"Alright," Seth says through a sigh, and I feel him throw an arm around my shoulder as we walk down the short staircase. "Which one do you like? I think the second one from the left might be your type, since you're into blondes and everythi- oh."

I finally look at him when he interrupts himself, and just as I'm about to speak, he interrupts me too. "It's her, isn't it?" He asks in a low tone as he points in front of us, a small but knowing smile on his face. "Yeah, I should have known. You wouldn't want a blonde to remind you of Leanne."

I follow his gaze, and, sure enough, he's looking at Angel. In all honesty, I have trouble looking at her; it's like the only train of thoughts that's going through my head is - this is what she is. This is what I couldn't get off my mind for a week straight. This is what you ruined your relationship with Leanne for.

A damn stripper. That's all she is. Her 'mysteriousness' and all that bullshit make sense now - here I was, thinking that she was special in some weird way, when really, she's just, she's... this. She's just this.

I feel a little lightheaded as I remember certain things from my few encounters with her; that guy in black she warned me about on the night that we met, then the curly haired angry-looking guy in her car, and who knows how many others. They're all... she's been with...

"You alright?" I hear Seth's voice somewhere in the distance. "I mean, I know this is your first time in a strip bar, but you could contain yourself a little, eh?"

From the corner in my eye, I can see him leaning closer to me, and then all of a sudden he snorts. I don't think I even wanna know what's going through his head now.

"Niall, you're drooling. Come on." He pulls me by my arm and leads me through a crowd of people, and as we get closer to the table thing where she is, I have to gulp multiple times so I wouldn't throw up on the spot. I'm pretty sure Seth wouldn't hesitate to actually throw me out of the frat house if that happened.

"Okay, excuse me? Yeah- thanks." After a few seconds, he pulls me the rest of the way so we're right in front of them - her, to be precise. "Alright, you sit here and I'll go get us drinks, sounds good?"

Without waiting for my reply, Seth pushes me by the shoulders and within a second I'm sitting at a round table, surrounded by men twice, or even three times my age. And a three quarters naked Angel, of course.

I'm surprised she still hasn't noticed me, but then again, I doubt they make a lot of eye contact with people that come here. And then I remember another thing - the guy in the alley. He was probably... yeah, he definitely was.

I feel like leaving the place immediately and never coming around this area of the city ever again, but at the same time, I can't stop looking at her. Even though what she's doing is - well, I have a lot of names for what she's doing - she's pretty good at doing it. And I bet that's what the guy with the whiskey in his hand and a beard that makes him look like Jesus is thinking too.

A minute later - a minute that feels like an hour without Seth - my breath almost hitches when she looks at the crowd in front of her, and does a double take when she sees me. Then I'm watching her twirl around the damn thing, until she's practically lying on the ground, in front of me. Well this ought to be interesting.

"Hello," She says loudly so I'd hear her over the music, and crawls toward me slowly, crossing her arms in front of her chest and well there, hello to you too. "What brings you here, detective?"

To my slight surprise - although I've no idea why I'm surprised at all - she doesn't look like she's the tiniest bit uncomfortable that I'm here. And why would she anyway, it's not like she doesn't do this every weekend.

The thought brings my need to vomit back again. "Um, hi," I say, though I'm pretty sure she hasn't heard me. Although the smile on her face tells me it's otherwise.

"How'd you find me this time?" I find it a little weird that she has the freedom to just lie there, kicking her legs in the air; shouldn't she be like, throwing them up in the air or something..?

"My friend did that," I say shortly, "You should... continue doing your thing." I add, entirely because I can't stand looking at her like that, just- no, I refuse to believe I have feelings for a call girl.

Well dammit, now I've admitted it. "Oh, I get you like the show?" She smiles, and, I have to start with the gulping again because I doubt she'd want her red uniform to be covered in green.

"Um..." I don't exactly know what to tell her, so I just keep staring at her, my lips parted. She raises her eyebrows at me after a few moments of silence, and it's the unbelievably innocent look in her eyes that makes me finally look away.

"Yeah, um..." I clear my throat as I stand up, and notice her still looking at me. "I-I need some fresh air, yeah? I'll-I'll just... I..."

