All Night

Chapter Twenty-Eight

The best of my heart increases, my eyes stuck on Shaun's lingering eyes. He looks at the girl in front of him and then back at me and his eyes don't move. I look away and over at Nate who is concentrating on something my mum is saying. I stare at him, hoping to attract his attention. He feels my stare on him and turns his head towards me, his hand still resting on my leg. I gesture gently in the direction of Shaun but Nate doesn't understand as his brows furrow in confusion. His eyes scan the room and suddenly his grip on my leg tightens. He looks back at me with a sorrowful look but I put my hand on his to reassure him that it's okay. He pulls my chair closer to his and wraps an arm around my shoulders, making me feel safe again. I try to ignore the stares coming from Shaun but it feels like my skin is burning wherever he looks.

Mum is still talking and ranting about one of her clients at work and Jas is scribbling on a napkin with a pen that he pulled out of god knows where. Jess walks up to our table to clear our plates and he slips the napkin in front of her to clear up. She goes stiff, hand lingering over the napkin. Her eyes scan it and then look up at us as she hurriedly stuffs it into her apron pocket. Jas smirks up at her and then looks at me and Nate as Jess walks away with our plates. Nate chuckles and holds his fist out to Jas for a fist bump. I just shove Nate gently and laugh at the turn of events. Jess is a nice girl, 22 or 23 years old i think, studying at university, working at this restaurant on her days off to pay for a house.

"How about we get out of here," Nate suggests, looking quickly over at Shaun who is still staring. Everyone agrees and we all get up to leave. As we're collecting our jackets, Shaun's voice rings through the restaurant.
"Where ya going?" He slurs slightly. No change there. Of course he's still drinking.
"None of your business," Nate replies, calmly but threatening at the same time. Shaun's face turns into the usual scowl that comes across it when he sees Nate.
"I wasn't asking you, asshole," Shaun spits. Nate doesn't retaliate though, just glares at Shaun. He obviously doesn't want to get into with Shaun in front of my mum and brother who are looking at the situation confused and astonished. The girl sitting in front of Shaun looks awkward and doesn't want to be in this situation. A silence falls over the restaurant as everyone is turning to view this evenings entertainment.
"I'm Alex, nice to meet you," she says trying to break the silence and looking around at people in the restaurant so they knew to stop looking. Alex? As in Alex who he was texting while we were together? I look over at Shaun who is glaring at this girl now and  then looks at me apologetically, putting the pieces of the puzzle together, remembering the day that I saw his texts from Alex.

Shaun looks speechless for once.
"No Shaun, you're the asshole," I pull Nate's hand to signal that we're leaving and see a glimpse of Jason's face who is shocked and laughing at the same time.
"That's my sister."