Clarisse doesn't mind us going out for New Year's, she just warns us to be careful and get home safe. She also tells us to have fun and to not get in trouble. And that is how Will, Nora and I venture into town. It is indeed small and very dull and Will takes us to the one and only bar. Funny enough, it is actually called One & Only. They took that very seriously, I see.

Inside it's really crowded, young adults and old adults together, chatter louder than the background music—the current song is Magic by Coldplay. At one corner you find the typical dart boards, pool tables and such. There's a large, old, wooden bar with a barman behind, handing the different orders to the people that approach. Most ask for pints of beer.

Will leads us to a booth and heads to get us pints as well and something to eat. The place clearly isn't having a party, it looks quite normal, just people hanging out like any other day, laughing, drinking, some are dancing or well, trying to. Not that they actually succeed but points for trying.

A few minutes later, Will arrives with three pints and then runs to get back some chips with different sauces for us. I'm not a fan of beer, but I can drink it. I honestly prefer citric drinks. Yet, we do enjoy our beer and Will makes sure to tell us the story of the first time he got drunk, in this very bar for his birthday with school friends. Well, he tells us what he can remember from that day and then the excruciating pain when he woke up.

"I don't do well the whole hangover part," he groans in anticipation, already dreading that moment.

"Who doesn't?" I question back, a giggle escaping me. I've already finished my pint and Nora is now in charge to get the second round.

"I suppose everyone gets a hangover if they drink that much. I swear I lost count after like the fifteenth pint."

"You savage," I giggle again, running my finger around the edge of the glass, lazily, distracted. "I'd probably die if I drank that much."

"Part of me died that day," he dramatises and I can't help laughing, looking at him and noticing he's closer than he was before. Until very recently, Nora was sitting next to me in the booth, but I guess he saw the chance when my best friend went for more alcohol and took it.

"You're funny," I say, poking his cheek lightly with my finger. The corner of his mouth tries to reach my finger when he smiles, and I notice he gets this cute little folds when he smiles like that. "And cute," I have to add, smiling broadly myself.

"Are you drunk already? You said it took two glasses and Nora hasn't come back with the second yet," Will asks and I gasp, offended.

"I'm not drunk!" I protest, pulling back a bit with a hand clasped to my chest. "Tipsy. Just a eenie meenie bit tipsy," I continue, holding up my hand, thumb and index almost touching to show just how little tipsy I am, but then I giggle at my own word choice, pretty sure I didn't even did it well. That's not how that is supposed to be used, is it? "Eenie meenie minie moe, juinija meogisgam, yeah, yeah!" I sing in Korean, VIXX's song, and laugh harder at myself, just when Nora arrives with more alcohol.

"She's singing already?" my best friend asks, sitting at the other side of the booth.

"Nora~" I singsong, reaching out to her over the table with my hands, wanting to get to her but Will pulls me back before I climb the table.

"Apparently," the boy next to me replies, his arm is around my waist, keeping me by his side. "Although I have no idea in what language she just sang."

"Hangeul! Coreano! Korean!" I reply in three languages.

It seems I am indeed a bit drunk, not just tipsy, considering languages are getting mixed up in my head already.

"Yeah, she'll keep singing songs, that's the first clue she's getting drunk," Nora continues explaining, handing one pint for each. I grab mine with greedy hands, giggling happily before taking the first sip, getting a foam moustache.

"Aren't I cute, too, Guillermo?" I ask him, smiling brightly and even if he tries to fight it, he can't help himself, his smile is just so fond as he rubs his thumb over my lips in such an endearing gesture.

"Yes, you are," he replies as I smile even more, scrunching up my nose and closing my eyes.

"You are cute!" I refute, giggling again. "You. I like that song." And more giggles escape me as I lean closer to Will. "I couldn't find my way without you boy, but now I'm right where I want to be. I was in the dark but now you're all I see. I want the rest of my life with you~ Falling in love with you~" I sing, this time Royal Pirates' song while Will just stares at me with wide eyes. "The lyrics in Korean are prettier, right?" I ask, turning to look at Nora who wears her amused smile as she nods her head. "Aish, I should've become a singer."

