[ddc] out of all of the faces you were the one next to me [tag; freya]

"Yeah yeah you're right.."

His voice cut through the nights air interrupting the ramblings of the young men surrounding him. Long fingers rose to place the cigarette to his lips, it's tip burning bright red as he inhaled deep, filling his lungs as he nodded. It felt nice to be back in London. Spain had been a drag, mostly filled with work and his sore achy muscles. Here he had room to play, party and shag. It was the best place to be. A house party, people piled on top of each other dancing to terrible music while drinking their feel of the alcohol in the kitchen. Jay had been to more then his fair share of house parties, hell he had thrown a few gatherings himself. This one however was special to his heart, it was his welcome home. His time to be who he was before he had been sent away. A time to remember the mayhem he enjoyed to cause back in his prime. Flicked around the room as he leaned more against the windowsill he'd claimed as a seat.

A head of blonde hair slipped into the crowd, almost vanishing amongst the moving bodies that surrounded her. Jay's eyes watched when he knew he shouldn't. He looked in places the good part of him told the boy to avoid. Their last year and this was the beginning of term party that would set the tone. Granted it wasn't exactly the beginning of term but it would still do the job they needed done. He pushed off the wall, moving towards her, that blonde hair like a magnet he couldn't resist. Was it because she belonged to someone else that he found himself closing that short distance between them? He reached out to touch her shoulder, dropping the cigarette in his hand to but up with his shoe as he touched her.

"Freya?"

His hand pulled back as he spoke her name. He would know that head of hair a mile away. It was strange how he could remember certain things about the women he'd encountered. The bust size, the way their skirts fit but to remember her hair, was that something he should worry about? He glanced around them, taking in the moving mass of people who barely had room to turn around. The music was loud, too loud to think, the liquor was flowing and like always he was the man with anything anyone might need. Tattooed fingers intertwined themselves in his brightly colored green suspenders as he gave a dazzling smile.

"If I had known I would be running into you, I might have dressed better." He joked lightly as he looked down at his grey shirt and checkered shorts. His green converse matched his suspenders and the long socks he wore were a nice green and grey to compliment his color choice. "Maybe something less bright?" Which would not be in his closet. If Jay was anything he was a big flashy dresser. He liked for people to notice him without him having to do anything aside from walk into a room. His height did that for him most of the time but when that failed his way of dressing always got the job done.

"How have you been?" He yelled over the music, lifted a long fingered hand to cover one of his ears as he spoke. "It's been awhile..." And it had but she still looked exactly the same. Untouchable.

@Freya Trickett

The whole summer had been like this; spending time with friends, trying new things and generally enjoying their youth. After graduation, Freya couldn’t have imagined a better start to her adult life. She had an apartment, a part time job that she didn’t hate (yet), she was living with her best friend, and she was happy. Life was good.

Right now, the blonde was dancing to some terrible music, bouncing and swaying with her friends as the vibrations from the speakers reverberated through her body. She was laughing, being goofy and sipping something out of a plastic cup. The girl wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but Tess had made it for her. It tasted a bit like bleach, but oh well. In one swift movement, Freya downed the last quarter of the drink, grimacing as she finished. Freya wrinkled her nose. She didn’t know how people actually liked this stuff. Maybe if she’d started drinking in fourth year like some of her friends, she’d have built an immunity to the taste by now. “I’m gonna get another drink!” She said over the music, patting her friend on the shoulder and turning.

The blonde skipped past some people, heading towards the kitchen’s house. It was considerably quieter away from those blasting speakers. She could actually hear herself think out here. A voice calling her name caught her attention, and she spun on the spot, her curls bouncing around her face. “Jayden!” She called, making her way over to him. Vaguely, Freya wondered where Kerr was. In the past, Jayden and Kerr had seemed to have times where they were impossible to seperate. Freya had spent a fair amount of time with Jay just by being Kerr’s girlfriend.

She laughed at his joke, giving him a quick once-over. His outfit was far more ostentatious than hers. She was in a simple singlet and denim shorts. Her jacket was around here somewhere, but dancing in the middle of all of these people had warmed her up considerably. “Oh, you know. Good.” Freya laughed, partly at herself and partly just because she was in such a good mood. Maybe it was the drink in her veins, making her all bouncy. The girl played with a curly strand of hair absentmindedly. “I’m working at Gringotts part time now,” she told him with a smile, “and I live in London. How ‘bout you? What’re you up to? I was just getting another drink.” Freya held up her empty glass as proof. 

