a/n: oh here we go again. another story courtesy of like-lions? nonsense. after the incredible reaction to my last fic, "staring at an empty room," i decided to write another story. it was just a matter of timing and inspiration. and, oh my, i got some incredible inspiration after last night's episode of "switched." this is another bay-centric piece, but this is: surprise! not bay/emmett. sorry, ya'll, but i'm pretty pissed about emmett's actions, and i am not too keen on forgiving and forgetting after a betrayal like this. so this is a bay/oc story. i know, i know: a) kaylah, this author's note is too long and b) i hate oc fics! well, a) yes, i'm aware of the length of this author's note, and b) maybe this story will change your mind. so without further ado, i give you: "whispers of the night."
something's bound to happen
i can hear it in the whispers of the night
warn the others madness
finds us drifting in the calm of tidal eyes
like lions—the queen killing kings
whispers of the night, or ohmygod my feels can't even handle this rn
Her mom was right. She told her to wear comfortable shoes to prom, or at least pack a set of flats in her purse in case of emergencies. But no, her cell phone, eye shadow and lip gloss were obviously much more important than the pair of flats that she so desperately needed at the moment. She hated when her mom was right. She hated when her mom was right and she definitely hated when she was wrong.
(no guys i swear he's the one for me)
What a load of crap. Looking back she realized that the world had given her a plenty of cosmic signs that she was never meant to be with him – that no matter how hard she tried, their relationship wouldn't work out. No amount of sign language or speech therapy could fix what had just happened.
(i trusted him i trusted him why did i do that)
Bay Kennish was never one to let her guard down. She was notorious for holding grudges and keeping people out of her head.
(out of her heart)
But she let him in and this is where it got her. Now she was stumbling around the deserted hallways of Buckner Hall trying to find the exit. Why was it this hard? She's done it a million times before, right? But she's drunk off her ass and she can barely distinguish her left from her right.
She never liked drinking. It made her feel dirty and bloated and gross. She swore that she wouldn't drink on prom night – she wanted to look nice in her dress.
(for him)
But now drops of whatever the hell she drank are dripping down the baby blue chiffon fabric and she couldn't care less. She's sloppy and a mess and all she wants to do is go home.
(where the hell are the exits)
She cries – really cries, ugly cries and she's ashamed of herself for it. She's Bay Kennish, she doesn't let this happen, she doesn't let people get to her like this. But she just got the worst news of her life (apart from the switch that got her into this mess in the first place) and she doesn't care about her appearance or how people will perceive her. She just wants to go home.
(c'mon exits c'mon c'mon)
The worst part is that she didn't find out until now. That she had to find out this way, on this night, in this place. She was caught off guard.
(unguarded unprotected)
And she just wants to turn back time, to make things right. The fact that he wasn't man enough to tell her himself just strengthened the blow. She had to find out from little miss perfect Daphne – she had to be pulled off the dance floor and get the bad news broken to her from her long lost "sister." It wasn't even the news that was the worst part. It was the pity. Bad news she could handle but not pity, anything but that.
When she was told the news, she looked around the room aimlessly, eyes scanning everyone. It suddenly felt like everyone was staring at her and she felt her knees buckle beneath her. Then she saw him, his blue green eyes full of remorse and shame and she broke into a million pieces. Because now she didn't just feel sorry for herself, she felt sorry for both of them.
(nothing can fix it nothing can change it)
She couldn't stand looking at him, or Daphne, or Wilke or even Toby dancing across the room. Most of all she couldn't stand looking at Simone, laughing happily with her friends near the stage. So she did what she does best and ran. Ran to the bathroom grabbing a red plastic cup full of whatever that burnout kid was divvying out. She choked it down in sloppy gulps and ran into the girl's room, locking the door behind her.
She checked the stalls to make sure she was alone and then she let it out. She fell onto the linoleum floor, surely staining the delicate fabric of her dress and let out the ugliest, sloppiest, most horrific cry she had ever cried.
She sat there a while, wallowing in her misery until she decided she had to get out of there. She had to get out of the school before anyone came looking for her trying to "console" her. She definitely needed to get out of there before Mr. Blue-Green Eyes took a sip of what the burnout was serving and got up the nerve to talk to her. She walked – rather ran – out of the girls' room and now she's here, running.
(per usual)
She finally reaches the main exit leading to the parking lot and notices the big bowl of students' car keys on the table. Damn school, always looking to "protect" its students. She digs her hand into the bowl until she finds what looked like her key and she stumbles out of the school and into the parking lot.
She hears someone call after her.
(shit)
And she picks up the pace, now running clumsily to her car. She tries to unlock the door to no avail and now she's crying – sobbing – at her situation. The voice behind her keeps calling and she keeps crying.
"Hey!" the voice calls, nervousness evident in the tone. "Hey! Don't get in that car!"
She wipes her face – she doesn't want anyone to see her like this. She checks herself in the mirror and to her horror sees that she smudged her mascara across her face. She collapses to her knees for the second time of the night and she continues to cry.
The voice disappears and now all she hears are footsteps getting closer and closer to her.
"Hey, Bay," the voice says, and she looks up to meet her fate. "It's me, Jesse, from your third period."
Out of all of the people she had to see tonight, it would be Mr. Jesse Magnabosco, resident dork of Buckner Hall. With messy hair and thick rimmed glasses, he was the epitome of nerd – apart from the stellar grade point average.
And here they were, her in a fancy dress covered with dirt, grime and alcohol and him in a tuxedo that was far too dressy for the occasion.
"Are you okay?" he asks, holding out a hand. She reluctantly reaches for it and misses, grabbing him instead by the collar.
"Whoa, whoa, hold on there," he said, moving her hand to his and pulling her to her feet. She was weak and tired and drunk and he needed to prop her up with both arms to keep her standing. "Yeah, you definitely shouldn't be driving tonight."
She can't tell if it's because she's drunk or vulnerable or something entirely unrelated, but suddenly he's incredibly attractive to her. His dark, dark brown hair mirrors hers, and his grey eyes remind her of polished steel. Although he's a bit overdressed for the occasion (and she's pretty sure he doesn't have a date to prom), his tux hugs his body just so and she can't help but want to feel his shoulders and torso and abs and everything.
"You know," she says with slurred speech. "You're pretty cute." He smiles and begins to walk her away from her car.
"Damn," he says with a sigh. "If I had known it only took you getting loaded to think that about me..." In hindsight, his voice says he's joking, but in her current inebriated state she takes this as an in.
He stops walking with her – virtually carrying her – and grabs the keys out of her hand. "These are my keys," he says with a smile. "Couldn't let you get away with these, right?" He opens his backseat door and leans her into it, careful to watch her head.
She likes the feeling of the cool leather interior behind her head and pulls him into the backseat with her.
"No," she says, her voice somber and choking back sobs. "I'm serious. You're gorgeous. Seriously." Her eyes are dark and wet with tears and suddenly the weight of the evening hits her again. She convinces herself that the emotions she's feeling need to go away as soon as possible, so she redirects them.
She pulls him in, arms wrapped firmly around his neck, and kisses him, hard. His mind says no, she's not in the right state of mind to do this, but his body says that it won't be long before there is no turning back.
And her mind tells her that she was going to do this with Emmett, this very night, before she found out the truth. That experience has taught her to save herself for the one. But she's tired of waiting, and her body says full speed ahead.
