Chapter Seven

Michelle laughed loudly as she took hold of Kathleen's hands and they began to spin each other around.

"This is not a good idea." Kathleen laughed.

Michelle laughed and continued. Kathleen gasped as Michelle accidentally let go of her hands and she fell against someone.

"I'm really very sorry." she said shyly, turning to face the person. She gasped as she stood face to face with Mark from Saga.

"That's quite alright." he said, aiming a perfect smile at her.

"My friend got a little bit carried away." she muttered, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.

"That's what you're meant to do at a party." he laughed.

"That's very true." she giggled.

"You have something on your face." he told her, before licking his thumb and gently brushing her face. Her skin tingled under his touch.

"I think it was a makeup smudge." he said, sounding slightly amused.

Kathleen could feel her cheeks colouring in embarrassment. She dreaded to think how long it had been there.

"My bandmates seem to have deserted me, so maybe you would like to join me for a drink?" he offered, gesturing to a table.

"Of course, I'd love too." she smiled.

Louise and Chloe had been dancing for what felt like hours. Hot and out of breath they both made their way to the bar and sat on the stools. Chloe removed her jacket and placed it on the stool.

"I think we might have got a bit carried away." Louise chuckled as she downed a glass of water.

"And we definitely shouldn't have worn heels." Chloe agreed, quickly removing her shoes and rubbing her sore feet.

Louise nodded in agreement and turned to gaze at the dance floor.

"I think your friends have found their guys." Louise grinned, gesturing to where Kirstie and Ben were dancing happily.

"Oh and there's Kathleen." Chloe pointed across the room to where Kathleen was sitting with Mark.

"Aww I'm pleased for them." Louise smiled.

"Me too, I wonder where Michelle got too." Chloe said thoughtfully.

"I can't see her." Louise replied.

Louise spun her stool back round to face Chloe, and impulsively pulled her into a hug.

"Thanks so much for making me feel so welcome." Louise whispered.

"Don't worry about it, we've been having fun." Chloe said.

Chloe jumped as she felt someone tap her on the shoulder. Louise let go of her and Chloe turned her stool to face the person.

"Oh, hi Shayne." she smiled when she saw Shayne standing in front of her.

"I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was wondering if you would like to dance?" he offered.

Chloe glanced at Louise who gave her a nod of encouragement.

"Sure." Chloe smiled, quickly pulling her heels back on and following Shayne onto the dance floor.

As soon as they reached the dancefloor Shayne pulled her into his arms. She glanced down at his hands that were in place on her hips. She wrapped her arms around his neck and gently swayed to the music.

"You look beautiful tonight." he whispered in her ear.

"Thank you." she smiled. Shayne slowly moved his hands and rested them in her trouser back pockets. They remained in place for a moment before they returned to her hips. Chloe frowned in confusion as he turned her so that her back was facing him. His hands slowly began to trail from her hips, up towards her waist, his hands roaming everywhere. She frowned as he gently placed a kiss on her neck, his hands reaching for the laces on her top. Before Chloe realised what was happening, he managed to get hold of them and slowly undid them. She quickly pulled away and turned to face him.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"Just having a bit of fun." he smiled.

"Not with me, you're not." she said sharply.

He smiled and placed his hands on her hips again, trying to gently pull her towards him.

"You're drunk." Chloe stated as she quickly stood back. Shayne shrugged and watched her closely. Chloe glanced down at her top, her hands shaking too much to tie the top back up, thankfully he'd only undone half of it, but that didn't stop the embarrassment that Chloe was feeling.

"I'm going to the restroom." Chloe muttered to herself. She quickly bent down to remove her heels and ran in the direction of the restroom.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?!" he called after her.

She remained silent and rushed into the bathroom.

Lee took another swig of beer as he tried to tune out what Nathan was saying to him. He was sat quietly at a table in the corner, unable to tear his eyes away from Chloe and Louise as he watched them dancing together.

"Lee snap out of it!" Nathan exclaimed clicking his fingers in front of Lee.

"What do you want?" he asked, finally turning his attention to Nathan.

"I was asking you about Adrian's surprise birthday party but never mind." Nathan sighed, frowning to himself when Lee's eyes flickered to look at something behind Nathan again.

"What are you looking at anyway?" Nathan asked, turning around to follow Lee's eyeline.

"Oh, I see." Nathan smirked.

"What?" Lee snapped.

"Nothing." Nathan said, smiling slightly to himself.

"I keep telling you that you should talk to her, before you push her away completely." Nathan added.

"She looks so beautiful." Lee breathed, completely ignoring what Nathan had said.

"Tell her then." Nathan insisted.

"I did tell her, and I gave her my number." Lee said, finally tearing his eyes away as Louise and Chloe went to sit at the bar.

"Wait...what?" Nathan frowned.

"I gave Louise my number earlier." Lee said quietly. Nathan stared at him in silence, his jaw set in frustration.

"Oh, I see, so you're going to pretend that you are staring at and talking about Louise. Nice try." Nathan said, the frustration finally starting to get to him.

"Stop being such a coward and admit how you feel!" he exclaimed.

"Fuck off Nathan, you don't know what you are talking about!" Lee hissed angrily.

Nathan raised his eyebrow sceptically but decided not to press the matter. He'd told Lee numerous times that if he didn't speak to Chloe, he was going to lose her forever, but if Lee wasn't going to listen to him then Nathan could do no more. He wasn't going to keep hitting his head against a brick wall.

Even though Lee knew he shouldn't keep staring at her he just couldn't help himself. He had no idea what was happening to him. His eyes wandered to Chloe again as she walked onto the dance floor with Shayne.

Lee took an angry swig of his beer as he watched them on the dance floor. He could feel his temper rising as Shayne turned Chloe around, his hands wandering all over her body. He grit his teeth and banged his beer bottle on the table, slightly harder than he meant too when he saw Shayne's hands making their way towards the laces. Even though Chloe and Shayne were a reasonable distance away from him, it was like he had tunnel vision and could see everything that was going on. Lee clenched and unclenched his fists as Shayne took hold of the laces and began to untie her top.

"What's going on?" Nathan asked, noticing the change in Lee's body language. Once again Nathan turned to follow Lee's line of vision. They both watched as Chloe turned and her and Shayne began to speak to each other. They couldn't hear what was being said, but it was obvious that it was heated. Chloe pulled off her heels and ran past them into the bathroom. In the very brief glance they got of her, it was clear that she was upset.

"Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?!" Shayne called after her. She didn't respond but that didn't stop Shayne from following her. Lee couldn't stand it any longer, he quickly stood up.

"Lee, leave it." Nathan appealed to him.

"I can't." Lee whispered to himself.