughing a little. They'd just gone because they'd both been avoiding family and had been looking for somewhere to hide. The band hadn't been bad as such- just really inexperienced. The lack of people had clearly rattled them, though.

Ellie raised her eyebrows as Sky listed off her music taste. If she was honest, she hadn't expected it at all. But at least she wasn't into that dubstep crap- if Ellie had had to listen to that at any point, she couldn't have been held responsible for her actions. She laughed as Jamie remarked about her being dragged to the concerts. "Especially now that Jamie's in a band. Bella's probably going to be up front at every single one of the shows," she remarked, winking at Bella. She straightened up, brushing herself down.

"You know what, I think we should try ordering pizza. Bella, you keep working on that fire. Jamie, do you have the number of that place that does those vegan pizzas you like?" She asked. Jamie nodded and called out the number to her. She input it into her phone and hit call.

"Hi, can I order two vegan margaritas, two pepperoni, some vegan garlic bread and fries, please?" She ordered. When she told them the address, the guy on the other end just laughed and asked if they were camping. As she hung up, he told her to have a good night.

"Well, that's the food sorted," she remarked, before sitting cross-legged beside Bella. She glanced over at the others. "C'mon, take a- uh, well, not a seat, but a patch of ground."

Alex nodded as Sky explained where she was from. "Your English is brilliant, I thought you'd been living here for a year or two!" He remarked. He was even more impressed when she listed off the bands she listened to. "Nice. I actually played with a Metallica tribute act for a charity event once. I got out of having to be in character or anything though- I was just playing back-up guitar," he said, laughing. He could tell some stories about the various gigs he'd played and the various bands he'd played with. He had horror stories about bands who had been nightmares to work with and producers who were clearly scamming the bands.

"You get to see a lot of crazy shit when you're a touring guitarist," he remarked, as Ellie went to order food. "I could tell you some stories- both hilarious and some horrific ones. And that's not even talking about when I've been in studio," he said, shaking his head. As Ellie told them all to sit down, he sat down beside her, but left his legs stretched out in front of him.

He nodded as she mentioned the band. "Yeah, they weren't really my thing. Not heavy enough," he said, grinning at her. He laughed as she talked about the catastrophic dip-dye. "Yeah, it was the same week. It seemed like a good idea at the time, I'm sure," he remarked. He knew that weed itself was far from the worst thing out there, so he didn't have much of a problem with Bella smoking it. He did, however, know that it was a gateway drug, which was why he made a point of staying away. It was still hilarious when she did something stupid while stoned, though.

He just shook his head at Ellie's comment, sitting down beside Bella on the newly spread blanket. Even if there hadn't been anything other than friendship between them, it would have been the same. Bella still would have been up the front, screaming her lungs out for him. That much he knew. He just watched her starting the fire, glad that they'd started talking again. Despite all the shit that had happened as a result, despite all of the shit they'd been through, they'd come out better on the other side. And now they were here, and they were doing okay. Well, they were surviving. Jamie felt like okay was stretching it- but he had done some writing while he'd been feeling so low, so there was that.

He went to take a mouthful out of his beer, only to discover that it was empty. Alex laughed at him, before throwing another at him from beside Ellie. He caught it easily and grinned in response. "Thanks."

Ellie grinned at the memory of Nate at that particular concert- he'd been completely off his head. Had it been a smaller gig, Ellie probably would have gone after him to make sure he wasn't alone, but the gig was too good to leave. So she'd just stayed in the crowd, yelling her heart out. Jamie had actually been full on screaming, and he'd still been able to yell and laugh just like anything as they were leaving. That kid had some pair of lungs on him.

She resisted the temptation to raise an eyebrow as Nate started smoking. Alcohol and weed? He'd be fucked by the end of the night, then. Sky also took the joint, but she was clearly much more inexperienced. She just rolled her eyes and turned to helping Bella with the fire. "For fuck's sake, Bella, you're going to burn yourself," she remarked. "Put the paper in first, then light it," she advised.

