Recap:
I turn my attention onto Stefan - our eyes connect for a split second before I tear them away. A stabbing pain in my chest causes a sharp intake of breath. Looking down, I reach for my glass of champagne and tip its' contents down in one, wincing at the burn that accompanies the champagne on the way down thanks to its' bubbles.
The six royals sit down and the silence is broken. Chatter resumes as waiters begin to appear with the first course. Sighing, I already know this will be a long night.
Drunken Mistakes
I sit back in my chair sighing. It's only 8.30pm. For 2 tortuously long hours I've suffered and we've only just finished dessert. I'm already on my 5th glass of champagne but no amount is seeming to help speed up time. Dancing and merriness is planned to last well into the night - and Dylan and Lexi have already warned me against even trying to leave before 11pm.
On the plus side, now food is over, mingling and movement is finally on the cards meaning Laura can finally come over to join us - just as the other 3 people on our table make their exit. Taking a seat next to Lexi, opposite me, she slumps back. "I'm bored. Entertain me."
I raise an eyebrow at her demand. "You're the host. You entertain us." I snort.
"How about a drinking game?" Dylan pipes in.
I perk up at his suggestion - "I'm down for that. You guys?"
➰➰➰
"MEDUSA!" I yell as my eye makes direct contact with Laura. Racing to grab the last two shots, I manage to down mine just nano seconds before her and slam my glass down in triumph. Laura groans and reaches for the last shot.
We've been playing medusa for a while now. We started with 20 shots and Laura and I have just polished off the last three. I honestly have no idea where these shots came from to be honest. It's not like we're at a bar, we're in the goddamn Palace of England...
Anyway, for those of you who don't know how the game works, on the count of three all the players look up at each other. If two people make eye contact they must both will yell "Medusa!" and rush to down a shot first. The last one to finish the shot will have to take two. The same rules apply if more than one pair has yelled...
I smile feeling a little fuzzy. I'm by no means drunk but tipsy definitely seems to fit the bill. "Fuzzy duck guys?" I suggest.
"Fuzzy what?" Laura frowns.
"How do you play that?" Lexi hiccups.
"One of us start the game by saying "fuzzy duck". The next player will then say "ducky fuzz". This will go on till one of the players screw it up, and they will have to take down a drink. At any point, a player might say "Does he fuck?" to change the course of the game and the next player would then have to say "Fuck, he does?" Messed up? Gulp down that drink brother."
Turns out Dylan is the worst at this game... we don't play it for very long. It would appear we're already too drunk to be able to play a game consisting of more than one simple rule and everyone's messing up so much it's literally just a drinking fest.
"Never have I ever wanted to blow Channing Tatum's brains out." Dylan smirks as Lexi, Laura and I take a gulp simultaneously rolling our eyes. Crude much woah.
We've retreated to classic drinking games, giving ourselves a break from shots before we make too much of a scene. Thankfully no one really seems to be paying any attention to us anyway, but at least this game has mellowed us out a little.
"Bastard." I mutter at Dylan as my take a swig of my peach schnapps and lemonade. Honestly, it's a lethal game if you play with people who know you.
"Never have I ever watched an episode of Gilmore girls." Laura offers.
Lexi and I both take a drink - I must admit I'm a sucker for that show. Absolutely love it. Lexi and I have actually watched a few episodes together here on several occasions. No better way to spend free time am I right?
Out of the corner of my eye I see Dylan taking a sip and struggle not to spit my own out. "Dylan?!" I gasp finally manage to gasp almost choking. "Spill!"
"Lexi made me." He huffs sending daggers at Lexi. I can't help the laugh that erupts.
"Whipped!" Laura winks, voicing the very word running through my head.
"Rosie? Isn't it your then now anyway?" He urges trying to move on.
"Yeah yeah whatever. Umm never have I ever ditched a date."
Lexi takes a sip of her drink. "What?" She raises her eyebrow. "His profile said he was 20 and his profile picture make him look the Greek God Adonis himself; but the guy who showed up was like 45 and was short and bald. He wouldn't stop talking about his cats and kept trying to feed me. So I went to the bathroom and crept out the window." She shrugs innocently, the corner of her mouth raised.
"No! Lexi!" I laugh. "I can't believe it! No way."
