Zoey sat silently with a morose face, keeping to herself at the edge of the bus. It was heading to the south side of town, and she could already see a few creeps not taking their eyes off of her. Their stares felt like they were burning through her skin in all the wrong places.
It's fine. Zoey assured herself. He's bound to be standing at the front, and I'll convince him to come home in one piece. This place is dangerous.
Finally at her stop, Zoey hopped off the bus and looked around. The south side of Newtbury was tacky and filled with a significantly worse neighborhood. Her parents always warned her about this area- the crime rates were always skyrocketed compared to where they lived. She shoved her hands in the pockets of her jacket, storming in the direction of the bright lights of a building. The night sky was dark, but the sign was illuminating bright enough for her to not get lost.
Rhythm of the Night – Newtbury's Restless Nightclub!
She frowned at the short line up, looking closely at all the people's faces and trying to spot Vito. But she couldn't. Zoey went closer, getting a few whistles from some of the men in line, but ignored them and looked through the window. The room seemed bright, with neon lights shining everywhere, and lot's of people were on the dance floor- so she couldn't quite spot him.
Was she wrong? Is this not where Vito would be? Did she judge him too harshly? Maybe he was just upset and just needed some fresh air, and she just overthought this entire thin-
Nope, he's right there.
Zoey finally spotted Vito after a couple of people moved out of the way. He had his jacket wrapped around his waist, with probably the lowest dark blue, cuffed jeans she had never seen. His hair was somehow still pushed back flawlessly, even though he was being a total party animal, red cup in his hand as he danced. She tried to get his attention, but there were far too many people inside for him to ever notice her.
Even though she didn't want to, Zoey stood in line until she was finally through the front door, and in front of a desk. The song "Talk Dirty" could be heard blasting through the walls next door. A young woman with heavy eyeliner was chewing bubble gum as she scrolled through her phone. "ID." She asked bluntly, not even giving Zoey a glance.
"Um…" Zoey's hesitation caused the woman to finally look up. The red haired girl smiled nervously. "I know this sounds a bit weird, but I just need to go in for a moment. It'll be fast."
The woman had an irritated look painted on her face. "You're kidding, right?"
"You see," Zoey pointed to Vito's direction through the open door. "That's my boyfriend, and I just have to meet him really quickly, it's an emergency. I swear, I'll be out before you know it! I'm no party girl." She did her best to keep a bright smile on her face.
The woman gave her a look of agreement on that last statement, her eyes scanning up and down as she rudely judged Zoey's sense of fashion and tangled hair. Her purple tinted lips went back to frowning. "Look Strawberry Shortcake, I don't know which toy store lost it's sweet little doll, but you need to go back and crawl in your box. I don't care if your sugar daddy is out on the dance floor and you want an extra buck or fuck, I don't have time for this."
Zoey was baffled at her attitude, but her worried expression hid it decently well. "Please! It's really important! I swear I'm 18! I won't even be five minutes!"
The worker sneered, and for a split second, Zoey thought they'd get along, until she realized she was being laughed at. "18?" The lady mocked. "Aww, that's cute. It's too bad you have to be 19 to drink in Canada, let alone get in a club."
Crap. How was I supposed to know that? I've never been involved in these things!
Glancing back inside the club, Zoey lost sight of Vito. Wait. How did he get in? We're both 18. And there's no way Mike had a fake ID or anything. Did she just not question him?
Zoey suddenly felt a tug on her arm as a tall man dressed in black started escorting her to the door. "No! Wait!" She cried out, trying to look through the door of the club. "Vito! Vito, where ar-" She was cut off by the shove of the bodyguard booting her to the sidewalk. She pouted on the floor, rubbing her bottom as she started to stand up. "Ow! Jerk!"
A seductive voice spoke rather quickly. "Oh Sweetie, Let me help you." A man took her hand and pulled her up before she could even respond. Zoey stood there dumbfounded, surprised at the situation she was put in.
This is exactly why Mike shouldn't be here! This place is...
Zoey realized the man didn't let go of her palm. He had a charming smirk on his face, and wore a long, white sleeved shirt stained with spots of yellow, and black pants with dirt all over the knees. Zoey immediately let go of him and backed up. "Thanks, but, I didn't need your help." She said with her nose in the air. He was studying the young girls face, before licking his lips and laughing a bit. "No problem, baby."
