Arabella had been gone too fucking long already.
She just turned and waltzed into that bathroom like it was no big deal, ready to get on her knees for a stranger just because I had dared her to. It reminded me of who she was back at Apartment X. She seemed wild and reckless and intoxicating, but later that night, we got vulnerable with one another and she told me the truth. She told me that it was all a front. That she was doing stupid shit to hurt herself and to feel something other than the numb state she had been left in. I didn't think she was still that girl now.
Apparently, I was wrong. I thought she would slap me across the face before she agreed to enter that bathroom. I thought she would take the three shots of rumple minze that I was going to force on her instead. I just wanted to get her drunk, I didn't want to send her off to actual fucking danger and now I was sitting here, worried and angry that I was worried because I hate her and I wanted to keep it that way.
I was sitting at the bar, staring at the door that she just disappeared behind. My leg was bouncing up and down as I thought about what she was going to do in that stall. My stomach twisted angrily and I found myself preparing to get up so I could stop this.
"Fuck." I whispered, wanting to go in there and tell her to knock it the fuck off and quit playing these games. But did I want to lose our game in order to do that? I fought with myself, keeping my eyes strictly on the door to ensure nobody walked in. I'd block the damn thing with my body if I had to.
"Uh oh. You look like you need a drink." Buffy walked over, plopping down in the bar chair next to mine, cradling her own empty glass in her hands, "I feel very drunk. Where's... where is Airy? Did you scare her off, you beast?!"
"No! She's in there." I gestured to the door, not taking my eyes off it for even a second. I had to watch who went in. I had to make sure that she didn't actually...
"Okay, so why are you watching the door? You miss her that much?" She laughed, spinning in her chair so she was facing the bar now, "Daniela, baby girl, please get this poor man a drink. I think he's suffering from a bit of obsession."
"I am not obsessed. I played the stupid game. I dared her... I dared her to..." I swallowed harshly, shaking my head as I turned away from the bathroom and toward Buffy.
"You dared her to what?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.
"Doesn't matter. Can I have a whiskey, neat? Thanks." I rubbed the bridge of my nose, feeling a headache coming on.
The door behind me felt like a 1,000-pound weight on my back and I couldn't stop myself from turning around to look at it again. A few girls were going inside together, all giggling and drunk, and I relaxed, assuming they wouldn't be a threat. If they were, I knew Arabella could take them. I looked up at Dani as she slid the drink in front of me, smirking.
"Would you two fuck already and get it over with?" She asked, wiping down a glass as she spoke.
"Yeah, you're both ridiculously obvious." Buffy said, tilting her head in my direction as I turned to look at the bathroom door again, "I could light myself on fire from the friction between you."
"And lord knows my sister needs to get laid." Dani made a face, shaking her head.
I raised my eyebrows at her, smiling slowly, because I knew something she didn't know: "Your sister gets laid plenty. I hear it through the walls nearly every bloody day."
Dani furrowed her brow, shaking her head, "What? She... I didn't know she was seeing somebody?"
"Who said she's seeing somebody?" I asked, turning to look at the door again, "You don't need to see someone to fuck them."
"Belly does. She told me after..." Dani trailed off, like she just remembered that she wasn't supposed to talk about whatever it was she almost said, "Well, she said that she didn't want to sleep with anyone she didn't have feelings for."
God, she's dense. I thought to myself with an eye roll. It's literally right in front of your eyes, idiot.
I decided against answering her, just shrugging my shoulders instead and letting her think about it. That was enough instigating for the night. I knew it would bother her that her big sis wasn't giving her all the details of her love life and I knew Dani was annoying enough to bring it up to her.
My leg was still bouncing anxiously. I wanted a cigarette but was too scared to leave, I didn't want to miss anyone going into the bathroom. Dani stared at me for a second longer, but when she realized that I wasn't going to fill in any blanks for her, she gave me a glare as she moved down the bar to fill someone's drink order.
"You're wrong, you know." I addressed Buffy's earlier comment, taking a long sip of my drink, "There's nothing but hatred between me and her."
"You're full of shit." Buffy replied, her voice taking on a stern tone, "You can lie to everyone else, but I know you, Harry. You watch Arabella so carefully, like... like she belongs to you. I've never seen you look at Jessie like that before. Not once in the entire time I've known you both. Look at you right now! You haven't taken your damn eyes off that bathroom door since she walked through it! Would you let the girl pee in peace?"
