Warning: this chapter contains sexual content. I wouldn't consider it particularly graphic or explicit but it's there so just a warning if you're young or that kind of thing makes you feel uncomfortable.
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Life as Brad's secret, non-official girlfriend for the past week or so has been interesting, to say the least. Keeping us a secret from Tris when we both live in the same apartment as him is hard, harder than either of us ever expected. In the seven days since the night at the BRITs, there have been several close calls where my brother has nearly walked in on us kissing or Brad has nearly referred to me as 'babe' in front of him.
But despite the challenges, there's something exciting about having a secret relationship. There's a thrill about it. I know the thrill won't last forever and It's not something that I want to deal with forever anyway, but for now, I'm just going to enjoy it.
Tris has been hanging around a lot for the past couple of days so Brad and I haven't exactly had much alone time. However, today Tris has a bunch of his mates from home coming round and they're all planning to go out tonight. My brother is going to pick them up from the train station, which leaves us with around half an hour to ourselves.
"Finally alone" I hear Brad mutters as soon as my brother has left the flat. His fingers lace through mine before he pulls me towards the living room and sits down on the sofa, using his hold on my hand to tug me down on top of him.
"Eager" I muse, adjusting my knees either side of his thighs, "he probably hasn't left the building yet"
"I haven't had you to myself since Wednesday" he pouts, his fingers curling around my free hand and moving my arms so they're draped around his neck. His own arms slip around my slim waist and pull me closer.
"Must have been a taxing couple of days for you then" I hum, brushing the tip of my nose along the bridge of his.
"It's been the worst" he sighs dramatically, one hand curling around my thigh as he flips me backwards and to the side so that he's lied on top of me along the length of the sofa. His lips quickly find mine and I kiss him back, slow but steady, relishing these intimate moments that we rarely have together in the flat.
I slide my arms tighter around his neck as he kisses me harder, his tongue tangling with mine. As the kiss gets more and more heated, feel Brad pushing his pelvis hard against mine so I wrap my legs around his hips, pulling him down harder against me. He lets out a soft moan that is caught in my mouth and sinks his hand into my hair. My own hands wander down the nape of his neck, over his shoulders and down his sides, before curling around the hem of his t-shirt. I find my hands wandering under his shirt, my fingers dancing over the taut muscles of his stomach and lower back. I feel him smile against my lips, before moving his head back just a little.
"I could just take it off" he hums.
"Then take it off"
He sits up and grabs the collar by the back of his neck, pulling the fabric over his head and tossing the t-shirt somewhere on the floor.
"Better?" He smirks, sliding his arm back around my waist and nudging his nose against mine.
"Much" I say just above a whisper, crushing my lips back against his. My hands trail over his bare torso, the warmth of his skin heating my fingertips. His own fingers grasp my thigh again, his palm warm against me as his thumb rubs circles into my bare skin. Then his fingers wander upwards and start toying with the material of my lounge shorts. I anticipate that he's going to remove them - and sweet lord, right now I want him to - but he continues to just play with the material; I'm not sure whether he's teasing me or he's unsure of if I'm comfortable with him going any further.
"You can take them off too" I mumble against his lips, causing him to smile. He dips his head to my neck, placing soft, wet kisses against my jawline, down the column of my throat and along my collarbone. Then he pushes my t-shirt up so my stomach is exposed, continuing his trail of kisses down my skin until he reaches the waistband of my shorts.
His fingers curl around them and pulls them down my legs, discarding the item of clothing onto the sofa beside us. A small mewl escapes my mouth and my fingers sink into his hair as he presses kisses over the lace material of my knickers. He hooks two fingers around the side of my underwear and pulls them down at an agonisingly slow rate, smattering kisses along the inside of my left thigh up to my knee as he does so. He's teasing me and he knows it. I can see the amusement in his eyes every time I squirm under his touch or a shallow breath leaves my mouth. He kisses his way back down my leg and leaves a love bite on the inner of my thigh where nobody but me can see it.
He takes his time in pleasuring me, watching me carefully to see which are the sweet spots that get the most pleasing reaction out of me. I give him a little direction, in my impatience, but I soon discover that he really doesn't need any direction; he knows exactly where he's going and what he's doing.