He gave a smile as she turned around. Surprised for a moment at how happy he'd been that it was actually her. He had to have had too many drinks, if that was possible. He had been drinking far longer then he'd care to admit and at times it seemed that the drinking he did led him to do the worse things. He could barely count on both hands how many times he had been sent to muggle jail. His mother had grown tired of his antic's, it seemed she was on the verge of giving up. It was weird to see her without Kerr being around, it felt as if he was doing something shouldn't by being her with her. Well, technically they happened to be in the same place so he could at least feel better about that part. Her laugh made him smile and like the man he was his eyes wondered. A slow trail of her body an eyebrow raise and he knew he had to busy himself.

"How about I do that for you.." He didn't want for an answer as he took her cup walking over to the bowl of the mysteriously mixed drink to refill her cup before he sat it down in front of her on the counter. He could think in here, hell he could hear in here. Why did he never go into the kitchen at parties? Oh well, he could ponder that another time. "Me?" He blew air through his closed lips as he made himself another drink. "I actually just got back into town. Apparently my mom thinks I needed some discipline." He gave a shrug as the cup was lifted for a drink. Blue eyes dropped down to look inside his cup at the liquid, lips pursed. It was a bit on the stronger side, thankfully. The room wasn't spinning yet but he was nicely buzzed, enough so that he was willing to try his luck with the beautiful blonde before him.

"Got your own place or rooming?" H'ed been lucky enough to come home to a loft of his own, a place he could simply just relax and be himself. Jayden had never been one to want to spend all of his time with just one person. Rooming with someone seemed like a hassle to the form Gryfinndor. Maybe it was his commitment issues or the fact that living with his sister had proved hard work everyday. "I'm not sure what I will do as far as work, you know? I'm just taking it one day at a time...which for me is the norm." And it was he wasn't a big planner; it took the joy out of life. He wanted to live as if he had nothing to lose and everything to gain. He wanted to be reckless and stupid before he actually had to be an adult.

"There is noway you're here alone, are you?" As he spoke his eyes drifted out to the crowd as the man took another drink from his cup. "Because that would be a shame." He just couldn't help himself.

The kitchen was much quieter than it had been in the other rooms and she was thankful for it. “I live with Finn now,” Freya said, happily accepting her drink from her… friend? They’d been friends when she and Kerr had been together, but that had been quite a while ago now. It was what, August? Their break up must have happened a year and… two months ago. The end of their sixth year she thought. A part of her felt like it didn’t seem like it had been that long, but when she thought about the dome and all of those months trapped in the castle and Linnet, well, then it felt like it. “You remember Finn? A year above us?” Freya and Finn had been best friends since her first year. “Dating Reagan Baisley,” she clarified.

“Oh, I know right?” She asked, animatedly agreeing with his comment about not knowing what to do. “I only got this Gringotts internship thing because my cousin works there - nepotism at its finest, ha ha - “ He should know about that, his family was as big as hers, “ - and I seriously doubt I’ll stay there after it’s finished. Right now I’m just lucky to have something, you know? It’s only a few days a week but I get my own income, so there’s that.” She laughed again. The laughing just sort of happened when she was in a good mood, and it happened more when she was drinking. Her cheeks were a little flushed from the alcohol and there was a thin sheen of sweat on her brow and chest from the dancing. Freya adjusted her glasses self-consciously, realising that this was probably the first time he’d seen her since she’d got them.

Freya took a long sip of her drink and then wrinkled her nose in distaste. It definitely didn’t taste good, whatever it was. “Hmm? Alone?” Freya gave him a puzzled look as she leant on the kitchen counted. The girl hummed along with the music that was playing and then gave a light, melodic laugh. “Oh. No. I mean, no I’m here with Tess and a couple of other girls.” Gryffindor girls in their year. “How about you, hmmm?” Freya poked his arm playfully, taking another gulp of her drink. Her eyes crinkled at the edges as she smiled.

Finn? He thought for a moment, trying to place the face to the name. He was bad with name, so terrible at remembering the ones who meant nothing of importance to him. "Oh, wait! Yeah, I remember him. Are they still together or has being in the real world changed that?" Wow it had taken him a minute due to his drunken state to actually recall the memory. He could remember being introduced at one of the million parties by Freya. He hadn't paid much mind then but he was happy that the memory had stuck. He could remember what she was wearing and the way she wore her hair that day. He could see the way she moved as she reached out to touch Finn during the introduction. His head shook as he cleared his mind. What the hell? He could not be going down this road, right?  Even as he tried to fight it, Jay knew it would be the one thing that would happen for sure tonight. "I don't have a roommate, but the help on rent would be nice." Though he didn't have to pay it he could understand why two people would live together.

