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Liam knew for a fact that whole ordeal would end badly at some point. She just didn’t think it would happen so soon. She was an awful socializer, always had been, ever since seventh grade when a classmate had invited her to a birthday party (her first boy/girl party she well recalled) and she’d spent the whole night playing with the family dog in the backyard, while a dance was taking place inside. That should have been her first clue, but she was young and naïve, and definitely innocent enough to believe she would have years and years of practice ahead of her to perfect the art.
That, too, hadn’t happened; since the only thing puberty brought her were pimples and a weird obsession with turtles and the Toy Story trilogy. She had tried really hard to make friends and even get a boyfriend in high school, but she was just too caught up in her own bubble of interests to make herself available to anyone. Not that there had been a line of boys just waiting for her to give them the time of day. Not that she was actually really interested in any of that.
And the fact that her mind had just started wandering through her teenage years right in the middle of clubbing was nothing but proof she had no idea what to do with herself.
In college, she had made friends with Niall, who was the nicest, funniest girl in the world, enough to befriend Liam on the second week of school. And while Liam did love her very much, Niall had the annoying habit of always dragging her to the most ominous outings. Liam had thought it couldn’t get much worse than going bungee jumping to celebrate Niall’s 21st birthday, but this was making her stomach flutter even harder.
Niall had obviously disappeared across the dancefloor within the first twenty minutes after they arrived, leaving a clumsy Liam behind to dance with herself by the bar. Now Liam wasn’t sure she should go get a drink or just lean against the counter and wait for someone to ask her for a dance. She hated the whole scene. It made her feel like she had a job to do there, but somehow she had missed the instructions on how to properly do it.
It wasn’t like she’d never done it before, which was even more infuriating when she thought about it. She’d hooked up with a couple of guys the other few times she’d gone clubbing with Niall. It just hadn’t been experiences she was too eager to relive.
The thought of having some creepy dude come on to her offering a drink was enough to make her dismiss the idea of getting any closer to the bar. They were always either smelling like cheap vodka and cheesy pickup lines (she swore she could smell them too), or acting overconfidently in the most condescending way, and none of these options appealed to Liam. She couldn’t, for the love of God, understand how Niall managed to take any of those dudes home, even if only for a nightstand. She kind of envied her, though, for being so carefree when it came to guys in general. Liam always thought there was something wrong with her, because the very thought of letting one of those men touch her had her shiver with distaste.
At first, Niall had told her she was just too picky and even had implied she was acting way too snobbish when she hadn’t even had a proper conversation with any of those men, but the thing was, Liam didn’t want to have a conversation with any of them, if that meant having to let them get into her pants eventually. Fortunately, Niall had dropped the whole ‘lecturing’ thing after a while, and mostly just wanted Liam to have a good time.
So that’s what she decided to do, within her possibilities of course, as she walked towards the dancefloor. The music was alright, and she did love dancing. So maybe she could just burn some calories and enjoy the beat for a couple of hours. She’d agreed to come, after all, no point in just whining like a baby now.
A faint voice in the back of her mind told her that maybe she should focus on the girls around, see if anyone caught her eye, but she made sure to push that thought away. It made her feel even more out of place. As if any girl would ever take interest in a boring clumsy twat like herself.
All of a sudden she felt self-conscious about her outfit. She couldn’t give a rat’s ass if a guy thought she looked cute, sexy or whatever, but it always made her think twice if a girl gave her a once-over at a club or party. She was wearing a dark gray pleated skirt and her favorite white t-shirt, which she usually wore with a sports bra underneath, except for when Niall dragged her for a night out, assuring her it looked sexy if she let the outline of her black bra show through the thin fabric.
But what did Niall know? Ok, probably much more than she did, but still. A sudden rush of panic ran through her body as she felt like the most underdressed girl in the room.
Ok, too much negativity going on, even for you, Liam. Curb your anxiety for a bit there, girl. It’s not quantum physics.
Liam took a deep breath and kept walking towards the center of the club. She was going to have a good time, goddammit! So what if she probably looked like a potato? Potatoes deserve to have fun too!
