Prompt: Lucky Charm
March
"Oh, a penny," Nadine muttered, stooping down in Jake's parking lot to scoop up the tiny, copper coin.
Elizabeth frowned, shaking her head. "It was on tails."
"So," the blonde said, tossing it back and forth between her hands.
"Lemme guess," the brunette mused, arching an eyebrow at the nurse. "Aunt Rayleen has a saying for this."
Nadine laughed, holding the penny up to Elizabeth's face. "You know, find a penny, pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck," she replied gleefully.
"More like find a penny, pick it up, and all the day you'll have a penny," she said, pulling open the door to the back entrance of Jake's.
The front door was still locked, waiting to be opened at noon for the grand celebration that was St. Patrick's Day. Green beer, four leaf clovers, and bad Irish accents were sure to make an appearance.
"So pessimistic," chided Nadine, following her friend down the hallway towards the bar. "Why are we here so early anyway? You should never drink this time of day."
"Oh, I guess that Aunt Rayleen never passed on the saying of, it's five o'clock somewhere," she replied, pausing in the doorway that opened to the bar.
Green streamers hung from the ceiling, and pots of peanuts sat on every table. Both women looked to the bar and weren't at all surprised to see Coleman, but it was Jason that caught the brunette's attention.
"Didn't think he would be working," she muttered, sucking in a breath when his eyes landed on hers.
"Well, Negative Nellie," Nadine murmured, nudging her in the arm with her elbow, "what are you going to do about it?"
She scowled, looking at the nurse. "The same thing you've done about sleeping with dork boy," she teased playfully. "Absolutely nothing."
The blonde's face fell, and she looked away. "You really don't know what you're talking about."
She grew quieter than usual, and Elizabeth wondered if she had crossed a line. Like the others, Nadine had remained tight lipped on what exactly happened in the room above Jake's. Spinelli popped up around the hospital, appearing more nervous and anxious than usual. And everyone pretty much figured it out when Kelly overheard the computer geek talking to Nadine about mating rituals.
They had so done the deed, and poor Nadine was too embarrassed to admit it, which only meant one of two things; it was terrible and awkward, or Nadine regretted ever having jumped him while so inebriated. They wanted to place their bets on the latter, but it was Spinelli after all, and there had been no time to google any of it.
"Aw, come on," Elizabeth said, throwing her arm over Nadine's shoulder. "I'm just messin' with you. Lord knows we've all gotten drunk and gone after-Okay, well, Kelly has done it."
"I don't want to talk about this," the blonde muttered, slinking out from beneath the brunette's arm. She grabbed Elizabeth's hand, dropping the penny into her palm. "Luck is obviously the last thing that's going to get me anywhere, but perhaps, it can be of use to you."
"There's also some saying about picking up a penny on tails and passing it on to someone else," Nadine continued, biting her lip as if she couldn't quite remember. "You pass off the bad luck or something."
She rolled her eyes, staring down at the penny. "I don't want your bad luck penny."
"Well, you're going to need some kind of luck for your Leather Jacket explanation," Nadine pointed out, nodding in Jason's direction. "You slipped out unnoticed, and I know that you didn't sleep with him, and I also know he likes you."
"Not helping," she groaned, forcing at smile when his eyes caught hers again.
"Go," the nurse pressed, poking her in the arm. She jiggled her pocket and tossed her head towards the jukebox. "I'll go play you two a love song."
"Brat," Elizabeth hissed, grinning at her, before making her way over to the bar. She slid onto a stool, directly in front of him, and placed her chin in her hand. "So, you're working?"
He nodded, pulling one of the coolers shut, and kicking an empty beer case across the floor. "I do that from time to time," he replied, leaning against the bar. "You're here early."
"Day off," she said, relieved that nothing about this felt awkward at all. "And I hear when the first keg is tapped, you get a free beer."
"If I remember correctly I do owe you a free drink," he replied, arching an eyebrow at her.
"Only if it's green," she said, wagging a finger at him. "Green shots, green beers, green vodka."
"That's asking for a hell of a hangover," he murmured, reaching for a glass.
She leaned across the bar, watching him fill her glass. "I have experience. I can handle it."
A smile tugged at his lips as he slid the beer across the bar. "First one of the day," he said, shaking his head when she took a long drink. "It's barely noon."
"But it's five o'clock somewhere."
