I twirled Heather around, shaking my ass to the music. The dance floor spun around me, making me dizzy, but in a good way. I had been jumping around with Heather on the dance floor for a while now and I felt super hot. I stumbled into somebody, hitting them hard; I apologised, but my words were slurring together so I'm not sure how much good that did. He looked pretty angry, but I just smiled at him. 

"You spilt my drink on me!" He yelled, pushing me. 

I stumbled back, falling on my butt hard. I look up at Heather and we both started giggling. She mocked me falling, losing her balance and actually falling to the floor too. She landed on my lap, knocking me back to the floor as I tried to get up- we both sat there, in hysterics. The angry guy stormed off, his friends all glaring at us. 

"Heather, I made them mad." I whispered, giggling. 

"Come on, Heather. Let's get you some water." A guy sighed, helping her off the floor. 

I recognised him as her boyfriend, but I didn't know his name for the life of me. I hiccuped, waving goodbye to them. I managed to get off the floor after a few attempts, stumbling through the house haphazardly. The floors all felt uneven and the room was spinning, but I made it outside, stumbling through a door frame and past people. The world tilted and I fell forwards, tripping over my own feet and landing in a bush.

I giggled, rolling over in the bush so that I was looking up. The moon's pretty. It makes me hungry, though. I'd like food right now. Ice cream. God, I really love ice cream. Everything's so spinny. I couldn't see straight and it's making me sick. I gagged, quickly rolling over onto my knees and throwing up into the bush. 

Everything I had consumed that evening came up, ruining my good mood. It tastes disgusting and made me feel horrendous. My eyes were watering by the time I got it all up, falling back onto the grass behind me.

"Are you okay?" A familiar voice asked, making my stomach flip.

I lurched forward, throwing up again. Only one voice could provoke such a reaction from me. I felt nervous and embarrassed- I didn't want to meet him while I was in this state. My drunken mind searched for what to do, but my thoughts were all pretty jumbled.

"Close your eyes." I begged, "I don't want to meet you while I'm throwing up."

He chuckled, but respect my wishes. I closed my eyes as he set down a water bottle, trying to avoid looking at his face. He backed up a bit and when I opened my eyes, he was stood behind me so that I couldn't see. I downed the water, letting it sober me up a bit and munched on the breadsticks he had given me. 

Now that the alcohol had all come up and I had ate something and rehydrated myself, I felt a bit better. The outside air was helping, too. I stayed sat for another ten minutes, trying to compose myself. It wasn't long before I felt almost back to normal, now steady and sober enough to face him. 

"Close your eyes." I told him, nervous to turn around.

"Closed." He told me and I hoped he was telling the truth. 

I climbed up off of the floor, straightening out my clothes and raking my fingers through my hair, putting it back in place. I used a tissue to dab my mouth and chewed on some gum, trying to not appear like such a hot mess. I felt seriously embarrassed right now.

I held my breath, turning around slowly. There he was, clear as day in front of me. I gasped audibly, causing his eyes to shoot open. They raked up and down me, turning a shade darker as he did so. I did the same, admiring every inch of him. 

My eyes were drawn to his arms. His shirt sleeves were rolled up, revealing forearm tattoos. I admired them, thinking they suited him really well. His face was unexplainable; I had never felt so overwhelmed by somebody's appearance. I felt like jumping him, just making out here and now, but I didn't know whether it was the alcohol still in my system talking or not. His cheekbones are so high. His lips are so kissable.

"Feeling better?" He whispered, taking a step towards me. 

I nodded, not being able to compute words right now; I was stunned into silence by him. He towered above me in height, his frame broad, but in a good way. He was shrouded in confidence, but he moved cautiously, like he was trying to not scare me. Probably a good plan on his behalf, because I felt so flighty right now. 

"Did you want me to walk you home? I understand if not." He offered, his expression hopeful.

"Yes please." I nodded, "Could you get my coat? It's in the garden." 

"I'll be right back." He promised, holding eye contact for a few seconds before he disappeared off back into the house, through the front door. 

I have no clue how I managed to end up in a bush along the driveway. I guess drunk me decided it was time to go home, but couldn't even make it out the driveway. Seeing Xavier was incredibly sobering, since I had convinced myself he wasn't even going to show up tonight. Then, bam, here he is. 

"This it?" Xavier appeared, holding my coat. 

I nodded and he passed it to me, our fingers brushing lightly. My whole body lit on fire, making me jump back. It felt like an electric shock, but an enjoyable one. It made me crave his touch, crave the feeling of his skin on mine. I finally understand the appeal of holding hands.

I slid the coat on, holding it close to me. He bit his lip, looking me over with an almost hungry expression. Usually somebody looking at me like that would make me uncomfortable, but I was doing the exact same thing at the moment. 

"Did you feel that?" I whispered breathily, my body still burning with desire. 

"Of course I did." He murmured, "I don't think your girlfriend would like it, though. I'll keep my distance." 

"No!" I exclaimed instantly, embarrassing myself, "I mean, she's not my girlfriend. Heather's my best friend."

"You dance like that with all your friends?" He teased, setting off down the driveway as I followed him. 

