The Middle - Volume Two ✔️

Chapter 73

Jamie

***

So there we were, standing by the bar not long after midnight, champagne glasses in hand. We'd agreed not to be weird about our New Year's kiss (or kisses, thanks to me...) and it was fine. We weren't being weird at all. We were being Jamtrick, and I was so fucking glad. We pulled up a couple of bar stools, and we talked and we laughed like we always do. We ordered more drinks, Jay and Erin came over to us to let us know they were heading up to bed (thank fuck they didn't see our New Year's Kiss...es), Jay told the bar tender to cut us off because we'd had enough, Erin told Jay to stop being so boring and let us live a little, Patrick told Erin and Jay to try and keep it down when they started screwing, everyone laughed. It was good. Jay's parents said good night to us at one point too, and Walter advised us to head up to bed because we were both drunk. We ignored him, and decided to order one last drink each. Jack and Coke, of course.

"So, we're the last ones standing." I said to Patrick, while twirling the little straw around in my drink. "We should be proud of ourselves."

"Yeah, this place is starting to empty out." He commented, looking over towards the ballroom. A lot of people were leaving, but there were still plenty eager party goers around, drinking and dancing into the night. And the band were still playing too, so the party wasn't over. It was New Year's, after all.

Patrick set his drink down before resting his elbows on the bar and running both of his hands through his hair. He doesn't do this much, besides when his hairs a mess after drumming, and I figured he was just doing it because he was drunk. I didn't think much of it at the time, so I just continued swirling my straw around my drink and swivelling around on my bar stool. But when he looked over at me again, I knew something was up.

"So, that kiss." He started, and I rolled my eyes at him.

"We aren't talking about it, P, remember? We're having fun. Don't ruin it." I said firmly.

"And why would talking about it ruin our fun?" He came back at me, leaning back from the bar and raising an eyebrow at me curiously.

I didn't know how to answer him. Because the honest answer would have been that the second kiss had pretty much been consuming my thoughts since it happened, and I was desperately trying to ignore it. Talking about it would be in complete contradiction to that. So, instead of saying anything, I shrugged my shoulders and sipped on my drink.

"I kissed you at midnight because you begged me." Patrick stated quietly, his eyes fixed on the drink in his hand. "Then you kissed me. Again. After midnight. Why the second kiss?"

"You didn't kiss me at midnight! You kissed me like five seconds before midnight!" I pointed out, earning a sideways look from him.

"So you decided to kiss me again because I kissed you five seconds early?" He looked less than impressed, and I felt my cheeks heat in embarrassment.

"Well, no. Not exactly." It was my turn to fix my gaze on my drink. I couldn't meet his eye. I felt so mortified.

"Okay, so explain yourself." He demanded firmly, swivelling around on his stool so that his entire body was facing me. He really wanted answers, and I was drunk, and I don't have a filter at the best of times. So I told him the truth.

"I just wanted to, okay?" I murmured into my Jack and Coke, before hauling the stupid little straw out and tossing it across the bar. "The first kiss was... interesting. I wanted to try it again. So, I did. I'm drunk, okay? Gimme a break."

He didn't respond right away, so after a few seconds I looked at him out of the corner of my eye. He looked well and truly confused, and I started to wish I'd just kept my fucking mouth shut. But then he spoke.