Seraphina Amor
"What did you say you were again?"
"I'm a stripper!"
"Oh, cool!"
I was absolutely plastered. My mind couldn't tell me which direction was up or down and left or right.
All I knew was that I had a lot to drink. Before I had parted from Harry and Leon, the three of us shared at least three rounds of shots. The worst part about this whole ordeal was that I was actually having fun. I mean, genuinely having fun.
Mila, the girl I had been dancing with for the past three songs, had convinced me to do a round of shots with her. So, it's by far safe to say that I had no clue how much alcohol was in my system.
"Yeah, I needed a way to get money to pay for college!" she yells over the music, her tight curls bouncing on her shoulders. Her lips were painted a deep red color, matching the color of her dress.
"You do you! I'm not going to judge, don't worry!"
She sends me a smile, grabbing my arm and twirling me around. We both let out drunken giggles as my body knocks gently into hers when I stumble out of the turn.
"You're really pretty," I say, my words slurring together. Mila grins down at me, her brown eyes twinkling in the lights of the club.
"Thanks. So are you," she replies kindly and my cheeks heat up at the compliment. I press my hands onto her shoulders to steady myself from toppling over.
"Holy fuck, your skin is really soft." Gently, my hands caress her shoulder, feeling the silky smooth skin beneath my fingertips.
"I use a lot of moisturizer," she shouts, another giggle slipping past her lips. I look up at her through my lashes, giving her a grin.
"Please give me the name of it."
Mila shakes her head at me before her eyes advert to over my shoulders.
"Shit, my friends are leaving." Her lips turn into a pout as she looks down at me. "Are you going to be alright?"
I smile at her, staring at her through droopy eyes. "I'll be fine. My friends are over there somewhere." My hand waves in the general direction of where Leon and Harry were, hoping they were still where I left them before.
"It was really nice meeting you, Seraphina," Mila says to me, removing her hold on my arms.
"You too."
She sends me one last smile before stepping away from me and to the direction where her friends were heading. Looking over her shoulder, she sends me a final wave goodbye which I return.
Sighing to myself, I turn back around to the dance floor, scanning the overflowing crowd for the only two familiar faces that I know. At the bar, I see the head of bouncy curls talking enthusiastically to the bartender. Shoving my way through the crowd, I manage to stumble over to the free stool next to Leon.
As I slump down into the seat, his head turns over to face me and as it registers to him who I was, a bright smile takes home on his face.
"Seraphina! You certainly look like you're having fun," Leon exclaims, throwing his arm over my shoulder, pulling me and the seat closer to him.
Catching a whiff of his breath, it's laced with a strong sense of alcohol; not that mine is probably any better.
"I'm having the time of my life," I mutter, scanning over the choices of liquor.
Lingering in the back of my mind, there was the feeling I was supposed to be doing something. More specifically, looking for someone. But in the hazy state of my brain, I couldn't seem to figure out what it was.
The only thing I could remember was that it was important and I needed to find Harry to do it. Pushing my glass across the counter, I sluggishly turn my body into Leon's.
"Order me a drink. I'll be back in a second." I pat Leon's shoulder, jumping off of the stool.
"Okay. Be safe," he calls out to me and I send him a lazy thumbs up over my shoulder.
Brushing my hair behind my ears, I scan the crowd for the wavy haired asshole I've been forced to work with. At this point, everyone in the club looked exactly the same, faces just blending together into one.
As I walk further into the crowd, my shoulder bumps into someone making me fall forward slightly. Just before I could hit the floor, I regained my balance, straightening myself out.
"Watch where you're walking asshole," I slur to the man who had just bumped into me.
I move past him, squinting my eyes at the different dancing people. None of them looked like Harry, a little too boring in my opinion to be him.
To be honest, I don't think Harry is the dancing type, much less the kind of person to get up and dance in such a public setting.
Letting out a huff, I stand in the middle of the dance floor with my hands on my hips and an aggravated expression.
Where the hell was he?
All at once, a sick feeling washed over my stomach making my cheeks puff out. My eyes widen and my hand shoots up to cover my mouth.
Fuck. I was going to puke.
Frantically, I look around the club, my body beginning to overheat at the feeling of bile building up. In the farthest left corner, a bright yellow bathroom sign was perched on the wall.
Relief washes over me and I quickly shoulder my way through the crowd towards the bathroom. A few curses were sent my way but that was the last thing on my mind. The only thing that mattered was me getting to a toilet before I spewed chunks all on the club floor.
