Chapter Eight

As Shayne made his way towards the bathroom, to follow Chloe, Lee quickly stepped forward into the doorway, to block him.

"Excuse me mate." Shayne said quietly.

"Not a chance." Lee said quietly, trying to control the deep pit of anger that he was feeling in his stomach.

"Also, I'm pretty sure that's the ladies." Lee added sarcastically.

"I'm aware. But I'm seeing a girl, she wants me to meet her in the bathroom." Shayne explained smugly.

Shayne made a move to walk past Lee, but before he could Lee placed a hand against Shayne's chest and pushed him away.

"What's your problem man?" Shayne asked, becoming angry.

"Maybe I'm just a bit old fashioned but I believe in consent." Lee said firmly, glaring at Shayne.

"And she definitely didn't consent to you following her. The fact that she ran away wasn't a clue." Lee added sarcastically.

"If she didn't want it, she shouldn't be dressed the way she is." Shayne pointed out. Once again, he stepped forward to squeeze past Lee.

"Back off." he warned, shoving him as hard as he could. The momentum caused Shayne to stagger backwards and fall over. Lee glared at Shayne as he slowly sat up, massaging his back.

"If you wanted her that bad you should have just said, I'm not going to fight you over her. I only went for her because she seemed easy." Shayne explained, sneering at Lee. As he said those words something inside of Lee finally snapped. Before he realised what he was doing he rushed forward and straddled Shayne, grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him roughly towards himself. The other party guests began to scream as Lee hit Shayne across the face. As he raised his fist to hit him again, Nathan quickly pulled Lee off Shayne and positioned himself between them.

"Stop!" Nathan warned him.

"Don't start Nathan, he's a punk. He deserves it!" Lee shouted, still not in control of his temper. The room had fallen silent, not even the music was playing anymore. Everyone in the room was staring at Shayne bleeding on the floor and Lee standing quietly, taking deep breaths, trying to control his temper.

Michelle quickly rushed across the room and knelt beside Shayne, placing her hand under his elbow as she slowly helped him to sit up. He quickly tipped his head back, trying to stop the steady trickle of blood that was flowing out of his nose.

"Don't tip your head back, it has to go forward and pinch the bridge." Michelle told him. Shayne did as she told him, gasping in pain as he touched his nose.

"I think your nose is broken." Michelle stated, handing him a napkin.

"Yeah, no kidding, he's a psycho!" Shayne said angrily.

"At least I'm not a rapist." Lee retorted, loud enough for everyone to hear him.

"I didn't rape anyone. It's not my fault that you are possessive of her, even though you make her life a misery." Shayne said defensively. Lee made a move towards Shayne again, but stopped when Nathan placed a hand on his chest.

"You seriously need to cool off." Nathan told him.

"I'm fine, just keep him away from me." Lee warned quietly.

A few more moments of silence passed, before everyone became bored of staring and returned to the party.

"What's going on?" Lee heard a small voice from behind him. As soon as he heard her voice he instantly calmed down. Chloe glanced up at him as he slowly turned to face her. Lee couldn't help but notice that the upper section of her top was still undone. She held the two ends of fabric together to preserve her dignity. As Lee glanced down at her hands, he could see that they were shaking.

"Lee." she said shyly. He reluctantly tore his eyes away from the glimpse of her black lace bra and pale milky flesh and looked her in the eye.

"Do your shirt back up Chloe." he told her quickly.

"I can't, my hands are shaking too much." she whispered.

Lee shook his head silently.

"I know you hate me.... but please, I need you to do something for me." she whispered, her cheeks colouring. She hated having to ask the man that she couldn't stand for help, but she didn't feel like she had any other option. He raised his eyebrow at her and waited for her to continue.

"Can you get my jacket please?" she asked quietly. Lee sighed to himself and turned around to where Shayne was still sitting on the floor, just a few feet away from Chloe. He couldn't stand the idea of leaving Chloe with him. As soon as Lee saw that Nathan was still standing between Shayne and himself, he relaxed a little.

"Keep him away from her." Lee warned Nathan, pointing to Shayne, before quickly leaving to fetch Chloe's jacket. Nathan nodded and smiled at her reassuringly, feeling a little sorry for her.

"What happened?" Chloe asked, noticing for the first time that Shayne was bleeding on the floor.

"Long story." Nathan said quietly, not sure what he was supposed to say.

"I got attacked by your possessive psycho that's what happened!" Shayne exclaimed angrily from his place on the floor.

Chloe frowned, not really understanding what he meant. She glanced across the room to where Lee was walking back through the crowd, carrying her jacket. As her eyes flickered back to Shayne, she saw him stiffen as he noticed Lee coming back towards them. Suddenly the dots joined in her head.