"Hey, nothing wrong with making a bit of money. You know how I am when it comes to working to get things done." He and Kerr had been the guys to go to for any and all contraband during school. They sold it all in the name of making money to party and be reckless. Boy, those were the good old days. "I'm sure I'll be forced to work some job my family find suitable." Which he was sure he would hate. It was the way of life in families like theirs. So many people to disappoint, he always thought. Freya could understand she came from a bit family too. She knew the stresses that came with having so many people invested in your success and failure. He wasn't poised and charming like the other Regan's. Jay was rough around the edges. All foul mouthed and violent temper. He was the guy girls were warned to stay away from. Well, in public he was. In private he was more caring and giving, especially of his true self.

"I would rather just take the year off and figure things out, but who has time for that..." He surely didn't. He had so much he needed to do before he actually could think of a job and the months to come. His head tilted as he gave her a smile. If she was with the girls could it be assumed she was single? Was it okay for him to wonder about such a thing? "Me? Nope I'm all alone. It's actually kind of sad if you think about it." Another drink and he laughed this time. "Wow...okay so peg me drunk but when did you get glasses?" He had noticed them before and for some reason they hadn't clicked in his brain as new. She looked nice this way, intelligent and beautiful, it was a dangerous combination.

"They suit you, you know. The glasses..but I doubt anything could ever make you look bad." One more drink and he was refilling his glass. Man it was hot, his hand rose to rub down his face. The inked words on his fingers in full display. F**k was written there, the other hand held the letters, y.o.u to finish the sentence he said so much.

“Oh yeah they’re still together,” Freya said with a nod, “Reagan and Sarah come around all the time.” No way that he could forget Sarah Hirst. She was the loud (and a little scary) beater on the Gryffindor quidditch team for a while. Reagan’s best friend. Freya smiled again when he mentioned getting things done. That had been so strange to her. She’d been such a good girl when she and Kerr had started dating. The blonde hadn’t even known people were smuggling in alcohol and other things until Kerr had shown her. She hadn’t done more than kiss a boy - and only one at that time. “It’s not sad,” Freya admonished, giving a cute snort and tapping his arm in a mock-slap.

She laughed again when he mentioned the glasses and she pushed them up her nose a little one more time. It was so hard to stop playing with them. “I look like my IQ’s gone up by like fifty points, hey?” she joked. She thought they made her look smarter and more “mature”, whatever that meant. Danny’s comment about her looking like an old lady popped into her head again and she had to try not to frown. So rude, that boy. “Thanks, Jay,” she said with another sunny smile. The girl’s hazel eyes found his tattoos and Freya watched them curiously as she took another sip of her gross drink. It was going down quickly - nearly done now. “I want a tattoo,” she said, swaying side to side slightly with the music. “Did those hurt?”

"That's nice their still close." He couldn't say he remained close to any of his friends in school. He hadn't seen Kerr in some time so he couldn't say he really had anyone. He'd only been back a week or two so it was understandable, right? It made sense that he hadn't reached out, didn't it? He'd only come out tonight to fall back into the life he had once lived. He hoped it would calm the storm inside him and so far all it had down was quiet his doubts. The terrible concoction was all they all had to blur the night. Of course there were other ways but Jay liked to remember bits of his nights, even if they weren't all that exciting. "Okay, maybe not sad. Just weird I guess.." He was always with someone when he went out. Going out by himself made him feel strangely adult.

"Yeah, I guess...but I already know you're smart so they have a different appeal for me." There was something about intelligence that he loved and girls who wore glasses showed it in the small push of the frame up their noses. The way they extended their fingers to adjust the frames. Glasses made girls sexier. Jay had always said so, there was just something about them. "Don't mention it." He was only being honest. His eyes dropped to the ink lining his skin before he looked at her.

"Well...I did mine the old-fashioned way." He shifted to move closer, holding his arms out to show her each sleeve. The boy had filled the empty places along his upper body while traveling as per his mothers wishes. The only empty spot rested over his head, a piece of ribbon bare of a name. "So there was a little..." His head shifted as he heard something fall, staring into the other room for a moment. "..pain. I hear the magical way doesn't hurt? Or if it does it doesn't hurt that much." He leaned back to look at her. Usually he would lift his shirt but for some reason he didn't. "Their all over my chest and back too..." He watched her for a moment, eyes tracing her face before there was a scream and then a loud bang then the room grew incredibly bright.