"You'll be gone by sundown."
"Which could be good…All depending on where I end up," she said with a wink, as she ran her finger across the top of her glass.
"Which could be bad," he replied, leaning over towards her, and lowering his voice. "Depending on how you leave the next morning."
She winced, biting her lip. "I deserve that," she said, wrapping her hand around the cool glass. "I'm sorry."
"You don't have to apologize," he muttered, taking her half empty glass and refilling it.
"It was just awkward, and I was a mess, and I just-"
"It's okay."
"It doesn't have to be," she murmured, taking her glass back from him.
"But it is," he countered, his eyes flashing to the door to see a crowd of customers coming in. "I'm sorry, but I've-"
"Got to work," she cut in, sliding off the stool. "I'll try to make it till sundown."
"I'll try to get off," he replied, smiling coyly. "Maybe, we can uh, do something…Outside of the bar…If you're not a goner."
"In that case, I won't be," she said, grabbing her glass off the bar. "Well, all depending on what you have in mind."
He held up his hand to a few patrons leaning against the bar. "Something tells me you've never been on a motorcycle," he muttered, his cerulean eyes staring into hers.
She laughed softly, shaking her head. "And something tells me you're going to change that."
"I don't know what the hell to do," Lainey hissed, glancing up at Elizabeth as she pulled out a chair and sat down at the table. "I told him before we slept together that he was just using sex as a way to ignore what was really wrong, and maybe I was doing that too."
"Leo?" the brunette asked, arching an eyebrow at Nadine, who nodded.
"So, she slept with him?" she asked, and the blonde nodded again.
"And it was obviously bad," the brunette muttered, taking a sip of her beer.
"Hello, Dr. Winters is right here," the psychiatrist cried, placing a hand on her chest.
"I've been trying to get this story out of you for weeks now," Elizabeth said seriously, glaring at her friend. "But you refused to buckle."
"Just like you refuse to buckle on Leather Jacket man."
"Because nothing happened."
"Oh, right, and you weren't just over there shaking your hips at him and getting free drinks because nothing happened," Lainey replied, rolling her eyes as she looked at Nadine. "You can't honestly believe-"
"I am neutral," the blonde said, holding up her hands. "Switzerland is a comfortable place to be."
"Because you don't want us questioning you about the Jackal," Lainey replied annoyed.
"Let's get back to the task at hand here," Elizabeth sighed, sliding her beer across the table to her friend.
"Thanks," Lainey said, taking a long sip, clearly in more need of it than the nurse. "So, we slept together, but I swear, if you tell anyone, especially Kelly, I'll kill you."
"So it was bad?" Elizabeth asked, appearing somewhat amused by the thought.
"Really bad," she cried, slumping forward and holding her face in her hands. "Epically bad. Like lasting ten seconds of awkwardness bad, and I don't even think I got that turned on by any of it."
"Ouch," both nurses replied, staring down at the table.
"And I keep bumping into him, but I'm trying not to," she continued, lifting her head up just enough to take another sip of the beer. "I told him that he was manifesting me to be something I wasn't, and Kelly told me that I couldn't use sex to stop feeling sad…God, I'm a mess."
"Aw, honey," Elizabeth sighed, scooting her chair over and draping her arm over Lainey's shoulder. "We all have had-"
"You've never had a one night stand-"
"I was going to say bad sex," the brunette interrupted, squeezing her friend's shoulder. "The first time Nikolas and I slept together, it wasn't that great. It was awkward and rushed, and I'm pretty sure he got off and I didn't."
"Does Kelly know this?" the psychiatrist asked, tilting her head to look up at her. "Cause she would have such a good time-"
"No, she doesn't," the nurse replied flatly, narrowing her eyes at Lainey as a warning to keep it between them. "Sex isn't always good, but once Nikolas and I figured out what one another liked and didn't, we learned how to flip the switch on one another in seconds."
"Seconds?" the blonde mused from across the table.
"Don't tell me Spinelli is the only person you've ever slept with," Lainey sighed, shaking her head. "Cause if you lost your virginity while drunk, you need to call me for a session."
"He wasn't," Nadine replied with a frown. "I just haven't had much experience…And you know, this really isn't about me. It's about you."
