Page 67 of Happiness Under a Summer Skye

He rolled his head back and growled at the ceiling. ‘For pity’s sake. I fell in love with you the first day I laid eyes on you at university. I engineered the whole being drunk thing just to get close to you. You know all this, though.’ He lifted his arms and when she didn’t comment he let them flop back down to his side again. ‘But then the three of us seemed to become this trio. We even had nicknames for ourselves. It was clear we were only ever going to be friends, and to be honest that was fine. It hurt and it wasn’t what I really wanted but it was fine. Because it meant I got to have you in my life. That night we spent at Loch Doon is one of my favourite, and at the same time, my most hated memories. Because when I kissed you…’ He closed his eyes again and his chin trembled. ‘Because when I kissed you, it almost felt like you loved me the same. But then Fee rang and… I suppose I knew things would go back to how they had always been. The Three Amigos…’ He stopped talking but she waited, she knew there was more to come. She had to fight the urge to fling her arms around him, but she wanted to be sure because everything so far had been past tense.

‘Then that night you were about to go away with the band I almost told you how I felt but it didn’t seem fair to put guilt on you when you were going away. You didn’t feel the same, so you didn’t need to know. And I didn’t want it to look like I was saying I was in love with you because you were going to be famous. So, it was better to say nothing than have the slightest chance of you thinking that way. And ever since then I’ve kept my distance in many ways. Self-preservation, I suppose. You fell in love with Josh, or rather deeper in love with him, seeing as you’ve always been crazy about him. I remember the posters on your wall at uni. And I tried to move on. I did move on, for a while. Then I heard about your diagnosis, and it all came flooding back. And I felt shitty for the years I’d hardly called or emailed.’

She narrowed her eyes and her heart sank. ‘So, you felt sorry for me?’

He placed a hand on each of her arms and gazed into her eyes. ‘Not at all. Like I said, you’ve always been strong. I wanted to be in your life again, have you in my life again, that’s all. I suppose I wanted to protect you, which I know you don’t need.’ He laughed. ‘Didn’t stop that instinct kicking in, though. But no, Angelia, it wasn’t pity that brought me here. It was love.’ He released his grip on her arms. ‘But you’ve got Ferris, so I’m surplus to requirements really, if we’re both honest. And he’s a great guy. I actually really like him. He’s given you such confidence. He’s helped you to realise you have so much more to offer the world. I wish I’d been the one to do that but you can’t always get what you want.’ He laughed. ‘And now you’ve got this potentially incredible life ahead of you, and I’m genuinely happy for you. Because I’ve only ever wanted you to be happy.’ He swiped at the tears that had trickled down his face. ‘Look, crying like a baby again.’

‘Can I speak now?’

‘Oh, go on then, I suppose,’ he said with a forced chuckle.

‘I thought the photo in your wallet was of Fiona.’

‘Eh?’

‘I thought it was Fiona you loved. I thought, all these years, that you thought the kiss was a huge mistake and it almost broke my heart.’

He shook his head and his brow furrowed. ‘What? No… but the night we were at Glenbrittle, when I told you about Ava finding the photo of you, you said you understood unrequited love. I took that to mean my love for you was unrequited. Like it was your way of letting me down gently.’

She smiled. ‘I didn’t know the photo was of me then, remember?’

His eyes widened. ‘Wait… what are you saying?’

‘What I’m saying, Ed Halsall, is that I’ve loved you since we met too. Only I thought you didn’t feel the same. I transferred that love onto Josh because clearly, I hate myself.’ She laughed. ‘But having you around these past few weeks has brought everything back. All the feelings I had are still there.’

He smoothed her hair away from her face. ‘Angelia MacAuley, are you telling me you love me?’

Angelia stood on her tiptoes. ‘I’m telling you I’ve always loved you.’

His hands slipped into her hair and as if in slow motion his lips connected with hers in a passionate, heartfelt kiss, only this time she knew for sure it was mutual.

27

The morning of the concert arrived, and Angelia awoke to Ed’s arms wrapped around her. She smiled and snuggled deeper into his embrace. They had missed out on so much time but would spend the rest of their lives making up for that. She had messaged Fiona the night before and sent a photo of her and Ed together. Fiona’s response?

Fiona

So I was right! I bloody knew it! It’s about blooming time! You two have been skirting around each other for years and now I finally get what I’ve wanted for all this time! I’m so bloody happy right now!

They had both laughed and had both been equally as surprised at her response. She’d never said anything to either of them until the night of Angelia’s birthday but then again, she’d been in a tricky situation, they both agreed on that point.

Her phone pinged and she shuffled over to pick it up. There was a message from Josh with a video attachment sent to the group chat. She frowned and pushed herself to a sitting position before hitting play.

On the screen were her, Ed and Ferris playing a song together and singing in the church as the choir looked on. They were running through ‘Friends Will Be Friends’ to show the arrangement they had come up with. It had been filmed from the back of the church near the doors. The message that accompanied it said,

Josh

This is what I woke up to on TikTok. So, you lied. You can clearly still sing. Here you are with your own little fan club audience. You just wanted to quit the band. You should have had the guts to just say that, Angelia. You’re a coward. Thanks for nothing. In fact, no, thanks for something, and that’s you ruining my career because you got tired.

Anger bubbled up from deep within and her eyes stung with angry tears. She forwarded the message to Heath and Den.

Ed sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. ‘What’s wrong? What’s happened?’

She jammed the phone towards him and he took it. His eyes widened. ‘What the hell? Who filmed that?’

‘No idea. But that’s not really the point, Ed. How dare he?’ she hissed. She hit record to make a reply by voice note.

‘Josh, it’s Angelia. How the hell dare you question me and accuse me of lying? You have no bloody clue what I’ve been through. How scared I’ve been. How much courage it’s taken to even attempt to sing since my diagnosis. You haven’t done one single iota of research into my condition like any normal friend would, like all my other friends have, even ones I’ve only just met. You’re presuming so much and not even asking me for my side. Well, that’s it. I’ve had it with you. You can sod right off.’ As if a fire had been extinguished, the love she thought she’d once had for Josh Baron was doused in one fell swoop. He was a selfish, self-centred arse, only bothered about himself. Thank goodness she hadn’t wasted any more time pining over him.