say that you love me - ben hardy

COCKTAIL CATASTROPHES

Saturday night,
18:30

I trailed my eyes across my room.
What. A. Mess. It was a literal pigsty. The entire content of my wardrobe layed in several piles across my floor. What to wear. At this point I had given up. I didn't really care anymore what my outfit for tonight would be. I just pulled a random black cropped shirt out of one of the piles, and a denim skirt. Anything will do,
everything's better than my outfit I had been wearing all day long: joggings and my old Rolling Stones shirt. Wich wasn't exactly the most flattering look. I got dressed and put on my black high top converse shoes. I looked in my mirror. My chocolate brown hair was lazily tied up in a messy bun. 'Well that needs to be fixed' I thought to myself. I just put it in a ponytail with a bright yellow scrunchie, so that my hair was out of my face, besides my outfit could do with a little pop of color. I painted my lips a vibrant red and applied several coats of mascara to my eyelashes until they basically looked like spiders legs. Definitely the look I'm going for. Lastly I put on some golden hoops, and looked at them dangling from my ears. I looked way better than before, but let's put it this way: I kind of looked like a hot mess. But Louise was seconds away from my appartement so I had to rush to get my keys and my phone. I threw them in my beige handbag and just at that exact moment 'ding dong'
I opened the door and saw my best friend standing there with a toothy grin written on her face. She was wearing mom jeans, a red halter top and red pumps. I raised an eyebrow at her "Jeans and pumps? Very interesting" I joked. Louise playfully slapped my upper arm "Why not?"
That's exactly what I loved about my best friend, she doesn't give a single shit about what people think of her. I laughed "Yeah yeah, fashion icon. Let's go." I said closing the door behind me and locking it.

- 10 minutes later -

We arrived at the club. It was one of the most popular night clubs in London, Scott's. I used to come here every Friday night during the first years of college. I remember the first time coming here with all of my new friends, including Louise. We were best friends since day one, she was the first to talk to me. Scott's was such a nostalgic place for me. The neon lights, the care-free, dancing people, and just the atmosphere in general.

We went in and ordered two mojitos. The bartender was... Quite something really. Dark brown mysterious eyes, dirty blonde hair. But his eyes were fixated on Louise, and likewise.
When he handed over our beverages he smirked at Lou, "Two mojitos for you ladies" his accent was strange. Spanish, perhaps? The way he said mojitos made Louise give me a devilish look. I'll admit, he was pretty hot. But, almost too hot? He's probably just another douche that gets any girl he wants. Louise tangled a strand of hair around her finger, sipping her drink while the brown eyed boy couldn't keep his eyes off her. "Soooo, when does your shift end?" my best friend asked him. I giggled. That's subtle.
"In about ten minutes, but I'm sure Tom over here will manage taking over my shift, right Tom?" the boy asked, gesturing to the other bartender, a shy looking boy with dark curls, he had braces. "I suppose" the shy boy said. I pitied him. Louise gave the gorgeous bartender a lopsided smile as he smirked at her.