"It is," Elizabeth said to Lainey, eager to get her point across. "What I'm saying is that what allowed Nikolas and I to get past that awkward first time was our feelings for one another. We had a good connection, and we loved each other, so we worked through it. And you and Leo just have-"
"Ten seconds in a bar room upstairs," she moaned, shaking her head.
"Don't forget about half of a session in your office," Nadine offered, forcing a smile at her.
"I was just having a bad day," she groaned, disgusted by her actions. "I was upset about my dad, and Leo comforted me, which is crazy, right? Patient taking care of the doctor?"
"Honey, you just needed a friend, and that's okay," Elizabeth said seriously, rubbing her hand up and down her friend's back.
"Oh, hell," Nadine clucked, her eyes staring over her friends and at the door.
"What?" the brunette asked, her head whirling around to see Leo and Patrick coming through the door. "Dammit."
"He's here isn't he?" Lainey moaned, sitting up and gathering her things.
"Don't they have surgeries or something?" the blonde said, doing her best to sound annoyed for her friend's sake, only to fail miserably.
"Flowing booze and drunk women," Elizabeth reminded her, watching Lainey get up from the table. "Of course, they'd be here."
"I have to go," she said, tensing up when she turned around to see Leo looking at her. "This is the worst day ever."
"Aw, Lainey," Elizabeth sighed, standing up to give her a hug. "Just do your best to avoid him, okay?"
"Or file a sexual harassment suit," Nadine called out teasingly, and judging from the look on Lainey's face it didn't sound half bad.
"Here take this," the brunette murmured, grabbing her hand and dropping the penny into her palm.
"A penny?"
"It just may be lucky," Elizabeth shrugged, laughing when Lainey rolled her eyes before walking off.
Leo started to call out to the psychiatrist, but she made a bee line for the door, keeping her eyes down, and nearly running over Emily and Kelly in the process.
"Got somewhere to be?" her friends asked, with a laugh.
"Yeah, hell," she replied, grabbing Emily's hand and passing off the penny. "Take this damn thing. Luck is far from what I need these days."
"Okay, ladies, what gives?" Kelly asked, looking around the table at her friends. They were being far too quiet considering that not only were they in a bar, but they were also out on a day that celebrated one of their favorite times. "What happened to Erin-Go-Bragh and all that?"
Emily leaned back in her chair, flipping the penny back and forth between her hands, as she watched Patrick talking to Leo at the bar.
Elizabeth ran her finger over the top of her shot glass, glancing at Jason from the corner of her eye, while Nadine did what she normally did and just stayed quiet.
"It's a shame all his good looks are wasted on a shitty personality," the OB muttered, tossing back her shot as she shrugged.
She expected one of her friends to crack a smile, but they all remained stone faced, which wasn't setting well with her at all. "Oh, come on," she sighed, rolling her eyes. "What the hell is wrong with you?"
"Well?" Kelly pressed, glancing around the table and giving each of them a long, hard look.
"I'm fine," Elizabeth replied, tossing back her shot, and grimacing as the liquor went down her throat.
"I would be too if Leather Jacket Man was having eye sex with me while he worked the bar," the OB muttered, popping one of the bar nuts into her mouth.
"Kelly!" she shrieked, her cheeks growing flushed.
"Don't act modest after sneaking out of his bed," she replied, filling her and Elizabeth's shot glass, and motioning for her friend to hold it in the air. She gently clinked their glasses, sloshing drops of tequila onto the table. "We all know what-"
"Nothing happened," Elizabeth cut in, tossing her shot back and lowering the glass back to the table. "I slept."
"Pathetic," Kelly murmured, shaking her head. "What happened to our resolutions ladies?"
Emily frowned, closing her fist tightly around the penny, her eyes still on Patrick. "They failed," she replied flatly, opening her fist so that the coin fell on the table. "Oh, tails. Big freaking surprise."
"You know, tails doesn't necessarily mean bad luck," Nadine chimed in, still clutching her full shot glass in her hand. She'd yet to have a single, alcoholic drink. "Elizabeth and I were having this conversation earlier, and I gave her a penny, and it brought her luck with Leather Jacket Man. He wasn't even upset with her for sneaking away like some scandalous lady of the night."
"I doubt that penny would bring me any luck in regards to the Man Whore of the Century standing at the bar," Emily griped, bringing her shot glass to her lips and sucking the liquid down in a hurry.