“Yeah, one of the few couples I know who actually stayed together after school,” Freya agreed with a smile. When he said her glasses had a different appeal, Freya wasn’t entirely sure what he meant, but there was definitely an unfamiliar look in his eye. She watched as he held his arms out for her to look at. Freya had spent a great deal of time studying Kerr’s tattoos when they’d been together, but she’d never had a chance to look at Jayden’s. The girl reached out and turned one of his arms over to look at the other side. She traced a line curiously. “I didn’t even know there were magical and muggle ways to do it,” she admitted, wondering if all of the things on his arms all had different meanings, or if he’d just thought they were cool. “So cool,” she said, examining his other arm. Freya glanced up just in time to catch him sort of looking at her curiously before they were interrupted by a scream.

Someone ran into the kitchen. “Cops!” they yelled. Freya didn’t get it; they hadn’t done anything wrong. Did someone do some underage magic or something? Did someone get hurt? Freya didn’t know what the hell was happening, but suddenly Jay’s hand was on her arm and then they were spinning through space and her body was folding… and BAM. They’d apparated somewhere. Freya blinked several times in quick succession, her eyes wide with shock as she stumbled. At some point during the trip, the girl’s drink had splashed all over her. She held the empty cup still. “Oh man,” she said breathlessly, adjusting her glasses. Apparating didn't usually make her sick, just kind of disoriented. She felt a bit off balance and a bit like she was still somewhere else.

Freya laughed, bumping Jayden gently with her shoulder. “We escaped law enforcement," she said in a joking way. Freya hadn't expected to hear those words come out of her mouth, ever, but it sounded sort of funny. "Where’d you take us?” She asked, still smiling. The girl glanced around at their super strange surroundings. “What do you think that was about?”

He watched her hand as it traced along one of the lines on his outstretched arm. It was as if her finger ghosted across his skin, her touch was so light. He could hear her talking but it seemed that his brain was slow to actually process the words. Strange, he looked into his nearly empty cup, blaming the terrible mixture for his current state. Still, he’d almost forgotten how soft a woman’s touch could be. His training had basically taken all of those memories from him. It was hard for him, even now, to relax enough to actually enjoy himself. There were too many people and that meant terrible choices. All of these thoughts had been pushed aside as one word sobered him for a moment.

Cops.

There was no time to think about why there were there, only the process in which they avoided a possible arrest. Jay had done his fair share of nightly lock up and muggle jail was no fun so he could only imagine how terrible a magical one was. He reached out to take Freya’s arm and the room vanished. Thinking properly before apparating might have been the better option. There was no time for regret because they were already someplace else. Safe. “Sorry…me and cops don’t usually get along and well being arrested isn’t fun.” He looked around as his eyes adjusted, sighing in relief that they were actually inside the bar.

“That we did. Can’t go tainting you with a possible arrest that would be wrong.” He was only half joking. The last thing he wanted was her record tarnished, to diminish all she’d worked for simply because the night was fun. No, that wasn’t an option. Freya was a good girl, one of dying breed it seemed. A rarity that sometimes went uncherished, a shame really. “Ace’s.” He moved to turn on the light behind the bar, casting a dim glow out towards Freya. The shelves had been freshly stocked before lock up, the tall polished maple bar shined softly. “People are bigger idiots when their drunk.” He wasn’t sure why the cops had suddenly appeared but he was sure it had to do with the grand display of lights.

He moved to walk behind the bar, grabbing a bottle from the shelf. “I come here a lot after everyone has gone home.” His arm felt strange, warm almost. Jay moved to step under the light staring down at the red staining the ink on his skin. He knew he felt something pinch, a bit of pain. “Whoa…” came his only response to the fact that he’d splinched himself. “Are you okay?” He looked up quickly, suddenly sober and very aware. What if he’d hurt her to in his reckless decision to apparate while intoxicated. “Did…you aren’t hurt are you…” His heart slowed in his chest afraid that he’d done so thoughtless. His own bleeding injury was somehow meaningless now as he moved to walk towards her instinctively, the worry clear on his face. 

