Chapter 2 – Drunken Mistakes

I awoke on my bed which was odd considering my last memory was me on the couch with Skye. I looked around and Skye wasn't there, my instant thought was that he had gone to the party without me and that he ditched me whilst I was asleep, no, that would never happen, I thought to myself, Skye would never do that... would he? I got out of bed, unable to steady my thoughts as my paranoia got the better of me. I bumped into Skye on the way downstairs, 'Tai, I was just about to wake you up for the party!' I smiled out of relief, of course he would never abandon me, I can always rely on Skye for anything.

'What do ya think, Tai, this one or this one?' Skye asked as he was presenting two suits that looked exactly the same. 'What's the difference?' I asked wearily, he had been worrying about what to wear for half an hour, he was acting like a woman in a shoe shop trying to decide on one pair of shoes. 'Are you blind? This one,' he held up the suit on the right, 'is an Armani classic, whilst this one,' he held up the suit on the right, 'is a BOSS classic.' I stared blankly at him, 'I still don't see the difference, they're both blue.' He may have been smart, but he often overlooked the minor details. Sometimes I wondered if he really was a guy, maybe that would have made more sense, and then I wouldn't have had to question my sexuality. 'Oh, Tai, one day you'll understand the concept of fashionable brands.' He stated, almost as if it was a sin that I couldn't care less about big labels. I gave him a sour look, I would never have sold myself out for big brands and to have my face plastered everywhere, to which Skye had fallen victim for. 'Fine, I choose that one.' I pointed to the one on the left, hoping that he would stop talking about clothes. He held it up, almost studying it, then looked at the other one in comparison, he put on the blazer over the white shirt he was wearing, 'I don't know Tai, doesn't this suit make me look fat?' I rolled my eyes, he still looked perfect to me, 'Just wear what you want, I need to find my own clothes.'

I left him alone in his room to decide which suit he looked best in, I only had one so it wasn't difficult for me to decide. I just never had any use for more than one, with a black suit I could have gone to funerals, weddings and parties and not looked out of place. Plus I didn't have the money to spend on whatever I wanted, Skye had offered me money in the past, but I decided to get a job and earn it myself like an ordinary person would. After living like a celebrity as Skye's partner, I forgot what it was like to have a normal lifestyle and I missed having one, on some level I thought that was the reason why Skye had bought a small house and began living in a small city, although everyone still recognised him, he didn't do anything he was uncomfortable with, especially since he'd stopped working, unlike when he was living in a big city where he got robbed, chased by the paparazzi and some people even sent him unsanitary items in the mail, those were the stories he told me when we had started living together which was when I could finally move out, Skye took me under his wing and I never looked back.

I waited another half an hour for Skye to finally decide on what suit to wear, he eventually chose a completely different suit, a red blazer with an unbuttoned white shirt as well as a black bow tie, his blazer matched his shoes, his choice of clothing weren't baggy like the others were, instead they were a slim fit, as if he actually was self conscious about his weight, even though he hadn't put on any weight since I was a child. His teeth sparkled more than usual when he smiled, it almost seemed like he was trying to impress someone, not that his teeth weren't white enough already. 'So, you finally ready to go?' He asked, I gave him an agitated look, I opened my mouth, hesitated, then closed it again, 'Let's just go.' I mumbled as I checked my watch, we were already fifteen minutes late, Skye chuckled and patted me on the back, 'The others will probably be wondering where we are.' I nodded, suddenly not wanting to go to the party, memories of past parties I had attended with Skye crashed into me like a tidal wave, memories of me drinking too much, humiliating myself, throwing up and blacking out. My stomach churned from the haunting memories.