They just continued flirting with one another and their exchanching of cheesy compliments bored me. "I'm just going outside for a bit. Also, take it easy Lou" I told Louise, winking at her. I took my drink in one hand and walked to the front door. I opened it but someone was about to come in while I wanted to go out. It was too late. "Shit!" I yelled. I had just spilled my mojito on a stranger. I looked up. A handsome stranger. He stood there frozen, quite literally since he just got a freezing cold cocktail spilled all over his shirt. I looked at the stain in awe, the liquid on the shirt had caused his abs to become fully visible. I didn't realize how awkward this must have been. "Uh, don't worry. It's- it's fine..." the stranger said. His voice was incredibly deep. He ruffled his hand through his blond hair. He was blonde. I finally managed to say something: "I am SO sorry!"
I covered my face with my hands in shame. The boy chuckled "I swear, it's fine. It's hot in here anyway, if anything you've helped me" he said, jokingly. I made eye contact with him. Sky. Blue. Eyes. He was absolutely drop-dead gorgeous. I gave him an unsure smile, trying not to get distracted by his six pack. "Do you want a drink or something? I need to do something to make up for this. I'll do whatever, anything" I stammered. "No, it's no big deal. I'm fine, trust me"
the handsome stranger said. I shook my head in disagreement. "No, it is a big deal, I basically ruined your shirt. Just- just come with me" I said, grabbing the boy's wrist and pulling him along with me to the bar. "H- how can I help?" the shy boy behind the bar asked us. The Spanish guy was nowhere to be seen, as for Louise. They where probably sucking each other's faces off in a corner somewhere. "Well, my friend over here and I would like some drinks" I exclaimed. "Right?" I grinned at the blonde-haired boy next to me. He laughed "Right. I guess so" he replied.
"Two gin and tonics please" I asked the bartender. As we waited for our drinks I realized that I was still gently holding the boy's wrist. Our faces had both gotten bright red at this point. I let go and he scratched his neck. "Soooooo, since I'm your 'friend' now, can I at least know your name?" he asked me, with a friendly smile written on his face. He over exaggerated the word 'friend' as he tried to mimick me. His thick accent made my stomach flutter. "It's Julie, Julie Williams" I said, stretching out my arm to shake his hand. At this point I was desperate to get all the attention I could possibly get from this mysterious boy, which I still didn't know the name of. He wrapped his hand around mine, shaking it. His hands were incredibly soft, I noticed. "Hardy, Ben Hardy. It's nice to finally properly introduce ourselves to each other, isn't it, instead of attacking me with a cocktail? " he smirked, mocking me jokingly. I giggled and playfully rolled my eyes at Ben. "Oh, I see... Attacking you? Honestly, Ben Hardy, you really are the drama queen aren't you?"
"Well spotted", he winked at me as we sipped our drinks. The song "Take On Me" had just started playing. We both cringed at the song blasting through the stereo's. "What can I say? It's a classic?" Ben suggested.

I don't exactly know how, but somehow we both ended up on the dance-floor, shimmying and spinning around like absolute nutters to the sound of the cheesiest 80s hits, underneath the strobing neon lights.
"I must say, your dancing is absolutely flawless, Ben Hardy!" I shouted at the top of my lungs, trying to drown out the loud music. "I know! You aren't too bad yourself, Julie!" he yelled back. Just the sound of him saying my name made my heart beat miles an hour. We looked eachother in the eyes for a good minute. My cheeks were burning. I intertwined my fingers with his hands and he pulled me closer to him. Our faces were now only millimeters apart and before I knew it, our lips were locked together. We stayed like that for minutes and it seemed like it was only the two of us in the club. Complete strangers, although it felt as if we had known each other for ages. We broke the kiss and we stared into eachother eyes again, not realizing what had just happened. "U- ur... I'm sorry, I d- don't know why I did that..." Ben stammered, scratching his neck nervously. I put my hand against his chest. "It's fine" I whispered in his ear. He gave me a shy looking smile. I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I took it out and saw that I had received 10 messages during the past minute, they were all from Louise. 'Come outside ASAP' the most recent message read. I didn't know what to do. "What's wrong?" Ben asked me. I shook my head, "I have to go..."
He looked at me in disappointment. "I hope I'll see you around soon. Julie Williams." he told me as he took my hand and slipped a piece of paper inside of it. Classic. His number. I gave him a toothy grin as I slipped the note in my pocket.
"I hope so too, Ben Hardy" I briefly kissed him on the lips and walked away. I turned around one last time and Ben gestured 'Call me!' with his hands, I mouthed back 'I will!'
I went outside to see Louise, crying. Her mascara was pouring down her face. She flew into my arms. "Spanish... Spanish... B- bartender... Pa- Pablo... I saw... Him k- kissing... Anoth- another... Gi-" she stuttered in between sobs. She was drunk. So drunk. I reassuringly placed my hand on her back and gave her a tight hug. "It's going to be fine, Lou. It's just a boy" I said softly. I guided her to her car and drove her home safely. She fell asleep during the car ride, so instead of waking her up I carried her into her house, since I managed to find her spare key in her handbag. I gently put her down on her bed and left a note on her bedside table saying "Lou, you were absolutely wrecked last night. Everything's alright, just text me tomorrow if something's wrong. XOXO Jules"
I drove back home and immediately collapsed on my bed as soon as I walked in, not bothering to take off my shoes or anything. What a night.

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✿ Hellooooo, so after 5 billion years I finally updated! I'm kind of proud of this chapter? Let me know what you think! Also, quick Queen song recommendation: Spread Your Wings
Jeeeeesus it's actually underrated AF and it's a BOP so defo go listen to it.
Thanks for reading! ✿