I tore my eyes off the door and turned away, shaking my head but not telling Buffy that she was wrong and that Arabella was in there for a whole different reason. I didn't want her to get involved in our game, so I just forced my back to stay toward the door, trying to act as nonchalant as I could.
"I'm going back to the boys. You coming?" Buffy stood up, picking up her drink and looking at me.
"No. I don't like them." I stated, running my finger along the edge of my whiskey glass slowly, staring down at it.
"You don't like anybody." She scoffed, "Come find us when you're done obsessively watching Airy."
"I haven't even looked at the door!" I argued back, sitting up straight and glaring over at her, "I don't give a fuck about her."
"You keep telling yourself that." She patted me on the back and started to walk away, shaking her head as she did.
I slumped back down in my seat, looking back down to my nearly empty glass and gesturing to the other bartender for a refill. I tilted the rest of the whiskey down my throat and felt it go straight to my head, knowing that I should probably stop drinking now so I wouldn't do anything I'd regret.
"You drinking all alone, babe?" The female bartender asked me as she poured me another glass of whiskey.
She was cute. I eyed her carefully, staring at the exposed part of her stomach and the way her breasts were spilling out of her crop top. I could fuck her... if I were single. I felt myself deflate as I remembered that while I could flirt with anyone I wanted to, I couldn't let it go past that. I cheated on Jessie once and the guilt from that ate me alive afterwards. I refused to let myself do it again with some random bartender.
"Do you see anyone with me?" I asked, gesturing to the empty spaces on either side of me.
"Well, I could keep you company if you're lonely." She smiled slowly, leaning over the bar in a very obvious way. My eyes dropped to her cleavage and then moved back up to her face again.
"Sorry, love. I'm taken." Those words usually felt vile on my tongue, they usually felt wrong and twisted because I didn't feel taken by Jessie. I didn't feel loved by her, I didn't feel held by her, I didn't feel supported.
But as I said the words now, my mind drifted to Arabella in the bathroom, waiting on her knees for someone. I wanted that someone to be me. The words fit now, because I was taken with my thoughts of her and what she was doing in there. I was taken with my obsession with her every movement. I was taken with her.
The bartender gave me a sad smile, "Too bad."
I turned away from her right away, unable to take my mind of Arabella again, staring at the door. I willed her to give up and come out. I wondered if anyone went in after the drunk girls came out and my leg began to bounce nervously again as I imagined the possibilities.
I knew I would smirk in her face and gloat to her about winning if she walked out right now alone. I also knew I would be relieved. I would be able to relax. Why did I fucking dare her to do something so stupid and reckless? I was so angry at myself, I felt myself get angrier and angrier the longer time went on with her in that bathroom.
"What the fuck is she doing in there?" I muttered to myself. I ran a shaking hand over my face as I looked back at the door again, readying myself to just go in and end this.
I forced myself to stay in my seat. I couldn't let her think she won. I had to wait, but my patience was running thin. My stomach was flipping around and I could feel sweat pricking at the back of my neck every time I thought about Arabella actually going through with this.
Just when I was getting ready to go into the bathroom, I saw a man approach the door. He was stumbling slightly, which let me know just how drunk he was. He probably wouldn't even be able to get it up once he was in there, so I didn't feel like he was that much of a threat. He pressed against the door with his back, opening it just an inch or so as he looked down at his phone, texting someone furiously.
His head snapped up and he made a face, leaning one side of his face more toward the opening in the door, like he was listening to something happening in there. His lips pulled into a large smile and he pushed his phone into his pocket, turning to enter the bathroom completely.
My heart was pounding against my chest. What did he hear? I moved quickly out of the bar chair, ready to get in there and stop him from going near Arabella, when the bartender stopped me.
"Hey, you're cute and all, but you have to pay your tab. It's last call." She said, putting a check down in front of me.
I swallowed over the lump in my throat, my hands fumbling to work properly as I rushed to pull my wallet out of my pocket, slamming too much cash down onto the bar in front of her.
"You didn't finish your drink!" She called out after me as I moved toward the door.
I didn't even bother responding to her, my eyes were locked on the door and I slammed my palm against it to shove it open, coming face to face with two closed stalls. The music from the bar turned muffled, allowing me to hear what was going on as soon as the door shut behind me.
"No... Sorry..." Arabella's voice was trembling, and I couldn't tell what kind of emotion was behind it, but it didn't matter.
"C'mon baby, just suck it a little bit... you know you want to." The man cooed out to her, and everything went bright, blinding red for me.
