I know I said I was going to have this up sooner but stuff got in the way. Here's the next chapter. I was going to combine this chapter and the next chapter into one big one, but I split it up because I wanted certain parts to stand-alone. This was a hard chapter to write but I hope you guys like this chapter! Please review! Nothing makes me happier than seeing those review alert emails in my inbox.

Begging and Pleading

After Jordan finished dressing, much to the chagrin of a part of me, albeit a small part, we simply waited for the others to show up, we didn't speak. There was nothing to say really, we just sat there, enjoying each other's company. I turned to look at Jordan, studying his profile, the true blue eyes, which were brightened by the green of his shirt, the defined line of his high cheekbone, a chin dimple punctuating his strong jaw line, Jordan turned to lock eyes with me, "Were you staring at me?" he asked.

"No," I said flustered, focusing my attention on my hands that were twisting nervously in my lap.

"It's alright, I know I'm pretty amazing to look at," Jordan said with a cocky grin, "I have that effect on people."

I was at a loss for words, I didn't want to admit that I was so obviously gawking at him but I couldn't think of a witty reply either. Thankfully I was interrupted by the knocking on the door.

"I'll get it," Jordan said as he got up to answer the door, "Hey! Long time, no see," He greeted sarcastically, "Yeah, Sveta's here, she's over there on the couch.

Sveta!"

"Hi," I greeted them both, as I hugged Vero, wearing in a strapless turquoise dress with gold metallic jacquard finish that skimmed the tops of her knees, then Marc, dressed in dark jeans and a white dress shirt.

"I have your shoes, and I brought some makeup in case you wanted to freshen up," Vero said holding up a bag.

"Thank you so much," I thanked earnestly as exchanged my flats for the black, peep toe high heels but I didn't bother putting on more make up, since it would probably melt off in a club packed full of people.

"No problem, nice outfit," Vero complemented.

"Thanks, my roommate put it together, you look great too,"

"Thanks," Vero said, "You and Jordan?" she asked in a hushed voice, her eyes darting from me to Jordan and back to me.

"Didn't we go through this already?" I asked jokingly.

"Come on, nothing happened? The sexual tension between you two is so thick, you could cut it with a knife."

"Well…" I said trailing off, not sure what to say as I recalled the incident in Jordan's bedroom, "There was the incident in the bedroom," but before I could continue, Marc interjected.

"I think we should get going now," Marc said, "Kris is already there and he's getting antsy. We're taking separate cars, in case one of you guys wants to leave late, or early," Marc finished with a winked.

I blushed at his insinuation as Vero and I got up and walked out of the apartment with Marc and Jordan in tow. It was a late summer and warm, but I couldn't help but still feel bare in my filmy blouse and shorts that skimmed the tops of my thighs. I sat in the passenger seat of Jordan's car as we drove to the nightclub.

"It's called Diesel," Jordan said, "It's got great music and dancing. Plus, there's open bar on the VIP level, so it's pretty amazing."

"Sounds great, but I've never really been out clubbing," I admitted, biting my bottom lip.

"Never?" Jordan asked in disbelief, "You can't be serious?"

"I am," I replied, "We weren't allowed to go out past 9:30 on the weekdays and my weekends were usually spent visiting my relatives."

"That's ridiculous," Jordan said, "You know what that means, we gotta show you a good first time."

"Thanks," I replied softly.

"No problem, tonight we're going to have you forget all your stresses and just have fun," Jordan said with a genuine grin as he parked his car in the parking lot of the nightclub. As I got out of the car, I could feel the pounding bass emanating from the packed club. Jordan led me past the long queue winding around the building, and entered through the velvet rope. I had never noticed it before but, Jordan must have been wildly popular because as we passed the line, a group of girls, all wearing a variation of the same outfit: short dress, high heels, and a face full of make up, screamed his name. I could have sworn that as they spotted me, they gave me a venomous look that if looks could kill, I'd be dead on the spot. Jordan merely acknowledged them by coolly smiling and giving them thumbs up, which elicited more screaming and giggling from the pack of girls. "Don't mind them, they're just puck bunnies," Jordan whispered in my ear as we entered the club, which was filled with loud music and people.

"Puck bunnies?" I asked, never hearing the term before.

"I'll explain it to you later," Jordan said enigmatically as he led me to the upstairs, apparently where the VIP lounge was located, his hand on the small of my back as if to reassure me that he was still with me. The music was quieter, but not by much, and there was far less people than there was downstairs but still, the dance floor was filled with people dancing and swaying to the syncopated beats.

"Hey!" Kris exclaimed as he saw us from the booth, "Took you guys long enough. I probably looked pathetic sitting in this booth on my own."

I slid into the booth sitting next to Jordan, "You can't look pathetic, Kris. You're freaking Kris Letang," Jordan said.

