Author's note: TRIGGER WARNING: THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS ALCOHOL USE AND STRONG LANGUAGE.
This is the last chapter for the week, next week should be back to normal schedule. Of course, feel free to follow to stay up to date as I post as many updates as I can on my board and as always thank you all for checking out this story, it means the world to me.
Friday rolled around faster than I hoped, I had gotten myself dressed for the day in an outfit just to go get something to wear tonight, Jamie said she would be picking me up and would drive us over to the venue. Grabbing my sunglasses, I headed for the door with Nick's car keys in hand. "Where do you think you are going?" Nick said clocking the keys in my hand.
"Don't know if you know this, but I drive better than you do" I joked looking at my brother. "If you are that scared of me driving your car, get your shoes on and let's go I can't stand around all day I need to be getting ready" I gestured to the outfit I was wearing currently.
Seeming to understand it, Nick grabbed his shoes and hat before marching his way behind me as I climbed into the driver's seat—I wasn't lying when I said I was a better driver then Nick was, he pretty much gave our parents a heart attack when they were teaching him to drive whereas I thankfully had practice, of course not in a legal way thanks to my old friends. Nick would of course act dramatic when I drove. "So, are you excited to go out with Jamie tonight?" Nick asked as we pulled into the mall parking lot and climbed out of the car.
"I am, I mean—girls' night is new to me, but she seems nice enough, plus it's fun to see how long it takes before you ask her out" I looked up at my brother who rolled his eyes at my comment. "Oh come on, Nick, your crush was obvious from the second you introduced us, she clearly likes you back."
"You think so?"
"See!" I pointed up at him, knowing he was caught, again he rolled his eyes. "I can see she likes you back, you two would be cute together in a weird Nick and Jamie way" I loved them both and they had matching energy.
A blush crept onto Nicks cheeks as we entered a store where I could pick an outfit tonight. I wanted something nice, since Jamie showed me her outfit I wanted to try and match her vibe while also being comfy. Pulling a few dresses off the racks, I headed to the back to try them on, sadly none of them being decent enough for what I wanted.
Feeling discouraged, I grabbed a dress from the clearance rack and headed for the changing rooms, sliding the dress on overhead. I smiled as it fit me perfectly and was only going to cost me three dollars.
Changing back into my clothes, I headed for the cash register after grabbing some fishnet tights. The whole order was under ten dollars and to me that was a personal win since I tried to save money when clothes shopping.
Grabbing Nick, we stopped at a local Ulta-beauty so I could grab a few bits of makeup and skincare, again, since I left most of mine with my ex.
Heading back to the car, Nick had taken his keys off me as we drove home, thankfully it didn't take us long to return home where I could resume getting ready.
Jamie had texted me to tell me she was on her way, and she would hang out with Nick and the guys for a little while I finished getting ready, we were to pick up our lanyards around six this evening and it was only going onto four thirty now, still had some time to get ready.
Dumping the contents of the makeup on to my vanity, I didn't bother organizing it as I heated up my curling iron, my makeup look was a winged liner look and some smoked eyeshadow to go around it, of course topping it off with some mascara and lip-gloss that made my lips look like glass.
My hair was dark like my brothers which I curled, I had long hair that reached just under my cleavage—short hair wasn't something for me as I tried it once and that was enough for me to decide I didn't like it.
Putting the dress on, I wore a black tank top dress that hugged my cleavage comfortably, this was my first time not wearing a bra with a dress which was a big adjustment for me, thankfully the lady at the clothing shop had given me some tape that people usually use for weddings.
The dress itself was short as it almost looked like a long shirt on me, it wasn't a tight dress, and I could move quite freely in it which I was thankful for—pairing this dress with black boots after putting on the fishnets.
Looking myself over in the mirror, I jumped in spot to make sure I wasn't going to be flashing anyone when Jamie and I were dancing, settling the anxiety in my stomach—I made my way up the stairs were Jamie sat on the sofa with the guys all hanging out with her. "Holy shit" she said seeing me walk up the stairs.
The other mouths dropped, and Nick choked on his drink as he watched his baby sister walk up the stairs. "Ugh. . . You're lucky you're not a kid anymore or else you wouldn't be allowed to walk out that door" he said sitting back in his seat.
