Dragged to another party. Art said Beth needed to lighten up after her last breakup, that he was just being a dick, that maybe what Beth needed to rebound back from depression was to get laid. He'd said it in the best of ways, even though it sounds horrible. He always wanted the best for his friend. Besides that, there was a guy he thought she would be interested in. Paul Dierden. He sounded nice anyway, as far as names go. Not that she was even interested, but Art had gone through the trouble of hosting a party just for this meeting, she may as well not be rude and not give any effort into making the blind date be good.
She'd spent her last years of college dating the same blockhead, only to have it end on a horrible note. Three months had passed, and Beth was just as miserable. Maybe things could work out. Who knows. If not, at least Art was footing the bill for a night of drinking.
Which she did plenty of. There were so many people there that she hadn't recognized. When Beth made her way through a sea of people, finding a drunk Art, all he said was "shit got out of hand." Not that he seemed to be minding too much, because he was occupied by Angie, one of his classmates. Good for him, she thought. Beer at mouth, Beth was looking for Paul, although she had no idea what he looked like. She didn't mind not knowing him, however, because as she was circling the first floor she spotted possibly the most attractive girl gathering armfuls of drinks. If she hadn't been drinking at that moment, she probably would've have her jaw to the floor. Downing her beer, Beth made her way over to the girl.
When Beth finally squeezed through the endless bodies, she'd stood beside the girl. She had looked up at Beth, smiling shyly.
"Heyy."
"Hello."
"You need a hand?" Smooth Childs.. "That's an awful lot of beer."
"Actually, that would be nice. Thank you. They're playing beerpong upstairs.. Childish, I know, but that's what my friend wanted to do."
"Really? Forget individual cans cutie, take the keg."
"Keg?" She stared bewildered. Shaking her head, Beth laughed quietly and pointed.
"Here, I'll carry this, you bring the cups."
"Will you be able to carry it by yourself?"
"Easily."
"Don't be cocky." Beth could tell she was teasing, right? At least she thought she was.
"Lead the way."
They'd gone upstairs, and Beth had carried it as easily as she said she would, but by the time they had made it to the bedroom she was grateful to be setting it down.
"Thank you so much...?"
"Uhh. Oh, Beth Childs."
"Okay. Thank you Beth."
"No problem." Beth shook the girls hand. "Would you guys mind if I watched?"
"It's a free party." She joked, "I'll introduce you, if you don't know them."
"I don't even know you."
"Ah.. Alison."
"Cute. It fits you."
Beth didn't know anyone in the room, but Alison told her everyone's name and announced hers. Rachel, she was dressed like she was a CEO of a corporation, too much for an average college party. If she looked the part, Beth was betting she was probably an uptight bitch. Cal, a tall, shaggy looking guy. Cosima.. Cosima beth thought was cool, somehow. How often do you see someone with dreads who looks awesome? Delphine, a tall french speaking woman, who was dripping with sex appeal (hell, she sounded like sex. Jesse, possibly the most normal person in the room. Paul, a built, well chiseled man. He probably spent more time in the gym than working. Just walking into the room, Beth could feel his arrogance. Sarah, a blatant punk that wouldn't leave Cal's side. And Donnie, a tall, overweight guy that didn't seem to fit in with anyone, but wouldn't stop staring at Alison. Beth had leaned into Alison, whispering a question about Paul.
"Do you know his last name?"
"Not really.. I just met him." Nodding, Beth just stood to the side and watched.
Somehow they'd gotten a table in the room, with the majority of the group sitting on the bed. They'd decided two "tournaments" one for the men, and one for the women. Alison didn't want to participate, but they needed one more, so Beth joined in.
The rules of the game were simple, get a ball in the other persons cup, they have to drink it. If you get the ball in, you also throw again. To get the game going faster, three cups each.
Rachel wanted to go first, and Paul seemed to agree with her, even though it wasn't an option. Delphine had volunteered.
Rachel tossed first, missing. A disapproved eye roll plummeted from her on accident. Delphine also missed, speaking in French. Beth was sure she was cursing, but in reality she didn't have a clue what she said. Tossing again, Rachel managed to land a ball in one of her cups. As Delphine began drinking, everyone began cheering her on. One drink down.. Rachel landed another, then missed. Delphine followed suit, landing a shot and missing, only to be eliminated with Rachel's next shot.
Not even a smile or a good game from the winner. Damn, what a tight ass.
Delphine had finished her drink, stepping towards her girlfriend, Cosima, for a celebratory kiss even though she lost.
