~Dedicated to moments where you can't help but smile~

Chapter Sixteen-"But you didn't let him"

It was like I had tripped over my legs and fell headfirst into hot lava. I could feel my face burning up, along with my ears and my palms grew sweaty. My mouth went dry and I could feel my heart rate accelerating to speeds that I was sure to give me a heart attack. My knees suddenly grew weak, and my legs went wobbly like jelly should be. Without warning, I felt myself falling forward, where two strong arms wrapped tightly around my waist to steady me from falling.

“Getting light headed around me already Lanter?”

My eyes were focused on Sean’s plain white shirt where it was clear that his muscles were just begging to tear through the flimsy cotton material. I blinked a few times, before sucking in a deep breath and looking back up, straight into Sean’s hazel eyes which were light with amusement. Up close, Sean’s lips seemed all the more inviting. They were full and almost alluring just to look at, so I forced my eyes to his instead. I noticed that his dark hair was falling messily over his forehead which gave him the totally bad boy look which I had to admit, was causing funny feelings in my stomach.

“Sean,” I breathed out.

He smirked at me before replying, “Surprised to see me?”

I didn’t trust my voice and nodded in answer.

This time Sean smiled, before he spoke again in his deep voice, “So where’s Davey boy?” he leaned closer, his breath caressing my face, “Isn’t he keeping an eye out on these guys,” his hand moved lower to my hip, “who clearly are checking you out.”

I bit my lower lip to stop myself from moaning, and allowed my fingers to tighten around Sean’s arms as my eyes slowly fluttered closed. But before anything could happen, I heard a familiar feminine voice which at that moment only made me feel annoyance blazing through my body and threatened to turn into anger. I sighed, and pulled away slightly from Sean only to stare at a grinning Amanda.

Amanda had obviously dressed to impress. She wore a tight fitting ruby, red dress that came just pass her thighs. It sparkled in the strobe lights and had long sleeves which came past her elbows, down to her wrists. Her hair was left open, in slight loose waves and her eyes were outlined with dark kohl which gave her an innocent look that I knew for sure did not exist. She stood a head taller than me, with her strappy black heels and she seemed oh-so-seductive with her dark wine stained lips.

“Vivienne,” she greeted with a warm smile, “you look amazing.”

I fought down the snappy tone that wanted to seep into my voice as I replied, “Thanks, you too.”

“Aww, you’re so sweet,” Amanda cooed, before slipping her arm through mine, “don’t you think Sean?”

Sean looked at Amanda as though he had just noticed her, but then he smiled widely, “Yeah,” he turned to me, smirked and then turned to the crowd, “so catch you two later?”

“Totally,” Amanda replied, before tugging me away from Sean.

As soon as we were in the centre of the crowd, Amanda turned to me with a knowing smile. She wiggled her eyebrows at me as she spoke, “So…”

I frowned, “So?” I repeated.

“What’s happening between you and Sean?” Amanda blurted.

I gasped, my eyes widening, “Uh w-what do you m-mean?”

Amanda laughed slightly, “Oh please Vivienne and it’s so obvious that he likes you and you well, you’re not chasing him away are you?”

I frowned, “I don’t like Sean in that way,” I replied, “and besides I have a boyfriend, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Amanda answered, her eyes widening slightly, “Davey right?”

I nodded, even though the thought of Amanda calling Dave, ‘Davey’ nagged me slightly.

“Where is he?” Amanda asked.

“Oh he’s,” I stopped when my eyes fell onto Dave who was weaving his way through the crowd towards us.

“Dave,” I greeted with a slight smile, “I lost you back there.”

Dave grinned, “Yeah, well I suppose that’s what I get for twirling you,” he turned to Amanda and spoke, “Amanda, what are you doing here?”

Amanda’s smile instantly turned seductive, “Oh I’m here as Sean’s date, though technically he’s so into getting laid with whoever’s desperate enough.”

Dave frowned at the mention of Sean before he smiled again, “Cool.”

“Yeah,” Amanda answered then turned to me, “hey Vivienne, aren’t you thirsty after dancing?”

“Uh…yeah, sure I guess,” I replied, slightly confused.

“Good,” Amanda spoke, grabbing my arm and leading me in the direction of the kitchen before she turned to Dave, “we’ll be right back.”

I frowned as Amanda dragged me into the white kitchen which was cramped up with meathead jocks that were having a drinking contest. I rolled my eyes in disgust, watching as one of the dark haired jocks downing a bottle of beer before burping loudly while everyone cheered around him. Sighing, I turned to Amanda who had already made her way to the fridge and was bringing back two bottles of water with her. I eyed the bottles suspiciously, before glancing back at her with raised eyebrows.

“This isn’t like, hidden vodka or something right?” I asked.

Amanda grinned before answering, “No way,” she handed me a bottle, “I’m off booze until I can lose a dress size.”