Liam bumped into a couple of people, who seemed to be right in their element, moving along with the beat and she felt a little more comfortable, especially when she realized you couldn’t actually make up any of the faces around unless you were paying a lot of attention.
If nobody will recognize you, she thought, it was probably just fine to shake it and pretend you actually know what you’re doing. Liam started with a slow movement of her hips and shoulders, closing her eyes and trying to just experience the music. She kind of enjoyed techno, so she didn’t actually have to put much effort into it, it was nice. She could definitely get used to just swinging around that sea of people, even if she’d rather not have them rub against her.
As the song reached its peak, Liam started getting more and more comfortable, waving her arms goofily, and swinging her hips like she’d watched Niall do sometimes when they went to parties together. It obviously didn’t look half as hot as when Niall did it, but Liam wasn’t really worried about it. She closed her eyes, and just moved along, feeling her skirt lift up a little when she gave it a whirl.
When the song came to an end, being quickly replaced by the next tune in a way it didn’t even feel like it’d ended, she opened her eyes for a second, still doing a weird dance step she’d just made up, and that’s when she spotted a girl a few feet away.
She seemed to be dancing by herself as well, even if Liam found that quite hard to believe. She was really attractive, like really attractive. Or at least the exact type of attractive Liam was into.
She shook her head. What was she thinking? She didn’t have a type. Except that that girl was definitely it. Liam glanced towards the stranger again. She was wearing black skinny jeans and a striped t-shirt and Liam was sure she had never seen anyone look so hot in a messy pixie cut before. She couldn’t quite make out the color of her eyes from that distance and all those lights, but from what she could see, they looked like a grayish dark blue.
For a total of two seconds, Liam was sure the girl had smiled at her. It was a stupid thought to have since there were half a dozen people between them, but Liam’s heart skipped a beat anyway. Her belly sent a quick and interesting piece of information to her brain, which was that she didn’t mind having that girl’s hands all over her, she didn’t mind it at all, and that realization made her blush under the neon lights. But before she had the time to dismiss the whole thing as a hallucination, someone in the crowd grabbed her ass, causing her to turn around abruptly.
A guy around her age was smiling wickedly at her, not by far the same kind of smile the girl had (supposedly) given her a second earlier. Liam was so shocked she smiled back, which was more of a knee jerk reaction than anything. She felt like puking right afterwards. She was quick to start moving away from that area when the same man pulled her by the arm.
“Where you going, sugar?” he said, still smiling, and Liam tried to get rid of his grip, to no avail.
“I need a drink.” She replied with the first thing that popped into her head, which sounded like an invitation the second she said it. Liam cursed under her breath. Stupid.
“Great, I’ll get you one, then.” The guy said, still subtly pulling her arm as to make her follow him to the bar.
“It’s alright, I’ll just get one myself.” Liam answered, feeling slightly scared. She had only been clubbing about four times, and this was the first time someone had harassed her like that.
“Don’t be silly, sweetie, wouldn’t want to have you roaming around by yourself in that cute little skirt…”
Liam gaped, horrified. How dared this ridiculous man talk to her like that? If this was standard male behavior in clubs, she would very much like to go home right away, thank you. Even though her brain tried to rationalize this was just one man acting like a jerk, her heart was telling her any other approach wouldn’t have made her like him any better.
Her mouth wasn’t able to make the words she was thinking, though.
“Uh, thank you, but I’m really not interested.” Was all Liam could mumble, finally releasing her arm, as she walked the other way. However, it didn’t seem enough of a refusal for the man, who continued to lurk behind her, laughing.
“Yeah, right, and you’re telling me you weren’t smiling at me back there?”
“I was just being polite, I…” Liam started, having no idea how this guy had managed to turn it against her, making her feel like she was the one to blame for his harassment.
“Hey, babe, I was looking everywhere for you!” Liam heard a smooth, sweet voice behind her. She almost fainted as the girl from seconds before wrapped her arms around her in a quick hug. “Were you getting us drinks?”
The man looked at the girl, deeply annoyed, while all Liam could do was stare at them both confused.