Halfway through, he stops and crawls back up my body, sinking one hand into my hair and kissing me deeply.
"You taste so good" he mumbles against my mouth.
"Why've you stopped?" I groan, pushing down on his shoulders, "carry on"
He chuckles softly and manoeuvres himself back down my body.
By the end, my fingers are tangled tightly in his hair and I'm struggling to keep my hips remotely still. I'm probably making his job harder for him but he just hooks his arms firmly around my hips to hold me still, whilst he uses his mouth to finish me off. I've never had someone give me an orgasm before. That's not to say I've never had one but with someone else, it's another level of electrifying.
He brings me down from my high and then shifts his body over mine, leaning down to capture my lips in his again. I wrap my arms around his bare torso as he sponges soft kisses across my jawbone.
"So. So. Beautiful." he hums between kisses, brushing his thumb over my cheek before nuzzling his face into my neck. His hand sinks into my hair and starts to play with it gently, making me shiver.
I swear I could lay like this forever.
He lifts his head up, the corners of his mouth curling up into a gleeful smile. I can't help but smirk at the sight of his tousled hairy strewn across his forehead. Guess I'd got a bit carried away.
"What?" he asks, his smile getting bigger.
"Your hair's a fucking mess" I snort, lightly brushing my hand through his fringe.
"And who's fault's that?" he grins, nudging the tip of my nose with his. I open my mouth to quip back with some smart reply when the noise of the front door unlocking is heard, instantly followed by the sound of laughing and talking boys. Tris is back.
"Shit" I blurt, keeping my voice down as I quickly push Brad to the side of me and fumble about trying to free my shorts from where Brad has leaned on them. As I'm pulling them on my legs, Brad attempts to climb over me to get off the sofa but I realise in the process that his hand is stuck in my hair. It's stuck in my fucking hair.
"Oww!" I hiss as his bums lands on the floor and he nearly pulls me off with him.
"Shit, sorry" he mumbles as he tries to tug his hand free, "I think my ring's got caught"
"Well, get it out" I stress, less concerned about Tris and company now that my shorts are back on but more annoyed about the fact that the ring is pulling painfully on a few strands of my hair. Either way, this is still going to look weird if Tris walks in.
After a few moments of pain and grumbling from me, Brad manages to untangle himself from my hair, just seconds before Tris walks in.
"Hey, the guys are here" he beams, clearly oblivious to anything that's occurred in the living room prior. Before either Brad or I can come up with a response, Tris's mates start to wander in. There's four of them all together, including Charlie and Ben, and they all start to say hello to us. All I can think about during the whole encounter is how badly this might have ended if Tris had have come home just a few minutes earlier when Brad's head was between my thighs.
And I'm also thinking, where the hell are my knickers? I genuinely don't know what Brad did with them when he took them off but I'm anxiously waiting for one of them to spot them somewhere in the room and completely give us away.
A couple of minutes later, they all leave so Tris can show them around the flat. The second they leave the room and their voices fade into the corridor, I let out a breathy side of relief, running a hand over my face.
"Jesus" I groan, whilst Brad lets out a relieved chuckle, "that is never, ever happening in the living room ever again" I mutter.
"But it's happening again?" He smirks, raising an eyebrow.
"Um, fuck yes it's happening again" I mutter, making his smirk wider, "just not in the friggin' living room" I run a hand through my messy hair and glance around the room, "where the fuck are my knickers?"
Brad grins as he shifts to one side and reaches behind him, pulling a piece of very familiar teal-coloured, lacy material from out of the back pocket of his jeans. I scowl and reach over, quickly snatching the lingerie from out of his hand.
"I was hoping I could keep them" he teases.
"If you want lacy knickers, buy your own" I mutter, balling the knickers up safely in my fist.
* * * * * * *
It's later that night and the herd of males in the flat have taken to creating a small but noisy gathering in the kitchen. They've started drinking ready for their night out tonight but I'm keeping out of their way. I have big plans for tonight anyway.
A Skype date with Gemma.
