Miriam managed to shake Ade off around midnight by feigning exhaustion and calling upon the power of their promised date. He, in true fuckboy style, didn't even bother to offer to take her home, so she ducked into the crowd without so much as a goodbye and redirected her energy to finding Wes. On any given occasion Wes wasn't hard to spot, if not for the fact that his every expression was burned into Miriam's mind, then because he, at six foot five, often towered over any given crowd. And yet, a quick scan of the room yielded no results.

Turning on her heel, Miriam headed outside. She barely made it into the courtyard before she spotted Wes. The first thing she noticed was his smile. To the untrained eye it looked genuine, big and broad, like something out of a commercial, but she knew better. And yet, when she saw his hands, she wondered if she did. In one he held a plastic cup while the other curled around the fingers of a petite woman wearing a honey blonde wig with incredible edges. The two laughed, hands swinging, and Ollie bent down to whisper something in her ear which served only to make her laugh ten times harder.

Something curled in the pit of Miriam's stomach, ice-cold and sharp, while two options presented themselves. She dismissed the first almost immediately. Sure it would rid her of this feeling, but she had enough shame to not interrupt. So, with no other choice, she leaned against a rusted stretch of railing, squashed between two overly large groups, and slid her phone out to text Wes.

Moments later, Miriam watched as Wes pulled his phone out of his back pocket, read her message and put his phone back without sending a response. If earlier her stomach was ice-cold, now it's raging hot.

The next person she messaged was Abi who told her to head to the exit. Without sparing Wes a second glance, Miriam did exactly that. She and Abi bumped into one another on the outskirts of the dance floor; Abi rolled onto her tiptoes. "Ade said you left."

"Wes was busy," Miriam shouted back.

Abi looked bewildered for all of ten seconds before she offered to leave too. Miriam began to shake my head, but Abi interrupted with, "I've ordered the uber."

"Abi." Miriam groaned.

"What?" she asked with the upmost innocence. "I'm sure Daniel would love time alone with his friends just as I want it with you."

"We literally spent the entire day together."

"And now we can spend the night, your place or mine? Who am I kidding, you have better snacks."

"Fine, but just know Wes ate all the cookies from the other night."

"That monster," Abi gasped.

Miriam laughed at her theatrics, then looped her arm through Abi's and dragged her out of the club. By the time they managed to escape, unscathed bar a few droplets of something that smelt like paint stripper, their uber was parked up by the curb. Abi clambered in first and slid across the back to make space for Miriam. The driver checked their details then pulled away, fiddling with the radio until Capital Xtra started playing the latest Dave song.

"So." Abi stretched the word to its full potential. "Wes was busy?"

"Yep, with a girl."

"The same girl from earlier?"

"Yeah." Miriam squinted. Something about Abi's expression made her break out in a cold sweat. "Why? Do you know her?"

"Me?" Abi pressed a hand to her chest.

"Yeah, you."

"Oh, no. Ryan said she doesn't even go to uni with us."

"Then what the—"

"Apparently they've hooked up a few times."

"Recently?"

Abi shrugged. "Who knows."

I need to, Miriam thought, before promptly shaking it off and settling for a shrug of her own. "Who cares," she said breezily. "If that's the type of girl he wants to waste his time on, that's his ish."

Abi raised her brows briefly before asking about next week's bookclub meeting. Eventually the sweat broke, Miriam's heart rate dropped, and she could speak without the threat of trembling. Eventually, she was okay. The question was why she wasn't in the first place?

Miriam and Abi spent the rest of the night gorging on food before eventually tripping into bed both food drunk and drunk drunk. Only where Abi fell right asleep, curled in a tight ball and mumbling Daniel's name, Miriam tossed and turned, passing the time by counting sheep and browsing ASOS until eventually she was put out of her misery.

Wes arrived at ten past three. The moment Miriam heard his key in the door, she felt her eyelids flutter, but then came the over-exaggerated shhh and girlish giggle that unfortunately did not belong to her flatmate. A giggle which caused her eyes to ping open and squint through the darkness.

"You've got to be quiet," Wes whispered, his voice so close to Miriam's bedroom door it made the frame shake. "My flatmate's asleep. She'll kill me if you wake her up."

"She?" The woman's voice was shrill, pointed and far louder than Miriam anticipated. "As in your flatmates a girl?"

"Isn't that implied by the pronoun," Miriam muttered to herself just as Wes asked if that would be a problem.