I moved quickly toward his stall, raising my fist and pounding on the door furiously, watching the entire structure shake under the force of it. I know this drunk asshole wasn't trying to convince her when she said no. I couldn't think straight, could hardly see straight, the anger was so loud.
"I'm a little busy in here!" He shouted out on the other side, making no movements to open the door.
"If you don't put your tiny dick away, I will rip it off your fucking body." I snapped back at him, pounding on the door some more until he finally unlocked it and let it swing open.
"Hey, what the fuck is your problem, man?" He asked, moving forward, half in and half out of the stall.
"Did you hear her say no?" I snapped at him, grabbing onto his shirt and yanking him out of the stall fully.
"She's the one on the other side of a glory hole, moaning like a porn star! What did she expect to happen?" The guy scoffed, shoving at me to try and get me off of him.
I told myself I wouldn't do it, but as soon as he opened his ignorant fucking mouth, as soon as he pushed me back far enough for me to notice his unzipped pants, I couldn't stop myself.
I shook my head, pulling my fist back and punching him right in his nose, watching blood spray out at the harsh impact. He let out a high pitched scream when his nose crunched under the weight of my fist and I couldn't stop the laughter from escaping my lips, a satisfied smirk there after.
"What the fuck?!" Arabella yelled out as she opened her stall door, her eyes wide as she took in the scene before her, "What is wrong with you?"
It took me a moment to realize she was yelling at me, not the asshole bleeding on the floor who had nearly just forced himself on her.
"You're mad at me when this piece of absolute shit just tried to convince you to suck his cock through a bloody hole in the wall?!" I shouted back at her. I saw how flushed her face was, saw the look in her eyes, and I realized quickly that she was embarrassed by this and that she was covering it up with anger.
I looked down at the idiot on the floor that I just punched, meeting his eyes. I didn't want him to witness this, I didn't want her to be more embarrassed than she already was.
"Would you kindly get the fuck out of here? This is a private matter!" I snapped at him, moving to pull the door open for him.
His eyes widened at me like I was crazy, but he scrambled up to his feet anyways, rushing to leave the bathroom before he got punched in the face again. I slammed the door shut behind him and turned back to look at Arabella, my chest rising and falling with every harsh breath I took.
"You're the one who dared me to come in here, now you wanna waltz in and pretend to be some fucking knight in shining armor for me?! I was perfectly capable of handling that myself!!" She glared, taking a step closer to me.
"And lucky for you, you didn't have to because I took care of it! What the fuck were you thinking? I mean, who fucking agrees to a dare like that? You're ridiculous!" I yelled, watching her mouth part in shock.
"Who dares someone to do something just to stop them from following through?! You're fucking demented!!" She yelled back at me, her eyes wide in anger.
"You should be thanking me for stopping you!!" I threw my arms out, unable to believe how fucking impossible she was.
Arabella moved closer to me every time she yelled, and I let her close the distance between us little by little. As she moved over to me, I noticed that her skirt was riding up a little at the back, like it had been pushed up and hastily pulled back down.
"Why's your skirt pushed up?" I asked her, gesturing toward it and pulling my eyebrows together in confusion.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" She chuckled, rolling her eyes as she turned away from me, reaching down to smooth out her skirt as she did. I saw another glimpse of her bright red underwear and my fingers itched to touch her.
"I know you did some vile fucking things at Apartment X..." I started to say, watching her wide eyes turn to me at my acknowledgement of the Apartment, "But if you let that wanker put his dick in you through a fucking hole, I swear to god, I'll..."
"What, Harry?! You'll what??" She glared at me, turning fully to face me and moving over until our chests were touching.
I was too drunk to hide my feelings of jealousy. I knew that it was written all over my stupid fucking face and it infuriated me to know that she read me like a book. I hated her, I fucking hated her, but at the same time, I wanted to fuck her senseless so badly that it consumed me. It was burning me up inside.
Her voice lowered, her face so close to mine that I could feel her breathing, "You jealous fucking prick. You can't stand it, can you? You can't stand not being able to fuck me. It's why you hate me so goddamn much, because you'll never, ever, be able to fuck me again and that kills you."
"I could have you anytime." I replied to her immediately, narrowing my own eyes as I leaned into her, feeling her chest brush over mine every time she exhaled.
She looked slightly taken aback by my choice of words and I wondered if she made the connection between them and the song I played for her the other night.
There was an electricity running between us, I could feel it tingling over my hand when hers got within an inch. Her fingers accidentally brushed mine and I felt my stomach twist, felt something inside of me explode at the brief contact. My eyes dropped down to look at her mouth as it moved again.
