Pick Me Up

*Jaime’s POV*
And so the guys and Marley stumbled up the hill towards the crossing. I eagerly followed behind Marley, ready to catch her should she collapse. She kept jumping about and singing in the streets, swinging on the traffic light pole as we waited to cross the street. I couldn’t help it though. A giant smile was cemented onto my face. Man, I thought I was falling for her this morning when she was all quiet and shy, but oh my god I am falling super hard for this beautiful and exciting yet drunk, beautiful Australian girl. Although I sense her outgoingness is only temporary and she’ll disappear again tomorrow.

As we were walking up the street, I could hear Marley singing in the distance. Walking close to her, I tapped her on the shoulder, mimicking what she had done to me earlier tonight. However, I spooked her. Marley jumped as she turned around, which caused her to trip over a raised crack in the cement pathway. She fell onto her back, landing on her butt and tailbone heavily.

I instantly freaked out. I raced to her side, as so did the guys having become a little bit more sober from the 10 minutes of walking and it having been nearly an hour since their last drink. I went to pick her up but she sat herself up from the ground, laughing like a maniac.

“Wh- why are you laughing?” I stuttered, “aren’t you hurt?!” I held her by her shoulders as she tried to calm down.

“Oh no, right now I’m fine. Its… its…” Marley erupted in another fit of laughs, causing me to smile lightly because I knew she was okay.

“Its just not a proper night out for Marley unless she falls over, and when she falls over like that, it tops the cake!” Marley finally presses out.

The guys and I giggle along with her as I help her to her feet. She held onto me tightly for a moment as she regains composure in her head due to the dizziness and lack of body control. Once she was okay, she dusted off her jeans but then pointed her but out to face me and the guys standing behind.

“Is my butt still dirty?” she asks.

Mike pipes up quickly “No, but you got a nice ass” he winks.

Marley blushes “aw shucks” in a joking manner but then turns to me. “Is my butt still dirty?”

“No Marley, you’re fine” I say to her, gesturing for her to move along.

“Damn right I am fine!” Marley shouts confidently before skipping down to the hotel door just a few hundred meters away.

Man did Marley make me laugh and smile. I mean, other girls have made me laugh and smile for sure, but Marley made me smile and laugh like I never have before. I feel a brand new elation every time I see her or hear her speak. The smile on my face would probably be unrecognisable to anyone who knew me. My heart throbs against the cage of my bones and I could swear that has never happened before. My heart is so full. I can barely recognise myself in this state of euphoria.

“Okay before we enter” Marley begins to announce, “What are your names?” she asks as she points to Vic, Mike and Tony. “I assume you’re friends with American here” she laughs as she gestures to me.

I laugh at the nickname she gave me, but start to introducing the guys to Marley having not gotten a chance to earlier. I was going to introduce her to them when we entered the hotel reception area, but she disappeared.

“I like your hair” Tony hiccups, “Reminds me of the beach” he laughs. Marley gives him a confused look whilst lightly swaying in the doorway, her head probably spinning madly. “What, blue like the sea, and your hair is wavy, so blue waves… beach” Tony explains his logic poorly.

He earns a generous laugh from Marley, who warns him not to nickname her ‘beach’ because it sounds like bitch. Tony blushed heavily and retreated into his quiet little shell.

Marley walked us upstairs, onto the third floor, insisting that it was faster and easier to drunkenly stumble up the stairs rather than ride in the elevator and nearly puke from the anti-gravity feeling. She laughed telling us that she learned that lesson the hard way – she’s puked in the elevator before apparently. She had a point when she grossly put it like that.

I noticed we were walking dangerously close to our hotel room.

“Here we are” Marley announced as she pointed to the door. Standing behind her, the door number read 226. My room is next door. My heart began to beat rapidly and unevenly. This was the exact moment I was day dreaming about this morning when I was talking to Vic. I felt like I was in a dream. I turned around to Vic who knew exactly what I was thinking about and gave me a thumbs up, but it wasn’t a totally satisfying.

Marley opens the door in a majestic manner and enters the room. I was first to follow, Vic nudging me in the back to awake me from the self-induced trans I set myself in moments ago. Instantly, music begins to fill the room. It sounded like music you’d hear in a nightclub. Dance and party music and a whole heap of remixed songs. I watched as Marley danced into the kitchen / mini bar area, where she grabbed a bottle of vodka from the fridge.

“Okay, I’m shouting the first round of shots, but that’s it. I hope you guys have alcohol nearby. This bottle is a gift” Marley said as she pulled five shot glasses from the cupboard and poured us all a shot.

“That’s okay, our rooms are right next door” I stated happily as Mike ran out the door to collect our booze.

Marley cheered and when Mike finally returned -carrying a few beers and a bottle of whiskey – we did our shot with Marley and instantly began dancing together. Any song that came on that any of us knew, we would sing along with Marley, who’s voice was still angelic however you could hear the thick layer of alcohol in her breath. Vic and Marley began to sing along to an old remixed Fall Out Boy song, of which I became quite jealous of how well Vic was getting along with Marley, and instantly began to freak out over the possibility of Marley falling for Vic despite Vic having a girlfriend.

