Suddenly, Callum decided to down the water. Maybe he could flush it out or something. Just as he swallowed the last drop, he noticed it didn't taste right. The water had a similar taste to the punch. He looked from the cup to Soren as if he'd betrayed him.
Soren looked at Callum defensively, "It's water. The safest beverage on the planet, What's wrong?"
"Drink yours." Callum said sending a clear message.
Quickly, Soren caught on, "They didn't." He didn't want to believe it. They couldn't, could they?
Callum nodded "They did!"
Soren gave his cup to someone else, and looked around for Nyx. Hopefully, she didn't drink anything. When they found her, Nyx explained, "No, I didn't. It would take, at least, two hours after the right amount for an elf to get drunk. I'm worried for Claudia." They all turned to look at her. She was contently dancing with Kasef to a slow song that was almost over.
Callum decided to find Rayla. Claudia, Soren, and Nyx didn't want to leave quite yet, and They were their rides home. He might, as well, make the most of this. Maybe he had a small tolerance. Soren had told him, the amount he'd consumed would get someone drunk, but he wasn't at all. He didn't feel off, or anything. Phew! He must've been one of the lucky ones to not get drunk.
Rayla sat at the bar and gulped the water as if it were a shot not paying attention to the odd flavor of it. She had to process what had happened. In thinking everything over, It hit her. Callum kissed herback. Hereciprocatedit. This wasn't just her. As she was contemplating this, she felt a comforting touch on her hand.
She quickly turned to face him, "Callum?"
Callum held his hand out to her, "Do you- Would you like to dance?" He asked as another song began to play. Everytime We Touch the slow version by Cascada. Rayla took his hand, and he led her to the dance floor.
I still hear your voice when you sleep next to me
I still feel your touch in my dream
Forgive me my weakness
But I don't know why
Without you it's hard
To Survive
Cause Everytime We touch
I get this feeling
And Everytime we kiss
I swear I could fly
Can't you feel my heart beat fast
I want this to last
Need you by my side
Cause Everytime We touch
I feel ecstatic
And Everytime we kiss
I reach for the sky
Can't you feel my heart beat slow
I can't let you go
I want you in my life
Rayla brought her arms to Callum's neck and Callum's arms wrapped around her waist. They surpassed the centimeters that had them separated. They closed the space and danced slowly. Rayla could smell him, his natural scent mixed with his cologne. He smelled amazing. Her eyes closed as she breathed him in.
Callum enjoyed the close proximity almost as much as he did the kiss. Whenever they were close it always felt right. It felt perfect. It felt like home. If only, this could last forever, but this was only temporary.
Rayla opened her eyes, and slightly pulled back, looking into his beautiful, lime green eyes, "Callum, I'm sorry... for earlier. I shouldn't have...I just got..."
"No, don't be. That was.. it was incredible." Callum couldn't help, but reply honestly.
Rayla couldn't believe it. He'd enjoyed it? A smile made it's way to her lips. She returned to the position wrapping an arm around his neck and bringing them even closer, the tip of her nose nearly touching his shoulder.
The song soon ended and they were forced to pull away from their position.
Just then, Callum remembered, the drinks. "I forgot to tell you. The drinks were spiked. That's why it tasted off. I should've thought of that before drinking it, or telling you to finish drinking it."
"But Claudia told us it would be alcohol free. Who were we to question that? She hasn't lied to us. She probably knew we wouldn't go if we knew, so she lied to us. Of course, she would. Last time, we trust anythin'shesays. Don't blame yourself. We both should've known better than to trust her."
"They spike it with Vodka, an alcohol that's really strong, which means... "
"...You could get drunk. There's no alcohol in Xadia, Could it affect me, too? Should we think about leavin'?" Rayla completed his sentence worriedly.
"No dice for leaving. Remember, Claudia drove you and Soren drove me. We could walk, but lord knows what'll happen if I were to get drunk. But it hasn't affected me, so I guess, I'm in the clear. Dad's going to kill me. As for your other question, Nyx says that it takes longer for the alcohol to kick in. So that's good, I guess... in a way."
"Hmm." Rayla wasn't sure how to feel about that. She'd promised Harrow, assured him she wouldn't be gullible, Did this count? She wasn't sure she wanted to hear the answer to that question. Callum interrupted her thoughts, when she suddenly noticed him starting to chuckle goofily. Her attention turned to him. She must've jinxed him.