"Hey! I gave him a chance... I didn't run away straight away." She defends, raising her hands in mock surrender. In all fairness to her, no chance I'd have done that. I'd have run off straight away.
The rest of the night is spent alternating between never have I ever and shots. By midnight, I'm unsteady on my feet but Atleast I'm on cloud 9. As the clock strikes midnight, I'm about to call it quits when I see Stefan approaching me. Ignoring the niggling feeling I should just leave now - call it common sense? - I stand and wait until he's stood right in-front of me.
"Rose." He greets. "You look... breathtaking." He breathes.
Folding my arms across my chest I narrow my eyes at him. "I'm surprised you noticed." I bite out, my drunken self deciding to give the bitchy, jealous Rosaline a night out. Great. Here we go...
"Can we talk? ... in private. There's something I want to say."
"Fine." I sigh in surrender, unfolding my arms and following him out of the ballroom into the corridor. I know I shouldn't but I'm drunk and I don't care.
"Rose I-" he pauses, raising a hand to run his fingers through his hair. That's when I see it. My eyes zone in on his knuckles, they're a little red and slightly bruised. It's faded but still noticeable... Then it clicks.
"You punched Dylan." I accuse him harshly, my tone flat and cutting off whatever sentence he was just trying to compose for me.
"What?" He follows my eyes to his hand. His eyes widen slightly as he brings his hand back down and moves it so his knuckles are out of view. "Let me explain Rosa, please. I-"
Before I can register what I'm doing, my hand snakes out and I deliver a forceful slap upon Stefan's left cheek. With that, I spin on my heel and march back to the ballroom to find Lexi before heading to bed... well and now to grab a couple more drinks on my way.
➰➰➰
"Byeeeeeee." I sing giving her a hug. We're stood outside her room as I offered to drop her off first. I honestly don't know who is drunker right now but I feel good and I'm not about to complain.
"Niiiight boo." She sings back, giving me a squeeze before stumbling backwards into her room and landing rather unceremoniously on her bed. Smiling, I close her door and stumble back to my own room.
Opening the door, I push it with a little too much force causing me to lurch forwards and stumble. "Ahhhhhhh!" As I tumble towards the floor, I prepare for impact but when nothing comes I open my eyes to see none other than Stefan who has caught me in his arms.
"Stefan?" I slur. He pulls me upwards so I'm standing in his arms. "Where- Where did you come from?"
"Rose... I just had to come and see you. I couldn't leave things how we did before."
"You're pretty." I sigh, reaching up and stroking his cheek, the very one I assaulted earlier.
"Pretty?" He raises an eyebrow at me in amusement. "You know, I couldn't take my eyes off you all evening."
"Mhmmm." I hum playing with the top couple of buttons on his shirt. He bends down so his mouth is by my ear; his warm breath tickles me. "It's not nice to tease me so Miss Princeton." He trails kisses down my neck and I can't help the moan that escapes my lips. "I've been wanting to do this all evening." He breathes.
Pulling his head back, he looks at me softly before crashing his lips onto mine. Closing my eyes, fireworks explode as our lips connect. Pushing me backwards, he closes the door behind me with his arm before gently pushing my back up against it. Wrapping one arm around my waist and tangling the other in my hair at the back of my head, he holds me in place as he kisses me with a renewed sense of desperation.
Unable to resist, I lift my arms and place them on his shoulders around his neck, my hands resting just between his shoulder blades behind him. A sense of desire washes over me and I push him off me. I stand there for a second, just as breathless as him, before taking his hand and push him onto the bed. Leaning down, I quickly untie and kick of my shoes before crawling ontop of him and reconnecting our lips. Without hesitation, he returns the kiss just as eagerly before flipping us over with ease.
His hands dance around my body, his touch leaving tingles of electricity. My hands slide under his shirt, dancing over his sculpted chest and torso. I tug at it and he breaks his kiss just long enough to pull it over his head before his lips are back on mine. "You're so beautiful." He murmurs against my lips.
He breaks the kiss to pull his head back and look at down me. Leant on his left hand, so he's hovering over me, he brings his right hand to tenderly stroke the side of my face and cheek before leaning down once again. Peppering kisses along my jawline, neck, collarbone and chest he coaxes moan after moan from me. I feel my body come alive under his touch, yearning for more.
