Miranda, Daisy, and Adrianna are based on real life models Miranda Kerr, Daisy Lowe and Adrianna Lima, Jan is based on the actress January Jones. Also for you science people, I am awful at science, the majority of my knowledge comes from the Big Bang Theory, so apologises if I mess up my science stuff, I blame myself and Wikipedia!
Apparently work got around about Ariadne's 'party'. When Arthur showed up, running late after a disaster in the frozen isle at work, he had to do a double take to make sure he was at the right place.
Music poured out of Ariadne's usually quite house, all he could see through the windows was a sea of people. He had to push himself through a scantly clad group hanging around in the front doorway, inside the music was so loud Arthur could feel the bass of the music pounding in his chest and ears, there were people everywhere, a haze of bodies moving to the beat, paper cup drinks filled with brightly coloured liquids in hand.
A couple of girls stumbled past Arthur laughing uncontrollably, ones bright red lipstick was now smudged up her cheek, a beefy guy singing loudly and off-key to Flo Rida shouldered Arthur by accident when he was jumping up and down.
He recognised a ton of people from school, people who never would normally associate themselves with the three of them, from the cheerleaders to the A.V. club; it seemed everyone had heard about this party and invited themselves along. Ruby Masters, from English winked at him as he went past, then giggled to her friends, he supposed by a straight guy standards she was pretty, but with her inch think make up and huge hair, he imagined he would prefer Ari, and she didn't hold a candle to Eames.
He managed to struggle his way to the kitchen where two people were making out on the Ari's kitchen counter, they were so engrossed they didn't even notice Arthur press his was in, Arthur grinned, he was sure Ariadne's mum would think twice about bragging about how spotless her house was.
He grabbed a drink and went out again to find Ari, finding her in the corner huddled with Yusuf; the two were talking with their heads suspiciously close together. When she saw Arthur though she practically bounded up to him and grabbed his hands, swinging them in delight.
"Arthur how great is this?!" her voice slurred slightly "We're at a cool party!" he chuckled
"What happened 'Down with the Popular Regime'?" Arthur teased, she stuck her tongue out at him and pulled up a green dress, Arthur recognised from one of their trips to the shops, which flattered her petite figure, Yusuf seemed to notice this fact as well with the way he was staring at Ari.
"I'm forger...forgoin...who cares tonight, this is fun!" she laughed "Oh Yusuf I love this song! Dance with me" she grabbed a flustered Yusuf's hand and dragged him further into the living room, which seemed to have transformed into one of many dance floors.
Arthur leaned back into the corner the two had vacated to keep an eye on Ari, Yusuf looked a little unsure and nervous when she threw her arms round him and started wiggling her hips, but as the music went on and Ari continued to dance he seemed to relax and get into it. The way he looked at Ari, it was like she was the only other person in the whole world, when he finally got confident enough to put his hands on her hips they didn't leave that spot, the two just stared into each other's eyes.
Arthur felt like he was somehow intruding on an intimate moment, and after downing his drink went back to the kitchen to refill it. They couple had moved off the counter but there was now something even more disturbing in their place. Robert sat on one the counter, with what Arthur suspected was a cup of coffee in hand, surrounded by three tall and stunning girls.
"Ok, now I know this some kind of weird dream" he thought to himself "I've tripped somewhere and cracked my head. Yeah that's it"
Rob noticed Arthur staring at the group and waved at him to come over "Hey Arthur!" his voice was perfectly normal and Arthur could smell the coffee for sure now, the girls parted to let Arthur into the circle.
"Hey...Rob" he replied cautiously "Whatca doing?"
"Oh sorry where are my manners" Rob chuckled "This is Miranda, Daisy and Adrianna" he gestured to each to each of the girls who all gave Arthur a little wave "I was just explaining the difference between string theory and quantum loop gravity" he grinned.
There was no way this was a dream. Arthur was dead, yep he had to be dead, that or this was the apocalypse.
"Your friend is so smart" Adrianna praised softly, Robert beamed proudly at her, Arthur just gaped, open mouthed. This was the apocalypse that was the only explanation. He didn't think Robert even realised that he was being hit on by these girls!
"You guys understand what he's saying?!" he asked incredulously
"Of course" Daisy giggled as if it was obvious "We were just going over the Standard Model of particle physics, a summary of our current knowledge about the subatomic composition of the universe" Arthur had no idea what any of that stuff meant and could do nothing but gawk.
"Robert" Miranda purred putting a hand on his arm and blinking widely up at him "Can you explain the four fundamental forces to me again?"
