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

Alison

I was really enjoying tonight, almost forgetting that Tom was leaving at first daylight. He had become one of my best friends, and I was really going to miss him, so tonight I wanted to spend as much time with him as possible.

I had quite a few drinks and I felt happy and light, almost forgetting about yesterday, or tomorrow. I was talking to Alex and Zack, as my phone went off. Surprised to see Brian's number on the screen, it took me a while before I sobered up enough and answered.

'Bri?' I closed my other ear with my finger and walked away from the crowd so I could hear him better.

'Ali? Can you hear me?'

'Yeah! Yes, I can! Hey! How are you - why are you calling? It's - ' I looked at my watch, trying to figure out what time it was in London '- five am over there.'

'Yeah... Well, I can't sleep that well since you left. You haven't called me in a week. Just wanted to check up on you. I miss you.' I giggled.

'You don't have to do that, I'm fine.'

'Are you enjoying - Wait, are you drunk?' I leaned against a bus and enjoyed the cool surface against my heated body.

'Nah, I am okay. I'm fine.' I laughed again and tried to focus on the ground. 'We're having a party because Tom is leaving tomorrow.'

'Who?'

'Tom! You know, Oli's brother?'

'Oh... Okay.'

'He's really nice. We became really close friends.' Again, I giggled, hiding my face with my hand at the thought of Tom kissing me. 'Well, not just friends.' It stayed silent for a moment.

'What do you mean?,' Brian asked.

'Oh, it was nothing, Bri.'

'What was nothing? Ali, what did you do?'

'I didn't do anything. He kissed me.' I couldn't help but chuckle; when I got drunk, I would always laugh about and say everything. But now, the tension I felt between me and Brian soon stopped me.

'What?' Brian sounded angry, hurt even maybe. I couldn't quite concentrate and got a little annoyed because he was ruining my good mood, and I just wanted to have a great night now. 'He did what?'

'It was just a kiss, Bri. Jesus, don't act up.'

'Don't act up? Excuse me, but the last time I checked, we were just engaged and I was the one in a relationship with you, not anyone else. Why did he kiss you?' I frowned and wobbled on my legs, until my knees gave in and I sank down the bus to the ground.

'I don't know, why do people kiss each other, Brian?' I heard him sigh.

'You know what? You go back to that party of yours. Go have fun, go make out with Tom, I don't care. For fuck's sake Ali... I trusted you!' My fingers squeezed the bridge of my nose to try and stop the upcoming headache I felt.

'Bri...'

'No. Fuck you.' The line fell dead and I sighed heavily, throwing my phone in my lap. I leaned my head against the bus and stared up to the starry sky. The conversation with Brian had me shocked to the point I felt like crying, but on the other hand, there were no tears. I felt bad about upsetting him, but somehow, deep down, it felt wrongly right.

After a short while I got up with some difficulty, and staggered back to the party, still not quite sure whether to cry or laugh. I bumped into someone and felt arms wrap around my shoulders.

'Al, you okay?,' Tom's voice said.

'No...'

'What's wrong?' He pulled me closer and I started tearing up, but I didn't want to cry.