Eyes meeting Noah's for a second, I turned to the kitchen to grab myself a bottle of water for the journey to the venue, and to give Nick and Jamie a moment of peace as Noah got out of his chair and followed me to the kitchen. "You look great, Fae" Noah said standing beside me, "should I make sure there is protection in your bedroom?" he winked at me.
Mouth hanging open, I studied him for a moment. Noah wore jeans and a black shirt, his usual necklace hung around his neck as his hair was slicked back as if he was going out himself. Seeing me study him, Noah smiled crossing his arms over his chest. "Take a picture, you can show every guy you meet tonight who is waiting at home if they mistreat you" his eyes scanned over my dress, lingering on me enough where I felt the heat of his gaze.
"Maybe we could give Nick grey hair and you could be the one in my bed" I teased grabbing the bottle of water, "I'll sleep in your bed, and you can sleep in mine."
A laugh escaped from Noah and part of me hated how I loved the way it sounded, how that itself sounded like music in my ears. "I love the idea, but I don't think I have a death wish" he said glancing back at Nick who seemed distracted by Jamie.
"Where are you and Nick going, you both look ready to head out" I gestured to the fit Noah was wearing.
"He wanted to crash girls' night, I won't let him so I agreed to let him take me fishing if it meant he would leave you both alone tonight, he is also worried you are going to bring some random guy home. . ."
Scoffing I looked up at Noah, I hadn't thought of another man since my ex, and he was a nightmare. "I am not bringing anyone home, I am not that type of person—besides, I don't think I am that person to anyone anyways."
His smile faltered as he looked down at me, brows furrowing. "Woah, hold on a second. . ." Noah said standing straight, he was taller than I was, so I head to look up at him. Heart racing I gulped seeing Noah look me over once again, "you need to think of yourself as a goddess, any man would be lucky to worship the ground you walk on, Fae—so tonight, when you are out, I want you to show everyone how cool you are, how lucky they are as they get to be in the same vicinity as you" said Noah as he held my stare.
Going to open my mouth, I was cut off by Jamie. "Fae are you ready?" she called from the door.
"Yeah, I am coming!" I said grabbing the bottle turning my head towards my friend.
"Fae" I looked back at Noah who glanced over me once more, a smile on his face. "You look great."
Blushing, I smiled at him, "thank you" I said before turning and heading for the door, ignoring whatever my brother had hollered after me.
The plan tonight was to have a few drinks, we didn't plan on getting drunk, we wanted to go enjoy ourselves and just have a good time. Jamie drove there, speaking about how she was excited that our podcast was out and how it had been getting positive reviews, I would mumble some form of agreement before we pulled up to the venue.
The venue was more on the outskirts of the city, which wasn't always ideal but in a way it was nice knowing it wasn't going to be impossible to find out vehicle. "I never been to a place like this" I said as we entered the venue, it had some mini games as the dance floor ahead already had people dancing.
"Come on, lanyards are at the bar" she said pulling up her email for them to see.
Once we wore our lanyards, we found the VIP section they told us was for us tonight—it was a booth in a quieter area which I liked, taking a seat I saw the menu on the table as I pulled it up. "Fancy, they want us to order with an iPad" I said lifting up the iPad.
"This is a respectable place, I seen their other branches are a huge success so they're hoping inviting VIP's tonight will help lift this off the ground, we may be here for free but they always expect something from us even if we aren't told so remember to keep that in mind if you ever get these emails" she said taking a seat.
Jamie wore a latex skirt as well as a matching top, it looked like a bra, but the outfit fit nicely together. Her purple hair was tied halfway up as the rest curled around her. "Gummy bear delight? Okay, we are trying that first" she chuckled as she put in the order.
Minutes had passed of us talking about how the music here was really good, from bands we all knew from older rock music to newer metal music there was no judgment here which really was fun. "Okay, here you two are, plus some gummy bears on the side" the waiter winked as he put our drinks in front of us, "enjoy ladies" he said as he stepped away.
The drink was vivid, and on top sat some more gummy bears they had somehow stuck to the rim. Taking a sip, I coughed for a second not expecting the drink to be that strong. "Holy hell, this is supposed to be a delight? More fitting if it was sour patch kids" Jamie laughed at that.
We were a few drinks in now, both of us feeling a buzz as we made our way to the dance floor, Jamie and I basically grinding up against one another and enjoying our time together—we sang along to the music and saw more VIP guests come in and getting their own booths away from ours.
