B E F O R E T H E S T O R M

X V I I

S T O R M

Time passed and we eventually finished. We lied on the bed for a good while, him holding me and telling me how much he loved me. As I lucidly drifted into sleep, I felt him get up and out of bed to leave the room.

Because I was mostly asleep, I was paralysed. I assumed he had gotten up to use the loo or to grab a bite. I fell deeper and deeper into sleep.

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"Wake up, babe."

"Huh..." I sat up, rubbing my face. "Where am I? What time is it?" The room was completely dark by then. I could tell the sun was far gone.

All I could see was Elliot's silhouette in front of me. "Er, it's 22:00. And we're at a hotel, doll." He chuckled.

"Why are we here?" I yawned and stretched. "Oh gosh I slept through suppertime!"

He laughed once again. "Here," he grabbed my arm. "Come on out. I have a surprise for you."

He guided me out of the room and into the small dining room. It was completely dark, aside from two candles that had been lit and set on the small circular table. On each side was a plate with a slice of cheese pizza and a wine glass set in front of it on top of a napkin.

I gasped. "Elly, this is too sweet, babe."

He smiled but said nothing. He then went to the mini fridge and pulled out a bottle of champagne. "Since we'll be here for a bit, why not unwind a little?" He dug his hand into the pocket in his sweatpants and pulled out his key ring, and picked out a travel sized cork opener and opened the bottle.

I cheered. "Let's get this started!"

I sat down and Elliot filled my glass. I dug into the somewhat warm pizza and smiled as he poured his glass and sat across from me.

I didn't really drink, and Elliot usually only drunk for special occasions. But after a few glasses we just thought "oh what the hell, we shouldn't waste such nice champagne." And kept going. I drunk most of it, while Eli only had one glass.
I ended up chugging the rest of the bottle while my lover cheered me on.

"Damn, Storm!"

I giggled and exited the kitchen.

"Where are you going, luv?"

"Nowhere in particular. Just wandering about." I said dreamily. "Man I never thought I'd get drunk like this. My father was a drunk, ya know."

"Really?"

"Absolutely." I stepped over a suitcase that had been knocked over and left on the wooden floor. I entered the bedroom and sat down on our messy bed, hugging my knees. "He abused my mum, actually..."

Elliot stood in the doorway to the room, saying nothing.

"He hit my mum and my half sister. But when I was just a few months old, he was finally arrested. So my mum and my sis moved to Crawley.

"Everything was fine. I never really knew much about my father, besides that he was an abusive drunk, as my mum and sis would tell me, but then..." I sighed. "When I was about to start high school...he...my mum..." I began to sob.