"Niall-"

"No."

"Niall," She repeats for the fiftieth time in ten minutes, pulling me backwards by my wrist while I keep dragging myself forward, shaking my head at her request. "Come on, I don't wanna be by myself-"

"Babe, we've been here for ten minutes," I say loudly, making sure she hears me over the fairly loud music. "And enough shit already happened. I wanna stay here, at least for a while."

Freya gives me a pout, setting her knees on the bench I'd sat on. She can't disagree with me though, she knows I'm not exaggerating or anything. "You're gonna leave me alone at the bar?"

I close my eyes for a second, sighing at the sound of her falsely sad tone. "Freya. Since we walked in, Seth managed to get in a fight with someone and your brother's half-wasted ass tried to kiss me. I really don't want to party right now."

She presses her lips together, trying not to laugh at my second excuse to stay at this table. On a serious note, more things have happened in ten minutes than I thought would happen the whole night.

"He was just excited about the shirt, that's all," She bites her lip, saying everything she can to make me join her at the bar while she makes sure no one under the age of 18 and 19 has access to alcohol. I still don't get why she wants to do it, there are more than enough people at the bar who know what to do without her being there.

"I don't care, I wouldn't kiss him if he got me a shirt from GAP."

"Yes, because I'm the only person you're allowed to kiss," Freya says, casually, and leans down to kiss me. I'm barely able to kiss her back because of the wide smile that spread across my face at her words. "Now I'm off to control the teenagers. I'll be back soon."

"Alright."

"Don't kiss anyone."

"Okay."

"Not even Harry."

"Damn, I was just about to ask for a pass on him."

"Too bad," She pecks my lips again, "You'll have to wait for another lifetime to do that."

I chuckle as she kisses me again, getting off the bench to make her way through the crowded dance floor, disappearing from my sight within seconds. Who would've thought Harry and Kirsten had so many friends?

Well, I'm gonna be sitting at this table by myself anyway, so it doesn't really matter how many people there are around me or anything. I'll probably just have this single bottle of beer I got from Freya and mess on my phone until she comes back from the bar. Yeah, that sounds alright. I didn't really come here to party in the actual sense of that word anyway.

"Hey. Hey!" I look up from my phone that I'd just gotten out of my pocket, to my left to see a familiar face a couple feet from me. "Do you mind if I sit here?"

I frown; why would Harry's girlfriend want to sit with me? "Um, yeah?" I reply, to which she nods and sits right next to me. I keep frowning at her because there's something else different about her since we met at the entrance of the club; her hair was straight, she was at least five inches taller-

"Why are you staring at me?" I blink at the sound of her voice, taking a deep breath and looking at her properly; I swear she wasn't wearing black skinny jeans and a band shirt at least two sizes too big for her. It's like she took something from Freya's closet and put it on, it literally looks like she's wearing Freya's clothes.

"Um... you were just..." I point to the right, where I last saw her with Harry earlier, "You were... you were literally-"

"I wasn't," She shakes her head, bringing her glass bottle of coke that I hadn't even noticed, to her lips, taking a large gulp and also taking her time at telling me what the hell she's talking about. "I'm the twin."

Oh. Oh. "Really?" I raise my eyebrows, bringing my bottle of beer to my mouth as well. There's one explanation I couldn't have seen coming. "Like Kirsten's twin?"

"Yep. You know how to tell us apart?" She points to my right, in the same direction as I did earlier, "She always wears heels and straightens her hair every day. I don't."

Obviously, I think to myself as I glance at her kinky hair, that reaches her shoulders and actually looks really nice. I can't see what she's wearing on her feet, but considering Kirsten was as tall as Harry when I saw them a few minutes ago, I'd assume her twin is wearing boots or sneakers. "Why'd she do that though? I mean she looks nice and all, but every day?"

The girl shrugs – I don't even know her name? "Harry has a thing for tall girls, I'm sure of that. So it might be because of him."

I nod, looking to the right and surprisingly catching a glimpse of Kirsten in her short white dress, running her hand through her hair that reaches her lower back, though it'd probably be as long as her twin's if she didn't straighten it. "And the hair?"

"Not sure about that. But I think it has something to do with Harry too, you know, he might have said something. He doesn't have a filter at all."

"Yeah, tell me about it," I say, a bit quieter, though I can't think of a single thing his girlfriend would change about herself just because he doesn't like it. Maybe she's the one that doesn't like the insanely curly hair. Who knows. "So it's your birthday too?"

