Tanna Carson

I found myself walking through the crowd of people scattered over the dance floor, my eyes landing on Laura walking upstairs towards one of the bedrooms.

I stop for a second, contemplating my options before continuing my search across the dance floor.

"Roomie!" I turn my head to the side to see Reggie sitting on the couch alone, with his phone in his hand. I guess Luke's not with him anymore. "Come say hello to Els!"

I couldn't help the smile that broke across my face at the excitement in his eyes, even when completely drunk and at a party full of people, he still chose to FaceTime her.

I walk behind him, leaning over the back of the couch as Reggie tilts his phone to face me.

"Hey El, I miss you!!" I wave at the screen as soon as I see Ella's face pop into view. "You need to come visit. I'm sure Reggie here agrees."

I see the smile grow on Ella's face as Reggie nods enthusiastically, showing how much he wants her to come visit.

"I miss you more."

"I thought you missed me more." I laugh lightly as Reggie butts into the conversation, pouting at his girlfriend through the screen.

"I miss you the most Reginald." She teases him, even though she genuinely meant it.

It's the best feeling to see him so happy, that's all a friend could ask for.

"I'm going to leave you two alone." I push myself off the back of the couch, about to walk away before turning to face Reggie again. "Hey Reg, have you seen Luke?"

He nods, closing his eyes for a second, seemingly thinking about my question before his eyes pop open once again.

"He went upstairs a few minutes before you got here." My nails dig into my palms involuntarily as the possibilities start to register in my head.

I nod hesitantly, not wanting to show the worry that was slowly building up inside of me but at this point, Reg is far too gone to notice.

"Thanks." I bite down on my bottom lip, trying not to let my mind wander as much as I could.

I trust him.

My eyes skim over the room towards the staircase that I had seen Laura go up no more than ten minutes ago, but that isn't something that should be crossing my mind. It wouldn't be fair of me not to trust him.

It's her, not him.

Without even thinking, my feet start carrying me across the room to the bottom of the staircase, not even giving me time to think before I was already climbing each step, one after the other.

He wouldn't do anything to hurt me.

I know that he wouldn't but why is my mind running everywhere than where it should be.

I shake my head, trying to calm down the overload of thoughts running in my mind as I step up the final few stairs.

My eyes trail down the passageway, landing on some people intertwined with each other against the walls, not even phased by the fact that anyone who walked up the stairs would see them going at it in the middle of the passageway. 

My head snaps over in the direction of the sound as soon as I hear one of the doors open and my feet suddenly feel glued down to the floor.

My eyes trail over every detail, the smudged lipstick, the messed up hair and the dress that was bunched up way too high on her thighs.

I watch as she walks towards me, pulling her hair over one side of her shoulder, allowing me to see the marks on neck.

I trust him. She's trying to get to me, but what if it's true.

She can clearly see the distress in my eyes as a smirk etches itself into her features.

Without a word, she licks her lips, winking before walking past me, letting shoulder nudge mine, knocking me out of the state I was locked in.

I walk over to the wall, leaning back against it as my eyes fall to the floor of the room where Laura had just left from.

As soon as I see shoes step into the doorway, I bite down on my lip, trailing my eyes upwards slowly before dropping my head back against the wall, trying to control my breathing.

I am such a terrible girlfriend.

I keep my eyes closed, letting the situation settle in my mind, the sound of someone tripping up the stairs as well as the music filters back into my surroundings.

"Hey man, have you seen my girlfriend?"

"I'm not sure dude, What does she look like?"

"She's beautiful, like really beautiful and extremely hot, wait, don't think about looking at her."

"I won't man, your girl, not mine."

"Good, now have you seen her?"

I can't stop the laughter that leaves my lips at the sound of the conversation, knowing full well who that voice belongs to.

I watch as he turns to look in the direction of my laughter, his eyes lighting up as they meet mine.

I really am the worst girlfriend.

"Thanks man, I found her." Without taking his eyes off of me, he takes the last few steps, almost tripping over the last one before making his way over to me.

"Hi baby, I've been looking for you everywhere, Reggie told me you came upstairs."

"Reggie told me you came upstairs."

"Of course he did." I laugh softly, letting my eyes run over his face before letting them linger on his lips. "You seem to have spotted something you like."

My eyes trail up to meet his, seeing the smirk across his face as my cheeks start to heat up from his words and the feeling runs through to my stomach.

I lift both my hands up to my face, hiding behind them as Luke chuckles deeply.

"Don't hide, beautiful." His voice drops an octave, making it much raspier than before as he steps closer, removing my hands from my face before resting one of his on the wall right beside my head.

My eyes fall back down to his lips, watching him graze his tongue over the bottom lip torturously slowly before speaking.

"You know, they're all yours. All you have to do is take them."

At this point, my heart was beating loudly against my rib cage, probably loud enough for him to hear the effect he has on me, not that he didn't know it anyways.

I could feel his breath fan over my lips every few seconds which was driving me absolutely crazy.

"You're a tease Patterson." I crash my lips against his, letting my arms slowly move behind his neck before pulling him closer.

His free arm wraps around my waist, pulling it into his body causing my back to arch slightly into him.

As his lips move against mine hastily, my mind reminds me of the guilt that was not leaving any time soon.

I gently move my hands to his shoulders, pushing them back enough for our lips to disconnect.

"What's wrong Tan?" His hand loosens slightly around my waist, still making sure I was in his arms.

"I- I'm such a bad girlfriend." His eyes furrow at my words, taking them in before he shakes his head in disagreement.

"That, is far from true." He lifts his hand off the wall, letting it rest on my cheek as his thumb gently caresses my cheek. "What's got your mind so set on that?"

"I- Luke, uh.."

"You know you can tell me anything."

"I trust you, you know that right?" He nods slowly, his eyes encouraging me to continue.

"Alex told me Laura was here." His face doesn't change at the information, clearly not picking up how insecure I was moments ago. "Um, so when Reg told me you went upstairs a while ago, the same time I saw Laura going there as well, I-."

I stopped talking, not wanting to even finish the sentence but I could see how he understood without me having to continue.

"I'm sorry, it's not that I don't trust you, but I just can't find it in myself to trust her. I will admit, it was at the back of my mind but I kept pushing the idea away because I know you wouldn't do that to me but  you had a lot to drink so she could have just, you know? Then I saw Laura walk out of one of the bedrooms and I let her get to me after she was clearly just trying to mess with me an-"

My words get drowned out as I feel Luke's lips capture mine softly. For a second the only thing I can think about is the peppermint taste of his lips mixed with alcohol as my breathing returns back to normal.

"Just breathe Tan."

"You're, you're not mad at me?"

"As much as I should be upset, I'm the one who made you worry about her in the first place."

"I trust you with my life Luke." I whisper softly, knowing that there must have been some part of me that wasn't one hundred percent convinced.

"I promise you I'll only ever give you reasons to trust me yeah?" I nod hesitantly, not knowing how he always knew exactly what to say to make me feel safe.

I lean in again, letting my lips brush over his before kissing him gently, adoring the feeling that he gives me every time our lips meet.

For a while it only felt like the two of us, alone, at least until the sound of someone hitting the wall besides us brought us back to reality.

The two of us burst out laughing at the sight of some couple fully making out next to us, completely unphased by anyone around them.

I turn to Luke, smiling up at him as I rest my hand on his chest.

"I think it's time to show you my awesome dance moves, don't you think?" He says playfully, wiggling his eyebrows as he looks down at me.

"Finally, lead the way handsome."