I skulled the rest of my drink and quickly made myself another in attempt to suppress the nonsense jealous feelings rising within my gut. My jealousy isn’t even justified. Marley is not even mine. She is still practically a stranger whom I met this morning. I have nothing to be jealous of. Besides, I couldn’t make her mine anyway. I live on the other side of the world, I travel the world for the better part of the year. I couldn’t do that to her.

Abruptly pulled from my thoughts, Marley dragged me onto the makeshift dance floor, where she told me, more like ordered me, to dance and sing along to All Time Low’s ‘Life of the Party’. She claimed that it was a great song, and one that suited the vibe in here, but I didn’t quite agree when you really think about the lyrics compared to the vibe in here. Nonetheless, I drank, I sang and I danced. Marley occasionally grabbed my hand and made me spin her around, to which I took the cheeky opportunity to bring her in close to me and wrap my arms around her in a tight embrace when she spun back in. As she fell comfortably into my torso, our gazes connected and consumed each other. A simple smirk from Marley quickly broke us apart.

All the feelings I felt in those few moments would make me sound like a 12-year-old girl discovering love for the first time. My heart nearly gave out when she grabbed my hand, and I swear my heart skipped a beat when I held her in my embrace for just that faint second.

Marley and I parted shortly after the song finished. She excused herself to go to the bathroom but assured us that she’d be back very shortly to continue the party… even though it was 3.00am. I wandered to the kitchen where the guys all stood, having witnessed the moment between Marley and I. They each gave me a smirk, insinuating that they too noticed a spark between us, but as I tried to play it off with a questioning facial expression, I couldn’t help but broadly smile. I couldn’t hide from it.

“Love the sly dance / hug man” Mike playfully nudged me.

“Wait… do you think Marley noticed that?” I asked scared. I really didn’t want to give her the wrong impression straight away.

“I don’t know, but very smooth” Tony winked at me as we share a small huff of air intending for it to be a laugh.

“I don’t mean to be a buzzkill Himes, but you do know that we’re leaving the tomorrow… I mean, it’s highly unlikely we’re going to see Marley again” Vic says discerningly.

I looked at him sternly, Vic having always been the voice of reason and logic. I knew he was just looking out for me. But it seems like everyone remembers my girlfriend of five years broke up with me yesterday but me. Jess hasn’t been on my mind since I got into the car with Marley. Speaking of, she’s been gone a while.

“Hey Tone, can you pause the music for a second. Marley isn’t back yet” I asked him as he was nearest her laptop.

We all stood in silence until we all heard an awful retching coming from the bathroom up the hall. I ran first, the guys close behind. I found Marley hunched over the toilet bowl, vomiting up her guts, as well as everything she has drunk tonight.

I raced to her side and pulled her hair out of the way, hoping that she hadn’t gotten sick in her hair already. She didn’t. Marley continued to heave for two more minutes until her body finally stopped. Vic handed me a glass of water he had retrieved from the kitchen and I gave it to Marley for her to sip on.

“I’m so sorry you had to see that. You guys can leave, I’ll clean up and go to bed” Marley groaned from the cold tile floor before she began to heave again. I cooed her through the ordeal, rubbing her back soothingly whilst I tied her hair back having found a hair tie around her wrist.

“Listen, you guys head back, I’ll make sure Marley is okay and I’ll put her to bed” I said softly. I was rewarded both an understanding nod and a smirk of sorts.

Marley finally finished her episode and leaned back against the vanity, commenting on its coolness. I sat beside her, rubbing her back softly still whilst making her sip on some water.

“Thank you” she pressed out after a sip. “You really don’t need to be here, or have seen that” she half puffed.

“No it’s okay” I assured her, “It’s not something I haven’t seen before” I smiled gently to her.
She smiled gently back before placing her head upon my shoulder. My heart fluttered.

We sat there like that for about five minutes and to be honest, I didn't want this moment to end for a long time. I thought Marley had quietly passed out on my shoulder, but she was still conscious.

“Come on, let’s get you into bed” I said, moving slowly as to make her move her head from my shoulder.

“Head. Dizzy. Can’t move” she presses out.

“Here, I’ll even carry you” I smiled. I wrapped her arms around my neck and picked her up cradle style, careful to not make her head spin madly again and possibly make her sick again. The light, blue-haired beautiful girl instantly cuddled into my chest as I carried her to the bedroom. The bedroom was only 5 steps away, yet she clutched my shoulder each step to tell me to stop walking, the dizziness in her head getting the best of her.

We finally made it to her bed, where I placed her down oh so gently and tucked her into the big white feather quilt. I combed her hair out of her face and made sure that she was comfortable and feeling okay. She smiled gently, but asked me to stay just for a second just in case. I happily obliged, not wanting to leave her side at all. I took a seat next to her bed and began to comb her hair softly with my hand. As I graced her cheek, her hand reached for mine, where she slowly tucked it into her chest. My heart exploded in fireworks.

“I guess Riley was right” she giggled.

“Why’s that?” I asked.

“I’m not having an existential crisis after all. I’m beginning to feel human again.”

Notes

I'm sorry this took forever to write, and I hope it's not too shit. I've been busy and I wasn't aware of the need for updates. I'll attempt to update again soon.

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