She looks up at me as I look over at her, a small smile appearing on her face. "I thought it'd take you longer to realize," She beams, her eyes darting across my face, landing on my lips for longer than I would've wanted them to. "But yeah, I turn 18 today too."

"Why aren't you with them?" I point to the right with my head, as we've both established that's where Harry and Kirsten mostly are.

"Well, I already said hi to all of my friends and all that, now I just wanna sit here and wait for this whole thing to be done."

Sounds exactly like something I would do. "Cool," I nod firmly, "Happy birthday."

She grins widely and- is she blushing too? "Thanks."

"What's your name?"

"Kassidy."

"I'm Niall."

She blinks, leaning toward me a couple of inches, "Ni- did you just say Niall?"

"Yeah, that's the word people say to get my attention."

Kassidy laughs, "Never heard of it before."

"Get in line."

She lifts her bottle of coke, as if toasting, and brings it to her mouth. I lean back in the leather covered bench, watching her for a few seconds; I haven't really gotten to know her or her sister, but something is making me think they're the complete opposite of each other.

I blink at my thoughts, and quickly look away from her; the last thing I need is a girl I met literally a minute and a half ago to catch me staring at her. For the second time.

"Are you a friend of Harry's?" I do, however, look at her again when she speaks up; her eyebrows raised and her big brown eyes intently set on mine.

"Uh, yeah."

"You go to school together?"

"Well- sort of, he's in English and I'm in Architecture."

"Oh, that sounds fun," Kassidy grins, reacting the way most people react. They're usually expecting me to say I study English, or medicine, or law even. Something predictable.

"Lots of fun," I widen my eyes a little as I answer, the look in my eyes describing just how fun being an Architecture major is. "You're still in high school?"

"Yeah, I'm a senior."

"Any plans for the future?"

"Oh you know, going to college and then working at Target because of the economy. The usual."

I chuckle at her answer, earning a sheepish smile from her. She's fun. I like her. "Sounds like a plan."

She gives me another smile, before we fall into another silence. This time she leans against the back of the bench too, sitting right beside me, her bare arm lightly touching mine. I glance at her, only catching a glimpse of her hands holding the bottle of coke in her lap, before deciding I should probably do something so the atmosphere doesn't become awkward. I could talk to her, but I don't really know what to say; so I should pretend I'm looking at my phone or something.

"Can I tell you something?" Okay, one thing I've realized – she's really good at stopping me in my actions when I'm pulling my phone out of my pocket.

I look over at her, the top of her bottle pressed against her lips as she looks at me a little hesitantly. "I think you're really cute," She blurts out, the last thing I could have expected her to say, "That's all."

I can't help but snort at her compliment, and then continue laughing in case she got offended. To my surprise though, she starts laughing lightly with me – I don't think she'd regret what she'd just said no matter how I responded to it. "Thanks."

"That was really straightforward," She points out, her brows raised and I can practically see her mentally slapping herself over and over. "Sorry, I kind of just..."

"It's alright," I say as she trails off, and lean back in the bench, her eyes following my every move. "I think you're cute too."

I don't think I've seen a girl so relieved since I moved here. "Thanks," She replies, still clearly feeling slightly awkward because of her outburst. "Are you here with anyone?"

"Yeah, Harry's sister."

And I've also never seen a girl get so confused so quickly. "Really? His- his older sister?"

"Mhm."

"Oh, then..." She falls back into her seat, although now she's slumped into it, staring right ahead of herself with her eyes widened; this is concerning as much as it's amusing. "I'm-I'm sorry."

"Don't be," I say in a light tone, lifting my drink in her direction, "Beer?"

Kassidy blinks, slowly looking down at the bottle with a frown. She's either still comprehending the fact I'm here with someone and not just anyone, or she'd never think I'd offer her alcohol. "You're offering me your beer?"

"I'd need beer if I were you."

She narrows her eyes in a glare as she watches me, taking the bottle from my hands and not breaking the eye contact. I'm slightly impressed when she keeps looking at me while drinking from the green bottle, and then continues when she hands it back to me, wiping her lips with the back of her hand. "Thank you. Now I might find the courage to talk to you in this lifetime again."

Chuckling, I bring the bottle to my lips, not bothering to wipe the top. At first I think she's going to leave out of embarrassment, but she keeps looking at me with that same frown, this time with an amused smile growing on her lips too. I'd already be on the other side of the bar; I admire her balls. "Wouldn't- what's her name, Fiona?"

