danger (mcfly)

Chapter 3

We had just kissed. Tom had a girlfriend and we had just kissed. The initial shock began to wear off as I hurried to find Grace so we could leave. She was reluctant, but after a minute she agreed to go. We said our quick goodbyes, and I tried my best to avoid looking at Nicole. Dougie gave me a sympathetic glance as I practically dragged Grace away by the hand.

“What was that all about?” she asked.

“What was what about?” I replied innocently. She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, but didn’t say anything else.

Life continued normally for a week or so. I went to class and worked a few days a week at a small clothing store near my school. One day, after my Media Analysis class, a guy with dark wavy hair and a button-up shirt rolled to the sleeves approached me. I recognized him from a few of my classes, but we had only ever said a few words to each other.

“Hey,” he said a little shyly. “Your name’s Charlotte, right?”

“Yeah, it is.”

“I’m Adam.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said with a smile. He responded with a similar one.

“Listen, a few of us were planning on going to Envy tonight! I was wondering if you wanted to come with.”

Envy was a fairly large club near campus. I hesitated before replying. Grace had made me promise her that I would stop going to clubs after a particularly bad incident. Drunk, I had brought a guy that I met at a club back to our flat. When we woke up the next morning, the television was gone. Grace didn’t exactly trust my drunken judgment after that.

But it had been a while since I’d had some fun, and figuring I deserved it, I accepted Adam’s offer.

“Great! I’ll meet you there at 10?” he asked to confirm the time.

“Definitely.”

We parted after exchanging phone numbers, and I was eager to go and get ready before Grace got home from work. I slipped on a black body-con skirt and a low-cut shirt I had bought at Forever21. Not exactly my classiest outfit. My eyes were dramatic—smoky and rimmed in dark liner, framed by thick, black lashes. I normally wore only a minimal amount of makeup, but tonight was one of those special occasions.

When I arrived at Envy, Adam directed me to a table where five others sat. There were two guys named Ed and Chris and two girls named Chloe and Alice. I liked Alice immediately; she was one of those charismatic types of people with long black hair and bright green eyes. After the first round of drinks was sent out, she asked me how I liked London, and we got to talking about all the different things to do in the city.

Chloe interrupted us with a squeal—one hand clapped over her mouth, the other pointing to someone out on the dance floor.

“Is that Dougie Poynter?” she gasped. “I used to have the biggest crush on him when I was younger!”

I turned around in horror, spotting him dancing with a pretty dark-haired girl. Behind him was Tom. And Nicole. Dancing rather suggestively. I felt the familiar urge to puke that I felt whenever I thought of Tom’s girlfriend.

“I’m going to go get a drink,” I choked out, making my way towards the bar. Taking a seat on the worn leather barstool, I ordered a scotch. A second one was needed very shortly after as I had already gulped down my first drink.

Why the hell was was Tom here? Shouldn’t he be producing an album or something? Suddenly, I was on my third drink and everything was starting to get fuzzy. But I was feeling slightly better and when the guy next to me offered to buy me another drink, I didn’t hesitate to accept it.

“Charlotte?” someone said behind me. It took me a moment to realize it was Adam. “We were wondering where you went!” he chuckled.

“Let’s dance!” I exclaimed, grabbing his hand and leading him to the dance floor.

We danced heavily, our bodies pressed together, and I allowed myself to forget about Tom temporarily. Until he was standing right in front of me. Tom seemed shocked at seeing me, and his eyes narrowed at the guy currently rubbing against me. But he didn’t say anything to me. Instead, he pushed away through the crowd, probably to find Nicole. I needed more alcohol.

“I’ll be back!” I shouted to Adam over the music before finding my way back to the bar.

I wasn’t sure how much I had to drink after that. Everything became a blur. Somehow I ended up dancing with the guy who had bought me a drink earlier. I let his hands roam my body as we danced, if you could even call it dancing. The next thing I knew, we were in the men’s bathroom. I sat on the counter, giggling as his lips explored my neck. I tried to ask him his name, but the words never came out. I was about to lift my shirt off when the door opened.

“Charlotte, what the fuck?” Tom gaped.

“Tom!” I exclaimed, happy to see him. “Hi, Tom!”

“You know him?” asked the guy I was with. I realized I was still fiddling with his belt buckle. Whoops.

I nodded excitedly as Tom pulled me off of the counter.

“Hey, I was just ‘bout to baaaang him!” I pouted. “Isn’t he hot?”

“He’s like 10 years older than you,” Tom scolded. He turned to the man. “You should probably go.”

He glared at Tom, but walked out of the bathroom.

“How much have you had to drink?” Tom demanded.

“I haven’t had anythin’! Just water, I promise. Jus’ water!” I slurred.

Tom clearly didn’t believe me. “I’m taking you home before you do something stupid.”

My eyes grew wide. “NO! Gracie’s gonna kill me. Tom, don’t take me home!”  I pleaded. I was about to get on my knees, but Tom kept me up.

He said something to me, but I didn’t hear him. I felt sick as the alcohol started to slosh around in my stomach. When I looked around next, we were in his car.

“Don’ take me home,” I repeated.

“Charlotte, I already said I’m taking you back to my house. Relax.”

“Oh. Just don’t let me go home, please.”

Tom rolled his eyes at me. I felt tired and closed my eyes for a second. The last thing I remember of that night is Tom carrying me inside.

A/N: I haven’t gotten a lot of feedback on this story yet, so let me know if you’re liking it or not? (: Thanks for reading!