The music was pumping so loud that it felt like it was vibrating through my liquid body. Everyone from the floor had come out for the night as a pre-exam stress relief and to meet Lark's boyfriend. So far, no one had slipped up and mentioned anything about Lark's odd behavior the last few months. But it felt like the ticking clock on a bomb.
Rob was right; it was inevitable that someone would slip up. I was praying it wasn't Rob; I didn't know how to navigate that scenario. Lark would never forgive him, and I'd never hear the end of it.
I came out of the bathroom, and Rob grabbed my wrist, pulling me behind him to a dark corner of the bar, where there were fewer people, and the music wasn't quite as loud. He spun me around, and I laughed, enjoying the feel of the alcohol coursing through my veins. My back brushed up against the wall, and he put one hand on the wall beside my head, leaning into me, pressing our bodies together before kissing me deeply.
I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him closer; his arm left the wall and swept around my back, gathering me to him. When we finally broke apart, I looked up at him and smiled, but there was still something off in his gaze.
"I was worried you were mad at me," I said, reaching up and pulling him into another kiss.
He gave me a quick kiss and pulled back. "Not mad." His brown eyes searched mine, but there was an undercurrent I wasn't catching.
I was feeling just drunk enough to start a conversation I'd been avoiding, but she was here again tonight, and I was Little Miss Curious after all. "Why was Rachel so upset at my birthday?"
Rob sighed and leaned into me again, kissing me lightly. "You really wanna know?"
"Yes?" I wasn't sure I did want to know, but I felt like I might need to know.
"She'd been telling people we were seeing each other," Rob said, shifting back so there was now a little space between our bodies.
I frowned, my drunken brain taking a moment to process his words. "She told people you two were dating?"
"Yes, apparently several people." Rob took my hand and started playing with my fingers, not really meeting my gaze.
"Why would she do that? Is it possible you led her to believe there might be something more?"
Rob's eyes rose back up to mine. "I didn't lead her on. I knew she fancied me; I probably should have handled it differently." He sighed. "I probably should have told her about you before."
"Right." I nodded, feeling a little lost. If he hadn't led her on, if they hadn't been dating, why did he need to tell her anything? Would I have been surprised if he'd ended up with Rachel? Maybe, but I wouldn't have been pulling him aside to cry during her birthday party.
I heard Lark laugh and turned my head to see her and Cal coming towards the dark part of the room that we'd been using to steal a few moments of quiet. It appeared as though Lark had her hand down Cal's pants. I glanced back at Rob and shook my head, but he wasn't looking at me. He focused on Cal with a thoughtful frown on his face.
"Please don't say anything," I whispered to him, pulling him down to kiss me instead of zoning in on them.
He gathered me up and poured himself into me, so much so that I wondered if I could somehow convince Tricia to move out of our room for the night. I wanted to feel my body pressed to his; I wanted to feel his heart beating in sync with mine. I wanted to feel like this was going to last, that this bad feeling in my stomach was nothing more than too much alcohol.
"Oh," Lark giggled. "Sorry, Liz."
Rob broke the kiss and laced his hand with mine. But, he didn't turn to look at Lark immediately, instead, he looked deep into my eyes. He gave me a quick peck and then turned to look at Lark.
"It's all yours," he said, gesturing to the dark space and giving my arm a little tug to follow behind him.
After I'd had a few more drinks, I ran into Jill coming out of the girls' bathroom while I was going in.
"You having a good time?" Jill asked, smiling at me.
Clearly, the alcohol was working wonders for her tonight. She had been avoiding me since she and Lark had their mediated conversation. "It's okay," I said, thinking about the ball of worry in my stomach. "How are you doing?"
She shrugged. "Okay, I guess. That stupid mediated discussion was a joke. Lark just railroaded all of them. It was ridiculous." Jill shook her head and crossed her arms, still a little wound up by it all.
"Oh," I said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry about Cal being in Tom's room, too."
"Lark gets what Lark wants," Jill said, rolling her eyes. "We're sleeping in my room tonight, though, so she's not getting everything she wants."
