Never Really Over

Chapter 12

Beth wakes up in a sweat. Her face is clammy, and she can feel her hair sticking to the back of her neck. She puts her soaring temperature down to the aftereffects of all the alcohol she consumed last night, but then she as she stretches out her hand, she feels it brush against something. Her eyes fly open as the shock jolts her awake properly. As her eyes adjust to the dull light of the room, she sees she's lying on John's arm, that's what she felt, and the reason she's so hot, is because his other arm is draped across her stomach.

"You okay?" Her abrupt awakening has disturbed John, his voice is croaky from his hangover and sleep. He learns forward, closing the gap between their bodies, and rests his chin on Beth's shoulder. She strokes the arm around her waist, trailing her fingers along John's tattoo. She's always wondered if you could feel tattoos on someone's skin, if the skin would feel coarse or raised, but it's like there's nothing there.

You okay? Such an innocuous question that Beth isn't sure she knows the answer to, because whether or not she is okay hinges entirely on how John will behave. If he is going to freak out like he did back in March, then no, she won't be okay. But if he wants to pick up where they left off in the early hours of the morning once sleep got the better of them, then she'll be, for want of a better description, on cloud nine.

"Hmm?" He prompts Beth's reply by pressing a kiss to her shoulder and instantly she knows that it wasn't just the drink talking last night. A smile spreads across her face as relief washes over her, her hangover is completely secondary to the happiness she's feeling, "I'm good." Uncomfortably warm, but she'll live with that because being this close to him is worth it. "You?" John loves how raspy Beth's voice goes the morning after she's been drinking.

"My head's spinning, it hurts to open my eyes, I think I'm going to throw up, but other than that I'm good too," John eyes the purple bruises the events of the early hours have left on Beth's neck and smiles at the memory. She's going to freak out when she sees them. "Oh, and I have a dead arm."

"Sorry, I'll move," Beth tries to move but her body is aching, she can feel her calves burning from being in heels all night and she has a crick in her neck from sleeping on John's arm.

"Don't," John tightens his grip around her waist, his fingers digging into the duvet covering Beth's bare chest. They don't have to check out until 12 and he wants to soak up every moment he can with her. They don't even have to go downstairs for breakfast, because on the desk is their half-eaten desserts from the previous night, Beth loves eating crap for breakfast.

"I need to pee, and I need a drink." Beth thinks her bladder is going to burst and her tongue feels like sandpaper. She feels a wave of mild panic as she remembers that underneath the duvet, she's only wearing a thong. She wasn't wearing a bra with her dress last night; when she and John ate their room service with her cross-legged on the bed, she was wearing his shirt which he had later removed once they were back in bed, hands wandering (strictly above the waist) until the sun was almost up. The shirt is now in a crumbled heap several feet from the bed. "Close your eyes," Beth demands. "I'm practically naked."

John rolls onto his back and laughs loudly, "There's no point being shy now. I saw it all last night."

"Just close them," she pleads. She's never thought of herself as being self-conscious before, but she's also never been this naked with someone; any other fooling around she has done with other boys in the past has been in various stages of undress, but not like this.

"You do know that if I close my eyes, I can still see everything!? It's imprinted on my brain. You've got a little freckle under your left nipple, a strawberry birthmark on your hip and a little scar on your belly button where you tried to pierce it yourself. You were wearing knickers and not a thong when you did your fake tan because there's white bits on your bum. Oh, and your right boob is a tiny, tiny bit bigger than the left one, but you only notice if you're looking really hard. If you've got a bra on you can't tell. But if you need me to close my eyes then I'll do it."