Making it out of the crowd, I practically ran to the bathroom, pushing open the women's restroom and throwing myself into the first stall.
Just as my knees hit the floor, my mouth opened and all of the bile that had been pushed down came rushing out of my throat. My eyes watered at the burning feeling, a cough ripping through my throat.
A thin coat of sweat covered my forehead, the back of my hand moving to wipe it off. My chest was heaving as I spit the remains that still lingered in my mouth into the toilet. Squeezing my eyes shut, my hand blindly felt around for the handle. When my fingers felt the cool touch of the metal, I pulled it down, hearing the loud flush of the toilet.
Sitting back onto my heels, I reached over to use the toilet paper roll, grabbing a small piece to wipe around my mouth, trying not to mess up my lipstick in the process.
I sit there for a moment, catching my breath. I certainly couldn't hold down my alcohol, that's for sure. Wiping off the sweat that had built up in the center of my palms, I push myself off of the floor, stepping out of the bathroom stall.
I stumbled a bit on the way out, my legs a little wobbly from sitting down on my knees for so long. Letting myself hold onto the edge of the marble sink, I glanced up at my reflection, cringing at what I saw.
My face was flushed red, eyes glossed over giving a shiny hue to them. Anyone who saw me could tell that I was easily piss drunk. My hair was a little frizzed which made me frown as I combed through it, hoping to settle it down.
Swaying in my spot slightly, I closed my eyes trying to remember why I had come here in the first place. Something to do with Harry.
I needed to find Harry.
Opening my eyes, I step away from the sink, smoothing down my dress as I take slow steps to the door. The music was muffled in the bathroom, so I took a deep breath, mentally preparing myself for the sudden change of volumes.
Slowly pushing open the door, I wince at the loud music that's now pounding through every inch of my body. Bracing my hand on the wall, I take a shaky inhale, nodding my head side to side trying to get myself to focus.
"Shut up! Someone's going to hear, you idiot!"
Turning my head slowly, I search for the source of the husky voice. It was relatively close considering I could hear it over the blasting music. The hallway was empty, the only other people that were anywhere near me were the one's dancing out in the club.
"No ones going to hear anything over that damn music!" Another voice shouts back. A collision sounds through the area and my head whips to the door a few feet away.
Squinting through the dim lighting, my eyes narrow in on a sliver of light from outside shining through the exit door. Another loud sound is heard and I take a step back at it, still holding onto the wall for support.
My heart was beating roughly in my chest and I was pretty sure the people outside could hear it. Looking back to the crowd of drunken bodies, I bite the inside of my lips before turning back to face the exit. Carefully, I take a step forward towards the door, holding my breath.
Anxiety courses through me at each step that leads me closer and closer to the exit door. Squeezing my hand into a fist, I take another cautious step towards the source of the voices.
Just as I'm only a few feet away from the door, a hand grabs my wrist making me whip around in my spot. My hand comes flying up to the face behind me as I yank my wrist out of their hold.
"Holy shit, love. You've got one hell of a slap!"
"Leon?"
The hunched over body stands up straight and I instantly recognize the colorfully decorated skirt and sheer shirt.
"In the flesh," he laughs, rubbing the side of his face. "Remind me to never sneak up on you again."
I let out a relieved sigh, brushing away the strand of hair that was drawn across my face.
"What the hell are you doing?"
Leon looks down at me, a genuine smile tugging at his lips. "You were taking an awfully long time in the bathroom so I was just making sure you were alright. A lot of creeps in this place, y'know?"
"Well, I'm fine," I say slowly, straightening out my dress. I let out a huff as I looked back up at Leon with an annoyed grimace.
"Can see that. Good to know you've got a wicked slap to protect you," Leon jokes, taking a sip out of the specialty drink that was hanging from his hand. "Anyway, come on. You have to see this."
Leon grabs my hand once again, dragging my back towards the main area of the club. I was still pretty drunk but as he pulled me farther away from where I once was, I glanced back at the now closed exit door.
"Wait, Leon-" I start to protest before he cuts me off, stopping us in our tracks.
"Look."
He lifts up his hand, pointing somewhere in the crowd of sweaty, dancing bodies. I follow where he's pointing and my eyes nearly pop out of their sockets.
On the other side of the club, Harry was standing by the bar. This wouldn't of shocked me at all if it wasn't for the fact that a girl was laying on top of the counter, pouring a little bit of alcohol into the crevice of her chest.
