secrets

seventeen

-ADELE-
______

"I'm going to get another drink, want anything?" Simon offers, standing up from the table.

I shake my head. "I'm good."

He nods and says, "I'll be right back."

Fear suddenly starts to take over me when I realize how crowded this place is and the fact that I am now alone. As I scan the unfamiliar and somewhat foggy room, a strangely familiar face looms in front of me.

"Adele?" His voice asks, startlingly deeper than I remembered it being, yet not even close to the level that Simon's is.

"Ben?" I answer, just as surprised. I haven't seen him since we graduated five years ago.

"You remember me!"

"How could I forget you? We were best friends in high school!"

"You, me and Laura." He adds. There's a silence, then he interrupts it and says, "Come dance with me."

I willingly go, downing the rest of my drink. I figure it's a small enough room for Simon to know where I am and it's not like Ben is a complete stranger. But the effects of our drinks begin to kick in, and our bodies find their way closer to each other. His arms are around my waist and our faces are dangerously close.

"Can I take you home?" He suddenly asks.

In my incoherent state, I vaguely remember Simon telling me he'd be right back. I stop dancing and look around the room. "I didn't come alone." I mention, scanning the dozens of unfamiliar faces surrounding me, searching for the familiarity of Simon.

He frowns. "Then where is your date?"

"I don't know." I say, shrugging my shoulders and then starting to dance again. Simon will turn up eventually.

Ben places his arm around my waist saying, "Well I hope he won't mind if I borrow you for a while."

Again, I shrug, starting to really wonder where Simon has gone. "He probably would." I finally state, taking his hand away and fighting through the crowded dance floor, hoping to find Simon.

He follows me the whole way out, and when I finally do break free, his arm finds their way around me again.

"I told you, my boyfriend would not appreciate this." I shake my head.

"Your boyfriend won't find out." He smirks.

I'm not in the clearest mindset, so I find myself allowing him to lead me to the bathrooms in the back of the pub. A part of me feels like turning around and going back to Simon, but the other part of me has lost all of its inhibitions and is encouraging me to just go with it.

He shuts the door behind us, lifting me up and setting me on top of the counter. He attaches his lips onto mine, and I let him. It feels so wrong.

He breathily pulls away for a second, and he says, "You were always beautiful, but wow."

I look away and say, "I shouldn't be here, I should be with Simon." I try to get off of the counter, but he holds me back.

"Adele, please, he won't find out. It'll be a secret."

"No!" I push his arms away from me. "I'm tired of secrets! Just let me go!"

He slams his lips onto mine again, and just as they do, a loud voice trails down the hall into the bathroom. It sounds just like-

"Adele? Are you in he-" Simon's voice booms, the door flying open.

Our lips are still connected and I hear glass fall and shatter onto the tile floor.
I turn away from Ben and find Simon standing there, betrayal written all over his perfect face.

"What is going on here?" His voice gets louder with each word. I jump off the counter and hurry into his arms, but he doesn't even acknowledge me.

"Geez Adele, you weren't lying." Ben says, completely unbothered by the fact that he just kissed me against my will and my boyfriend probably thinks I cheated on him.

"About what?" Simon snaps, stepping away from me. He won't even look at me.

"She told me she had a boyfriend and that he wouldn't like it if we kissed." Ben explains so calmly that it angers me.

"Yeah, well, she's right!" Simon yells, stepping around the shattered glass and towards Ben.

"Simon, please, let's just leave." I say, giving him a desperate look. He looks at me and back at Ben, his eyes burning with frustration. But yet again, he proves to me that he is a man and not an immature boy. He steps away from Ben without harming him and storms out of the bathroom.

He takes my hand, his grip strong and not at all gentle. I trust that he won't hurt me as he guides me through the crowd, my head hurting from the loud music. His grip on me tightens even more as we go through the circle of people and it doesn't loosen until we get to the car.

He drops my wrist, not saying another word until we both get into the car. "What just happened in there?" He yells, looking understandably hurt and frustrated.

"Simon, I promise I didn't kiss him!" I say, all my pent up emotions coming through now.

"Really? Because that's exactly what it looked like!"

I ignore the fact that I had let him take me to the bathroom, mostly blaming that on the drink I had and my oblivion. "I told him multiple times that I was here with you but he didn't listen!"

"Yet it still was perfectly fine that he kissed you, right?" He starts the car, only slightly concerned by the fact that tears are pouring from my eyes.

"I tried to get away and I yelled at him to let me go but just as he kissed me again, you came in and it looked exactly like what I was afraid of!" I am full on sobbing, afraid of losing him.

Realizing now that I was once again victimized, he stops the car and parks on the side of the street. "Are you serious?" He's still yelling, but the anger is not towards me.

I nod.

"It's a good thing you didn't tell me that in there or I would have..." He trials off, not finishing the sentence. He doesn't need to. "This is all my fault!" He slams his fist against the steering wheel. "I should have never left you alone!"

"It's not your fault, baby. It's my fault, I'm just stupid."

"You are NOT stupid!" He says with emphasis.

Seeing the terrified and broken look on my face, he says only one thing. "I'm taking you home and you can let it all out while I hold you, ok?"

It's all I needed to hear for the broken pieces of my heart to regain their shattered hope.