Stepping out of the car Jac's hand found Joseph's, and together they walked through a sea of people waiting by the entrance and into the main room. She could feel people's eyes following her, the result of which was a blush travelling up onto her face. Joseph instinctively started to rub the back of her hand with his thumb; this small action relaxed Jac, and she found herself squeezing his hand in response. After spending a minute or so orientating themselves, they went over to the bar and ordered a couple of drinks. It was not long before Jac spotted Maddy walking over to join them, so she asked the barman for another drink; turning back towards the dance floor, she was greeted by a slap across her cheek. As with most things, there was the initially silence that claimed everyone and then it was followed by hastily restarted conversations. Jac could see Joseph looking from her to Maddy and back again, confused by what had just happened; she did not blame him – she was not really sure why she had just been slapped either! She placed what was left of her drink on the bar, and gently glided her fingers over her cheek.

'What the hell was that for Maddy?'

'Linden, that's what. And don't even try to say you know nothing about it because I know that you do. It's all very well to joke about these things, but when it really involves my mother answering the door to something I don't know about then it's completely different. You could have given me some bloody warning; she's like the secret service where guys are involved.'

There was a brief moment of mutual glaring before Maddy jumped at Jac. Jac saw Joseph step forward in the initial split second, before he (and she) realised that this was in fact a hug, not an attack. The girls separated, a puzzled expression on Jac's face clear to all who were looking.

'You deserved that slap Jacqueline Naylor, but thank you. It's almost worth the interrogation to know he likes me. Seeya later!'

Without a backwards glance, Maddy skipped off to her table – the small silver bell had rung to announce dinner's commencement.

With a lamb shank and chocolate pudding inside them, everybody got up after the meal and helped to push the tables back – it was time to party! The music blared from the speakers, there were people dancing everywhere, and there were plenty of drinks being handed around. There was a large group of people that Jac knew, so she and Joseph went over to dance with them. It was slightly awkward because she still was not keen on all the attention she received, but then again she reasoned, she would have had to wear a less flattering dress.

A slow song came on next and everybody paired up: Jac with Joseph, Michael with some populite, and so on. She could not see Maddy or Linden anywhere near, so she assumed they were getting a drink. Jac looped her arms up around Joseph's neck and looked into his eyes; his hands were resting on her waist, holding her close to him. They began to sway gently, slowly, in time to the music, their bodies almost touching. Jac could feel herself getting lost in Joseph's blue eyes; there was an unimaginable depth to them, the emotion was swirling in them, pulling her up, swallowing her. With a slight tilt of the head, it seemed simultaneous as they leant in to kiss. The contact between lips took away their surroundings, removed them from being in public, put them into a separate and silent room where it was just the two of them. Her hands were on the back of his neck, holding him to her when the commotion started. Stunned, they pulled apart and looked around them, feeling a little dazed. From what she could gather by the reactions of the people around her, and the odd word or so, an extremely drunk Connie had kissed Sam! Looking now though, Jac mused, it did not look so innocent. She was practically crying over his, for once, honourable reaction – he did not want to take advantage of her while she was drunk. There was little anyone could do, so Sam decided to take her out to the front door and make sure she got home safely.

'Shall we go for a walk for a bit? Henry won't be here for a while, and it's a bit hot in here don't you think?'

Jac smiled at Joseph and nodded. 'A walk would be nice.'

They went over to the back door and slipped out, nobody noticed or seemed to care – they were still focussed on the uncharacteristic outburst of Connie. They stood on the paving stones and just looked out over the land joining the place the dance was in. The moon was out, meaning that there was little that could not be seen; so both of them were shocked when there was a quiet crash somewhere behind them

Jac whirled around to look at what it was, and nearly whooped – Linden had Maddy pinned against the wall and they were making out so vigorously it was not surprising that they had not noticed their friends.

'Well that ruined the mood, hey.'

'Mm... If they weren't here Joe, what would you have done?'

'Ideally, something romantic, like a walk under the moon... It would have ended up like that though, hopefully.'

'You'll have to show me sometime, I don't think I quite understand what you're getting at.'

Jac was taken aback at how suggestive she was being, and how plain-speaking Joseph was as well – it was nothing like they normally were! She decided to put it down to the alcohol, and she had just captured Joe's lips with her own when something in his jacket vibrated.

'That'll be Henry, hang on.' He answered the phone, blatantly trying to ignore Jac's butterfly kisses that she was placing down his cheek and neck. 'Yes, we'll be just out. No, don't worry about coming back later; we'll be a minute, tops. Yes, see you there then. Goodbye.'

Quickly, Joseph pulled Jac closer to him and kissed her. Then, as rapidly as he had started it, he pulled away and took her hand.

'Come on, he'll only ring again if we don't go now.'

So, under the guiding light of the moon, they made their way around the outside of the building and towards the car park. Stumbling a little, they got into the car, even if they were a little sprawled across the seat. Henry nodded hello to them, and pulled the separator down between the front and rear passengers, knowing exactly what mildly intoxicated teenagers would want to do. Jac was pushed back against the door while Joseph kissed her, his hands ghosting her sides and moving down to her hips. Jac's arms were around Joseph somewhere, keeping him as close to her as possible, while allowing him enough movement to be comfortable. She slid one arm under his jacket and shirt, needing body contact; he quickly shrugged off his jacket, his lips never leaving hers. She kicked her heels off and was about to unbutton Joseph's shirt when there was a screech of tyres; something impacted on the car and Jac was lost to the darkness as the car began to roll...

*

Okay, maybe I was a little mean to leave it there...

But you know what'll make me hurry up? That's right, reviews =)

I'm not going to do the 'I want so many reviews before I'll even consider posting', however, it would be nice to know people enjoy reading it, and it's worth me taking the time to write it.

Thanks,

Woody2792x