I don't own Night World.

Chapter 14

And it is fun. We go to Liquid, and I easily pass for eighteen. I realise then that Hugh was right. All I need is a distraction from my messed-up life and some time to be a normal teenager.

"Two more beers please!" Hugh calls.

Okay, maybe I've had a couple too many, but it's quite a rush whenever I get a new one, the can all pristine. And anyway, it has a nice taste. Not to mention I'm feeling so relaxed.

"You know what we should try next?" Hugh yells in my ear. Only he because he needs to, though; the music is pretty loud. "Shots!"

I laugh. "Okay, but I have no money whatsoever, so you're paying."

"I've payed for all the rest, haven't I? And anyway, we'll be rolling in it once the band is world-famous. Imagine," he grabs my shoulder with one hand and does a majestic sweep with the other. "Performing at the O2. No seats left empty, fans screaming our names."

I bat him away. "Where have those shots got to? Barkeep!" I shout, lifting up a hand.

The shots are just a little bit more interesting. Every time I take one, it burns down my throat, and makes me feel like I could just fly. Not to mention Hugh is getting that little bit more gorgeous every time. Not that I take that many. Four, maybe five. Or seven.

"Well that's it, Jez!" Hugh slurs. I have a hard time focussing on his face. "I have no more money."

"Oh, well I'll pay for the next one." I grab at my pockets "Oh, that's funny. Can't find any money." I stand up from the stool, but trip over my own feet and land in Hugh's arms.

We stare at each other for a moment, before he kisses me, almost harshly, his hands travelling down my body. I kiss him back blindly, loving how good it feels. "Shall we go back to my place?" he whispers against my lips.

I pull back (well, more like stumble back, but I have to try to keep some dignity). "Oh, I can't," I say, crossing my arms.

He frowns. "Why not? You know we're meant for each other. It's going to happen at some point anyway."

"I'm in love with someone else."

"Jez, this is ridiculous. You are not in love with someone else. We're meant to be together. Why can't you see that?"

"I don't want to, okay?" I scream at him before bolting out of the place. Apparently, I get quite angry when I'm drunk.

I'm not outside for long before I start wondering where I should go. People keep on looking at me strangely, but that's probably because I'm stumbling about everywhere and at one point I walked into a lamppost. I didn't want to go home and disappoint mum. Val probably wasn't in yet, and there was no way I could go back to Hugh's or to anywhere where there might be parents, such as Raven's or Pierce's.

I have no idea where I'm walking until I look up and am face-to-face with the front of Morgead's house. I deliberate for a moment. It's either this or sleeping outside.

So I stumble up to the front door and knock on it continuously, receiving a shock when the door suddenly opens to reveal a very disgruntled-looking Morgead.

A very disgruntled-looking topless Morgead.

"Oh wow," I say, stepping back slightly. His body is... well, I'll just leave it at wow.

He frowns at me. "Jez? What are you...?" he trails off as I overbalance and land in a heap on the floor. I swear loudly as I stand up again. "Are you drunk?"

"No!" I protest automatically, and stumble backwards as I almost overbalance again. "Okay, maybe a little. Just this much," I lift my hand and hold my thumb and index finger about a centimetre apart. "Hardly anything."

"More than that, I'd say," he says as I close one eye and squint at the space between my fingers. "Come in, Jez. I'm calling your mother."

"No!" I shout. I grab at his hand and hold him back. "Please, Morgead. Don't. It won't ever happen again, I swear! But mum can't know."

"Jez, I have to," he says as he pulls me in and closes the door.

I put a hand against his chest (might I say, his bare chest) and look him in his eyes as deeply as I can in my current state. "Please," I beg. "Don't tell her."

He glares at me before closing his eyes and turning away. "Okay! Fine, I won't call her."

"Thank you," I whisper. I pull his face down to kiss him. And that feels even better than it had with Hugh; maybe because there were real feelings between us. I can sense that it takes him all of his self-control to push me back.

"I'll make up the spare bed for you," he says, his voice slightly huskier than usual.

I smirk. "What, I'm not sleeping with you?" I say, going up on my tiptoes to kiss him again. Apparently I was way more flirtatious when I was drunk too.