Beth was next, against Cosima. When she stood from the bed, Alison caught her hand, stopping her.
"Good luck, Beth."
"Thanks." Beth shot her a subtle, playful wink. Sober Alison blushed, and no one else seemed to notice their interaction, not even Donnie.
Cosima opted to go second, even though Beth said she didn't care. A miss. Damn. Now she knew why Delphine was cursing. Cosima lift the ball, making it look effortless as she sent it flying through the air, landing in one of Beth's cups. Rolling the ball back, Beth lift the cup and began drinking. At least it didn't taste bad. She swallowed and swallowed until empty, tossing the cup down. By the time she had finished, Cosima was tossing again. Another hit. Once again Beth returned the ball, and began drinking, a little slower than last time however. Setting the empty cup down, Beth closed her eyes and wished she would miss. Wrong. A perfect landing, which had Cosima bouncing up and down excitedly.
The room roared with cheering for the perfect win, Delphine rushing to kiss Cosima. Lifting her third cup, Beth raised it in Cosima's direction, and swallowed it down like a good sport. Huffing, the now tipsy Beth made her way back to the bed, stumbling to sit beside Alison.
"Nice try, Beth."
"Mmmmmm. Not my favourite game." Alison gave her a hug, without really knowing why. Perhaps just to make Beth feel better about her loss, although she gave no signs of being upset.
"Well, you did better than I ever would have."
"You didn't play." Beth pointed out.
"It's a pretty reckless game. I'm not judging you, just commenting."
"That's cute." Beth grinned, dopey and everything, nudging Alison's arm.
"Excuse me?" Alison laughed.
"You. Everything. Cute."
"Well.. Thank you?"
"You're welcome."
Beth internally was kicking herself. That was twice she had accidentally called this girl cute, whether she meant to or not.
They'd seemed to lose focus on the rest of the room, staring at each other. Beth was engulfed by how beautiful she found Alison. Normally she would mentally acknowledge that she was beautiful and move on, knowing she didn't have a chance, but that was normally, not drunk Beth. Drunk Beth didn't seem to have the decency to not stare. Or not flirt. Was it even flirting? Alison was sober, though, and she was definitely staring back.
Another loud roar ripped through the room, taking Beth's attention away. Lost in the moment, she also cheered (but didn't even know why). Alison clapped, disinterested in the game.
Rachel had won, three to two.
First up for the men, Paul versus Cal. The two macho men, as Beth sarcastically put it. Alison laughed at her pitiful joke. It took a few minutes to pry Cal away from Sarah, his apparent girlfriend.
While their game commenced Cosima brought out a few joints (Beth quickly learned the woman was a huge enthusiast of weed) and everyone gave into smoking it. Why not? Doesn't everyone try it once in their life? That was Beth's reasoning. Well, justification. Although she'd had it plenty of times before, she had been trying to go clean for when she would finish at the academy. They even passed it to Paul and Cal, in the middle of their game (which Paul was leading). Cal handed it over to Alison who shrugged, taking the smallest inhale possible. Smoking must not have been her thing, but the effort given was awfully cute.
One thing Beth didn't like was Donnie. He must have known Alison before coming to the party, that or he was already drunk, because he had an arm around her. Alison pushed him away once, maybe twice (Beth wasn't trying to pay too close of attention.. She was only mesmerized by the girl already..) but eventually she stopped trying and let him keep his arm where it was.
When Beth turned back to the game, Paul had sunk his ball into the third cup, eliminating Cal. He'd only drank one beer so far, at least since the game began. Not bad, although they were only playing with half as many as usual.
Up next was Donnie and Jesse, which made Beth pretty damn happy for some reason. It meant Alison was free for her to talk to, without Donnie in the way.
"Hey."
"Hey, Beth."
"You excited?"
"Mm?"
"I dunno, trying conversation."
"That's silly."
"I guess." Beth chuckled, leaning back into the bed.
"Who do you want to win?" Alison was playing with her bangs. Adorable.
"Uhh, trucker boy. Jesse? What about you, your boyfriend Donnie?" Alison shook her head.
"We're not dating, just.. Ugh. He's not my type. We came together though?"
"That why you're not drinking?"
"Sort of, yes. I have to drive him home."
"Damn!"
"Beth?" Alison stared in disbelief.
"Looks like Donnie won." They both turned to watch Donnie fist pumping and Jesse drinking his last. It seemed Jesse had gotten two, but missed, and Donnie had managed a hat trick.