Fiona? "No, I believe you're talking about Freya."

"Yeah." She shifts in her seat, "Wouldn't she mind that you called me cute?"

I raise my beer bottle to my lips again while looking Kassidy in the eyes, actually thinking about her question; how would Freya react to what I'd said a minute ago? I'm not exactly sure, but I can see her turning her head to look at me with a blank face, then excusing herself and getting up to leave. God only knows what would happen when we left the party. Oh boy. "Well, I mean, I can think a girl is cute without wanting to do anything with her, right?"

That was a nice save. I'm just not sure if it was a good enough one. "I like the way you think," Kassidy says, smiling at me, by now obviously forgetting about her little incident completely. I'd like to think Freya would like it too. "How long have you been seeing her?"

Her expression turns more serious when she asks the question, though her face is still holding a bit of amusement. She's almost like Freya – only Freya would hardly get embarrassed by something like that. "Um, just a couple of weeks. But I met her in September last year."

She nods, picking up her coke, "What took you so long?"

She's in for a long night if she wants to know why it really took me so long. "Dunno, she didn't like me that much in the beginning. Age difference, you know?" Age difference was definitely the least of our problems. "And she had a boyfriend until late December." Now the boyfriend was a significantly bigger issue.

Kassidy nods again, leaning back against the bench sideways, so she can face me easier, her hair almost touching my face. "Did you steal her from him?"

"That's definitely one way to put it."

My answer makes her giggle; lord, if she had any idea. I think she'd just leave the table and tell Kirsten to tell Harry to never hang out with me again. "You're funny," She tells me all of a sudden, "And cute. I can see why she'd choose to be with you."

I'm definitely not the one to steal other people's girlfriends, but I'll take credit for 'stealing' Freya. I'd like to think she has more reasons to be with me other than the fact I got her out of an unhealthy relationship. "Uh, yeah, thanks," I smile humorously, and she rolls her eyes at that?

"I'm doing it again, aren't I?" She nods to herself, further confusing me, "Being straightforward. I should just leave."

Before I can say anything about that, she raises her brows as she looks right in front of her, her expression now becoming a little more urgent. "And there's another reason I should leave, nice meeting you Niall."

I open my mouth to say something again, but she cuts me off by suddenly leaning forward and kissing my cheek, leaving me speechless for a few seconds – enough seconds for her to get up and scurry away from the table, leaving me to watch her walk away. Moments later I feel the bench shift to my right and when I turn my head in that direction, I'm face to face with Freya and oh, that's her other reason for leaving. I get it now.

"Hi-" I stammer, but then raise my eyebrows when she shifts and presses her lips against mine out of the blue. I close my eyes with my brows still practically on my forehead; they really do have lots of things in common.

"Hi," Freya says as she pulls back for a second, and then attaches her lips to mine in another long kiss; I don't wanna jump to conclusions, but I have a feeling Kassidy has something to do with her greeting me like this. "I'm gonna take a wild guess and say that was Kirsten's sister?"

I blink a few times to collect my thoughts as she pulls away for good, though her face is still very close to mine, hence my confusion. I lick my lips as my eyes dart from her lips to her eyes several times, before landing solely on her eyes. "Uh, yeah. She's cool. Thinks I'm cute."

She raises her brows at the last thing I tell her, nodding a couple of times, "Does she?"

"That's what she said."

"That you're cute?"

"Yep."

"Do you think she's cute?"

"Of course I don't," I almost choke on the words, having Freya laugh at my voice – which isn't all that convincing. "I mean she's-she's pretty. And a fun person, you have lots of stuff in common."

"Do we?" Freya asks again, in that tone that makes me rethink my entire existence – but I nod my head nonetheless. "Well, I sure hope we won't have you in common."

Despite the humorous look on her face, I can tell this isn't just something she's making innocent jokes about; there's more to it, but she doesn't want me to see it. "Well, I mean, she's fit and all that, for sure," I say, pausing to grin at her skeptical expression, "But no. I'm all yours."

A barely noticeable smile appears on her lips, though she quickly covers it up by pulling on an uninterested, almost bored face. "Good. Thank you. I appreciate that," She says in a professional voice, and I only nod. At my lack of response, she leans toward me until she has no choice but to kiss me. "You did look good with her, though," She whispers, her lips touching mine as she speaks; yeah, she could have either kissed me, or said something dumb. I never know which one of those two I'd get.

