The bass of you

Chapter 21

Opening my eyes, I feel the duvet and pull it up over my body because I'm feeling a draft brush against my shoulders. Grasping the pillow and getting comfortable to drift back off into a lovely sleep, I shuffle my body back to adjust my body in comfort. I'm about to drift off back to sleep when I hear snoring...and it's not Layla. This startles me and I snap open my eyes. I'm in bed...but it's not my  hotel room's bed.

Sitting up, I look around the room I'm in and realise that I'm in Chase's bedroom. Ace is on the floor, slumped against the wall, with half a bottle of whiskey being held in his hand. He appears to be sleeping and soon I realise that the snoring is coming from him. Chase is strewn across the bottom of the bed, arms stretched out either side of him, and his cowboy hat over his face. I've got one hell of a headache, I'm still feeling pretty tipsy. I don't even remember getting into bed, especially this one. My cheeks are burning up and I'm feeling shaky as my nerves kick in again. I can't remember anything other than : walking in on Layla and Jackson having sex, dancing as Chase and Ace played guitar, and sitting in the bathroom smoking a fag.

God, this isn't good, I can't remember what the hell went on.

Why am I even in Chase's bed? Why am in this bed?

Throwing the duvet off me, I grab the bedside table for support to help me up as I swing my legs over the side. Unfortunately, I wasn't looking where my fingers were, and an empty glass bottle of booze tumbles over the side of the bedside table, and thuds against the carpet flooring. Staying motionless and holding my breath, I look at Ace, then Chase, but luckily it didn't seem to wake them. Breathing again, I silently make my way off the bed and tip-toe across the carpet. But I'm not sure what to do or where to go. I'm not even in my hotel. So I stand in the middle of the bedroom, staring at Chase and Ace as they sleep, trying to think of what to do. The silence is not helping, it's only creating more tension and I'm feeling so uncomfortable right now.

Do I walk to Jackson's room and wake Layla? Do I wake Chase? Do I just wait until someone wakes up? What the hell do I do!

After a while of standing on the spot, immobile and silent, I decide that I'll just wait around until someone wakes up. Tip-toeing back to the bed, the bedroom door suddenly bursts open and I look so quick that my ankle does that stupid thing where it just bends. With nothing around me to hold on to because I'm by the foot of the bed, I fall sideward and my shoulder crashes into Chase's leg - which hangs over the side of his bed. It actually really hurts when my shoulder hits it and a sharp pain shoots through my shoulder, but I'm distracted from my pain when I turn around and see a tall, broad-shouldered, middle-aged man standing in the bedroom staring at me. I stare back.

We both stare in silence for a moment, I'm not really sure what to say to him because I have absolutely no idea who he is. He has an intimidating physique with a soft face, which only makes him seem more intimidating. While he's staring at me, expressionless, with a tensed jaw, and nothing but silence. This man has deep brown eyes, short black hair with a bit grey coming through, a freshly shaven dark-grey beard, and one of his ears has a silver stud earring in it. I hear Chase moaning softly on the bed above me. Still sitting on the floor, with my back against the side of the bed, right next to Chase's leg, for some reason I can't find it in me to get up until I know who this man is.

Suddenly, his expression turns soft and he half-smiles - which only confuses me. Smiling back shyly, I look over at Ace, who's now looking up at the strange man with tired eyes. He has his bandana loosely tied around his head, slipping down, presumably having tied it when he was drunk. His long, wavy, black shoulder-length hair is all over the place, sticking out everywhere.