Author's note:

Here is another chapter for your consumption. I like to listen to music while I write, and I usually either find inspiration from songs or find that they fit what I'm already writing. So I decided to include a song for each chapter.

Chapter 1: Happy Birthday To Myself by aCATnamedFELIX

Chapter 2: Let Me Go by Hailee Steinfeld, Alesso, Florida Georgia Line, watt

Chapter 3: Dirty Little Secret by The All American Rejects

I'll post the next chapter when I find the time to finish it. Leave a review because I love hearing what the people have to say. Happy Reading!

The breakup was easier than I had imagined. My friends had done the classic thing and come over with ice cream and wine. It had been the right thing to do. Luke had called me a few times but I never picked up. I just listened to the voicemails of him begging me to come back. His voice would crack every time he said my name. It broke my heart to listen to them but only because I loved him. I wasn't in love with him though. The difference is important.

The net weekend my friends insisted on taking me out to the club and I diligently agreed. That's how I found a girl wearing a full face of makeup and a skimpy black dress staring back at me from the mirror. I hardly recognized her but I was glad to see her again. The drink in my hand gave me the liquid courage to put on my heels and join my friends in the living room.

"This ones to new beginnings," my friend Thalia said, raising a glass to my newfound independence, "because who needs a man anyway!" For the first time in a year I felt free. We paraded out of the door in a flurry of sparkles and skin ready to take on the night.

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As soon as I walked into the club I felt like I had entered a different world. The music was so loud I couldn't hear myself think and the lights made everyone look beautiful and alive. And the more I drank, the more I felt like a different person. I felt alive.

The night was a blur of moments. We took shots at the bar and danced in the packed crowd. There were people everywhere dancing like there was no tomorrow and we were a part of them. I saw a tall man with dark hair and bright eyes. I remember him walking up to me, and then I remember us kissing. Our bodies were wrapped together and it felt like the world was moving around us. Suddenly he had a pill, and suddenly I had swallowed it. Next we were running out of the bar and down the street. My face hurt from smiling so much. It was snowing outside, but the snow melted the moment it touched my skin. We stumbled into a dark apartment, ripping at each other's clothes. He swept me up and set me down on what I was assuming was a kitchen counter. My hands were running through his hair and his lips were hot on mine. I wrapped my legs around him, yanking him closer. All of the sudden his shirt was off and my dress quickly joined it on the floor. He carried me to a bed.

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I woke up and there was only the smallest sliver of light coming in through the curtains. There was an arm draped over me under a thick blanket. The air in the apartment was cold so I snuggled closer to the warm man next to me and went right back to sleep.

The next time I woke up I was alone in the bed. I sat up and looked around the room. The room was still very dark but there was a small amount of light coming in around the curtain. I heard a voice on the other side of the closed door.

"I told you I would do it so I'm going to do it," the voice was deep and whoever was on the other end of the call was not that happy, "whatever I'll call you later."

The door opened and I pulled the blankets a little closer to me. A man, I was assuming the one I had gone home with the previous night, walked into the room. Light streamed in through the open door and I finally got a good look at him. His black hair was fairly long, falling into his eyes a little bit. He was wearing sweatpants and a hoodie and looked to be taller than average and well built.

"Oh you're awake," he said in a pleasantly surprised voice, "I was wondering when you were going to get up. I made some food if you want some." He started to turn to leave and then looked back at me.

"Oh right." He went over to the closet and pulled out a hoodie and tossed it to me with a sly smile on his face, "in case you want to be a little more dressed." He walked out of the door and I pulled the hoodie on. It was big enough that I didn't really need pants.

I walked out of the door and spotted my purse on a counter. I went over and opened it. Luckily it still had some power, but when I looked at the time my jaw dropped open. It was four pm! And I had a bunch of texts from my friends asking about how my night was after I had left the bar.

We ate breakfast in his kitchen. The afternoon sunlight was shining through the windows. I couldn't believe that I had slept for so long. We ate in a comfortable silence.

"So what are you doing with the rest of your day?" he asked, breaking the quiet.

"I haven't really thought that far ahead," I told him," what about you?"

