"What I want to know is when it occurred to you that the black bag would be necessary," Claude said, raising his voice to be heard over the loud music. He was following Sebastian to a table in the back of the club, glad to be away from the large mass of bodies entangling themselves in each other.
"I dunno," Sebastian shrugged, still grinning. "I just saw it lying around and used it spur of the moment."
"Never a good idea," Claude said under his breath. He had learned from experience that it should be illegal for Sebastian to do anything spur of the moment. It always ended badly. Though Claude had been unwillingly ripped from the safety of his apartment, he hoped the same rules wouldn't apply to tonight.
"Don't complain," Sebastian said, sliding into a chair. "You're gonna be fine. What's one night of partying going to do to you?" Claude sat next to Sebastian, taking a swig of his drink.
"You really want me to make a list?" he asked, deciding to be a smart ass. Both he and Sebastian knew the list of possible situations they would end up in before the night was over could be endless.
"No," Sebastian grumbled, turning to his own drink. "Just shut up and drink your beer." There was a beat of silence between the two of them. Claude smirked to himself. Sebastian enjoyed being a pain in the ass when it was time to study, so Claude was well within his rights to give Sebastian just as much crap when they were out.
"We're over here," Claude heard Bard say. He glanced around, searching for the tall blonde. Almost as soon as he saw Bard, he saw the two females that were with him: Hannah and Mey Rin. Claude never had a problem with Hannah. If he were straight, she'd probably be the kind of girl he'd like. She was quiet and only assertive when she needed to be. Her passiveness was especially apparent around Mey Rin. Mey Rin was loud and boisterous, always dragging Hannah along. Claude supposed he was jealous of Mey Rin. She had always had a thing for Sebastian, and though Sebastian had never really accepted her advances, he hadn't shunned them either. Sebastian and Mey Rin told everyone they were only friends, but Claude wasn't an idiot.
As the trio sat, Mey Rin instantly engaged Sebastian in a conversation. Claude listened to what he could hear of their conversation for as long as possible, before finally losing interest. Mey Rin had convinced Sebastian to dance with her, and Bard had long since disappeared. Hannah and Claude sat at the table relishing in the silence for several moments.
"You got dragged into this too, didn't you?" Claude asked, taking another drink. Hannah nodded. He flashed an understanding smile. "Here's to the designated drivers," he laughed, raising his beer. She laughed, following suit.
"God, Mey Rin is disgusting sometimes," Hannah said, her eyes looking out into the mass of jumbled bodies. Claude didn't bother to follow her gaze. He'd seen Sebastian and Mey Rin together loads of times. He wasn't sure he could stomach the sight right now, anyway.
"How's Luka?" Claude asked, attempting to make conversation. Hannah shrugged, blushing a little.
"He's fine," she said. "He's coming to visit in a few weeks."
"Just think," Claude said, teasingly, "Next year, he'll have graduated. He'll be all grown up and out of high school." His comment earned an elbow jab from Hannah.
"Oh, shut up," she said, laughing a little. "You can't judge." It was true; Claude was guilty of having dated a high schooler. And one much younger than Luka. He preferred to stick to the belief that it was Hannah's fault. She'd introduced them, after all. "How is Alois by the way?" Hannah asked, smirking at him.
"Haven't talked to him since the break up," Claude said, feeling a little guilty.
"You haven't talked to him for a year?" Hannah asked in disbelief. Claude merely nodded, trying to appear as apathetic as possible. "Why not?"
"It's a long story," he admitted. "But mostly, it's because I just want him to be able to let go." He sighed. His relationship with Alois seemed like it had occurred millennia ago. He was young and naïve when he'd dated the boy. Alois was younger and far more naïve. It was a rocky relationship, resulting in a lot of fights. It got to the point where Claude felt like he was Alois' mother more than his boyfriend. Alois was always finding some way to get in trouble or some other boy to make eyes at, and hated when Claude scolded him for it. In the end, Claude realized that they were better off apart.
Claude glanced over at Hannah, who'd been staring at him wordlessly for the past few moments. He half expected her to be angry, but there was a small smile twitching at the edge of her lips.
"What?" he asked, almost hesitantly.
"You're impossible to stay mad at," she said shrugging. "I expected you to come up with some lame ass excuse, but I find that you actually care about Alois' feelings."
"Of course I care," he said, almost offended. "I'm not a total asshole." Hannah laughed and a comfortable lull in conversation fell between them. Their peace was short lived, however, as they were approached by a tall, thin boy with an apparent interest in Hannah.
Claude tried not to pay too much attention to their conversation, assuming Hannah would go dance with the boy. Claude's assumptions were wrong, however, and there was a sharp noise. As Claude glanced over, he saw the boy clutching his cheek, and Hannah shaking with rage.
"Try that again and you'll regret it," she said darkly. She settled back into her seat, thought the boy didn't seem as daunted by Hannah's willingness to fight back as she thought he would.
"Don't be such a prude," he said, walking towards her again. Claude glared at the boy, catching his wrist just as he reached for Hannah.
"She told you to knock it off," Claude said darkly. "I think you'd best leave." He released the boy's wrist. Hannah gave him a glance of silent thanks.
"Well is she with you?" the boy asked, clearly not taking the hint. "'Cause if not, I'm going to make my move."