I'm aware that I still haven't mentioned to Gemma about what's going on with Brad. She's been busy spending time with Ava and recovering from the accident but we'd arranged to Skype tonight so I can break the news to her face-to-face and watch her reaction.
I sit down at my desk and place my laptop in front of me before I call Gemma. Within moments, her beaming face appears on my laptop screen.
"Hi!" she chirps, giving me an excited wave.
"Hey" I smile.
"Is there a party going on at yours or something?" she frowns, confused. My bedroom door isn't shut properly and you can hear the laughing of the boys in the kitchen.
"Something like that" I sigh, "Tris has got some of his mates round"
"There is bunch of hot guys in your kitchen and you're sat here talking to me" she tuts playfully, shaking her head, "I'm disappointed in you, El"
"I'm not sure I can handle them" I shrug, "there's like, four of them, plus Tris and maybe Brad, and they're going out later but I'm pretty sure most of them are pissed already"
"Are you going out with them?"
"Wasn't planning on it" I shrug.
"You should definitely go with them" she grins, "how often do you get to go clubbing with a group of hot guys- wait, I guess you can go with The Vamps anytime..."
"Anyway, how are you?" I ask to change the subject, "you recovering okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine" she nods, "my leg is still fucked but at least I get another four weeks off work" she adds with a cheeky grin, "though I'm already sick of daytime telly"
"I'm sure Ava can take your mind off it" I smirk, and a light blush stains her cheek.
"She has her methods..."
"I don't wanna know" I grimace, just as my bedroom door creaks behind me. I turn in my chair to see Brad stood in the doorway with a pizza box in his hands. A cute grin tugs at the corners of his mouth when I look at him.
"Hey," I say.
"I brought you some pizza before it's all gone," he says as he steps into my room and pushes the door to behind him.
"Thanks" I give him a small smile at how thoughtful he is and he walks further into my room towards me, "what is it?"
"Pepperoni and peppers" he announces, opening the box with a dramatic flourish, "and I brought you a side of garlic mayo" he points to the little pot of dipping sauce placed beside the few slices of pizza.
"You know me so well" I sigh theatrically, placing my hand over my chest.
"Hi Brad" I hear Gemma beam from my laptop screen, giving him a little wave.
"Hi," he smiles, placing the pizza box on the desk next to the laptop, "how are you?"
"I'm good, though my leg is still recovering," she tells him, "how are you?"
"Never been better" he grins, casually slinging an arm around the front of my shoulders and I feel his mouth against my cheek, "there's a lot of boys in the kitchen asking if you're coming out with us later" he mumbles against my skin.
"Oh, yeah?" I reply, simultaneously watching Gemma through the screen. I can see her eyes flitting between Brad and me, and she's squirming around in her seat, biting her lip. She's holding back a shit load of emotions right now.
"Should I be jealous?" He asks.
"Depends on which boys are asking" I tease, "are they attractive?"
He looks at me with a blank stare for a moment, "they're not your type"
"And what is my type?" I ask, quirking an eyebrow. I'm not sure I even have a type.
"Two to five years older than you with dark curly hair," he says with a smirk that only gets bigger when I don't have a smart reply. That pretty much sums up the very few romances I've had in my lifetime. A light chuckle escapes his lips and he sneaks a brief kiss to the corner of my mouth.
"Enjoy your pizza," he says as he straightens up and makes his way towards the door.
"I will, thanks" I call as he exits with a cheeky grin on his face. I turn back to Gemma, who looks like her head is about to explode, "okay, get it all out"
Over the next thirty seconds or so, a stream of high-pitched squeals are emitted from her mouth and her hands are flapping around her face a lot. She tries to talk but excitement takes hold of her and she can't form proper sentences, spluttering a few 'ooh's and 'ahh's. Eventually, her episode burns her out and her body is left crumpled over her desk, a long sigh escaping her mouth.
"You done?"
"Yeah" she breathes, lifting her head up, "I think so"
"Nothing's official"
"I don't care" she grins, "what I just witnessed... made my heart melt into a puddle on the floor"
Jesus.
