Chapter song:
Curitiba by Circa Survive
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I look down at the girl with blue hair dancing on me and sigh, continuing to pretend like I'm interested. Normally, this girl wouldn't be anywhere near my type, but I've had a shit day and I'm honestly just trying to go home with someone. I mean, she's not ugly or anything, just.. not for me.
The new girl bumping into me on the dance floor really ruined my mood, so I'm just going to keep using blue-hair as a distraction. It's not like I'll being seeing her again after tonight.
I place my hands on her waist to pull her closer, so she's grinding right on me. She turns to look at me, biting her lip flirtatiously, and I smirk back at her.
Knowing I have a hold over a girl like her is what turns me on; I can get her to do anything I want. All I have to say is that I'm a tattoo artist and they're hooked; the accent doesn't hurt either.
She flips around so we're face-to-face, wrapping her arms around my neck and pressing against me. I brush her hair off of her shoulder and lean down to press my lips against her neck, her body shuddering under my touch. When I pull back to ask her if she wants to get out of here, my eyes are distracted by something at the bar.
I see Katie and some guy talking, her smiling like an idiot. I notice him take her drink in his hands as she turns her back and starts walking away, the stupid grin still plastered on her face. He reaches into his pocket and pulls something out, dropping it into her drink.
What the hell?
I blink a couple of times to make sure I didn't just imagine that. It's absolutely sickening when a guy has to drug some random girl to get off. How pathetic do you have to be to take advantage of someone like that? I mean, I'm definitely using this chick that's all over me, but whatever we do tonight will be purely consensual. I couldn't give a fuck less about Katie, it's about the morality of the situation. That's not to say I'm an ethical guy, but I would never sexually assault someone.
A small hand waving in front of my face pulls my attention away from the sight. "Hello?" Blue-hair says with a look of annoyance.
"What?" I furrow my brows, stopping my mindless dancing.
"I asked if you wanted to go to my place," she proposes.
"Oh, erm, yeah sure," I mutter, looking back over at Katie to see her taking a sip out of the copper cup, completely oblivious to what I just witnessed. "Fuck," I growl through gritted teeth.
"What?" The blue-haired girl turns to see what I'm looking at.
"Nothing," I untangle myself from her and start walking towards the two people sitting at the table right next to the dance floor. "I'll be right back."
As I'm pushing through the crowd, my hands balled into shaking fists, I feel someone grab onto my shoulder.
"What the fuck?" I push the hand off of me and turn to see that it's Niall.
"What are you doing?" He asks, looking between me and Katie. He shakes his head in disappointment. "Mate, leave her alone. She hasn't do-"
"I just saw that scumbag she's with put something in her drink," I cut him off and try to keep walking, but he grabs my arm again, making me whip back around. "What?!"
"Just hold on," he hesitates. "Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure," I scoff. "I'm not an idiot, Niall."
"Okay, okay." He takes his hand off me and holds it up in defense. "I'm going to go get the bouncer. We don't need you getting arrested for killing someone tonight."
I clench my jaw and stand up straighter as he walks away, the anticipation fueling my anger. My eyes stay glued on the guy at the table to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid.
"Come on, Niall," I whisper lowly, tapping my foot and playing with my lip ring. I can't wait much longer, he could try to carry her out of here any second.
"Okay, let's go," Niall nudges me with his elbow.
We make our way over to the table, my breathing getting heavier as we get closer. It's going to take everything in me to not kick his ass right now. I almost wish Niall hadn't stopped me, if anyone deserves it it's this guy.
When we reach them, Niall puts his hand on his shoulder, making him jump.
"Can I help you?" He asks, looking up at the two of us with furrowed brows.
Niall leans down and says something in his ear, while all I can do is keep my eyes on the drink in Katie's hand. I'm trying to calm myself down so I don't do anything stupid, while also making sure she doesn't take another sip.
She grips her cup tighter, her knuckles going white. I notice her going to stand up, but she stops when she sees the bouncer walking towards us.
"Hey man, I didn't do anything!" He shouts when the large man grabs him by the arm, yanking him to his feet. "I don't even know this girl!"
"Yeah, right," the bouncer responds roughly, dragging the piece of shit away from us.
"What the hell?!" Katie shoots up from her seat, slamming her fist on the table. I take the drink that's no longer in her hand and I dump it out on the floor without thinking. "Harry what are you-"
"Katie, how are you feeling?" Niall inquires softly with his hand on her arm. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," she responds slowly, pulling away from him. "What's going on?"
"Harry saw that guy put something in your drink," he explains, her face going white due to shock.
"He- he what? Oh my god," she stammers, sitting back down. "There's no way. Harry's lying."