"Hey, Ellie, catch!" Alex called. She caught the can easily. "Cheers, mate," she said. "Oh, come here," she said, pulling out her camera. She leaned in closer to Alex as she snapped a selfie, showing it to him on the display afterwards. "Come on, huddle up everyone, let's try and get a group selfie!" She said.

Alex nodded as Sky explained why her English was so good. "Ah, I see. Well, that makes sense," he remarked. He laughed at Ellie chastising Bella for her fire-making skills, before starting to throw out beers to everyone. His own was running low, so he was guessing that everyone else's was. As Ellie leaned in for the selfie, he smiled, despite the fact that he was tempted to pull a face. But as Ellie proposed a group selfie, he decided that the nice, pleasant smile was out the window.

Jamie was the first over to join the group, his newly opened beer in hand. Alex beckoned the others over, grinning. He loved them already, and he knew that they were going to be insane to hang around with.

---

"Oh fuck off Jamie you enjoyed that gig almost as much as I did. Don't try and pretend now," She laughed at him rolling her eyes. "Were they not metal enough for you?" She chimed mockingly with a small smile of civil mockery. "The itself Jamie deary, was by far not a bad one- in fact the idea was genius it was merely the...execution that brought disappointment I'm afraid," She corrected. Though Bella wasn't a massive smoker- she wasn't Nate was probably the way to do it before college she'd been a lot worse for it so there were countless stories of Bella being dragged off of her high horse through stupid acts of her being stoned and disorderly.

Whilst she was setting the fire, she turned her head and noticed Jamie looking over at her and she offered him a small grin which for once in her life, met her eyes with a slight glimmer of light. It was hardly a secret this evening was a break for Bella, a sense of freedom before she went home and got a serious reality check but out here in the woods with the few people she'd even dare to think about calling her friends, she was happy. As happy as she ever really allowed herself to be.

When she caught his gaze it reminded her for a long moment how much she'd actually missed him in that single week she'd been away from school. She found it too easy to forget that it was his company that got her through things most of the time and then when he was about it all felt a lot harder and people made assumptions about this but it'd been the same before her feelings for Jamie got tangled and complicated. Since they'd started college he'd been the only person known to be capable of calming her down, it was practically countless how many fights she would have gotten herself into without him around to keep her in line when things got a little bit too intense for comfort. She shrugged off the thought and looked at Ellie flashing a devilish smirk.

"Fuck off, I'm lighting the fire. I'm doing it my way," She told her simply. "What could go wrong?" She joked and in fairness, she continued lighting the fire in this same reckless way and no problem arose because of it, after a few moments the fire started crackling properly like it was really going and she smiled contented with her victory.

When the group gathered for a selfie, Bella didn't bother she wasn't into the whole thing- she was usually the girl taking the picture than the girl posing for it, so she stayed where she was sprawled out on the blanket slowly drinking her beer and consciously frowning a little into the trees when she noticed how quickly Jamie had got through his considering he wasn't much of a drinker but she told herself he was probably just making up for the fact he was never the drinker and always the designated 'Mother' of the group so she didn't comment.

Nate was still avoiding the sight of Ellie and he sighed heavily more loudly than he had intended so he tried to cover it up by coughing shortly after and then taking a swig from his drink as if to wash away the faked dryness on his throat. However he didn't miss Ellie's dramatic eye roll and he figured it was either because he'd smoked or that he'd shared it with Sky but either way he decided to ignore it and turned his head instead to listen to Skylar whilst she was quite happily chattering away about the languages she spoke and things she'd done before.

He wouldn't lie, he genuinely thought she was lovely and interesting but he wasn't into her- not at all really but he kept convincing himself that was okay because Skylar herself had used the term; 'No strings' but it still all felt kind of wrong and awkward to him especially when she was sat him making subtle messages with passing touches and her choice of words but he ignored it for the best part and played dumb and all things considered, it was a believable show . The thought almost growled at him as it passed through his head but he swallowed his tongue and looked at the group posing for a selfie and before he could protest, Skylar had grabbed his arm and dragged him into the background of the picture and laughing he was made to crouch behind Ellie and Alex in order to get into the frame.