"Well my band has a gig tonight at this bar. You should come, it's only a few blocks away." He looked up from his blue pancakes. I hadn't really noticed before but his eyes were sea green. I felt like I could get lost in them. I couldn't say no the them. Which was how I found a girl all dressed up to go out staring back at me again.

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I told Thalia about the gig and she immediately agreed to go with me. Something about how that bar was amazing and always a good time. So Percy put us on the list. I had realized that I hadn't known his name, so I made him put his contact into my phone to avoid the awkward conversation. What are you supposed to say? Hey I know we had sex and I slept in your bed for like 12 hours but what's your name? Ya no thank you.

Thalia and I arrived at the bar 15 minutes before the gig started. The bar was one of those where you have to go down some stairs in an ally to get into. Percy had to set up for the gig so he couldn't meet us outside, but he stayed true to his word and put us on the list. As soon as we walked in I realized how packed it was. I could see a stage with some instruments all the way across the bar, but there must have been hundreds of people between the door and the stage. Thalia and I pushed through the bodies to get to the bar and got some drinks.

We got the drinks just in time to see people walk out onto the stage. I saw Percy walk up to the mic with a guitar slung over his shoulder. His very muscular shoulder. He was wearing a white t shirt and some ripped jeans. I could've sworn that I could see abs though that shirt. And apparently I wasn't the only one who thought that he looked extremely hot as a hoard of girls started screaming as soon as he came on stage. Percy started the song and surprisingly I could hear it over the screaming. When his drummer joined in something in the back of my brain behind the alcohol perked up. I knew the song! It was definitely on one of my Spotify playlists. I met Thalia's eyes and did a series of gesturing that she miraculously understood. She nodded in excitement and we made our way through the throng of dancing bodies to get closer to the stage. When we made it a few feet away from the stage I looked up through the crowd at Percy. His eyes were closed as he sang. He opened them and looked right at me. My heart skipped a beat. Something about him looking at while he sang was wildly attractive. Did I already say that I thought he looked extremely hot?

Thalia and I stayed in roughly the same place for the whole gig, moving with the bodies around us. As it turns out I knew a couple of his songs, and had an absolutely amazing time. When Percy and his band finished their final song, he thanked the crowd and ran off the stage. Thalia and I made our way back over to the bar to get some drinks. There was a very attractive girl that Thalia started talking to at the bar, so being the good friend I was I let them talk and awkwardly looked at my phone.

"Hey there, I'm Chase," the man next to me said, "you should let me buy you a drink." He leaned in closer. He was attractive, but he was wearing a suit. What kind of a guy wears a suit to a grimy basement bar?

"Oh I don't know, I actually just got out of a relationship," I told him, hoping that he would drop the subject.

"What? Who would break up with a hot girl like you?" He asked.

"I actually broke up with him. We just weren't right." I reluctantly told him.

"Oh so you're like that," he said, "well you should let me show you a good time." He was still uncomfortably close, and something about him seemed a little rapey if you know what I mean.

"I'm not really looking for anything right now," I said backing up a little.

"Come on don't be a bitch, just give me a shot I'm a nice guy!" he responded, clearly not getting the hint. And then, like an angel sent from above, Percy slung his arm over my shoulder.

"Oh hey you did great!" I said, turning to give him a hug. Chase from behind me felt the need to but into the conversation.

"Ya man! I was just talking to my friend here. Seems like you know her?"

"I think you should go somewhere else now," Percy said, looking straight at Chase who looked like he very nearly shit his pants. He mumbled something about having to leave and walked away with his tail between his legs. I laughed a little into Percy's shoulder.

"Thank you I had no idea how I was going to get him to leave."

"You did look a little uncomfortable," Percy responded. I was more than a little tipsy and I think I just stared at him. How had this man, who was already hot last night, become this insanely attractive. I bunched a bit of his t shirt in my hand and pulled him down until his lips met mine.

The alcohol in my system once again made the night go by like a blur. Percy and I drank more and kissed more on the dance floor. I was introduced to his band members and he met Thalia. They did have yelling match about which 90s grunge band was the best while were a bit confusingly in an alley. But mostly I remember his body moving next to mine as we danced. At one point he had pulled me into a dark back room that was the size of a large closet. We pulled at each other's clothes like the world was ending, and if it had been ending around me I don't think I would have noticed.