Restocking the drinks, Paul made a bet that Donnie was too much of a pussy to drink all ten, like most frat parties, so he stupidly set up ten drinks. Alison doubted this would end well, for either of them. Male egos.
Much to Alison's intuition, she was right. Donnie ended up drinking seven, before going into the bathroom and eventually passing out. Paul only had three, an arrogant smirk across his face. He'd won, but who really cared?
As everyone in the room branched off into smaller groups, Beth noticed Paul's hand groping Rachel's ass through her tight dress. He must not have been the Paul Art had been trying to set her up with, that or another date failed. Sarah and Cal bailed right after his game. The night wasn't too much of a bust, she was drunk and having fun.
Alison looked frazzled and defeated, almost in a panic.
"What's wrong?"
"How am I supposed to get him home?!" Beth only shrugged.
"Art won't mind, trust me."
"But what about his mom?"
Beth deadpanned her.
"The fuck? He lives with his mom?"
Alison nodded, nervously biting her nails.
"Ali, hey. Relax. It's only nine. Give him a couple hours to sleep it off."
"He's the only person I know here though.. Really know. I don't want to spend the whole night waiting on him."
"What about me?" Beth mockingly pouted, laughing before Alison could respond.
"We just met."
"We did. And I want to know you."
"Seriously?" Alison raised a brow.
"Mmmhm. I only played that stupid game to spend time with you."
Alison's cheeks reddened just slightly, her mouth making a small noise as she was about to speak, but she stopped herself.
"Come bail with me, alright? Donnie will be fine. See? He's face down, everything will be alright." Beth grabbed Alison's hand, pulling her away and down the stairs.
"Alright."
Beth's head was spinning a little. Actually, a lot. Walking straight was more difficult than she had thought. Not even walking straight, but walking in general. Alison's soft laughter captured her attention as the woman tried holding her up.
"You're drunk, Beth."
"Yeah, but that party blows."
"It wasn't the best." Alison agreed, opening the door to Art's apartment complex. They walked aimlessly following Beth's lead, but she had no destination.
"You've got me, at least."
"Is this a good thing?"
"Could be." Beth winked, finding herself funnier than she was. "If you aren't dating Donnie, why did you come with him?"
"It's a long story." Alison tried dismissing it, but Beth didn't seem to catch on.
"We're on a long walk."
"Oh?"
"Mmhm. Spill, Ali." Beth poked her arm. When Alison reached up to rub where she'd been poked, Beth took her hand once again, but this time she threaded their fingers together. Alison squeezed gentle, which surprised Beth because all night she had been trying to keep Donnie's hands off of her. Why was Beth so special, at least in her mind?
"We.. We have a history together."
"Bad, I presume?"
"Somewhat. He caught me in bed with someone when I was a teenager, not that I was doing anything scandalous, it was just.. Who I was with. A-a girl. We'd been kissing, is all. He'd threatened to tell my mother that I was gay."
"Seriously? And you still hangout with the prick?"
"It's complicated. My mother would've disowned me."
"A little harsh.. All over a kiss?"
"Yeah.." Silence, discomfort.
"How did you get him to keep quiet?"
"Well, I told him it was a truth or dare thing. That she had forced me into it, really. And he somewhat believed me, but said that if he was to keep his mouth shut that we had to date. I was so scared, so I said yes." Alison wiped away the few tears that formed. "He was a really nice guy after a while, not wanting too much from me. I didn't ever like him, just tolerated him because I thought that he wouldn't keep the secret to himself."
"Why did you guys breakup?"
"He wanted a blow job, and I couldn't. I just can't."
"Ali?" Beth stopped walking, giving her hand a gentle tug. Alison spoke before Beth could.
"Before you ask, I may as well get it out. I'm a closeted lesbian, Beth. No one really knows, except Donnie.. If he's even bright enough to know."
"That's incredible."
"Wait, what?"
"You kind of read my mind for a minute. Like, you've got some skills..." Alison rolled her eyes. How stupid could she be? Beth was drunk. Without warning, Beth started walking again.
"Did he tell your mom your secret?"
"No, thank god though, right? Since then he's been trying to make it up to me, but I'm not interested."
"That shit was pretty obvious."
"How so?"
"When he had his arm around you and didn't take the hint."
"You noticed?" Alison seemed genuinely drawn back by that.
"I read people, part of my training."
"Training? Are you a cop as well as Art?"
