Bates & Landon [Wattys2015]

BATES

"No." I gulp.

"Good, glad you're ready! Let's go!" He grips my upper arm and pulls me towards their direction before I can say anything in doing so. We squeeze past tightly packed people either dancing, making out, or just standing there awkwardly.

I see Barbie's blonde hair before I even see Landon. When I do spot her, she's just standing there while looking around while Barbie is dancing -- swaying her hips and such. Landon is looking around -- either looking for something or someone or just looking around.

I'm just over thinking it all.

My eyes widen when I take in her clothes. She looked completely amazing. She looked stunning! Even all of that was an understatement. She looked....wow.
"Ladies," Jessie says loudly, hoping to get their attention. Which works. Babrie immediately stops dancing, looking at us. Landon and I meet eyes. "Hey!" Jessie says kindly.

"Hi," Barbie greets us, straightening up to look at us closer. "Need something?"

"No!" Jessie shouts over the music. "Just bored out of our damned minds and I figured we all could -- eh, I don't know -- hang out?"

Landon whispers something in Barbie's ear. Landon's friend, looking somewhat smug, yells to us. "Landon is thirsty! Can one of you guys take her and get a drink? I still want to dance."

"Bates can do that," Jessie and Barbie share a look I have no idea what means. "I wanna dance too."

Landon looks down. "Ok, uh, sure." I shrug, feeling my stomach twist. I walk past Jessie, hitting his shoulder lightly in the process, and get beside Landon. We begin walking, me following her through the thick crowd.

We enter the kitchen, she grabs a red cup and takes a small swig. Immediately, she starts coughing. "Ugh, that was gross. I shouldn't have tried that. At all. Do you, um, think there is any water anywhere?"

I opened the fridge and see a full water bottle. I grab it and hand it to her. "Uh, thank you." She opens it up and takes a drink. Suddenly, she glances at my shirt. "You wore it! The long sleeve I bought you!" Her hands reaches forward, tugging on the sleeve lightly which makes me take a step closer to her. I feel a warm feeling settle over me.

"Oh yeah." I smile widely at her, us meeting eyes. "Like it?"

"I love it," she blurts. Her cheeks slowly stain a dark shade of red and she lets go of my sleeve. I really wish she didn't though. I almost grab her hand, but then she leans against the counter -- a bit further away from me, so I decide against it. "I -- I mean..it looks good."

"Thanks." I say, glancing down at her flats. "You look really, really... Uh, really stunning?"

She laughs. Her eyes crinkling and smile spreading wide across her face. "What's so funny?"

Landon smiles up at me. "Nothing, just the way you said it -- the compliment. T -- Thank you, Bates." She looks down, biting her lip slowly.

Oh my. I want to bite that lip--

I push down my thoughts and look at her. "You're welcome, Landon."

I stand beside her, our arms touching. She glances at me, so do I. "Thanks for coming with me to, uh, get a drink, Bates." She spoke softly, voice light and airy.

"It's really no problem." I managed a shrug.

"Plus, I think that Jessie has a thing for Alice." Landon says. Even though I'm not looking at her right now, I can hear the smile in her voice.

It sounded so beautiful.

"You think so?" I ask her.

"Yeah, I do." She says, turning to face me. "Don't you? I mean, it -- it's obvious."

I turn to her, us both facing each other. "I guess so." I purse my lips slightly.

"Uh, yeah." She said, licking her lips. Landon took another drink from the water bottle.

I opened my mouth to speak, but as soon as I began lightning and thunder rumbled loudly, making the ground vibrate. All the music shut off, the electricity turned off and everything was pure black. Gasps and complaints filled the room, people pushing by fastly as the weather outside raged on.

"Oh gosh.." I heard Landon say lowly. "Bates? Where did you go? I -- I can't see you and --"

"I'm right here," my hand touched her arm softly. I couldn't see her reaction from the darkness nor could she see mine, I could feel my cheeks getting slightly warm.

"Let's go find Jessie and Alice." She spoke quietly. I began walking, then turned back.

"Give me you hand, Landon."

"W -- Why?" She stuttered out.

"So we can keep up with each other and not get lost," I explained, our hands slipping into each others. And also, I silently added in my mind, I get an excuse to hold your hand.