"Certainly!" he declared, pleased. The girls tightened their circle to listen to Robert; Arthur took the opportunity to backed away slowly. A huge party being thrown at Ariadne's, that was odd, Rob debating science with stunning and intelligent girls; that was weird. He downed his drink again in response.
His brain was beginning to feel a little fuzzy and warmth pooled in the bottom of his stomach making him feel loose and calm. Alex had always taken the piss out of Arthur that it only took a glass of Sherry at their friend Hannah's baptism to knock him out cold. Arthur swirled the remaining few drops of liquid in his glass, he missed Alex. Brave, strong, loyal Alex. When their parents died he immediately took Arthur and dared any social worker to try and take his baby brother away, he'd been lucky to have people like Maisy and Alex.
Arthur shook his head to chase away those depressing memories, and left Robert to his unintentional wooing. The heat had now gotten uncomfortably stiffening, Arthur eventually lost battle with himself and removed his dark blue sweater vest, but his white loosely buttoned shirt still clung to his skin.
A hand suddenly pressed to his chest and a tall blonde girl Arthur didn't recognise from their school was in his space, flashing him a pair of baby blue eyes "Have you seen my...my boyfriend Dom?" she asked, words thick with drink
"No, I'm afraid not" she pouted at him.
"If you, um...you see my boyfriend tell him that" Arthur grabbed her as she began to slip to the side "you tell him that Jan wants to see him!" Arthur manoeuvred her to Ari's beige covered sofas.
"Jan, look at the state of you!" one of the girl's friends came over and Arthur felt it was safe to leave...Jan, alone. The world was getting...tippy for him as well, his limbs felt light and his head was swimming, for some reason he felt like laughing.
Arthur grabbed the banister for support and hauled his way up the stairs, gracelessly skirting round the couples huddled on there, he apologised more than once for stepping on someone's toe or hand.
He stumbled awkwardly towards the main bedroom, keeping his hand on the wall for balance as he almost tripped and fell through the door. The main bedroom had a balcony where Arthur could take a break from the heat and the music, as soon as he managed to co ordinate himself enough to get through the sliding glass door, he felt a million times better with the cool air licking his face and filling his lungs.
"Hi" Arthur shrank back to the far side of the balcony in shock, only to relax when he made out Dom's face in the shadows, huddled on the edge of the balcony casually smoking a cigarette "Sorry didn't mean to scare you" he apologised, embarrassed
Arthur breathed a sigh of relief "It's fine, my fault I didn't think anyone would be out here" Dom smiled reassuringly, and took a draw of his cigarette.
"Well as long as you're ok with me being here, do you mind if I close that door" he gestured to the one leading out onto the balcony "I'm just trying to avoid someone"
"Your girlfriends looking for you"
Dom gave him a look and pulled the door until it clicked shut, moving out of the view from the door. He took another puff, before passing it over to Arthur "Want some?" Arthur had never had a cigarette before, but with everything that had happened lately, he shrugged and plucked the cigarette from Dom's out stretched hand, taking a long draw and breathing it out slowly.
"You're a natural" Arthur smiled at the praise and handed the cigarette back to Dom, they chilled outside for a few minutes, passing the cigarette back and forth between them, Arthur was content with the silence, he and Dom hadn't had much interaction over the years, he was the golden guy of their high school smart and athletic, not the kind of person who would hang around with Arthur, but the guy seemed nice from afar.
"You're probably wondering why I'm being an ass and hiding here" Dom spoke into the silence.
Arthur shrugged as Dom lit another cigarette "None of my business" Dom hummed at his response and passed Arthur the cigarette.
"Have you ever loved someone who you thought could never really love you back?" Arthur was a little taken aback with the question, but recovered quickly; he debated on how to answer.
"Yes" he answered truthfully
"Its shit isn't it"
"Yeah, it is" he muttered wistfully and made to pass the cigarette back to Dom, the other boy declined
"Keep it" Arthur nodded gratefully, letting the smoke fill his lung, admiring the way it swirled in the air when he exhaled.
"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours" Dom offered, Arthur shrugged which seemed enough of an confirmation for Dom who took a deep breath of his cigarette before continuing "Y'know Miss Cobb?"
Arthur frowned at him "Miss Cobb?" Dom nodded
"Y'know she's not actually married, everyone just calls her Mrs" that was some new information, she'd never worn a wedding ring but Arthur had just assumed...
