"Faith Rene Bagans, will you marry me?"
My jaw drops. Sitting in the box is a rose gold engagement ring. Right in the center is a beautiful diamond. It's stunning. The man holding it is even more stunning. My hands flutter to cover my mouth.
Holy shit
I start sobbing right there in front of him. I want to say yes but I can't make my mouth move. It just opens and closes several times.
Dumb bitch, just say YES
"Yes!" I choke out, "Yes! Yes! A thousand times yes!"
Dakota smiles and wraps me into a bone crushing hug. This is the best day of my life!
"I love you." He whispers.
"I love you too." I whisper back.
When he lets go of me, he takes my left hand and slips the promise ring off my finger. Dakota replaces the promise ring with the engagement ring. I stare at the beautiful ring on my finger. I wrap Dakota up I to another hug and just cry some more.
I hear cheering from ride beside us. Of course, they wouldn't be my family if they didn't make a big deal about everything. Dakota and I turn to face my uncles and dad. They all have their phones out besides Jay, who's taking pictures on his camera. I chuckle through the sobs.
"Party time!" Aaron yells.
"Yeah!" Zak says
They high five each other and jump around in the sand. Thank god Jay has that camera. I turn to Dakota and lean into his chest. What an amazing day.
———
(Song for this scene: All For Us by Labyrinth ft. Zendaya this song will be used for another party scene when Faith gets back to Vegas with her friends.)
Zak had ordered a car to drive us to a club about 30 minutes from the hotel. He had allowed us to go back to the hotel and freshen up after our day at the beach. I showered and changed into some tight jeans and a loose shirt. I even curled my hair. I never curl my hair. Dakota even put nice jeans on, which he never does because he can't find any that fit properly, also because sweats are so comfy.
After freshening up, we get into the limo Zak ordered. A limousine. I've never been inside a limo before. I heard about an accident that happened in Los Angeles where one of the passengers almost died but no one really found out what happened to her because she fell off the grid after being put into an ambulance.
I sit next to Dakota in the big seats. I lean onto his shoulder as drinks are passed out. He takes a water and hands it to me.
"Are you going to drink tonight?" I ask him
"I was thinking about it but considering what happened last time, I don't think so." Dakota says opening his own water bottle.
"If you do drink, don't go overboard." I say
"Got it. Maybe I'll convince Zak to let you have something to drink." He says winking at me.
I chuckle at his silliness. Ten minutes later we arrive at the club. Zak and the guys get out first, then Dakota and I get out. I grab onto Dakotas arm as he leads me through the crowd. We're at this place called The Viper Room. It's dark inside, not to mention it smells like smoke and alcohol. The guy at the door let's us in without a problem. The place is packed with people. We all go single file to a door in the back and slip inside. Bacon waits with several other girls inside a back room. Jay smiles and kisses a girl with black hair. Billy sits next to a girl that looks like him and Aaron hugs a blonde chick with a lip piercing.
"Hey girls!" Zak says sitting next to Aaron.
"Hey Zak." They all say.
"Well hey you all know Faith. Faye, honey this is Ashley Wasley, Jays wife, and that's Miranda, Billy's little sister. This here is Shannon, Aaron's girlfriend." Zak says introducing us.
"Jay, your married?" I ask
"Yep. Got myself a real catch, dontcha think?" Jay says smirking at his wife.
She blushes.
"Yeah." I say.
I'm immediately intimidated by all these beautiful women sitting around me. Men scare me, yes, but for different reasons. I don't have a good past with women. With my aunt abusing me and never really having any female influence in my life, I don't really know how to act around them. Though I'm legally an adult myself.
About thirty minutes later, I realize that these girls are super nice and really supportive of the men in they're lives. Billy's sister leaves ten minutes after we arrive saying that she has to get back home to the kids and smacks his head. Billy laughs as she leaves.
"It's a thing we do. It doesn't hurt." He tells me.
I nod and turn back to my Shirley Temple. I pull out the cherries and hand them to Dakota, who's eaten so many, his lips are cherry red. He smiles and sucks on the berry. He seductively wraps his tongue around it and pulls it right off the stem. Then he has the nerve to wink at me. I blush furiously and then back to my drink. I finish what I had left and then stand to go to the bathroom.
"Where you going?" Zak asks blinking rapidly.
He's a little drunk.
"Bathroom. I need to pee." I say
"Take Ash with you." Zak says
"Ashley?" I ask
She climbs out of the booth and follows me to the bathroom.
