When We Were Younger

Chapter 7

"Let's go upstairs," he whispered in my ear. I could smell the alcohol strongly on his breath.

"I think you should go to bed, Jay," I laughed, taking his arm and supporting him up the stairs.

"Come on, lets have some fun!" he giggled. I shook my head, trying to look serious, but burst out laughing when I saw his pouting face.

"Come on," he said, his tone a little more serious.

"No. I'm too tired and you're too drunk," I said. I walked him into our bedroom when suddenly, I felt his hands pin my fore arms to the wall.

"Jay, what are you-" I was cut off by his mouth pressing against mine. It wasn't one of his normal, gentle kisses, it was like he was trying to force his tongue down my throat. I tried to push him off me, but he was too strong. Then there was a knock at the front door. Although I couldn't hear what she was saying, I reconised the voice as Jay's mother. I looked up at Jay, completley terrified. What the fuck was he doing? The knocks were becoming more frequent, until Jay let out an angry noise.

"When I come back, you better be exactly where I left you," he spat. He swung the bedroom door open angrily and went downstairs. Quickly, I grabbed a chair and hooked it under the door knob. I was scared. I was scared of my own boyfriend. I glanced out the window and saw Jay's Mum driving away. Footsteps bounded up the stairs, and I scrambled away from the door. Jay tried to open it, but failed because of the chair. Why was he doing this? The door knob was turning furiously as he tried to get to me.

"I am going to fucking kill you!" he shouted as he slammed his hand against the door. I sat on the floor, leaning against the wall in the corner of the room. I hugged my knees as tears fell down my face and started to whimper as I wondered what he would do to me.

"Help," I tried to shout, but it came out as barely a whisper.

"Someone please help me..." I whispered. More tears fell as Jay tried harder to get in.

"Max..." I sobbed.

"Max please help me..." I cried as Jay almost broke through the barrier. Somehow, I thought that if I wished hard enough, Max would come and rescue me. I knew that he wouldn't, he had probably forgotten me. I hadn't seen him in six years.

"Max..." I trembled as Jay burst through the door...

"Shh, it's okay, it's okay," Rosie's soothing voice woke me. A thin layer of sweat covered my forehead, and my whole body was shaking.

"You were saying his name again," she frowned, stroking my hair softly.

"Do you want a hot chocolate?" she asked. I nodded. Rosie was my flat mate, but she was more like a sister to me. She walked out into the kitchen. Most poeple's nightmares are about things that aren't real like ghosts, monsters, things like that. My nightmares were my past haunting me. I shivered at the thought. 

"Here you go," Rosie said, handing me the warm mug.

"I'm sorry," I said, staring into the milky brown liquid.

"There's no need to apologize," she said, rubbing my back.

"Yes there is. Nearly every night I wake you up," I said.

"Amber, it's not your fault. And I really don't mind anyway," she assured me. I smiled up at her. She went to the TV and switched it on, then inserted a disc. I soon heard the A Game Of Thrones theme tune and my face lit up. Nothing like a bit of Jon Snow to help me forget my worries.

***

I sat at work, sipping my coffee and doodling on a scrap piece of paper. I wasn't really paying attention, I was just thinking about what to get for lunch. There was a loud chime of a bell which meant someone had walked in. I looked up to see a man who looked around my age, with brown hair and blue eyes. Somewhere in my mind I recognised him, but I couldn't think why.

"Hey," he greeted me.

"Hello, I'm Amber, how can I help you?" I asked him with a tattoo.

"Do you have any apointments free for today?" he asked.

"Yeah. I don't actually have any today, so I could do you now. Or later if you'd prefer?" I asked him.

"I think I'd prefer it now. If I had it later, my idiotic friends would come and annoy me," he laughed, scratching the back of his neck.

"I'm Josh, by the way," he said. That's when it clicked. That was Josh. Josh Franceschi. I hadn't seen him in eight years! He looked almost the same, apart from the change of haircut. I couldn't believe he was here! Oh my God! 

"Hello?" Josh said, waving his hand in front of my eyes.

"Oh, sorry, I zoned out," I laughed, pulling out some paperwork for him to sign. I didn't know whether I should tell him that I recognised him. Would he even remember me? It had been a while... If he did know who I was, he might tell Max, and I didn't want that to happen.

"Wait a minute...do I know you?" he said, scratching his chin, "Your name rings a bell..."

I froze. I didn't want him to recognise me. 

"Wait a second...Are you Amber? Like, from Surrey? Like, Max's Amber?" I cringed at the term 'Max's Amber'. I didn't belong to him. I couldn't lie to Josh now.

"Yeah,"  I tried to put on a convincing smile.

"Oh my God!" He shrieked. He vaulted over the counter and squished me in a bone crushing hug.

"I never thought I would see you again!" he said, letting me go, "Just wait until Max finds out you're here!" 

"No!" I shouted, maybe a bit too loud. He looked at me, confused. "Please don't tell Max!"

"Why not? He was your best friend! He was your boyfriend..." he raised his eyebrows.

"I don't want to see him." I said, looking at the ground.

"Come on...Don't you want to catch up? Don't you want to see the guys as well?" he asked. It saddened me even more when I thought of Matt.

"Look, I can tell by your face that you want to!" he exclaimed. I shook my head.

"Well, you're still as stubborn as you used to be," he laughed. I giggled and continued to let him sign all the papers. He had already decided that he wanted VI on his finger.

"Are you ready?" I asked, preparing the tattoo pen. He nodded. He looked a little sheepish, but that was normal if you were about to have a tattoo done.

"You look different, you know," he said. "I imagined you would have tattoos, but not that many."

I laughed. He was right, I had a lot of tattoos. I had them covering my arms and the backs of my hands, my collar bones, my back and a had one on each thigh. (A/N just imagine Amber to be like a female version of oli sykes, with long brown hair)Yep, I was pretty covered.

"Okay, I'm ready," Josh said sheepishly. I slowly and steadily started to ink the pattern onto his skin.

***

"Thank you, it looks really great," Josh said, admiring his freshly inked finger.

"It's fine," I smiled. It's nice to do something I loved for a living. He paid me and was ready to leave.

"I better go, they will be wondering where I am," he said.

"They?" I asked

"Oh, the guys," he said. It's hard to believe that eight years ago, You Me At Six were a bunch of school kids practising in Josh's garage and now I heard they have sold out Wembley Arena. 

"Well, I'll see you around," he said.

"I hope you change your mind about Max. He really misses you," he said, before handing me a folded up piece of paper.

"Remember to call me, Am." he said, as he exited the shop. I unfolded the piece of paper and read it. It was a ticket of some kind, and it had printed on it,

You Me At Six backstage pass

01/08/2013

That was tomorrow! Now I had to decide whether to go or not...

Hey guys, hope you're enjoying ;) comment/vote would make my day xx <3