"Well, it's too bad that she gave it to Lainey," the blonde shrugged, a serious smile on her face, making it obvious that she thought this penny would somehow make all the difference in the world.
Emily tipped her head in Kelly's direction, and the two women laughed as the OB leaned over and picked the penny up. "Yeah, well, Lainey gave this to her," she said, still laughing. "So, I think your concept's a bust, sweetheart, unless luck entails her former lover shacking up with some blonde bimbo-"
"Not helping," the intern moaned, holding a hand over her face.
"Oh, suck it up, Quartermaine," Kelly said, throwing her arm over her friend's shoulder and pulling her into a hug. "The way I see it, you're totally kicking ass with your resolution…Well, as long as you've stopped penning nookie dates into your memo book."
"There are no nookie dates to memo anymore," she moaned, chewing her lower lip. "Which is all my fault. Patrick Drake doesn't date women."
"But he sure knows how to lay them," her friend quipped, squeezing her shoulder. Before Emily could give her the evil eye or reply, Kelly smacked the table, and the penny clanged against it. "Alright, ladies, it's time to perk up and have some fun."
"Wait…wait…wait," Robin said, holding up her hand and trying to slow her very inebriated friends down just a bit. "I just got here. You're going to have to explain this game to me."
"This penny," Emily slurred, holding it up in front of the brunette. "This is the penny, and you take it, and you flip it into a shot glass."
"One of which belongs to each of us," Nadine replied, clearly being the most sober, aside from Robin. "If it lands in your glass, you have to take the shot, and then take a truth or dare."
"Is this even real?" she asked, looking around at her friends.
"The shots are green!" Elizabeth cried, grabbing the penny from Emily's hand. "Who cares if it's real?" She motioned for Kelly to pour Robin a shot and slide it to the middle of the table. "Okay, my turn-"
"Actually it was mine," Emily cut in, to which Elizabeth rolled her eyes.
"You're too slow, Em," she muttered, concentrating as she held her hand in a fist and balanced the penny against her thumb. "Here goes!" She flicked the penny, somehow managing to send it over her head and onto the dirty bar room floor. "Oh, hell."
"There is no way you are putting that in my drink now," Robin said, reaching for the shot and tossing it back. "I hope you cleaned that penny before you started this whole debacle."
"I got it from Lainey," Emily interrupted with a shrug, grabbing her shot from the center of the table.
"I gave it to Lainey, but I got it from Nadine," Elizabeth muttered, taking her shot.
"And I picked it up in the parking lot," the blonde shrugged, grimacing at how disgusting that sounded, before sucking her shot down.
"The bar parking lot?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow. "You do realize that hookers, drug dealers, and drunks frequent that parking lot?"
"Are we the drunks?" Emily asked, reaching for the nearly empty bottle of tequila.
"No worries," Kelly said, waving her hand at Robin. "The alcohol killed the germs."
"Oh, sure," Robin replied, rolling her eyes. "Tell yourself that. You're the one who has to worry about-"
"Zip it!" the OB cut in, clapping her hands hastily. "None of this talk about how HIV is so ruining your life. Cry me a river, Scorpio."
Her mouth fell open, and she stared at her friend in disbelief.
"She's right," Elizabeth frowned. "You have a great life, Robin. Who cares about germs and cocktails and all that. Just enjoy it."
"Especially when you have men in really nice suits giving you attention," Nadine threw in nonchalantly, as Emily passed her the tequila bottle.
"How do you know-"
"Oh, we know," Emily murmured with a nod, as she leaned over to the doctor. "We all got together and dwindled down the options. "I had the stuck up surgeon. Elizabeth had the man in the leather jacket. Nadine got the dweeb. Lainey got Dr. What's His Face. And you got Johnny O."
Robin clenched her jaw, suddenly perking up as she turned her attention to Kelly. "So who did you have?"
"Just who I was supposed to," Kelly replied, placing a hand on her chest. "Myself…God, I love this song." She jumped up from her chair, grabbing Robin by the arm and pulling her to her feet. "Have I taught my beloved tequila sisters nothing?...So, you've got some boy woes with the jerk, and the leather, and the nerd, and the all too fine man who knows how to fill out a suit. Don't you know what to do when all else fails?"
All four girls looked at her with smiles and arched eyebrows.
Kelly rolled her eyes, motioning for them to get up. "You dance, ladies! You freaking dance!"