Zoey's nose crinkled. Creepy. Creepy as hell. I need to get out of here.
Turning around and starting to book it back it the bus stop, Zoey gasped as she felt a tight grip on her wrist pull her back. She yelped, tugging on her arm. "Hey! Let me go!"
Despite her displeasure, his face remained happy. This man was certainly old enough to have a daughter older than Zoey herself. What was he doing? This was disgusting. "Let. Me. Go." Zoey tried to speak loudly in attempt to get attention of anyone else nearby. Her eyes were filled with anger, but they both knew she was scared.
"Shouldn't you be at home?" He asked, taking a step closer to her. She pulled with all the force she could to get away from him but couldn't get herself to budge. "Back up!" She yelled, her voice starting to waver.
"Good girls like you should be doing their homework in their room, not being out here all alone. Or is it your bed time now? We'll have to get you there." At this point, he was close enough for her to smell the alcohol on his breath. Commando Zoey wouldn't lose to this loser! But it felt hard to find her strength when she felt so oversexualized. She tried to punch him with her other hand, but he caught it mid air and squeezed both her wrists tightly.
"Let me go!" Zoey screamed. Her eyes shut tightly in fear of what was going to happen. She put all her force into fighting his strength but could not keep up. Suddenly, his grip completely loosened, and Zoey took immediate advantage of it, backing the hell up as fast as she could.
When she finally looked up again, she saw the man stumbling on the floor, before using the bricked wall to help himself stand back up. "You stupid son of a bitch!" He yelled, his back now facing Zoey. Zoey moved to the side to see who he was yelling at.
Vito didn't respond. Instead, he swung his fist again, this time at the man's nose. The stranger had to use both his hands to press down on it from the pain. The loud crack it made was horrible, causing Zoey to shiver. Vito had a look of disgust on his face. "Keep your fuckin hands off my girl, dipshit!" It was obvious both were drunk, which caused Zoey to watch in horror, her feet planted on the sidewalk. She knew it was going to get ugly.
Suddenly, people who couldn't care less about Zoey's previous yelling were now rooting for the explosive fight erupting in front of them, flashing out their phones and cheering as the man ran at Vito. The creep was so obviously tired and couldn't see straight, he was tumbling over himself. Vito used it to his advantage and kicked him straight in the shin.
The man let out a string of curses as he hit the sidewalk, thick blood from his nose still dripping down his face. Zoey's hands were covering her mouth. Vito kneeled and punched him in his gut once more, and a tear or two flew out of Zoey's eyes as she ran closer to the scene. "That's enough, Vito!"
The Italian brute didn't listen. His ears were burning. "How ya doin now, huh? Crumpled on the floor like da fucking garbage you are!" His voice was starting to slur, and his accent didn't help, but the cheering of the crowd was enough for him to know he made his point clear. "Touch ma fucking girl again! Do it, I fucking dare-"
His fist, which was high in the air to prepare for knocking the man out for good, was interrupted by a soft palm gently grabbing it. "Vito, we're leaving. Now." Zoey's voice was stern as she held back her tears. Vito blinked slowly from all the alcohol he drank, feeling her palm with his fingers- as if he was making sure she wasn't a figment of his imagination. He finally stood up and threw his arm around her. They walked their way to the bus stop, Vito needing to lean on Zoey's side every other step.
Neither of them said a word for a while, and as he kept his protective hold onto her, no one dared to even look their direction. Eventually, Zoey muttered to him.
"Do you know how crappy this place is? Why would you stick around here? Just for a stupid club?"
Vito's eyes were getting heavy. "Eey, I don't fear nothin' baby. You see what I did to that goombah? Or I gotta do it again?" Zoey was unamused by his 'tough guy' act. She let out a sigh. "Look at how hard the alcohol is hitting you now. If you tried to do it again, you'd lose just as bad as that guy did."
"That schifozz deserved it." Glaring at someone else on the bus who resembled the man he just beat, Vito let his grip around Zoey tighten. The passenger just looked the other way, knowing he wasn't sober. "If I wasn' there, he woulda got away with it."
"No," Zoey corrected. "If you weren't there, I wouldn't have been there. I came after you."
Vito gave her an unamused expression. "Look at this bod, ya think I can't handle myself?"