"Don't say anything to anyone," I tell her sternly, "we can't risk Tris finding out, at least not yet"
"Not a soul" she promises, holding her hand over her heart, "well, maybe Ava because she ships you too but no other soul, I swear"
I nod, trusting her words and she beams back at me.
"So how did he crack you?"
"Well... he looked really good at the BRITs" I shrug before the both of us fall into bubbles of laughter.
After a good hour spent catching Gemma up on all the events of the past couple of weeks, I say goodbye and sit back in my desk chair. It's just gone eleven and the party in the kitchen hasn't left yet. They have gotten louder though, and presumably more intoxicated as time has gone on so I decide to go and see them before they leave.
The kitchen stinks of alcohol and testosterone, I notice, as I walk in to see the small group of rowdy men, including my unofficial boyfriend and my brother. When his friends see me, there's a chorus of loud, alcohol-fuelled cheers that make me wince slightly at the volume.
The neighbours are going to be pissed.
"Ella, lad!"
"Hey, Ella!"
"Ella! Ella! Ella!" Ben shouts and the rest quickly join in chanting.
"Oi! Oi! Oi!"
"Ella! Ella! Ella!"
"Oi! Oi! Oi!" they all chorus before I'm pulled into a bear hug by someone and a clear plastic cup filled with what I guess is some type of spirit mixed with coke is pushed into my hands.
"We like to drink with Ella" I hear one of them start, and I roll my eyes as the other three of Tris's mates join in the chant, "'cause Ella is our mate! And when we drink with Ella, she gets it down in 8..."
I internally groan as I put the cup to my mouth and start to chug down the spirit and mixer. I immediately realise that It tastes vile and I guess that it's Bacardi because I've had bad experiences with that in the past; my taste buds can sense it a mile off. However, I power on through as they carry on counting down from eight.
"...7...6...5...4...3...2... Whheyyy!!!"
I finish the alcohol before they reach 'one' and wipe the remnants of drink from around my mouth as I'm showered in praises and pats on the back. It's honestly amazing how the male species are so easily impressed.
"Was that Bacardi?" I grimace, pushing the cup away from me. Just the smell of it makes me want to vomit because I associate it with... well, me vomiting.
"Who gave her Bacardi?" Tris frowns, "last time she had that, she was sick all over my trainers"
It was actually inside his trainers. I had returned home once after a night out back during my sixth form college days and, needing to be sick from the several Bacardi shots and a mixture of alcohols that Gemma had encouraged me to consume that night, found Tris's brand new white Adidas trainers conveniently placed in the hallway near the front door. He wasn't exactly thrilled when he found them the next morning.
"Well, I didn't know" Rob, one of my brother's friends mutters, "sorry, Ella"
"It's fine" I say, shaking my head, "though I can't be held accountable if you have to sacrifice your shoes later"
"Are you coming out with us?"
I turn my head to see it's Charlie who's asked.
"Um..."
"Yeah, you should come out with us" Tris's other friend, Alex, agrees.
"I dunno, me against you lot?" I shudder at the thought, "that's a lot of fucking testosterone to handle"
"You can handle it, Ella" Ben grins.
"We'll even wingman you"
I laugh, rolling my eyes and shaking my head at their boyishness.
"And if that doesn't work, you've got your pick" Rob smirks jokingly, gesturing to the cluster of boys in the kitchen. My eyes fall on Brad, who is watching me with an amused smile; he knows exactly who'd I'd pick.
"Um, not if I have anything to say about it," Tris scoffs with a frown.
"You know what, Ella?" Ben grins at me, "If you don't pull tonight, I'll take one for the team and you can come back with me if you want"
I know that he's joking but I also know that he wouldn't reject me if I said 'yes'. Remember, this is the guy that will sleep with anyone who is female. Of course, he's attractive, but...
Well, he's no Brad.
"As inviting as that sounds, Ben, I don't really fancy getting an STD so I'm good"
That gets a lot of teasing and jibes on Ben's end, but as always, he puffs out his chest and laughs it off. When my brother and his friends were in Year 12, Ben was secretly sleeping with these two girls who were best friends. One of them gave him chlamydia and then he passed it on to the other one so they eventually found out that he was playing both of them. They called him out on it in the middle of the sixth form common room apparently so he got what he deserved. Tris and all his mates took the piss out of him for weeks and now it's a long-running joke that Ben has chlamydia, though I'm sure he probably doesn't have it anymore. With his promiscuous habits, it really wasn't a surprise when it happened.
