I Will Always Be By Your Side

Chloe’s POV: The sound of the alarm woke me. I had not even opened my eyes yet and I could sense that the room was spinning. I fumbled for my phone to shut off the alarm so that the pounding in my head would stop. The smell of beer and sweat clung to my hair and I suddenly got a whiff of left-over kebab and chips. The smells mixed, leaving me with a disgusting aroma that was making my stomach churn and made me want to gag. I finally had to get out of bed to see where my phone was. I could see it sticking out the back pocket of my jeans which I obviously had just thrown off after we had got in last night. I picked my phone up and switched off the alarm. Then I got a glimpse of myself in the full-length mirror, my hair was a tangled mess, I was wearing my black sports bra and basic black shorts. I looked over to the bed to see my best mate sprawled out on the bed. Her leg hanging over the edge I flung one of the pillows that had been tossed on to the floor at her head. She groaned and rolled over. ‘Why does EVERYTHING hurt? Oh my god, how many times are we gonna wake up like this and swear it is the last time?’ I looked over at her ‘Probably when we finally don’t have enough money to go out with anymore’. I was checking my phone hoping that someone had called or messaged me or something. Abbie looked over at me ‘You alright?’ I could not even bring myself to think about where he was.‘I just want to make sure he’s okay. Has Dave messaged you?’ she reached over to the bedside table where her phone was charging ‘Yeah he has.’ a concerned look crossed over her face as I climbed back into the duvet and sat up in the bed next to her. ‘Are you sure you’re okay,’ I nodded, she unplugged her phone and sat up next to me, ‘Well, they got a taxi home after they went for food. They went back to Dave’s and mine. They must have got in around 4.’ She looked over at me knowingly, I would not be able to get away with lying, she knew me far too well ‘How are you feeling about everything that happened last night?’ I thought back to the previous night out with the lads and everything that had unfolded. I was used to most of Charlie's erratic behaviour but last night was the first time he’d ever treated me like that in public. I knew Abbie had had a few choice words about the whole situation last night and I couldn’t blame her. He was being a d**k. ‘I didn’t do anything wrong, Abs, I didn’t say anything, I didn’t encourage it, all I wanted last night was a good night out like we used to have!’ she smiled at me comfortingly ‘He’s in the wrong Clo! not you. Do not let him blame you for this one. I cannot stand the way he speaks to you sometimes!’ She was right and I knew it, but for some reason I also knew if he had his way I was going to be the one apologising in the end. I kept thinking back to the fight, trying to think of any way I could have prevented it. We had all gone out together and it had been nice hanging with all the lads again. It was rare they had let Abbie and I come out anymore since she had started dating Dave and Charlie and I had got back together. I had ordered a round of shots and the guy behind the bar was joking about me just giving him my number instead of paying for them. I had laughed it off and I had even made it clear that my boyfriend would not approve. I turned around to see this thin tall blonde girl draped all over Charlie. This was not an abnormal thing to happen. I knew he attracted attention; he was a good-looking guy with his messy blonde hair and muscular toned body, and it didn’t hurt that he dressed well also, he thrived off the stuff. At the beginning of our relationship, it had really bothered me all the dancing and jokes and drink buying he did for other girls right in front of me, but as time had gone on it had just become white noise really. I hadn’t done anything wrong, but still half way through the night he’d apparently caught the bar tender staring at my ass and started kicking off at me, saying it was my fault, telling me he was right that the skirt did make me look like a slut. He started calling me every name under the sun. He went absolutely ballistic. Two lads ended up stepping between us, which only made him even more enraged. When the bouncers arrived, they threw the 6 of us out of the club. He’d continued to scream at me until Abbie had pulled me into the nearest taxi and told him to go f**k himself and he had told me that he was finished with me. I knew then that there would be a possibility he would have gone home with someone. I checked my phone again. There were no new messages. Why did he always have to do that? I looked at the time and let out a frustrated groan, ‘I don’t want to go’, I whined. Abbie looked at me concerned ‘Before you go anywhere you need a f**king shower coz Clo, I’m sorry I love you but the smell of you is making me want to throw up!’ She was right. I forced myself out of bed and trudged down towards the bathroom to get a shower before we had to leave for work.