In Love With A Good Man
Chapter 23: House Party (Part One)
"Harley, baby! You almost ready? We gotta get going, we gotta be there early!" Casey called up the stairs to Harley. He was already dressed in a white hoodie and black cargo pants with matching sneakers, but for whatever reason, Harley was taking longer to be ready.
"I'm comin', darlin', I'm comin'! I was looking for my earrings!" Harley said as she came down the steps with her heels in hand. She had on a nice long-sleeve red top with exposed shoulders, high-waisted blue jeans, and matching red heels. She had also accessorized with a gold necklace and matching earrings.
"Oh wow. You came prepared, babe." Casey said with an astonished chuckle, taking a moment to look her over.
"Yeah? You like it?" She asked with a giggle, turning to the side and posing with her hand behind her head and one leg lifted up behind her.
"Love it! Haha, man, having your girlfriend be a model is awesome!" Casey said emphatically, making both himself and Harley laugh out loud.
"You are just too silly," She giggled again and gave him a kiss. "Got all your equipment, hun?"
"Yep. Everything's already in the car." He confirmed after kissing her back.
"Great. I just gotta pick up one more thing before we hit the road," Harley said. She held up her finger then scampered over to Ivy's room. She knocked on the door a few times. "Oh, Red," She sang. "It's time to gooo. Are ya ready?"
"I thought she wasn't coming." Casey said, his eyebrows furrowing as he started to make his way over.
"Well ya know, can't hurt to try one more time." Harley shrugged. She made her way back towards Casey just as Ivy opened up the door to her room.
"I'm coming along too. Is this too much?" She asked, stepping out wearing a sparkly green dress and black heels. She had done her makeup in a certain way that reminded Casey of an Egyptian princess. She looked absolutely stunning.
"You look amazing!" Harley gasped, running up to her and hugging her," I'm so glad you decided to come after all!" She said.
"Well, it'll be nice to get out of the house," Ivy said with a little smile before turning to Casey. "What do you think? Is it too much?" She asked again.
"Uh...heheh...I don't know. Maybe?" He answered with a shrug, shaking his head and smiling wide.
"Good," Ivy replied with a little smirk. "Shall we get going?" She smiled and made her way out the front door.
"She's so cool." Harley giggled and followed her.
"Uhuh, she only asked that question so she could give that answer, I betcha." Casey said with a chuckle as he followed them out and locked the door behind him...
Harley and Ivy had been to upscale places now and then, but they had never gone to a nice neighborhood in Gotham before. It was quite different: the community was gated, the houses were 5 times the size of Casey's, and almost every backyard had a pool.
"Now this is fancy livin'! I wanna live in one o' these places!" Harley exclaimed, staring out the window as they drove through the neighborhood.
"Yeah, don't we all?" Casey quipped.
"Seems like a strange place for a party." Ivy commented.
"It's a big house party. I just provide the music, I don't ask questions," He said with another chuckle. "Just don't accept anything anyone offers you." He added as a word of caution.
"You know I'm immune to toxins and poisons, right?" Ivy reminded him.
"Yeah, but this one isn't." He pointed out, gesturing to Harley.
"That's okay. I'm just here for the fun anyway!" Harley said.
The three of them finally arrived at the house. It was before the time for the party to start, but there were already people scattered inside and around the house. Casey got out of the car first, making his way to the trunk and getting his equipment out.
"I can't imagine holding a house party if I lived in a place like this," Ivy said to Harley as they got out of the car too. "I'd be too worried about my stuff being broken or something valuable being stolen."
"Well that's probably just because you have me and Selina as your best friends." Harley pointed out.
"Heheh, touche." Ivy agreed.
"Hey, ya'll! Glad to see everyone's here!" Mac greeted them, walking over with a drink already in his hand. He gave Casey a quick bro-hug then smiled and waved at Harley and Ivy.
"Glad to be here. Where are we setting up?" Casey asked.
"Table's set up in the backyard by the pool. This guy's got his own speaker system through the whole house, so we're already connected. You just gotta plug in." Mac answered.
"Great. I'mma go do that then. Uh, I'm guessing you girls are just gonna be paired off?" Casey assumed, gesturing to Harley and Ivy.
"We're gonna stick close by! Don't worry, love!" Harley said.
"You don't have to do that. You can do whatever." Casey said, gesturing to the house with his hand.
"It's not like we're here to do anything else. We'll just hang out by the pool." Ivy said with a shrug.
"Okay, alright, fair enough." Casey said, absently agreeing. His expression as he looked away before going inside the house made it obvious to both of the girls that he wasn't expecting them to do that. It was weird to them how surprised he seemed by it...
The group went inside. They made their way through the house, grabbing food and drinks on their way to the backyard. Casey and Mac stopped halfway through to talk with the guy who apparently was the one throwing the party, leaving Harley and Ivy to sit by the pool. They talked casually as they ate.
