richpez for mae

25

Lauren couldn't say how much she had had to drink at the New Years Eve party, but as she walked through the house with a drink in her hand, she could feel herself swaying and stumbling. Her head was throbbing from the alcohol, the heat inside the house and the dehydration, and her eyesight was beginning to go fuzzy. Wanting to sober up slightly and get rid of the oncoming headache, she headed towards the back door and outside into the cold Michigan air, standing on the patio and looking around. Lauren knew that she did not have the emotional strength to see couples kissing around her when the clock struck 12, wanting to bring the new year in on her own since the one person she wanted to be with at midnight didn't want to be with her.

The patio was quiet, most people already inside as it began to near midnight and they would be wanting to watch the countdown. Looking out, she saw a field that she could access, and it was just a place where she knew it would be quiet for her to stay for a while to collect her thoughts. She left the patio through the gate and headed down a set of stairs into the field, finding a nice spot to lay down and look up at the stars above. Granted, that did make her feel very dizzy, but she was drunk and she thought the stars were pretty so there she remained for a while longer.

Lauren exhaled, her back against the grass as she felt her muscles begin to relax. The cold air around her was helping her stay awake, and the alcohol in her body was keeping her warm, knowing that she was wearing very minimal clothing and she would probably catch pneumonia if she sat out there all night.

New Years Eve had been lurking in her mind since hers and Joey's argument. She just wanted to spend it with him. She didn't even want to be at a party on New Years with him, rather opting to have stayed in the warmth of his bed, wrapped up in Joey's jumpers, blankets and arms, probably falling asleep way before the countdown but knowing he was there was the only thing that mattered.

But there she was, doing the total opposite of what she wanted, at a party in a cute black dress that she only wanted Joey to see, laying outside in a field on her own. The past few days had been especially hard on her. She didn't really want to reach out and bother anyone since everyone else had seemed to have had a great Christmas and were all looking forward to the new year. But being laid in the field alone, knowing the clock was going to strike midnight and she was going to spend it by herself filled her with a small sense of comfort that she had made it to the end of the year in one piece.

As she looked up into the vast nothingness, she felt oddly calm. But what she thought was going to be a peaceful New Year on her own was disturbed as footsteps approached her from behind, advancing towards her slowly. Tilting her head back slightly to see who was interrupting her tranquility, she felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw him, suddenly feeling very overwhelmed to be seeing his face again. The alcohol helped her to stay calm, but inside her mind was in overload.

Lauren was utterly bewildered at him. Why was he walking over to her? He must've known she was taking the breakup hard. Was he just there to make sure that she was miserable to make himself feel better? Lauren knew deep down Joey didn't have a bad bone in his body, but needed a reason in her head why he was there to keep her sane.

She watched him walk over to her until he was stood next to her, seeing him wearing her favourite shirt of his with some jeans and a blazer, his shirt unbuttoned slightly and his little silver chain dangling from his neck.

"What are you doing here?" Lauren asked quietly, watching him lower himself to the ground and lay down next to her, looking up at the stars as she was.

"I came for air but saw you sat down here." He replied at the same volume, and she could see the cogs turning in his brain as he tried to say the right words, knowing he wasn't sober either. "Didn't want you sat here by yourself so I thought I'd sit with you. I can leave if you want."