"Thanks for coming to my birthday!" James shouted through the din of the club music.

"No problem! I'm having fun! I'm watching you, though. Don't drink too much!"

"I'll try!" James winked, I resisted the temptation to roll my eyes and he grinned.

"Go! Those girls, over there are giving me daggers." He laughed and made his way to the dance floor.

I squeezed past the many people outside the dance floor and headed for the bar. I was suddenly roughly pushed and I bumped into someone.

"Hey! Watch where you're fucking going." Paul growled. His face was still annoyed when he realised it was me.

"I see you've returned to your normal self."

"Ha. Ha. Jared's killing my buzz. Apparently I'm his wingman."

"OK..."

"He's just sitting around waiting for something to happen. Why doesn't he get off his ass and do something about it?"

Apparently, I'm Paul's therapist when he's got some drink into his system.

"Bye, Paul." He grunted in reply.

I ordered a simple juice concoction with only a small amount of alcohol. I'm not much of a drinker. Don't get me wrong I drink every now and then, just not enough to end up in a stranger's home or not remembering the night before. I don't mind being a "revelry deprived woman."

As I waited for my drink, I looked around the dance floor and abruptly did a double take. He looked exactly like… It was impossible. The bartender had to tap me twice on the shoulder to get my attention. I took my drink and started to sip. I flicked my eyes back to him. He was looking at me. Oh god, he had caught me gawking at him. He smiled attractively and walked towards me.

"Hi, I'm Lucas. I saw you-"

"Uh, yeah. Sorry about that, you look like someone I used to know. I'm Kim." His ice blue eyes contrasted vividly with his dark brown hair. He knew he looked good but what threw me off was the expression on his eyes. It wasn't right.

He raised his eyebrows a millimeter, as if to say: "you know you wanna make out it with me."

"Do you wanna dance?" He asked pleasantly.

"Sorry, no thank you."

"Oh, come. Just one small dance."

"No… I have a boyfriend."

"So where is he?" My mood quickly turned sour. It was my turn to raise my eyebrows.

He suddenly wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me against him. I immediately tried to push myself off of him but he pulled me closer and whispered into my ear, "Stop trying to play hard to get. I want you too." He smelled of alcohol and strong men's perfume. My heart raced and it was nothing to do with excitement.

I wanted to do what people did in movies where I would whisper back into his ear and reply with a witty remark and he would leave and get the message. I didn't do this. He still looked so much like him.

His free hand unexpectedly grabbed neck and he kissed me. He had a death grip hold on me but my lips were tightly closed. I took my right hand, balled up my fist tightly and punched his cheek as hard as I possibly could. He staggered backwards but grinned. I stared at him sickeningly. He was nothing like him. I was glad there was blood on his teeth and his cheek was turning red.

My own hand was beginning to throb but I ignored this. People in vicinity of us were staring. I examined the scene and realised I wanted to hurt the son of a bitch a whole lot more. I couldn't bring myself to do it. I had already drawn attention to myself. I needed to hurt him so badly, but I couldn't. I needed to kick his groin into infinity but in reality I just stood there.

I was the one who looked weak now, the twisted bastard was still grinning. Before I could lose my dignity further, someone grabbed my hand. It was Jared and he began to drag me at the front entrance and I let him.

"Wait here." He said quietly, I couldn't see his expression. I don't know why but the tone of his voice made me obey. He was back a minute later and I was still rooted to the spot.

"You got him pretty good." He muttered.

"Thanks." I replied monotonously.

"Did he try to-"

"It doesn't matter."

"Really?" He frowned. In the dim light he still looked attractive.

Of course he knew it mattered. But why would I tell him? But for some reason, I wanted to tell him everything. I wanted him to know who Lucas reminded me of and I wanted to tell him how a stranger had taken my first kiss.

I didn't believe in the kind of thing where there would be fireworks on your first kiss and it would be perfect. Surely a kiss would be enjoyed whoever it was with as long as you both liked one another; but this was reality. What I knew was that I didn't want it to be with a stranger in a nightclub who had only known my name for less than a minute. I wanted to tell myself that it didn't matter and I didn't care, but it did. I suddenly felt drained.

Jared read my mind. "Are you leaving?"

"Yeah, I think I'll call my brother to pick me up." I didn't want to ruin Hannah and Chloe's night. They wouldn't have minded going home, after all, they were my friends. But, it would mean telling them what happened. I wasn't ready for that yet.

"It's fine. I'll drive you home," he shrugged. "I wasn't enjoying myself anyway."

I was surprised and embarrassed at his kindness. "No, it's OK. What about Paul? He came here with you, right? How's he gonna get home?"

He looked at me oddly for a second but replied, "Trust me, he'll be fine."

I bit my lip, hard. I really did just want to go home and collapse on my bed but I felt bad that Jared would be driving me home... again. I was having an inner battle and the Jared side ended up winning (again). To hell with my embarrassment, nice people were rare.

I texted a non-suspicious message for Chloe and Hannah, which was hopefully sufficient enough, so they wouldn't think it was the other kind of friend.

"Thanks, Jared. I really appreciate this."

"No problem." I didn't feel uncomfortable this time. I felt a little too comfortable. The seat was soft and the pattering of rain was calming. The few drinks I had made my stomach feel warm even though my hands were cold and the soreness of my feet was already fading. I fought my very best to stop my eyes from closing. The last thing I remembered was the darkness outside, the many raindrops on my window glinting slightly from the car lights and Jared's quiet breathing.

A hand shook my arm gently. I could faintly hear a voice. I felt myself grimace and lifted the blanket higher onto my face. It smelled nice. The hand moved to the base my neck and I leaned into the touch. It was warm and slightly rough. The voice was clearer this time and said my name again. I grimaced again. I snapped to my senses and sat up rapidly. I banged my forehead against Jared's and reflexively put one hand on my forehead and the other on his.

"Sorry!" I said. I didn't realise how close he was. He chuckled and lightly took off my hand on his forehead. He saw some of my knuckles were starting to bruise and he brushed them carefully with his thumb. I quickly took my hand away and said,

"Thanks, for the ride."

I was still engulfed in his jacket. I gave it to him.

"You blush." He observed.

"What? No I don't."

"Yeah, you do."

"No one's ever said that to me before, so I don't think I do."

"Then I must be the first to notice. It's cute." He shrugged.

"Cute?" I scowled at him. He smiled and ugh, god dammit he looked amazing.

"Right. Excuse me." He moved out of the way and I got out of the car. I looked back at him and said, "Thanks, again." How the hell did he still look perfect with slightly damp hair and clothes? He closed the door I got out from and put his hands in his pockets. Jared, there's no camera here! He looked adorable and I almost regretted the fact I kept noticing these things about him. I would've been nervous if what happened tonight hadn't.

"It's fine. See you later, friend." I smiled at him tiredly but genuinely and turned to walk to my front door.

A/N

A teensy tiny bit of Kim and Jared fluff there.

And thank you guys for the favourites, alerts etc on my story. Thank you if have read my story so far.

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