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You shivered on the staircase of so-and-so’s house as the sound of music and chatter filled your head. You had come with your friends, but they'd already gotten lost in the crowd. You didn't feel too well. Well, you felt great, but in a hasty, dizzy way. You couldn't make out people’s faces as everything was blurry and dark, your throat hurt despite the cup of soda you held in your hand that was almost empty (you were on your fifth refill), and it was cold. You knew it was hot in your city, it's quite literally by the beach, so people keeping their homes freezing wasn't really a surprise. But that didn't stop it from being unpleasant. Especially since you were currently in a spaghetti-strap, high-cut glittery dress colored a pale salmon. you forgot where you'd put your shoes- which you were too high to care about at the moment- and you had assumed maybe they were still in the bathroom. Stupid high heels. Always so hard to walk in.
You wanted a better place to sit, but the couch had no free spots and the living room was crowded anyways. So you were stuck on the staircase, cold and uncomfortable. But at least you were being left alone.
Little did you know, that would change. Very soon.
“Upstairs on the left, you said?” The voice belonging to the question immediately jolted you up. Was that…? No, it couldn't be him, you'd known him for so long, he'd never come to a party with alcohol. Weed, maybe, but only that. You could clearly recall watching your best friend chug liquor about an hour ago. Then she threw up all over the carpet. Another girl got mad. You chuckled at the memory. But before you could calm down, a figure was standing in front of you. And when you looked up, it was him. What was he doing here? Did someone invite him? He didn't even look disappointed in you, he just looked at you. And smiled. “You gonna gawk the rest of the night or let me go piss?”
Not even a hello? Not a Hey, what are you doing here? But you knew he wasn't one for regular greetings. For him, the greeting happens when you meet someone and the goodbye happens when they leave your life for good. But a hello still would have been nice.
“Sorry..” You got up kind of clumsily, and you could have sworn he was trying not to laugh, but you were able to prop yourself up against the wall and rest your arm on the rail of the staircase. “Stairs're aaaallll yours.” That got him to laugh. Was he making fun of you?
“Oh, why thank you my lady!” He walked up the stairs pretty fast, still with that stupid laugh. God, why did you do that? Now he's going to think you are stupid for as long as you know each other. What feels like an eternity passes, and you hear footsteps coming back down. He turns to look at you as soon as he reaches the bottom. “So you're just sitting alone? At a party? Rora, you're kinda defeating the whole purpose.”
You shrug, unsure what to say or how to say it. “I dunno… it's just… I didn't really-” you paused to cough, a result of the weed, probably. “- I didn't expect so many to be here. I didn't expect- YOU to be here.”
“Really?”
“Mhm….why'd you come?” His expression changed to a small, shy smile. He looked down at his hands before looking back at you.
“Well, uhm, because someone told me you'd be here…and dude, there's a pool!” You scoffed slightly, half disbelief, half shock. Did he really just come to a party to see you? You? What was so special about you? But maybe he was just wanting to hang out, you'd been so busy with your volunteer work and trying to find a college since you slacked off before you graduated that you didn't really have time for him. The thought of him wanting to see you and doing something he'd normally be against made you feel all warm and fuzzy inside. before you knew if you were against him, your arms around him like he'd slip away if you let go. “Bro-” he muttered, “You're freezing dude, do you like, need to go home or something?”
You shook your head against his shoulder, clearly wanting to stay in the moment for as long as possible. “You're blazed, aren't you…” he sighs under his breath, pulling you in impossibly close. His skin was warm. You liked it. You could stay this way forever. He realized you weren't planning on moving any time soon and let out another sigh. “You gonna keep me here all night or what?”
“Can I?” You heard yourself say. You heard him laugh.
“No, silly, I gotta go home sooner or later.” He was right. It was awfully late, probably 1 in the morning, and you couldn't just stay in someone's house for the rest of the night. But you wished you could. Staying in his embrace for an eternity, just letting him hold you, sounded like heaven to you. He was so warm and his embrace was always so soft. You let out a soft sigh as you buried your face into his neck. “There, there,” he murmured, petting your head. Then he finally pulled away. “Wanna go dance?”
You nodded, knowing you couldn't dance, but if it was with him, it would be worth it.
You spent the night being taught how to keep your rhythm, staying close to him the whole time. It was fun. A stark contrast from the rest of your week. When you two got tired of dancing you went to scavenge the fridge for non-alcoholic drinks (you'd get high but not drunk and he was strictly against alcohol) and found two capri-suns of all things. The two of you were able to steal the couch and you spent a good hour just talking. Talking about whatever really came to your mind. You ranted about college, he ranted about trying to find a job that paid more than 10 dollars an hour, you talked about growing up, everything.
But all good things come to an end.
You left the party with the friends you'd come with, they were apparently looking for you for a good 3 hours. He walked out with you and stopped you before you went and got in the car.
“Hang out tomorrow?”
“Yeah.”