Chasing Elliott - Published

chapter thirty nine ... beer, mistakes & regret

I suddenly felt a small pair of arms wrap around my bicep and I turned to see a beautiful blonde standing there - but that was all I could make out since my eyes couldn't focus to save my life.

"Can we talk for a minute?" She asked as she tried to pull me out of the crowd. Sighing, I reluctantly stumbled after her as she led me out back.

Stepping into the cool night air, I suddenly recognized Benjamin's tall frame standing in front of me with his arms folded in front of his chest. "What are you doing, Coop?"

"I'm trying to have a good time," I slurred as I unknowingly bumped into someone walking past.

"You need to slow down," Benjamin scolded as he put a hand on my arm but I quickly swatted it away.

"No, what I need is to get the love of my life back but she doesn't want a damn thing to do with me. I need to forget about her, that's what I need to do."

Turning around, I somehow managed to find my way back upstairs. Thinking about Elliott seemed to sober me up a bit as I wandered up the stairs in search of the bathroom because I felt the bile rising up in my throat. Trying to open the door, I cursed as I found it locked. Just as I turned to go downstairs and see if that one was unoccupied, I ran into someone and felt my shirt become wet.

"Oh shit," a familiar high pitched voice mumbled. "I'm sorry, Cooper. Let me help you clean this up."

Finally recognizing it was Laura, I yanked my arm out of hers and shook my head. "No, I'm fine. I can take care of myself."

"I really think we should talk, Coop," she said sadly as she stayed standing where she was. "I feel like this is all my fault. Can we please go sit and talk?"

Groaning, I followed her to the end of the hall to an empty room. Suddenly feeling the bile rise in my throat again, I couldn't contain it as I threw up near the dresser. I heard Laura screech and looked up to see her standing directly in front of me with some of my vomit on her dress.

"Fuck, I'm sorry," I slurred slightly as I shook my head in disbelief at myself.

"It's fine," Laura tried to say through a smile as she walked past me. "I'll just wash it out."

I wasn't sure how long I stood there until I felt her hands pulling at my shirt. Putting a hand on her wrist to stop her, she gave me an annoyed look.

"You have liquor and vomit on your shirt and pants, Coop. I'm just trying to clean it out for you." Glancing down at myself, I now saw she was right and allowed her to take my shirt and pants off.

Sitting down on the bed, I suddenly realized she was in only her undergarments as she came walking back into the bedroom. The minute she sat down I stood up, not wanting to be near her. I heard her sigh but I ignored it as I moved to lean against the wall.

"I told her, Coop," she said quietly to the point where I almost didn't hear her. "I'm really sorry but she had a right to know."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I snapped as I pushed myself away from the wall, feeling like I was sobering up again from the news. "You ruined our relationship. Elliott and I were doing fine till you went and told her that shit."

"Don't you dare put this on me," Laura fired back as she crossed her arms over her chest. "If you didn't tell her everything then your relationship was partly a lie. If you really were fine you wouldn't be drinking yourself senseless."

Rolling my eyes, I felt like I was going to be sick again so I quickly walked over to the bathroom and slammed the door shut behind me. Flipping open the lid, I braced my hands on either side of the seat as I emptied my stomach. Falling down to the floor, I sat there with my head against the wall before finally getting my bearings.

Pushing myself off the floor, I turned on the sink and splashed some water on my face. Reaching for my clothes, I felt they were still wet so I started digging around for a blow dryer but I quickly lost patience. Deciding to go ask Laura to help, I pulled open the bathroom door and stopped dead in my tracks.

Elliott stood by the door with a hurt expression on her face as tears started to fall from her eyes. Slightly confused, I glanced over at Laura and saw her hiding under the sheet before I looked down and remembered I was only in my boxers. Growing panicked, my eyes widened as I took a small step forward.

"Elliott, wait," I started to say but she quickly turned on her heel and ran out of the room. Chasing after her, I kept bumping into people in the hallway as I continued to call her name.

Finally making it down the stairs, I caught sight of Benjamin and saw the back of Elliott's head. Calling her name once more, Benjamin glanced up and his face quickly turned from worried to pissed off. He suddenly pushed Elliott behind him as I approached and put a hand on my chest, stopping me.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" He mumbled as he looked me up and down. "What the fuck did you do, Coop?"

"I didn't do anything," I spat as I tried to make my way around him but he kept blocking me from going after Elliott. "I swear to god, Benji, let me go."

"No," Benjamin said sternly as he pushed me roughly away from him. I stumbled into someone and heard them yell at me but I didn't care as anger and fear started to course through my veins. "You don't get to go try and save your ass right now. Elliott has done nothing but try her best with you and this is how you fucking repay her? By sleeping with someone else?"

"Wait, what?" I questioned as I stopped and looked at him with disbelief. "I didn't cheat on her. How could you think I'd do something like that."

"You're in your fucking boxers, Coop, and Elliott just ran out that door crying. It's pretty damn obvious," Kingsley snapped as she suddenly appeared at Benjamin's side. Shaking my head furiously, I tried to muster up the words to make them believe me but I knew if I were in their shoes, I wouldn't believe me either.

Sighing, I turned to walk away when I saw Laura emerge through the crowd and walk over to me. "It's over," I whispered as I tried to walk past but she put a hand on my arm to stop me.

She looked around me and saw Benjamin and Kingsley standing there. They both wore pissed off expressions, especially when they saw her touching me but at this point I felt so defeated that I didn't know what to do.

"We didn't sleep together," Laura spoke up as she dragged me over to where they were standing. "He threw up on himself and on me so our clothes are upstairs drying. You can go find vomit by the dresser and our clothes in the bathroom if you don't believe me."

Benjamin and Kingsley exchanged a glance as I stood there hopeful that they'd believe it. Seeing the doubt on Benjamin's face suddenly made me grow extremely angry and I wasn't sure if it was the liquor or the fact that I had just lost Elliott, but I snapped.

"I wouldn't fucking cheat on her but it seems like she trusts you a hell of a lot more than she trusts me so why don't you two go share some more secrets in the damn alleyway," I spat at Benjamin. His face fell slack as Kingsley glanced between the two of us and I instantly regretted the words that had left my mouth.

"You may not have cheated on her but good luck getting her to forgive you for this one," Benjamin whispered after he closed the gap between us so only I could hear. Looking over at Kingsley, I gave her an apologetic look before she turned to Benjamin.

"What the fuck is he talking about, Benji?"