I watch with Leon, who just has a stupid grin on his face, as Harry leans down, his lips connecting with her chest as he sucks the alcohol off of her body. The group surrounding them lets out loud cheers, clapping obnoxiously.
The woman on the counter sits up, giving Harry a sultry look along with a wink before swinging her legs off of the surface to jump down right next him. Her manicured hand gently places itself onto his shoulder, standing up onto her tiptoes to whisper something into his ear.
Harry looks down at her, his face morphing into a smug grin. He leans down, saying something in her ear that makes her smile drop slightly. Within seconds, she rolls her eyes, stepping away from him and shoving her way through the crowd.
"What do you think he said to her?" I ask Leon, turning to face him. He's taking a sip of his drink, shaking his head gently.
"Never really know with him. Something to piss her off I assume," Leon responds as he goes back to his drink.
Glancing back at Harry, he's having a very lively conversation with the bartender, his long fingers drumming against the counter where the girl was just lying down.
Just as the man that was getting his alcohol passes Harry his drink, Harry quickly grabs one of the napkins that was piled off to the side, pulling out a pen and jotting something down quickly. He slides the napkin over to the bartender, sending him a wink before grabbing his drink and stepping away from the bar.
"Did he just give that guy his number?" I ask, my jaw nearly on the floor. Leon just laughs loudly next to me, his arm swinging around to rest on my shoulder.
"You'll come to learn, my dearest, that Harry is full of surprises."
I shake my head at his words, letting a small laugh slip by my lips. As I look back up, my heart stops in my chest as a pair of striking green eyes are intently staring at me.
Harry's looking at me with a blank face before his eyes narrow into a glare. However, just as soon as I had caught a glimpse of him, he disappeared into the crowd, getting lost in the sea of people.
"Well then, he's always been a moody drunk," Leon whispers to me. He's still practically hanging off of my shoulder, using it as a means to support his lanky and drunken body.
"No, he's just a moody person," I huff, internally rolling my eyes at Harry. Leon chuckles next to me, swinging our bodies back and forth.
"That is something we can both agree upon," he hiccups. "Let's go! I want to dance."
Leon straightens himself up and once again starts pulling me to the center of the dance floor. He pushes people out of the way, a lot of them giving us dirty looks as he does so. Leon somehow gets us right into the middle and I stand there awkwardly.
"Why are you just standing there?" Leon yells to me over the music. He's moving in his spot, just kind of swaying back and forth with his drink help up in the air.
"I don't like being in the center of things!" I answer back, taking a step closer to him as someone bumps into me.
"Everyone's too drunk to be paying attention to you! Just let loose! Here!" He passes me the rest of his drink and the condensation from it drips onto my hand. "Finish that up!"
I look back down at the clear liquid, bringing it up to my nose to smell it. A strong scent invades my senses causing me to scrunch up my nose.
"What is this?"
Leon looks back at me, then at the drink before shrugging his shoulders. "I'm not really sure. But it's fruity! It's good though."
Sighing quietly, I bring the drink up to my lips, sipping the rest of the liquid down. It was sour with a tang of fruitiness to it. It was good though, just like Leon had said.
"Dance with me!"
Leon grabs my hand, swaying my body gently with his. A giggle escapes my lips at his carefree nature and the drunken smile on his lips.
"So, tell me. How'd you and Harry meet?"
I look up at Leon who's still dancing away but staring at me with an interested look. Swallowing thickly, I shrug my shoulders but keep moving.
"Work," I answer simply, wanting Harry to be the last topic of discussion. "No offense, Leon, but I really don't want to talk about him right now."
Leon nods, understanding not to press the conversation any further.
"Okay. Well what was the reason you two decided to come out tonight? These kinds of places aren't really Harry's scene. Believe he said it was for work of some sort."
Shit.
I stop in my spot, eyes darting around the club. "Um, I need to find Harry."
Stepping away from Leon, I give him a half minded wave before I start my journey to the walkways of the club.
We were here for work, not to get piss drunk. I haven't seen Harry all night besides a few minutes ago and now I had no idea where he was. For all I know he could have also forgotten about our original plan about coming here. Then that would mean neither of us had made any progress tonight.
Shoving someone to the side, I manage to stumble out into the more open part of the club, letting out an exasperated sigh.
In my hazy and clouded mind, I tried to keep my mindset straight, not letting it wander in la la land. I needed to find Harry. That was the most important thing right now.
Taking a shaky step, I scan the people around me, looking for the familiar wavy headed asshole I've been working with for the past week.
