Chapter 20: Moving Day, Part V

We entered the club again, and the Freelancers were still partying. They hadn't even noticed our absence.

Wash checked the time and looked at the now-tipsy group of soldiers. "We should wrap up soon," he said over the music. "Tomorrow's going to be insane, and we need at least a few hours of sleep. Want to help me round everyone up?"

I nodded and started stalking around the room, slowly collecting the Freelancers. It was still pretty early to be heading back, but when I let them know that we were leaving, they didn't protest. They knew as well as I that tomorrow's move would begin bright and early.

I was relieved to notice that the Freelancers had decided not to get completely wasted tonight. Of course, they were relatively tipsy, but we didn't have to carry anyone back this time. (Thank God for that, too. Maine was heavy.) However, I was left wondering what exactly the club-goers had done while I was gone. Every time I stepped around the bar, my shoes stuck to the ground slightly. I examined the ground through the throng of people and saw the occasional shard of broken glass lying on the ground.

I decided not to question the odd scene and just continued gathering the Freelancers. I saw the occasional one make a joke about the sticky ground, but I couldn't hear exactly what they were saying.

Jesus. I left to go get burgers and returned to a mess. Maybe I shouldn't have been surprised.

Once Wash and I (and Carolina and York, once Wash had informed them what we were doing) collected all the Freelancers, we all started heading back toward the vans. I suddenly felt extraordinarily tired.

I got into a van with Georgia, Bama, Delaware and Utah. Wes was already driving with North in the passenger seat, so I collapsed in one of the captain's chairs next to Georgia. Delaware, Utah and Bama were crammed in the far back. As Wes pulled out of the parking lot, I turned to the others.

"Have a good time, guys?" I asked tiredly, leaning my head against the chair.

They nodded their assent, and Georgia responded with a fit of giggles. The others glanced over at her and grinned.

"I still can't get over how hilarious that was," Bama chuckled. Utah had his arm smugly around her; I was sure they had squished together in the back on purpose. Del was pretending not to notice. "I had no idea Maine could be so… fruity."

"Why is it always him making a scene at the club?" Wes commented, sniggering.

"Wait, what happened?" I asked. "Maine did something?"

"Didn't you see it happen?" asked Del. "Maine tripped and sent an entire table of shots flying across the room! There was peach Schnapps everywhere, and about ten girls wanted to beat Maine up for ruining their dresses. It stopped the whole club for a few minutes!"

"Yeah," Bama smirked. "I'm sure they wanted to beat him up… he probably would have come home with all ten of them by the end of the night if he could sneak them in here."

"Oh…" I said, smirking. "No, I wasn't in the club for a while."

The others paused. "Where'd you go?" Utah asked.

"Uh, I went out to eat to that sports bar and grill a couple blocks down from the club."

"Really?" Georgia asked curiously. "With whom?"

"Wash."

Bama looked sharply over at me. "Alone?"

I shrugged nonchalantly. "Yeah."

She was watching me closely. "And how was it?"

"Fine," I said casually. "I liked the burgers."

"I bet you did," North said under his breath, and I glared at the back of his head.

Although the topic of conversation moved on, I saw Georgia and Bama glance at each other, exchanging a look I couldn't read.

I welcomed the new topic of conversation, enthusiastically talking about the other restaurants down the street from the club. For some reason, I didn't want to look at Georgia or Bama. I felt as if they were observing me just as closely as I watched them during training. It was a little unnerving.

Once we reached the facility and snuck back to our floor, I looked for the soldier in the gray dress shirt with yellow buttons, seeing him heading back toward his room.

"Hey, Wash!" I stopped him just before he disappeared behind his door. "I just wanted to say thank you for tonight," I said. "It was really nice. I had a good time dashing that waitress's hopes and dreams. But…"

"But what?"

"I want to pay you back, you know."

He shrugged. "I'll find a way for you to pay me back."

"You'd better." I smiled. "Thanks again—I really liked having some time to talk. I'll see you in the morning."

"Yep," he replied. "And Eleven?"

"Yes?"

"You looked really nice tonight." He looked as if he were about to say something else, but stopped. "Good night."

We smiled at each other hesitantly and turned around again, walking quickly to get to our rooms.

Once I had reached my own room, I practically collapsed on my bed in exhaustion. I felt really bewildered for some reason. I was… I was probably just tired. It had been a long day. And tomorrow would be an even longer one.