Getting back to the table, I could feel the alcohol kicking my ass a bit since Jamie and I hadn't had any food before we began drinking, and myself, hadn't had much besides my breakfast. Taking a seat, I giggled as I looked over the drink options, ordering both Jamie and I are round of shots. "Let's play a game, if the person calls you out on something you need to take a shot" I said setting up the different shots between us.
"Oh, this could be fun!" she smiled leaning back in her seat. "I want to go first, call me out, baby!" she said holding a shot.
Chewing my lip I tilted my head feeling the buzz move with it. "You like my brother but won't ask him out" she cursed before tilting her head back and downing the shot, "he likes you too Jamie!" I knew my words slurred just like hers did.
"I know, I know I just feel like if we start dating it might ruin the magic we have right now, it isn't from me not wanting to date him because believe me every time I see him I pray he asks me out. . ." she was telling the truth.
"I believe you; I don't think it will ruin your magic though—if it did I would kick his ass" I gestured as I kicked the air in front of me to show her what I meant, earning a snort from my friend.
Jamie leaning forward, I could see the gears in her mind working. "You have a shitty ex, who you avoid like the plague" shit, down the hatch my drink went burning my throat as I met her gaze. "I am a safe person, tell me—I promise Nick will never find out" she put her pinky out to me.
A pout on my face, I grabbed her pinky with mine before a huff left my mouth. "You cannot tell a single soul" She nodded before leaning back in her own seat—suppose this was a good time to tell someone. "He basically love-bombed me at the start, you know making me feel like I was the only girl in the world—he started flirting with me when I was eighteen, but we went official when I was nineteen, few months later he had me moving across country and promised a great life. . . Only it wasn't, I wasn't allowed to do anything basically, not allowed to even talk to my brother or even my parents, he wanted us to get married and he used to always fucking put his hands on me, every-time" I shuddered at the thought of how I looked when I finally had enough and left, I stayed in a motel for almost three months while my bruises healed before telling Nick I wanted to come home. "He would beg me to come home, tell me how much he loved me and he would do anything—the first four years I believed him, every time but I finally had enough the last time, which so happened to be when I left for good—he still is in contact with me, since being a social media person isn't easy to just switch things off or block him because he has so many phones, he gets a new one almost every other week because he always breaks his" Jamie's mouth fell open.
"Did he hit you?"
Nodding I chewed my lip as my finger circled the rim of my empty shot glass. "He did, yeah, but I am away from him, and Nick is never going to know" I slurred my words as I looked at Jamie—there was no denying that we were beyond drunk.
"No, no Nick isn't going to know. . ." she placed a shot in front of me before looking at me. "You avoid Noah because you have a crush on him" rolling my eyes I slammed the shot back cursing as it burned going down. "I knew it!"
"Shh!" I hushed her, "it was my turn to ask you" I said looking at her.
Jamie downed a shot of her own shrugging her shoulders. Dragging me to the bar, Jamie's eyes widened as a girl stepped up beside us. "What's wrong?" I asked furrowing my brows.
"That's my ex-girlfriend," she said turning her head away but not before the girl down from the bar could notice.
Face in disgust, she marched her way over as she eyed up Jamie. "You came here, of all places? Bit out of your league" the woman said as she eyed me up, "oh I'm sorry is this a date?" leaning down she looked at me before whispering "honey, run" she said.
Jamie looked as if she had been hurt and saw how she reacted to the girl telling me that I knew she was the victim in that situation, most likely similar to what my ex did to me. "No, no I don't think I am going to run away from my best friend, but you can go away and leave us alone" I barked knowing my words slurred as I looked up at the brunette in front of me.
"Oh, she is feisty, Jamie" the woman smirked as she sized me up. Grabbing a drink from the bar, she tilted it forward as it splashed down my chest into my dress, gasping as she covered her mouth sarcastically I looked up at her, "oops, I'm sorry—the dress looked really nice" she said before a crows laugh escaped from her.
Grabbing a drink off the bar, I knew it was just water as I looked at the women, not an expression on my face as I tossed the drink into her face earning a cry from her as she looked at me angerly. "Oops" I said right back to her.
"You bitch!" she snarled before she shoved me back, her nails had dug into my chest as scratches were left, burning where the alcohol still sat on my bare skin.
