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In any other situation, the loud music and the smell of alcohol would have been too much to bear for Mason. He would have left the crowded living room after being there for five minutes. But he had been at Tina's apartment, where her birthday party was taking place, for more than two hours now, and he wasn't in any hurry to leave. Not alone, at least.
"Dancing has certainly…" Nate cleared his throat a pink hue tainting his cheeks, "changed with the passing of time."
Mason smirked at him while he followed his gaze towards the detective - as if he hadn't been watching her the whole night - just when the redhead turned her back on them while she danced with Tina, shaking her hips while gradually dropping low to the rhythm of the music.
"I really like this dance." Mason answered, noticing how Nate had decided it was better to look inside his glass. He took a swig of his beer with a chuckle, gluing his gaze to the rear of the woman. His woman, he thought, a smile grazing his lips. He could easily watch her all night long. She didn't have time to change after her shift ended, so she was wearing jeans and a t-shirt from a band he had heard a couple of times in her apartment, with a pair of comfortable sneakers. The jeans she was wearing were his favorite ones (could they be any tighter?) and he suspected she had already discovered that.
"Well, our little Allie is certainly having fun." Felix commented, before his golden eyes glanced at Mason. "Though maybe you're having even more fun watching her shake her -"
"Oh, come on." Nate shook his head and Mason barked a laugh, but before he could retort a couple of arms surrounded his neck.
"What's so fun?" Alice asked, her body subtly pressing against his, softly enough to make him shudder slightly. Automatically, his hand found its place on her lower back, the other one cradling a beer.
"Nate's still having problems with how much I enjoy watching you." He answered, grey eyes finding hers, noticing her blown pupils.
She snorted a laugh. "Nate has problems with how much you enjoy ogling my butt." She smirked as she stood on her tiptoes to reach his lips, but he moved back slightly to look at her face, chuckling with amusement at her squeal when he softly pinched her ass. She slapped his shoulder and opened her mouth to whine, but he captured her lips with his own before she had the chance. The arms around his neck tightened their embrace as she sighed into the kiss, tongues finding each other.
Nate grumbled something before turning away and Felix laughed when Tina approached screaming: "Get it, girl!"
Alice chuckled as well and broke the kiss with a smile, throwing her head back for a moment while Mason moved his lips to her cheek, then her ear. The room was spinning ever so slightly, her body felt on fire and her throat was dry. "Wanna go back to your place, spitfire?" His voice was hoarse and goosebumps appeared on her skin where his breath touched her.
"A couple more songs." She replied, quickly pecking his lips, before spotting Nate very carefully looking away from them. "Not a fan of making out at parties, Nate?"
She giggled when his eyes widened a little before he gave her a soft smile. "Oh, it's just… I just think some things are meant to be done in private?"
"We're just kissing, is not as if I'm - I'm gonna stop talking now."
Mason squeezed her waist. "Oh, please, finish the thought."
She blushed harder - her cheeks were already flushed due to the alcohol and the dancing, and Mason licked his lips as he observed her, her gaze following the movement. "Later." She breathed, and in that moment Tina came to them with another glass of tequila sunrise. "Thank you!" She chanted, taking the glass and disentangling herself from Mason with a wink, her other hand taking Tina's, and the both of them walked away dancing. He shook his head with amusement as he heard them laugh together.
"I think she's had enough to drink." Adam commented, making Mason raise an eyebrow towards the leader.
"She's a grown woman. And I'm gonna take her to her place when she's ready, don't worry so much."
"Yeah, she deserves to let loose once in a - uuuhh, is that guy the reporter?" Felix interrupted himself, making Mason snap his gaze back to the center of the living room where people were dancing. He was right, the reporter - her ex boyfriend - was talking to Alice, and judging by the look on her face, not even being drunk she was happy to see him. Mason shifted uncomfortably, not quite liking the jealousy the simple sight of her ex could awake in him. He focused to hear their conversation.
"Come on, angel." Bobby smiled at her, almost too sweetly. "One dance." He inched closer and whispered. "For old times' sake."