"That's true," Kris said with a shrug of his shoulders, "Where's Marc and Vero? Didn't you guys come here together?"

It didn't occur to me that they weren't this until now, "They did, but I guess we lost 'em in the sea of people," Jordan replied nonchalant.

"They know where we are," Kris said coolly.

"Now, Sveta here has never been to a club in her life," Jordan said, "So we gotta show her a great time."

Kris's eyes widened, "What? No way, never?"

"Yes, I have never been in a club. Why is that so hard to believe?"

"Well, don't take it personal but it's kind of hard to believe that any person over the age of 18 has never been in a club," Kris explained.

"Believe it," I teased as I saw Max and Sidney, gesturing for them to come over. Max wore a black dress shirt and dark jeans, with his hair artfully styled with gel, while Sidney was wearing a casual T-shirt and jeans topped off with a beanie.

"Svetlana, you have to dance with me by the end of tonight," Max said as he slid into the booth, next to me, "Hope you don't mind me sitting next to you but I don't want to be sitting next to Sidney while he's wearing that," Max teased.

"Hey!" Sidney defended, "It's okay to be casual."

"Sure thing," Max said rolling his eyes. Soon after, Max and Vero suddenly appeared, cheeks flushed, as they took a seat in our ever growing booth.

"Okay, I'm going to all order some shots," Jordan said as he ventured to the bar, "I'll get two extra for when Geno and McGee show up." My heart quickened as I heard his name, I needed to talk to him. I needed to tell him and confess everything to him. I needed to convince him to leave Oksana for me. Jordan eventually came back setting a shot glass of an unknown liquid in front of all of us, "Okay, we have to wait till Geno comes, then we can drink," Jordan said, causing everyone to groan.

"Come on, this is team building," Sidney argued.

"Whatever," Max groaned, "He better come soon, I'm not going to waste an hour waiting for Geno and McGee."

"If it helps, he just texted me that they're almost here," Vero offered sheepishly.

"Um, should I ask what this is?" I asked Jordan, staring at the shot glass.

"No," Jordan said with a smirk, "But you'll feel it on the way down."

"Should I be scared?"

"Nah, if you're with us, you shouldn't. We do a pretty good job of keeping everyone safe from creepers," Jordan reassured.

"Okay," I said nodding, as I saw Geno, dressed in a plaid, grey and black shirt, and Oksana, wearing a purple dress that looked more like a blouse than a dress.

"Thank god," I heard Kris say as they sat down, "What took you guys so long?"

"You don't want to know," Oksana purred.

"Okay, you know what, let's just drink and get the night started," Kris said, making a gagging sound.

"To a night that we'll never forget, or regret," Jordan said as we all raised our shot glasses.

"Cheers!" We chorused as we all drank. The liquid burned on the way down, making me wince.

"What was that?" I ask my mouth puckered from the taste.

"Tequila," Max said unaffected, "You're such a light weight."

"I've drank vodka before," I defended.

"Well, you're in the big leagues now," Jordan teased, "I'm going to get some more drinks, I think I'll get you something lighter." Jordan returned with a beer anda glass of a red liquid. "This is for you," placing the glass in front of me.

"What is it?" I say observing the ruby colored elixir with an orange slice floating in it.

"A variation on a negroni, a negroski," which earned a chuckle from Max as he jokingly hit Jordan's arm, "Its vodka, vermouth and campari. Go ahead, it's good," Jordan said with his signature smirk.

"Okay," I said nodding apprehensively. I took a sip of the deep red potion which was surprisingly sweet with an oddly bitter aftertaste.

"Good?" Jordan asked.

"It's okay," I said taking a few more sips.

"I'm impressed," Max said, "That's a pretty strong drink, you don't feel it yet?"

"No," I said shaking my head, which earned me a nod of approval from Max, "At least not yet."

"You're not such a light weight after all," Max said impressed.

After I drank the rest of my cocktail, Jordan quickly ordered me more. After I don't know how many drinks, "I'm going to get some more," I said with the liquid confidence surging through my veins. I made my way to the bar alone, despite Jordan's protests, "A negroski, please," I said to the bartender.

"That's a pretty strong drink," said a man with greasy hair, a white shirt that was unbuttoned to practically his naval and tight-fitting designer jeans.

"I guess it is," I replied meekly, all the courage that had been coursing through my bloodstream dissipated.

"Now, I would like to know what a girl, as pretty as you, is doing all alone at the bar," he asked inching closer to me.

"I guess I can take care of myself," I said mustering up all the confidence I could.

"Really now?" he asked raising an eyebrow moving even closer to me, I could smell the alcohol on his breath and his arm was touching mine.

"I-I think I should go," I said moving away from the bar, away from him, but before I could he grabbed my wrist. "You're hurting me," I said as he tightened his grip around my wrist.