Everyone's faces looked the same, blurred together and all of their features were exact replicas of the next. A small drop of sweat slide down my temple, my hand moving to wipe it away.
Turning my head to the side, I scan the dancing people to the right before the side of my face collides with a hard chest, a small "omph" leaving me at the impact.
"Watch it- Seraphina?"
Rubbing the side of my head, I look up and the same green eyes who were staring me so fiercely before are gazing down at me right now.
"Where the hell have you been all night?" I ask, my words slurring together slightly.
"I could ask the same for you," Harry retorts, a grin pulling at his pink lips.
I huff at his answer, rolling my eyes as I cross my arms over my chest.
"Now's not the time to be a smartass."
Harry's eyebrows shoot up in surprise as he stares down at me with a tilted smile.
"Those are some fighting words, darling," Harry chuckles, raising the drink he has in his hands to his mouth.
I watch intently as he takes a sip of the drink, his Adam's apple bobbing each time he swallows. Behind the clear cocktail glass, Harry is wearing a smug smile at the fact I was staring.
"I have to show you something," I mumble, grabbing onto his forearm and tugging him towards the bathrooms.
Harry says something behind me that I can't quite hear over the music and I just continue dragging him to the small hallway I was in before.
It takes a little longer than I had hoped; thanks to Harry getting stopped everyone once in a while with people almost drooling over him and trying to get him to dance with them.
However, I guess Harry could sense that whatever I had to show him was urgent as he simply brushed each person off with a wink.
The bright yellow bathroom sign shined brightly over the dark hallway and I yanked my arm that was holding onto Harry, tugging him into the hall.
"Oh, I hate to break it to you but you're not my type," he quips as he looks around at our surroundings.
"Don't worry, you're not mine either," I say, throwing him an annoyed look over my shoulder. Harry scoffs behind me and I whip around to face him.
"So why did you drag me back here then?" he questions, eyeing the relatively dark hallway.
"Do you remember why we're even here in the first place?"
Harry pauses in his spot, brows furrowing as he tries to pull from his hazy mind why we decided to come here tonight.
"Um, weren't we looking for something," he says, eyes darting over the area as he tries to think.
I nod my head slowly at him, turning back around to face the exit door that was a few feet away from us.
"I heard people talking out there before but I didn't get a chance to go out and look," I tell him, motioning to the now closed door.
Harry's cloudy eyes focus in on the exit door as he lips pull into a frown. I watch him as he places the drink that he was holding in his hand on the floor, straightening back up to his full height and fixing his dress shirt casually.
"Come on then," Harry says in a hushed voice, taking cautious yet confident steps towards the door.
I follow behind him, trying to make the clicking of my heels as silent as possible. Harry's hand reaches out, grasping onto the round knob of the door. He glances back at me, nodding his head softly before pushing open the door.
The metal creaks open with a loud groan making me wince slightly. I place my hand onto the door so it doesn't close shut as Harry steps down into the muggy alleyway. His steps are a little stumbly, just like mine were presumably.
He looks down both ways of the alley before his gaze stops, narrowing onto something I couldn't quite see.
"What is it?" I whisper, watching as Harry walks over to a bin that rests near the door. He squats down, bringing his fingers to swipe against the top of the box.
As his fingers leave the bin, his eyes widen at the contents that covered his fingers.
"It's blood," he mumbles, rubbing the crimson liquid between his fingers. My lips part as Harry stands up once again, eyes darting around the alleyway.
"How long ago were you over here?" he asks in a demanding tone. I stare at him blankly before answering his question, trying to remember the time between me puking in the bathroom to now where we stood.
"Maybe fifteen to twenty minutes ago. Why?"
Harry's frown only deepens at this as he wipes the blood away onto his pants. He stands there, rubbing his jaw gently as he thinks.
"The blood is pretty fresh meaning that whoever this belongs to was here pretty recently. Probably one of the people you heard talking outside before," Harry responds, giving me a serious look.
I bite my bottom lip, staring at the wet concrete floor outside. Letting out a sigh, I move my gaze back to Harry who's staring at the small pool of blood once again.
It was relatively small, nothing that would appear to be detrimental. However, the longer I stare at it, the more I notice the faint trail of blood leading down the alley towards the street.
"Harry, look."
From my place at the door, I point towards the tiny droplets of blood leading towards the mostly empty street. Harry's eyes follow to where I'm pointing, recognition taking over his features.
"Fuck," he breathes out, rubbing his temple. "We have to go."
