I couldn’t speak. I was frozen.
Rooney dropped to her knees. ‘Georgia, I am never going to stop being your friend. And I don’t mean that in the boring average meaning of ‘friend’ where we stop talking regularly when we’re twenty-five because we’ve both met nice young men and gone off to have babies, and only get to meet up twice a year. I mean I’m going to pester you to buy a house next door to me when we’re forty-five and have finally saved up enough for our deposits. I mean I’m going to be crashing round yours every night for dinner because you know I can’t fucking cook to save my life, and if I’ve got kids and a spouse, they’ll probably come round with me, because otherwise they’ll be living on chicken nuggets and chips. I mean I’m going to be the one bringing you soup when you text me that you’re sick and can’t get out of bed and ferrying you to the doctor’s even when you don’t want to go because you feel guilty about using the NHS when you just have a stomach bug. I mean we’re gonna knock down the fence between our gardens so we have one big garden, and we can both get a dog and take turns looking after it. I mean I’m going to be here, annoying you, until we’re old ladies, sitting in the same care home, talking about putting on a Shakespeare because we’re all old and bored as shit.’
She grabbed the bunch of flowers and practically threw them at me.
‘And I bought these for you because I honestly didn’t know how else to express any of that to you.’
I was crying. I just started crying again.
Rooney wiped the tears off my cheeks. ‘What? Don’t you believe me? Because I’m not fucking joking. Don’t sit there and tell me I’m lying because I’m not lying. Did any of that make sense?’ She grinned. ‘I am extremely sleep-deprived right now.’
I couldn’t speak. I was a mess.
She gestured at the bunch of flowers, which had pretty much exploded in my lap. ‘I really wanted to do some grand gesture like you did for Pip and Jason but I couldn’t think of anything because you’re the brains in this friendship.’
That made me laugh. She wrapped her arms round me, and then I was just half laughing, half crying, happy and sad at the same time.
‘Don’t you believe me?’ she asked again, holding me tight.
‘I believe you,’ I said, my nose all bunged up and my voice croaky. ‘I promise.’
Neither of us were at the level of fitness where running all the way back to the city centre was a good idea, but that’s what we did anyway. Our play was due to start in under two hours. We didn’t have a choice.
We ran all the way along the river, me with the flowers in my hands and stopping to pick them up every time I dropped one, and her with nothing but a phone, a Starbucks cup, and a grin on her face. We had to stop and sit down several times to catch our breath, and by the time we got to the town square, I truly thought my chest was going to implode. But we had to run. For the play.
For our friends.
When we got to the theatre, we were both soaked in sweat, and we burst in through the doors to find Pip sitting at a table in the foyer, her head in her hands.
She looked up at us as I literally fell on to the ground, sounding like an astronaut running out of air, while Rooney did her best to adjust the mess that was her ponytail.
‘Where,’ said Pip, very calmly. ‘The fuck. Have you been?’
‘We …’ I started to say, but then I just let out a wheeze.
So Rooney spoke for us.
‘I panicked after last night and Georgia tracked my phone but I’d lost my phone in a field and she ran all the way there and then I went back there because I knew I’d dropped it somewhere near the field and then I ran into her and I had these flowers because I wanted to tell her how much I appreciated her and everything she’s done for me this year and then we talked about everything and I told her how important she is to me and also –’ Rooney stepped forward towards Pip, who was staring, wide-eyed – ‘I also realised that I really, truly like you and I haven’t felt like that for anyone in a long time and it really scared me and that’s why I ran away.’
‘Um … O-OK,’ Pip stammered.
Rooney took another step forward and put one hand on the table in front of Pip.
‘How do you feel about me?’ she asked, completely straight-faced.
‘Um … I …’ Pip’s cheeks went red. ‘I … I also … really like you …’
Rooney nodded vigorously, but I could tell she was getting a bit flustered. ‘Good. Just thought we should be clear about it.’