"Obviously not." The woman's voice was just as close as Wes'. "This your room?" The doorknob twisted.

"No," Wes yelped. "It's the boiler room."

Boiler room?

"Oh." The woman's voice fell flat.

"My room's over there. Head in, I just need to...check the boiler."

Miriam's eyes widened for all of two seconds before snapping shut just as Wes popped his head round the door. She heard the woman purr something seductively then the door close behind Wes. Only, he wasn't in the hallway, wasn't following his overnight guest to the promise land, but tiptoeing towards Miriam who squeezed her eyes tighter.

Wes' scent invaded Miriam's senses, earthy with a hint of spice. His hand curved around her cheek, warm and clammy, joined by his lips which brushed against her forehead. "Sorry," he murmured against her skin. "I'm so, so sorry."

He left the way he came and Miriam's eyes fluttered open once she heard the click of two doors. Her fingers crept up her skin, tracing his touch in lingering strokes. He kissed her. He really, really kissed her.

~*~

The next morning, Wes emerged from his room alone. Abi nudged Miriam with her big toe and smirked.

"What?" Wes asked, stealing one of Miriam's crusts from the edge of her plate.

"Here we were thinking there'd be a fourth," Abi laughed. "Honestly Wes, I didn't pitch you as a dip and ditch kind of guy."

"How do you—"

"You woke me up," Miriam said with a shrug. "She sure was loud."

Abi laughed harder. "You really know how to pick em."

"There was no dipping and ditching," Wes said quickly. "She was drunk, she needed to sober up."

"In your room?" Abi asked.

Miriam's eyes zeroed in on the left corner of his mouth. It would tell her all she needed to know. Tell her if she could, should, trust him. If the dip and ditch was a precursor to worse. If, God forbid, he became the type of guy she needed to fix. But it remained in its usual downward slope as he said, "The living room. As soon as she was sober enough to get in a cab, she left. Not all guys are pigs."

"Just ones whose names begin with A," Abi grinned.

Wes managed a smile. "Exactly." Then he fixed his gaze on Miriam and his smile widened, ever so slightly, around the edges. "What time are we leaving?" he asked.

"I was thinking one. I promised Essie we'd help with dinner."

"Is she cooking?"

"Apparently."

"Where are you guys going?" Abi interrupted.

"My sisters," Miriam said. "It's my dad's birthday."

"And Wes is invited?" Abi asked sceptically.

"My parents love him."

"More than that," Wes grinned.

Abi glanced at Miriam who only nodded rather sombrely. "They practically worship the ground he walks on."

"Well good for you two I guess," Abi mumbled.

Miriam noted the surprise that lingered in her voice, but before she could ask what Abi meant, Wes moved the conversation back to last night's exploits, burying Miriam's confusion beneath laughter. When he left, heading to make his own breakfast, Miriam whipped around and poked Abi's arm. "What do you mean good for us," she hissed.

"Nothing." Abi shook her arm. "It's just a bit weird is all. I mean it's not like Wes is your man. Should he really be spending your parents birthday with your entire family?"

"It's not that weird," Miriam muttered defensively.

Abi stared at her for a long moment, then glanced up at the ceiling and rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say." She slid off the sofa. "I should be going anyway, I promised Daniel we'd have lunch together. Which reminds me, what should I tell Ade?"

"What do you mean?"

"What should I tell him when he asks what you're doing today?"

Miriam's nose scrunched up. "He'd ask that?"

"A hundred percent. So? What do you want me to tell him?"

Miriam considered for a moment. It's not like it mattered, not really, so she said, "The truth."

Abi's eyes narrowed. "But I thought you didn't want to bring Wes into this."

"I don't."

A pregnant silence settled between them, swollen all the way into the third trimester. Then Abi stretched, cracking her neck, and shrugged. "The truth it is," she said before heading towards the front door.

Miriam trailed behind and leaned beside the intercom. "I'll call you later," she said while Abi tied her laces.

"Good luck with your mum."

They hugged, Miriam thanked her and then locked the door behind Abi's retreating figure. Wes quickly replaced her and threw an arm over Miriam's shoulder. "Dinner will be fine," he said. "I promise."

"You can't promise that." Miriam's voice cracked; Wes held her tighter.

"For you I can promise anything."

~~~

Please vote, comment and share.

Misslaughalot_

xxx