"I'll wait right out here for you okay?" She says
I smile and nod. Ashley is really nice. I really like her despite only meeting her today. I walk into the bathroom and find an open stall. There are girls here snorting white powder on an eyeshadow palette. I walk by them and find the open stall. I lock the door and quickly do my business. I pull up my jeans and make sure I don't have anything sticking to my shoe. Then I open the door and walk past the same girls they offer me some of the white powder, but I refuse knowing Zak would get pissed if he caught me doing drugs.
I wash my hands and fix my hair a bit. I'm starting to get tired. I find Ashley outside the bathroom where I left her. She's crouching on the floor clutching her head in her hands.
"Ash?!" I say over the loud music.
"Ash?! Are you okay?!"
She shakes her head and I panic. What happened to her while I was peeing?!
"Uhhh stay here I'll go get Jay." I say patting her back.
I rush back to the room where Jay is with the guys. I swing open the door and call for Jay.
"Ashley." I say.
Jays face hardens and he stands up. He rushes out and follows me to the bathrooms. Jay crouches next to Ashley and starts talking to her in a soft voice.
"Go back to the room. Tell them I'm gonna take her back to the hotel." Jay says in my ear.
"Okay!" I say
I make my way back to the room. On my way I stop at the bar and ask for a glass of water. The bartender hands me a bottle and I thank him. I open the door and see all the guys on edge.
"Is she okay?" Shannon asks
"I don't know. Jay said he's taking her back to the hotel." I say.
They all nod and we sit in uneasy silence until Dakota starts to get up, fixes his jeans, and holds his hand out to me.
"Let's go dance." Dakota says
"Okay!" I say happily taking his hand.
He leads me to the door and out onto the dance floor. We start swaying our bodies to the beat of the overrated pop song. Soon we're both sweating bullets. We hold hands and head to the bar. Dakota orders me something I don't know the name of. He said it tastes good though.
A few minutes later a drink is handed to me. It looks like a Shirley Temple, so naturally I start chugging it. When I finish the drink I almost gag at the burn in my throat. I clutch Dakotas arm to steady myself.
"What was that?" I ask Dakota as I cough violently.
"Shirley Temple with a cherry flavored vodka." Dakota says raising his eyebrow.
Even the bartender looks shocked.
"I should not have chugged that." I say gaining my breath back.
"You really shouldn't have. Your gonna feel that in a bit." The bartender says.
"Yeah you are." Says Dakota.
"Never in my life have I seen a woman, or anyone for that matter, drink one of those so fast." Says the bartender.
His voice suddenly sounds distant. I blink a couple times and pull myself closer to Dakota.
"Let's dance again." I say shaking my head.
It feels like there's cotton in my brain. The music is reverberating through my bones and that's probably why I can hear it so loud.
Dakota and I dance along to the music. My arms are up in his hair as his are wrapped around my waist, keeping me close to him.
Everything is going by too fast. I've had too much to drink.
Too much in my system
(Famine famine)
We're grinding on each other enjoying the music. He tells me he's going to get another drink. I nod and keep dancing.
Mona Lisa smile
Hell I'll do 25 tonight if it makes me a king
You've got a star in your eyes.
I feel Dakota wrap his arms around me and when I open my eyes I'm alone in the room. The colour changing lights keep flashing as I stumble around on the empty dance floor. I fall against the wall on the opposite side of the room and start walking on it. Then I'm standing on the ceiling looking at the bar. My body bends backwards and I feel the bones pop in my back. The room around me is spinning too fast. I close my eyes for a brief second and when I open them again I'm staring at my body alone in the room looking up with a blank expression.
My eyes are telling me I'm scared but my face remains calm. I know I should be scared at what I'm looking at. There's much more people here. Walking through the sweaty bodies around me and my fiancé. I turn to look at myself in the mirror and I see a demon. His face is the colour of blood but the rest of his skin is the colour of coal. Like a smoke wrapping around him. He screeches at me and the mirror shatters. I look back to my body and drop down on top of her.
When I open my eyes I'm in the bathroom hovering over a toilet. A wave of nausea hits me again and I'm sick into the bowl. When I'm sure I'm done, I flush and leave.
I'm back in the room suddenly with Zak. I'm laughing with him. I don't know what he's saying but he's happy.
"I'm sooooo haaaapyyyy" I mumble to him.
He looks at me and laughs.
"Noooott ffffoorrr lloonng." He growls.
My eyes snap open and I'm back on the dance floor. I make a beeline for the bathroom. I barely make it to the toilet when I'm violently sick. I cough as it comes spewing out of my nose. It burns twice as much coming up as it does going down.
I hear Dakota from behind me telling me it's okay. Then I black out.
~~~~~~~~~~~