Save Your Heart

“Pat! Stop that!” Derek and I spotted Natalie and Pat getting a little cozy in a corner near the back door.

“Oh wow...That...um...” Derek was stunned. He looked away not wanting to see what they were doing.

“That’s nothing new.” I finished his sentence. I knew that if I bought Natalie here, she would end up with some guy by the end of the night. I walked up to Natalie, a little of afraid of what I would see (you never knew with Natalie). I poked her shoulder a few times before she turned around.

“Ry! You’re such a party pooper.” She whined.

“Are you drunk?” I said nonchalantly. This wasn’t the first time I had to deal with drunk Natalie.

Natalie pinched her thumb and pointer finger together and made a pouting face. “A wittle bit.”

I scuffed and grabbed Natalie’s hand. “C’mon Nat, Let’s go home.”

She gripped Pat’s shirt and cried. “You can’t take me, you party pooper.” Pat started snickering. He didn’t seem all that sober either. I hated when the guys had their share of alcohol as well. It made the whole ‘trying to get Natalie home’ situation worse. I pleaded for Natalie to come home, but she continued to whine and clutch Pat.

“Pat, the guys are probably waiting for you on your bus. You should go.” I was so relieved Derek stepped in. He cut in front of me and grabbed Pat by the shoulders and shook him. “C’mon. Let’s go!” Pat mumbled a few words to Derek I couldn’t make out, but it was clear that Derek wasn’t having any of it. He pulled Pat away from the corner and guided him towards the door. Natalie stood in the corner and stomped her feet. Her maturity level always went down a few levels whenever she drank.

“I want to go with Patty!” She howled. Derek and I looked at her with shocked looks. Pat managed to get out of Derek’s grip and run over to Natalie.

“I want you to come with me, too, baby girl!” He whined. I looked over at Derek and we both rolled our eyes. Then he held up his finger to tell me to hold on, then took out his cell phone and started texting. Meanwhile, Natalie and Pat started making out in the corner. I walked towards Derek so I could avoid watching them.

“I texted one of the guys in Pat’s band to come and get them.” Derek answered the question that was going through my mind. He tucked his cell phone back in his back pocket.

“Them?”

He shrugged. “Yeah. Since she’s so insistent on staying with Pat and I don’t think there’s any hope in separating them. Pat can drop her back home.” I gave him a skeptical look. “Ry, she’ll be fine. She’s a big girl, you know.”

I pointed in Natalie’s direction, Pat and her went on from making-out to tickling each other. “You call that a big girl?”

Derek chuckled. “Well, she’s suppose to be one, so you should treat her like one. Plus, I don’t want you to go.”

The corners of my mouth went up immediately. Knowing that the guy I might like didn’t want me to leave felt so good. Butterflies started dancing in my stomach. However, I gathered up my composure and played stupid. “Where am I suppose to go then?”

He scratched the back of his neck nervously. “You’re coming to hang out with the guys and me, right?”

“It’s almost one in the morning. We would only have two hours to hang out since we always...”

“Please?” He gave me a cute pleading look; his eyebrows were raised and he had an intriguing smirk on his face. Derek nodded at a guy that past us and walked over to Natalie and Pat. We giggled at all of his attempts to get the two lovebirds to leave. After a few tries, he finally got them to follow him out the door. Derek and I both gave the guy a nod as he left. Derek turned his attention back to me waiting for my answer in anticipation.

I looked down at my feet nervously contemplating what I was going to say. My head was begging me to say yes. What harm could be done? It was just going to be me and a bunch of friends, including Derek, who was becoming one of my closest friends. That’s when I heard my heart telling me not to. I didn’t want to admit it, but I had feelings for Derek. What if my feelings grew larger with every minute we spend together tonight? My heart couldn’t take another heartbreak, not after I went through two years ago my senior year of high school. I always promised myself I wouldn’t fall for anyone again and here I am, falling for Derek. I felt an arm snake around my neck. I looked over to see Jake standing next to me.

“Let’s go. The train’s leaving.” Jake said as he pulled me along with him.