AN: I do not own the Lunar Chronicles nor do I own any of the characters that appear in the Lunar Chronicles. Only the plot and original character belong to me. Also this is my first fanfiction, so any constructive comments are greatly appreciated but please be kind.
Cress nestled up against the pillar she was stationed at as she waited for Thorne to return with her drink from the bar. It was Thorne's first night working at his job as a bartender at New Beijing's newest nightclub and cress had wanted to come to show her support for him. She scanned the room to see where Thorne was all at once her heart seemed to drop to the floor and shatter into a million different pieces. There he was, with some beautiful, leggy brunette whispering something seductively into his ear. Without any further thought, Cress turned and began to make her way to the exit through the crowd of gyrating bodies. She had made it halfway there when she suddenly felt a hand take ahold of her elbow.
Just as she was about to begin to yell and tell Thorne off, she heard an unfamiliar voice asking "Hey, are you aright?"
Momentarily shocked by the man who clearly was not Thorne and her own distress, all Cress was able to manage was a small shake of her head.
"Here, how about I buy you a drink and you can tell me about it." the man suggested in what seemed more of a statement than a actual suggestion, and began leading her back towards the bar; the last place Cress really wanted to go but could not find it in herself to tell this man that. Especially when he seemed to be so kind to her. "My name is Alex by the way."
"Cress." She really didn't feel like saying all that much and began looking for the easiest way to end the conversation and just go home to the apartment she was sharing with Scarlet.
"That a beautiful name, Cress" Alex said while signaling to one of the other bartenders, thankfully not Thorne, with two fingers. "So what had you leaving in such a rush; boyfriend problems?"
"No, I don't have a boyfriend, just not having a good night."
It wasn't the full truth, but there was no way that Cress was going to spill all the details of whatever her and Thorne were in their relationship when she didn't really know. Though Alex seemed to be almost glad to hear that she was unattached and Cress thought she could see the barest glimpse of a smirk on his lips.
Suspicion crept into Cress more and more as Alex continued to ask prodding question of where she was running off to, if he should be worried he was stealing her away from her friends, and when their drinks arrived Alex seemed to only pay half attention to what she was doing and the other half was spent glancing every few seconds to the glass she was passing back from one hand to the other and had yet to drink from. Cress didn't think that she could find her escape from this strange encounter until this strange attention was dealt with, so she took a full gulp from the glass, hoping that this would fully satisfy Alex's strange fixation on her drink; maybe now that she actually drank some of the alcohol he had paid for she could leave without him feeling like he had wasting his money on un-drinken booze.
"Well it was nice meeting you..." Cress began to say, ready to call it a night and just go home, but then a sudden hot flash and bout dizziness hit her and she found herself grabbing the bar top to regain her balance.
"Are you ok? Here, let me help you to the exit." Alex said as he wrapped his arm around her waist and began half guiding, half carrying her to out of the club.
There was a nagging feeling in the back of her mind that something wasn't right with this, but it was as if her mind had become extremely clouded and couldn't send the warning to the rest of her body. Just as they had gotten through to the other side of the crowed room a very familiar voice caught her attention, though she had been dreading having to see the man it was connected to, Thorne.
"CRESS!" there was a sense of relief and urgency that Cress could hear through her hazy mind. Then, as the scene of a semi-conscious Cress being led out by a man that he had never seen before registered, relief quickly turned to protective fury as moved to rescue Cress from the man and growled out "What did you do to her?"
But before Thorne could fully extract the small girl he had become so enamored with, Alex moved Cress further towards the exit and gave flashed what Thorne could only describe as a sleazy grin.
"Don't worry about it man" Alex replied, " my date just had a little too much to drink and I'm just making sure she gets home alright."
To anyone else, this lie may have seemed plausible but Thorne knew that Cress won't a big drinker, that and that there was no way in hell that Cress was on a date with this sleazebag. That may not be officially dating each other, but they both knew that there were shared feeling and they were moving closer to actually acting on those emotions.
"Like hell you are" Thorne spat at the man who clearly held no good intention for the girl he was holding.
Cress, who had been struggling to stay awake during this interaction, made an effort to look Thorne in the eyes, trying to show him all that she wanted to was to leave; and it would seem as if he got the message loud and clear and once again moved to relinquish Cress from the man; successful this time as she became completely limp in Thorne's embrace.