The look in his face made it clear. Hewasdrunk. So much for"In the clear".
He chuckled again, "Did I tell you, I love you?... Nah, probably all the time..."
Her head jerked back. "What?!!"
"You're funny when you're confused. Your eyes are so pretty." Callum placed his arm over Rayla's shoulder bringing them face to face which Rayla lightly blushed at. He jumped from one point to another. "Let's get married!!!!" He threw his arms in the air then returned to the position.
"What?!!!! We're not even out of high school!!" As tempting as his offer was, they were still in high school, and Callum wouldn't truthfully even bring it up. Even if he did, they'd agree to waiting, until after high school was finished, maybe even after college.
"So what? What matters is that we love each other and..." He hiccuped, "We do, right?"
It took everything in her to deny it, "No, we don't. We're just two people becoming adults. One of us is drunk, and the other?... We don't."
"Well, why not? Whydon'twe love each other? We seemed like such lovely people." Callum questioned attempting to walk forward, but nearly falling to the floor had it not been for Rayla who caught him and acted as a human crutch to take him to the others. He almost seemed disappointed. She had no clue what to do with someone who was drunk.
"Because we don't." She replied becoming slightly angry with herself.
"That's not an answer." Callum argued giggling to himself.
Rayla rolled her eyes, "Well, it'smyanswer, andthat'swhat counts." He was too far gone for anything he said, right now to be taken seriously. Callum was crazy when drunk, he must've been some sort of crazy-delusional, somewhat flattering drunk. That must've been why he actually said what he said about the kiss.
"You smell nice, why?" Callum spoke as if he'd completely lost his sanity, but it didn't keep Rayla from getting flustered hearing the statement.
She tried to pretend she wasn't blushing or that she even liked the compliment. This was'drunk Callum', nothing he said now, even crossed his mind when he was in his right mind. She doubted,in the morning, he would remember what happened, which was good. He wouldn't remember the kiss, and she wouldn't need to come up with a stupid reason why she kissed him. How she wished he wasn't drunk when she did kissed him! If only he did reciprocate the love she had for him. It hurt more than she'd hoped it would. Her hopes were brought up, only to find it wasn't true. He was just drunk.
Finally she found Soren, Nyx, and Claudia who were with Kasef.
"Oh! Rayla, You're here." Soren greeted then he noticed Callum in his drunken state. "Oh, no, What happened to him?"
Rayla just had Callum try to stand without her help, and he again nearly fell over. She caught him, just in time and Callum smirked teasingly, "Oooh, she's touching my chest."
Soren and Nyx exchanged looks almost sharing the dame thought to that they both voiced at the same time, "Honest drunk."
"Whatever,.. just what do I do with him?" Rayla groaned turning red.
"Good idea! Whatareyou going to dowithme?" Callum teased enjoying himself a little too much.
Rayla's face almost matched her dress, as she gestured to him.
Suddenly, her vision began to blur, she was getting drunk.
"Uh-oh, she's down. Soren, you're in charge of taking care of Rayla and Callum. Kasef and I will handle your sister." Nyx ordered.
"Wait!! You mean let'Snotty boy'take care of Clauds? I don't think so. You don't know what kind of stuff he's into or the things he might do to her. He could..." Soren refused. Claudia may have liked him, but Soren still wasn't so fond of him.
"Soren, that's whyI'mhere. You're the only one strong enough to manage helping them. If he tries literally,anythingat all, he'll have to rethink his 'prison sparing'. Okay?"
Kasef put his hands up in defense, "The idea did not even cross my mind. I may be fond of Claudia, but I would not cross that boundary, especially without her conscious approval."
Soren reluctantly agreed, "Fine, but if you try anything you're going to have an expensive hospital bill, on your account." He turned to get Callum and Rayla home, but found they were nowhere to be found. Raylashould'vebeen easy to find. She had white hair, for goodness sake. How hard should it be?
Fortunately, He left the Club, and heard two voices singing along to the song that was playing inside the building, and could be heard outside it.
"Jump in that water be free, come South of the Border with me" They sang aloud then broke into fits of hysterical laughter. They were walking like drunken pelicans. Two steps forward, a step to the side, three steps back, and repeating.