'Uh, listen Skye...' Skye turned around, 'What's up, Tai? Is there something wrong with my suit?' He checked his reflection in the nearby full-body mirror, scanning for any faults with his suit, 'No, I was just thinking... what if... what if I don't go to the party?' Skye tilted his head, his mouth slightly open, 'Is this because of the whole suit thing? 'cause I won't ask again-' 'No, no, it's not that, it's just that I don't really handle alcohol that well and I don't want to go through the same thing that happened last time...' Skye flashed his signature half smile, the smile that always made me melt inside and forget all my troubles. 'I understand, I just thought that you'd like to see everyone else again. You know, you don't need to drink if you don't want to.' I looked down, lost in thought, Skye tilted my head up to face him, his gaze was as if he was staring deep into soul, 'No one will get mad.' My heart fluttered, hearing that made me feel invincible. Bring on the alcohol, if I can handle just being friends with Skye for years to come then I can handle alcohol for one night.

We arrived at the party, Raine answered the door, her blonde hair curled just past her shoulders, her sky blue eye-shadow complimented her eyes which had fake eyelashes attached to them, she was wearing a strapless marine blue mini dress which shown a bit too much skin for my liking. The music erupted from the main room, creating the walls to vibrate, bright neon lights were lighting up the whole house, blinding me wherever I turned, I could smell alcohol mixed with vomit already. I felt like I was in a foreign country, I never did understand the concept of parties, I would much have rather had stayed home and be able to see, hear and breathe fresh air. 'This is great, huh?' Skye yelled over the music, of course he was the soul reason I ever went to parties, so that I could spend time with him, no matter how uncomfortable I felt. 'Skye, I want you to meet somebody!' Raine yelled, dragging Skye by his wrist, 'I'll see you later, Tai.' I waved to him as he got dragged into the nearby room. I felt almost lost, I had been to Raine's house before but it felt so unfamiliar due to amount of people and the atmosphere, I followed the sea of bodies into the main room, I never realised Raine knew so many people, I manoeuvred my way around countless drunken bodies, someone had grabbed onto my wrist, I turned around and saw Vlad with a cocktail in his hand, his black hair was slicked back making him look like he was from the 1950s, 'Tai, great to see you!' I almost smiled, knowing I had found someone I had recognised, 'Long time no see, Vlad.' Someone had tapped on Vlad's shoulder, 'I have to go, I'll see you Monday!' He leant towards me and glared at me, 'If you decide to come this time.' He said, referring to the day before where I had accidentally slept all day. I gulped as he left with someone into the kitchen, I hated it when he threatened me about getting me fired.

I stumbled into the kitchen, 'Long time no see, Tai!' I looked around and saw Raine with Kojo and Sawyer having a drink at the bar, Skye was nowhere to be seen, 'Where's Skye?' I asked trying to sound casual, 'He should still be with Brad, Pierre and Emma.' Emma's at the party? I haven't heard anything from her since she moved away about a year ago. 'I see... Well, I'll see you later, Raine.' I said, troubled from the thought of Skye being with his ex-girlfriend, 'Have fun, Tai.' I gave her a fake smile, I had a feeling that the party would go downhill from there so I began drinking alcohol. I sat on one of the chairs in the main room with nothing but a beer, I looked around, people were in groups drinking together, others were dancing along to the music and some people were even passed out on various pieces of furniture. I drank bottle after bottle as I tried to get Skye's face out of my mind. 'Oh, hey Tai.' I looked up from my beer and saw a cleavage right in front of my face, 'Great party, huh?' I looked up at her face, my vision had become blurry and my words had become slurred, I felt nauseated and tipsy, everything looked different with drunken eyes, that was the one thing I just couldn't get used to. I focused on her face, I knew I had heard that voice from somewhere but I couldn't remember where from, she had big brown eyes and long caramel coloured hair from what I could see.