Noticing how Bella hadn't even contemplated moving an inch he shouted over at her; "Hey Swift, get your arse over here- group photo, you are not getting out this," She replied to him with a middle finger and small dismissive laugh.

Sky just smiled passingly as the conversation about language diminished and she accepted a second drink when she was offered one and though she didn't totally feel like she belonged yet, she had the same feeling as Alex in that this all seemed like it could be a very solid group of people to be around with and fun- they were already a thousand times more fun than any friends she'd had in France from her boarding school and upper class education, moving over to the UK Sky had made it her only condition that if she moved to the United Kingdom and lived with them in Liverpool she'd have to go to a state school and get to experience a more normal life style of course she was still drowned in luxury and comfort but she'd get to be around people who were so much more real than the people she'd known back home and even herself.

She didn't smoke much of the joint, she didn't really enjoy it- she offered it back to Nate but he shook his head and when offered, Bella did the same so she stumped it up instead and grabbed Nathaniel's forearm to drag him over into the picture and she giggled gently as she leaned over Nate's shoulder to get into the background of the picture.

"Awh come on Arabella,"

"Calling me Arabella is going to get you no where soon honey, well it will but it won't be anywhere you want to be. It's Bella, Arab, Bell, Swift, Swiftie or Bells- any of that shit I can handle but not Arabella, I'm not a bloody princess," She scowled gently but Sky laughed off her entire comment and nodded with a small shrug.

"Okay, get over here then Bells," She chimed but Bella just casually shook her head and didn't move.

Jamie joined in with the others, trying to persuade Bella to get into the photo- but when it failed, he turned his attention back to the camera as Ellie fiddled with the settings. Even when it was just a dorky selfie, she had to have it perfect. "Pull a stupid face," Alex whispered to him while she was distracted, passing the same message along to Nate and Sky. Once she seemed happy, she readjusted her positioning. As soon as she put her finger on the shutter button, Jamie pulled his face.

Once the photo was taken, they disbanded, Jamie going back over to Bella. "Is everything okay?" He asked quietly. Ellie suddenly yelled something and slapped Alex on the arm- but then laughed, giving herself away. "Sky's perfume isn't that sickly sweet, if that's what you were worried about," he said, laughing a little and taking a mouthful out of his beer.

"You're going to be in school next week, right?" He asked. "Because if I have to spend any more time around Ellie, Nate and Sky, I think I might either hurl or punch somebody," he remarked. He was concerned about her, but didn't want her to know exactly how much.

After the picture had been taken and the group had disbanded, Ellie checked the photo- and was shocked. The lighting was perfect, but somebody had clearly schemed to ruin the photo. And that somebody laughed from just beside her. She slapped Alex on the arm, making him laugh. "You dickhead!" She yelled, but even as she spoke, her laugh was giving her away. "Honest to god, Alex, I don't know why I bother," she said, laughing. She glanced over at Jamie and Bella and lifted her camera, fiddling with the settings to compensate for the change in lighting, before snapping the shot.

She looked up at the sound of a newcomer arriving and beamed. "Guys, pizza's here! Pay up, bitches!" She yelled, shoving the camera back into its case and retrieving her purse from her pocket as she headed over to the delivery guy.

"You guys look like you're having a good time already," he remarked, and she nodded. "Yeah, the party starts early with us," she responded, handing over the money. Alex took the boxes and bags from him, digging for his wallet with his free hand. "Here's your copy of the receipt," the pizza guy said, handing it over, before wishing them a good evening and leaving.

Having retrieved the pizzas, he carried them back over to the fire and lay them down on the ground. "Right, so is there any special arrangement here or...?" He asked, looking around. Ellie nodded in response as she sat down, setting her camera case between her legs. "Jamie is vegan, so he won't have the pepperoni, but it's free game for the rest of us," she explained, ripping open one of the bags of garlic bread and setting it out.

"Alright, so Jamie, here," he said, passing one of the vegan pizzas to him, and passing the others out around the circle and starting to dish out the rest of the food. Once that was done, he gave Ellie his share of the payment. She tucked it into her back pocket and started into a slice of pepperoni, washing it down with a mouthful of her beer.