"You got the.. " Rayla hiccuped, "Bean eyes, stoppin' my signs.." She smiled singing out as she and Callum stopped to laugh again.
Breathless, they managed to stop laughing.
"I love you." Callum said exasperatedly.
"I know." Rayla answered with the same breathlessness.
Soren put his hands on their shoulders, "Alright, you two, time to get you home."
Their heads turned to face him, "Why?" Rayla asked, before giggling some more.
"I don't wanna go home, do you?" Callum stated in question turning back to Rayla seeming serious for a single moment.
"Nope!! All in flavor of... not going home." Rayla hiccuped once again misspeaking the word "favor" as they raised their hands. "Two to one. Strike!! You're out."
Soren groaned, and rolled his eyes, "AndIdon't care, How about that?" He tightened his grip on their shoulders.
"Oh! Nyx, how nice to see you've joined us!" Rayla suddenly perked looking past Soren.
Soren took the bait, and Callum and Rayla quickly ran for it the moment he loosened his grip on their shoulders. At least they tried to run, they more skipped, tripped, and skipped some more. But just because they were drunk, that didn't mean they weren't smart.
They made their way to a shop, bought some wigs, and hid in a restaurant blending in with the crowds trying to muffle their laughs. Soren seemed to have passed right by them, and they let out exasperated laughs. They leaned in to kiss, but Soren stopped them, before they coulfuriouslyught, we'd convinced him." Rayla said with wide eyes.
"Me, too," Callum pouted.
Soren removed the wigs from their heads. "You guys, make terrible redheads."
"Really? I thought we rocked the red." Callum pretended to primp his hair.
"Yeah, me, too." Rayla agreed giggling furriously.
"Well, you don't... didn't.." Soren paused his speech wondering about the correct pronunciation.
They attempted to make a run for it, but Soren caught them. "Uh-uh." He shook his head, and threw them over his shoulders as if they were light as feathers.
Callum and Rayla pouted for a moment, then began to laugh. Rayla looked slightly further down a few inches. She pointed to Soren's behind, and stuck out her tongue in disgust. "I would hate to be down here whenthatgoes off." She whispered, then burst out laughing and Callum instantly joined in.
Soren reached his truck, He practically threw them in the backseat, buckling their seats, and getting into the drivers seat.
They almost immediately unbuckled themselves, and in no time, they were enjoying the ride throwing their arms out the windows as Soren would take sharp turns. Without buckles, They would slide from side to side when Soren turned left and right. They laughed and carried on calling out, "Wooooohhhhhhh!!!!! Wooowhhhhh!!!!!!"
Soren brought them to Callum's house. He rolled up the windows, and locked them inside the truck as he left to ring the doorbell. He rang the doorbell, and Harrow quickly answered the door in worry. Callum should've been home, by now. Once, he saw Soren at the door, he was quick to ask, " Where's Callum?"
Ezran peaked outside to see. "Hey, Soren."
Soren's expression lightened as he saw Ezran, "Hey, little man." Then he turned his attention to Harrow and answered his question, "In a word, Drunk! He and Raylaboth."
Harrow tried to swallow his frustration. They'd promised him they wouldn't do anything stupid. Then, he thought. This was Claudia and Nyx's idea. His anger should be toward them not Callum or Rayla. They wouldn't willingly break their promise. The other two, however were a different situation by themselves.
In the truck, Rayla bent over the front seat to hot wire it. If they couldn't get out, they sure as heck, could drive away. Callum just watched Rayla from the backseat, sitting in the right seat, more watching the view she was giving him, than actually watching the hot wiring itself. Soren caught them as he was walking to his trunk. This was his truck. If they damaged it he would make sure they payed for the repairs.
He managed to pry them from the truck, and into the house. Harrow assured him they would be taken good care of. Soren needed to take care of his sister. Harrow had them take aspirin, and sent them to sleep in the living room. Rayla on one loveseat, Callum on the other. Harrow rested on the recliner.
In a couple hours, Callum and Rayla had fallen asleep, and Nyx came over to drop off some fresh clothes for Rayla, and a note to go with it. She wished Harrow good luck and left explaining the truth to him. Harrow eventually managed to fall asleep.