Chapter 25
The pressure on her brain made her close her already closed eyes even further to block out the rays of sun shining on her face. Her stomach churned dangerously and her body felt clammy. Soft shakes ran through her body while her mind slowly started replaying the events from the night before.
The memories were a little blurry, but they were all there and she couldn't be more embarrassed about everything that had happened. She wasn't even sure why she had drunk anything in the first place, it just didn't make sense.
The mess that would await her downstairs could wait, she was in no shape to even attempt tackling that at all.
And her bed. Her poor, poor bed. Last night, she'd sort of understood what Sébastien had told her about people getting freaky on it but only now she realized it was her bed they had done it on.
Absolutely disgusting.
And if Sébastien's earlier words were anything to go by, every room would be like that.
And then there was that one guy the night before. The blonde one, whose name she'd forgotten but had dragged her down the hallway. Unconsciously, her hands went up to her arms to find them still store from his steel grip.
The realization of his intentions threatened to enter her mind but she pushed them away. She didn't want to think about that. Couldn't think about that. At least Sébastien was there at that moment.
The details were vague but she remembered being let go before he entered her field of vision.
Sébastien. He'd seen her at what was probably the most embarrassing point of her life and if she would have been physically capable of getting more nauseous she would.
There was no way he didn't hate her now and wouldn't throw her on the streets that same day.
Well, after she'd cleaned up the apartment.
The stress of these thoughts made it impossible for her to keep lying still so she slowly peeled open her eyes to look around the room. On the far end, on the small leather couch, lay Sébastien's sleeping form.
His soft snores filled the room and she took the chance to inspect his face. It might be the last time she could so she might as well make use of it.
While sleeping the stress from the last few weeks was barely visible on his face and the soft morning light highlighted his perfect features.
One of his arms hung off the couch as he lay on his stomach and the taut muscles underneath made her eyes follow the entire length of his arm down to his hand.
Hands she now knew were calloused but gentle and made her feel warm all over any time he touched her.
If she focused hard enough she could feel his skin on her arms again. He felt so good and she knew it was a pathetic thing to do, but she couldn't help it.
His soft snores halted and she quickly shut her eyes to pretend like she was still asleep.
After a few moments, she heard his weight shift on the couch and a groan escape his mouth.
The simple sound entered her ears and sent electricity through her body.
It was unfair how much everything he did affected her physically as well as mentally, especially since she knew she didn't affect him in the same way.
After sighing a deep sigh she could hear him get up and walk around the room. She wasn't sure if he'd drank at all since he didn't seem too inebriated the night before but she also didn't know him well enough to know how he acted when he was drunk.
A drawer somewhere in the room opened and closed and she could hear the bathroom door close before the shower turned on and she took that moment to get out of the bed. Her clothes from the night before were nowhere to be found and she wasn't sure where she'd even left them.
His clothes hung loosely on her body and she wasn't looking forward to walking around without a bra but she didn't have a choice at the moment.
It didn't matter anyway, her room was only a few doors away.
So, she gave up looking for the lost garments as they probably were in the bathroom where Sébastien was taking a shower and there was no way she'd go in there right now.
Her hand moved to open the bedroom door to exit towards the hallway only to find it locked. After a quick inspection, she found that it only opened by using a key. A key she didn't have.
The headache increased the longer she was standing up so she quickly sat down on the bed again.
Her arms felt thrice as heavy as usual and every move tired her.
There was nothing to do but wait for Sébastien to finish showering to open the door for her, so she crossed her legs and inspected the room.
It looked the same as it always did. Expensive furniture with black and silver accents and large windows that let enough light through to send her headache into overdrive. Yet, something had changed.
Waking up in his room, in his bed even, felt somehow personal and she wondered what it meant. Did he care about her? He could've just left her to sleep on a couch somewhere in the apartment, yet he'd invited her to sleep in his own bed while he slept on a sofa himself.
The party itself had left a sour taste in her mouth. It had been fun in the beginning but had gradually gone downhill until she reached the absolute bottom and she wasn't sure if it had been something she ever wanted to experience again.
Her hand went up to her arm again but when she looked she noticed dark bruises that were vaguely hand-shaped and she quickly pulled down the sleeve again. The shirt was large enough to reach her elbows which was the perfect concealment for now.
The shower stopped running and not soon after Sébastien exited the bathroom in a new shirt and a fresh pair of jeans. He seemed surprised to find her awake already but soon a frown replaced the surprise on his face while he walked toward her.
"Hey," he started carefully while assessing her face as if he were approaching a wild animal "How are you feeling?"
"I'm fine," she replied before realizing that would be a bit suspicious seeing as she wasn't in the best shape the night before. So, she quickly added an "I do have a bit of a headache," while softly laughing to try and lighten the heavy atmosphere.
But it didn't work and his eyes just ran over her face for a moment before he talked again. "Right, that's not unusual. But are you hurt?"
Her eyes widened a bit at that and she wondered what he'd seen that night before. There was no way he'd noticed Olly's steel grip before he'd pushed him away, right?"
"No," she squeaked a little too fast, making him sigh.
"If you say so, then," he said, letting the topic go much to Ava's relief.
"Um, Sébastien?" she asked, trying to change the topic before he could come back on it.
"Yes?"
"The door is locked and I kind of have to shower and change."
"Shower in here while I go send people home."
"There are still people here?" she asked surprised. It was light out and she knew it was already late in the morning, so why would there even be people left at this point?
"There are always people who pass out or just refuse to go home for some reason," he explained. By his tone, she could hear that he was irritated at the thought and she wondered if he was a little hungover too. "I'll get you some new clothes to change into but I do need you to wait here for a bit."
"Okay," she replied while nodding, not being in the mood to run into any people from the party at this hour.
She took the clothes from him and thanked him before entering the bathroom to quickly shower. The clothes he'd given her were very similar to the ones before but they were fresh and combined with the shower made her feel better already.
The clothes from the night before were piled in a corner and she rummaged through them until she found her bra and put it on. It made her a little uncomfortable to think that someone might see too much through the white shirt so wearing it made her feel more confident.
The rest of the clothes were thrown in the bin, which she was going to wash herself anyway so it didn't matter that hers were in there too.
Just as she left the bathroom shouting came from downstairs and she could hear bangs and clashes and when a woman screamed her heart sped up. She quickly left the room to carefully check out the ruckus while trying not to be seen and stopped at the top of the stairs.
Or more like, froze.
The sight before her wasn't a pretty one and the five or so people downstairs were all yelling and cussing. Two people had to hold back Sébastien who was looking absolutely dangerously furious while he was trying to get to the man who was restrained at the opposite side of the room.
Olly.
She let out a gasp at the sight of it but no one could hear her through the shouts.
Sébastien's previously neatly done hair was ruffled and there was some blood on his shirt, making her stomach turn in concern. He was trying to shake off the two men holding him back, one of them Justin, but anytime he was almost successful he was grabbed again.
Olly, however, didn't look too good. There was a cut above his eye which seeped blood down his face while his eyes were wide in fear. He didn't need too much restraining as he half-heartedly tried to get loose before giving up.
"Get him out of here, now," Justin shouted at the other man, who nodded and dragged Olly away towards the front door. As soon as it closed Sébastien was released and Ava took this as her cue to leave.
She didn't want to be seen, she was too shaken up at the sight of it all and she noticed she'd started to slightly tremble. There was only one reason why the two of them specifically had gotten into the fight, and she had no idea how to feel about that.