His jaw tightens as I pull away. "Don't tempt me," he says with a slight smile before going upstairs. I follow behind him, struggling with the stairs, so much so that he's just finished with the bed when I make it to the room. "What brought this on, then?"

I bite my lip and look down. "I'd forgotten," I say, giving a short humourless laugh. "Which was the point. It's... dad. I saw him today at the park and he ran away from me."

Morgead takes hold of my hands and pulls me to the bed to sit down. "I'm sorry," he says softly. I lean my head against his shoulder as he puts his arms around me. "But you know that you can't do this again? It's not right."

"I know. But what kind of teenager would I be if I didn't get drunk once?"

That makes him laugh. "You're right about that, I suppose." He kisses the top of my head before pulling away. "You can take a shower before you go to bed if you want," he says, getting up and going to a chest of drawers to pull out a t-shirt and throwing it at me. I don't manage to catch it, obviously, and when I pull it from my head he's smirking at me.

"Oh, so we're throwing things at each other now?" I say, picking up one of the pillows and flinging it towards him, but he catches it easily and throws it back on the bed.

"You're such a child," he says with a smile before turning to leave.

"You don't want to take that shower with me? You know, to save water," I call after him. He shoots me an amused look over his shoulder before going into the room next to mine.

After the shower and changing, I sit in my room for a bit, watching the second hand tick past on the clock, and feeling way too lonely. You know, those moments when you can't bear to be alone anymore, so much so that you feel yourself getting more and more depressed? Yeah, part of the drunkenness, I think.

Well, I wasn't going to put up with that. So I'd made my way silently to Morgead's room and opened the door slightly. I'd whispered his name, and when he hadn't responded slipped in, forcing myself to remain balanced. He hadn't even stirred when I'd slid into the bed next to him and curled up, falling asleep immediately.

I'm the first one to wake the next day, and I don't feel too bad; nothing but a slight headache. I notice that Morgead had put his arm around me sometime during the night, which was a comforting weight. I shift slightly, and he stirs next to me.

The weight of his arm disappears, and he groans. "Did you get me drunk too last night or something?"

I give him a disparaging look. "No. I was lonely. Should have, though."

He gives me a small smile and kisses my shoulder. "Feeling okay?" he murmurs.

"Umm... yeah," I say, slightly distracted as he starts kissing up my neck.

"I'll go make you some tea," he says.

"Milk, no sugar," I say automatically, pulling the cover closer and closing my eyes. There's no movement for a few seconds, and I look at him to see a strange expression on his face. "What?" I mumble.

He smiles and kisses my forehead. "Just imagining what it would be like to wake up to you every day."

I grin. "Pretty awesome for you, must say."

He grins back. "Just what I was thinking." He watches me for a couple more seconds before getting up and going out the door.

"I can give you a lift back home," he says as he comes back with two mugs.

I take a sip of mine before answering. "Only if you drop me off round the corner. Getting out of some guy's car will not warm mum to me right now. Especially if she recognises you."

He grimaces. "Okay."

When we've gotten ready, we go downstairs and into the garage, he goes straight for the car, but I'm frozen into place by the most beautiful thing I've ever seen.

An 883 Sportster Hugger. My bike. Okay, not really, but it was the bike I wanted. Morgead comes uncertainly up to me. "Are you feeling alright?" he asks in confusion.

"It's so beautiful," I murmur, stroking its spare body with my fingertips.

"You like bikes?"

"I love them. Dad is... he was going to buy me one for my eighteenth." My voice trails away and I bite my lip. Morgead touches my shoulder.

"We can ride on it if you want."

That cheers me up pretty quickly, so he tosses a helmet at me (my hand-eye co-ordination is exponentially better than last night) and wheels it out. I'm pretty much bouncing with excitement at this point, like an over-exuberant puppy.

And it's amazing when we set off, as if I'm on the back of a cheetah or something. I have a feeling he's going quicker than the speed limit, and that suits me just fine.

All too soon, the ride is over and I'm round the corner from my house. I hand the helmet back to Morgead and take a deep breath. "Thank you, Morgead. For everything." He touches my cheek.

"Anything for you," he says, his eyes intense. I back away, slightly unsteady and make my way to my house.

Time to face the music.