All The Mixed Feelings (Van McCann)

Part 5

Abby

The next time I opened my eyes I found myself in unfamiliar surroundings. I groaned and rolled over, panicking about not waking up in my own bed. In fact I wasn't in a bed at all, but on a sofa in a strange living room.

Flashbacks scrolled through my head, the party, Chris grabbing me outside and the altercation, drinking tequila with Johnny, meeting Van... the realisation hit me that I must still be at Van and Larry's house. But where was Michelle?

I felt like death. My tongue felt like cardboard in my dry mouth and it felt like someone was sticking needles directly into my brain through my eye sockets.

The last thing I could remember was dancing with Johnny. There was a huge void in my recollections as I struggled to dredge the memories from my mind.

I still felt drunk. I sat up slowly and a wave of nausea washed over me, and immediately a memory flooded back of me being sick.

"Fucking hell!" I muttered under my breath, wincing at the embarrassing recollection.

The blanket that had been draped over me fell away and I realised that I wasn't even wearing my own clothes but a t-shirt emblazoned with The Strokes that came down to just the tops of my thighs. I couldn't even remember getting undressed let alone where the shirt had come from.

I stiffly got to my feet, stepping forward and straight into an armchair, stubbing my toe hard. I let out an involuntary cry.

All of a sudden there was movement and I jumped. I wasn't alone in the room. I hadn't noticed another sleeping body on the sofa across from me.

I felt my stomach drop as I watched Van slowly rise to his feet, blinking the sleep out of his eyes and stretching animatedly.

"Oh my god, Van! Errr.... hi!" I said awkwardly, feeling my face instantly flush.

His mousy brown hair fell forward on to his face and he brushed it back with a hand. In the morning light filtering through the blinds I could see that he had the most beautiful greeny-blue eyes, the colour of a tropical lagoon. I hadn't appreciated last night just how mesmerising they were.

"Sleeping beauty awakens!" He said, his full lips pulling up into a grin.

I laughed awkwardly, looking down, willing the fire in my cheeks to subside. I was suddenly all too conscious of my state of undress, and sat back down, pulling at the hem of the t-shirt to cover my bare legs.

"I'm guessing you don't remember much about last night?" He smirked.

This was excruciating. I considered playing dumb but thought it might be better just to come clean.

"I don't remember a lot, but I think I owe you a massive apology," I said in a small voice.

Van cocked his head slightly to the side. "Oh, really?" He laughed, obviously finding my embarrassment amusing.

I started to feel a mild panic rise from my gut. Had I done anything else that I needed to apologise for and couldn't remember it? I wracked my brains but still couldn't recall a thing.

"You were certainly pretty wasted last night," he said. "Can you remember ANYTHING?"

The way he said it made me wish the ground would open up and swallow me whole. Half of me wanted a detailed account of exactly what I'd been up to and the other half was terrified and would rather not know.

"Look just put me out of my misery," I pleaded. "If I've trashed anything I'll pay. I feel terrible, I'm so sorry."

I hung my head, letting my hair fall over my face. Van stepped over to my sofa and perched on the end, turning his body to face me. I self-consciously pulled down the hem on the shirt which had ridden up. As I glanced up I saw his eyes move over my body and I shifted in my seat, self-conscious.