"Nice little party. Seems like some kind of college thing." Ivy observed.
"Yeah? What makes you say that?" Harley asked her curiously.
"Some people here look like they're on the younger side." Ivy answered, glancing around at the other guests. Harley did the same, taking note of her observation.
"Hmm, you're right! Aww, are ya feelin' old, Red?" Harley teased.
"No!" Ivy quickly retorted, "I'm just making an observation." She said, tapping her chest with her fingers.
"Heheh, you're not old, just mature, right?" Harley continued.
"Oh hush." Ivy rolled her eyes and shook her head, resisting the urge to crack a smile.
"Heheh, just kidding. But I see what you're saying. I think it's nice! Man, I remember my old college days. Been awhile." Harley smiled, glancing upwards as she briefly reminisced.
"Now who sounds old?" Ivy teased her back.
"Hey, I graduated less than 4 years ago, y'know." Harley pointed out with a chuckle.
"Yes, and you've matured a lot since then, right?" Ivy said.
"Yeah! I...wait a second. I see what you did there!" Harley realized Ivy's joke and started to laugh.
As the party got into full swing, Casey and Mac were preoccupied with providing the music. Meanwhile, Harley and Ivy continued to chat and keep to themselves, only occasionally moving to get more food or to brush off someone hitting on them.
Things were pretty relaxed; that is, until Casey's other best friend arrived at the party.
"...sure, but you don't ever find yourself missing the thrill of it? Things like how you would always joyride after a robbery?" Ivy posed this question to Harley as they talked about her now former criminal life.
"Of course! I love doing that stuff! But you know what? I love Casey more. So this little normal life thing is good enough for me." Harley said with a content smile.
"Good. At least...heheheh." Ivy pressed a finger across her upper lip and began to chuckle to herself. This made Harley lean closer curiously.
"Whaaat? What's so funny?" She asked.
"Nothing, nothing. I was just picturing how funny it would be if Casey tried doing something reckless like that." She answered. Harley gasped at this thought.
"Oh my gosh! That would be such a dream!" She exclaimed with a giggle.
"Ha. Well, Casey's way too square to do something like-who is that?" Ivy questioned out loud. As she was talking, she had turned her head to look at Casey, and that's when she noticed some girl that neither of them knew standing at the DJ booth talking to Mac and Casey.
She was a shorter Asian girl with straight, long dark hair. She had on a black dress with blue skinny jeans and sneakers, with some frilly black material around her neck like a choker. She talked to Casey while he was working at his computer.
As he leaned on the table, she rested an elbow on his shoulder and watched him work. Harley's eyes widened upon seeing this. She quickly started to get up.
"He's got about 10 seconds to push her off before I do it myself." Harley grumbled, getting to her feet and now and grabbing her drink.
"I'll be right behind you." Ivy said as she got up too.
The two girls walked over to the DJ booth, joining up with Casey's group. Harley folded her arms in front of her as they stood by them.
"Hey, babe! Everything alright?" Casey asked, looking up and smiling her the same way he always did.
"Wait wait wait. Which one's your girlfriend?" The girl immediately asked, pointing her finger back and forth between Harley and Ivy.
"The blondie right here. Harley, this is my best friend, June. June, this lovely lady here is my girlfriend: Harley. Harley, June. June, Harley." Casey introduced them, standing up straight.
"Wow! She's gorgeous, dude!" June said, smacking Casey on the arm several times before walking up to Harley, "It's so nice to meet you! Casey's told me about you!" She said enthusiastically.
"Yeah? Good to know he brags about me." Harley cracked a joke humorlessly, still put off by June's presence.
"Always!" Casey chimed in.
"How do you know Casey?" Ivy asked.
"Oh, we've all been best friends since high school! The three of us used to always hang out." June answered, gesturing to herself, Mac, and Casey.
"We've barely been able to get together since you moved here, man! This is nice!" Mac said to Casey.
"It is great," Casey agreed, smiling at his computer screen and nodding in agreement. "I'm glad we're back to the way things were," He said before walking over to Harley and wrapping an arm around her shoulders.
"These two here have gotten me through some rough times, babe. What we have is a lot like you and Ivy." He explained to her.
Harley looked at him then at Mac and June. In that moment, she realized how little she knew about Casey's past. Well, she knew some stuff: namely, the things he had briefly mentioned about his unnamed ex-girlfriend. Still, he knew way more about her history than she did about his.
"I'm really glad you got people that got you, sweetie." Harley said, turning towards him and kissing him on the cheek. Casey smiled at her.
"You got me too, right, baby?" He asked.
"Of course! Always!" Harley answered right away.
"Heheh, sounds good to me." Casey said, giving her a kiss. She returned it gladly...
