Chapter Text
The bar is busier than usual. It's typically a hole in the wall with few but pleasant staff. The crowd to your left makes so much noise your head hurts. Someone must be getting married or something based on the tuxedo printed T-shirt you catch someone wearing in the corner of your eye. Unfortunately, you're not alone tonight.
A stranger, drunk and with poor hand-to-eye coordination has been hitting on you for the last minute. By now, you'd have waved over the staff, but they're occupied with the crowd.
"Oh my gosh, hey!" A stranger with a kind face beams at you. "I haven't seen you in forever!" She plops down next to you without missing a beat. The drunk stranger leans back, clearly not prepared for the situation. "You do remember me, right?" the kind rescuer-to-be asks, "College? Dorm room C?"
You nod and smile for reasons the drunk guy probably doesn't suspect. "Yep! Mary, right?" In actuality, you have never seen this person before. She has a kind face, attractively deep blue eyes, and hair so in place, you wonder if she used hairspray to keep it in place.
"Oh, you do remember me. Actually, I have to use the bathroom," 'Mary' says. She nudges you with her foot under the table. She's giving you an out.
"Me too!" You say louder than you meant to. Without another look at the drunk guy, 'Mary' places her hand on your shoulder and guides you to the bathroom. It has stalls and is surprisingly dead empty. 'Mary' guides you to the sink, looking out the door for the drunk dude before letting it swing shut. Silently, she rolls off a paper towel and turns the sink on. This kind stranger dampens the towel and wipes your cheeks off. It feels like your skin is burning when her cold hand brushes against your cheek.
"There. You had something on your face," 'Mary' smiles kindly and pats your shoulder. "Sorry, you just.. looked uncomfortable. Are you okay?" You bite your lip. Frankly, you'd been scared. A drunk dude, twice your size, hit on you in a busy bar uncomfortably close to dark. The one night you'd bothered to come alone.
"I'm okay. Thank you. Err..what's your name?"
'Mary' smiles and shrugs with one shoulder. "I'm not a big fan of my name. You can just call me Mary if you'd like." Ah, okay then. It's probably a deadname or something embarrassing then.
"Mary it is," you smile back and straighten your hair in the mirror. You tell her your name. "But most people call me whatever. I've been told I'm one of those people that look like a bunch of names."
Mary laughs, the genuine sort that bursts forth a little too high. "I feel you. My old gym teacher could never remember my name and just called me Linda for half a semester." The two of you keep up the conversation for several moments, recounting high school and even middle school incidents that have stuck with you ever since. Another girl enters the bathroom. Mary takes the opportunity to look outside for the guy that was bothering you earlier.
"Shoot. He's still out there. Do you have someone that can pick you up?" Mary asks while fiddling with her bracelet. It's simple but pretty with a silver chain and heart pendant. It's half black and white, with an uneven division between the two halves. You wonder if it has a match. You pat your pockets, locating your phone. An empty battery symbol greets you.
"My phone is dead. I was going to uber. Shit," you groan and pinch your nose.
"Tell you what, I'm sober, so I can give you a lift home, or if you want, somewhere you can charge your phone and uber from. There's a 24-hour burger joint down the road." She smiles nervously, fiddling with the heart charm on her bracelet.
You smile, "y'know what? I'd really like that. You hungry?"
"Famished," Mary grins back. She drops her hand and crooks her arm out for you. "Shall we?"
"We shall," you say in a fake accent, interlocking your arm with hers.