Harry makes his way back over to me with shaky steps, nearly tripping over his feet. I stare at the trail for a moment longer before following him back into the club, the metal door shutting loudly behind me.
"What are you doing?" I call out to him, trying to elbow my way through the crowd.
"We're following that trail," he answers over his shoulder, walking over to where our stuff was lying on the table Leon had gotten for us.
"Harry, we're both drunk," I tell him, watching as he grabs his keys and phone.
"So?"
He throws a hundred dollar bill onto the table, barely looking up to me as he collects his things and shoving them into his pocket.
"Do you expect us to just wander the streets tipsy?"
"Of course not. That's why we're driving."
My breathing completely stops as I stare at him with wide eyes. "No."
Finally, Harry glances over to me with a confused expression, his movements stopping. "What do you mean 'no'?"
"I mean I'm not getting into a car with you and letting you drive around piss drunk," I huff, feeling my palms start to become clammy.
"'M not even that drunk." Despite his claim, the way his words slur together betray him and I can see that register in his head as he lets out a sigh. "Well what do you expect us to do then?"
I purse my lips as I think. There was no way we could just leave the blood. It made all too much sense that it would be something that could relate to Jensen. Leon was far too drunk to ask for a ride from, and given the fact that he was grinding away on some random guy, I don't think he's in the mood to leave anytime soon.
"We could walk," I suggest again, trying to find some sort of happy medium for the two of us.
Harry scoffs, rolling his eyes at me. "Absolutely not."
"Then what do you suggest we do? Sorry I don't trust you enough to drive us around when you've got at least ten shots of vodka coursing through you."
Harry glares at me and I return it right back to him, putting up a tough exterior. My expression was unwavering, as was his, which made this all the more difficult.
"Then don't go with me. I'll go by myself. You can stay here and be useless."
My jaw drops at his words and I take a step towards him. "Useless? At least I remembered why we were here in the first place! Not off doing body shots off of some random girl!" I shout at him, my cheeks starting to heat up in anger.
"What were you doing before you remembered, hm?" Harry asks, arching an accusing brow at me. My nose flares in annoyance at his retort, digging my nails into the center of my palms.
"That doesn't matter! At least I had some common sense left in me to realize we were here for a reason, not just for us to go off and have a grand old time!"
"Seems like you did that anyway."
Both of our voices were borderline yelling and if I didn't have so much liquor in me, I would feel slightly embarrassed. But right now, Harry was pissing me off way too much to care.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. What's going on over here, my friends?"
A warm hand is pressed onto my shoulder and I snap out of my angered gaze to look over to where Leon is glancing between Harry and I with a concerned look.
"Why are we yelling so violently?" He tuts, shaking his head at us like a disappointed mother.
"Harry's being a bitch," I spit at him and Leon just hums at my answer.
"Nothing out of the ordinary then."
Harry's focus snaps over to Leon giving him a hard look which just makes the skirt clad man giggle.
"What? You are quite the asshole," Leon says, giving me a knowing look.
Harry rips Leon's hand off of his shoulder, stepping away from him. "Fuck you, mate."
Within seconds, Harry is storming off somewhere and I keep a close eye on him, making sure he isn't heading towards the front door. However much I despised Harry, I wasn't going to allow him to drunk drive, no matter how little I cared about him.
"He's certainly angry," Leon quips. "Eh, he'll blow it off eventually. Do you want anything to drink? They have more of that fruity stuff from before."
Looking up at Leon, I shake my head. "Not anything with alcohol. I think I've had more than enough for tonight."
Leon smiles at me, patting my shoulder lightly. "Water it is then. I'll be right back. Sit down in the meantime."
I nod at him, sliding into the booth and rubbing my eyes harshly. The alcohol was slowly beginning to wear off as I started becoming more aware and receptive of my surroundings.
Harry had disappeared again and quite frankly, I was in no rush to find him anytime soon. I'll figure out where he is when I've sobered up enough to get us back to his place. That is if he allows me to drive his car which has to take a lot of convincing considering that car is worth thousands of dollars.
I wasn't completely sober but I know Harry would refuse to take a cab home and risk leaving his car here. Leon was far more drunk than I was which meant he would take even longer to sober up. Maybe it wasn't the most responsible decision, given past events, but in this situation I had to push down that welling fear.
"Here you go."
A tall glass of water slides across the table, leaving a wet trail in its wake. Leon is sliding into the seat across for me, now sporting his own glass of water as well.
"Drink up. Need to get you sober enough to get that prick back home."
A/N: Leon and Seraphina friendship in the making :) -j