"We're leaving in about half an hour if you wanna come with us, El" My brother tells me.
"Right" I say as I make my way to the door, "I'll think about it"
The minute I step back into my room, I hear my phone vibrate on top of my desk where I left it. I walk over and pick it up seeing a message from Brad.
Are you coming out with us?
Do you want me to? I reply. I get a message from him within seconds.
Obviously
It's not like we're gonna get much chance to hang out though... I send back. If Brad's the main reason to go out, then we're not exactly going to get much quality time together with Tris and all his mates with their watchful eye on us.
I can still admire you from afar :)
Damn, I better get myself dolled up then.
With only half an hour, my getting-ready is a bit of rush job. I do more of an enhanced everyday look with my make up by adding lipstick and heavier eyeliner and throw on a pair of skinny jeans, a white lace top, and white heels. I run my fingers through my hair a few times to get it looking remotely acceptable. Then I make my way to the kitchen, only to find the boys are playing Never Have I Ever.
"Never have I ever eaten out of a bin" Rob says as I walk in. Alex is the only one who takes a drink. The rest of us stare at him in disgust.
"What?" He mumbles, "I was drunk, hungry and had no money on me"
"You're such a catch, Alex, why are you single?" I say sarcastically as I go to pour myself a drink.
"I have no idea, Ella" he grins before I hear a couple of wolf whistles.
"Ella's ready for the pull" Ben teases as he assesses my outfit.
"Ella's ready to babysit six men who can't hold their drink" I retort.
"Look who's talking" Ben argues, "Mrs. I-Vomit-In-People's-Shoes"
"Last time I saw you on a night out, you were pissing yourself in the street" I scoff.
Charlie laughs, "I remember that"
"Taxi's here" my brother announces and the seven of us get ready to leave.
*************
The queue for the club is stupidly long when we get there but thanks to my brother and Brad, we get in through the VIP entrance. One of the guys gets a round of drinks for us all and we find a booth to sit in that fits the seven of us. I try to sit next to Brad but Tris scoots in before I can.
"Wait, I'll go here" Tris says as he slides into the plush seating of the booth, "save you from having sit with Brad"
"Right, thanks" I mutter, pulling my face at the back of Tris's head. I glance at Brad to see him pouting at me. My brother is such a cockblock.
In fact, my brother's mates are all cockblocks too. Inadvertently, however, because aside from Charlie, they don't know about me and Brad. Every time I get a moment alone with Brad, one of them comes over for a chat or to give me a drink or to tell me they've found me a potential suitor that they want to set me up with and I have to make up some excuse as to why I can't go and talk to said boy.
Charlie is the only one who isn't trying to wingman me. He finds me stood on my own near a table with a drink in my hand trying to dodge Tris's other friends. He comes over to stand beside me.
"Please don't tell me that you've seen a good-looking guy for me because I'm not interested," I say flatly.
"I wasn't gonna tell you that," he says with a small smile, "besides, there's clearly only one guy that you've had your eye on all night"
"Are we that obvious?" I ask, a little worried that Tris or one of his mates may have noticed a sly brushing of hands or a simple look that said a lot more underneath.
"Not to the untrained eye," he tells me, "but knowing what I do, it's obvious to me"
"Do you think anyone else has noticed?"
"Nah, they're all too drunk" he shrugs, relieving my worries, "are you two a thing now?"
"Kinda"
"Maybe you should tell him that I'm aware of this information because he keeps glaring at me" he smirks, nodding in the direction of the booth we have been occupying all night. I glance over and see Brad is sat staring at the two of us with a frown. When I make eye contact with him, he looks away and takes a sip of his drink.
Very subtle, Bradley.
"Leave him alone" I tease, nudging him with my elbow.