In the dark, alone with him, she could sense exactly where his body was. Alone in a dark room with a boy? Freya shifted, her heart beating a little more quickly for no reason at all. She blinked a couple of times quickly when he turned on a light. The light broke through whatever she'd been feeling a moment ago. Phew. She looked, wide-eyed up a the drinks on the shelf and then turned back to the darker parts of the room where she could make out tables. He'd apparated them to a bar? There was something sort of exciting about that. "Really?" she asked, when he mentioned coming her after people had gone home, "Are we allowed to be here?" The words slipped out before she could stop them and Freya could only laugh at herself, her cheeks pink with embarrassment. To distract herself, Freya drew her wand and wordlessly dried her clothes. She'd been covered in her own drink and it was making her chilly.

She shivered. "Hmm?" Freya looked back up at him, then flicked her honey-coloured eyes down to his arm. "Oh no," she said, moving towards him instinctively. When he asked if she was okay, Freya touched her face with her hands, then looked at her palms. She wasn't in pain. Wasn't missing any limbs or anything. He looked really serious all of a sudden. No longer the aloof guy she'd been talking to a second ago. She felt like she should feel a little more serious too, but she was still smiling. "Oh," she said suddenly, touching a lock of hair; a thick curl that had previously been down to her shoulder blades and was now sitting at her cheek. Freya couldn't help but laugh again, playing with the splinched piece of hair absentmindedly. "I'm okay," she said. "But are you? You're bleeding..."

He stood mesmerized as she moved closer to him, for a moment forgetting that he had hurt himself. Jay’s eyes traced the lines of her face for a moment before his gaze was casted aside. He was relieved she was okay, that he hadn’t hurt her in anyway. Her smile was infectious and he found himself returning it with a chuckle. He could see it now, why Kerr had been with her. There was something there, just under the surface that made a person want to be near her. He found that he was quickly becoming one of those people.

He reached out with his unharmed arm to touch her hair. “I’m sorry about that…seriously. I shouldn’t have..” He knew he should abhor alcohol but he knew he would never be able to. “What…” He looked down remembering that he was in fact bleeding. He shifted his arm in the light, only concerned with one thing; his ink. “Does it look like it ruined my tattoo? I can’t really see..” The cut was just above his elbow, though it wasn’t bad it would definitely leave a scar. “Want a real drink?”

The pain was nothing now, he barely felt it. His training had changed a lot about him, hardened him. Long fingers reached out to grab a bottle from the shelf, clumsily opening it to pour himself a glass. “Oh, yeah. To your question earlier, we can be here. This place is like a family heirloom…”

Freya hesitated, holding her breath a little as he touched her hair. Stupid she thought to herself silently. Jayden was good-looking, no one would deny that; and the whole tattooed, friendly bad-boy thing was something that had always made her a little weak, but Jay was Kerr's friend. It had been a long time since she and Kerr had been together, but from memory, Kerr and Jay were best friends. There was something not so right about being fluttery over your ex boyfriend's best friend. Stupid. She laughed again, to break whatever tension she was imagining. "No, don't apologise," she said, "I mean, all limbs are present and accounted for, right?" Freya gave him a sunny smile, tucking the shorter lock of hair behind her ear, only for it to fall out again.

"Let me see." The blonde moved in again, adjusting her glasses automatically as she touched his skin. Freya was careful not to pull on the skin around the cut. She bit her lower lip nervously as she inspected the area. "It might scar just a little into your tattoo," she told him. She did her best to be clear and luculent. "Maybe a centimetre in or something like that? Just on the corner edge here... Sorry." Freya remembered Kerr's tattoos, and the ones that had been a little displaced by his own injuries. The doctors hadn't bothered to try to match up the sides when they'd magically healed his skin over. It had made him sad. Freya nodded when she was offered another drink, even though she really didn't need it and even though she had no idea what a real drink was and could probably predict that she wasn't going to like it.

Freya moved to the side of the bar customers sat on and eased herself up into the stool. Speaking of family... "Have you seen Kerr recently?" she asked curiously. A part of her had probably brought up the Gryffindor on purpose as some kind of reminder to herself.

It was strange being so close to her and feeling the way he felt. Strange because this was his cousin’s ex. His best friends ex. He couldn’t go down this road even when he wanted to. “Right, still I should have been more careful.” Apparating while drunk wasn’t his brightest idea but he was glad she came out unharmed, aside from her hair. He watched her adjust her glasses and for a moment all the things that made him not do what he wanted didn’t matter. She was closer, warm, and she smelled good. Soft as silk and just another piece of the puzzle that drew him in, she touched him.