"How?" he ventured
"I started working part-time at her father's company a few months ago, a favour between our families; she drops by the office to see her dad a couple times a week. We got to chatting a while ago and she's just...just such an intelligent and kind woman Arthur. Beautiful, strong with a wicked sense of human to boot, even when she walks she has this air of grace all around her, so sophisticated, it's like she glides into the room. I guess I never really saw her when we were at school and that we started talking and connecting as two people and it's like everything shifted, I can't get her out of my head and it's driving me insane" Dom paused in the middle of his love sick speech to take a long drag from his cigarette.
"It's not even like she's in her 40's, the woman's only 21. But still..." he sighed "...nothing's happened and I'm pretty sure nothing will ever happen. I don't even know if she likes me back for christ's sake! This whole unrequited love thing sounds so romantic in all those novels, but in real life it sucks ass" he ended bitterly.
Arthur didn't know what to comfort him with, he'd been in the same position and all that happened was it got more painful until it'd felt like someone was trying to rip out Arthur's heart with a pair of tongs.
"I know I should break up with Jan" Dom continued "But I liked her before I met Malorie" Malorie? "And I just don't want to give up on our relationship because of wishful thinking. I keep hoping that this stuff'll go away and things will just go back to normal"
"They won't" Dom looked surprised at Arthur's comment "trust me, these feelings, they're not going to go away by themselves, all you'll end up doing is comparing other people to that person and they'll never ever be good enough" the expression on Dom's face was enough to confirm that, that was what indeed he'd been doing "It's not fair on your girlfriend and it's not fair on you"
"How do you get over that person?"
Arthur huffed in cold amusement "I'll tell you when I figure it out" he answered, undisguised resentment in his voice.
"Eames?" Arthur's silence seemed to confirm it to Dom as he nodded resolutely "I'll call a cab for Jan and me, maybe if she's sober we'll have a talk"
"She's not" Arthur confirmed
Dom pushed off the balcony rail, throwing his cigarette down onto the grass below, and put a warm hand on Arthur's shoulder "I would appreciate this if you didn't repeat any of this" his voice sounded a little anxious, so unlike the Dom he'd always seen in the corridors, confident hanging out with his friends.
"Ditto"
Dom nodded, squeezing Arthur's shoulder gently "You're a good guy Arthur"
"Likewise"
Dom smiled and let go of Arthur's shoulder, heading back inside where the party was going strong, the music pounded through the the glass door. Arthur stayed outside for a little while after Dom left; his head was still spinning with the combination of cigarettes and alcohol, plus the cold air felt good against his skin. Eventually though he did retreated back inside, still wobbling as he walked, in his alcohol fuelled mind he managed to rationalise that having one more drink might be a good idea. He stumbled down the stairs, the music had switched to changed to Ke$ha which now blasted through the sound system, what stopped the neighbours complaining he'd never know.
He had just managed to get out of the kitchen door, skirting round Rob and the whole enigma thing, when a familiar laugh hit Arthur's ears. Sure enough, there was Eames leaning against the couch, whispering something into some girl's ear which made her giggle and blush. Arthur felt an almighty rush of anger slam into his gut like a punch to the solar plexus, he wanted to pull that slut off Eames and punch the guy in the face. Arthur tightened his grip and almost crushed the drink he was holding, god Eames was so fucking macho and hetro, he was just like all those other bastards who made Arthur's school life hell.
Someone touched his side; Arthur was prepared to hit anyone at this point but stopped, startled when he saw Rob without his entourage, looking intently in Eames' direction.
"I am a great friend, just so y'know" Arthur stared at him confused , even more so when Rob grabbed Arthur's hand and pulled him further into living room/dance floor. For the first few moments when Rob began dancing against Arthur still didn't get it, but then he realised they were directly in Eames' line of sight and grinned at Rob's deviousness.
When he started dancing with Rob, his eyes still flicked nervously around, Rob bent in closer so Arthur could hear him over the music "Stop worrying, everyone's too drunk to care, now make that dumb, emotionally stunted jock jealous" Arthur looked around again and realised Rob was right, everyone was so drunk by this time they didn't take any notice of the two of them, they weren't even the only two guys dancing with each other, and he smirked, throwing himself into the dance.
He put his arms on Rob's shoulders, the other boy had a couple of inches on Arthur, Rob put his hands on Arthur's hips and they swayed their hips to the music together. Arthur turned, with Rob's hands on still on his hips and put his own hands on Rob's neck, rolling his hips and moving slowly low to the floor and back up again. He only paid attention to the beat of the music flowing through him, enjoying freedom from his inhibitions as he closed his eyes and moved with the bass, grinding against Rob. He did his best to ignore Eames, focusing on nothing but dancing.
Rob moved his lips down to Arthur's ear "Pretend I've given you a compliment" Arthur gave his best easy, lustful smile in response.