"Ugh." She rolled her eyes, taking a step back from Bobby. "Believe me when I say there's nothing good to remember about 'the old times'." She chugged her drink, and when she lowered the glass, Bobby was towering over her.
"Oh, come on. You know that's not true. Remember our first Valentine?" He was practically purring, and looking at him through the haze of the tequila, she couldn't believe she fell for his charms so many years ago. "You prepared that romantic dinner in your dorm and then you…" he reached out to curl a strand of her hair around his finger. "I'll always remember how you looked with -"
She slapped his hand away and his grin widened. "Shut up, Bobby. I'm serious."
"You heard her."
Both of them turned just as Mason reached them, his arm coming to rest around her shoulders in a way that just felt natural. She grinned at him before taking another sip, her free arm sneaking around his hips, hand diving into the back pocket of his jeans. Bobby looked amused.
"Ooh, I didn't know you -"
"She does." Mason retorted, not letting the reporter speak. "So, anything else you wanna say, old news?"
Alice snorted, loudly, and covered her mouth to muffle her laughter. That nickname was perfect. Bobby narrowed his eyes, but motioned at her with his chin.
"Be careful with this one. I always had to babysit her when she drank."
And with that, he turned around and left, Tina's "who the hell invited you?" following after his departure. Mason turned to surround Alice with his other arm and noticed her expression had fallen. He took the empty glass from her hand and left it on a shelf nearby before his hand found her hip, then used a finger to raise her chin, forcing her to look at him.
"What's this for?" He asked, thumb tracing her pouting lower lip.
"You feel like you're babysitting me?"
He scoffed. "Always."
The usual sassy remark he was expecting was lost in a frown. "Oh."
Mason rolled his eyes. "So, drunk Alice doesn't get sarcasm, huh? Noted." She blinked up at him before a small smile appeared on her lips. "That guy's a dick. Don't let anything he says get to you, sweetheart."
Her arms surrounded his neck almost lazily. "Hmm. You'll have to distract me."
His embrace tightened. "Just say the word."
She stood on her tiptoes and he lowered his head so she could reach his ear to purr: "Dance with me."
He huffed. "No."
"Please." She breathed against the skin of his neck before placing a small kiss on his pulse, which jumped.
"I don't dance."
"Pretty please." A kiss on his jaw, her breath on his lips. Her hips were starting to sway and her breasts were pressed against his chest. He was losing this battle. The song changed and a heavy, sultry beat surrounded them.
If he was going to do it, he would do it his way.
His hands tightened on her hips and he twisted her around, her back now against his chest. She laughed with delight as they started moving together, his head dropping to place a feathery kiss behind her ear.
Hips pressed against her backside, they swayed, his thumbs hooking on the belt loops of the front of her jeans, one of her hands on his forearm, the other raised to bury her fingers in his hair. Her eyes were closed, and the music, his heat, the touch of his lips, everything was so delicious it made a smile bloom on her lips.
"You never talk much about what happened between you two." Mason murmured against her skin. Her smile fell.
"You mean Bobby?"
"Yeah."
She sighed and turned on his arms, stumbling slightly, but he supported her. "Ugh… I think I'm ready to go home now."
He just nodded. She left to say her goodbyes to Tina and a few guests and he grabbed her jacket from the mountain of coats on the bedroom.
He found her talking with the Unit, and slipped the jacket over her shoulders. Alice looked up at him with a grateful smile, her heart somersaulting inside her chest at the gesture.
"Are you taking her home?" Nate asked.
"Yup."
"Alright." The tall vampire gave a one-armed hug to the detective, then Felix gave her a bear hug that got them swaying from side to side.
"I almost wanna go with you just to see Mason driving your car." Felix flashed a grin and Mason sneered. Alice laughed and swayed when Felix released her, Mason stabilizing her once again. Adam frowned.
"Make her drink some water."
Mason nodded before throwing an arm around her shoulders. "Ready?"
