Party 'til you pass out / When the party's over

1.33

A few streets later I found myself fully crying in the middle of the almost deserted city centre, with nowhere to go and no one to call. No, wait. I could go to - No. Tom would be asleep, and it wouldn't be a great idea to run to him after another crisis with Oliver. But after another long while of walking around with only my shattered heart as company, I saw no other option.

I looked at my phone for the time; it was after two AM already, but I tried to call Tom nonetheless. He didn't pick up, and with a heavy feeling I sauntered all the way to his apartment. I rang the bell for a long time, knowing I would probably make him very annoyed with that. After another few seconds of no response, I knocked on his door.

'Tom?,' I said loudly, my voice breaking. 'Please, it's me -' The door opened.

'What the fuck?,' Tom said, frowning against the light above his door. He stared at me with sleepy eyes, and I tried not to look at him too closely since he was only wearing his boxershorts. 'Alison?!' He pulled me in and closed the door.

'Hey,' I muttered, biting my lip and looking down at the floor. 'Sorry to wake you, but -'

'Is everything okay?,' he asked, guiding me to the living room and putting me on the couch. I shrugged, tears drowning my eyes as I started crying again. I heard Tom leave the room and come back a little later, while I was still sobbing. The tap in the kitchen ran for a moment, and somewhat later Tom sat down next to me, dressed in a shirt and shorts, handing me a glass of water.

'Ey, what's going on?' His hand softly rubbed my back. 'Is Oli okay?' I just shrugged a bit, sniffing my nose and wiping my eyes dry.

'I don't know...' Tom sat back a bit and kept looking at me, quietly, until I calmed down a bit and took a sip of water.

'What did he do?,' he asked flatly. I huffed and softly shook my head.

'Long story...'

'Well, I didn't wake up in the middle of the night for nothing, so spill it.' I took a deep inhale and started talking about visiting Brian to pick up my belongings, and the fight Oliver and I got in to afterwards. I told Tom about how we split up after he found out he himself had been the root of my past problems, and how I had gone back by train to make up with him, only to find him -

'Kissing Amanda?!,' Tom asked in horror. 'You sure?'

'I'm not blind, Tom!' He stared at me with a frown on his face.

'I know, but - Amanda?!'

'Yes, Amanda!,' I let out in annoyance.

'Oli despises her.'

'Well, didn't look like he did an hour ago.' I felt anger and betrayal get some feet on the ground in my body again, and I bit my lip hard.

'What if...,' Tom started, thinking about what he was going to say. 'What if Oliver speaks the truth and she jumped at him and he just froze and couldn't act for another moment, and you just happened to be there at the wrong time?'

'Still... it happened!'

'Alison, honestly... The same happened between us and for you it didn't mean anything either.' His face was still pained when he said that. I sighed deeply.

'And still Brian broke up with me.' Tom made a face and rolled his eyes, grunting.

'Then break up with Oliver, if fighting with him is just becoming too much on you,' he said tiredly, sitting back in the couch with a sigh.

'I can't...'

'What do you mean, you can't? You can just leave him, he'll get over it.'

'No, Tom. I can't just leave him...' Tom frowned and looked at me.