"So, do you guys do this often?" He asked. He could tell that there was a little tension in the group- but overall, everyone seemed to get on well, and the jokes came naturally to them. They had so many stories to tell about each other, both good and bad- but they told them without making newcomers feel uncomfortable.

---

At Jamie's comment about Sky's perfume Bella couldn't help but scoff slightly as she tried to sniffle a laugh as she looked over at him shaking her head. "Well, even if it's remotely sweet- I've always preferred spice, so I'm good without getting in on any of that," She replied gently leaning back and sipping from her can calmly, kicking her legs out in front of her like a child, she turned her gaze up to his for a moment when he questioned her and a moment of sincerity crossed her eyes like a thin cloud passes the sun in a strong breeze. "No but I'll hold up," She replied to him quietly, leaning towards him slightly so she could whisper her response because she really wouldn't get through a single day if anybody else ever knew. "And I don't know. I'm gonna try but I think my new nickname is gonna be Cinders as this rate," She said it like it was a joke but she didn't laugh, she wanted to but she couldn't. The whole thing with her Mother was beyond funny, she knew she was probably sensitive about it because it was directly her own problem but then again, if it was anybody else she wouldn't think it was something to joke about either. She looked at him and smiled a white but weak smile; "It'll be fine," She told him nudging his shoulder gently when everybody started swarming over the sudden arrival of pizza.

"But don't punch anybody, I'm the one that kicks ass at school," She reminded jokingly. "Has Jace's face gone back to white after I painted it purple yet?" She asked curiously because she hadn't actually seen him since the unravelling of those bitter but in hindsight slightly amusing events.

She let go of the serious conversation as the food arrived and she chucked her input of the money to Ellie before flopping back down into her previous position lazily. The smell of all the food kind of made her stomach churn a little, her Mother's new trick the previous month was to refuse to feed her or even let Bella feed herself and consequently Bella's appetite had been slaughtered because of it and it terrified her that it'd reached the point where even the smell was almost too much. She chewed her lip momentarily and sighed before throwing back another mouthful of beer and taking a deep breath. It'll be fine. She repeated the words she'd said to Jamie only moments ago to herself multiple times in her mind, no one could know anything was wrong so she had to eat and plus she didn't know if she'd be able to when she got home but that didn't make it easier to stomach the thought.

She looked at Alex as he addressed the group and she shrugged gently. "Jamie and I used to do it a lot as kids but this is the first time we've done it as group actually," She thought out loud trailing off and hugging her knees to her chest and resting her chin on them as everyone talked and relaxed.

"The only arrangement is that I'm getting some of that god damn pepperoni," Nate joked loudly in response to Alex's query about arrangements and he moved over and looked at Ellie, holding out the money. Sky tapped his arm quickly and he took her money as well when she put it in his hand and then he passed it over to Ellie with a small but hurt smile. "Cheers," He uttered tonelessly before falling back into his place opposite Ellie and Alex but next to Sky and Bella. He wasn't quite sure why it felt so hard, just sitting there- it was the guilt. He knew it had to come back to the guilt but why did he feel so bad? He knew his intentions had never been wrong. He pinched the bridge of his nose for a moment before he chugged back some beer as if that would wash the negativity away before helping himself to a piece of garlic bread and offering some over to Sky also who politely declined garlic bread and went for pizza instead.

He listened to Bella and Alex's conversation and nodded thoughtfully. "Yeah, we usually just go to gigs or parties around the town but this makes a nice change- so much more chill," He commented in a genuine manner.

"Bella if I give you the Bluetooth speaker can I trust you not to kill anyone with heavy metal?" He asked and Bella just smirked at him from behind the hair that had fallen in her face and she shrugged softly.

"No promises deary," She chirped before catching the small but powerful speaker he chucked her way and then she turned it over, found the 'on' button and set about connecting it to her phone and it took her a matter of minutes to begin playing 'Bukowski' by a band called Moose Blood and it was a song she really loved and plus it wasn't anything like heavy metal so no one could get pissy about it. Nate nodded in approval to the song she put on and grinned offering a thumbs up across the camp.

