Chapter Fifty-Eight

“What are you doing in here?” Mark asked, joining Rose on a sofa against one of the walls of the main dining hall. “Thought you were meant to be getting drinks?”

Rose just shrugged.

“Are you alright?” Mark asked, looking at Rose more closely.

She looked like she had tears in her eyes, and she didn’t look exactly happy.

“What’s happened, babe?” Mark persisted, putting a hand on her arm.

“Nothing.” Rose mumbled, trying to keep the tears in.

“But it is something! Coz you’re all upset, look. What is it? Tell me.”

“Its just Ben…” Rose said, sniffing.

“Ben? What’s he done?”

“He just said some stuff…”

“Like what?”

Rose shrugged again.

“No, what? What’s he said to you?”

Rose turned to look at Mark. “He said that Chloe would choose him over me because she doesn’t need me any more.” She said, bursting into tears.

“Oh, Rose!” Mark said, hugging her to him. “He said that to you?”

Rose nodded, her sobs muffled against Mark.

“And… h-he, he said I was ma-malicious!”

Mark was utterly shocked and utterly ashamed of Ben. Why would he say something so horrible? Mark was going to kill him next time he saw him.

“Rose, babe, don’t listen to him, he’s an idiot.”

“B-but he’s gonna try and t-take Chloe a-way from me!” Rose wailed.

Ohh, so that was it, was it? Ben feels threatened by Rose and Chloe’s friendship so he tries to split them up by turning Chloe against Rose? Mark might have known that was going to happen: Ben always had been selfish.

“No, no he’s not.” Mark tried to reassure Rose. “He wouldn’t do that. And Chloe’s not going to listen to him anyway!”

“But she might! He said th-that she would!”

“You’re Chloe’s best friend. Nothing in the whole world is ever going to change that. Not Ben, not me, not anyone!”

“You don’t know!”

“I do know! Rose, if Ben tries to say anything bad about you to Chloe she’ll put him straight, she won’t take any nonsense from him. She’s got her head screwed on babe, just like you have; she won’t listen to him.”

“But what if she does?” Rose asked in despair, starting to calm down a bit, comforted by Mark.

“She won’t.”

“Bu-”

“But if she does you will always always have me, okay?” Mark said earnestly, looking into Rose’s eyes.

She nodded, smiling weakly at him.

That was a nice thought, even with the thought of Ben bad-mouthing her to Chloe. Mark forever… Well, he had said…

“And you are so beautiful.” Mark said, kissing Rose.

Rose smiled, a lot more strongly this time.

It didn’t seem to matter how many times Mark kissed her, it did the same thing to her insides every single time.

“You’ve had too much to drink.” She said.

“Well if it makes me see you in an even more beautiful light than usual I think I should do it more often.” Mark said, kissing Rose again, much to her delight.

Ben who?

“Well I always think you’re gorgeous.” She said. “Always have done.”

“Which makes me the luckiest guy in the world.” Mark said, putting his arms round Rose and hugging her closer to him.

“Which makes me the luckiest girl in the world.” Rose said, looking up into Mark’s eyes.

“Shall we have a fight over who’s luckier?” Mark asked, grinning at Rose, glad she’d cheered up a bit.

Just wait until he got his hands on Ben… Oooh, violence. Violence from him! Hah, quite suited him! Okay, no it didn’t.

“Can I win?” Rose asked.

“You can have anything you want.” Mark said.

“I want you to kiss me.” Rose said, hardly believing how bold she was being.

But then, alcohol did tend to put words in your mouth, and she had had rather a lot. Rather too much, probably, but then Mark had had more, and he seemed fine for someone who didn’t ever drink!

Mark gently pulled Rose closer to kiss her. It was possibly the most wonderful kiss of Rose’s life. She knew she said that every time her and Mark had a really really really amazing kiss (which was all the time!), but this time… wow. It started off really really gentle and loving, and got more and more intense and more and more passionate, until…

“Rose,” Mark murmured into her ear in between placing kisses on her neck, making Rose shiver.

