It only takes a minute
Chapter Three

She woke up the next morning, her head pounding and her surroundings fuzzy. Where the fuck am I? She looked around the room, not reconising anything; she had certainly not been here before. A chill went through her body and she lifted her head off the cream pillow, taking a look at her body. What the fuck?... She was naked in a strange bed, and she immediately regretted drinking so much. Sighing, she plopped her head back down on the pillow and tried to move her legs, only to find herself entwined with someone else...

"What the hell?" She whispered, looking down and seeing her legs entwined and a arm firmly around her. "Oh god..."She slowly turned around, careful not to wake the sleeping body next to her. Alex lay there, his arm around her and his legs now free. He seemed to still be asleep, and the sun now shone inside the room, showing off his tanned body. "Fuck. FuckFuckFuck." Memories from the previous night flooded her mind:

Alex on top of her, thier bodies moving in sync as her legs wrapped around his, moaning his name.
Alex kissing her passionately, telling her she was beautiful and he never wanted to let het go.
Finally laying in his arms, both of them breathing heavily as thier bodies ached.
Then, making love again and sucking on Alexs neck until it went red.

"Oh god..."She muttered, sitting up. So they had actually had sex more than once; but how many times? And without protection! Charlie cursed to herself as she pulled her clothes on, spending way too long searching for her underwear. Finally, she found the key and unlocked the door, pausing to take a quick look back at the sleeping Alex. Her head pounded and she needed paracetomol desperately. She headed down the stairs carefully; it seemed that she was the only one up at the moment. Half-naked couples lay in the halls, on the sofa, on the floors.

"Well, at least I had the decency to do it in a bed." She searched the kitchen cupboards for paracetomol, hoping to find it and get out the house before Alex woke up. Movement behind her made her gasp, and she immediately thought it was Alex. "Listen, Alex..." She said, turning around, only to see Eve stood in the doorway, hungover and confused.

"You thought that I was Alex? Is he still here?" She said, her voice groggy. "God, give me some of that." She said nodding towards the paracetomol in Charlies hand.

"Where did you stay?" Charlie asked, handing the box to Eve after taking two for herself.

"Oh fuck, long story." Eve swallowed them dry and pushed her hair away from her face. "Fuck. I slept with Bradley." She closed her eyes, looking utterly shocked with herself.

"Holy shit Eve. Talk about opening a can of worms."

"Shut it Charlie. Actaully, where did you sleep last night?" Eves frown turned into a half smirk, and Charlie resisted the urge to smack the grin right off her face.

"Wh-What?" Her voice was wavering, did people know she'd slept with Alex?

"Where did you sleep last night?"

"Oh, some jerk hit on me. I was pretty upset, so Alex found me a place to sleep." Well, it was at least halfway towards the truth. "Feel like shit." She said quietly, embarassment creeping across her face as she hoped Eve wouldn't notice.

"God, my head is pounding." Eve said, covering her face with her hands. Charlie hopped onto the kitchen surface and hugged Eve tightly, her hair now flicking out at the ends and tickling Charlies bare skin.

"How are we getting home?" Voices now came from outside the kitchen, and Charlie sucked in her breath as Bradley and Alex walked in the room. The room suddenly fell silent with tension, and each of them were blushing. "H-Hi." Charlie managed to force out, yet she didn't know who she was directing it at. Forcing herself to stand up, she willed herself not to shake. "I..I should get going..." She said, trying to push her way out of the kitchen. Needless to say, it didn't go as she planned.

"Charlie...We need to talk..." Alex said, grabbing hold of her wrist as she forced past him. She refused to look back, to look into those gorgeous green eyes. If she did, she might have been lost completely. His hand connecting with her skin sent warmth through her body, yet she tried to shrug his hand away, tried to push him away.

"Alex could give us a lift." Eve chimed in, not sensing the arkwardness between them. Oh, thanks alot Eve. Charlie thought.

"No, Alex. We don't. I'm going to walk home, need the fresh air." Wrenching her arm free, she ran out of the room, trying to get out of the house as quick as possible. She hopped over the people that littered the halls, and forced the front door open, light flooding into the unlit hallway and burning her eyes.

"At least let me give you a lift home." Alexs voice came from behind her, too close behind her. Her body stiffened as he stood behind her, his warm breath making her neck shudder.

"Alex, no. What happened last night..."

"It was a-"

"A mistake Alex. That's all it was. A mistake." She had finally turned around to face him, and noticed his green eyes flashing with hurt, but soon went back to thier normal happy shade. "Can we please not let this come between us? Between our friendship?" Now was his chance, to tell her that las night seemed to be the best night of his life. His mouth formed the words, but nothing came out, his voice swallowed in the back of his throat.

"'Course not." The words had finally come out, but not the words that he had wanted. "Shall I give you a lift then?" He placed a hand on her shoulder gently, meaning it to be a friendly gesture. A blush crept across her cheeks as his hand made contact; a series of images going through her mind. She pushed them away and smiled up at him, signalling yes. "Does Eve need a lift too?" She meerly nodded, and a moment later Eve trudged round the corner, trying to squeeze her boots on as she clambered over the unconsious people.

"Lets get out of here already..." Eve hissed in Charlies ear as she passed, pushing her way out of the door and leaving her cinnamon scent behind.