I lean back in my seat, as I'd shifted to be able to kiss her, and sigh; she's not going to let me live this down, I already know it. "Why?" I turn my head to her, presumably with an exhausted look on my face. "Why did I look good with her?"

"Because she's close to your age," Freya wiggles her brows, making me narrow my eyes at her. Again with this. Of course.

"Yeah, and here you are five centuries older than me," I nearly snap, but smile at my own words when she laughs. She obviously isn't serious when she talks about our age difference, I know it doesn't bother her – but she just loves teasing me about it.

"No, but I am gonna be five years older than you in three months," She moves closer to me again, this time resting her forehead against mine and biting her lip when she sees me looking at them. "That's half a decade. That's a lot."

"Watch me continue to not give a shit about it," I mumble while lifting my hand, to her chin, to move her head so I can finally kiss her. The kiss doesn't last more than three seconds, though, when a loud voice and a giant figure interrupts us.

"Hey guys," Seth yells from my left, shaking the entire bench as he slumps onto it, ultimately ending our kiss. We just can't catch a break with these people.

"Hello, Seth," I clear my throat, shifting so I can face Seth, but he starts talking before I have a chance to do that.

"Tell me," He starts, shouting; I don't think he realizes that the music isn't that loud. "Who was that girl you were talking to?"

Oh, alright, now I get it. "Uh, that was Kirsten's sister? Harry's girlfriend's sister," I say slowly, frowning at Seth as if that would help me to see what he's doing. "But don't bother with her."

He closes his mouth as soon as the last sentence leaves mine, and now he's the one frowning at me – I knew exactly what the motherfucker was thinking. "What? Why not?"

"Well, she just turned eighteen," I start, "And you're gonna be 23 in May."

"She's legal, that's good enough," He tells me, not even flinching at the information. "Tell me something about her."

On my other side I can feel Freya trying to hold back a laugh, but I only shake my head at him. "Well, her name is Kassidy," I begin again, "And she literally just turned 18, man, what the hell?"

"Hey, you're the one who told me I should find a girlfriend," He turns his head to me suddenly, looking me straight in the eyes- that's why he's asking about her? That is why? "And I really want to see how getting a blowjob in the morning feels, so help me out here."

Oh, okay, this sounds more like Seth. For a second I thought I lost him. "Um, well..." I stammer, pausing for a second as I hear Freya finally let out that laugh she was holding at his words. I mean I know he just told me the reason he wants a girlfriend and it's a very Seth-like reason and it's probably not even a good one to begin with, but if he knows anything about relationships at all, he wouldn't go after her just to get head when he wakes up. "She's-she's eighteen and she seems cool, you know, isn't afraid to say what's on her mind, she's fun and she's also wearing a Scorpions shirt, so I think you have a similar taste in music." I nod to myself firmly, "But she wouldn't like you."

Until that last bit, Seth was nodding too, obviously liking what he was hearing – and then that last part just makes him freeze and furrow his brows at me. "What, why not? What's there not to like?" He lifts his arms and moves in the bench so his whole body is turned to me, asking me to find something wrong with it. And there's nothing wrong with it. If only his personality was as spectacular as his body.

"Well, first off, you're a foot taller than her, you're half a decade older than her, every other word that leaves your mouth is a sexual innuendo," I stop for a second to lean forward, "And you're Republican."

Seth scoffs at that last part, rolling his eyes as he sits back in his seat. "Who the hell cares about that? I'm not-"

"I'll tell you who cares, black people care," I nod at him to assure him of it, "And everyone else who makes less than a hundred grand a year, but that's not the point. Black people. They don't really like you guys."

He only sighs at that; I knew it's be a good argument. "Yeah, but what if I used it to my advantage?" He suggests after a minute, "Like, 'yeah, I'm Republican, but I think women should be allowed to do whatever the hell they want with their bodies'. Or like, 'if I'm bothering you, just tell me and I'll leave, I don't wanna force myself onto you because that's fucking wrong'. Or, or, this is the best one yet, watch this."

A wicked, euphoric smile spreads across his face as he turns his head so he's facing me, and a weird glint in his eyes. The hell is he gonna say now? "I would imprison Darren Wilson."

I snort, and on my right Freya is also laughing at everything he's said; but I have to admit, if I were a black girl, he'd probably be the only Republican I could stand looking at. Although, he is the only Republican I can stand looking at as it is.

