Meet Me in the Hallway (HS AU)

five.

The second we stepped into the building, the bright lights filled my vision and the music filled my ears. It was quite a small area but the closer I looked, the more doorways leading to different rooms I saw. Will's hand was interlocked with mine as we walked through the crowd and headed, with no surprise, straight to the bar. I saw Steve at the corner of the bar, surrounded by a group of men, some of which I recognised.

"Hey guys, what are we drinking." Will smacks his hand on Steve's shoulder, causing the group to turn towards us. All the men acknowledged our presence and returned to their conversation, letting Will in on the topic.

I stood there awkwardly observing the room. There was the bar area which we stood in, the bar a deep brown colour and the wall behind the bar lined with alcohol. To the left of the bar was a seating area filled with high tables and bar stools, there were a lot of people sitting at the tables with their $10 fish bowls. In front of the bar was a dance floor, there were a lot more people out there than I would have thought could fit.
One of the doors off to the side had the word 'TOILETS' on the door, another had the word 'SPORTS BAR' and the one beside it had 'BEER GARDEN'. While the room we were in itself wasn't giant, looking around I can tell that there was probably a lot more space out the doors than I had initially thought.

People watching became my favourite thing after I met Will. I didn't really have any friends anymore so I didn't get to enjoy moments with my friends like I used to, so I observed others instead. I watched a group of girls stumble out onto the dance floor, one wearing a sash across her chest that read '18 and Legal', her friends dancing with her as she smiled at the sky, threw her arms up and danced to the music blasting.
Sitting in the corner of the seated area was a couple, probably around my age, they had a drink each and were staring deeply into the others eyes, their hands sat on the table with fingers laced together.

My eyes found their way to the group of men I was 'out partying' with. None of them seemed extraordinarily interesting, all seemed like your run of the mill tradesman. Four of them had scruffy beards, one of them had a sad attempt at a mustache on his top lip and Will was cleanly shaven; they all donned blue jeans and button down shirts.
My vision suddenly focused on a blue blob in Will's hands. He got a fucking fishbowl, and he was already halfway through it.

Breathe Josephine.

"Josie?" His voice caught my attention and I looked away from his cocktail. "I said are you getting a drink? We're gonna head out the back so the guys can have a smoke."
I shook my head no, "I'm ok."

The group headed towards the door labelled 'BEER GARDEN' and Will held the door open for me to walk through. The cold air of the night smacked me in the face and I wrapped my arms around myself to try and keep warm. We made our way to an empty table and sat down, the guys all pulling out packs of cigarettes.

The night air sent constant chills throughout my body and I rubbed my hands over my exposed calves. Will noticed and pulled me closer to him on the bench seat and wrapped his arms around my abdomen, pressing a kiss to my hair before returning to the conversation taking place between the men. I leant my head back into his chest and closed my eyes, enjoying this moment of comfort before the night turns to shit. Moments like this, moments of being held and having the gentle rubbing motion of his thumbs on my sides, tend to outweigh the other moments that taint my memory.

The smell of tobacco filled my nostrils as they exhaled the smoke from their mouths. Then a large waft of berry flew past my face, followed by the sound of slurping. I glanced up to see Will finishing off his fishbowl. I'd forgotten about that. "I think I need another drink. Baby, do you think you could go get me another drink from the bar? Get yourself something too, we're supposed to be having fun." He whispered into my ear.

"Um, yeah ok. I'll grab you and me something, might give me a chance to warm up too." I try to joke. A wallet is placed in my lap and his arm disappears from around my waist.
"Actually, I'm really fucking cold. Lets head back into the bar, yeah?" Steve suggested to the group, putting his cigarette out in the ashtray placed in the centre of the table.

We headed back towards the door that led to the bar, the warmth of the space brought me an instant sense of relief. The bar was packed, with it now being 8pm, more people beginning to come out to socialise. There was a table with 6 seats free in the seated area, closer to the dance floor than the bar, so the group moved that way. The realisation hit me that we were a group of seven and I would be forced to stand, so I needed a drink if I was going to get through the night and the aftermath.

Still holding Will's wallet I made my way over to a free space against the bar. I ordered him a can of bourbon and coke, in hopes it slows his drinking, and myself a dark 'n' stormy. I returned to the table and sat Will's drink in front of him before taking a large sip of mine. Hands grabbed mine and suddenly I was pulled onto his lap. He pressed his lips in a sloppy kiss on the back of my neck before reaching around for his can. I began people watching again, turning my attention to a middle aged man dancing with his friend, then they kissed. Not his friend. A woman was crying on her way into the door that said 'TOILETS'.

Suddenly the chair beside us scraped against the floor and another across the table. "Better head off, I'll see you guys at work Monday. Bye Josie." I lifted my hand in a small wave before catching a glimpse of my watch. It was 9:15, had I seriously been watching people like a creep for an hour?

I took another large mouthful of my drink, before finishing it off completely. Will and the other three guys continued their conversation about god knows what and my eyes drifted to the dancefloor again, but my eyes met another set entering the room from the door saying 'SPORTS BAR'. Harry stopped in his tracks when he met my gaze but quickly recovered, a smirk appearing on his stupid fucking face.

Jesus, chill out Jo. How strong was my drink?

Will's arms moved around my waist before he leant into my ear and whispered, "Are you ignoring me, baby? I asked you a question." then his grip quickly tightened and all the air was knocked out of me, I slammed my eyes shut, "what the fuck are you looking at?" he hissed through his clenched teeth.

I reached for his hand on my stomach and tried to loosen his grip so I could breathe properly. "I'm just looking at the lights, you know I love colourful lights." I almost pleaded, a stinging sensation shot across the back of my eyes.

Breathe, Josephine.

"You'd fucking want to be, better not be looking anywhere else." He threatened in my ear before almost pushing me off his lap and returning his attention to the guys.

I slowly opened my eyes, still meeting the green ones across the room. His smirk was long gone, his jaw was instead clenched and his head was cocked to the side. I shook my head slowly, praying he would just leave me alone.

A sharp scraping noise was heard once again but this time beside me. "We'd better go too actually. Josie was up early for work this morning so I bet she's tired." A harsh hand grabbed mine and squeezed so tight I feared he would break my fingers. I nodded vigorously and before I knew it I was being dragged out of the bar and into the line for taxis.

I hate this part.