"Five beers," Emily called out to Coleman. "I don't care what kind as long as they're green!"
"Make it six," came Lainey's voice beside her, and the brunette squealed when she saw her. "You came back!"
"Well, it was either that or continue getting rude, drunken phone calls from Kelly," she replied, as her friend threw her drunk body into her arms.
"We're having so much fun, Lain," she said, tossing down her money on the counter as Coleman approached them with their drinks. "You'll be so glad that you came back."
"I hope so," the psychologist muttered wryly, picking up as many beers as possible. After all, she was the sober one, and it seemed highly impossible for Emily to carry them back without spilling.
"It's an all out Girl's Night," the brunette said firmly, holding a beer in each hand. "Who needs men?"
Lainey laughed, raising her eyebrow as she nodded over Emily's shoulder. "Over Patrick, huh?"
"Yes, Emily Q has tried to be a slut, and she can't do it," she replied, tossing her hair over her shoulder. "Who needs some stuffy, self-absorbed doctor to feel good about themselves?"
"I believe you forgot attractive," replied a deep voice behind her, causing Emily's face to fall immediately.
"Lainey, please don't-"
"You got yourself into this one," she interrupted, taking the extra beer from her friend and balancing it in her arms as she made her way back to their table.
Taking a deep breath, Emily took a long swig of her beer and turned around to face her previous suitor. Not that you could call him that. Everyone knew Patrick Drake didn't suit anyone except himself.
"Dr. Drake," she said, with a formal nod.
"Dr. Quartermaine," he replied with a wink, as if he was turned on by this exchange, which only upset her even more.
She bit her lip thinking about how he hadn't called her in a month, and how he only spoke to her at the hospital, and how those conversations only revolved around work. This was after not only sleeping with her in a seedy bar room, but also in the on-call room the next morning. She could excuse the drunken lay, but he was very sober when he'd pinned her up against the shower wall.
"Are you okay?" she asked, tipping her head and looking up at him. "You just…You look a little thirsty."
He grinned slyly as if he'd gotten an 'in' of some kind. "Just so happens I was coming to get a drink."
"Let me help you with that," she replied, turning briefly to the bar, then back around and tossing her beer in his face.
"What the hell, Emily?" he cried, wiping his face with the back of his hand.
"What?" she asked, backing away from him, and waving a hand by her ear as if she couldn't hear him. "You don't like that kind of in your face service?"
She didn't hear his reply because her friends surrounded her, and they broke down into a pile of drunken hysterics while Patrick stood there soaking wet and dumbfounded.
"Nurse Nadine," the Jackal said softly, approaching the blonde as she bobbed her head to the music and flipped through the jukebox looking for the girls' requests.
She glanced in their direction, not surprised to see they'd all stopped dancing and were watching Spinelli closely. They were evil friends.
"Hey, Spinelli," she replied, as he stepped up beside her. She forced a smile at him, her mind filling with flashes from their night together at the bar.
It wasn't that it was bad, and it wasn't that it was good. She just wasn't ready and neither was he, and she almost felt guilty for taking advantage of the poor guy when he was in such an inebriated state.
"The Jackal feared you loathed him," he murmured, swallowing hard, "seeing as our interactions since the last time-"
"I'm sorry," she interrupted, her face filling with embarrassment.
She really had treated him awful, blowing him off when he stopped by the hospital and trying to pretend that nothing had happened. So much for being kind to the best guy in the bar, and the one she should have been happy to go home with.
"Come on, Nadine!" she heard Kelly call out behind her.
Dropping the quarters into the jukebox, she glanced down at the disc list and pressed in several random numbers. Glancing back at Spinelli, she gave him an apologetic smile and looked in the direction of her friends.
"I understand," he said with a nod. "I won't keep you ladies from celebrating the day of the Irishman, the whiskey, and the potato famine…All important factors in today's world."
"Look, we'll talk soon," she replied with a laugh. "It's just…All the girls have boy troubles and all that. It's a hardcore girl's night."
He nodded, but didn't say anything, and she found herself feeling even guiltier. Muttering a half-hearted goodbye, she started for her friends, stopping only when he called after her.
"Yeah?" she asked, turning around.