I couldn't stop staring at his face. It was addictive, the way his eyes lit up when he spoke to me, the way his lip tugged into a small smile. Everything he did. It was making it hard to think straight, since my thoughts were just clouded by how attractive I found him. 

"You were watching?" I furrowed my eyebrows, "I couldn't feel you." 

"You were so drunk I was surprised you could stand." He chuckled, "You wouldn't have sensed I was there, even if I touched you." 

"Sorry. My friend Mick's fault." I shrugged bashfully, feeling a tad mortified I had been in that state in front of him. 

"It's fine." He reassured me, letting us fall into silence as we walked for a second, "So, you're single, then?"

I blushed at how direct he was, but nodded 'yes'. A smile slipped onto his lips at that and he looked straight ahead, walking down the country lane with me in the dark. I felt strangely safe, I wasn't worried in the slightest. 

"Are you?" I asked sheepishly, my heart pounding. 

"I am. Why, are you interested?" He flirted, sending my heart into overdrive now.

"You asked first!" I huffed, my cheeks burning red.

"Exactly." He hinted, making me still, "I'm beyond interested."

I mean, I knew he was interested in me- he had made that very clear through the flirting- but it was different to hear him actually say it. Now we weren't just two people walking down a road, we were now two people who knew we were into each other walking back to my house. That sentence gave me a headache- maybe I'm still a little drunk.

We walked in silence for a bit, my whole body confused about how it should be feeling right now. It was switching from confused, to excited, to nervous, to lustful faster than I could actually keep up. I snuck a peak at his face, realising he had been staring at me. I blushed, ducking my head awkwardly. 

"How did the meeting go?" I innocently inquired, secretly hoping I could finally know everything.

"It actually went well. You've handled everything well, so far. They're reconsidering their original decision- which is good. I was allowed to come here today, so that's a good sign." 

"Who are 'they' exactly?" 

"Think of them as like the CEO's." Xavier struggled to explain.

"I thought you were the CEO, though." I scrunched up my nose, "Aren't you in charge?"

"It freaks me out that you managed to find that out so quickly." Xavier shuddered, "I am in charge, but only of my... branch of the company. Think of it as a franchised business, like I'm a high up manager, but I still have a boss to answer to." 

I processed that silently. Something tells me that he's not actually talking about businesses. My best guess would be that he's in a gang, which is pretty scary, but for some reason I'm willing to look past it. God, I'm desperate for him. Embarrassing.

"If they allow you to tell me, what happens? What's the outcome? Why are you telling me?" I looked into his eyes, watching them struggle. I could tell he really wanted to tell me the truth, but he wasn't allowed. 

"I mean, I think it's obvious..." Xavier trailed off, stopping in his tracks suddenly.

"Tell me." I urged.

"I want to be with you." He took hold of my hand, looking into my eyes sincerely.

My mouth dropped open slightly with shock as my whole body lit up with tingles once again, lighting every sense I had on fire. He was about to pull his hand away again, to give me space, but I held onto it. A goofy smile worked its way onto his face when I did that, making me blush. 

He held onto my hand firmly, linking our fingers together. I wanted nothing more than to step forward and press my lips to his, but I knew I couldn't do that. Not yet, anyway. I need to know what's going on before I get involved in that way. 

"It's so hard to not kiss you right now." Xavier echoed my exact thoughts, surprising me.

"Can we take it slow? I've never felt... attraction to anyone before." I whispered, fighting my own urges.

"What do you mean?" He questioned, trying to understand me.

"I've had girlfriends, but I've never really liked them. I've never liked anyone." I admitted, avoiding his eyes.

"Even guys?" He sounded curious now.

"Nobody." I confirmed.

"You do feel it with me, right? Have I read this wrong?" Xavier frowned, "I'm sorry."

"No, no. I do feel it with you. What I'm trying to say is that you're the first person I've felt anything towards." I struggled to explain.

"Cameron likes meee." Xavier teased, squeezing my hand. 

"You liked me first, Stalker." I shot back, making him pout.

"I'm not a stalker!" He moaned, going to let go of my hand to throw his hands in the air.

I held on, which was a bit embarrassing, but I liked the feeling of my hand in his. It was comforting- soothing. It felt like it belonged there and simply holding his hand settled that strange feeling that usually made me feel flighty whenever he was near. 

His face softened and he squeezed my hand, gripping it tighter as we walked. We settled into silence, just enjoying the feeling of being close to each other while we walked. I knew my house wasn't very far from here, so I felt a bit sad that this night would be ending soon. 

I hadn't seen him all week and I had found myself missing him quite often, especially when I sat out on my window sill at night and the only company I had was Greg, the muscular man assigned to look after me. Not that we spoke. 

"Penny for your thoughts?" He interrupted my thinking.

I looked away from his face and realised we were outside of my house now. I bit my lip, wondering what to say. I didn't want to tell him I'd missed him this week, since that would be a little wet. 

"When am I seeing you next?" I opted for instead.

"Soon." He promised, "You should text me. You have my number, after all."

He sent me a small smile, raising my hand to his lips. When he pressed them against my hand, my heart thudded and the spot that he kissed started tingling. He gently let go of my hand, waving goodbye as he retreated, leaving me flustered outside my garden gate.