Page 42 of Catch Me

But then the worst thing in the entire universe thatcouldhappen, happens.

The bathroom door handle twists and voices laughing on the other side send Nick and I into panic. He yanks himself out of me and lifts me with one hand off the marble counter, pulling us both into the bath and behind the purple shower curtain. My dress is still bunched around my waist, so I quickly shuffle it down to cover my still bare ass as the door swings open. The voices on the other side of the shower curtain are familiar…too familiar.

Sean and Callie barrel into the bathroom in a fit of drunken giggles. There’s a clattering sound, something falling off the counter top followed by Sean cursing. The soft sound of their kissing is turning my stomach and I sink my face into Nick’s bare chest whilst he grips the back of my head, stroking my hair methodically. He shushes into my ear, so quietly it’s barely audible and the two of us stand like statues behind the shower curtain, hearts beating at 100 miles per hour as we wait to be caught. Sean and Callie kick it up a notch and I glue my hands to my ears in desperation. I wish the bathtub would grow ten sizes and I could simply wash myself down the plughole to avoid hearing my brother having sex within five feet of where I'm hiding with his best friend. Luckily the two of them are drunkenough that the sex doesn’t last more than ten minutes and they soon exit the bathroom, leaving me permanently scarred from what I heard. The second the bathroom door closes Nick holds my face in his hands, an apologetic warmth in his eyes as he looks at me.

“Are you ok? I’m so sorry you had to hear that.” He coos, peppering light kisses along my jaw.

My heart rate is slowing back to it’s normal pace and the light sheet of sweat on my skin is dissipating. I nod, keeping my head down, eyes on the ground because I'm struggling to look at Nick. He takes my hand and leads me out of the bathroom and back downstairs, slipping his fingers out of my grasp as we get to the kitchen. Sean is there, tipping yet another pint of beer to his lips, one he definitely doesn’t need. I don't know if I'll ever be able to look at him the same again to be honest.

“Hey, you two, we’re going to play spin the bottle if you want to join?” There’s a slur to his voice, but he’s still aware enough to notice the close proximity of how Nick and I are standing. My body is half covered with his, like I'm hiding from my brother and a deep etch of suspicion appears between his eyebrows.

Before he can accuse us of anything though I clear my throat and step around Nick. “Yeah, I’ll play.”

“Me too,” Nick says, pouring himself a beer as Sean saunters away with a drunken stagger. “You sure you want to do this? Remember how it ended last time.” Nick whispers into my ear from behind, his warm breath making the goosebumps rise on the back of my neck.

“Yeah, I'm sure, I need a distraction from what I just witnessed in the bathroom.” I shudder a little at the memory and a strong arm snakes around my waist, Nick’s soft lips kiss my ear and we make our way separately to the living room. Nick goes ahead of me and I watch him take a seat in the already packed circle on the living room floor. But before I can get there myself, a tallbody steps into my path, blocking my view of my friends in the living room.

“Hey you, long time no see.” The voice is familiar, deep and raspy when I peer up at the face I wished I’d never see again. Mitchell smiles down at me, a devilish smirk that twists my insides into a tight knot.

“Erm…” I stutter, frozen and panicking like a deer in the headlights. I peer around Mitchell’s frame for Nick and our eyes lock immediately, like he could sense I was uncomfortable even though we’re so far apart.

Mitchell takes a strand of my hair between his fingers and twists it slowly. “So, wanna reminisce on old times? We could sneak upstairs for a while.”

My stomach flips, nauseous at the thought of that man ever touching me again, but luckily my discomfort doesn’t last long. Nick appears over Mitchell’s shoulder, he has at least a few inches on him. Mitchell flicks his head around to identify the looming presence that’s made itself known behind him.

“Oh, hey man, you good?” Mitchell says lazily, not sensing the anger that’s radiating from Nick as he notices the strand of my hair still between his fingers.

Nick huffs a laugh, but there’s not even a drop of humour in it. “Yeah, all good man, but I’d love it if you’d get your hands off my girl.”

Mitchell drops the curl and it floats back down to my shoulder as he turns to look at Nick. “What? You’re not together.” He laughs, like there’s a joke and he’s the only one that’s in on it.

Nick smiles back, jaw tight with frustration and I know how hard he’s having to suppress the bubbling fire in his chest right now.

He dips his face closer to Mitchell’s, dropping the fake smile and lowering his voice to a deep, threatening rasp. “Get the fuck away from her.”

Mitchell is clearly taken by surprise because he steps back once, then again, shaking his head. “Whatever, good luck to you man, she won’t open her legs easily.”

Before I can blink I hear a crack, Nick’s fist connects with Mitchell’s jaw and he crashes to the ground. His hand flies to his face and his eyes are red, bloodshot and embarrassed as he scrambles to his feet and flees out the front door without so much as a curse towards Nick.

The circle in the living room remains in tact, with the glass doors closed nobody in there seemed to notice the chaos that was going on out here in the hallway. Either that or everyone in said circle is so far past drunk that their brains weren’t able to comprehend two things happening at once.

Nick says nothing but grips my hand tightly and pulls me up the stairs once again. It feels like I’ve spent the whole night up here, away from the heavy beat of the music and the gaggle of happiness that parties without us downstairs. But right now my body is shaking, heart galloping so fast I worry I might have a panic attack. Until Nick pushes me back against the wall and brackets my jaw. I try to keep my eyes closed, but Nick strokes a thumb across each of my cheeks as my breathing calms. My eyes flutter open and Nick’s face is close to mine.

“I’m sorry baby, I'm sorry I did that but—” he grimaces and screws his eyes shut for a beat. “I couldn’t just watch him touch you or speak about you like that without doing something. He needed to learn his lesson.”

I exhale hard and plant my hands against Nick’s solid chest. “No, I know.” I drop my face into the crook of his neck and he wraps both arms around my middle, lifting me to him. He holds me for a moment, I can feel the worry sinking to my feet and spilling out of them onto the upstairs carpet. Nick places me back onto my feet and our lips touch like a magnet. I get lost in him as usual, which means for the second time tonight I don’t hear thefootsteps getting closer until it’s almost too late. A pair of heavy feet clomp towards the stop of the stairs and I jump away from Nick. He yanks me down the hallway so quickly that my feet barely skim the carpet. Nick pushes open his bedroom door, the wood smacking into his dresser before he slams it closed.

“Fucking hell, another close one. Tonight isn’t working out well for us.” Nick chuckles, but I can’t join him.

My heart is racing so fast I feel like it might run straight up my throat and make me puke it out. Speaking of puke, I could definitely projectile vomit from the stress right now. My hands find my curls as I pace around Nick’s bedroom, fingernails sunk deep into my skull.

“Hey,” he says softly, taking my waist in his hands and stopping my pacing. “Calm down, they didn’t see us.”

My heart continues to thrum in my ears and in that moment I know that I’m done, I'm done with the hiding, the secrets, all of it.

“I can’t do this anymore Nick, this sneaking around shit, I'm sick of it.” The tears bubble in my throat and I swallow them down, determined not to let my frustration show itself as sadness because that’s not what this is about. I wriggle out of Nick’s grip but he reaches for me again, taking a fistful of my dress in his hand and pulling me into him.

“Hey, Lois come here.”

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