"Are you gonna go talk to him?" He suggests, "I mean, you've been making eyes at each other all night, no wonder he's in a mood at seeing you talking to another guy"
"No one's supposed to know about us because of Tris though"
"Everyone's drunk, no one is paying attention, go and dance with him" he encourages, giving me a gentle push in Brad's direction. I sigh but all I've wanted to do all night is dance with Brad. And kiss Brad. And just spend my time with Brad. He's the only reason I actually came out tonight and I've barely spoken to him.
Making my way to the booth where he is, I sit down on the end of the sofa and scoot along the cushion until I'm next to him. He drapes his arm over the back of the sofa behind me and leans in until his lips are just barely brushing against my ear.
"Y'alright babe?" He asks loudly over the music. I smile and nod.
"Come and dance with me"
"Won't that look suspicious?"
I just shrug.
"If anyone asks, just pretend that I'm really drunk and I don't know what I'm doing" I suggest.
"I'm not sure if that'll work"
"Do you not wanna dance with me?" I pout. He chuckles.
"You know I wanna dance with you" he says, "I just don't want Tris or one of his mates seeing and asking questions"
"We could go in the other room, none of them are in there" I suggest, "meet me at the bar in there in five minutes, yeah?"
He nods and I leave the table, making my way towards the toilets. I do my business and freshen up my makeup which is starting to smudge a little, receiving a compliment from a sweet, though very tipsy girl about my lipstick in the process. Once I've squeezed through the hoards of girls occupying the relatively small bathroom, I find the other, slightly smaller room of the club which isn't as crowded as the main room. They're playing Oasis and I immediately wonder why I haven't spent the rest of the night in here because the music is wholly more suited to my taste.
I meander through the sweaty, drunken people until I reach the bar at the back of the room. It's a little busy so while I'm waiting to be served, I glance across the room to see if I can see Brad anywhere because I reckon it's probably been more than five minutes since I left him. I don't see him but whilst I am looking around, I accidentally make eye contact with a blonde guy stood a few feet further down the bar. As soon as I've done it, I know it's a mistake. I just know he's one of those lech-y guys that makes eye contact with a girl in a bar and thinks that means he's pulled. I roll my eyes as I look away and wait for the inevitable human interaction I now have to suffer.
"Hey" he says loudly over the music as he shifts down the bar until he's next to me.
"Hi" I reply flatly, glancing back to see if Brad has appeared anywhere. He hasn't. I sigh.
"Can I buy you a drink?"
"No, thank you" I tell him, being as polite as I can stand myself to. Thankfully the girl behind the bar approaches me and so I order a Vodka lemonade for myself and a Jack Daniels and coke for Brad. Whilst she's making the drinks, the guy is just hovering by my side and when she tells me the price, he immediately hands her a ten-pound note before I can.
"I don't want you to pay for them" I frown at him in my most frustrated tone as the girl leave goes to get the change before I can take the money back from her.
"It's two free drinks, just take it" he laughs dismissively, which only makes me more angry.
"You asked if you could buy me a drink and I can appreciate that but I said no" I snap, "do you not understand what 'no' means?"
"Jesus" he mutters, shaking his head as though I'm being completely unreasonable. It's not my fault he can't take 'no' for an answer.
"If you asked to have sex with me and I said no, would you still have sex with me anyway?" I fire at him.
"That's different-"
"No means no" I bark just as the bartender returns. I shove my own ten-pound note in his hand and take the change from her so that we're even. He shakes his head again and mutters something under his breath before he walks off into the crowd. I don't care; if he can't handle a minor rejection, that's not my problem.
I take a sip of my drink and look around for Brad again. I finally spot him near the door that leads to the other room talking to a dark-haired girl. I watch as she holds her phone up and takes a selfie of the two of them. She must be a fan. Turning back to the counter, I sigh and take another, larger gulp of my drink. I guess sharing Brad with the fans is something I'm going to have to learn to deal with. Honestly, most of the time, I forget that he's actually a celebrity in a famous band; he's just Brad to me.
