Adore

Chapter 22

"Well, they seemed.. pleasant" I said dryly as we took our seats at the table.

"Did they say something to you?" Harry asked.

"Oh it's nothing, one of them thinks she recognised me"

"How would she recogn.. oh" Harry said trailing off.

"Don't worry, I'm not phased by them" I said to him.

Under the table, Tom squeezed my hand again. Looking at me with sad eyes. I tried to show him that I was fine but I could tell he was still worried.

Our dinner arrived soon after we had finished our second round of drinks and we all tucked in. The food at this pub was delicious.

Tom had slipped away during the meal to get another round, this time stronger drinks were ordered. I had a long island iced tea , Harrison a vodka redbull, Sam had a whiskey sour - ick- Harry & Tom ordered a bourbon and coke each.

"Hi guys, we just wanted to remind everyone that we're having karaoke night tonight if anyone wants to join in" A pretty waitress said to our table.

A massive grin broke out on my face. I was a total sucker for a good round of karaoke.

"I'm game!" I said excitedly.

Tom groaned next to me.

"Cmon, it'll be fun" I turned to Tom and spoke. I was smiling from ear to ear but he looked less than impressed.

"Fine, but if I have to sing so do they" He replied and pointed a finger and his best friend and twin brother.

We finished off our drinks and made our way to the back of the pub. There was a pool table, some slot machines and two tall speakers for the music. a small dj/mc booth and a tv to read lyrics off.

"I'm not drunk enough for this" Tom said under his breath, although I did hear it.

"Anyone for another round?" I asked. They all agreed and I took everyones orders and went to the bar.

I paid for the drinks and took the tray back to my group who found a few bar stools.

"Here we go" I said handing out the drinks.

Tom had offered his seat to me, which I took, crossing my booted ankles behind each other.

He brushed the hair off my shoulder and ran his hand down my back slowly. As a automatic reaction to his touch, my spine straightened and I could feel the heat of his fingers in a line down my back, that was fading as he removed his hand.

Tom was looking at me with a smirk playing on his lips, he knew what we was doing to me. I cleared my throat and took a large sip of my drink to distract myself.

I think it was obvious that something was going on between me and Tom. But I wasn't sure how far the public displays of affection would go.

The mc had turned up and was getting things ready for the start of karaoke. Some more people milled into the area, taking a number in the queue for their chance to sing.

I liked to think I was an excellent singer, my shower thought I was marvellous. Although, the reality was that I was semi decent according to a total of like five people.

I hopped off the bar stool, took my number and told the dj my song.

I managed to convince Harrison and Harry to do a duet, Sam chickened out of his turn and then I turned to Tom.

"Wanna pick a song with me?" Tom nodded and joined me as we picked an all time great.

The other attendees of the pub started off the karaoke and soon it was my turn. I finished off my drink, feeling the liquid courage course through my blood.

I took the bar stool over with me and sat. I don't who I thought I was, but I said to the crowd

"Alright everyone, we're gonna slow this down a bit now"

The music started up and I cleared my throat. The intro was light picking on guitar strings.

I closed my eyes and began the song.

"I took my love and I took it down"

I paused briefly, opening my eyes and seeing the other karaoke goers looking back at me.

"Climbed a mountain and I turned around"

This song was like an anthem to me. I had been a fan of Fleetwood Mac and Stevie Nicks since I could remember. Their music just reached a special part of my soul.

"And I saw my reflection, in the snow covered hills"

"Till the landslide brought me down"

I continued the song until I reached the end, grinning from ear to ear like a total idiot. Most of the people listening clapped politely but my group of friends were much more enthusiastic, cheering and whistling which made me laugh.

I handed the mic back to the mc and dragged my stool back to the group.

"Thankyou, thankyou. You're far too kind" I said bowing slightly and laughing.

"That was actually really nice" Harrison said.

"Well, now its your turn mate!" I said as he and Harry took their spots at the front of the speakers.

They began to rap along to Lose Yourself by Eminem. They were holding themselves together pretty well until Harry messed up the words and then they couldn't stop laughing.

"We're up!" I said jumping off the stool and grabbing Toms hand.

The song we picked came blasting through the speakers, the sweet chaos of Bohemian Rhapsody falling on ears of those around us.

We dove into the song enthusiastically singing and about half way through Harry pulled out his phone, most likely videoing this epic cover.

By the time it was over, we were out of breath and in fits of giggles. He picked me up in a big hug and spun me around a few times making me laugh, I was holding on to my hat that almost went flying.

There was the most breath taking smile on his face as he set me back on the floor.

Tom really was so much fun to be around. He always had me smiling or laughing. He made me feel light hearted and happy. He also made me feel all sorts of other slightly naughty things but that just made me so much more attracted to him.

In that little pub on a random Friday night, I realised that I wanted to be so much more than just friends with him. Hopefully, he feels the same.