“I was just about to buy her a drink, your friend was all alone on the dancefloor…”
“Well, you don’t need to worry, I’m here to buy her drinks, she’s my girlfriend, after all.” The girl replied, decidedly, and Liam could only gawk at the whole thing happening in front of her. She hadn’t even had a drink yet, but she already felt kind of oozy.
The guy widened his eyes, backing off slightly. The certainty with which the girl had talked was making him physically retrieve. Liam was astonished.
“You should keep an eye on her, then. Make sure she’s not playing easy with other guys.” Liam still heard the man say, but there was a hint of spite and imbalance to it that made her smile, instead of getting even more offended.
The girl snorted, as if she’d heard that blabber thousands of times before, and circled her arm around Liam’s waist, sending goosebumps through her body.
“I don’t have to. I trust her completely.”
The moment the man turned around, shrugging as if he couldn’t care less, but obviously beyond pissed off, Liam felt the delicate fingers leave her quickly.
“Sorry about that.” The girl said, scratching her neck awkwardly. “Didn’t mean to throw myself all over you like that, it’s just that I know this kind of guy, they have the idiotic assumption that girls need to belong to someone else to be left alone.”
Liam only nodded, not knowing what to say. God. She was even more attractive up close. The girl cleared her throat.
“So, uh… I guess I’ll just get off your back now.” Liam watched as the girl put her hands in her pockets.” Watch out for the weirdoes!” She smiled, turning around.
“Wait!” Liam shouted, waking up from the strange daze she had found herself in. “I- Thank you, thank you so much! I’m Liam.” She stuck out her hand for the stranger to shake, only then realizing how stupid it must have looked, trying to get to know someone in a club by shaking hands with them.
The girl didn’t seem to mind, though, giving Liam a crooked smile as they got properly acquainted.
“I’m Louise, but you can call me Louis. And you’re more than welcome. This place used to host a much better crowd a year back, and then some hipster blog made a post about it, now there’s all kinds of people around. Comes with getting popular, I guess.”
“You come here a lot?” Liam asked, as they walked towards an empty side of the counter, where you didn’t actually have to shout to get yourself heard. The girl’s company was making her feel much safer.
“About twice a month or so, helps me unwind. Is it your first time here?” Louis asked, leaning against the counter. She gave a friendly nod to the bartender.
“Yeah, I… don’t go clubbing very often.”
“Shitty first impression then, huh?” Louis turned around to get the bright pink drink being handed to her. She really must have been a regular, since the bartender seemed to know exactly what she wanted.
“Well, you’re making up for it.” Liam spoke, without thinking, only to blush terrifically right away. No way on Earth was she shamelessly flirting with that girl!
Louis took a sip of her drink, so Liam couldn’t see her reaction. She thought she saw her lips curve upwards before drinking it, but couldn’t be sure.
“Can I buy you a drink, then?” Louis asked, a friendly tone in her voice, before her face dropped in sudden realization. “Oh shit, I sound like the jerk you were just talking to. I swear I’m not trying to get you drunk or anything, I just... Zayn here makes a mean strawberry cocktail!”
Liam laughed, completely amused by the sudden clumsiness of the girl, who just seconds before was acting more confidently than she’d ever seen any woman do before. But before she could answer properly, a new crowd moved from the dancefloor to the bar, pouring the bartender with a hundred orders per second, and while at it, pushing her towards Louis, who held her by the elbows to keep her from tripping and falling.
“Hey, careful there!” Louis said, brows arching. Liam felt silly for being pushed around so easily, but made no motion of moving away as she felt soft but tight fingertips move up her arms, trying to keep her standing. “Do they think the bar will run out of booze or something?” Louis frowned, face but two inches from hers. When Liam felt the girl’s warm and fruity breath, her heart started beating crazily without so much of a warning. She couldn’t believe the thing people talked about all that time, the sweaty palms, the butterflies, and all the foolish shenanigans that had made her roll her eyes through the years were hitting her all at once.
“Sorry…” Liam murmured, looking down. “I feel like such an idiot.”