"You'll never touch me again." She whispered, lifting an eyebrow as her own heated gaze dropped to look at my lips this time, "Will you?"
She may have been able to read me like a book, but I could also read her, and I felt the weight of her words on my chest. She was daring me to do it. Daring me to touch her.
I stared into her eyes and tried to convince myself not to do this. I forced my legs not to carry me closer to her, forced myself not to close the space between us. I refused to give into her.
Arabella smirked when I didn't make a move, but I could see the disappointment behind her eyes, "That's what I thought."
She turned around and began to move back toward the door to leave and my body reacted like it was tied to her by an invisible string. I stepped with her, grabbing onto her arm and turning her back around. I pushed her against the wall next to the door, pressing my hands to the wall and locking her in place there.
She gasped and looked up at me at the feeling of my knee slipping between her legs to hold her in place. I could feel the heat of her hovering right over my thigh. I wanted her to lower herself against me and I wanted her hands and mouth on me. I was begging her with my eyes to make the first move, but she didn't. She stayed perfectly still, staring at me with her lips parted, breathing heavily.
"You won't." She taunted me in a whisper, shaking her head. I could feel the tickle of her words against my mouth. I inhaled a shaky breath and narrowed my eyes at her.
"Is that a dare?" I whispered back, moving closer to her.
I was barely touching her at all. My hips were an inch from hers, keeping her in place, and my knee was between her open legs, but that was it. Her thigh barely brushed over my leg and I felt myself start to shake.
I shouldn't kiss her, shouldn't touch her, but I couldn't convince myself not to, either. I was too far gone. I stared into her eyes as I moved in closer, my nose brushing over hers just barely. I could feel her chest hit mine with every breath, could see how badly she was struggling to keep still. I was on fire for her and I wanted to taste her, I needed to....
The door swung open behind us and I jumped away from her, my heart pounding against my rib cage like a wild beast. I could feel her eyes on me intensely, but I couldn't look at her, so I kept my eyes on our intruder instead. It was Finn. Of course it was fucking Finn.
"You two fighting again?!" He asked, raising his eyebrows as he studied the scene before him.
He looked at me and then at Arabella, eyeing her carefully, like he was looking for any signs of harm done. I rolled my eyes and started toward the door, refusing to acknowledge him or listen to whatever bullshit he was gonna spew.
"C'mon, Belly." He said, his voice a lot softer, reaching out for her as I shoved past him to walk out.
I inhaled deeply as I walked out of the bathroom, realizing that I was holding my breath after we almost got caught. My body was buzzing with fear and adrenaline and I couldn't make myself sit down or relax. I walked over to where Buffy was lounging and laughing with River.
"I'm leaving. Make sure Buffy gets home safe." I leaned down and pressed a kiss to her head, squeezing her shoulder.
"Hold on! Would you walk Airy home? Finn is gonna help the girls close up, so you two are the only ones going that way. I don't want her to walk alone this late." River stopped me, standing up from his spot on the blush couch.
"She can handle herself." I stated, not missing the look on Buffy's face when I said those words.
"I don't need a babysitter." Arabella snapped at the same time, shrugging out of Finn's hold and turning to leave.
"Harry!" Buffy scolded me, pointing at her as she left, "Go!"
I sighed loudly, but did as she asked, turning around to follow her out of the Pink Couch and onto the dimly lit boardwalk.
There was a chill off the ocean and I felt goosebumps rise all over my skin from it, shoving my hands into my pockets to search for my pack of cigarettes as I watched Arabella walk. She was ahead of me by a few feet, her footsteps light despite how heavy her boots seemed to be. She didn't seem bothered by the chill in the air, she wasn't shivering or rubbing her arms for warmth, she seemed quite the opposite. She looked like she was basking in the cool night air.
I watched her long dark waves glimmer under the moonlight as she shook her head back slightly, breathing in the nighttime breeze. My fingers curled up against my palm as I fought back the urge to run them through her hair. I refused to even think such stupid things.
My eyes tilted down to pull a cigarette out of my pack, only to find that it was empty. I let out a soft curse, in desperate need of a cigarette after what just happened in that bar. I noticed Arabella pull out her own pack as I tossed my empty carton into the nearest garbage can. She slid a cigarette between her lips and then turned to toss her empty carton into the same garbage can, meeting my eyes when she did.
We eyed each other for a moment and then both turned and started to walk down the boardwalk in silence. I glanced at her out of the corner of my eyes, watching her pull out a new pink lighter that matched the one I stole from her. She took a long drag off her cigarette and looked up to the sky as she exhaled.
