The Attachment

Chapter 8

The first thing I realised when I came to was that I wasn't in my own bed. The sheets were too soft and slippery and the air was too warm. The second thing I noticed was I wasn't alone in bed if the gentle breathing beside me was anything to go by. And the third thing was that my head felt like it was about to explode. I sit up taking note that I wasn't in my costume from the night before but in warm oversized sweats. I look beside me to see Colby still asleep with his face pressed into the black silk pillowcase. He's got some makeup still around his eyes, the rest is mostly gone. The black silk sheets pool around his waist with only his bare torso visible. I look into the large mirror on the dresser next to the bed and notice my face has no makeup either. What the fuck happened last night? Did we have sex? I shyly raised the silk sheets to find Colby in grey sweats. At some point during the night my clothing came off. The fact that I was clothed didn't mean we didn't have sex. I didn't feel like I had sex but I was also too hungover to really know. I see my costume on the back of the sofa in his room and my heels laying haphazardly beside the bed. My phone is charging on the nightstand. I pick it up to see I have some texts.

Jc: I'm guessing you're not up yet? Text me when you can.
Jc: Also Colby? Really?

You: what the fuck happened last night.
Jc: 🤣 you got wasted. So did I but you were far more gone than me.
You: Jc...I don't remember anything beside dancing.
Jc: are you okay?
You: I guess. I'll text you later.

I feel Colby stir beside me and then roll over unto his back as his eyes flutter open. My own eyes fall onto his bare chest. "You're up." His voice is raw and raspy and it send a chill down my spine.

"Don't take this the wrong way Colby...but what the fuck happened last night?" He chuckles as sits up rubbing at his eyes. He finally looks at me and his eyes are gentle.

"What do you last remember?"

"Uhm...you handing me a shot and then dancing." I hold my head in my hands.

"Well not long after the cops showed up. Sent everyone home. You wanted to party more so we came back here and had a couple drinks. And then I helped you clean your makeup off, gave you clothes to sleep in and we slept." He says it so genuinely I don't even doubt him for a second.

I feel guilty though. This isn't the best impression to leave on the guy you might be crushing on. "I'm so sorry." I whisper as I sit on the edge of the bed hiding my face in my hands.

He scoots over framing me with his legs and pulling me against him for a hug, "Why are you apologising? You had fun. You look like you needed it. Come on, it's not a big deal." I look down and play with my fingers

He tightened the hug, "I'm not kidding. We had fun, we laughed a lot and then fell asleep."

"I've never drank and blacked out before. I'm not like that, it's not a usual thing." I say softly.

"I didn't think it was. Come on let's get up and get some coffee and I'll drop you home."

He climbs off the bed and looks at me. "Hey, Ellie." He bends and gets into my line of sight, "we didn't have sex if that's what you're worried about, we had some drinks with Sam and Kat and then went to bed."

I nod and get up. I felt like shit but he looked at me with so much care in his eyes and I didn't understand why. I looked around and looked at my costume thinking of how shameful I felt having to put it back one. "I'll get you a bag to put it in." He says coming over with a bag and helping me put my costume in it. He then hands me a new tooth brush and says follow him. I follow him into a massive bathroom just off his bedroom and notice he has more than one sink. This guy was so far out of my fucking league it wasn't funny. We brushed our teeth in silence before I awkwardly held my toothbrush to take with me. He plucked it out my hands and placed it into the holder before walking out into the bedroom. Why was he so nice to me? He slips a hoodie on and then grabs his keys and wallet while I pick my heels up off the floor before following him down the steps and out the door.

Why was I so fucking awkward and why couldn't I say anything to him? It was my first time taking the walk shame.

Colby's p.o.v
The minute I spotted her on the dance floor my heart fluttered and I couldn't stop smiling. I was drunk by the time I mustered the courage to go up to her. By the time we'd made it back to my place I'd sobered up some but she seemed to be drunker than an sailor. She and Kat downed a few more White Claws before she picked her phone up to order an Uber. Something in me didn't felt comfortable with the thought of her getting into an Uber with a complete stranger when I realised she couldn't even tell where she was. Sam and Kat had retired to bed by the time I climbed the stairs with her in my arms. I sat her down on the counter of my bathroom and helped her clean the dark makeup she wore and then tried my best to clean my own. I don't know what it was about this girl that made me care so much but I found myself doing the small mundane things, like cleaning her face, that I'd never done before for another girl.

She seemed sad as I wiped at her nose. "What's wrong?" She looked up and she has tears in her eyes.

"I don't get to have fun anymore. Tonight felt good." Is all she said.

"Why don't you get to have fun anymore?"

"Because he took that away from me." She slips off the counter clumsily and goes into the bedroom. I sigh. I don't know what that guy did to her, but he clearly hurt her more than she'll admit. I finish wiping at my own face and follow her into the room where she puts her phone on the nightstand. I grab my extra cable from my desk and plug her phone in watching as she lays down. I head for the couch letting her have the bed. "Can you stay with me?" Her voice is soft and broken and my heart breaks with it. How did this girl who was having the time of her life, laughing as loudly as she could turn into this small fragile version of herself.

When she stirs in the morning I stir too. I'm usually a very deep sleeper but the moment she woke up I knew. When I look over at her she's confused and she looks scared. Even all the way to Starbucks she folds into herself and I wonder if she remembers our conversation in the bathroom at least. I order at the drive thru and then park when we collect so we could eat.

"My head is fucking killing me." She says.

"Yeah, mine too. What are you doing today?"

"Probably just going home and wallowing."

"Are you okay?" I ask. She takes a deep breath and closes her eyes.

"I never used to party much. I've always been the girl who wasn't invited to shit, I didn't have much friends. Guys didn't like me. And I moved. I moved and I made friends. I started getting invited to stuff. I started having fun. And then I dated a guy. And then suddenly I was the girl who couldn't do those things anymore without someone breathing down my neck and making me feel guilty about having fun." She sighs, "shit, I'm sorry, you don't want to hear about this. Fuck. I fucked this up."

I stayed silent until she stopped rambling. Maybe she needed to get shit off her chest. When she stopped and bit into her croissant I spoke. "Whoever made you feel guilty for having fun can choke on glass. You deserve to live your life and be happy, fuck anyone else who thinks differently. I know it looked awesome to see you so happy and carefree. It was beautiful." She blushes and I find myself feeling a heat in my own cheeks.

"Thanks, Colby." She whispers.

"How about I drop you off at your place, you shower and change so you can feel more like yourself, you take Oakley and come back to my place and just chill with everyone for the day?"

"I'd like that." She smiled softly.