“Mmm?”

“Do you want to go somewhere quieter?” Mark asked, kissing her again.

Oh my God.

No. No, he hadn’t just said that, had he? OhmyGod!

Rose knew exactly what Mark meant by that question. It certainly wasn’t a ‘Do you want to go somewhere quieter and talk’ question, that was for sure. Oh no. What Mark really meant was, ‘Do you want to sleep with me?’ And oh my God yes, Rose did, very much so. All the time Chloe had talked about sleeping with Ben, Rose had only been pretending that she wasn’t jealous. She didn’t want to sleep with Ben, of course, but Chloe was younger than her, and it didn’t seem fair that she should get to have sex before Rose did. And Mark was soooo gorgeous, and he was her boyfriend, and that’s what people who were going out did. It was the mature thing to do! And she kept wondering why Ben wanted to sleep with Chloe and Mark didn’t want to sleep with her. Sometimes she felt like screaming, “OH FOR GOD’S SAKE WILL YOU JUST TAKE ADVANTAGE OF ME!!” at Mark, not that she was desperate, or anything, but she wanted to do it, she thought she was ready, and she trusted Mark and everything, blah blah blah, so there didn’t seem to be any reason why they weren’t doing it like Ben and Chloe were! But tonight was obviously the night, and look how romantic it was going to be! She’d been all upset, and Mark had comforted her, and nowwww… well now he was really going to take her mind off things! She’d known this party was gonna be good!

“Like where?” Rose asked, just to check that she hadn’t got it totally wrong.

She wasn’t sure how her and Mark had got to this stage in their relationship from being nowhere near it only half an hour ago, but one thing she wasn’t was complaining.

“Like, maybe… upstairs?” Mark suggested, kissing her briefly again.

“Okay.” Rose said, not quite believing it was happening.

They managed to keep their hands off each other just long enough to make it to the stairs and start to climb them. Rose wanted to run, quick, before Mark changed his mind, but she restrained herself. She hoped she wasn’t too drunk to remember it in the morning. She wanted to remember every single little detail. She knew people always said, “Ohh don’t do it when you’re drunk – you’ll regret it!” but who was insane enough to regret sleeping with Mark? And she wasn’t that drunk, anyway. Oh my God, she was going to have sex – how cool was that?!

They walked along the hall, round the corner, and right to the end where there was a door hanging wide open, almost as if it was inviting them in. Rose looked up at Mark and smiled, only slightly nervously. Mark squeezed her hand as he smiled back at her. They went into the bedroom, neither noticing how lavishly it was decorated, each totally focused on each other and what was about to happen. Rose suddenly felt the tiniest pang of fear, and the urge to call Chloe, but she ignored it. Everyone was a little bit scared about their first time, weren’t they? And Mark did know it was her first time… right? Yeah, he must do. It was so blatantly obvious she’d never even had a boyfriend before, there was no way she needed to tell him she’d never had sex before! She might as well wear a big flashing badge! Not that she needed to though, it was that obvious. Except in about… actually, how long did it take? Rose had a fairly limited knowledge about things like that. Oh well, she’d soon find out! Yay!

Mark closed the door, and started to kiss Rose, pressing her gently against the door, his hands wandering over her body in a way that they’d never done before. They moved as one over to the king-size bed, Rose lying down first and Mark getting on top of her, their bodies closer than they’d ever been. It was nice, Rose thought, the feeling of Mark on top of her, moving slightly as he kissed her. She couldn’t quite believe it was happening, though, suddenly it seemed a whole lot more real then when they’d been downstairs with everyone else. They were here all alone, and oh God, what was she doing?! She couldn’t do this! This was a huge thing! She wasn’t even confident she really knew what to do, for God’s sake! But they were there now, so she might as well just got through with it. It was with Mark, after all. It wasn’t like anything bad was going to happen. Mark was lovely! And he’d been so sweet to her earlier. But still… he was drunk, and he hadn’t been acting himself all day… And she’d always thought her first time would be all romantic and magical, not in someone else’s house. But she couldn’t tell him she didn’t want to sleep with him anymore though, could she? No, it’d be fine; she’d just have to be brave. She could do this! It was going to be great…

Mark’s hand moved to the zip at the top of Rose’s skirt.