"Uh, well," he stammered, stepping closer to her. "The Jackal understands that our last interaction was one of epic proportions, and well…He fears…" Sighing with frustration, he tugged his hat from his head, and twisted it around in his hands as he stared at her. "Was it bad?"
Her heart swelled at his words, and she leaned in to press a soft kiss against his cheek. "No, it wasn't bad at all," she replied, letting her cheek linger against his. "In fact, Nurse Nadine looks forward to doing it again…Someday."
"Well, well, well," Leo muttered, eyeing Lainey as she stepped out of the ladies room and started to head back into the bar.
"Do we have to do this?" she asked, taking a deep breath.
"Do what? Pretend that we aren't still completely hot for each other?" he asked, arching an eyebrow as he stepped towards her. He cornered her, placing one of his hands on the wall beside her head.
"This is why doctors don't sleep with patients," she moaned, leaning her head back against the wall."
"This is why they do," he replied, gazing at her with glazed over bedroom eyes.
She almost laughed aloud, wishing that Kelly was around to see this. "Leo, sweetheart, you're a great guy, but…"
"I don't like buts," he groaned, shaking his head. "We were having fun. Let's have-"
"You were having fun," she interrupted, frowning at him. "I was-I was barely getting started before it was over."
"What?" he gasped, chuckling to himself as if it were some kind of joke.
She nodded, wondering if she should feel guilty, but he was drunk and probably wouldn't remember. "It wasn't good, Leo, and I think we should just part ways."
"Excuse me," he said dramatically, placing a hand on his chest. "I know how to satisfy-"
"Please, don't," she interrupted, stifling a laugh against her hand. "We should pretend that entire night never happened. Hell, I barely remember it, so-"
"Exactly, which means we need to try this sober, because that day in your office-"
"She's a grieving woman!" Kelly cried, rushing down the hall to her friend. "Back away! She doesn't know what she's doing!"
"Or what the hell she's talking about," he replied, throwing his hands up and stepping away. "But hey, there's plenty of Leo to go around for women who actually want it."
Kelly raised an eyebrow and watched as the doctor walked away with far too much pride in his step. "Did you tell him he was bad?" she asked her friend, a pleased grin on her face.
"Yes," she admitted, looping her arm through her friend's and steering them back to the rest of their dancing crowd. "He's lucky. I didn't get to tell him that there's really not enough of Leo to go around."
"So, you just going to ignore me all night or what, Doctor?" Johnny asked, sliding up beside Robin as she waited to order another round of green beers for her friends.
"I wasn't ignoring you," she replied, knowing it was only half a lie. She really had been too preoccupied with her friends, but that didn't mean she hadn't noticed him from the second he walked in the door.
"You give a man the best night of his life, and you disappear without a single word," he said, lifting a hand to her face and tucking her hair behind her ear.
"Something tells me Johnny O'Brien has had a handful of best nights," she muttered, rolling her eyes and trying to wave Coleman down. "And I highly doubt I am anything more than a bleep on your radar."
"Hell, you're the first one that didn't put out," he teased with a grin. "That's more than any other one has done."
"Or less," she replied, calling her order out to Coleman.
"Glass half full, glass half empty," he shrugged, tossing down a twenty on the bar that she promptly slid back to him.
"I've got money," she said, throwing her own twenty down.
"Awfully presumptuous of you," he replied, throwing his money back down. "I'm ordering my own damn drink."
She laughed, shaking her head as she called out for Coleman to hurry up. She didn't know why, but she felt the need to get as far away from Johnny as possible, like she wouldn't be able to control herself.
"Here you go, little lady," Coleman said, setting her beers down in front of her.
Johnny pushed the two twenties his way. "Take those beers over to the girls, will ya? Robin's a little tipsy. We wouldn't want her having any party fouls."
"I am just fine, O'Brien," she hissed, scowling as the bartender grabbed the beers before she had a chance to stop him.
"You know what-" she started, but was cut off by Johnny grabbing her by the shoulders and placing his lips over her's.
He kissed her soundly with just enough force to take her breath away and just when she was starting to get into it, he pushed her away and winked. "Take that back to your girlfriends," he muttered, before turning around and disappearing through the crowd.
"What are you doing?"
Elizabeth glanced up to see Jason standing above her as she sat up on her knees, from where she had just been crawling across the floor.
"Well, uh, it's a funny story," she squeaked, as he kneeled down in front of her. "I lost the penny."
