"Just give me a minute, ok?" I mumbled to Brian, trying to get my shit together. "I'll be with Oli at the bar."
"You sure?" He asked, the worry evident on his face. I nodded and he gave me a quick kiss before returning to the table.
I rushed over to Oli, who was ordering herself a large wine at the bar.
"I wish I could have a drink right now." I sighed as I reached her.
"Ignore her Shae." Oli turned to face me. "Like you said earlier, she can do fuck all. Let's enjoy tonight, ok?" She smiled at me.
I raised my eyebrows at her. "I will if you will." Oli stuck her tongue out at me and linked her arm through mine.
Brian squeezed my knee as I sat down beside him. "You good?" He whispered and I nodded, smiling at him. He pulled my chair closer to his and snaked his arm around my waist, his fingers grazing the bare skin at the hem of my t-shirt. My breath caught and I elbowed him in the ribs. He knew exactly what he was doing.
"Stop it." I admonished, scowling as he laughed at me and carried on. "Brian..." I warned playfully, slapping his hand away from me.
He laughed loudly, causing half the table to turn and look at us. "You're a fucking idiot." I mumbled, shaking my head at him. He pulled me towards him and kissed me hard, causing Joe to start wolf whistling and cheering. Laughing I turned and flipped him off. Only then did I notice the death stares I was getting from Natasha.
As the evening went on, and everyone got more and more drunk, the looks got progressively worse. I told a wasted Brian that I was going to the bathroom and made my way outside for a breather. I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes as I tried to clear my head.
"She's just bitter..." I jumped at the sound of someone extremely close to me. I opened my eyes and saw Casey leaning beside me. "She's been a nightmare the last couple of months. But she'll get over it, once she finds someone else to get her claws into." He rolled his eyes and I laughed.
"Not you, I hope." I teased. "You've got better taste than that, right?" He laughed humourlessly.
"Apparently. But those girls are never interested in me."
I felt bad for Casey. He did really like Oli. And she liked him but when it came down to it, the connection that she had with Sal was too strong. By the sad look on his face, I knew she hadn't spoken to him. But he's obviously seen her with Sal tonight and put two and two together.
"There's plenty more around Case. Don't get hung up on this one." I squeezed his arm and made my way back inside.
The first thing I saw when I walked back into the room was Oli all over Sal. I guess that's why Casey made a hasty retreat. It was only then that I saw Natasha was no longer in her seat, but draped across Brian's lap. And he didn't seem in the slightest bit bothered.
I marched up the table and loomed over them. "Are you fucking kidding me?" I snarled. I'd never seen Brian jump so much before. I glared at Natasha. "If you don't remove yourself in the next 3 seconds, I will do it for you." I waited, arms crossed and eyebrow raised, for her to climb off my boyfriend. It took everything that I had in me to not smack the smirk she gave me off her face.
"Shae...I..." Brian slurred as he tried to stand.
"Don't." I growled. "I'm going." Without another word, I stormed back outside, neatly knocking Casey over as he came through the door.
"You sober Casey?" I asked quietly. He nodded. "Can you drive me to Brian's please?" He quickly agreed, and led me to his car. After sitting in silence for a while, I felt like I should apologise. "You keep ending up as my escape driver. I'm sorry."
He shook his head and waved off my apology. "Forget it, I didn't really want to hang around anyway."
I didn't really know what to say so I stayed quiet. Before I knew it, we were back at Brian's. I thanked Casey for the lift and opened the door.
"He really does love you, you know." Casey said as I climbed out of the car.
"He has a funny way of showing it sometimes, Case." I waved and shut the car door and walked to the house.
I refused to get worked up about this. I wasn't going stress myself out. I sat on the sofa and waited for Brian to come home. I woke up to the sound of the door opening. I glanced at the clock, I'd only drifted off 30 minutes ago.
"Please don't leave me." Brian said quietly as he stood in the doorway.
"Why shouldn't I Brian?" I sighed. "Is this what happens every time you get drunk? Can I really trust you when I'm not around if I can't even walk outside for 10 minutes without this happening?"
"You can trust me. Please Shae." Brian pleaded.
I shook my head. "I need some time to think. I'm not going home but I can't stay here, not right now. This isn't just about me and you anymore Brian." My hand automatically strayed to my stomach. "And I need to decide on what to do for the best."
I took out my phone and called Joe, who immediately offered to let me stay there for as long I needed and was already on his way to get me. I text Oli, who had gone back to Sal's and told her what was going on. After her string of expletives, I told her to stay with Sal for a couple of days.
Half an hour later, and I was sat in the passenger seat of Joe's Fiat, watching him as he spoke to Brian. Joe never once raised his voice but I could see from Brian's expression that he was being reamed out. I sighed and closed my eyes. I didn't even want to think anymore.