I frowned, “But you don’t need to lose any weight!”

Amanda smiled, “You’re so sweet Vivienne, but have you seen these arms,” she wiggled her one arm, “it’s covered in fat.”

While I tried to see the ‘non-existent’ fat on her arm, Chris suddenly entered the kitchen. He was wearing the school sports jacket and dark denims. He spotted me and grinned, before he made his way towards Amanda and I. His blonde hair was slicked back and his eyes were bright with excitement. Nodding a greeting to Amanda, he turned to me and spoke.

“Hey Viv,” he greeted.

“Hi Chris,” I greeted with a smile.

“So uh,” he scratched his neck nervously, “you excited about this Paris trip huh?”

I shrugged, “Yeah I suppose.”

He nodded before turning to Amanda again who had turned on her charming smile again before he spoke, “So, have you seen Jules yet?”

“Oh yeah, she was out on the dance floor,” I replied with a grin of my own.

“Oh,” Chris replied with a frown, “was she with a guy?”

I smiled to myself, “I don’t remember actually.”

“Uh of course,” Chris answered before glancing behind my head at the dance floor, “I’ll see you around Viv,” he replied before making his way to the dance floor.

Amanda turned to me with a smile, “He so digs your friend,” she spoke, “too bad really, he is such a hottie.”

I rolled my eyes, but smiled in amusement as we walked back to the dance floor, “So hey Amanda?”

“Yeah Vivienne?” she replied, in her sophisticated girl-next-door voice.

“Why aren’t you dating Sean?” I asked, ignoring the fact that I was being totally rude by prying.

For a moment Amanda was completely quiet and I began to panic. Oh God Viv, you had to open your big mouth, didn’t you? What if Amanda thinks of Sean as a brother? Who are you kidding, have you seen the way that girl looks at him? It’s like he’s already sleeping with her. Holy cow poo! What if they are sleeping together and Amanda just found that she’s pregnant and now with you asking her about Sean, she’s getting depressed because she’ll get shunned by her family and have to raise her child in the woods with possums and-

“Oh, I want to,” Amanda interrupted my thoughts, “trust me, I’ve tried every move I know on him,” she sighed before giving me a small smile, “I’ve done the ‘I couldn’t care less’ approach and then I did the whole ‘good girl’ approach and then when I was just being me around him, I thought it would work, but sadly it backfired badly.”

I felt my curiosity peaking, “What happened?”

Amanda gave a sad laugh, “He told me that we weren’t meant to have that kind of relationship, and yeah I suppose that I accepted it, but I’m still not going to give up trying completely, you know?”

My mind wandered to Dave and the fact that I had been jealous over Amanda when it was clear that she had her own problems just as much as I had mine. She was conscious about her body and she was in love with a guy who told her that they weren’t meant to be, a lot like how Matt had been with me. My throat went dry and I blinked back a few tears before I turned to Amanda.  I felt guilty suddenly for hating her when she had been with Dave or that she had interrupted Sean and me back on the dance floor. Amanda was just being herself, looking for lover but never getting it.

“You know Amanda,” I began, “maybe you should try harder with someone else?”

She turned to me with a frown, “But who’s going to like,” she looked at herself, “me?”

I smiled, “I bet you that every guy in this room is dying to talk to you.”

Amanda glanced around before she surprised me by wrapping her arms around me in a tight hug, “I don’t care what anyone says, you’re an amazing friend Vivienne.”

I smiled at Amanda before I turned to see Dave who was walking towards us. Suddenly I found myself panicking and I spluttered a silly excuse that I needed to pee, before I turned around and sprinted to the large spiral staircase before reaching the second floor. I sighed in relief, when I realised that Dave had bought my lousy excuse and was still with Amanda, giving me time to think. For a moment, I allowed my eyes to take in the surroundings of the second floor of Jessica’s house which was extravagant.

The floors were all wood panelling and the walls were painted a deep mahogany colour. I noticed doors on either side of the passage and a few couples were walking into rooms before slamming the doors. I winced in disgust when it was made clear what was happening behind those doors as I passed one which seemed to harbour loud moans belonging to one the girls from my school. Shuddering inwardly, I walked quietly past the doors until I had reached the bathroom.

With a shrug, I thought I may as well empty my bladder and reached to open the door to the toilet, but was stopped when a muscled arm got to it first, holding it shut. I frowned and glanced up, my eyes going wide when the connected with Matt’s green ones which were glazed over in drunkenness. I backed away slightly, only to hit my back against the toilet door and before I could escape, Matt’s other arm wrapped around me, caging me in like a frightened animal.

“Vivienne,” Matt breathed out, “you look so pretty tonight.”

I winced as his breath which stank strongly of beer reached my nose, “Matt, you’re drunk,” I pointed out the obvious.

He grinned before leaning closer, “You know Jessica dumped me.”