"You've made it," Claude said, growing agitated. "You were rejected. Take a walk, pretty boy." The obnoxious boy laughed loudly. It was becoming increasingly more apparent just how trashed he was.
"Pretty boy?" he asked. "Gee, I've never had a guy call me that before. Are you into that kind of shit?" Claude sighed.
"Yes," he said, bluntly. "But trust me, you're not my type," he stood, knowing full well what was about to happen. "Are you going to leave, or what?"
"Not without-" the boy reached for Hannah, but she grabbed his wrist, stopping his advances. Claude took advantage of the opportunity, and knocked the boy several feet backwards with a punch to the jaw. Claude had been in plenty of fights in his short life. He never enjoyed them, seeing as he usually got his ass kicked. But he figured he'd have an even chance this time, since his opponent was drunk.
He was wrong.
The boy retaliated quickly, knocking Claude backwards. All Claude felt was a stinging in his jaw, and thick warmth that he assumed was blood. He was lightheaded. For a drunk kid, he still packed a punch.
"Oh my God," Hannah said, kneeling down at his side. "Are you alright, Claude?" Claude, who was absolutely certain he'd lost several thousand brain cells, just laughed. He turned his head to the site and spat out the blood that was in his mouth.
"This is the last time I'm ever going to be nice to you," he smiled. His rational brain- or what was left of it- was wondering why the hell he though sarcasm was appropriate at the moment. He stood, staggering slightly.
"If you don't interfere, I'm gone," said the boy. "But if you wanna play the gallant hero game, I'm gonna hand you your ass."
"Who's your friend, Claude?" Sebastian asked, staggering up to the two of them. Great. Claude was hardly equipped to handle situation at hand. The last thing he needed to worry about was babysitting a trashed Sebastian.
Sebastian glanced between Claude, Hannah, and the boy, somehow picking up the vibes of hostility- even in his drunken state.
"Shit, Claude," he said, his eyes widening. "Are you bleeding?" Claude brought his wrist to his mouth, attempting to wipe away the blood that must be there. He winced at the contact. Sebastian turned to the boy, trying to be intimidating. "The hell do you think you're doing?" he asked.
"Defending myself," the boy said, sticking his chin out defiantly. "I didn't do anything to him."
"So sexual harassment isn't grounds to get beat up?" Claude asked, some of the feeling in his head starting to return to him.
"I don't know what you're talking about," the boy said, obviously trying to cover up his earlier actions.
"Maybe I should refresh your memory," Sebastian said, lunging at the boy. Claude was sure he was missing something. He was under the impression that, when drunk, one lost most of their sense of coordination and logic. Sebastian's logic was clearly diminished, but he lunged gracefully (for a drunkard) at the boy. Claude could hardly hold his own when he was sober. It wasn't that he was weak, he was far from it, he'd just never been good at fighting. His eyes tried to follow the boy and Sebastian, but they were moving too fast. Perhaps Claude's lightheadedness hindered him from keeping up.
After a moment, the boy collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain. Sebastian, still standing, walked toward Claude and Hannah victoriously. He had a dumb grin on his face, though it was quite apparent he'd gotten his fair share of a beating. He was sure to have a swollen lip similar to Claude's, a black eye, and several bruises.
"Problem solved," he said, still grinning. "How come you guys have all the fun without me?" he asked, his face falling a little.
"I'd hardly call a bar fight fun," Claude said, leading Sebastian to a chair. Hannah tagged along behind.
"You two are lucky that didn't end badly," she said, though it was apparent she was grateful for their actions on her behalf.
"It did for that ass," Sebastian said, jerking his head in the direction of the boy.
"I wasn't about to let him do anything to you, Hannah," Claude said, as they both ignored Sebastian's drunken interjection.
"I'm sure you'll question that when you see your fat lip," she smirked. Claude hadn't really thought about it for a moment, but as soon as his thoughts returned to his mouth, the pain flooded back once more. He gingerly ran his tongue along the inside of his bottom lip.
"Yeah," Sebastian said, leaning forward. He took on a more serious tone. "How is your lip?" He gently placed his cool fingers against Claude's swollen lips.
"Painful," Claude said, slightly jerking back at Sebastian's touch. The cool temperature of his fingers was soothing, but the pressure was almost more than he could stand.
A smile fluttered to Sebastian's face. "You never were very good at fighting."
"And you were never very good at staying out of trouble," Claude retorted. "Come on. I think we've lived enough for one night. We need to get you home." Claude helped Sebastian to stand.
"Let me take you home," Hannah offered. "It's the least I can do."
"We'll be fine," Claude assured her. "I'm sober, remember?" Hannah shook her head.
"You hit your head on the floor pretty hard. You might have a concussion. You're not driving. Besides, I'm not going to stay here." She stood on the other side of Sebastian and helped Claude lead him out of the club.
Just as Claude had predicted; Sebastian's spur of the moment Friday night? Horrible idea.
A/N: Sorry for the long break between updates! I've been super busy with the curse known as Chemistry II! I was also kind of suffering from writer's block... and I just happened to get over it. :) I would like to thank all of you for the lovely reviews and for adding this story to alert\favorites. Special thanks to Mademoiselle Violet for being my first reviewer (I would have sent a PM, but I couldn't... D:) Thank you all!