"Wait, did Lee attack him?!" Chloe asked Nathan. Nathan shrugged in response, clearly feeling uncomfortable.

"Why would he do that?" Chloe tried again.

"I think the two of you need to talk." Nathan pointed out. Everyone fell silent as Lee returned and gently held Chloe's jacket out to her. She nervously glanced at the jacket and then at her hands that were still clutching the material of her top. She couldn't face the idea of letting go of the material to take the jacket, the last thing she wanted was for everyone to see her bra. Lee glanced between her and the jacket, clearly realising the dilemma.

"Did you hit him?" Chloe randomly piped up, clearly trying to distract from her embarrassment. Lee remained silent and nodded slowly.

"Why would you do that?!" Chloe exclaimed.

Lee could slowly feel himself becoming angry again.

"Bathroom." he said quietly.

"What?" she frowned.

"Get in the bathroom." he insisted, pointing into the bathroom, waiting to take up the rear. He wanted to make sure that she was in front of him so that he could protect her. She sighed and did as he asked, feeling slightly nervous as he followed her closely.

"Don't judge me, you are the one who got yourself in that position Chloe, I just got you out of it." Lee said as soon as they were alone.

"Rubbish, I left the room, I got myself out of the situation." she insisted.

Lee scoffed and shook his head.

"What were you thinking wearing something like that?" Lee snapped.

"It was the only outfit I could find at the studio that wasn't ridiculously short." she said quietly, starting to feel six inches tall again. He seemed to have a way of making her feel stupid and worthless.

"Really and you couldn't have gone home and found something?!" Lee exclaimed.

"Not exactly no." Chloe whispered.

"You just don't get it." Lee muttered, shaking his head.

"Get what?" she asked.

"That outfit makes you look..." he started but she interrupted.

"I know, I look hideous and I have no sense of style, you've told me before." Chloe muttered.

"No Chloe...." Lee started but couldn't get the words out. He couldn't bring himself to tell her how beautiful she looked.

"You're just so naive sometimes." he said.

She nodded, his words once again cutting through her like glass. Warm tears began to slowly roll down Chloe's cheeks.

"Do you have any idea how close you were to getting raped?" Lee whispered, taking a step closer to her.

"He wouldn't do that." she sniffed.

"Ask Nathan then." Lee snapped, going on the defensive again.

"Even if he did, why would you care, you hate me remember." she sobbed, knowing in her heart that he was telling her the truth.

"Oh Chloe." he whispered, gently reaching out and brushing his hand against her cheek, wiping away her tears with his thumb as he did so.

Both of them jumped as the restroom door burst open and Kirstie and Ben walked in.

"Oh my god Chloe, are you okay?" Kirstie asked.

Kirstie pulled Chloe into a hug, as soon as she was in Kirstie's arms she began to sob.

"I'm such an idiot." she sobbed. Kirstie didn't say anything she just held her tightly and allowed her to let it out. Chloe eventually lifted her head slightly and locked eyes with Lee who was still standing, frozen in place, still holding her jacket.

"Right let's get you sorted." Kirstie said, taking charge when she eventually let go of Chloe. She took Chloe by her shoulders and gently spun her around so that Chloe's back was facing the boys. She stood in front of Chloe and held her hand out to Lee.

"Jacket." she said impatiently. Lee silently handed the jacket to her. Kirstie then took over holding the material so that Chloe could place her arms in the jacket. Chloe smiled at Kirstie as she quickly zipped up the jacket.

"You can go now." Kirstie snapped at Lee.

"What did I do?!" Lee exclaimed.

"You always make things worse, so just go and leave her alone." Kirstie told him. She couldn't stand this guy and didn't want him anywhere near her friend, particularly when she was upset. Lee glanced at Chloe, part of him hoping that she would stick up for him and ask him to stay with her. He wanted to stay beside her to make sure that she was safe.

"Go on Lee mate." Ben added when Lee still hadn't left.

"Chloe." Lee whispered, not entirely sure what he was going to say next.

"She doesn't want to hear whatever horrible thing you are going to say." Kirstie snapped.

"I'll see you tomorrow Lee." Chloe added quietly. Lee nodded, trying to ignore the lump that was rising in his throat. As he left the bathroom, he jumped as he almost walked headlong into Nathan.

"Is everything okay?" Nathan asked when he saw Lee's face. Lee remained silent for a second, taking a moment to compose himself.

"I need to get drunk." he eventually said.

"Well luckily there's a bar." Nathan chuckled.

"Not here, I want to go to a club or something where there's women." Lee said quickly, his jaw set in determination as he walked out of the hotel, allowing the door to slam behind himself.