I widen my eyes, completely caught off guard. I just saved her ass, and she's accusing me of lying?
"Look, princess-"
"He's not lying," Niall stops me before I can say anything else. My anger towards the guy quickly shifts to the ungrateful girl sitting in front of me. "We need to get you home. We don't know how this stuff is going to affect you and we need to make sure you're safe. Where are the other boys?"
We both glance around the club in search of our friends, but I can't see any of them.
"Cass and I have had too much to drink. Let's see if one of them can drive," Niall suggests.
"How long do you think it'll be before this stuff, you know, kicks in?" Katie whispers, eyes shifting between the two of us.
"I don't know. We don't know what it is," Niall admits.
"Probably like, ten minutes," I shrug, playing with the rings on my fingers.
I did what I needed to do, I got that pervert out of the bar, now I just want to go back to the girl I was dancing with.
"Ten?" Her jaw drops. "I live like twenty minutes away!"
"Then we need to get you out of here now," Niall nods. "Harry, have you been drinking?"
My head snaps up to make eye contact with him. I know what he's about to suggest and I don't like it. "No, but-"
"Great, you can take her then," he orders, grabbing her hand and helping her up. "Come on."
I stand there speechless and confused about what just happened as he leads her out of the bar. There's no way in hell I'm driving her home, especially after she just accused me of lying.
I turn my head to look for blue-hair, groaning when I don't see her anywhere, and jog outside to catch up with them.
"Why can't we see if someone else can take her?" I plead as they reach my car.
"Because she needs to get home as soon as possible," he argues. Katie looks like she's about to throw up. "We don't have time to find anyone else right now. Just take her to her flat and wait with her until Cass, and I get there."
I stop for a second, debating internally and finally giving in. "Fuck," I say lowly through gritted teeth, unlocking the car for them. "Fine, just hurry up."
Niall opens the passenger door for her and she gets in, her whole body quivering. "Thanks mate," he says to me once he closes the door.
I ignore him, getting in on the driver's side. I pull out my phone and open it up, going to Maps and handing it to Katie.
"Put in your address before you go all loopy," I instruct in a monotone voice while backing out of the parking spot.
She turns her head to face me, glaring. "Really?" She shoots back angrily.
"Yeah, really," I maintain, glancing at her with wide eyes to get her to hurry up.
"You're unbelievable," she fumes, typing in her address and handing the phone back to me.
I don't say anything as I take it from her, going to Spotify to put on some music and placing it in the holder on the dashboard. The song plays softly through the speakers as I hum along.
"Who're we listening to?" She asks.
Out of the corner of my eye, I see her tapping her fingers on her legs to match the slow piano.
"Circa Survive," I mumble.
"I like it," she admits. "What's the song called?"
"Curitiba."
"Is the rest of their stuff pretty good?" She wonders, pulling out her phone, most likely to look them up.
I roll my eyes in annoyance. I won't be able to handle being stuck in a car with her if she's going to keep bugging me.
"My god, can you just pass out so you'll stop asking so many questions?"
"I'm just trying to make conversation," she defends quietly.
"Well stop," I bark, shooting a glare in her direction.
"Okay, okay. Jeez." She rests her head on the window and takes a deep breath. It's quiet for a moment until she speaks up again, "Why did you help me?"
I glance at her again, confused by the question. "What?"
"With Jacob," she hums. "Why did you help me? You hate me."
"You're right, I do hate you," I grumble. I don't know how to respond, I just don't want her thinking that I did something nice for her. "I wouldn't have done it had I known I would be forced to drive you home."
I hear her rummaging around for something in her bag, followed by the sound of jingling metal.
"This is the, uh, the key to my apartment, the white thing w-will get you into the building," Katie says slowly, stumbling over her words. She's holding a black lanyard with a few keys and a white square attached to it in my direction. "My unit is... is..."
I hear her hand fall in her lap, the keys clinking together. I peek over at her; her head is slumped against her chest with her eyes closed, brown hair covering her face.
"Your unit is what?" I press, trying to keep my eyes on the road but flicking back and forth to her. "Hey, Katie..." I grab her wrist with my right hand and shake it, trying to get her attention.
Shit.
She's out. At least I was right about her having only ten minutes. I sigh and shake my head in frustration.
How the hell did I get stuck with babysitting duties?
I should have never said anything about that boy drugging her. I should have just kicked his ass and gone on with my night but, of course, Niall stopped me. I honestly don't give a shit about her, I just hate it when men think they can take advantage of women like that; it was really about him, not her.
