You're not sure how you ended up in a bar, but you're pretty sure you know that the terrible date you just went on is the reason why you ended up in a bar. His name was Donnie, and you decide to order yourself another drink, because you can still remember his name.
You're standing at the bar waiting for the bartender to get you your strawberry daiquiri, when a man suddenly appears next to you, startlingly close.
"Hey," he says, a smug grin on his face. You smile politely and return your attention to the infuriatingly busy bartender.
"I'm Chad," he continues, and he moves closer to you. You're instantly uncomfortable and you take a tiny step back.
"How're you doing tonight?" he asks, leaning in a bit too far. You look over at him just in time to see his gaze drop to your chest, and you're now both uncomfortable and angry.
"Fine," you say, your voice cold. His eyes find yours again, smug grin still on his face. You want to smack it off of him.
"Aw, come on, don't I get a little more than that?" he says (whines, really), and somehow manages to get even closer to you. You try to move, but there's a person on the barstool next to you, and you're trapped.
"No," you deadpan, and turn back to get the bartender's attention.
"Aw come on, sweetheart." And suddenly his hand is on your ass and you're slapping it away, blood boiling in your veins, and you're turning around to maybe slap him (maybe strangle him), but there's suddenly a woman standing there, grinning at you happily.
"Hey, babe!" she says, and for a moment you think it was her hand that you felt on your ass, until you realise that she's saving your ass instead.
"Is this guy bothering you, darling?" she asks, and gestures to Chad standing behind her.
Your mouth opens, but no words come out. The woman winks at you and then turns to face Chad.
"You messing with my girlfriend?" she asks him, and Chad smirks.
"If I say no, will you let me watch?" he asks.
The woman laughs and reaches to take something out of her coat pocket. "If I say I'm a cop and I'll arrest you for harassment, will you leave?"
Chad's smirk turns quickly into a scowl, and you can tell he's trying to decide if it's worth it.
"Whatever," he finally mutters, and disappears into the crowd.
The woman turns back to face you and you catch just a glimpse of a police badge before it's back in her pocket.
"I'm Beth," she says with a smile. "And you looked like you need some saving."
You smile weakly. "Thank you," you say. "I'm Alison."
"Nice to meet you Alison. Although I wish it could have been on better terms." She grins at you and you laugh loudly, surprising yourself.
"What are you drinking?" she points at your empty glass.
"Oh, uh, strawberry daiquiri."
She raises a hand to flag the bartender and he suddenly appears.
"Strawberry daiquiri and a scotch. Put 'em both on my tab," she says, and the bartender nods and disappears to make the drinks.
You look at her in disbelief. "How did you-?"
She leans against the bar with a crooked smile. "Hm?"
"I've been trying to get his attention for twenty minutes!" you huff.
Beth laughs. "He's a friend, so, I never get ignored."
As she speaks, the bartender sets the drinks down next to her elbow. "Thanks, Felix!" she calls out as he rushes off to fix more drinks.
"That's definitely cheating," you say.
"Not cheating," she says, handing you your drink. "Just using my advantages where I see fit. Like buying a pretty girl a drink after she's been harassed by a total creep."
You feel your cheeks get red when she calls you a "pretty girl", but you smile anyway.
"Do you want to find somewhere quieter to sit?" you say over the thumping music (which you and Beth have sort of been yelling over the entire time). Beth smiles a crooked smile again and says, "I thought you'd never ask."
So you find yourself, ten minutes later, on a couch in an upstairs lounge, telling Beth all about the terrible date you just had with what's-his-name (Donnie?).
Half an hour later, you're ordering your third drink since you met Beth (sixth drink of the night), and she's on her third scotch, and she's smiling at you, face slightly pink and long brown hair slightly messy, and you suddenly realise that maybe the reason all your boyfriends sucked and why your date with what's-his-name went so horribly is because- you're gay.
The realization hits you like a ton of bricks and suddenly you're laughing, the alcohol in your system making you slightly hysterical. Beth looks slightly terrified and confused, and you try to clarify that everything's fine, you're just gay, but all you manage to say is "gay!" through your laughter. Thankfully, for some reason, this makes Beth laugh, and then you're both leaning into each other, drunk and hysterical.
The two of you sober up (in a manner of speaking) and then you suddenly realise that you're sitting a lot closer to her than you were two minutes ago, and in your intoxicated state, you decide that kissing Beth would be the best thing to do.
So you kiss her.
She responds immediately, one hand on your hip, one hand in your meticulously straightened hair, and you kiss her harder, because you want her everywhere, and then she breaks the kiss.
You whine out a tiny little noise in complaint and open your eyes to see her grinning her crooked smile at you.
"I don't want to sound too presumptuous, but… would I be right in asking if you'd wanna take this to my place?"
You laugh and bite your lip, a little embarrassed at being so eager, but nod anyway.
"Awesome," she says and stands up. She offers you a hand and you take it, letting her pull you to your feet.
"Thank god for Chad," she murmurs as she leans in for another kiss.
You laugh, and let her take you home.