"Do you actually believe in anything you've just said?" I ask him through a laugh, and I'm amazed that his expression is dead serious while Freya and I are choking on thin air like fucking hyenas. "Or are you just trying to get a blowjob in the morning?"

"What? No, of course I do," Seth frowns at me again, like I'm crazy to ask something like that. "I didn't choose to be Republican, I was raised like that. But what I did choose, is not to be a bigoted asshole."

I don't think even his father would be as proud as I am upon hearing him say that. "Go get her," I say quietly, "But I don't recommend telling her about your political party just yet."

"Okay," Seth says slowly, clearly excited to leave the table. When did he become like this? "You're the relationship expert, do I tell her after or before she gives me a blowjob?"

I close my eyes at his yet another Seth-like question, but turn my head to Freya soon. "What do you think?" I ask her, which surprises her a little, "What would you do if I told you I'm Republican?"

"Well," She tilts her head to the side, playing along, "I probably wouldn't like you any less, but you wouldn't be getting a blowjob anytime soon. So yeah, I recommend doing it before. But not too early. Somewhere halfway."

Seth nods, almost eagerly, soaking up the information like a sponge; how much alcohol has he exactly had? "Okay. Okay, got it," Is all he says before getting up, and starts pushing through the crowd of people in the same direction Kassidy did awhile ago. There are so many things that could go wrong, like she might have a boyfriend, she might not be interested in the first place- and here we were discussing when he should tell her that he's Republican. But I get it; telling a black girl he's Republican is probably as hard as coming out to his parents. Good thing he's not gay. I mean I don't care what he is, but his father would probably murder him on the spot.

"What are you thinking about?" I blink a couple times and turn my head to the right, to see Freya looking at me intently.

"U-um, just how fucked Seth would be if he was gay."

As I'd assumed, she frowns at me like I'm a mad person. "Figuratively or literally?"

"Oh my God," I groan, while her frown disappears as she starts laughing the hardest she has yet. "You're terrible."

"I couldn't help myself," She grins, nuzzling her face into my hair. "But he's like our son, we'd love him either way."

I burst into another laughing fit, making her pull away from me, "Yeah. If his real parents don't, he has us."

"Exactly," Freya beams, reaching out for her beer she'd put on the table, that I haven't even noticed her bring. "Cheers to that."

Cheers to us accepting Seth if he ever comes out as gay while he's hitting on a girl across the room? "Cheers," I smile, clicking my bottle against hers before bringing it to my mouth, and she does the same with hers.

"Want another one?" She points to my beer- my almost empty bottle of beer.

"Nah, I'm the driver, remember? This is all I'm allowed to have."

Freya nods, looking down at her hands for a second before laying her head on my shoulder, and lifting her legs so she can lean her whole body against mine. I chuckle as I raise my arm to put it around her; I know she was excited to spend time with Harry on this party, but after a two hour ride from Chicago we're all tired. Well, except Seth. But he brought a Red Bull with him. I'll have to find myself one too, since he's too lazy to drive his own damn car.

"Har- watch it!" I jump in my seat, and so does Freya, when the whole table is almost knocked over – by Harry, who's either too drunk to function, or... nope, he's just shit-faced.

Although, when Kirsten helps him sit down opposite of Freya and I, I can't help noticing he looks nothing like he did when we came about half an hour ago; he was happy, all over the place, tipsy enough to try and kiss me because of a damn shirt and now- now, his eyes are bloodshot red and he's just staring into space with this miserable look on his face. The fact that Kirsten also has a concerned expression isn't making this any better. The hell happened with the two of them.

"Is he okay?" Freya asks, loud enough for Kirsten to hear, but not Harry as well.

"Um..." The black haired girl turns her head to him, and gulps in a way that makes me think she's on the verge of crying; before turning to Freya and cracking an obviously fake smile. "Yeah. Just drunk, you know he's not used to alcohol."

The ends of my mouth twitch upwards, for a second believing that's all it is. But it's none of my business. Maybe he really is just too drunk. I'm the sleepy kind of drunk, Freya is the giggly kind, and Harry just might be the miserable-looking one. If alcohol makes him think a lot, then I definitely see where it's coming from.

"You know what?" I wince as he speaks up all of a sudden, his voice loud and determined; there's one reason not to believe what Kirsten's just told us. "I made up my mind." He starts nodding firmly, looking right through the wall behind me, "I'm moving to Amsterdam."

