I'll Tear Down the Stars for You

I sighed as I looked at myself in the mirror. I was wearing a black dress with blue, pink and turquoise strips on it. My shoes were high heeled and material that kept them on as well as there for decoration. A black and silver bracelet covered my wrist and 7 lips hung from each ear, a heart pendant necklace around my neck. It was a special gift which I wear whenever I go out. I checked that my makeup wasn’t too dark around my eyes and then grabbed my clutch bag, ready to leave the house with Freddy and Hannah, meeting my cousins and friends (as well as work colleagues) at the club we were going to.

I walked out of my bedroom, carefully walking down the stairs in my heels and walked into the living room to see Hannah fixing her curled hair in the big mirror. She was wearing a fuchsia pink dress with baby pink heels, a pink flowery bangle and pink feathered earrings. You’d be stupid if you didn’t know what her favourite colour is. I spotted the sparkling necklace around her neck and smiled when I remembered Georg giving it to her a few months back. It was rather romantic; me, Tom, Georg, Hannah, Bill, Freddy, Gustav and a girl he had met all out one Saturday evening. We each received a gift from our boys. I just wish that those days were back again.

I shook my head and looked at Freddy who was standing next to Hannah, but furthest away from me. She was fixing her makeup; making sure that her eyeliner was even. She was wearing a black, sequined dress; a gift from Bill, with sequined heeled shoes, a black and gold bangle-bracelet and a golden heart pendant necklace. Her hair was clipped to the side at the back and the silver hoops added to her classy look.

I think we were all pretty much ready to go.

“Right then girls. Let’s go party,” I grinned at my best friends. They turned to face me and their jaws dropped when they saw what I was wearing. “Stop gawking. You’re both married to men, and it’s my hen night, so let’s go celebrate this shit!” they snapped out of their short state of shock and grabbed their clutch purses, following me as I lead the way out of the house, the cold air hitting my bare shoulders.

“Is Mark okay with us clubbing?” Hannah asked as she got in shot gun, meaning that Freddy had to sit in the back.

“He told me to do whatever I want. Him and his mates have gone to a strip club so I don’t think he cares about what we do,” I shrugged.

“You sound like some obscure family. You’re getting married in 7 days, but you don’t mind if either one of you sleep with another person,” Freddy chuckled.

“Eugh. Don’t remind me that the wedding is only 7 days away,” I groaned.

“You don’t want to get married to Mark?” Freddy asked, confusion written on her face.

“No,” I whispered, parking the car next to the sidewalk near the club we were going to for God knows how long. The queue wasn’t too long seeing as it was nearly 9pm; most people get here when the club opens at 7.30pm, so almost straight away, we showed the bouncer our ID cards and entered the club, heading straight for the bar.

“One apple sour,” I said to the bartender. It’s my night and I want to start it off by drinking a few shots. Is that such a crime?

Gulping down the apple sour, feeling it burn down my throat, I slammed the shot glass down onto the bar and grinned at the bartender, receiving another apple sour from him, telling me that this one was “on the house”. Before I knew, there were 6 empty short glasses in front of me.

“Let’s go dance girlies!” I giggled, standing up from the bar stool I was sat on and grabbing hold of Hannah and Freddy’s hands and pulling them to the dance floor, stumbling the majority of the way there.

Replay by Iyaz came on, and almost instantly I was grinding with Hannah. Half way through the song though, I got bored and went back to the bar for another drink. This time, it was vodka and coke, or should I say; vodka with a tiny little bit of coke. As soon as my chosen drink was put in front of me, I grabbed it and tipped my head back, feeling the burning sensation down my neck. I slammed the drink down onto the bar and shook my head, standing up off the stool and walking towards the middle of the dance floor where I knew Hannah and Freddy were.

I grinned to them as I stood in between them and danced like there was no tomorrow. They knew that I was drunk just by looking me in the eyes. I licked my lips and laid my head on Hannah’s shoulder as we carried on dancing in a group of three.

“Excuse me?” I lifted my head at the feeling of someone tapping my shoulder, turning to face the tall man. He must’ve been around 6ft, black cornrows and baggy clothing. My heart began to beat faster. “May I dance with you?” I eagerly shook my head and grabbed his hand, letting him lead me to another part of the dance floor, far away from Freddy and Hannah.

I instantly began to grind against him, my arms wrapped around his neck and playing with his cornrows, his arms tightly gripping my waist making sure I grinded in time with him. But as soon as that song had finished, a slow song had come on and I was now facing this tall man’s face.

“So,” I began. “What’s your name?”

“Dom,” he smirked.

“Tom?” I asked almost too eagerly.

“No. Dom. D.O.M” crap.

“Oh,” I replied, the enthusiasm no longer evident in my voice.

“I’m sorry. You don’t seem to be too happy to be dancing with me. I’ll leave you alone. Sorry for bothering you,” with a blush on his cheeks, he let go of my waist and walked away, leaving me to stand on my own, gawking at ‘Dom’.

I think this counts for a drink... or two... or more.

