I stood towards the back of the crowd looking for Alex, while listening to the band he had brought me to see. My head bobbed in time to the music. "Elle, sorry babe. Do you want to come dance?" Alex's arm wrapped around my waist and he pressed a light kiss to my cheek. I smiled up at him and nodded. "Yeah, let's go." His hand clasped mine as we wove forward through the crowd to the front. We joined the mosh pit jumping along to the beat of the music. Alex's arm was securely wrapped around my shoulders, holding me close to him.
We danced for a few songs before I pulled his arm off me. He was definitely drunk by now. "I have to go to the bathroom" I told him, shooting him a soft smile. I left him with his drink in hand and made my way to the bathroom located at the back of the crowded hall. There was a long-ish queue in the bathroom. By the time I had finished in the bathroom, the band was done and had exited the stage. I left the bathroom looking for Alex. I walked towards the side to stand by an open door to get some air. I was grabbed and pulled through the door and slammed into the wall. A hand was over my mouth, muffling the scream that was trying to escape. My eyes opened and I was shocked. It was Alex pinning me to the wall. His eyes were dilated and he had definitely taken something. I pushed him back and stepped away. "Alex, what the hell are you doing?" I asked him angrily. "Who is he, Elle? Who's the guy you snuck of too?" His tone was menacing. "What?" I exclaimed confused.
All of a shot, I was once again slammed into the wall. "Don't play dumb with me, Elle. You were gone for half an hour. Who is he?" He glared angrily at me, waiting for my answer. His hands gripped my arms, squeezing so hard I could feel bruises forming. "I don't know what you're talking about Alex! Please let me go, you're hurting me." Tears began to cloud my vision as I stared up at my boyfriend. "You're cheating on me" he laughed. I was more than confused. "Alex, I would never-" I started to speak but I was interrupted by him pulling away. "Alex, why would I cheat on you? You cheated on me remember?" I continued. That was definitely a stupid thing to say. His face quickly became angry. His fist swung around and connected with my face. The force of the punch sent me into the wall, where I hit my head and slid to the ground. My head felt fuzzy as Alex's foot began to connect with my ribs and stomach.
The ordeal continued for I don't know how long before a voice interrupted Alex's beating. "Hey!" A voice called from the end of the alley. They're was one more hard blow to my head before Alex took off running. I pushed myself up off the ground into a sitting position. A man in all black sprinted past me following the shrinking silhouette of Alex. I recognised his uniform as one of the venues security guards. After a moment, 2 more people crouched beside me. "My name is Evan, and this is my friend Josh. We're going to bring you inside with us. Is that okay?" His voice was soft and he spoke gently. I nodded ignoring the pounding in my head. Tears rolled down my cheeks as I stood with the help of the 2 boys. "Let's go into the dressing room and then we can call the doctor." Josh told me as we walked through the alley, moving slowly.
Inside, we entered the dressing room. "Ross, Pete, can you two please go find some blankets or something? She's shivering" Evan asked sitting next to me on the couch. "I'll go and get some tea or something. " Josh followed the other two out into the corridor. Evan wrapped his arms around me as I sobbed and shivered. "Can I call someone for you? Who did you come with?" His voice was quiet. I swallowed before I spoke. "I came here with my boyfriend but I don't know where he went. " I told him "he ran off" I heard a sharp intake of breath. "That bastard is your boyfriend?" He asked me angrily. "Yes, but he's never done anything like this before. He's so sweet." I told him. We sat in silence after that.
"Can I call someone for you? Like your mam or dad?" He asked, just as the door opened. "The prodigals have returned." The brown haired boy exclaimed entering the room. His sunglasses were in his right hand and in his left was a cup. "And I've brought some hot chocolate." He handed me the cup. "Thank you." I said giving him a small smile. Josh and the other boy, with the blonde hair wrapped two blankets around me. "I rang the doctor and he'll be here soon." Josh told me and Evan. "Can I ring my mam?" I asked Evan quietly. "Oh yeah, sure." He reached into his pocket and handed me his phone. "Thank you." I took it from his hand. "I'll just go out here." I stood up from the couch and stepped into the hall.
I stepped back inside and was greeted by four warm and concerned smiles. "My mam's going to be here in a few hours for me." I told them before sitting down again. I picked up the cup of chocolate and took a sip, the warmth radiating through my body. I watched the liquid in the cup slosh as my hands shook. "So, what's your name?" The sunglasses guy asked me. "I'm Elle. " I told them. "I know Evan and Josh but what are your names?" I asked the other two. "I'm Ross, and that is Pete." Sunglasses boy or Ross, I should say, told me. "And you are the band, right?" I asked. They all began to laugh. "Yeah we are." Josh laughed , and told me. "Alex likes your band but I have to admit that I hadn't really listened to you guys before." I blushed and look down.
There was a knock on the door. "Hey guys the doctor is here." A security guard opened the door and showed in the doctor. "Hi, I'm Dr Hayes." He strode in and shook all of our hands. "Now, I'm going ask everyone who isn't my patient to leave. Is that alright with you?" He asked, making sure I was okay with it. I quickly nodded my head. "Just call if you need me okay?" Evan told me. I smiled at him and nodded. They all left the room. "Let's get down to business then shall we?" The doctor asked me with a kind smile. After 15 minutes, the exam was done and the boys came back into the room. "So there is just bruising of the ribs and stomach. There doesn't seem to be any internal injuries but I would suggest going to hospital to get it checked just in case." He told us, packing up his bag. "If there's any problems, contact me or your normal GP, alright?" He informed me. "Thank you so much, Dr Hayes." I said as he went to leave.
I stood up after the doctor left. "I have to go to I suppose" I said. "I told my mam I would meet her in my uncles house. So I should go now." I picked up my handbag. "Can we call a taxi?"Pete asked me. "I think I can just walk it. It really isn't that far." I insisted. "Thank you all so so much for helping me. I really appreciate it. And it was so nice to meet you all" each of them gave me a hug and wrote their numbers down on a sheet of paper. I then made my way to the exit and began to walk back to my uncles house.