"You can't even walk on your own anymore. And you only stopped drinking because you heard me yell for you. You'd be out on the floor by now if I didn't come back. Probably stabbed, or being packed up in someone's van or something." She said it with sass, but her chest stung with the thought of Mike being in danger.
Finally, after arriving to their apartment, Zoey helped Vito inside and dragged him to sit on the couch. He immediately tried to stand, but she forced him back down. "Sit. Let me get you water."
"No one tells the Vito what to do." He remarked, but sat still anyway. "Oh yeah?" Zoey was obviously upset with his behaviour. "Well I do. And if you don't want to listen, you can sleep on the couch tonight." She wanted to threaten to even keep him out of room 404 and in the hallway, but she knew that was far too harsh for her standards, and wouldn't be believable. She probably couldn't leave him out there even if she tried. But, the thought of Vito recklessly letting himself and Mike get into danger was infuriating.
Zoey sat next to Vito once she came back, putting the glass of water to his lips and helping him drink it. She watched him gulp each mouthful with his eyes closed, cold water dripping down his chin until the glass was empty. As soon as she placed it on the mini table, Vito's head fell on her shoulder. Her brow arched.
"You've never seemed interested in me before. Yet, you were pretty passionate about calling me your girl. What was up with that?" A part of Zoey really wanted to do nothing but pet his head and watch him fall asleep. But she knew she had to be hard on the personality, or he would always pull stunts like these after showers.
Vito simply hummed in response, ignoring her remark. "Head hurts." He excused. Zoey rolled her eyes. "Jeez, I wonder why." She looked back to the box of alcohol he had bought during the day with a wrinkled nose. "Did you have to buy so much? Where did you go to get those? Next thing I know, you're going to spend all of Mike's million on that garbage."
Opening his eyes with his mouth hanging open for a second, Vito closed them again when he realized she was talking about the booze. He slurred out his response. "What the hell… Mike has a mill? Damn he musta' done somethin' right, huh? And I gottem' from Mal's gas station… duuuuh."
Zoey's eyes were widened at the random response.
"Mal's gas station? Where is that supposed to be?" And how did Vito just casually forget about a million dollars? She felt the first question she asked mattered more.
He took a moment to sit up straight before looking at her. A smirk was on his face, even though he could barley see clearly. "Eey, god damn, have you always asked so many freakin' questions, Amore mio?" Okay. So he was just drunk.
Zoey never understood anything he said in Italian, but she knew exactly what he had just called her. "See? You're doing it again! Why are you suddenly saying flirty things towards me and acknowledging me as your girlfriend?" Her cheeks were a bit pink as she gave him a frustrated look. She wasn't necessarily angry at that, only confused. For the most part, Zoey didn't think she looked good enough in Vito's eyes.
However at the moment, Vito was letting himself get lost in her eyes, before he came in close and watched them widen. Watching her cheeks turning a bit darker in contrast to her pale skin made him chuckle a bit. "Fine… I won' say anything then." He barley whispered it, before smashing his lips onto hers.
Zoey didn't move for a moment, but eventually found herself kissing him back as he soon pushed her down on the sofa. She made out with Mike a few times before, but this was nothing like it. Make out sessions with Mike had their tongues dance together in harmony. Making out with Vito was like a battle for control that he was determined to win. His tongue was filling her mouth almost aggressively, which caused her to let out an "mmph" as her hands wrapped around him. Zoey could feel his breathing growing heavier, and she could taste all the drinks he had tonight laced on his lips. Her body turned warmer until he finally pulled away, a string of saliva hanging down his mouth and connecting their lips.
Before Zoey could even say his name, Vito interrupted as usual, this time by leaning down and sucking on her neck. "Vit- ah!" Her head tilted upwards as he left hickeys on the right side of her neck, making each love bite as dark as possible. She mewled under him with a soft voice as her grasp around his body tightened-before she felt something hard poking at her thigh.
"Mmm- Okay, Vito. That's… enough." She murmured out. To her surprise, he had instantly stopped, but didn't move from his position. "Done?" He asked, his head starting to spin dizzy.
She nodded a bit as she helped him sit up. "Yeah. I'm… sure I'll finish up with Mike some day. For now, you get some rest, okay?" Zoey looked straight at him in attempt to fight her natural instinct of looking down at his pants. By the time Zoey finished taking a deep breath in and kissing his forehead, he had already fallen back and passed out.
I guess he is sleeping on the couch tonight.