"Good choice child," He commented humorously.

Skylar laughed at them all joking around but her smile faded, the pastel pink became shadowed until it completely went away when she glanced over at just the wrong moment at Jamie and Bella in time to notice how a slight sorrow and darkness crawled into the brunette's eyes. People made a lot off assumptions about Skylar being unintelligent simply because of her choice to be quiet and apply herself to make-up, credibility, social climbing and fashion more than her studies but she was incredibly sharp and knowledgeable on psychology and sociology so she could very clearly see through what Bella was trying to put up and Jamie, she could see through them like a crystal clear pane of fresh glass- he cared about her, she cared about him, they both appeared scared and she was nervous. She could read that like a book but she didn't comment on it to either of them or involve herself, it was none of her business so all she could do was gloss over it all with a sparkling peony smile.

She laughed and passed her money to Nate to exchange to Ellie before she relaxed and accepted a piece of pizza, sitting back whilst she ate, some how managing to even make the consumption of fast food look reasonably elegant and graceful.

"Moose Blood?" She confirmed quietly when the track came on and Bella nodded to her and she grinned.

"Thought so, they're pretty rad if I'm honest," She commented casually and the other girl nodded once in agreement but was seemingly distracted regardless.

He laughed at Bella's comment about her teenage crush, taking a mouthful out of his drink. He could tell that she still wasn't herself, but he knew that pushing the subject would only make things worse. So instead, he just listened to the others talking as he ate and drank his beer.

"I was totally in love with Avril Lavigne for a few years. And then Hayley Williams. And then Lzzy Hale," he remarked, laughing at himself a little. There had been a while where he'd genuinely believed that he was going to marry her, and when his parents had broken it to him that that was probably not going to happen, he'd been heartbroken. He cringed a little at the memory, but mostly just laughed. Now that he had some alcohol in his system, he was relaxing more and more and could feel himself coming out of his shell.

"You've only had pizza two or three times? You poor, deprived child. Pizza is the food of gods," Jamie remarked, taking a bite out of his own slice. "And yes, that includes the vegan stuff," he said, laughing. He resisted the temptation to add something like "and it's even better because no animals get hurt!" Even though that was what he thought, he didn't want to come across as preachy, even if it was only a joke. Didn't want to overwhelm the newbies.

Ellie heard Nate's comment and arched an eyebrow. Through some miracle, though, she bit her tongue and didn't say anything. She drained the rest of the beer and stood up. "You know what? Now that we've got some lining in our stomachs, I think it's time to break out the harder stuff," she said, retrieving her bottle of vodka and the twelve pack of Coke from the car, as well as some cups from her bag.

She poured her own drink when she got back to the group, leaving the various items for everyone else to mix their own. She stayed silent for a bit, just drinking and listening to the others talk. She wanted to make some comment to Nate, something to counter his, but the moment had passed, and now it would just seem petty. So she kept her mouth shut and ate her food, listening to the others chat. She knew that Jamie and Bella were relishing the break, and she didn't really want to ruin their night, but she wanted to tear Nate to shreds.

Alex laughed at Bella's comment, before taking a mouthful out of his beer.

"Ah, nothing really that big. I'm mostly just tracking for and playing with local and smaller bands at the minute. The only time I get to meet anybody famous is if the band I'm touring with is supporting them or if I happen to meet them in the recording studio while at the water cooler," he joked. "But, all joking aside, I met Austin Carlile at a festival I just so happened to be playing at once. He's such a cool dude," he remarked.

As Ellie appeared with the stronger stuff, he leaned in to mix his drink. He didn't feel like getting flat out drunk, so it was mostly Coke. "But yeah, I'm slowly working my way up the ladder. I'm tracking for this up-and-coming indie band next week. I was doing my research on them, and apparently they're going to be the next Arctic Monkeys. So I'm definitely going to do some networking there," he said, laughing a little as he took a mouthful out of his Coke. "What about you? Had any brushes with famous people?" He asked.

