What If

Chapter 21 - Drunk

Taylor's P.O.V.
Question: have you ever had to drag a slightly drunk, half asleep 23-year-old from an after party, to a small mobile home, whilst in the bloody pitch black and wearing heels? Not that easy, not that easy. And the heels part didn't help at all!

"Come on, we're almost there," I sighed, as I pulled Thomas' arm tighter around my neck. I don't know how much he had drunk at the party, but he clearly went over the limit! His speech was slurred, he could barely walk, and he kept going on about the most random things! Drunk.

"B-but Taywer," He slurred, tripping up on his own two feet as he slowly stumbled beside me, "I wanna paaaarrrty!"

"Oh no no no!" I laughed, half dragging him along the cobble pathway towards the dimly lit mobile homes in the distance. Why did ours have to be the bloody furthest away?

"There is nooooo way you're going back to the paaaaaarrrty!" I continued, mocking the way he had said party, "Besides, it's like three in the morning! I wanna get to bed!"

"And I wanna jelly bear!" He grinned, tripping yet again on his foot. Remember how I said I thought Thomas was slightly drunk? I take it back. He is seriously drunk!

"Okay, well I'm sorry to disappoint you Tommy, but we have no jelly bears!" I cooed sarcastically, reaching the front door to our mobile home and fumbling for the keys in my purse, whilst still trying to keep Thomas up on two feet by leaning his weight onto me.

"Ohhhhhhh," Thomas whined, hitting himself in the head, "What about 'gummy' bears?"

"Nope, we're out of all kinds of bears!" I finally managed to open the door, and I walked in, followed by a stumbling Thomas, "Right, you get changed for bed whilst I go to brush my teeth and get changed in the toilet, okay?" I nodded several times at Thomas, who just mumbled something quiet, which I assumed was an answer of some kind to my question.

Grabbing my pyjamas, I shut myself in the small toilet and just about managed to get dressed. Hanging my dress neatly on the door coat hanger, I looked in the mirror and studied my reflection. I'd removed my make-up, and now a bleary eyed, pale skinned girl with freckles and glasses stood before me. Wavy brown locks of hair tumbled down past her shoulders and back. I stared long and hard, especially at my glasses. They would always be what kids would tease me on as a child, and it seemed that their cruel words and taunts still haunted my life ten years on. Sudden images of girls laughing and pointing at me flashed before my eyes, and I shook my head viciously to rid myself from them. But then, just as the deafening cries of a young me began to burst my ear drums, something else made it through. A laugh. A chuckle. The laughter grew in my mind and I could suddenly see who it was. Thomas. All those terrifying and upsetting scenes in my head were suddenly replaced with ones of me and him together. When we first met. When we house sat together. When he agreed to be my date for Ellie's wedding. And when we'd danced together.

One by one, the nightmares disappeared, until when I looked back up in the mirror, I was face to face with a smiling girl. Small dimples formed by her cheeks, and her eyes were shining slightly. This was the real me. A me I hadn't seen for quite some time! I laughed quietly to myself and wiped away a tear that threatened to fall from my eye. No. Forget them, Taylor. They're all over now. Finishing up in the bathroom, I slowly unlocked the door and peeked my head round the side. Thomas, lay face down on the bed, his face buried in his pillow. His shirt was un-buttoned, and he was still wearing his trousers. Laughing to myself, I pulled the blanket off of the bed from beneath him, and lay it over the top of him. Smiling, I climbed into bed and lay my head down into my pillow. He was snoring quietly, and his chest rose and fell as he breathed. Reaching forward, I ruffled his hair a little and giggled.

"Goodnight Thomas," I yawned and turned over to turn out the light. And I pretty much fell asleep as soon as I closed my eyes.

The next morning...

Thomas' P.O.V.
I was woken to the sickening pounding of my head. My eyes were blurry with sleep, and I felt my head sway a little as I sat up on the bed. What happened the me last night? The last thing I remembered, was talking to the creep at the bar with Taylor, and then asking her to dance. Everything else was a blur, although I seem to remember something to do with a gummy bear or something. I looked down to notice that my shirt was unbuttoned, but still over my shoulders, and I was still wearing my trousers from the party. I take it I can't undress myself very well then when I'm drunk, I sighed, shaking my head with confusion but instantly regretted it. Blinding pain shot through my skull, and I reached up and held my head in my hands.

"Owwww," I moaned quietly, as I started looking around for some paracetamol or something for my head. Shifting on the bed, I looked round and froze. Taylor lay with her arms slightly covering her face, and with half her face buried within her pillow. The duvet ended at about her waist, and she was wearing her geeky Donald Duck t-shirt again, that had fallen a little down her arm to reveal her bare shoulder. Her hair lay sprawled out over both her shoulders and the pillow, and every now and then, a small snore would escape her mouth. She looked so adorable as she slept, and I suddenly felt myself staring. Averting my gaze, I carefully stood up from the bed and attempted at walking quietly towards my suitcase. Now, I say attempted because I didn't end up walking quietly at all. Instead, I fell over my shoes that lay on the floor from last night, and fell face down onto the ground with a crash.

"What the?" Taylor jumped up in bed and looked wildly about the room. Regaining my footing, I stood up from the floor and held out my arms for balance. With just one look at me, she burst into a fit of laughter and hit her fist repeatedly onto the mattress.

"Oh my God, Thomas!" She cried, howling with laughter, "You bloody idiot!"

"Hey, it's not my fault!" I moaned, kicking my shoes in annoyance, "It's my bloody shoes!"

"Oh yeah, sure sure," She nodded, sarcasm lacing her voice as she did, "Anyway, feeling any better from last night?"

"No," I remarked bluntly, sitting beside her on the bed, "My head kills!"

"Well you were pretty drunk!" She laughed, "I had to literally drag you here at three in the morning, whilst you kept going on about bloody gummy bears!"

"Seriously? I was that drunk?" I asked, wide eyed. Wow. How much exactly did I drink?

"Mm hm," Taylor grinned, brushing the hair back from her eyes. There was a sudden knock on the door from outside, making both Taylor and I jump.

"Who is it?" Taylor called loudly, before silently apologising for making my head hurt even more.

"It's Ellie!" Ellie shouted from outside, "Come on Taylor open up!"

"Urgh, one minute!" Taylor groaned, throwing back the covers and jumping out of bed. She sleepily walked towards the door and opened it.

"What do you want? I'm kinda busy!" She sighed, rubbing her eyes. Ellie looked Taylor up and down, taking in her messy hair, slightly risen pyjama shorts, and creased t-shirt.

"Sorry Taylor, I just came to remind you and Thomas that breakfast is now being served," She smiled sweetly.

"Oh yeah, okay thanks!" Taylor grinned, looking in my direction, "Thomas is just here actually, so we'll be down in a minute!" It only took one glance around the door on Ellie's behalf, to instantly get the wrong idea. There Taylor was, in bedraggled pyjamas and with messy hair, and here I was, with my shirt un-buttoned, and my hair all over the place. Bloody brilliant.

"Oh, I'm so sorry guys!" Ellie exclaimed, backing away from the door instantly, "I'm just gonna, um, go back to breakfast and I'll see you in a bit yeah?"

"Yeah, okay, sounds great!" Taylor said from behind her hand, which was now covering her face. I could tell she was just as embarrassed as I was. Shutting the door shut as Ellie headed off, Taylor pressed her head to the back of the door and hit it hard.

"Fudge. Fudge. Fudge!" She groaned, now face palming herself repeatedly, "Well that didn't look suspicious at all!"