***

“Ebony?” I looked up from my 7th shot, everything around me a blur. “Ebony can you hear me?” I looked up to what looked like Freddy. “Shit you look awful,”

“Thee blanks,” I slurred.

“Before you ask, she means “Gee, thanks”,” a person from me behind me said. I’m guessing it was Hannah as she is the only person who knows me well enough to understand me when I’m shit-faced.

“Let’s go home,” Freddy wrapped my right arm around her neck, causing me to reach out for Hannah for more support.

“Go home and feed the pigs!” I cried out, receiving weird looks from people who were barely tipsy. They need to get into the life of clubbing. God!

“Ebony be quiet,” Freddy hissed.

“You’re not my mom!” I stamped my foot which made me lose my balance and fall over, causing Hannah and Freddy to fall with me. We ended up in a huge pile on the floor.

“We need to get Ebony some water,” Hannah muttered, standing up and pulling me back to my feet.

“Cat! I’m a kitty cat! And I dance, dance, dance, and I dance, dance, dance!” I screamed, laughing as Hannah and Freddy dragged me towards the nearest gas station, which was only a few minutes away.

“Please be quiet Ebony,” Hannah begged. I stopped still as I saw a figure walking towards us. “Ebony come on,”

“TOM!” I screamed letting go of Freddy and Hannah jumping up and down, clapping like a little child and losing my step, causing myself to stumble into Freddy. “Tomo’s hereeeeee,” I grinned up at Freddy. “He’s come to save meee!”

“Let’s go to him then!” Freddy grinned back at me.

“YAY!” I giggled, allowing myself to be dragged in the direction of Tom.

“Tom!” Hannah shouted at him. He stopped in his tracks and waited for us to reach him. “Thank God you’re here. Can you do us a huge favour?” I stared up at Tom like a girl who was being acknowledged by their crush for the first time.

“What do you need my help with?” he looked down at me and smiled. I smiled back, butterflies entering my stomach.

“It’s Ebony’s hen night, and she’s shitfaced so me and Freddy are going to the petrol station to get Ebony some water to sober her up a little. Will you stay here with her? We’ll be as quick as we can,” I let my arms fall from around Freddy and Hannah’s necks, wobbling as I tried to keep my balance.

“Yeah sure,” he reached out to grab my arm to stop me from falling over.

“Thanks so much Tom,” and with that, Freddy and Hannah walked away, leaving Tom holding my arm in a tight grasp.

“You’ve had a good night tonight, haven’t you?” he chuckled.

“Yessss,” I grinned at him.

“I got you this necklace,” Tom reached his spare hand out to touch the heart pendant, almost as if he thought he was imagining it around my neck.

“I know. It’s from you, so I’m bound to wear it,” I said in a ‘duh’ tone. Silence filled the air as Tom and I stared into each other eyes.

“Tom?” he smiled down at me and waited for my drunken ass to say something. “Tell me that everything’s going to be okay between us. Tell me that’s it’s going to alright. Tell me you’ll help me find my way. Tell me that you won’t leave me alone in this. Tell me that I can make it through this day. Help me find my way through all my fears and all my tears. Tom, I need a hand to hold me from the edge; the edge that I’m slowly sliding off. Hold onto me Tom,” I whispered, a tear rolling down my cheek. Tom pulled me into a hug and stroked my hair, whispering sweet nothings into my ear.

“It’s okay. I’ll be here for you. Always,” I pulled away from Tom and stared deeply into his chocolate brown eyes.

“You’ve always been the one who never left me,” I smiled at him, wrapping my arms around his neck. Tom saw my move and automatically put his hands on my waist.

“That’s because you mean so much to me,” he placed his forehead against mine, and I couldn’t stop myself. I closed my eyes and moved my head so that our lips were centimetres apart. I could feel Tom’s hot breathe on my lips, and before I knew it, my lips were on top of Tom’s, the kiss deepening as Tom kissed me back.

“No. I can’t do that. I can’t. You’re drunk and I refuse to take advantage of you,” Tom pulled away from my lips and stared at me, his hands still on my waist.

“But Tooom. I obviously wanted to kiss you!” I moved towards Tom for another kiss, but he only stepped backwards, catching me as I stumbled from being left to stand on my own.

“I can’t. You’re getting married next week. I’d kill myself in the morning if I kissed you,” he shook his head at me, wiping a stray tear from my eye.

“But I don’t want to get married!” I screamed, stamping my foot on the ground. “I hate Mark! I hate him! I’d much rather marry you!” Tom didn’t say anything. He just stood and stared at me as if I had told him I had killed someone.

“But how can I believe you? You’re drunk out of your mind, you could just be saying this to make me feel better,” he whispered, tucking some hair behind my ear. The touch of his calloused fingers caused shivers to run up and down my spine.

“Tom. We’re back. Thank you so much!” I kept looking at Tom as I unwrapped my arms from his neck and stood in between Freddy and Hannah, wrapping my arms around their shoulders.

“Because I love you,” I whispered, walking away from Tom and into the distance.