I wasn't sure how I expected Cisco to kiss, but I would have never imagined him to be this good at it. My mind reeled, but I couldn't form any coherent thought as he held my face in his hands. I was about to grip a handful of his hair, when he abruptly pushed me away against my shoulders. "Wait…," he looked startled. "I hope you wanted me to kiss you or else I am really sor—"

Before he could finish, I pulled him into a kiss again. When we finally stopped for breath, his eyes were wide, "Wow," he managed. I giggled at his reaction.

Grabbing his hand, I leaned into his ear, "Come on Romeo, we have an open tab to attend to."

We made our way to the bar to order another round of drinks. Once we made it through the crowd, my world spun, again. The abundance of alcohol I consumed was hitting me hard now.

Cisco noticed me grab the bar to recover my loss of equilibrium. "Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine. I just need to use the restroom. Do you know where it is?"

"Yeah. Go straight back and turn left down the hall." He guided me out of the crowd. "I'll walk with you."

"No, really. I'm good. Stay and order us more drinks." I paused and looked at him sternly. "Not shots."

"One Maui in a cup coming up!" he shouted back to me. I guess that's one name to call my pineapple juice and Malibu rum drink.

I did have to go to the restroom, that wasn't a lie. However, I could use some water splashed on my face or at the very least have a moment to compose myself. I followed the path Cisco directed and found it a struggle to walk in a straight line. Thankfully, the restrooms weren't too far from where I left Cisco, so locating the logo of a woman in a dress, or as I liked to look at it, a woman in a cape, wasn't too hard to find. After I accomplished what I came there to do, I assessed my visage in the mirror afraid I might find a train wreck. My freckled cheeks appeared blushed, no surprise with the alcohol. My mascara held surprisingly well, which I was thankful for, but my eyeliner was rocker chic smeared around my brown eyes. I corrected the smudges as best I could with my finger and fluffed my shoulder-length auburn hair in attempts to give it a messy volume. Satisfied with my appearance and feeling a bit off-balance, I followed the path back to Cisco. As I am walking, a tingle crept up my spine, similar to the sensation of my pathokinesis; it twined around the side of my stomach and began to burn as if sensing someone watching me. At the corner of my eye, I found the black figure, my shadow now, I thought.

I decided I would try to catch up to it and find out what or who it is. It's shape twitched the more I fixed my focus on it. The black shadowy figure seemed to shimmer and wave in and out of the fabric of space. As it would disappear and reappear it was farther down the hallway. I followed it, but as I did the hallway seemed to become narrower and stretched in length, as though transforming into a tunnel in which there was no light. My heart began to race in my buzzed haze. I touched the walls for some form of an anchor to reality as I hoped this illusion was not. My strides felt heavy, much more of a climb than a walk. It was beside me then, accompanying me along on this terrifying journey. The black shadowy figure made me feel as though it were taunting me, begging me to follow it now. To where, I didn't know. It lurched forward causing its composition to glitch like a pixelated hologram. My breath caught and I feared I was following it straight into hell. I urged my body to turn around back where I came from to rid myself of this being, but it sped towards me. We were face to… well, I wouldn't call what it had a face, it blurred and contorted making my knees buckle. I felt sick as I was on my hands and knees staring at the floor.

In the distance, I could hear shouting and music. I attempted to focus on the shouting- that was my anchor. It became more audible. "Lena!" I heard the shout now clearly. "Lena!" It was Cisco. I braced myself back up on my feet and stumbled forward following the light that Cisco created. The light tore a slit in the tunnel and I could see him, his palms were up as I made my way out of the hallway that appeared normal now. I gripped his hands so tight for stability and comfort. He pulled me against his chest, cradling the back of my head as I nestled into his shoulder. Cisco's hand consoling my back helped ease the stress from whatever that was I experienced. "What happened?" he asked.

So many thoughts fluttered through my mind. Did Cisco see what I saw? Probably not, since he asked what happened. Should I tell him? No, I don't want him to know I'm going crazy. But the question remains: What happened? I still don't know.

Once I had calmed my nerves enough to speak, I lifted my head off his shoulder to look at him. "I don't know, maybe it was a panic attack," I lied. "I've gotten those before. It means I need more to drink," I said slyly. I definitely need ad rink after what I just went through.

Cisco studied me far more closely than I would have liked. "It's a good thing I got you your Malibu Barbie drink, then." He smiled and held my hand. "Come on."

My "Malibu Barbie" drink was waiting there for me, as was his beer for him. We nursed our beverages in silence for a moment. This silence gave me time to allow what just happened to sink in and analyze what exactly that was and what it means to my sanity. All of my assessments equaled a negative prognosis.

Before I knew it, I was almost done with my drink. How long was I zoned out? When I turned to Cisco, he was watching me. "Welcome back," he said.

"What?" I asked.

"You left for a moment there. Something on your mind?" He rested his hand atop mine.

I was definitely more than buzzed now. I bit my lip and noted it was practically numb. My mind felt jumbled and words made less sense. "Something weird happened," I blurted.

"Another one of these," I told a bartender while tapping my glass. Cisco shook his head at the bartender and said "Water." He then leaned closer to me.

"What do you mean 'something weird happened'?" His eyebrows furrowed.

Searching for a distraction, my eyes zoomed in on his t-shirt, which sparked me to start singing the song of a level in Mario Brothers. When Cisco looked confused, I said, "Your shirt."

He smiled. "Right. But Lena, you said 'something weird happened'. What happened that was weird? You mean when you were walking back from the restroom?"

I was laughing. Oh god, I'm far-gone. The bartender placed a water in front of me. I grabbed it and took a big gulp. "Hallway stretched, black shadow." I sniggered. "I'm going crazy."

I waved the bartender for another drink but Cisco alerted the bartender he was ready to close his tab. A subtle tingle began creeping gently in my core. I was hysterical laughing at this point. "You don't have to pay." I put my fingers to my temple, mimicking his gesture earlier in the evening.

The bartender brought back Cisco's card without a receipt in a confused daze. Realization washed over Cisco's face, so he called out, "Excuse me," attempting to get the bartender's attention. He tried again and finally the bartender turned around. "I believe you forgot our tab," Cisco urged. The bartender appeared confused at first, but his face altered into surprise as he realized what he had done. Still a bit unsure of himself, the bartender left, arriving with our receipt. Cisco quickly filled it out and then grabbed my hand guiding me outside. "I know I joked about free drinks, but I just can't go through with that. Catholic guilt is such a killjoy," he said. "Also, it would be pain explaining this to the cops whenever he came to."

I leaned on him as we strolled on the sidewalk outside. "I should have known you were a lightweight, Chiquita." His eyes looked at me with concern.

"You're a lightweight," I said lamely.

He called for a cab while I rested more of my weight on him. Brushing a strand of hair away from my eyes with his warm finger, he laughed at me as I was drowsily singing the Taylor Swift song that was playing in the bar when we left. A cab pulled up by the curb; Cisco told the driver an address and we were off. I rested my head on Cisco's shoulder. His arm draped around me as he brought me closer to him.

When we arrived at our destination, it didn't look familiar. "Where are we?" I asked.

"My place," he answered.