Alice closed her eyes as soon as Mason closed the car door, head resting against the seat as he started the engine. He let the car warm up for a few minutes.
"You're not gonna tell me?"
She rubbed her eyes, smearing her eyeshadow in the process, and groaned when she saw the black makeup on her knuckles. "What do you want to know?"
Mason shrugged. "Why did you break up?"
She hummed. "I'll tell you but you have to tell me something in exchange."
"Oh, so we're negotiating now?"
She smirked mischievously. "Why not? Let's trade secrets."
He thought about it for a moment. "Sure. You probably won't remember tomorrow anyway."
She gasped. "I will!"
"You won't." He teased. "You go first."
"We dated for two years." She sighed, the car screeching when Mason started driving to her apartment. "He was quite good at making me feel like shit about myself. And at the same time, making me feel lucky at being with someone like him, who I thought was better than me. More attractive, smarter, more charming. He could have anyone and chose me, that made me feel special." She chuckled sadly. "He reminded me that often; that he could have anyone. I was always scared that he was going to leave me. I was always anxious, clingy. I thought I loved him."
The way his knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel were the only sign that he was listening to her.
"He plagiarized one of my final assignments in college. His presentation was before mine, and I just couldn't believe what he had done to me. Part of me wanted to give up. But I had worked damn hard so I gathered proof about it and presented my assignment without changing anything. He had to redo it and was furious… He dumped me on the spot. In the middle of the hall after I demonstrated his plagiarism before the teachers and the classmates." Her tone was monotonous, eyes lost somewhere on the road. "After what he had done to me, I still felt devastated. I thought he had an explanation." A pause. "I thought he loved me." Her voice turned small, and she cleared her throat. "Your turn."
When he didn't speak, Alice looked at him to see him clench his jaw. "That guy's a piece of trash, you know that, right?" His voice sounded strained with anger.
"I do now." She smiled softly. "Thank God he did something shitty enough that I couldn't let him walk over me. But… it's your turn."
Mason scoffed, letting the new information about the detective aside to think about it later. He parked the car and helped her out, climbing the stairs to her apartment in silence.
Once inside, as she took off her jacket and shoes, he finally spoke.
"I had never had sex with the same person more than once before you."
That made her blink rapidly, her mind foggy from the alcohol as she tried to focus on his carefully blank expression. Ugh, she saw two Masons. She needed to lay down.
"Why?"
A shrug. "I just didn't want to."
Okay, heart, calm the fuck down, he can hear you, she thought to herself as she walked to the bedroom, Mason on her heels.
"But you did with me?"
She sat down on the bed and he took off her shirt. "Yeah." She laid down and he unbuttoned her jeans before peeling them off.
"Why?"
"I don't know."
In her underwear, she sneaked under the covers and Mason left the room. She was starting to drift off when he came back with two glasses of water. He left one on her nightstand. "Drink." He commanded, a hand sliding under her head to help her drink the other one. She obeyed with a hum. "Got any other secrets before I go?"
Her eyes were closed but her fingers had wrapped around his wrist to bring him into bed with her. He sat down and she rested her head on his lap.
"I love you."
It was nothing but a sigh, falling from her lips so casually, so sincerely, he felt his throat dry instantly. His heart hammered for a moment before it calmed down. She's drunk, she doesn't even know what she's saying.
"Tell me that when you're sober."
Did he want to hear that again? God, he felt like his chest was too tight suddenly, his fingertips dancing an inch from her hair, not daring to touch her. Love was such a foreign word between them. His chest was heaving, the word may be foreign, but what about the feeling? Had it been love all this time?
"Sober me doesn't want you to know." She almost giggled. "She's scared you'll tell her you don't feel the same."
Now her fingers found her hair and he stroked it softly, Alice melting instantly at his touch, snuggling beside his legs. She was drifting off with a smile, the room spinning, hoping equally to remember and forget this conversation.
She didn't know for sure if the next words were said in the quiet room or if she was already dreaming.
"She has nothing to fear."