After a few more minutes waiting, I realised that I've finished my drink. I push the glass away and make a mental note to get another one when Brad's here. I glance back to him to see that he's still talking to the fan. As I turn back to my drinks, my eyes fall on a guy who's stood a couple of feet down the bar from me who looks familiar. With alcohol clouding my mind, it takes me a small moment to realise where I recognise him from. It's Jamie fucking Vitani, the dickhead who was my first major crush and also my first time. I have no idea why he would be in a fancy club in the middle of London but I really couldn't care enough to find out. I look away quickly and stare down at the two glasses in front of me, hoping he doesn't see me.
"Excuse me?"
I instinctively glance up to see it's him who's talking to me. Fuck. He looks the same, just older; more filled out, more stubble lining his jaw, though less product in his dark, unruly hair.
"Are you waiting to be served?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at me.
"Um, no" I mutter awkwardly, letting my hair fall in front of my face. He smiles and nods before turning back to the bartender. I stare at my hands, which are rested on the counter in front of me as the reality of what's just happened hits me.
He didn't recognise me.
He didn't fucking recognise me.
I know it was over two years ago and it was a very fleeting romance but we had sex together and he doesn't recognise me.
Maybe it's the context of the club, I tell myself. Maybe it's the changes of colour in my hair. Maybe he's drunk.
Or maybe he's that much of a slut and that much of a dickhead that he doesn't remember half of the girls he's ever slept with because there are so many of them.
The last one seems the most likely somehow.
I feel my cheeks burn but breathe a sigh of relief when I see him disappear out of my peripheral vision with a tray of drinks in his hands. I'm so glad that I'm alone right now because at least no one else is here to witness the humiliation that I'm feeling right now. My fingers curl around the glass in front of me and I lift Brad's drink to my lips, gulping down nearly half of the contents in one go despite the fact I'm not really a fan of Jack Daniels. It shouldn't bother me. I haven't spoken to him in two years and I have no feelings for him anymore. However, at one point in my life, I had very strong feelings for him. Such strong feelings that I allowed him to take my virginity. The fact he doesn't recognise me just confirms that he never cared about me at all and that I was so insignificant to him that I wasn't even worth remembering.
Lost in thought, I'm brought back to reality by someone's hand on the small of my back.
"Fuck off!" I snap loudly, before turning to the person and seeing it's Brad, his eyebrows raised in confusion at my outburst. I sigh heavily and close my eyes, face palming myself, "sorry" I quickly say in a much calmer tone, "I'm sorry"
"You alright?" Brad asks.
"Yeah" I nod, before a placing hand on his arm, "I'm sorry, I didn't know it was you, I didn't mean-"
"It's okay" he smiles and shakes his head.
"Um, I got you a drink..." I say, pointing his drink but trailing off when I realise that I've drunk half of it, "sorry, you were a while..."
"It's fine, it's the thought that counts right" he chuckles, "it's my fault, I was talking to a fan"
"I'll get you another" I say, digging my purse out of my bag but Brad puts his hand on my arm to stop me.
"Don't worry about it" he gives me a small smile, his eyes scouring my face carefully, "do you want to go home?"
"Um..."
"If you wanna go home, I'll get a taxi back with you now" he suggests. I really do want to go home so that I don't risk seeing Jamie again, but I don't want to ruin Brad's night in the process.
"It's fine, I'll sort myself out with a taxi" I say quickly, "you can stay-"
"Babe, it's fine"
"I don't want to cut your night short"
"I'm tired anyway" he tells me, "come on"
He grabs my hand and pulls me through the crowds to the back entrance where we came in.
"Keep hold of my hand" he tells me as his fingers curl tighter around mine and he pulls me close to his side. I realise why when there's a couple of flashes from a few feet away that momentarily blind my vision; paparazzi. Great. This will be fun to explain to Tris in the morning when images of Brad and I holding hands are plastered across Twitter.
We reach the taxi rank and the two of us climb into a cab before Brad tells them our address.
"I'll text Tris and let him know I'm taking you home" Brad tells me, "don't worry about the paps thing, I'll tell him you're drunk, he'll understand"
"Thanks" I mumble, resting my head against the window. I feel Brad's palm against mine as he laces our fingers together and squeezes my hand gently. We stay like that the whole journey home.