“Why? What’s wrong?” Louis was still holding her, trying to reach her eyes, which Liam kept averting.
“I feel so out of place here…”
Liam felt one of Louis’ hands leave her arm and touch her cheek slight and delicately, trying to make her lift her eyes. Liam looked up, timidly.
“I thought you were doing just fine back there, before that jerk started harassing you, I mean. Your dancing…”
“Oh god... you were watching that?” Liam closed her eyes, a deep flush covering her face and neck. She heard Louis laugh.
“You were hard to miss, Liam.”
“Oh god!” Liam covered her face with both hands. Of course she had to go and make a fool out of herself in front of the hottest girl in the club. Wait to go, Liam!
“No, wait!” Louis was still laughing, but there was a hint of genuine concern in her voice. “I didn’t mean it like that! It’s just… Damn, I’m usually so much better at this. I just meant…”
Liam felt Louis’ lips brush past her ear, speaking closely so she wouldn’t miss it.
“I just meant you looked- you look beautiful.”
It was obviously something Liam was taking to her grave and if anyone asked, including Louis, she would vehemently deny it, but she’d be lying if she didn’t admit to herself her knees had buckled for a quick second there when those words were said. She managed to face Louis and whisper a low “thank you” before noticing she was still almost glued to the girl before her. She stepped back, smiling.
“Do you want to dance with me?”
Louis smiled back, and Liam was certain she would never have invited anyone to dance, especially in a club, if they weren’t the owner of that very particular smile.
Every song from then on sounded better than ever.
Liam couldn’t remember the last time she’d stayed out past four a.m. She usually took a cab home way before Niall was even starting to think about leaving. The blonde didn’t mind, though. She knew Liam had the stamina of a seventy-year-old and getting to have her go out in the first place was already a victory. So, when Liam looked at her watch and saw 04:47a.m., she was seriously surprised. She was also exhausted for having danced for the last two hours straight.
They had danced, touched, laughed, and none of it had Liam thinking about leaving at the first chance she got. The thing she dreaded the most about clubs in general was getting to the awkward stage of making passes and pushing a bit too far when it came to her personal space. But as the hours passed, she just wanted to stay closer to Louis for as long as possible, and she was getting more and more interested to know what kissing her would feel like.
“It’s almost five!” She heard Louis shout, touching her hip lightly. “I’m so hungry!”
“Me too!” Liam laughed. “I would kill for a cheeseburger!”
“There’s this diner nearby, they’re open 24 hours, wanna go grab something to eat? I don’t think I can walk home if I don’t eat some protein.” Louis suggested, sweat dripping from her temples. Her short hair had spiked into a messy mohawk and her tank top was already clinging to her chest. Not that Liam was paying any close attention to it.
She sent Niall a quick text saying she was leaving, with no further details. She’d spotted her twice through the night, always talking to someone different. Niall was always having fun. So Liam wasn’t expecting a quick answer, since Niall was probably wasted at this point, so she found it both strange and amusing when her phone buzzed not ten seconds later.
Shes hot Li! Ooh hoo
Liam looked around, searching for Niall, but there was nothing but a wave of energetic people still moving to the endless beat. She shook her head, smiling. The way Niall managed to dance, flirt, drink and still keep an eye on Liam was beyond her. She felt a warm feeling go over her as Louis nodded towards one of the exits.
The place was relatively empty that early in the morning, but there were already a couple of people splattered around, having snacks and talking, taking shitty post-clubbing selfies, and it somehow made Liam feel like she was entering some parallel universe which only existed in the early hours. A faint radio playing some old song in the background made it all feel even more surreal.
“This place serves the worst coffee ever, but their chicken nuggets are the best!” Liam heard Louis say as she found them a seat in the back.
“Are you seriously eating chicken nuggets now?”
Louis pouted.
“No… they only serve it during lunchtime.”
“Thank god.” Liam laughed, before ordering the biggest burger in the menu.
“Excuse me? Are you trying to say you’ve never eaten chicken nuggets for breakfast before?”
“I never eat chicken nuggets, period.” Liam giggled. “God know what’s in them.”