There was a snarl just audible over the music followed by a feminine noise of protest, and then Arthur was being wrenched away from Rob, who was now being pushed with a slam against the wall by a severely pissed off looking Eames. The people around them stilled, interest piqued at the chance of a fight. For a tense minute Eames just stood there, jaw and fists clenched tightly in Rob's shirt, breathing deeply. Eames snarled again and dropped Rob, marching out of the front door.
A tense silence followed his departure, broken by Rob "Sorry folks" he apologised loudly "He just had a bit too much" there was a titter of laughter from everyone and then they started dancing energetically again.
"Arthur..." Ari's voice at his side broke him out of his spell and he dived as fast as he could out of Ari's house in after Eames. He sprinted out into the cold night air to where the majority of the cars were parked and was relieved to find Eames' still there. When he looked around the deserted street he caught the familiar figure of Eames rapidly disappearing. Filled with a sense of déjà vu, except this time he wasn't frozen to the spot, he shot after Eames.
"Eames!" he called, the other boy made no indication he'd heard Arthur but turned off the road into the forest opposite Ariadne's block of houses. Arthur followed him quickly, with all his years of track and the fact that Eames was still speed walking Arthur caught him up quickly.
"Eames!" he called again, reaching out to try and grab the other boy to slow him down. Before he could Eames span round, grabbing Arthur's face with both hands and smashed his lips against his.
It wasn't gentle like Arthur had imagined in his room late at night their almost kiss would have been, this was almost brutal, it felt like Eames was trying to mark his lips, his hand wrapped possessively around Arthur waist, bringing them closer together.
At first Arthur's was so surprised he was motionless, his libido caught up faster than his brain did, repeating 'Holy fuck Eames is kissing me, kiss back you moron!' over and over again, until he got with the programme and threw his hands around Eames' neck returning the kiss full force, and running his fingers through Eames' hair.
Eames' growled in approval deep in his throat, and ran his tongue along the seam of Arthur's lips, he gave Eames entrance without resistant. For a moment their tongues battled for dominance until Arthur relented and Eames laid claim to Arthur's mouth with his tongue. The kiss was rough and uncoordinated, with teeth clacking, and noses bashing together, and it was the single most passionate kiss Arthur had ever received. Eames kissed Arthur like he was drowning man and Arthur was his oxygen, Arthur nerves set alight, his skin felt like it was on fire like he was burning up from the heat of the kiss, he was vaguely aware that he was making these desperate wanton noises in the back of his throat. Sober Arthur would've been horrified, but drunk Arthur couldn't care less and gasped when Eames ran his hand down the small of Arthur's back, the noises seemed to spur Eames on even more.
His back slammed into a tree, without breaking the kiss, Eames grabbed the backs of Arthur's thighs hoisted him up; Arthur wrapped his legs around Eames' waist automatically. He grabbed Arthur's hands and held them high above his head so Arthur was immobile; he pushed Arthur's back further into the trunk to keep him up and in doing so their clothed erection rubbed together, sending a spike of pure pleasure up Arthur's body, making him shiver at the feeling.
This brought both of them to their senses and Eames dropped Arthur suddenly, taking a step back. For a few moments they just stared at each other panting, Arthur was terrified in case Eames ran like he had, he wanted to make him stay so they could talk about this, he was ready for it now.
Eames looked completely ruined, lips dark red and puffy and his hair was all other the place, Arthur imagined he didn't look much better; Eames had never looked so gorgeous.
Abruptly as if seeing the fear on Arthur's face, Eames moved back into Arthur's space and gripped Arthur's hand gently "No running away this time" he explained, touching Arthur's cheek with his free hand.
Arthur was completely overcome with emotion; he blinked back tears when they threatened to fall and nodded, unable to form words past the lump in his throat. Eames wrapped his arms tightly around Arthur's body, which was shivering with more than just the cold, and Arthur returned the embrace, feeling the warmth of Eames own body seep into his skin. They stood like that for a while, two broken boys shivering in the night air, with the stars watching on.
Aaannnddd finally the boys stop being idiots and kiss, they'll still be idiots but y'know for now they're cool :D Also I love jealousy scenes, so be forewarned in any future writing, they will defiantly be there ;) In my head Roberts bi, but this is as much Arthur kinda/Rob as it gets, and I really liked Mal/Cobb in Inception, y'know pre-crazy and how she appears it fics, nothing will happen with them whilst Dom is a student though (He's also 18). Thanks for reading and reviewing my lovelies, that was my first time writing a kiss scene so hopefully it's worth the read!