"Ah, do you think it's a good idea to stir it up with her?" I asked. I knew the answer was no, but it didn't appear that Jill or Tom did.
Jill grinned. "We have the trump card, Liz. She says anything and we tell Cal that she's a cheating whore."
"I know I probably have no right to ask this, but can you leave Rob out of it all?" I asked. I couldn't seem to shake the anxiety blooming in my stomach.
Jill looked at me for a long time. "You mean like you did by asking him to keep Cal in his room?"
Heat crept into my cheeks, but I wasn't sure if it was from anger, alcohol or embarrassment.
"You're right," Jill said. "You don't have any right to ask that. Also, Rob's a big boy; he can take care of himself. Even if I think his choices are a bit questionable lately." With that, she turned on her heel and wandered back to the dancefloor.
It appeared that drunk Jill had developed a backbone of steel. I wondered how long that would last once we got back to the residence, and Lark started railing against them sleeping in her room.
On the way back to our residence after the bar had closed, we shared a cab with Tricia, Lark, and Cal. The entire cab ride, I kept having to kiss Rob to distract him from saying something to Cal. It felt as though he was constantly on the cusp of bringing down the whole house of cards.
Jill and Tom had cut out of the club early, and as we climbed the stairs, I made sure to mention that I thought I'd heard Jill say something about sleeping in her own room tonight.
"Of course she is," Lark said, rolling her eyes. "Why would she let me have the room tonight after I haven't seen my boyfriend in months?" She squeezed Cal's hand tighter and gave him a moody look.
"Maybe you can convince her to go to Tom's room," Cal said, giving her a quick kiss. "She can't be unreasonable all the time."
I paused with my foot on the top stair, mulling over Cal's words. He thought that Jill was the unreasonable one. Of course, he did; why would Lark tell him anything other than that? Rob gave me a questioning look, and I shook my head and continued to follow him up the stairs.
Tricia unlocked our door and looked at me and Rob. "Where are you sleeping tonight Roberino?"
"If you stay with us," I started and then continued, "Lark and Cal can sleep on the floor in your room. Then, everyone is happy."
Tricia raised her hand. "I'm not sure you'd call me 'happy' so much as not willing to put up with any more shit tonight." She gave Rob a pointed look.
"Blimey, alright then," Rob said, turning to Cal and Lark. "You two take my room." He jiggled his keys and dropped my hand. "I'll grab my kit and get you two settled." He looked at me. "Yeah?"
I nodded, relieved. "Yeah." As he started to walk away, I grabbed his hand and laced my fingers with his before letting him go. "Thank you," I said, searching his face for the usual humor.
He gave me a half smile. "No worries, mate." He winked at me and headed down the hall with Lark and Cal.
I turned to Tricia. "Thank you. I know it's super awkward to have us sleeping in the same bed."
She grinned. "No sex – no moaning – no loud kissing noises. I'm going to put on ear muffs and the solitudes CD, but if I hear anything over that, you're in trouble."
I laughed. "Got it. I really hope the first time I have sex with him, you're not in the room."
"Oh my God. I better not be – you'd be dead to me." She grinned and wrapped her arm around my shoulders as we watched Rob walk back down the corridor. "He's acting a bit weird though isn't he?"
I sighed. "I was hoping it was just me."
"Sadly, no. What's up with that?"
"I think it has something to do with Lark and Cal. But, I don't know. It might be whatever happened with Rachel the other night. I'm just really hoping it's not me; that he's not changing his mind about me." I looked over at Tricia and her green eyes were kind.
"It's one hundred percent not you. He still looks at you like you're the only girl in the room. It's quite a thing to see – that much love shining out of someone."
"Do you think?" I asked, just before he reached us.
"What are you two birds chatting about?" Rob asked, stopping in front of us.
"Just laying down the bedroom ground rules." Tricia looked at Rob for a beat before saying. "You alright, mate?" She used her best British accent.
Rob's grin didn't quite meet his eyes. "Right as rain. I'm knackered, though." I stepped away from Tricia, and he gathered me into his arms, kissing my temple.
"Let's go to bed and hope that tomorrow when we wake up, everything looks better," I said, turning to follow Tricia into the room.