"Almost.. I have a few months until I graduate from the academy."
"Wow! Here's an early celebratory congratulations." Alison was beaming with happiness, so it appeared. Frankly, they both were glad the topic was changed.
As they walked slowly around the block for possibly the fourteenth time, they talked about nearly everything. Beth wanted to know everything about Alison, and Alison also wanted to know about Beth. It seemed like so long since someone actually cared, all of Alison's friends were as fake as plastic. Beth's weren't too good either, besides Art.
"So Ali,"
"I've never liked being called Ali.."
"Why not? It's almost as cute as you."
"Is that all I am to you, cute?" Alison teased.
"I'm not sure just yet."
"Oh really?" Alison raised her eyebrows.
"Yeah. Cute.." Beth waved a hand to gesture to Alison. "Cute is just a summary. You should ask me when I'm sober."
"I will."
"You'll probably get the same answer. I thought you were cute before I was drinking."
"I'm flattered."
"It's getting late, Beth, would you like me to take you home?"
"I honestly don't think I could get you there if I tried." Beth frowned, rubbing her forehead to try and remember. "You should just leave me at Art's, and pick up Donnie."
"You're that drunk?" Alison bit her bottom lip for a good minute, gnawing it over as she mulled her thoughts. What would be the best possible outcome? Donnie would be pissed because she had left the party without him, if he had woken up. And if he were awake he would've already taken a cab home or drank more until passing out again. The man had no self control, she wouldn't put it past him if he were to drink again.
"Donnie can find his own way, he's an adult, and I'm not keen on seeing him again. Would my place work, for the night? I don't think taking you back there is the best idea.. What if someone, I don't know, tried to take advantage of you?"
"I don't think you're going to let me have a say in this, am I correct?" Alison shook her head, leading Beth back to Art's, only because that's where her car was.
Before Beth could blink, Alison had her in the car, and in fact, getting out. Did she live remarkably close, or had Beth passed out during the drive?
"Beth. Beth?"
"Mm?" Beth was lazily rubbing her eyes, fighting off a yawn. What time was it anyway?
"Drink this and lay down." Alison placed a glass of water in her hand, sitting on the armrest of the sofa.
"Ali, I'll be-"
"Drink." Without another word, Beth did as she was told and drank the water immediately. Beth kicked off her shoes and laid down, trying to help Alison when a blanket was tossed over her.
Alison was delicately tucking Beth in, fluffing a pillow before lifting Beth's head and placing it under.
"Will you be alright, or should I get a bin?"
"I'll be fine, I'm in good hands." Beth played it as a joke, only because Alison was still fiddling with the blanket.
"Cute."
"Allllli..." Beth had managed to grab Alison's arm while she was smoothing the blanket down.
"Yes?"
"Donnie's an ass. It isn't his secret to tell. Hell, it's none of his business who you date."
"Thank you." Alison smiled endearingly. Although Beth was finally tucked in, she pushed herself up on the back of her forearms, looking Alison over.
"Something wrong?" Alison was confused. She'd just gotten Beth set for sleep, and now the girl was getting up again.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"You just did." Alison poked her arm, chuckling quietly at her own joke as she nodded.
"May I kiss you?"
Without any hesitation Alison nodded, having wanted to all night. Blood was rushing to her cheeks, her ears. Never before had she been asked so kindly, sweetly. When Donnie kissed her it was forcibly, unwanted.
Beth stroked her cheek with the back of her hand, dragging each finger slowly across the soft cheek, down and under her chin, until slowly raising the hand to cup Alison's cheek. Leaning in, Beth also guided Alison closer until their lips connected. Chaste, yet lingered, Beth didn't want to cross any lines, praying that she wasn't doing anything wrong. But god, did she want to kiss Alison in more ways than this.
She could Alison slowly move away, their faces still in close proximity.
"Again?" Beth barely breathed out before Alison seized the words, kissing her once more.
Twice. Many times. Beth had shifted around, trying to pull Alison onto the sofa with her, under the blanket. Together they lay kissing, lost in a blissful moment.
Although her mind was physically telling her no, saying that she was about to sleep, Beth fought against it, wanting to kiss Alison much longer. Why did reality have to be a bitch when she was finally doing something she wanted? Mumbling something, it wasn't too long until exhaustion claimed her, and she fell asleep against Alison's lips. Not even two minutes passed before Alison acknowledged Beth's unconsciousness. With a smile she kissed Beth's cheek and closed her eye, willing herself to sleep.