"A penny?" he asked, a bemused smile spreading across his face.
"Not a penny," she muttered, looking down at the floor. "The penny."
She knew from his face she sounded like a complete idiot, but she didn't know how to explain it. The day had started as a total bust and somehow along the way the penny had been passed along, and it was the sole reason they got so drunk and started dancing, and well, they wanted it back.
"I flicked it, and it flew over my head," she said seriously, opening and closing one of her hands that she'd accidentally placed into some sticky spot on the floor. She was praying it was liquor, knowing that at this place, it could have been anything.
"You're drunk," he replied, shaking his head, and she was mostly thankful that he looked more amused than annoyed.
"I know," she said, holding a hand over her face. "Please don't be mad at me."
"I'm not," he replied, grabbing her by her hands and pulling her to her feet. "Only a drunk would crawl around on this floor."
"It's your floor," she pointed out, noticing how he glanced down at her sticky hand, and she felt embarrassed.
"Which is why I know not to crawl, sit, or walk barefoot across it," he said, tugging her towards the bar.
She couldn't be sure, but she could almost swear she heard Kelly making some kind of Leather Jacket Man comment in the distance.
"Wait here," he muttered, pushing through the swinging door that led to the other side of the bar, only to reappear seconds later with a wet cloth.
Taking her hand in his, he gently wiped at her palm, and she couldn't help but grin. "You didn't have to-"
"I didn't want you to crawl to the bathroom to try and wash your hands," he teased, wiping her other palm for good measure. When he finished he turned around and tossed it on one of the shelves, and then looked back at her. "So, I'm getting off soon."
"Yeah," she replied, not exactly sure where he was going with it, but then she remembered. "Oh, shit…We were s'posed to take your cycle out and all that. I was going to get my first ride." Frowning, she bit her lip and looked up at him. "I don't know if I can…My friends are all waiting… And I…Crap, I'm sorry. They just have all these problems, and Kelly is probably the only one who would be okay with me sliding on your bike and riding off, but then she'd want all kinds of dirty details, and-"
"Elizabeth," he interrupted, cupping her face in one of his hands and tipping her chin upwards. "It's okay."
"Are you sure? I don't want you to think that I'm blowing you off or anything," she replied, leaning into his palm.
"I don't," he said with a shrug. "I know the last thing to come between is a bunch of women…I think it was dancing the boys away that Kelly called it."
"You talked to her?" she asked, grimacing at the thought.
"Yeah," he laughed. "When she ordered drinks earlier she mentioned it. I think she wanted me to know my place."
"Oh, gosh," she muttered, forcing him to move his hand from her face when she moved to hold her hands over it. "My friends are idiots, and I'm drunk, and-"
"I happen to enjoy you like this," he cut in, tugging her hands away and looking at her. "Though I'm starting to wonder what sober Elizabeth Webber is like."
"Well," she said, trying to act cool and not show just how good that made her feel. "I work at the hospital. You know where to find me."
"I do," he replied, still holding her hands in his.
"Good, then you do that," she said, glancing over her shoulder to see all her friends watching. "I should get back to them before they do something even more embarrassing."
"Alright, I'll see you later," he replied, letting go of her hands. She nodded, already missing his touch, and just when she started to walk away, he grabbed her by her shoulder and spun her around.
"Take this," he muttered, holding a penny out to her. "It's not the lucky one, but you can pretend."
"Thank you," she replied, closing her palm tightly around the coin. He nodded this time, and started to walk away, but Elizabeth reached out, grabbing him by the arm.
"It's only fair that I give you something in return," she said coyly, sliding her arm around his neck and drawing him as close as she could, the swinging door preventing her from being right next to him.
Stretching on her tiptoes, she took his mouth in hers, shoving the hoops and hollers of her friends out of her head. She moaned softly against his mouth when his arms slid around her waist, and his tongue parted her lips. She wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted, but it was enough to leave her out of breath and aching for more.
"I'll find you soon," he whispered, kissing her chastely before turning back to his bartending duties.
She heard laughter behind her and didn't have to turn around to know it was her friends.
"Now that," Kelly murmured, throwing her arm over Elizabeth's shoulder, "is how you keep them coming back for more."
Rolling her eyes, she tossed her head in the direction of their designated dance floor that they'd made just for the occasion. "Come on, we've got dancing to do."