"I guess we should go..." Charlie whispered, her voice escaping her. She didn't want to leave the moment, she had never felt so happy around anyone before. He smiled down at her and moved his hand away, signalling for them to head out to the car. Reluctantly stepping away from him, she headed down the stairs, yelling goodbye to Bradley and whoever happened to be listening.

She didn't sit in the front with Alex, deciding to sit with Eve so they could talk about her and Bradley; Were they getting back together? Was it just a one nighter? Did they use protection?

"I don't know. I mean, do I want to get back with him? And no, we didn't." She paused, expecting to get a lecture from Charlie about the importance of contraception. But Charlie couldn't exactly lecture her, could she? "I'm going to get the morning after anyway, so I should be okay." The morning after! I can't take that...Last time, I suffered serious side effects. What was Charlie to do? She could go with Eve to get the morning after, but she didn't want to risk vomiting again.

"I'll come with you, if you like." Charlie whispered; they were both whispering, hoping Alex wouldn't be able to hear them over the buzzing of the radio.

"Okay, thanks. You're a great friend Charlie." Eve replied, taking hold of Charlies hand and squeezing it. The gesture made her feel physically sick; afterall, just under a year ago she had slept with Eves brother. No! Don't go down that road again! Forcing a smile on her face, she turned to Eve and hugged her, ignoring the sickening feeling in her stomach.

"Hey guys, we're at Eves house." Alex announced, making them pull from the embrace as Eve got out the car.

"I'll see you at yours in a bit Charlie." And with that, Eve disappeared inside her house, expecting her mother to yell as soon as she got in the doorway.

"God, do you guys ever separate?" Alex asked, looking at her in the rearview mirror and smiling arkwardly. She smiled back, happy that the tension between them seemed to be melting.

"She's my best friend, I-"

"Wait, you mean I'm not your best friend?" Alex mocked, pouting in the mirror as he turned the corner. Charlie stifled a laugh; now this was the Alex she knew! Her brown hair waved across her face as he opened a window, letting the cool summer air wave through the care and take some of the heat away. "What are you doing Tuesday?" He asked, his voice becoming serious. Her smile dissolved into a small frown, and the temperature in the car suddenly rose about 10 degrees.

"Uhh...Why?" She shifted arkwardly in the leather seat, her arms sticking because of the heat.

"Just wondering. Bradleys on about the gang going out to a movie or something."

"Well, I have my match in the morning - if we win, we'd be a favourite to go into the quater-finals." Just thinking about football made her breathing steadier; there was nothing she loved more than playing football. Her troubles seemed to fade away whenever she was on the field, and it seemed like just her and the football were the only things in existance.

"Cool. Well, this is in the evening, so do you think you could make it?" He asked, pulling up outside her house.

"Probably. See you Tuesday then."

"See you." There was no denying there was tension between them; anybody could notice that. But they both prayed that it would just die down over time.

X X X

They had gradually built thier friendship back up; sure it was still fragile, but they had become close again. She had won her football match, and Charlie had finally given in to going to the movies with the group, and sitting next to Alex she began to relax, slowly enjoying the movie. Angelina Jolie appeared on screen, her body animated; Bradley had forced them to go and see Beowulf, and Charlie had to admit that it was good. She enjoyed the movie, and the meal afterwards, which Ryan insisted on because of her winning match. He had sloped behind with Charlie, making casual talk as they headed down the street for a takeaway. The funniest feeling went through her as they spoke; was it possible Ryan had feelings for her?

The past few weeks had been a blur to her; she had taken the morning after pill and had been vomiting ever since; but surely she should have stopped after a few weeks? Bradley and Eve were still arkward around each other, and Lucy had no idea what had happened at the party between them. She gradually came out of her shell, flirting with Bradley more and wearing more revealing clothes. Eve didn't like the fact that Bradley was spending more time with Lucy, afterall, she had slept with him and he was now growing closer to Lucy, perhaps gaining more feelings towards her.

She was snapped out of her thoughts as she sat up quickly; throwing her head over the toilet as vomit rose in her throat. A soft knock on the door was blocked out by the deafening sound of throwing up in her ears.

"Charlie, sweetie? Are you okay?" Her mothers voice was soft as she opened the door, and she stopped abruptly as she saw her daughter throwing up in the toilet. "Charlie, sweetie? Whats wrong?" She slowly knelt next to her daughter, her short black hair swaying in front of her face as she looked down at Charlie.

"No...Nothing. I think i just caught a bug off Eve last week." At least, that was what she had hoped. She had been vomiting almost every morning, and her first thought kept becoming bolder and bolder in her mind; she was pregnant. No. No, I took the morning after. I can't be... Yet the morning after didn't always work, and she hoped with all her heart that it had. She couldn't deal with a child! Her football was taking off at the moment, and she was hoping to get noticed by a college scout at her final match; if the team ever made it that far.

Even if she was pregnant, there were a million options to take; adoption, keeping the child, abortion... No, she couldn't abort her own child; her own flesh and blood. At least, not a second time she couldn't...

Authors Note: Well, thought I'd leave it on a cliffhanger there (: I only started this story yesterday, and by the amount of hits it's had already, it seems quite popular - so please do me a favour and review (: That way, it'll keep me writing and I shall hopefully finish this story! Thanks (: x