He pulled me closer to him, he was only a few inches taller than me but he seemed so domineering now, "Look, you're not going anywhere, except home with me," he said in a menacing voice.

"No," I whimpered as I could feel my knees buckling in fear as a sickening grin crept onto his face.

"I think the lady said 'no,'" I heard Jordan say in a low voice. I turned to see that Jordan, Sidney, and Max were standing there staring him down.

"Look this doesn't concern you guys," he said, tightening the grip on my wrist.

"The hell it doesn't!" Jordan said through gritted teeth, and something was in his eyes, something that I've never seen before.

"She's a friend, so yeah I think it does concern us," Max said mockingly.

"We don't want trouble," Sidney reasoned, "But if you don't let our friend go, things are going to get ugly."

"Geez," the man said promptly dropping my bruised wrist, "Take her, she probably won't even be a good lay."

"You asked for it," Jordan spat as he punched the man in the face, square on the jaw, "Fucking asshole. Let's go Sveta, sorry about that but I told you we're pretty protective and that guy was being a dick."

I only nodded as he started to walk me to the booth. I was rattled by the whole experience. The event was incredibly sobering, I stayed quiet as I sat down next to a concerned Jordan who had his arm wrapped protectively around me.

"It matches your eyes," A slightly drunk Kris told me.

"What?" I asked slightly confused, I wasn't sure if it was the drinks or the loud music or what had just transpired but my head was swimming.

"My drink," Kris slurred slightly, gesturing to his shot glass that was filled with a golden liquid, probably rum or Jack Daniels judging by the semi-filled bottle next to him.

"Thank you," I said puzzled.

"You know Jordan's being all protective of you because he lov-" Kris continued to slur, much to Jordan's horror, before being interrupted by Max.

"Now you have to dance with me," Max said grabbing my hand, leading me to the dance floor, "I'll take care of her," Max said in reaction to the worried look on Jordan's face, "You gotta forget about what happened, just dance it all away," Max said as we enter the fray of people. He pulled me close and placed his hands on my hips, swaying them to the beat of the music. I nodded and let the music take over, I just danced everything away, letting my body move to the electronic rhythm.

"Just dance, gonna be okay, dance, just dance," the singer sang as the song ended and the song switched to a slower tempo song, a ballad. Max led me off the dance floor and back to our booth with only Evgeni and Oksana still there. "You're a good dancer," Max said.

"Well, what can I say, I'm a professional," I teased, "You're not too bad yourself."

"I'm gonna get myself a drink, you wanna come?" Max asked.

"No, I think I want to rest for a little bit," I replied sitting down next to Evgeni.

"You know what, I'll come with you, I want to get a drink, too," Oksana said getting up from the table, much to Max's chagrin. This was my chance, I needed to talk to Evgeni.

"It's been a while," I said in Russian, letting the familiar language and sounds roll off my tongue.

"Yes, yes it has," Evgeni replied back in Russian, "Why have you come, Lana?" he asked solemnly still in Russian.

"For you," I replied honestly, "For you, my love." The tears welling in my eyes as I could feel my worst nightmare unfolding before my eyes.

"I thought you understood," Evgeni said furrowing his brow, "Didn't you understand?"

"What is there to understand? I came to find you, you stopped writing me so I came to find you," I pleaded.

"I stopped writing. I stopped writing because I thought you understood that I found someone else," Evgeni said his brown eyes full of sadness.

"Wh-what?" I said my voice cracking, "How can you find someone else? How can you forget everything we ever had?"

"We were children, Lana," Evgeni said sharply.

"I love you, just please, please love me," I must have sounded pathetic begging for him to love me like he did so long ago.

"I'm sorry," was all Evgeni said, "I just don't feel the same way,"

"What we felt? You can't just write that off, you can't possible be that cold-hearted. How can you forget all the memories that we shared? We were supposed to grow old together," I pleaded.

"I'm sorry, Lana, I just- I just don't love you any more. It's not your fault, it's just how I feel. We can still be friends, right?" It's not your fault, it's just how I feel that's what I said to Alejandro, when I told him I didn't intend for us to be anything more than friends, how the tables have turned.

"How can you say that? How can you pretend like there was nothing between us?" I said as a single tear escaped and traced its way down my cheek.

"I'm not pretending, Lana," Evgeni said staring at the table.

"You were everything. I gave everything for you. I could have gone to London or Paris, you know how much I loved London. But I threw it all away, just to see you because I knew deep in my heart you loved me. I've cried so many tears for you,"

"I'm sorry for all the tears I made you cry, but this really is goodbye, Lana. I don't know what else to say, I just don't love you any more. I really am sorry," Evgeni finished in Russian, still looking down at the table, not even able to look me in the eyes.