"Oh Christ," She laughed when Jamie brought up his Lzzy Hale crush and she smiled at him softly. "You were terrible, I distinctly remember that because you never stopped going on about her but to be fair, I'd go out with any of them I don't care if people would take the piss about it being gay or whatever," She joked casually crossing her legs and sitting up straight and taking a deep breath to try and settle her uneasy feelings and emotion. "But I was probably far worse when I went through my Kellin Quinn, Vic Fuentes and Oliver Sykes phase," She chimed with a small grin of amusement as they discussion unfolded but her jaw physically dropped when Skylar mentioned she'd only eaten pizza a couple of times before.

"What? Are you okay? I know France is slow but I didn't think they were so slow they didn't have pizza," She chimed jokingly offering a small passing smile as she spoke. "To be fair, I actually think the Vegan one is probably nicer, Nate don't kill me," She called back dramatically but when she looked over at him she realised he was far from in a joking mood and so she didn't enforce the humour and instead fell quieter.

She kind of wanted to talk to Nate, she could see how low he was feeling and really wanted to try and cheer him up because he'd been moping around that way all week and although she hadn't seen him because she'd been of school, she'd heard enough about it and everyone had been saying he'd been smoking a thousand times more than usual and skipping his classes which he very rarely ever did anymore since he finished AS. She'd catch him at some point, she told herself and tell him to pull himself together and give him some big motivational speech teaching him how to get on and live with things but for now, she tried to make up for it by passing him a drink when he finished his first knowing he wasn't much of a spirit drinker and offered a reassuring smile.

She had to admit, she'd already taken a shine to both Alex and Sky- they both seemed really relaxed and laid back which was kind of all you needed to be to make it in this kind of friendship circle, they were both really different too and though Skylar stuck out like a black sheep, she was getting on with everyone fine and Bella was always welcomed someone who could have a drink and a laugh, she also privately reckoned Skylar had an eye for trouble and might suffice for a possible partner in crime some day.

"You met Austin Carlile? That's fucking awesome," She laughed nodding in approval. "Yeah that sounds pretty great," She commented, a very notorious drinker of coke and vodka, it would have been expected of Bella to be the first to dive in on mixing herself an almost straight glass of vodka with less than a capful of coke in it but the idea didn't at all appeal to her tonight and so she pretended to turn a blind eye to the alcohol like she hadn't even noticed it was there.

Nate was rather surprised and almost disappointed when Ellie didn't do or say anything, he'd almost wanted her to punch him just so they could get it over and done with so they could move on. It was pathetic- she hated him because he'd acted instinctively to defend her because he cared. She hated him because he cared that's what pissed him off so much. How could she treat him like he was the dirt of the Earth because he cared about her and was trying to protect her? Yes, he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself and maybe he'd been immature but it all came from a good place, everything he ever did was for somebody else and now she was taking it out on him. He was too selfless and now it was killing him because Ellie wouldn't even acknowledge him anymore. Had they been alone, he would have said something by now, questioned her, begged for answers or recognition but he wouldn't start a drama in front of everyone- he respected them all far too much to take this evening away from. Bella and Jamie actually looked half happy for once, he couldn't take that away from them simply because Ellie couldn't pull her shit together and remember Nate wasn't the bad guy she was trying to make him out to be.

Maybe he'd slept with Skylar but he had not done it to annoy Ellie, even if they were still friends he would have done it because why not? Skylar was attractive, she had a nice personality- they'd agreed no attachments and he was single. He would have done it regardless, inviting her to the camp out? He would have done that also because he'd moved around enough to know how hard it is to make friends, especially in the middle of the year. It wasn't all about Ellie and Nate sometimes wandered if she actually realised that but he recognised that thought as being an incredibly harsh one and he winced slightly with the guilt.

"Damn Skylar only twice in 18 years? You're wasting your life. Get some pizza down you for hell's sake- it's basically my own religion," He told her jokingly though strictly speaking he was Christian he wasn't the best one considering he swore, fought people and smoked but he did honour the commandments to the best he could and he went to church on Sunday the majority of the time but he didn't follow the bible literally and he didn't preach either which is why very often he could be light hearted about joking about religion. It wasn't the be all and end all to him but he appreciated having something to have faith in, even if it was occasionally quite hard to keep believing in.

