The Perfect Drug (Ariana/You)

Chapter 6

Pete had regained his normal composure and I was seeing more of the Pete I had known before. Ariana was fully enjoying it.

I know I should have been happy to finally see Pete being a caring boyfriend towards Ariana and showing the good sides to him. The good sides that got me to be friends with him.
Part of me did dislike it though and I hated myself every second for it but could not hold the jealousy back.

They were laughing and goofing around a lot. Also cuddling most of the time on the couch and exchanging kisses here and there.

Every time they did, I drank.

Courtney was also getting really comfortable with me, maybe a little bit too comfortable, as a few times her hand found its way to my leg and she rested it there for a few minutes. Her hands would also find a way around my waist from time to times, pulling me into a hug. 

And I swear that every time Courtney came in contact with me, Ariana drank too.

She had arranged for a driver to take us to this restaurant located in a hotel as none of us were really in a state to drive.

We arrived at the venue and there was a lot of people out waiting already, some with cameras, some with things to sign, some just standing there genuinely waiting to see who was coming out.

"Jesus, that's a lot of people outside. How do they find out the info of where you're going?" Pete said to Ariana in disbelief.

"Paparazzis are vultures. They know everything even before you decided where you were going." She said quite casually.

Pete got out first, followed by Ariana, then me and then Courtney. 

Flashes were hitting us from everywhere along with questions from the guys with cameras. Some of them were really inappropriate and disrespectful questions. I rolled my eyes.

I felt a hand taking mine and then fingers intertwining with mine. I looked down to see it was Ariana holding my hand. My heart skipped a beat.
Luckily only I could see she was holding my hand as we were just so compressed in between each other and also security of the hotel trying to keep the vultures from shoving their cameras right in our faces and also trying to hold off people realising Ariana was there.
I looked behind and Courtney smiled at me, thankful she could not see this.

I felt the back of my jacket being pulled and looked to see Courtney struggling to get passed some security that suddenly got in between us both. I let go of Ariana's hand and stopped for her and she smiled, genuinely happy I had waited. I let her go in front of me so that I could make sure she was safe and now it was her turn to grab my hand so that I would not fall behind. By the time we made it out of the reach of so many different people and into the restaurant, Ariana and Pete were already sat next to each other in the semi circular booth.

We were actually quite isolated from the rest in a sort of private dinning room. I guess Ariana had arranged for that as well. Courtney got in first so she was right next to Ariana and Pete and I were on the sides of the booth facing each other.

We continued drinking some more and I made more discussion with Courtney. She had told me that she was now an influencer but had studied retail merchandising and product development. She talked about her field of study and her aspirations.
She and Ariana had been friends since Courtney was born pretty much. She was slightly younger than Ariana.

The night went on really well; when I wasn't talking to Courtney, we were all making jokes all together and everything was the way it should have been. This Pete was more like the Pete I had always known, coming up with some really funny jokes. I smiled at him and smiled back at me.

Courtney's hand found it's way back on my leg and this time she squeezed it lightly. I don't know why I tensed. I pursed my lips as I focused back on my food, trying to pretend she was not doing anything.