Leave it on...

The lights flashed around the room and Daniel, who was sat next to Bethany, closed his eyes and buried his head in his t-shirt so that it wouldn’t trigger his epilepsy. The loud music boomed through her ears as she leaned forward to smile and listen to what Kerry was saying. She could barely hear her so they sat there waiting for everyone to leave and the room to fill up with normal light again.

‘Shall we go to the bar then?’ Kerry said with a giggle, followed by nodding from the rest of the group. The five of them stood up and started walking towards the stage and turned right towards a large door. They all bundled through the doorway and almost immediately got lost in the maze of a corridor.

‘Well this is a right balls out!’ said David, making them all burst out with laughter after having just watched Russell’s show.

‘Hey, that’s not fair!’ replied another masculine voice from behind them, startling them all and making them laugh even more. Russell was standing there still wearing the sweaty blue t-shirt that he’d been prancing around in for the past two hours.

‘Hahaa! Oh sorry Russ, bloody good show that were son!’ replied David, putting out a hand for Russell to shake. Russell held his dad’s hand and shook it tiredly and smiled.

‘Yes, that were gert lush Russ’ said Ninette, stepping forward to hug him.

‘Ah, thanks mum’ he said returning the hug and tapping her on the head jokingly because of her small height. Russell stretched his arm out towards his brother next and they shook hands.

‘I’ll come up on stage for ya next time Russ’ Daniel told him,

‘I thought you said that was the last one you were gonna come to.’

‘Yep.’ replied Daniel smiling at his brother who was giggling at him. Then Russell reached out to give his sister a hug. She didn’t say anything, making Russell a little curious.

‘You just want to get out of here now don’t you?!’ He asked looking at her,

‘Yes!’ replied Kerry with a hopeful smile on her face. They all smiled and Russell stretched out a muscular arm around Bethany’s shoulders and pulled her closer to him. He kissed her on the head and slid his hand down to her waist as she wrapped an arm around him. Russell’s parents went in a different direction to Kerry and Daniel, making Russell laugh. They turned to see him pointing in front of him.

‘The door’s that fucking way!’ he said, smiling uncontrollably. They walked though the doors laughing with each other and headed towards the bar for a couple of drinks before heading home.

After just over an hour of mucking around and having a few drinks, the Howard’s and Bethany decided to head home. They all started off on the same road until Kerry took a left turning back to her place, then Daniel took a right turn. Then, David and Ninette took their car on another left turn towards their house, flashing their lights at Russell and Bethany in the car behind. They were still another half hour or so away from home, at which point Russell turned to talk to his girlfriend only to find her head resting on the window, eyes closed and fast asleep. He smiled turning his head back to face the dark, empty roads.

He drove down the driveway and turned off the engine, putting his keys in the pocket of his jeans. Russell walked around the car and carefully opened Bethany’s door. He unbuckled her seat belt and slid a hand behind her back and another under her knees. He checked she was okay and wasn’t going to flop awkwardly as he lifted her up, then bent his knees and carried her out of the car seat to the front door, nudging the car door with his bum to close it first. He went straight upstairs and placed her on the bed. Russell knelt down beside Bethany and looked at her sleeping. He thought about how beautiful she was and smiled.

‘Love you’ He whispered, ‘so much’ not caring if she was listening. He went downstairs to check on Archie and fill up his food bowl so he wouldn’t pester Russell or Bethany later. They made a loud bang when Russell dropped the food container when Archie came charging in, hearing the food and ready to be fed.

‘Oh Archie you cock!’ He said. ‘No don’t fucking eat it! It’s dirty now!’ Russell sighed, holding the small dog back with his foot as the began sweeping up the spilled food. Russell crept back up the stairs having cleaned the kitchen and hoped that Bethany didn’t hear the commotion downstairs. Russell poked his head round the door to see Bethany awake and sat up straight on the bed.

‘Sorry about that’ He said, walking in the room.

‘That’s okay, I just found out I can teleport from the car!’ She smiled, making Russell smile too. He sat on the edge of the bed where Bethany was and gave her a kiss on the lips.

‘You look exhausted!’ She said admiring his still rather handsome face.

‘I have just been running around a stage for two hours.’ He replied,

‘And flashed your pants!’ Bethany reminded him, giving him another peck on the lips before getting up to get into her pyjamas while Russell went to the toilet. When he came back she was once again sitting on the bed, in her pyjamas checking her phone. He whipped off his still slightly sweaty t-shirt, catching Bethany’s eye. He turned to pick up his pyjama top from the edge of the bed to see her looking at him.

‘Comfortable is it?’ She asked, unable to avert her eyes from his hips. Russell looked down at the bright pink straps of the thong and laughed. He began taking off his belt to proceed to take the underwear off when he was stopped.

‘No, leave it on.’ Bethany said, with what Russell was certain he saw, a cheeky twinkle in her eye.

‘Beth…’ He sighed, dropping his hands by his side and tilting his head slightly, knowing what Bethany was thinking. Bethany nodded, smiling. Russell climbed onto the bed with his baggy jeans, that were no longer held up by his leather belt. He sat next to Bethany with a muscular arm around her. She rested her hand on his abs before flicking the thong strap against his hip, teasing him. They looked lovingly into each other’s eyes before sharing quite a long kiss. They got under the covers, smiling like lunatics and spent the rest of the night together, getting barely any sleep at all!