I only blink while watching him, kind of frozen in my seat in shock, and I can tell that Freya is reacting the same. On the other hand, Kirsten is groaning and dropping her head in her hands, "Not this again."

Again? He's already talked about moving to Amsterdam? "Did you know," Harry begins, his eyes glued to one spot on the red wall, as Kirsten sits up straight, an annoyed look on her face when she hears him speak. "That they... they shot a woman on the street because they thought she was a prostitute."

He grimaces and shakes his head, "Just like that. She was kissing her husband on the street and they shot her. Because they thought she was a prostitute. You know why they thought that?"

"Harry-"

"Because she was black," He interrupts his girlfriend, who only sighs at his answer. Harry turns his head to her slowly, an almost creepy smile on his face that isn't humorous at all. "And her husband was white. And apparently, the only reason a black woman would be kissing a while man, is because he's paying her to do it."

"Harry," Kirsten cuts him off again, and looks at him; while his expression goes from smiling creepily to giving her a murderous look. "I'm-I'm eighteen. I just turned eighteen, nobody will mistake me for a prostitute."

Oh. Oh. I understand now. "They shot a twelve year old kid with a toy gun, and I doubt he looked like a fucking fugitive serial killer."

"And what am I supposed to do about it?" Kirsten finally snaps, turning around so her whole body is facing Harry's, "What the hell do you think I can do about it? I-"

"Move with me," He cuts her off, taking her face in his hands, now looking at her desperately; I understand even more now. "Let's just do it, I'm fucking sick of having to take pills in school because my hands are shaking at the thought of you getting killed while you're out buying fucking tampons."

"You're sick of it?" Kirsten exclaims, not affected by his words one bit, "You're sick of it? Harry, I'm the one who lives with it, you don't think I'm fucking sick of it?! You don't think I-"

"Of course I fucking know you are, that's why I wanna do this." One of his hands travels to the back of her head, bringing her forehead against his. "We can do this, baby, I know we can. This summer. When we're both out of school. You can apply for a military academy over there, I know they have those. And I can transfer from here so it won't be difficult. And we'll get us a studio apartment that overlooks a river or a lake or some cute shit. And we'll decorate it however we want to. And you'll learn to make Dutch food because I know how much you love cooking. And we'll eat on the floor. And I'll get you tulips every day. And we can dance to our music whenever we want to. And we'll be together. And we'll be happy. And safe, we'll be safe. You will be safe."

He pauses to sniffle, tears in his eyes; and no, there are definitely none in mine. "'Cause if something happens to you, I swear, I won't rest until I've killed every white policeman in the United States."

"Harry!" Kirsten gasps, through her own tears, "Don't say that, someone-"

"Do you think I give a fuck what anyone might do anymore?" Harry continues, "Do you think I would give a fuck about spending one or twenty lifetimes in prison if something happened to you. You're my fucking universe, Kirsten, I'd rather be in jail without you than anywhere else without you."

After his last sentence, they're both quiet, just looking at each other; Harry looks like he's just said everything he's been dying to say for years, and Kirsten looks like she was hit by a truck that suddenly fell out of the sky – and I can't blame her. I still haven't forgotten the conversation I had with Harry in the hospital, when he told me the most affectionate thing he's ever said to Kirsten is 'I love you', so I can only imagine how they feel after this.

"I..." Kirsten finally lets out a sound after having her mouth open for a good minute, clearly speechless. "Harry, I..."

"Don't give me an answer yet," He says, shaking his head, in a tone almost too quiet for us to hear, "Think about it. And I mean really think about it. Don't dismiss it like you always do. Just... think about it."

She keeps nodding through his mumbling, ultimately tilting her head to the side to latch her lips to his. I blink when Harry pulls her hair to the back, grabbing a fistful of it to hold her close to him, and she seizes the collar of his shirt so he'd shift closer to her- alright, this is probably our cue to leave.

"You wanna get out of he-"

"Yes," Freya breathes before I can finish my question, and I laugh reluctantly when she grabs my hand to pull me away from the booth as fast as possible. By the time we walk around the table Harry is pulling himself up on the leather bench, only to push Kirsten down and get on top of her- I'm really glad we left because they're really going at it.

I still have a smile on my face when Freya finds our jackets, in the narrow lobby of the club. I follow her out and I can't help noticing that the further we are from the table and Harry and Kirsten, the more panicked she looks. I can't wait to hear what kind of nonsense is on her mind now, and if it's any similar to what she'd told me in the car on our way here. It'll be easy if it is.

