I'm Yours Tonight

CHARLOTTE’s POV

Brad had joined me in my apartment as I waited for Layla to return. He said that he didn’t feel right leaving me all alone, which was probably a good idea on his behalf as I would have been absolutely beside myself with worry.

“So when did you move into this fancy apartment? It must cost a fortune in rent,” Brad asked as he walked around my relatively small living room, examining all the little bits and pieces of mine and Layla’s lives that were displayed on the walls and on the counters.

“This place is surprisingly cheap. It helps that my Dad sends me money from Sydney. I moved here from there about a year ago now.” I explained as I searched the fridge for anything edible. It still felt so surreal to me that one of my favourite people in the whole world was talking to me. Heck, he was sitting with me in my freaking living room.

‘Sydney, you say?” he asked as he sat himself down on the lounge. I brought over a bowl of chips and two bottles of beer, placing them on the table in front of where we were seated. “If you’re from Sydney, why are you here in Melbourne?”

“Long story short, I had a lot of things I needed to escape from in Sydney. As soon as I finished High school, I got accepted into a university down here and we moved as soon as we could.” I explained. The entire time that I spoke, he stared straight into my eyes. He didn’t look away even once.

There were a few moments of silence before there was a noise coming from the outer side of my door, similar to the noise of the lock being fiddled with. I immediately jumped, falling back against Brad. My hand gripped his thigh, and the feel of somebody else’s body close to mine made me feel safer. My first thought was that someone was breaking in, but when the door swung open and I heard a familiar chirpy voice, I was assured that it was just Layla.

“Oh thank god, I thought someone was breaking in!” I exclaimed as I jumped up to hug her. I felt a wave of relief wash over me when I heard the sound of her chuckle. I turned to Sam who was standing in the doorway, a small smile spreading across his mouth as he stared at Layla. “Sam, thank you so much for bringing her back safely. Seriously, I owe you one.”

“It’s okay. I wouldn’t have felt right with myself if I didn’t help you.” he said. I gave him a thankful smile, walking back into the kitchen to speak to Layla. Before I could say a word to her, Brad walked up behind me, tapping me on the shoulder.

“Hey Charlotte, I just got a message from Andy about a party tonight at a club in the city. I was thinking maybe, if you were up for it of course, you’d like to come with Sam and I? Layla can come too, if she wants to…” Brad was standing close enough to me so he could speak quiet enough for only me to hear. I suspected it was because he didn’t want his friend Sam teasing him. However, that didn’t stop Layla from eavesdropping.

“Charlotte would love to go with you, Brad. I’d be more than happy to accompany the two of you as well, I think a distraction is definitely what we need.” Layla chirped in, skipping away from the kitchen into her bedroom. Brad laughed and looked away, his face turning crimson when he looked back up to me.

Sam and Brad left shortly after, leaving Layla and I with the rest of the day to get ready to go out. We often went to nightclubs or bars when we had enough time to, but most of the time we just chose to stay at home. It was a refreshing change from the usual routine.

We made it to the club on time, and I grinned when I saw Brad waiting outside the building for us.

“Well you ladies look lovely. I’m glad you came,” he said, staring right into my eyes and not looking around anywhere else. “Sam and Andy are waiting for us, so c’mon.” I smiled at him and followed him inside to the club.

It looked like any regular nightclub both internally and externally, and had the same general nightclub crowd that you would expect on a Friday night. The boys, along with some of their friends we knew of, were seated in a large booth in the corner, all laughing and talking loudly as they downed beers and vodka drinks.

Layla immediately spoke to Sam before heading to the bar to order drinks for her and I. Brad introduced me to his friends. I was glad he didn’t tell them anything about how crazy Layla was or how we were major fans of the band. There was a high possibility of us actually becoming friends with the boys from Grace Falls, and the thought of that amazed me.

After a short while and a few drinks, the club scene was beginning to get to me. I must have forgotten how tiring it was to be in a tight space with so many people and alcoholic beverages involved. I decided to step outside the club to get some air.

BRAD’S POV

I spent such a long time seeing old friends that I barely had a chance to speak to Charlotte. I had only known her for less than a day, but I already knew there was something special about her that I didn’t want to miss out on. I wanted to get to know her, or at least talk to her some more.

I caught a quick glance of her leaving the club through a back exit, so I left my friends to go with her. I manoeuvred my way roughly through the tight spaces in the crowd of people. Within moments I saw a face that I had seen before follow Charlotte out the door. It took me a few moments to remember, but it soon clicked with me who it was that had followed her.

Ben.

Making my way through to the exit became a lot easier when I hurried, pushing past people as gently as I could. I pushed the door open as hard as I could, and I saw Ben standing in front of Charlotte, his back towards me. She didn’t look frightened even though Ben was in a very threatening stance.

“I’m sick of you getting in the way of Layla and I. It’s just like it was in high school.” he grunted, clenching his fists at his side. Charlotte grinned.

“But you never could get rid of me, could you? What makes you think it’s any different now?” she laughed as she spoke. I could see it in her eyes that she was scared as hell.

I made the quick decision to hurry back inside to find Sam, as I knew he would be more than happy to punch a guy if he had to. I was hoping Charlotte would be able to hold Ben off until I got Sam to come and assist her.

“Sam, I need your help. C’mon,” I grabbed him by the arm and pulled him in the direction of the exit, yet again making the rough journey through the crowd. When we made it to the exit once again, Charlotte and Ben were still just taunting each other, and nobody had resorted to physical violence. Well, at least not yet.

“Excuse me mate, I think you’d better leave this lady alone now.” Sam said, stepping forward to place himself in between Charlotte and Ben. Charlotte then noticed me standing not too far away, but looked back to Ben right away.

“What is it with you boys? You’ve known these girls for a day and now you’re all chums? They’re just crazy fan girls, not worth your trouble. Charlotte can fight her own fights.” Ben scoffed.

Before Ben could reply with any sort of insult towards Sam or myself, the door behind me swung open, and two very large security guards burst through outside.

“Alright mate, you’re getting out of here, now.” the larger of the two stepped forward, grasping tightly onto Ben’s arm to prevent him from moving away.

“But I haven’t done anything wrong!” Ben exclaimed, resisting the guard and pulling towards Charlotte. The guards spent no effort in pulling him back in line, and towards the door. However, he had the ability to deal Charlotte one final blow. He kicked her in the shin with all his might, causing her to topple backwards and hit the floor due to the pure force of the kick. The security guards yanked him away from the alleyway and through the door, escorting him out towards the exit of the building. I hurried over the Charlotte, grabbing onto her hand to pull her up to her feet. She struggled to stand on her right leg, as there was now a large, gaping cut that was dripping out blood.

“Whoa. Are you okay Charlotte?” I asked, holding onto her arm so she wouldn’t fall over again. She nodded wearily, and hobbled along to the exit so I could take her home.