"No, you shouldn't have," Will intervenes then, fighting his smile and trying to look serious.

"Are you saying I'm a bad singer because I'm tone deaf?" I fight back, trying to look fierce. "Are you mocking me because I'm tone deaf?"

Will can't hold it anymore, he laughs this time and even if I want to stay mad because he has just binned my long-life dream I had five seconds ago of becoming a singer, I can't. His laughter is contagious so I end up joining him, leaning on him until my head is resting on his shoulder. Once again, his arm wraps around my waist, pulling me closer to his side. Nora, in front of us, continues smiling, drinking her own beer without getting a tad bit tipsy. With my other hand, I reach for my pint to take another sip, still cuddling next to Will.

"I start to see the overly affectionate part you mentioned," Will tells Nora who just nods her head. He rests his head on mine while I continue calmly sipping my beer.

For some reason, Will's hand on my waist feels hot and heavy, I can feel its heat even through the thick layers of clothes and it distracts me from my very hard and important task of drinking without spilling any content. Furthermore, his very presence next to me is just so soothing and relaxing, it feels like I'm being lulled to sleep and it's hard to resist such charm. He's so comfortable and warm. I really love being like this.

However, drinking has a very direct consequence that even the most heavyweight person can't escape: a full bladder. I might be many things, but a bladder of iron isn't one of my qualities so before I even finish my second pint, I start fidgeting.

"Pee, I need to pee. Pee! Pee now!" I whine, looking at Will with pleading eyes so he can move and I can head for the toilets.

Normally, I would refuse to use a public toilet because it's just disgusting, but there are things in life you can't control. Desperate situations call for desperate measures, so I have to bear with the conditions of the toilets and sing a song in my mind not to think of how many other people have come here or when was the last time it was cleaned.

I feel a lot better after my trip to the toilets, my head isn't as foggy and my face is fresh now that I've splashed it with cold water. I feel like I can finish my pint without getting drunk and perhaps even get a third.

Lost in my mental divagations, I'm not fully aware of my surroundings and I think I've grown used to having so much space to move around in the Dream House. It's unavoidable that I end up bumping into someone. The stranger immediately grabs my biceps, helping me regain balance—my own footing is unstable considering I'm tipsy—, for which I'm very grateful.

When I look up I meet a man, probably late-twenties, tall and built, and he is looking at me with a confused look, puzzled even, yet a small smile plays at the corners of his mouth.

"Careful there, love," he says, his accent very similar to Will's, which I assume it's just the local accent. It isn't exactly southern but quite close. "You don't want to get hurt, right? Not when you look so beautiful tonight."

I smile, glad that even if he's throwing compliments, these aren't vulgar or offensive. "No, I don't want to get hurt."

His look becomes more intense as he releases my arms. He is watching me closely, as if he's trying to put two pieces together. "Pardon me, but have we met before?" he asks then. "Your face strikes me as familiar, but you don't sound local and I'm sure I'd remember meeting someone like you before."

"I'm just passing by," I reply. "So this has to be the first time. It's my first time in town," I continue, shrugging casually but the man keeps looking at me, thinking hard. "Maybe I look like someone you once met."

"Perhaps," he agrees, but he doesn't seem to be at ease with that.

Even if the man is quite nice and polite, I don't want to keep talking to him so I look over his shoulder just in time to see Will walking in my direction. My smile broadens and I wave my hand at him, happily, until he catches up to us. The man steps aside when he notices there's someone else, someone who immediately wraps his arm around my waist, pulling me close and protectively.

"Everything all right?" he asks me, quickly glancing in the man's direction, seizing him up.

"Yes. I was just clumsy, per usual, and bumped into him."