"Fre- Freya," I call as she scurries out, her arms crossed over her chest, and I frown from my spot at the door as she approaches a guy, about my age, standing by a lamppost. I decide to make my way toward her, and she turns around just as I start walking – with a cigarette between her lips.

"You smoke that too, now?" I ask her half-sarcastically, raising my voice to be louder than the fairly strong wind. With a skeptical slash annoyed face that I could see coming, she keeps looking at me while taking a drag, and also while blowing out the smoke so delicately, she makes it look like art.

"Did you hear everything he's said?" She asks me after a minute of us just standing in front of each other. I'm almost surprised to hear her speak.

"Uh, yeah," I shrug, "Kinda made me regret not letting him kiss me earlier. Why?"

"He's just-" Freya shakes her head, obviously not appreciating my attempt to make a joke. "He's so- he's so dependent on her, you know?"

I throw my head back slightly, already recognizing the issue as she starts walking around slowly, making circles in the snow. "He-he depends on her, he depends on her so much. His happiness depends on her. He'd be miserable without her and that-that's not healthy." I don't think you're in the position to determine what's healthy and what isn't. "He's everything I don't want to be."

"Um..." I shrug again, not particularly wanting to voice my thoughts. "I don't- I doubt he really depends on her, as much as he made it look like he does. He just loves her. And he's wasted, how do you expect him to act?"

I chuckle through my words, to try and get rid of some of the tension, but it doesn't work as I want it to; Freya keeps shaking her head, smoke flowing out of her mouth as she draws random figures in the snow with the tip of her shoe. "I'd-I'd hate myself if I ever made you depend on me that much," She admits, rather awkwardly, "This is what I was talking about, you know. The... needing you, you needing me, this is what I'm afraid of."

I'm not particularly liking the things she's saying, but I appreciate the fact she admitted she's scared of something. Must've required all of her mental effort to say the actual word. "Remember what I told you in the car?" I begin, walking over to her, "That you could never regret needing me? Why do you think I said that?"

"Yeah, okay, I know you're not like him, but people leave and-"

"Not everyone in your life is gonna leave you, dammit," I cut her off loudly, not in the mood for another pessimistic conversation. "Some people stay, because they care. And no, that's not a reason to depend on them, or let your happiness depend on them, but you can rely on them. You can need the person. You don't have to be afraid you're gonna wake up and be on your own when you have that kind of a person in your life."

"Are you that kind of a person?"

"What?"

"You heard me, are you that-"

"What do you think?!" I shout, outstretching my arms in mere desperation. "Seriously, what do you think? Do I sound like I'm just gonna get up and leave one day? Do I? Do I?"

"No!" She shouts back, her eyes widened, and quickly brings her hands to my face as if to hold me in place. "No. No, you don't. But I've already driven you away with my bullshit a few times, I'm-I'm afraid one day I'll drive you away for good."

I've realized so many things tonight, and this one just might be the best discovery yet. "You know... why I put up with your bullshit now?" I narrow my eyes at her, "Because I'm hoping you'll run out of it one day and we'll finally be a happy, normal couple that doesn't piss each other off all the damn time."

Freya breaks into a huge smile for some reason and a little annoyed, I drop my hands next to my body and give her a skeptical look as I sigh. "That's not likely to happen," She tells me quietly, taking a step closer and putting her hands on my shoulders. "Because I'm always gonna be full of shit." At least she admits it. "But I never mean anything bad with it. It comes from a place of love. And insecurity. And you're still gonna love me either way, right? Right?" She keeps pecking my lips in between repeating 'right?' and at one point I have to give in to her overly sweet voice.

"Right," I finally answer monotonically, earning a triumphant grin from her. "I might shoo you out of the apartment if you cross the line, but that comes from a place of love too."

"Deal," She says immediately, giving me a real, long kiss; and I can only imagine all the bullshit she has in store for me. I hope I don't go grey by the time I'm twenty-five.

*******

this chapter wasn't supposed to have so much politics in it and i'm sorry for that and i'm also sorry if anyone got offended by anything, ily all i really do

andddd i'm sorry for not updating sooner (this part has 6.5k words and it was impossible omg) but the good news is i'm already working on the next one so it should be up in 3-4 days :D 200 comments until then pleeeeaase? i love you all x