Going to push her off, I felt arms around me as I was yanked back, the girl being yanked back as well. "Okay, I think you both are cut off—give me your phones" the worker said looking at Jamie and I.
Jamie mumbling who to call, I glared at the girl who gathered her friends, cursing as they exited the building. "Jamie, I'm sorry I ruined your night" I said looking at her. I knew we weren't driving as the man handed us our phones and told us to take a seat at the booth until the rides got here.
"Don't be sorry, no one has ever stood up for me before—thank you" she squeezed my hands. "Man, I could go for a cheeseburger right now" she said crossing her arms.
"Ugh no, food will make me throw up" I said knowing my stomach was already churning. "We weren't supposed to get this drunk tonight" my head felt like it was in a cloud as well as my body as my words I wasn't even sure were making sense beyond the drunk friend beside me.
Jamie snorted patting my arm, "It was a good time—those drinks were good, I give them a five star" she hiccupped.
What felt like seconds had passed as it felt like the world spun, I heard my name being called as well as Jamie before she threw her arms around two people in front of us. "Nick, oh my god! I missed you!" Jamie cried out as she clung to Nick, tilting her head back to see me.
"How much did you two drinks?" Nick furrowed his brows as he wrapped an arm around Jamie to keep her up. Standing up myself, I felt the world spin and before I could land on my ass, Noah wrapped his arm around my shoulders as both men guided us out of the venue.
"I blame the iPad they had at the table!" I snorted looking back at the venue, "and they had these weird candy drinks—so strong" I slurred.
"So strong, so—so strong" Jamie said repeating what I said.
"I am going to get Jamie home, Noah can you drive Fae home?" Nick glanced at me, in what I could tell was his big brother's look.
Noah nodding his head was all Nick needed to see before guiding my drunk friend away from me, both her and I yelling to one another how much we loved one another and Noah chuckling as he buckled me in the front seat of the car. "Seems like you had a good time" he said glancing at the alcohol that was spilling down my chest, leaving it sticky and still burning a bit from the scratches Jamie's ex had left.
"Jamie's ex is a piece of work; she wanted to fight and didn't like it when someone stood up to her" I said looking out the window watching as the world passed in a blur. "How was your fishing, was your fish better?"
As Noah glanced at me as he looked back at the road shrugged. "It wasn't that eventful, truthfully he was still debating coming to the club to see you guys, he was worried in a way and when the bartender called to tell us to come get you I never seen Nick reel in a line that fast" Noah glanced at me once more.
I knew we were getting close to home, it felt like time wasn't real as I watched Noah's gaze focused on the road. "I listened to what you said tonight, I made sure I was the goddess" I said.
"Oh?" he replied.
"Yeah, we got speaking about my ex and I don't know, maybe it was just all the booze, but I felt good tonight, even with alcohol on my chest I feel good."
"Well, I listened to the podcast, learning of your crushes was pretty fun" he smiled over at me as we pulled into the parking spot of the house.
Helping me out of the car, he kept his arm around me as I laughed. "Oh, you heard it! I mean I did leave a big crush of mine out" he helped me inside; I could tell it was just Noah and I home as Jolly and Nicholas had prior plans and Nick was making sure Jamie got home safely.
Sitting down on the sofa, I could feel my body still feeling like it was on cloud nine as I looked at Noah who helped take my boots off my feet, thanking him as my feet were getting sore from dancing.
"Your big crush?" he continued as he headed to the kitchen and pulled out some leftovers for me to get in my system most likely before my body decided if it wanted to throw up or crash entirely.
"Mhm" I smiled up at him. "But it's a secret, it's forbidden" I said leaning forward, smile on my face as Noah took a seat on the coffee table in front of me.
Noah put his fingers to his mouth, doing a locking gesture earning a giggle from me. "My lips are sealed, Fae" he said.
Opening my mouth, I smiled wider at the man that sat in front of me. "It's you, ever since I was a teenager you were my biggest crush and god—you still are" Noah's smile faltered a little before he smirked. "But, you can't know because it's forbidden, it's a secret" I said shushing him.
"Come on, let's get you to bed" he said wrapping me under his arm once more before lifting me entirely earning a squeal of delight from me. Placing me in my bed, I looked up at the man who headed towards my door. "Get some sleep, Fae" he said.
"Sure thing, cutie!" I hollered before closing my eyes and feeling exhaustion take over me.