I reach down to unbuckle his trousers, when his hands catch mine stopping me. "Rose, stop."
"I want you." I breathe.
"You're drunk. I-I can't."
"Stefan..." He pushes himself off me and sits up next to my reclined body. "I'm sorry. I-I shouldn't have come." He mumbles, looking down refusing to meet my eye.
"And yet you did." I reply evenly.
"I should leave...."
"Don't. Please. Stay?" Looking down at me he offers a small smile and I already know his answer.
"Of course my love." He whispers leaning down to plant a kiss on my forehead. "Come here." He lies down on his back and extends left arm. Smiling in content, I shuffle along and lie on my side - on his arm - snuggling into his side. Lying on my right, I place my head on his chest and drape my left arm over his torso. In response, he brings his right arm over my hip so I'm safely encased in his arms. "Sleep well Rose." I smile, pretty much asleep. Just as darkness is about to take over, I swear I hear him murmur "I love you." But I'm so tired I can't wake myself up again, so I convince myself in that moment that I must have dreamt it.
➰➰➰
I wake from one of the best sleeps of my life. Consciousness does not treat me as well however. A pounding in my head and painful stomach ache reminds me of last night's drinking. Wincing at the memory - or rather lack of memory - I'm suddenly aware that my pillow is emitting heat and seems to be moving up and down. Without moving my body, I glance under me only to find my pillow is in fact a human body - a shitless male.
A shirtless male none other than Prince Stefan Arthur Alexander Williams.
Looking down, I see I'm pretty much sprawled like a starfish, face down, all over him. Not that he seems to be mind. He's lying on his back, his right arm extended straight out and handing partially off the bed whilst his left arm is wrapped around my wait and resting on my lower back.
Looking down I'm relieved to find myself fully clothed still, albeit a little disheveled and creased. A quick look around the room shows no clothing is missing other than his shirt. No underwear or anything appears to be discarded so I can only assume we didn't do anything ... along those lines. I hope not anyway.
It's then when I remember... he told me he loved me. I think? Or did I dream it? No... I'm sure he said he loved me... didn't he? No...
Taking his hand, I slowly try to remove his arm from my waist so I can extract myself but his grip is firm. Vice like almost even... finally I manage to manoeuvre my escape and I creep into my bathroom. Closing the door, I grip the sink tightly as the pounding in my head seems only to get worse... looking up at the mirror my face is a mess. Mascara is running down my face, black smudges adorn my cheeks and forehead, one of my eyes are missing the fake eyelashes Courtney fitted and my eyeshadow has pretty much wiped off. My hair is also a bunch of tangles. I couldn't look more of a mess if I tried.
Sighing, I remove the remaining eyelash and then proceed to wash my face and brush my teeth. It's a start atleast. I then smooth my dress out as best I can before exiting the bathroom, only to be met with a a disheveled Stefan half sat up in my bed.
"How's your head?" He smirks.
"Don't. Never again." I groan making my way back over to the bed.
"Here." He stands and disappears into my bathroom. I gingerly crawl under the covers once again, leaning against the pillows Stefan had just set up to sit up against. He reappears with a glass of water a couple of tablets. "Here, some aspirin and water. It'll help."
"Thanks." I take them gratefully and hurriedly swallow the pills in the hope they'll kick in instantly. Stefan walks round the bed and slides back under the covers next to me. Following him with my eyes I raise an eyebrow but choose not to say anything. Not yet anyway. Instead I just admire his sculpted chest and torso... he's breathtaking in every way possible. Besides, I'm not really sure how to broach the topic.
"Stefan, we didn't umm you know... we didn't have sex did we?" I eventually stammer reluctantly. Like I said I'm sure we didn't but I just need to make sure.
"No. You were drunk Rose. I couldn't - wouldn't have..."
"Oh." I look down awkwardly. "Well thank you."
A silence falls upon us once again before I decide to just go for it and broach the little four letter word I'm dying to know the truth about.
"Stefan... I-I heard you last night. You said... you said you loved me."
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Word Count: 2642
Here we go! A long chapter for you finally :) sorry the last couple have been on the shorter side.
What're your thoughts then people... what are we thinking? Keep up with the comments :) I love reading them.
Thanks again all,
-ashling-