I placed my tow hands in front of his chest, trying to push him away but that seemed to have the opposite effect, “Oh babe, you’re such a tease.”

All this time, whenever my mother had spoken about Matt as though he was some sleazy pervert, I never knew why and now, it finally clicked. Matt was the type of guy that your father scared off and the type that your older brother would beat up if he tried anything on his little sister. He didn’t care about the girls he dated, he was after one thing only and that was getting laid and after getting what he wanted, he would jump off to the next girl. For the first time in my life, instead of feeling hurt that Matt had rejected me, I was ecstatic that I wasn’t with this heartless slob.

“Get off of me,” I pushed harder, but it had no effect.

Matt suddenly pressed his mouth against my neck, sending shivers of disgust down my spine. I was about to knee him where it would hurt the most, but was stopped when I heard a deep, angry voice from behind Matt. I strained my eyes, and gasped when they fell onto Sean who looked more than just furious. His usual hazel eyes were now two shades darker, with anger swirling around in its depths like quick strikes of lightning.

“Get your filthy hands off of her,” Sean spat out slowly.

Matt turned around, half dazed with a smirk, “Oh yeah? And what are you gonna do about it Gregory, hit me like you hit Dave? Oh yeah, I forgot, wasn’t it Dave who put the beating on you?”

I cowered back in fear, my eyes widening slightly when I noticed that Sean’s hands were balling into tight fists at his sides. Shaking his head slightly he replied coldly, “You don’t want to make me angry Matthew,” he sneered Matt’s full name, “so why don’t you run along and go hump a pole?”

Matt’s smirk fell, replaced with a thin lined smile, “You’re gonna pay for that Gregory.”

“Bring it on,” Sean dared with his own smirk.

It took me a minute to realise that Matt had struck out, his fist connecting with Sean’s jaw, but instead of staggering back like I expected, Sean grinned before bringing up his own fist to collide with Matt’s nose, sending him flying backwards. I gasped, my hands flying to my mouth to prevent a scream from escaping as my eyes widened when they fell onto Matt, who stood up and made his way back to Sean.

“I told you,” Sean spat, “you didn’t want to make me angry.”

Matt glared, “What’s your damage?” he spat as he swung another fist at Sean, which was dodged, “She’s not your fucking girlfriend.”

Sean stopped, his eyes suddenly levelling with Matt’s before a cold smile formed against his lips, “No she isn’t, but she’s not your fuck buddy either.”

With that Sean swung his fist harder than his first punch, which had a visible effect. Matt fell backwards, his hands coming to cradle his nose which was now bleeding profusely. It wasn’t until I heard Dave’s voice, that I realised a crowd had gathered around us. Sean froze, mid-punch, his breathing was hard and his eyes were narrowed into a cold, hateful glare staring down at Matt. I looked up to Dave, who was staring at Matt and then at Sean with a frown, then he glanced at me with a concerned look.

“Sean,” Dave spoke finally, “go home now, Jessica’s called the cops.”

I felt my eyes widening slightly at Dave’s slightly ‘kind’ tone which was directed at Sean, before he moved towards me and took my hand in his. Cupping my chin, he forced me to look up at him and smiled as he asked, “You okay?”

I frowned, then glanced at Sean, “I should check on Sean.”

Dave’s smile dropped instantly and he replied, “The cops are coming, he’s got to go home.”

I leaned forward, pressing a light kiss on Dave’s cheek before answering, “Please Dave?”

Dave stared at me and with a reluctant sigh he nodded, “Yeah fine.”

I smiled at him, before I took after Sean who had already was down the stairs and making his way out of the large mansion. For a moment, Sean just stopped and breathed in deeply before he turned to stare at me with a cold frown. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket and waited until I had come to stand before him. I glanced down at my feet, then back at Sean who was staring at me intently. Mustering up all of the courage I had, I wrapped my arms around Sean and whispered.

“Thank you.”

After a few seconds, Sean wrapped his arms around me in return before he spoke in his deep voice, which sounded slightly calm, “He could have hurt you Lanter.”

I pulled away slightly and smiled up at him, “But you didn’t let him.”

A/N Hey everyone! Late upload, I know, but don't blame me, I was busy playing around with making a trailer for myself =P Alright, so what did you think about this chapter? Too boring? Too much of Amanda? Not enough Sean? Not enough Dave? What did you think about Matt and the fact that Sean pumelled his a**? Also, what do you think about the whole 'sweet' moment at the end? Remember to vote, comment and spread the word Geeklings :)

xoxo

Mona-Mae

PS Please, from the bottom of my heart go and check out 'The Hired Love', it's really important to me and my heart, so please with a cherry on top, read it and comment? I really will do anything in return and frankly I'll even make you a book cover and read your stories, because I don't mind. All I want in return is feedback and more reads on 'The Hired Love'.

Okay, done begging now *blushes*

PPS Check out my first trailer that I made to the side :)