'Hey, um... you.' My brain couldn't function enough to remember her name, I had too much to drink yet I felt like I hadn't had enough, I still couldn't stop thinking about Skye, even though I had already consumed over ten beers. 'Hey to you too!' She giggled sloppily, I could tell she had been drinking too, probably not as much as I had been though. She sat down in the seat in front of me, the only thing separating us was a small round table with only my bottle of beer on it. 'It really has been a long time, huh?' Her voice was starting to annoy me, it was high pitched and squeaky, the definition of a stereotypical teenage girl. My brain clicked, I knew exactly who she was at that point, it was Chlo. We began talking about many things, although half of the time we just drank, we spoke about her kitten, the days we all spent together and everything we had been doing since we had last met almost six months ago. That was before I had a breakdown due to the alcohol, I began to feel more and more depressed, one minute me and Chlo were laughing about cats, the next I had almost broken into tears because I felt alone without Skye. 'Hey, is something wrong?' She asked, not really interested, it was more of a conversation starter than a genuine question. My face was leaning against my left hand, my index finger on my right hand was forming circles on the rim of my empty beer bottle, I felt almost sobered up, even though I still felt intoxicated, I could finally think again and form words that made sense.

'Chlo, I need to tell someone.' That got her attention, 'You can tell me anything, Tai.' Normally, I would have never told her any secrets, she had only said that so that she would spread it to everyone else, but in this case I really needed to tell somebody, anybody, she was just the closest person there. 'I think I'm in love...' I braced myself for an over-dramatic response, I instantly regretted telling her. 'With who?' Was all she asked, 'I can't tell you that.' She gave me a knowing look, 'Oh, I get it.' She winked at me, I would have questioned the gesture if I wasn't so hung up on Skye at the time. 'Well if you like them that much you should tell them, I'm sure they'll understand.' I looked up, hope had been restored, 'Besides, they might even love you too.' Of course, why hadn't I done that before, Skye always said he'll always be there for me, maybe he even loves me too, my thoughts became warped from the deadly poison also known as alcohol.

'You're right, Chlo, I'm not going anywhere without telling that person how I really feel.' Chlo beamed, I saw Chlo smile a lot of times before, but this was by far the biggest smile I'd ever seen, 'I never thought this day would come! I have been waiting for this moment for so long!' Before I could say or question anything, Chlo became attached to my face, her mouth had crashed into mine, her tongue found its way into my mouth and began squirming inside my throat, I almost gagged. Scared and confused, I grabbed her shoulders and threw her off of me, that was the smartest drunken decision I had ever made. I staggered my way upstairs hoping I would find Skye up there, without Emma and waiting for me to help him in his time of need as Emma had already abandoned him before and she could've done it again, that was a mess that took forever to clean up. I searched frantically for him, asking everyone I had bumped in to, praying that he wasn't in one of the bedrooms with Emma.

I gave up looking for him upstairs and I knew for sure that he wasn't downstairs, I stepped outside to get some fresh air, I could hardly breathe inside as there were so many other people using up the air. I cleared my mind, stopped thinking about the events that had happened earlier during the party, stopped thinking about my feelings towards Skye and stopped thinking about what was really happening between Emma and Skye. I heard a noise coming from the trees, almost like a woman's laugh, perhaps that's Emma's laugh, I thought, almost hoping that Skye wasn't with her. I stepped towards the trees, it was pitch black outside, the complete opposite compared to the inside of the house. I could see two shadows from the light emitting from the street-light nearby, 'Hello?' I asked, hoping it wasn't Skye with Emma, 'Tai? Is that you?' The couple stepped towards the light. It was Skye and Emma. 'What are you doing out here?' I asked, completely ignoring the fact that Emma was there. 'It got a bit crowded in there so we came out here, what are you doing out here, buddy?' He had called me his buddy countless times before, but that time it hurt, it hurt because people didn't call someone they loved 'buddy', I snapped. 'You know what 'buddy'? I've had it. I've had it with you and I've had it with these feelings. You can do whatever you want with these girls and you know what? I'll still have feelings for you – no, I'll still love you and I can't do a thing about it 'cause I know that you could never love me back, so I just stand aside keeping everything bottled up whilst you tease me and go off with other girls instead. All I ever wanted was to be your one and only, for you to be happy that you just have me, but no, you just stare at me for ages giving me a false sense of security and then you just leave. What is with that? Do you like me or not? Just tell me what I need to do!' Floods of tears escaped from my eyes, spit foamed out of my mouth as I yelled my true feelings at last. The last thing I remembered before blacking out was Skye's fragile face, the face of shock, confusion and something that looked almost like... relief.