In My Dreams It's Me And You

Nathalie’s POV

“Watch your step there,” he warned as I let him lead me outside, just trying to focus on where I was planting my feet rather than where we were going.

“Where are we?”

“Just outside,” he replied. “Look at me.”

My head felt as if it was weighted down, and I couldn’t seem to bring it up to look at him. Next I knew I was flying backwards without my instruction, falling to the ground where, rather conveniently, a puddle was awaiting.

“You silly person, falling over like that,” he teased, reaching down and helping me back to my feet. “Not very steady on our feet today are we?”

“Sorry,” I murmured, leaning on him more than I would’ve liked to. “My head feels funny.”

“That’s a good sign, means you’ve been enjoying your night,” he replied, pushing back my wet hair and gently prodding against the sore spot on my cheek that accompanied the one on my leg. I instinctively winced when he took his fingers away, lightly stained with a bright red colour that I guessed was my blood. “Perhaps too much of a good night.” He dropped his hand, adding, “I guess now we are fair.”

I was about to ask what he meant when I felt his hand slip under my shirt, my slow reactions pushing them away after they had brushed the length of my stomach. “Stop!”

“I bet they still don't know, do they?” He whispered in my ear, leaning in close so to trap me between him and the wall. “They all think you got rid of it, am I right?”

In those next few minutes as he held me there my head began to clear, and soon I realised exactly who was my so-called guardian angel of the night. All this truth did was wish that I was still in my drunken stupor.

“Get away from me Jake,” I snarled as I tried to pull away, only managing a few steps before I stumbled over myself and fell onto all fours, my body still a mess from the drink he gave me. At least now, I realised there was no way it was an innocent gift.

He stood over me, sneering. “It's amazing what one little pill can do, isn't it? Well, I know you are not unknown to their effects, you were always begging for some whenever I came over.”

“I never begged for it, you forced it down me,” I hissed as I struggled to my feet, leaning one hand against the wall as I made my way back round to the front of the club. “I've forgotten it now, along with you.”

“And how can you do that, when a part of me is growing inside you right now?”

He was wrong about this part but I froze in reaction anyway; the tears already hitting the ground before I even knew they had started. Once again, he had the chance to ruin everything, just after they had been gone back to normal. “Shut up.”

“Do you know what? I don't think it's far that this is kept secret. I think we should tell people the good news. What do you think?”

Before I could even react he had disappeared, already walking into the club past Luke (who was just finishing his shift) just as I managed to shriek, “Stop him!”

I hobbled forward with a renewed strength only to be held back by Luke, who instantly demanded, “What the hell happened to you?” He held me at arm's length, glancing over me once and quickly pointing out the scrapes on my cheek, hands and knees. “I thought you weren't drinking tonight?”

“I wasn't planning on it,” I replied, trying to look past him only to see Jake mockingly wave to me from inside before walking off. “It was just one drink. Can I please get in?”

He frowned. “There is no way one drink could do that to you, no matter what it was.”

“Well it did. Can I please get in now?”

Luke reluctantly let me go and waved me inside, but not until he made me agree to not drinking anything else that had any amount of alcohol in it, including left over residue from a glass. I just managed to push my way through the crowds- earning quite a few looks and choice words in the process- just in time to see Jake already in conversation with Brian.

“No! Get away from him!” I screamed, feebly shoving him in the side as I approached, almost falling over again as I did it. “Leave us alone!”

“Nat? What are you doing?!” Brian said, sounding genuinely shocked. “I'm sorry about that Jake, I'm sure she didn't mean it.”

“Brian... what are you saying...?” I asked as he pulled me backwards into the booth beside him. It was empty besides us and Jake, who seemed genuinely amused at how things had worked out. “He... you can't trust him!”

He laughed in response, shaking his head in disbelief. “You know what Nat; you really should stick to drinking. Without it you are acting weird.”

“But...”

“Hey, I'm not a bad guy,” Jake said, reaching over for my hand in an act of reassurance, to which I just snatched it away. “Not when you've got to know me.”

“Don't try and pull that on me, I know all about you Jake,” I snarled, turning my back to him and looking at Brian. “Why are you talking to him? Don't you believe me?”

“Nat...What...?”

“This is probably all my fault,” Jake said apologetically, inclining his head. “I didn't think one innocent drink could cause all this.”

“See? You don't know what you are saying Nathalie, it must just be the drink,” Brian replied, gently playing with my hair. “Look, just sit down next to me. I'll order you some water.”

Behind me, Jake chuckled to himself. “I feel sorry for you mate. These mood swings will only get worse as time goes on. I can't imagine what she'll be like in a few months time-”

“Shut up!” I turned back, launching myself across the table to him, knocking over many glasses in the process. He just grinned at me as I was suddenly pulled back into the air, Brian having got up and lifted me from him. “Get off me!”

“What the hell is wrong with you tonight?!” Brian asked, almost struggling to keep hold of me as I tried to claw at Jake.

Just then Zacky came back with Chloe, her eyebrow rising as she asked, “What's going on here?”

“Chloe.” Brian sighed from relief, his grip loosening slightly. “Could you go to the bar and get a bottle of water for me? I think Nat's been sneaking drinks at the bar.”

Using this to my advantage I pulled away, shaking off his hand as he tried to calm me down. “Don't bother. Stay with him. I'm going outside for some air.”

However I didn't get more than five steps away before Jake spoke up, knowing that I could still overhear every word. “Got to be thankful that we guys never have to go through pregnancy, don't you think?”

I instantly froze as all of them grew silent. It was a few moments before Brian replied with a light chuckle. “Too true. Not that I want a kid right now anyway, having too much fun to be tied down by one of those.” I felt my eyes stinging as the tears came back, but I blinked them away, refusing to let Jake win. Out of everything I could have heard from his lips that hurt the most. “Don’t you think Nat?”

If I turned back to face him now I knew I would just completely break instantly so I just ignored his question and walked out of the club, ignoring all attempts they made to try and call me back. Without any real understanding why I ended up walking straight into Inferno, which ironically had to be the club that Luke was visiting after his shift finished.

“Hey Nat!” He waved me over as I walked past, shifting in the already crammed booth so that I could squeeze in on the end. His face fell as soon as he saw mine, instantly dropping his cheery smile for concern. “Nat? What's wrong? Where are Chloe and everyone?”

“Still at Deviate, just fancied a change of scenery,” I replied, trying my best to smile. It fell as soon as his cell started to ring, and I heard the voice of my best friend on the other end.

“Luke, its Chloe. Is Nat with you? She just ran off and we can't find her anywhere...” She sounded frantic, and I couldn't deny I felt horrible for it, but I couldn't bring myself to tell her where I was.

Luke must have picked up on this as he frowned slightly, but didn't expose me. “No, I'm sorry Clo, I thought she was with you. If I see her, I'll tell her to give you a call. Yes, I promise. Okay, bye.” He turned to me with a disapproving look, but didn't say anything until after he pressed a random drink from the table into my hand. “You have your reasons, so I'll let it be. At least now you get to enjoy how I celebrate.”