Louis gaped, horrified. “I can’t believe I’m sitting here at five a.m. listening to you slander chicken nuggets... What do you think is in those burgers you’re about to eat? Whole wheat?”
“I’m sorry…” Liam gave her best smile, amused by the look on Louis’ face. “I didn’t mean to personally offend you.”
“You can’t just expect me to hear such attack on chicken nuggets and just leave it at that!” Liam laughed again. Louis’ fake outrage was making her want to climb the table between them and just kiss her.
“Are you a junk food expert or something?” she asked, instead.
“Music tech student.” Louis answered, proudly. “Senior year, thank goodness. How about you? Freshman?”
“Do I look like a freshman?”
“You look like someone who’s terrified of getting a C… and I don’t mean it in a bad way, swear.” Louis said, holding to fingers up, girl scout-like.
“I’m a sophomore.” Liam explained, not feeling offended at all. It was true anyway. “I’m majoring in graphic design. And yes, I would very much like to not ever have a C in my academic history.”
Louis smirked, knowingly, while thanking the waitress for her burger. Liam continued.
“I wanted to thank you again… for what you did back there. That dude was freaking me out.”
Louis made a dismissive gesture while shoving her mouth with the greasy burger in her hands.
“Don’t worry about it. Had my share of creepy dudes coming on to me, picked up a few things on how to not-so-gently tell them to get lost.”
“Well, it worked.” Liam took a bite of her own burger, making a pleased sound. “This is actually quite good!”
“Told you!” Louis put on a smug face, mouth full of bread, almost half way through her snack.
Then the radio started playing a familiar song at which Liam almost screamed, smiling big. It was t.a.t.u.’s “All the things she said”, and it sort of felt right in some way she couldn’t explain.
“Gosh, I’ve loved this song since I was a little girl!”
Louis stopped eating, tilting her head so she could pay extra attention to the faint sound coming from the back of the bar. Liam could see the exact moment she recognized the song, widening her eyes.
“Wow. I haven’t listened to this in years! It’s great!”
Liam bit her lip, trying to keep the next comment from popping, but Louis beat her to it.
“I remember having a huge crush on the brunette.”
“Everyone had a crush on her.” Liam mentioned, like it was the most obvious thing in the whole world.
“Did you?”
“Well, yeah. I mean, she was beautiful…” She blushed, realizing it was probably not that obvious to everybody else.
“You’re beautiful.” Louis said all of a sudden, and Liam almost choked on her burger. “And I like your skirt.”
She looked down at her own clothes as if she hadn’t even noticed what she was wearing until the other girl mentioned it.
“Thank you! I got it from my aunt for my birthday.”
Oh no. Lame! Why did she have to say that? Who cares if she got it for her birthday? Liam swallowed hard, trying to think of something cleverer to say. She knew it was only a matter of time before she let it show just how silly she was.
Louis seemed amused, though, laughing quietly as she stared at her burger.
“You’re so cute.”
And now Liam was certain she was dreaming. Was she supposed to pay a compliment back? She had a lot to say about the girl’s looks but she didn’t want to come off creepy and awkward.
Liam bit her bottom lip again. Well, what’s the worst it could happen?
“You’re really cool, Louis.” She said, avoiding any eye contact.
She saw Louis smile shyly through her peripheral view, and it was right then that she knew she was doomed.
They sat for another forty five minutes or so, chatting about nothing, laughing at each other’s silly jokes, and Liam just wanted to be in that sleepy diner forever.
But when the sun started to actually rise and shine above and they’d both had the last sip of their second cherry cola, she knew they had to finally leave. Louis offered to walk her to the nearest subway station, even though it was already broad daylight.
They walked quietly side by side for a few minutes, till they got to the street corner right before the station. It was getting a bit cold and the streets were virtually empty. Liam was dreading the moment of letting go.
“So… Can I have your number maybe?” Louis asked, before they made a turn.
Liam reached for her phone so fast she almost dropped it from the tiny sparkly clutch she was holding.
“Here, you can type yours here and I’ll text you right away so you can save mine!” She explained quickly, as if what she was doing wasn’t clear enough.
