The Replica // l.t.

Chapter Thirteen ❄ [edited]

Immediately, her hand dropped from the man's grasp and let it fall to her side.

The man's warm, brown eyes widened, his smirk broadening into a grin. His eyes flickered between Louis, who was now heading straight towards them with a scowl on his face, and Jaime who stood there, confused.

"Oh, so this is your date," the man said when Louis had stood by Jaime's side, arm wrapped around her shoulders protectively. "You must be Jaime, then. What a pleasure to meet you. My name is Parker."

"It's nice to meet you, too, Parker," she murmured, keeping her eyes low.

Louis pulled her closer so now their hips were pressed against one another. Jaime had let her arm settle around his waist comfortably. She glanced up at him, watching as he narrowed his eyes at Parker. But, it was gone in an instant, a grin lighting up his face.

"Happy birthday, Parker."

"Thanks, man."

Just like that, the tension between the two men disappeared. He let go of Jaime for a moment, pulling Parker into a hug, patting him roughly on the back. They pulled away and suddenly, she was underneath Louis' arm again.

"I'm glad you found a date, I didn't want you to come without one," Parker said, a playful grin on his lips. Jaime noticed how careful he was with his words. He made sure he didn't mention the fact that he would have thrown some all-too-willing woman at Louis if Jaime hadn't said yes to him.

Lou's happy grin fell slightly. His lips tightened into a thin, fake smile. "Yeah, I'm just happy Jaime said yes."

Was it just her imagination or did his grip on her shoulder tighten as well?

"Good. Well, I'm going to find Kimmie and annoy her some. I'll see you guys later. Enjoy the bar!"

Then, just like that, he disappeared into the crowd of dancers, off to find a blue-haired woman. When he was out of sight, Jaime turned to face Louis.

He was wearing a dark blue shirt underneath a black leather jacket and a pair of denim jeans. His hair was in its predictable, disheveled state. As usual, his smile was crooked and sent Jaime's heart into a wild rhythm. There was no doubt he looked amazing tonight.

"Hi," she whispered, a grin stretching her cheeks.

"Hi," he replied, his smile mimicking hers.

For a moment, Louis and Jaime were silent as they held their gaze. Butterflies erupted in her stomach, her fingers gripping his waist just a little tighter as her knees began to feel weak. And then, the gaze broke when Louis' eyes lowered to the rest of her face and then her dress.

"You look marvelous," he complimented.

A light blush spread across her cheeks, but fortunately it was dim enough that he wouldn't notice.

"Thank you," Jaime murmured.

"How about I introduce you to a couple of my friends?" he asked, but he was already weaving in and out of the dance crowd, leading Jaime towards the bar.

She pursed her lips automatically when the bar was in sight and almost stopped herself mid step, but remembered there was someone dragging her along, towards a small group of people at the bar. Fighting the instinct to turn and run from the bar, Jaime trudged on forward.

It wasn't long before he and Jaime were standing next to a group of people, laughing loudly at something that happened. Some of them had a colorful glass of alcohol and the others had a bottle of beer. Jaime, again, tried not to scrunch her nose up at the close sight of alcohol.