No, that was it, she definitely couldn’t do it, not like this. It was okay though; Mark would understand, right?

“No, Mark, I can’t do this.” Rose said, breaking away from him, and trying to push him off her.

“What?” Mark asked, looking confused. “Why?”

“Because… I… I just can’t, I’m sorry.” Rose stuttered, sitting up on the bed against the headboard.

Mark suddenly wasn’t looking quite so understanding.

“I-I don’t want it to be like this.” Rose said, trying to elaborate.

“Like what?”

“Well… this isn’t even your house! And you’re drunk.”

“So are you!” Mark said.

No no no! How had they got here? Where had all the romance gone?

“That doesn’t make it okay!”

“I don’t see what your problem is. We’re both consenting adults, Rose.”

I’m not an adult, Rose thought. I’m just a kid; I shouldn’t be doing this.

She had no idea how Chloe went through with sleeping with Ben. They must have something much more than her and Mark did.

“I… I just wanted it to be different. Like, special, and stuff…”

“It’s just sex!” Mark said, looking at Rose in vexation.

Rose couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t believe how Mark was acting. Was this even Mark?! What was wrong with him? She thought he’d understand! Well if this was what he was really like then she was glad she hadn’t slept with him. Still, she was having a job to keep from crying, but she was just about shocked and angry enough to stand her ground.

“No, it isn’t just sex!” Rose exclaimed. “It’s a big thing, Mark. I thought you’d understand that.”

“What’s the matter? Never done it before?” Mark said.

Was that a cruel tone? Was Mark using a cruel tone of voice to talk to her?! Right, well that was it. She didn’t care how in love with him she was, he was not the person she thought he was. She was just going to walk away; she wasn’t going to be treated like this. She was going to be strong, however much it hurt. Chloe would be proud.

“I bet Chloe wasn’t bothered whether it was “special” or not when she shagged Ben. Obviously some people are just more mature than others…”

“God, Mark, what has got into you?” Rose exclaimed, getting off the bed. “Why are you being like this?!”

“Where are you going?” Mark asked.

“Anywhere as long as it’s away from you!” Rose shouted, going towards the door.

“Rose, wait!”

Rose spun round angrily. “No! I won’t wait! Why should I? I can’t believe I’m even with you!” She shouted at him, chocking back tears and running onto the landing.

Suddenly she didn’t feel so good. Having been roughly jolted back to soberness, Rose was now beginning to feel the not-quite-so-pleasant effects of alcohol. Her head was spinning, partly from the drink, and partly from what had just happened, and she needed to lie down. She wanted to go home, but Mark had driven her there, and she didn’t even live in London, so she was stuck. And she wanted Chloe. A tear trickled down her cheek as she stumbled across the empty landing and through an open door into another empty room. She fell onto the bed and lay face down in the mounds of soft pillows, trying to cry the evening away.

Paul was having an utterly crap night. Sitting on a corner sofa in the hall with a free drink in his hand, surrounded by people he didn’t know and didn’t want to know, he was thoroughly pissed off with everything. He’d been having an alright time until he lost Ben and everyone else paired off and started being all couply. It was a stupid rubbish party, and he wished he’d never come. It was just dull! There was nothing happening at all! He’d been to a few house parties in his time, and all the ones he’d been to had been exciting, or at least vaguely interesting. Plus, he’d known more than four people. Oh, he was just gonna go home. There was no point hanging around here not enjoying himself, was there? He’d rather go home and moan to Shareen on the phone for an hour. Paul put his drink on the table by the side of the couch and got up. He’d just go to the loo first, if the people who were quite obviously shagging in there earlier had finished. Honestly, it wasn’t like there weren’t bedrooms!

