Battered

Chapter 22

"Are you sure that the two of you can manage with her?" I ask Nicola and Nadine as I exit the taxi, gesturing to a highly intoxicated Sarah in the back seat.

"Ach, we'll be fine" Nadine tuts, her Irish accent sounding more prominent after a few drinks, "See you later girls" she waves as the car drives off.

Cheryl and I stagger up the path, both having had quite a bit to drink ourselves. Once inside the house, Cheryl kicks off her shoes and heads towards the kitchen, "Glass of water?" she offers, turning the tap on and waiting until the water runs cold.

"No, I'm ok thanks" I answer, not even sure why I followed Cheryl into the kitchen in the first place.

Cheryl takes a glass from the cupboard and fills it up, "Do you have any ibuprofen?" she asks, "Stops me getting a hangover if I take two before I go to bed"

"I think so, let me go and check"

I go upstairs to the bathroom and open the medicine cabinet, taking out the packet of ibuprofen. I hear Cheryl's footsteps coming up the stairs and switch off the bathroom light. She puts her glass of water in her room and then comes back out into the hallway.

"I turned off all the lights downstairs and locked the door" she tells me, smiling gratefully as I hand her the pills.

She fumbles with the packaging and the box slips out of her hand. Both of us bend down to pick it up but the alcohol has made me unsteady on my feet and I lose my balance, taking Cheryl down with me. We tumble to the floor and land in a tangled heap.

"Sorry" I manage to get out, once we have both stopped laughing.

"It's ok" she sits up a little and for a long moment all she does is look at me with those big, brown eyes, "I never said thank you earlier...for helping me through the court case. I couldn't have done it without you there."

I shake my head, "You don't need to thank me Cheryl. I wanted to be there for you"

She blushes at my words but doesn't look away, "I had a really good time tonight" she says quietly, still holding eye contact.

"Me too" I smile

I watch closely as Cheryl's eyes glance down to my mouth and the next thing I know, she's slowly leaning in. Rooted to the spot, I close my eyes when I feel her lips press softly against mine and allow myself to get lost in the kiss for a few seconds.

The feeling of her hand gently touching my cheek jolts me out of the daze I'm in and I move back, breaking the contact with her lips. Our faces are still hovering dangerously near to each other and I can feel her breath on my skin.

Not knowing what to say or do I quickly get to my feet and she does the same, fiddling nervously with the box of painkillers. We look at each other for an uncomfortable few seconds and I feel my cheeks flush.

"Goodnight Cheryl" I say awkwardly, hurrying off down the hallway to my room.

Closing the bedroom door behind me I lean against it and take a deep breath, "What the hell was that?" I mumble to myself.

I give my head a quick shake to clear my thoughts and start getting ready for bed. Only then does it occur to me how long it's been since I actually slept in here, in my own bed.

Cheryl's nightmares had gotten worse during the week leading up to the trial and I'd spent nearly every night in the guest room with her. Climbing into bed, I close my eyes and try to put the little incident out in the hallway to the back of my mind.

After a few minutes, I realise that I'm not going to be able to sleep any time soon and turn over onto my back; staring up at the ceiling as I try to process what just happened between me and Cheryl.

She kissed me.

I let her kiss me.

And it didn't feel like it was just a friendly kiss either, there was definitely something else going on as well.

Wasn't there?

************************************

The next morning I wake up and am momentarily disoriented by the fact that I'm in my own bed. I'd gotten so used to sleeping in the guest room with Cheryl that waking up alone felt kind of strange.

I go downstairs to the kitchen and freeze in the doorway when I see Cheryl making herself a cup of tea. It's only 9am and she's never usually awake this early. I take a deep breath, preparing myself for the inevitable awkwardness that is about to take place.

"Morning" I step into the kitchen and smile at Cheryl, letting her know things are ok between us.

"Good morning" she answers, her voice giving nothing away.

Cheryl carries on making her tea and I sit down at the table, trying to read her body language for signs of her mood. I get nothing.

"Do you want a cup?" she asks, holding the teapot mid-air.

"Yeah, ok" I nod

She pours the tea and brings both cups over to the table, going back to get the biscuit barrel before sitting down opposite me. She dunks a chocolate biscuit in her tea and I realise that she isn't going to be the one to bring it up.

"Cheryl, about last night..."

"Yeah, it was good wasn't it" she cuts me off, reaching for a second biscuit, "That Sarah is a right laugh. And Nadine flirting with that guy was hilarious; I can't believe I lost that bet." she babbles nervously

I look away from her and slowly stir my tea. She either doesn't remember what happened last night or she doesn't want to talk about it; and I honestly don't know which is worse.