“Man..” He sighed as she spoke of a scar. He hated that his ink would be ruined, it was special. Each piece that covered his body meant something; it was why the spot over his heart was left blank. He planned to only write one name and that name would be of the person who stole his heart. Who owned the best parts of him. Jay lifted the glass he’d made himself and finished it rather quickly, before reaching to put a glass on the counter for her. He grabbed a few bottle from the shelf, mixing each in the shaker as if he had been doing it for years.

He paused, Kerrigan. “No. I’ve been away all year training.” He looked up at her. “We don’t talk much.” He avowed without pause. She’d brought him up. She’d put him in the room with them and suddenly there wasn’t enough space between them. He poured the nicely colored pink drink into the glass, an Ace’s special he’d perfected. It was a favorite among women, not too strong with a nice sweet taste. He poured himself another shot, adding just enough to make it a double before he moved to lean back against the shelves away from her. “You’re actually the first person besides my mom that I’ve seen…that even knows I was gone and came back.” Damn, she’d brought him up. He had to ask the one question that nagged him. “Have you talked to him?” missed him? His head shook as he thought, sipping from his glass.

"Oh really?" she asked, genuinely curious. Freya and Kerr had tried to stay friends, but the end of the school year had been so busy and she'd been doing so many things since then that it had been hard to keep up with anyone who wasn't attending the same events she'd been at. It was a whirlwind. From memory, Kerr and Jayden had spent a lot of time together back in the day. Freya wondered when they'd stopped seeing so much of each other, and whether it had been a recent development or something more long term that she'd just missed.

Freya raised her eyebrows at the drink as he pushed it over to her. "I'm impressed, Jay," she said. He really looked like he knew what he was doing. Freya gave the glass a little sniff before taking a sip. Ingid always said she should pour her own drinks and not let random boys at parties get her drinks, but Jayden wasn't a random party boy, he was a friend. And it tasted pretty good! The blonde wasn't used to the taste of alcohol, and most drinks tasted pretty bad to her but expensive, fruity cocktails were always paletable. Freya smiled as he said she was the only one who knew he was back, but there was a nagging feeling in her tummy that wondered why she was here. Wondered what the plan was. Freya shivered, a little cold now that she wasn't at a party or dancing. She wasn't really dressed for this temperature.

"Not for ages," Freya said truthfully. She shrugged. "I'm not really sure what he's up to now that school's out." The blonde remembered the train home from the school after the dome had gone down. She'd gone to his carriage to talk to him. To tell him she still wanted to be friends with him. To make up after the thing that had happened with Danny. Freya had harboured feelings for that boy long after they'd broken up and he'd always have a spot of sentimentality in her. The girl took another long drink. "This is really good," she told him genuinely.

“Yeah, I got in trouble one too many times and my mom got fed up.” He had been mad about going to Spain, upset about Australia but if he was honest it had done him good. Not that learning to take a life should. His mother had been the best assassin in her time, skilled in both combat and posion. She’d turned something dark about herself into something beautiful when she risked it all to save his father out of love.  “It was a lot of labor and sparring mostly.” He couldn’t speak of the sleepless nights, of the cold that seemed to chill him to the bone. He couldn’t mention how he had been broken down to his core to become the man that now stood in front of her.

“Impressed? Now, I’m hurt.” He was the person who was always first to order a drink, the first to the keg. He knew his liquor and he could handle more then he should be able to. “I can’t believe you ever doubted me.” He gave her a pout, quivering his bottom lip for affect. It didn’t take long for him to laugh, pearly whites on display. His glass was again lifted to his lips and he watched her over the rim before looking towards one of the picture windows towards the front of the bar. He wasn’t sure what he had actually planned when he’d walked over to her.

It had been like seeing her for the first time, all blonde hair and beautiful features. He’d been drawn to her back then just as he had been at the party. Ironically, just like then now Kerr was the reason he didn’t go farther. The reason he didn’t tell her that he liked her, that he thought she was amazing. He found comfort in the fact that they hadn’t seen each other, when he knew he shouldn’t. “Thanks, I worked here over the summer last year a couple times and only learned to make a few drinks.” His own was sat on the bar as he leaned his palms against the top to hold his weight.

“I’m sorry Freya.” He had been wrong to think of her as he did. Wrong to want to be close to her in anyway aside from being her friend and still he couldn’t help himself. He had spoken an apology he couldn’t take back and didn’t want to explain. Being alone with her with the small allotted light breaking through the soft curls of her hair, the shadows of her glasses framing her eyes it was all too much. He wanted to reach out and touch her, to be on the other side of the bar closer. Just a bit.