Paul walked slowly up the stairs, scowling inwardly at all the happy people around him. Why wasn’t he enjoying himself? Everybody else seemed to be, and he was sure they didn’t all know everybody there. Maybe he was just getting old. Yeah, that was it: Paul- too old and miserable to have a good time. He’d probably take that to the grave. Anyway, toilet, car, home. Or maybe he better get a taxi: he had drunk rather a lot. Not enough, but probably enough by the nice policeman’s standards. He didn’t want to lose his licence on top of everything else! He got to the bathroom door, and was about to go in when he saw Mark stumbling towards him.

“Mark? You alright, mate?” Paul asked, noticing that Mark looked slightly worse for wear.

“Rose… she… I didn’t mean to…” Mark mumbled.

“I think you could do with a good lie down.” Paul said, smiling as Mark fell against the wall. “Come on, man, let’s sort you out.” He said, putting an arm around Mark and leading him in the direction of the bedroom he’d just come out of.

No… Rose… she isn’t… wallpaper.” Mark said incoherently.

“Okay, you stay here, alright? I’m gonna get you some water or you’ll have the mother of all hangovers in the morning.” Paul said, not understanding a word of what Mark was saying.

“Rose…”

“I’ll go and find her for you, okay? Just stay here.”

Paul made sure Mark lay down on the bed before leaving the room and going back down the stairs into the kitchen. He looked through the millions of cupboards and managed to find a pint glass amongst the fancy crockery and designer food, which he filled up with water and took back up to Mark. When he entered the room Mark was either asleep or had slipped into a drunken semi-conscious, so Paul put the water on the bedside table and decided to leave him to it. He was just about to resume his toilet-jacket-taxi sequence when he changed his mind. Dammit, if Mark could have a good time, then why couldn’t he? Mark never got drunk, and he was gonna regret it in the morning, but Paul bet he’d had a pretty good night for it. There was still plenty of booze left, and an incredible amount of scantily clad stunningly gorgeous and totally up for it girls wandering around, and the night was still young, so Paul was bloody well gonna force himself to have a good time whether he liked it or not. He’d soon get into the swing of things, and judging by what had happened with Natalie earlier he still had the magic touch, so girls here he came! But first he needed his best friend - beer.

Paul walked back down the stairs in much better spirits than he’d been in going up them, and went back over to what he’d fondly nicknamed ‘The Booze Table’, which was unsurprisingly still against the far wall of the dining hall. It was re-stocked as often as it was emptied, so there was ample choice for Paul. He went for a good old fashioned pint and started mingling, scanning the crowd for potential shags. There was some drunk guy at the piano playing a really bad version of ‘Angels’ by Robbie Williams – far worse than Mark could ever play it - and a big group of people were clustered around, singing loudly and trying to compete with ‘Jennifer Lopez’s ‘Play’, which was blasting out of the huge speakers dotted about the room. From the back a couple of girls (in short skirts, of course) looked quite promising, and so, trying to get back into the good old Paul spirit - and succeeding almost straight away – he chose the one that looked the most like she was up for really good sex with no strings and went up behind her. He slipped an arm around her waist, still holding his drink with his free hand, and brought his lips up close to her ear.

“Do you want to dance?” he asked.

He couldn’t even see what she looked like, but that was almost the fun of it. It was like Russian roulette, only with girls instead of bullets, and years and years of practice had made Paul a pro at spotting a minger from 100 yards.

A small smile played on his prey’s lips.

“I’d rather shag.” She said, turning round and kissing him.

Paul grinned as he kissed her back. Oh, she was definitely not a minger. Right first time, hole in one, first time lucky, scorrrrrrrre! Not bad for ten minutes’ work. He better get on with it then…