Skylar smiled sheepishly at their reaction to her confession about little experience of pizza. She shrugged her shoulders because she didn't really have any decent argument or explanation for why she hadn't ever eaten it much but the excuse fell on her modelling career- carbohydrates, high fat foods, starch and diary, everything about pizza was a massive no go zone for the diet she had to follow to keep herself in shape for work. Sometimes, she found it really difficult but she never dared complain to her Mother about it or comment because nobody else would really understand- they all just thought she was shallow, unintelligent and vain but Skylar knew she was none of those things which is why she always tried so hard to prove herself and played social situations so tactfully. "I guess I have a lot to make up for them in the pizza department," She shrugged laughing lightly before she took a small proportioned bite of her slice of pizza. Listening to Alex attentively with a kind and welcoming smile.

"Oh really? Yeah, Of Mice & Men singer right? I'm not really that into them but I've read a lot about him, he's pretty down to Earth and admirable to be honest," She commented passingly as they all talked about different things. When questioned on brushings with celebrities, Skylar noticeably paused before answering of course she had close connections and new many people from the French modelling and fashion industry and many of those individuals had arguable celebrity status but she didn't want to give them that stereotypically impression of herself so she tried to think of something else, something less related to the reality of her life.

"I once saw Micky Flanagan- you know, the comedian in a museum," She shrugged with a small smile and she could recall the event well even if she hadn't probably spoken to the man other than a brief 'Good morning' as many would consider polite when passing somebody by. As she began to think about it she'd even be recognised a few times herself growing up, she could remember a French mother approaching her whilst she was eating breakfast in a coffee shop to ask her if she was the girl out of the 'Boden' catalogue and Skylar had felt genuinely ashamed to say 'yes'. She loved modelling but the stereotypes and the demographic people trapped her in because of it always made her feel so small and pathetic which is why she was going to try and keep it from a secret from everyone in Liverpool. She didn't want to carry on that burden here.

Jamie laughed at Bella's comment about preferring vegan pizza and held his hand out for a high five. "I'll convert you guys yet," he remarked, grinning as he leaned in to prepare his own drink. He put in a generous lashing of vodka, knowing that he'd probably need it by the end of the night. He sat back and took a mouthful out of his pizza, listening to the others talk.

"Aw, no way. Did you get a photo or anything?" He asked Sky, before taking a mouthful out of his drink. It was strong- a little stronger than he'd anticipated, but not in a bad way. If Ellie and Nate kept up with this whole 'barely acknowledging each other' thing, he'd need to be drunk to deal with it. Once nobody started a fight that required him to break it up, they'd be fine. His co-ordination went out the window once he was even a little drunk, which was why he so often ended up on the floor. And why he never drank before going on stage. Or, at least, never drank that much.

"Remember that time we met that actor, Bella? When we were down in London? Who was it again?" He asked, glancing over at her.

Ellie just laughed at the other's comments about Sky never having pizza, but chose not to comment, fearing that she would just end up being mean. And it wasn't Sky's fault that Nate was an asshole and was probably just using her to get back at Ellie. Ellie just wanted to take it out on him in any way possible. And perhaps getting drunk wasn't the best idea, then, because alcohol only loosened her tongue and made it sharper. But she sure as hell wasn't going to stay sober while the others got drunk. Even Jamie was drinking, and he wasn't even going slow like he usually did.

She pulled out her camera and started taking pictures again- of the fire, of the figures silhouetted against it, of the treeline, of the bags piled by the tent. Photography was her own little world, where she could relax and forget Nate for even a few minutes. She wanted to go for a walk around and take even more photos. She wished she had a tripod, so she could get even better shots. But she had a pretty good opportunity here at the fire, and she wasn't going to waste it.

Alex listened to their stories, laughing at Jamie's reaction to Bella preferring vegan pizza. He had to admit, it was better than he'd been expecting. He was still a sucker for a meat feast, but he wasn't going to admit that to Jamie. He didn't know how radical of a vegan he was, after all. But judging by how cool and chilled out the rest of his friends were, he was guessing that he wasn't completely radical.

