A/N: Ack! Life decided to be a jerk again, so the double update I promised in the morning almost didn't happen. But here we are. I decided that day nine would be a Cresswell AU, so here's a piece of fluff for you lovely readers. :) By the way, I've never actually been in a bar before or anything like that, so if the details are wrong, you have me to blame. Enjoy!
What a horrible day.
Cress groaned. She wanted nothing other than to forget all of it.
The taxi driver looked back at her sympathetically. "You okay there?"
"Yeah," she sighed, "just an absolutely awful day."
"I'm sorry about that," he said. "Anywhere special you want me to take you?"
Cress was about to refuse, but she changed her mind. Iko had told her about a new bar that had just opened only two blocks from her apartment. That would be the perfect place - to drown her sorrows in alcohol, and all that, even though she'd never actually gotten drunk before.
"Yeah, actually. There is one place..."
Cress slumped on her barstool. She was already on her third drink, but she couldn't stop revisiting the events of the day. The ruined job interview with Sybil, her lost papers, tripping and falling in front of all those people...
She had to stop. Instead, she focused on the musician's stage where a jazz band was playing. She made eye contact with the lead saxophonist and immediately flushed bright red and looked away. Stars, he was hot. He had the sort of blue eyes and bronzed hair straight out of Hollywood, and the flirty smile to match. She shook her head. He would never be interested in anyone like her.
Cress waved over the bartender. "Do you have something a little stronger?"
His jazz band was letting people come up and sing karaoke. Thorne internally winced as a very drunk, very clumsy girl finished belting out the last notes of I've Got You Under My Skin. Thorne managed to keep a straight face. Which of his band members had thought karaoke was a good idea?
Thank goodness it would be over in a few minutes. He signaled for whoever wanted the last song to come up.
To his shock, the short, seemingly shy blond girl sitting at the bar made her way towards the stage.
Thorne hadn't pegged her as the type that would sing karaoke in bars. She was definitely pretty drunk, he noticed.
"Song?" he asked.
"The famous Elvis one," she said, stepping onto the stage and grabbing the microphone stand for support. Thorne winced, praying she didn't put too much weight on it.
"There are a lot of famous Elvis songs, darlin'," Thorne shrugged. "I need specifics."
"Um," she swayed slightly. "Can't Help Falling In Love?"
"Ah," Thorne said, "got it."
She actually had a good voice, Thorne realized with surprise. Unlike most of the drunk girls who staggered up to the stage to sing, her voice was smooth and melodic.
She had reached the end. Her voice shook slightly at the last line: "For I can't help falling in love with you."
With a start, Thorne realized she had tears in her eyes.
Without waiting for any applause, the girl hastily left the stage. Thorne's gaze followed her for a minute, but he shook himself and went about packing his things up.
Standing up, he glanced around the bar. His eye caught on the blond girl, standing in a corner and looking miserable. Something compelled him to wave goodbye to his bandmates and head in her direction.
Stopping right in front of her, he cleared his throat. "Are you okay? You seem..." he stopped. Tears were running down her cheeks.
"Oh no," he mumbled, awkwardly holding out his arms. "D'you want to..." he trailed off.
She stumbled into his arms, sobbing. She was short enough that her face only came up to the base of his neck.
Thorne was incredibly uncomfortable. "Look, do you need anything?"
She didn't seem to hear him. Haltingly, she began speaking. "I had a terrible job interview today. And then I found out I'd lost some really important papers that I needed. And then I tripped and fell down in front of a whole crowd of people and-" she broke off.
Thorne patted her hair stiffly. "It's all over now. You can't do anything about it now."
Her sobs had quieted. He peered down. "Um, hello?"
She had passed out.
"Spades," he sighed, "how much did you drink?"
With some difficulty, he carried her outside to his car. Depositing her in the backseat and buckling her up as best as he could, he started the drive back to his apartment.
It was going to be a long night.
The blankets were so soft. Cress snuggled in deeper and yawned, inhaling the scent of-
Wait. Kitten?
"Oh, good, you're awake," an unfamiliar voice said.
Cress shrieked and bolted upright. The saxophone player from the night before was standing in the room's doorway with his hands up.
"I'm sorry," he apologized. "I didn't mean to startle you."
"What am I doing here?" she demanded.
"Well," he said, folding his arms and leaning against the doorframe, "you were pretty drunk last night. The bar, remember? I figured you weren't exactly in a position to make good decisions."
"Stars," Cress muttered. That explained the pounding headache. "Thank you for that."
"It's what anyone would have done," he shrugged.
There was a stretch of silence. Then Cress ventured hesitantly, "Did I do anything stupid last night?"
"Nothing much," he shook his head. "I mean, you did sing Can't Help Falling In Love in front of the entire bar. It was really good, actually. And then you were crying into my arms at one point..."
Cress buried her face in her hands. "I am so, so sorry. You didn't have to do any of this, and if there's any way I can repay you-"
"Don't worry about it," the man waved her off. "It wasn't a problem."
She opened her mouth, but he cut her off again. "I know you're probably not feeling that great, so you can head into the bathroom and take a shower. I'll be downstairs making breakfast. I'll have some aspirin ready for you. I have a feeling you'll need it," he winked, turning to go.
"Wait," Cress blurted out. "I don't know your name."
"Thorne," he said. "And you?"
"I'm Cress," she told him.
"Okay, Cress," he smiled (and it really was heartstopping), "I'll be waiting."
Thorne used French vanilla shampoo and conditioner. Cress had to laugh. Stepping in the shower, she sighed at the relief the hot water brought her.
Thorne had been incredibly kind. If she had been occupying his bed, he must have slept on a sofa. Along with letting her take a shower, and making her breakfast.
It was so much more than she deserved.
She couldn't believe she'd lost her judgement in that way. She was glad she couldn't remember most of it.
She wrung her hair out and quickly braided it. Changing into yesterday's clothes, she closed the bathroom door and almost tripped over the source of the kitten smell.
The tiny fluff ball sat on its haunches and looked inquisitively up at her.
"Aww," Cress smiled. "Hello, cutie."
It slipped through the door and into the hallway. Following it, Cress found Thorne in his kitchen, along with a bowl of cereal.
"Sorry I didn't have time to make anything nice," he said, tilting his head at the cereal.
"No, you've done... so much more than I would have expected," she reassured him with a small smile. There was a comfortable silence while Cress finished her Cheerios.
"So you'll be heading to wherever you live, now?" Thorne asked her.
"Yeah," Cress sighed.
"Do you need a ride?"
She shook her head. "Don't worry about it. I'll actually walk to the downtown library- wait. Is your apartment near the library?"
"Only three blocks away."
"Perfect!" Cress beamed, standing to leave. "Thank you so much for everything," she walked to the door and was about to step outside.
"Wait, Cress," he stopped her. "Don't forget your bag."
Cress flushed. "I can't believe I almost forgot that," she sighed.
"Ah, don't worry about any of it," Thorne said with his easy smile. "Have a good day, Cress."
"You too," she turned and stepped onto the sidewalk. "Bye, Thorne."
Cress reached inside her bag, fumbling to find her phone. Instead of her iPhone, her fingers hit upon a piece of paper.
Pulling it out, she saw a phone number. Underneath, there was a drawing of a kitten - and the name 'Thorne'.
Laughing quietly, Cress tilted her head up to the sky.
The birds were singing today. It felt almost like a new beginning.