I check the amount of time left until we get to her flat; only five minutes. I really hope I can find the place seeing as though she won't be of any help. I turn the music up a little louder, the slow melody filling the space.
Every so often I glance in her direction to make sure she's still breathing. I don't want some random girl dying in my car, it would be way too messy.
I slowly bring my car to a stop on the side of the road in front of her building, the gray brick looking old enough to fall apart any minute. I shut the car off and turn my body to look at the mess in my passenger seat.
She hasn't moved once since she passed out, the only sign of life is the slow rising and falling of her chest. How the hell am I going to get her up there without someone thinking I'm the one who drugged her?
I grab my phone and find Niall's contact to call him.
"Hey," he answers. I can hear a woman speaking loudly in the background, sounding panicked.
"Where are you?" I demand, keeping my eye on the girl.
"We're about to leave, we'll be there soon."
"Damnit Niall," I groan, pinching the bridge of my nose and scrunching my eyes closed. "How am I supposed to get her inside?"
"Is she passed out?"
"Yes."
"Then carry her," he huffs. I toss my head back against the headrest and slam my fist onto the steering wheel. "Jesus, stop acting like a child."
"Fuck off," I spit. "Do you think this is how I wanted to spend my night? Did you see that girl I was with? I should be at her flat right now, not here, dealing with this."
"Harry," Niall snaps. "Just carry her inside, we'll be there in twenty minutes."
I roll my eyes and curse under my breath. "Ask what's-her-face what the unit number is."
"Cassandra," he corrects me.
"Sure, whatever."
I hear mumbling on the other end as Niall talks to this month's fling. He's never been one to keep a relationship, I'm sure this won't be any different.
"111," he finally responds.
I hang up without saying anything else, shoving the phone into my pocket and unbuckling my seatbelt and hers.
I make way to the passenger side once I'm out of the car, opening the door to figure out what my plan is. Her hands are in her lap, still barely clutching the keys, and she's spilled the contents of her purse all over the floor.
"Son of a bitch," I mutter to myself, making a mental note to deal with the mess later.
I take a deep breath and pull the hoop in my lip in between my teeth, seething with anger.
She's so stupid. Louis never should have hired her, then I wouldn't be in this fucking situation. She was so fucking gullible to think anyone would want her that she trusted that guy with her drink and, once again, I'm the one cleaning up her mess.
I reach in and grab the lanyard from her limp fingers and place it around my neck, then wrap my right arm under her knees with my left behind her back. With a grunt I lift her out of the passenger seat, avoiding hitting my head on the door frame. Once I have her out, I kick the car door closed and make my way up the stairs.
Stupid. Fucking. Niall.
He seriously owes me. I only met this girl last week, and I'm already dealing with her shit. She's worse than the last shop assistant we had, and that's saying something.
I nearly trip on the last step, almost dropping her on the ground. When I regain my balance, I look down to see if the abrupt movement woke her up at all. Her eyes are still closed, her head hanging back against my arm. I notice she has a bit of drool coming from the corner of her mouth, making me snicker.
She's definitely going to hear about that later.
I get us in the building after struggling with the keycard and my lack of hands, and walk down the hall until I find her unit. I set her on the ground when we reach the door so I can unlock it, and pull her inside by her arms.
God, I hope none of her neighbors saw that. They'd think it was her dead body I was dragging into the room.
I groan as I lift her up again by her underarms to throw her onto the couch, wiping the sweat from my brow and pushing my hair back off my face. Her legs are hanging off the edge of the white leather cushion, but it's not worth the effort to move them. Plus, she's passed the fuck out so it's not like she'd notice any way.
I sit on her bed, attempting to catch my breath, and take a look around the room.
She lives in a small studio, her bed and couch only a few feet apart. There's a large black and white tapestry of a tarot card hanging above her T.V. The walls are mostly bare, just a few Japanese traditional paintings scattered around.
Huh, that's interesting. I didn't think she would be into that kind of stuff. I assumed she'd have flowers or some shit like that everywhere.
I notice a photo on her nightstand of her and what looks like her parents and younger sister. Katie looks young, maybe fifteen or so, and they're all smiling in front of the castle at Disneyland. I smirk when I realize how right I was about her, she's just a privileged little girl who doesn't belong in a tattoo shop.
I pull out my phone again and check the time; almost midnight. I didn't realize it was that late. The blue-haired girl I was with earlier has probably already gone home, and I never even got her phone number, or her name for that matter. Just another thing that was ruined for me tonight.
My phone starts buzzing in my hand, Niall's contact showing up on my screen.
"Are you here?" I answer flatly.
"Yeah, come let us in," he orders.
"Fucking finally."
~~~~~
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