Chapter Twenty

The day went past swiftly and Annabelle was now very much looking forward to the party ahead. She gathered Michael would be busy, so sent a text to let him know.

I'll walk home today. There's a housewarming party for Ronan and Vicki which I have been invited to, can I go? Anna x

Of course you can. You can stay late as it's not a school night, but I want you back home before sunrise! x

She soon arrived at the flat, and went to her room in search of an outfit to wear. After much debate over the only three dresses she had with her, she decided to go for a red body con dress which reached a few inches above the knee. She paired this with some black heels which weren't too high and curled her hair. Her dress had long sleeves to cover the remaining bruises she had and, as per her previous and regular routine, minimal concealer covered the rest. Before she headed out, she grabbed her black leather purse (clutch size) and put her phone and a £20 note inside, in case she decided to get a taxi back home.

It was pretty obvious which flat the party was at once she'd entered the building. Balloons, streamers and LED lights surrounded the open front door. Annabelle took a deep breath and headed in. She was greeted by Scout who ran up to her, squealing with Emily following close behind.

"An! So glad you came!" Scout exclaimed with a red plastic cup filled with some sort of alcoholic drink in her right hand.

"Denzil's been driving me nuts waiting for you!" Emily said, already intoxicated on some level. Annabelle tried to say a simple 'hi' to her friends, but before she could she found herself being dragged by the other girls to Denzil.

"Alright Annabelle?" Denzil greeted, seeming to have been drinking, but nowhere near as much as Emily.

"Please Denzil, call me Anna." Annabelle replied in a flirtatious manner as 'oooooos' were exchanged between standers by. "So, what do people do at parties then?"

"What? You've never been to one?" Denzil puzzled as he and Annabelle continued to chat and flirt!

"Nah."

"Why not? Strict parents?"

"Umm something like that!"

"Well, you get hammered and then wake up the next day with a splitting headache. But it's worth it if you got to spend the night with someone like you." Thousands of different emotions were swamping Annabelle. She didn't know whether to kiss Denzil, or whether that would be a stupid move and she would be nothing but laughed at and ridiculed on Monday. She looked at Denzil longingly, but before she went in she realised something else she'd forgotten that she hadn't done before.

"Umm, Denz can we get a drink?"

"Sure. Uh, what do you want?"

"I don't know? What've you drunk?"

"A bit of vodka, not too much though. Please tell me you've drunk before Anna!" Her awkward smile confirmed his assumption. "No way!" There were two reasons Annabelle had never drunk before. One, her dad was always out getting drunk and his reaction to the booze pretty much terrified her and put her off. Two, if she dared touch his supply at home she knew she'd be in for it, and besides she was too young to buy alcohol and too young to pass for a believable fake ID.

"I don't want to like lose all my inhibitions and stuff, but just a little bit can't hurt I guess."

Not too much to be out of it, but just enough to blame snogging Denzil on the drink. Humiliation is really the last thing I need.

"A glass of vodka it is then!" Denzil cheered as he poured the liquid into an identical cup to his own.

Once she had finished the drink, the music had been turned up and everyone was dancing with their friends and significant others/ flings. Denzil pulled Annabelle in for a dance and before she even realised it, her lips were on Denzil's and she didn't ever want to pull away.

A/N: I hope these chapters aren't getting too short, however, unfortunately this fic is almost finished (I don't want it to drag on and get boring because I've already covered the main point in the story- the domestic violence etc). As you can probably tell, romance is not my forté in writing, nor is it my favourite genre to write, so this chapter was probably written a little weird and cringy idk! There will be a couple more chapters coming so please keep reading!