A hand grabbed my waist and I smelled the strong scent of alcohol. The concert had ended and everyone was walking, or stumbling if they were intoxicated, out of the building. I turned around to see an extremely drunk Dylan trying to get my attention.

"I think it's time for a nap." He smiled, his speech was slurred.

"I think it's time for you to go home. How much did you have to drink?" I moved his arm from my waist to my shoulders.

"I lost count at 8," he held up three fingers.

"Let me call an Uber for you." I rolled my eyes and pulled out my phone. When the car arrived, I made sure he had buckled his seatbelt and waved as the vehicle drove away.

It took me a moment to realize I had left my purse inside. If someone stole it, I swear to god hell would break loose.

I moved against the flow of people and over to the place I had been waiting while looking for Dylan after the concert. To my relief, my black purse was still propped up against the pillar. I grabbed it and made my way back towards the exit.

My bladder decided to alert me that I had about a minute to find a bathroom before I had an accident. I found the sign pointing to the porcelain thrones and sped inside.

The second I walked through the door, a wave of nausea hit me. The stench of vomit was heavy in the air and I could hear someone puking in one of the stalls.

As fast as I could, I did my business and practically sprinted out of there. The majority of the people had left the building and a lot of drunks made up a large part of the remaining population.

Two people heavily making out against a wall caught my attention and I rolled my eyes. "Get a room you horny fuckers."

The guy visibly tensed up and stopped grinding against his lover. The girl flipped me off while keeping her lips connected with his neck.

Whatever man.

I continued on my way and walked out into the humid night air. I don't know why I half expected it to be cool. With a long sigh, I made sure my bag was secured and began the trek back to my car.

I hadn't gotten far before a husky voice stopped me. "Isn't it a little dangerous to be walking in the middle of Los Angeles at night looking like that?"

"And why do you care so much?" I turned around to face the man in the black, Nine Inch Nails shirt. It took me a second to realize he was the one making out with the girl inside.

"I don't. But I can't let a lady walk alone, my parents raised me better than that. I'll walk you to your car."

He placed his hand in the small of my back and gently pushed me forward. I stared up at him for a moment before trying to slide out of his touch.

"I don't need an escort. I'll be great on my own."

His hand came right back to my body, but this time it snaked around my waist and held me firmly. I took a big breath in of his cologne and it made my head go fuzzy for a moment.

"I wasn't asking princess."

What is going on here?! Why is Calum walking me to my car?!?! Mollie get a hold of yourself. He's just trying to be nice. He does have a point, it's not safe by yourself.

I huffed and gave in. "Fine, have it your way Calum."

We walked together down the street and over to my car. We didn't pass a single person and the trip felt a lot shorter than it did when I was by myself. Calum stayed silent throughout the entire time. It kinda felt nice. His presence was calming and secure.

The lights of the city twinkled as the night sky continued on in darkness. There was a party going on in one of the apartments and the hum of music could be heard from our place on the sidewalk.

After turning the corner into one of the side streets, I saw my car under the streetlight and sighed. As much as I didn't want to admit it, I had enjoyed Calum's company.

I pulled out my car keys and he let go of my waist. His dark eyes examined my car and I suddenly felt self-conscious at how battered up it was. This was my parents' old car that they gave me, and I haven't had time to buy myself a new one cause they're just so damn expensive.

"Do you need a ride back to your car?"

What are you saying?!

He raised his eyebrows and a smirk played at the edges of his lips. "Can't get enough of me?"

"I was just trying to be nice." I blushed and instantly regretted it.

"Princess getting a little shy, is she?"

Fuck me.

"Listen bro, I don't know who you think I am," I tried my best to keep my voice steady. "But I'm not the kind of person who will open her legs to the first guy who shows the slightest bit of interest."

He crossed his arms and leaned his back against my car. "Well I can clearly see that. Your lack of interest is what's fueling mine. Easy girls are always accessible, but ones like you are... fun."

"And what kind of girl am I exactly?"

"A submissive. But not exactly a Little like in the DDLG community."

I started to disagree but he held up his hand.

"As much as you won't admit it, I can see it clearly."

"Well I'm not calling you Daddy."

"You just did."

"Fuck you Calum." I strode over to the drivers side and got into the car. "Your window for a ride is closing fast."

"No thanks Mollie, I'll walk." The way he said my name made me bite my lip.

"Okay, see ya later I guess." I turned on the car and drove away from the curb.

On the way home, I stopped by the store to grab some chips and a soda. Tomorrow was Sunday and I was so glad I had one more day of freedom before starting the new week.

The events of tonight replayed over and over again in my brain. Calum's voice was one of the only things that could turn me on without having to be touched. He was right, I liked being submissive, but I wasn't sure if I was in to all that kinky stuff. Vanilla was safe, and safe made me happy.

When I got home, I texted Dylan to let him know I got home safely and then changed into my pjs. The sofa called to me, so I lounged on it while flipping through the channels. Time seemed to disappear and I drifted into a peaceful sleep.

***

"As I was saying," my professor was lecturing on how the eye can be tricked into seeing optical illusions in photos. "The way the shadows are arranged gives the appearance of three dimensions, which our eyes convert to either coming out of the paper or going back in."

My phone buzzed and I saw that I had a text from an unknown number

Unknown: Hi

Me: Who is this and how did you get my number?

Unknown: It's Calum. And your friend gave it to me

Tessa, I fucking swear.....

Me: Stop texting me, I'm at school

Unknown: Meet me at the bakery in an hour, it's important

I scrunched up my nose and put my phone down. The last thing I wanted to do was take orders from that man. My phone buzzed again and I stared at the screen.

Unknown: Please Mollie

Me: No

Unknown: Why not :(

Me: I already told you, I'm in class. Plus if the teacher sees me trying to leave, he may bend me over his desk later ;p

Unknown: I'm coming to get you

Me: Calum don't you dare

Tessa better not tell him where I go to college. I swear, if I see his face today...

As much as it would actually be fun to get out of class and hang with Calum, every logical part of me was screaming no. I'd lived my whole life being safe and not taking any extreme risks. A part of me wanted to keep it that way and another part wanted to test the waters to see if they bite back.

Professor Kingston's voice continued speaking in the same relaxing tone. His voice mixed with the heat of the room made me sleepy. I yawned a few times before putting my pencil down and stretching.

About half an hour later, I saw a shadow fall across the door and it was opened by a figure in all black. I wanted to throw my books at him. Calum came all this way to pick me up.

"Calum Hood?!' I heard someone say near the front.

He smiled at them and turned to the teacher. "I'm here to pick up Mollie. It's her grandma."

Professor Kingston stared at him and then looked at me. Calum gave me a 'go with it' expression.

I pushed the sensible part of my brain aside, "Oh my god, Grandma! Is she okay? Don't tell me it was the dog. If that creature made her fall, I'll kill it."

"I'll explain everything in the car. Come on."

He reached out his hand as I came bounding down the aisle. I grabbed it and hurried out of the room with him. We sprinted, laughing all the way to his black matte car.

Remembering back to the other night at the concert, I suddenly felt embarrassed at how my car looked in comparison to his.

Calum opened the passenger door for me to step in. I looked at him a moment before shaking my head and sitting down in the cool, leather seat. He got in beside me and started up the car.

Was I actually taking a ride with Calum right now?

"Why are we going to the bakery? What's up?"

"I want to discuss something important with you."

Well that gave me no comfort.