"And she just looks familiar, but I can't put my finger on it," the man adds. If I'm not mistaken, Will stands tense and defensive when he looks at the man, saying something with his body language that I'm pretty sure goes between the lines of 'she's mine' to 'stay away' and 'your pickup lines won't work here, mate.'

The man gets it and nods his head in farewell, resuming his way to the toilets and I focus all my attention on Will, smiling happily at him as I lean a bit closer.

"He was nice, no need to look so intimidating," I tell him, looking up to meet his eyes that watch me carefully. "Did you think I was in a bad situation and you had to rescue me like a knight in shiny armour."

"If I had to," he mumbles. "Let's go back to Nora and be thankful he was nice and not an arse who can't get a no for an answer."

Nodding and still smiling, I follow him to the table, forgetting about the man I bumped into, although I see him a few more times during the night, and every time our eyes meet, he wears the same puzzled expression, but I don't let it bother me.

For the rest of the night I just make sure to have a good time with Will and Nora, laughing and enjoying our beer and chips. Nora works as interpreter when the languages get too mixed up in my head and I can't utter a sentence in just one language but a mix of my stronger three ones.

Will stays by my side all night, although I'm sure he regrets it by the time I've finished my second pint, because the overly affectionate part really kicks in, so I steal kisses even in front of Nora. At some point, when I'm hiding my face in the crook of his neck, I can't help myself and start spreading kisses there, making the boy tense and try to keep me away when we are in public.

Or that's what Nora tells me when I wake up the next morning, I don't remember that clearly just yet. She says I jumped on Will when the countdown reached zero, but I really don't recall that part of our night, or how we made it home. I remember laughing a lot, getting a third pint, always being next to Will and being dragged back to him when I wanted to share the love with Nora.

The evidence of my actions, however, is undeniable when I run into Will later the next day, because I can see hickeys on his neck where the day before there was nothing but smooth skin. I blush and cover my mouth with my hands, but he only gives me this knowing grin.

"I'm very glad Nora doesn't let you drink," Will tells me, walking up to me. "You're dangerous. There I was last night, being a gentleman and giving you a piggy back ride to your room, but you were playing vampire."

"I'm so sorry," I mutter although he doesn't seem angry or bothered by it, in the slightest.

"As long as you don't do this to anyone else, I'm fine. If the kids say anything, play along and say I was attacked by a vampire."

I laugh when he shares that part, still blushing but also finding the amusement behind that joke to the kids. If I hadn't skipped breakfast, I would've seen their faces when Will told them what happened to his neck.

My laughter dies when his hands land on my waist, pulling me towards him until here's no space between us. "Now that you're sober, let me say: happy new year," he intones then, smiling warmly. "I'm very glad we got to meet and I hope this 2016 is a good year for everyone. Good luck on that fight that's coming. I'll be by your side," he promises then and I take a deep sigh.

"Thank you," I reply, closing my eyes as he kisses my forehead. "Happy new year. Let's hope no one gets nearly killed this 2016."

Will hugs me tighter when I say that.

"I won't let that happen ever again." The intensity in his voice doesn't leave room for doubt, so I nod my head as I lean on him, my temple pressed to his shoulder, arms loosely around his waist.

I really hope things will go well or that I, at least, will gave the strength to face whatever life throws at me this time. The strength to do what's right.

❅ ❅ ❅

And that's drunk Blanca! Did you enjoy the chapter? Do you think our Guillermo will be able to keep his promise? Let's share our thoughts on the comments below!

Oh, by the way, relating the series, there's a small change in the epilogue of Call Me Ella. I'd like to see if someone can find it and guess why I did that :D It might or might not involve a seventh book in the series...

Dedication to grace_e_63000

And if you get 600 votes before Friday, there'll be bonus content.

Bel, xx

~updates every Monday and Friday~

If you're curious about the songs Blanca sang... here they are:

Chained Up by VIXX

https://youtu.be/vqzBrI76e4g

You (English Version) by Royal Pirates (this is my current favourite band)

https://youtu.be/DB579UJon9Q