There was a different kind of tension between us now, a feeling of thick awkwardness settled in over our heads because of what almost happened in the bathroom. I wanted us to pretend it never happened, I wanted us to go back to hating one another instead of this weird bullshit. I wanted a fucking cigarette.
Arabella read my mind and held out her cigarette to me. There was a cherry red lipstick stain on it. Her fingers were shaking as she held it out to me and I told myself it was from the cold.
My fingers brushed hers lightly as I plucked it from her fingers, resisting the urge to groan in satisfaction as I took a long, much needed drag. I passed it back to her without a word, watching her wrap her lips around it, where my mouth just was, taking another pull. My heart was pounding against my chest at the knowledge of her lips touching where my lips just touched. It was a form of intimacy that I didn't want to think about. It made me feel like I was being ripped in half.
Say something. Say something. I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. I didn't trust myself enough right now, not with the way I was feeling. I didn't want to turn into the guy I was in Apartment X with her. That guy was vulnerable and messy and stupid, he spilled secrets that he was supposed to take to the grave. I pressed my lips back together and looked down at the boardwalk in front of me.
We didn't speak the entire walk back. We passed her last cigarette back and forth until it was done, and I watched her snuff out the butt of it with the tip of her boot. She reached down and picked it up, tossing it into a garbage can across from my shop. She took a moment and tilted her head back to look up at the Ferris wheel that was recently set up, waiting to be used by all the tourists.
I watched her shoulders move lightly as she breathed and it made my heart start to pound in my chest. Her breathing. That's all it took. I couldn't fucking stand it. I couldn't let her get any closer to me. I had to get rid of her. Arabella had to get far away from me.
She turned around finally and looked back at me, meeting my eyes as she started to move back across the boardwalk and toward me. Her eyes left mine for a moment so she could glance at my shop behind me. I could tell the exact moment that she started to think about Finn and his stupid bouquet that I told him wouldn't work. Her face fell and she looked so worn down as she studied my shop. He didn't really know her at all.
"I hate flowers." Arabella admitted in a whisper.
I swallowed, letting my eyes scan her face as she continued to stare up at my shop. Her sad eyes flickered back down to mine and I felt my heart break inside of my chest.
I know you do. I know you hate flowers. I know you don't want them gifted to you. I know you think they smell bad. I know you don't want to take care of them. I know you. I know.
I couldn't say that to her. I couldn't be soft with her, it was crossing a line that I shouldn't even be near. My mind drifted to my girlfriend, who was likely asleep upstairs or maybe at her parent's place in the Highlands. I felt sick at the thought of her being in my bed after being with Arabella all night. I didn't want that feeling. I wanted the numbness back.
So I narrowed my eyes at Arabella instead, giving her a dirty look as I shook my head and turned to head toward the side door that would take me up to my apartment.
"Yeah, well, I hate you." I spat out, silently cursing myself for how stupid that sounds, "Don't you dare go upstairs and play your loud, shitty music either. I need some proper sleep tonight."
"Me?! You're the one blasting your weird hippie love songs at all hours of the day!" She scoffed, rolling her eyes as she stomped over to her own door, pulling out her keys as she did so.
"My weird-" I choked out in shock, cutting myself off as I shook my head, "Consider our agreement to play nice null and void! You drive me fucking crazy. I don't want to be your friend, I don't want to be your neighbor, just stay the hell away from me!"
"I don't want to be around you anyways!" She shouted back at me, swinging her door open loudly.
"Fine!!" I stepped inside.
"Great!!" She slammed her door at the same time that I slammed mine.
I stood still, leaning against the door and breathing heavily.
She began to stomp up the stairs, her boots creating the loudest noise I'd heard from them all night. I could picture her purposefully stomping as loud as she could just to make extra noise to try and piss me off. I listened to the sound and I couldn't stop myself from smiling at the image of her in my head. I reached up and touched my mouth as I let the smile slowly drop. I realized quickly that it was my first real smile in a long time, and I'd almost forgotten what that felt like.
Swallowing harshly, I blinked in the dark of my stairwell as a thought passed through my mind: this girl was going to crush me like a bug, she was going to completely destroy everything I'd worked so hard for. She was going to rip me open and leave me with nothing. She would leave me empty. Arabella was going to ruin my life.
And I was going to let her.
In the words of Harry Styles... that's called EDGING. 🤪 Y'all really thought the glory hole smut was coming in CHAPTER 11?! NAAAHHHH... 😈
Love you all!!!!