“Alright.” Louis typed a few numbers on the contact list and hit ‘save’. “That works too.”
She returned it to Liam, smiling sweetly.
“Well, I have a train to catch.” Liam said, but not making any motion towards the station.
“Right.” Louis replied, going for what it seemed to be a hug, but stopping midway, uncertain. They just stared at each other for a second, before Liam snapped out of it when a gush of wind made her hair tangle all over her face. She opened her mouth trying to get the big chunk of hair she almost swallowed out of the way, when she heard Louis laugh out loud.
“Ok, I’ll just… go now.” She pointed to the metro sign behind her, mortified with the lack of finesse she had handled their goodbye. She was about to turn around when Louis pulled her close by the waist, leaving but an inch between them.
Liam automatically placed her hand on Louis’ neck, caressing the soft skin. She wasn’t sure what she was doing, but it seemed to have the desired effect when Louis let out a soft pleased sound before leaning in to kiss her.
The kiss was cautious, but Liam’s brain was doing cartwheels, relishing on just how soft and sweet Louis’ lips were. It was chaste at first, but already far better than any of the boys who’d kissed her before. It wasn’t rough and rushed, like someone trying to prove a point or impress her more than make her feel warm and good.
Liam felt Louis’ hands go from her waist to her hips and that definitely wasn’t the appropriate moment to feel a familiar hotness in her lower belly. They had been in a club for just an hour before that, for Christ’s sake. That had definitely been a much more acceptable place to get felt up than the middle of the street, but she couldn’t bring herself to mind. Louis deepened the kiss tentatively, opening her mouth to get more of Liam’s, so she pushed her fingers through Louis’ short hair to make her know that was ok, it was more than ok, actually. She never wanted to leave that badly cemented corner.
It was only when a bus passed by them, lifting up litter and dead leaves around, that they parted, slightly breathless. Liam’s hair was all over the place again, making them both laugh.
“I’ll be waiting for your text, then.” Louis winked, after letting go of her waist and shoving both hands in her pockets, nonchalantly.
Liam still gave her a little peck on the lips before finally turning away and running to the station. She knew she had to be beet red by now. Blame it on the harsh wind of that chilly morning.
The ride home was the shortest of Liam’s life since she’d spent the entire time thinking about how good it felt to be that close to another girl. Not just some girl, but a great girl like Louis. She was startled to hear the robotic metro voice say her stop was next, and it took her last residue of energy to stand up from the seat she was dozing off on and jump out the wagon and into her way home.
Thankfully, the tiny flat she shared with Niall was only a five-minute walk from there, which she made in two, so eager she was to pass out in her bed.
She fumbled for her keys, and even though she wasn’t even close to being drunk, she felt her legs fail her the second she entered their apartment, giving her only enough time to lock the door behind her.
The second Liam fell on her bed, she moaned gratefully. She was going to sleep for eighteen hours straight, she just knew it. However, despite being totally worn out, she still managed to keep her brain from shutting off completely, just to make sure none of that night had been a wild dream. She was about twenty seconds in that semi-conscious state when her phone buzzed, making her jump. It was Niall.
Not goin home for the nite ;) text me if u safe and sound
She sent a quick reply just to let the blonde know she was home, which reminded her of Louis’ number on her contact list. She scammed the quite short list of names, till she saw “Louis from the club” and smiled sleepily. As if she’d ever forget who she was.
Hey its liam :)
She texted, making a huge effort to keep her eyes open, way too exhausted to care if she was texting back too quickly.
Still, the even quicker response didn’t fail from making her stomach flutter in an unconscious relief.
Hey liam:D im still on the subway, thnk u fr the goodbye kiss<3
Liam shoved her head in her pillow feeling overjoyed by the written proof it hadn’t been a dream after all.
Anytime :)))
She quickly texted back, without actually realizing the implications of that answer. It didn’t matter. She’d kiss Louis anytime. That’s exactly what she had meant to say.
And with that certainty in her mind, she closed her eyes and fell into the most peaceful sleep.