"Festivals are a great way to meet famous people, especially when you have access to the artist's area. The trick is not to act like a total fangirl and act all cool about it. Just a brief tip for you," he said, looking over at Jamie, who laughed and nodded. "So once you don't meet Lzzy Hale, you'll be fine," Alex remarked, grinning at Jamie. "I was seven!" Jamie protested, but his laugh gave him away a little.

As Alex glanced over at Sky, she suddenly looked incredibly familiar. He frowned a little. "Hey, Sky, you didn't do a music video with a band called The Pretender, did you? I was on that shoot, and I have a feeling that there was a girl that looked an awfully lot like you there. The one with the rival band who basically steals The Pretender's lives and girlfriends, and then they pull a Fall Out Boy on it and it turns out all to be a bad dream?"

Bella laughed and weakly high fived him with a small delicate hand and grinned. "Hey, I eat vegan all the time when I'm hanging out with you, I just don't enforce it on myself as a regular life style choice because I'm so fussy," She laughed sheepishly going to bite her thumbnail and then catching herself in the action and stopping because it was a bad habit she'd desperately been trying to get a hold of since she was a child.

"You're joking? He's bloody hysterical. I'm jealous," Bella told Sky grinning softly, Bella had quite a guilty pleasure for stand up comedy, she'd dragged Jamie along to open nights a couple of times in the past but she usually went by herself if there was one going on just because it was so easy to get a bus into the city and be spontaneous about it that way. God, if she'd seen Micky Flanagan in the middle of a museum she wouldn't have stood aside so casually, she'd be diving over to meet him and try and pick a joke out of him on the spot even she understood they spent time and effort writing their sets before the gigs that she so privately adored.

"Ur...it was Hugh Dennis wasn't it? The guy from Outnumbered. I think it was at least or was it the guy who plays the Headmaster in Inbetweeners- I've confused myself now," She sighed in defeat at her own frustration and shrugged her thin shoulder sheepishly about the matter instead of trying to rake her memory for the correct answer.

Nate followed the conversations and made enough passing comments to come across as casual but didn't overly involve himself he just distantly ate his pizza and occasionally chuckled at a joke or when they were teasing each but other than that he didn't really contribute to the topic of conversation or content but he went along the best he could because he didn't want to ruin the evening for the others. He didn't really have any other friends because he weed suppliers certainly didn't count and neither did the Stoners he skipped school with- they were more there simply non-judgemental atmosphere to smoke in. They weren't his friends and so that made the people sat around his camp fire all he had and he wouldn't ruin their night because he couldn't deal with his emotions maturely and Ellie couldn't swallow her pride even for the greater good of the group.

He looked over at Skylar with a raised eyebrow of curiosity at Alex's comment about Sky and his expression filled with wander, had she? She hadn't mentioned to him about doing any modelling, acting or anything musical. She'd purely kept it to the fact she'd dabbled in the fashion world due to a curiosity about textiles but this was the complete other side of things and he did know that the music video Alex was talking about and it kind of rung a bell for him, he couldn't argue either way but it sort of made sense a little when he thought about it enough.

"No but ever since I've always wished I had," She laughed smiling gently at the group but at Alex's question, her face dropped a little. She'd only just been thinking about her desperate she was to keep that side of her life quiet and private from them, she didn't want to keep it secret in a malicious or untrusting way she just didn't want them to assume anything of her. She wanted to have real friends here because she'd never had any in Paris, their entire existence had been about sabotage, jealousy, social order and self-serving exploits of others- in that sense, Sky had always been different to a certain degree though her record wasn't squeaky clean it was polished compared to many of the girls she'd worked with in the past and called her 'friends'.

She couldn't lie because they could easily Google it and find out she had been, so she nodded slightly brushing her long blonde locks behind one ear.

"Yeah...that was me," She replied her tone significantly quieter to how it had been compared to everything she'd said previously and Nate raised his eyebrow slightly nodding.

"Really? Sounds pretty rad," He shrugged casually.