I continue to mumble incoherent shit as I make my way through the crowd, of men who are probably fighting over the table I was sitting at just a minute ago. Just when the air is becoming a little too thick, I finally find the right door and practically fly out of the place.

When I'm about five meters down the street I stop, and place my hands on my knees as I lean forward to catch my breath. I literally have half a mind to just start walking home, even though I'm too far from my apartment, and the frat house. Actually, I don't even know where the hell I am.

After a minute or so, when the air finally becomes breathable again, I stand up straight and look around myself; not a damn soul was anywhere around me, except for the body guard and one man that has just walked into the club.

I shake my head at nothing in particular, and walk over to the nearest building to lean against the wall of it. For a while I just stand there and think about everything that's happened tonight - from Leanne telling me what was on her mind to seeing Angel in there - and I decide it's something I wouldn't want mention to my mother next time I call her.

Then I contemplate whether or not I should go back in - since Seth is still there and all - but in the end I decide to just text him.

To: Seth

feeling a bit sick so ill be in the car. ya probably not even gonna see this til 4pm anyway

I sigh as I push my phone in my pocket again, and run a hand through my hair as I walk toward Seth's car. Good thing he always gives me his keys when we're together - even he knows how much of an irresponsible fucker he is.

Like the idiot that I am, I unlock the driver's side, thinking it's the passenger's. I still decide to sit in that seat though - I can just scoot over when Seth decides he's had enough of girls and drinks for tonight. Or he'll be too drunk to drive so I'll have to drive. Or, he'll bring a girl with him and they'll be in the back seat. It has to be one of those three; it's always been one of those three.

I make sure to lock myself inside before leaning my head against the backrest, wanting to get a rest of some sort; but a minute later I'm looking for a bottle of water in the car because I have things that shouldn't be going through my mind going through my mind. As soon as I get home, I'm taking a cold shower. No, a cold bath. That'll do it.

But for now, all I can do is slam my hands against the steering wheel because, yeah, she still isn't leaving my head. But this is different from other times; other times I'd have a picture of her smile in my head, when we sat in that pizza place one week ago. Now though, now she's dancing naked in my head, which is making me want to dance my way off a fucking cliff.

I can't even believe how dumb I was - of course she's gonna act all dark and mysterious and whatnot, it's her job. It's her job to get inside my head and have me wrapped around her finger. Of course she's gonna-

I jump in my seat as I hear a knock on the window on the other side; I take a breath to start yelling because I think it's Seth but, as I look to my right, of course it's not fucking Seth that's standing there.

With a small sigh - a sigh of self-pity - I unlock the door without even looking at her. How the hell did she even find me, it's been fifteen minutes since I left the damn place?

"What are you doing here?" I ask, my head in the palm of my hand as I stare outside the windshield. Angel takes her sweet time getting comfortable in the seat before deciding to speak.

"I left as soon as you did," She says, "My shift ends at midnight anyway."

And I think about it; yeah, the night that we met, it wasn't a lot after midnight. And she told me she was coming back from work, which means... she was dancing that night too.

"Are you feeling okay?" She asks as I close my eyes - though I've closed them because of the thought that just crossed my mind. "You looked a little pale in there."

"I'm always pale," I say in a flat tone.

"I know." I can hear the smile on her face, god fucking dammit. "You just looked paler than usual."

"Maybe it's the lighting."

She shifts toward me, and I fight the urge to jump away from her. "No, you're still just as pale." As she doesn't move immediately away, I take that as a chance to look at her clothes, and I frown as I do.

"What's with the hat?" She's wearing skinny jeans and a leather jacket - and presumably her uniform underneath - but I'm a little confused to see her wearing a hat. Like a grey beanie.

"I took a quick shower, you don't think I'd just walk out after rolling around for three hours, do you?" She raises her eyebrows, a little smirk on her face. At least it's a relieving information, that she showered. I don't need to clean the car. "And my hair is still wet."

Well that explains it. "Why didn't you dry your hair?"

"I usually do, but now I was too eager to find you," She tells me. Eager. Of course.

"How come?" I ask as I look outside the windshield again.

There's a small silence for a minute or so, during which I can feel her eyes on me. "I know what you're thinking right now," Angel finally says and, well, how could she not know?

"You don't say?" I mumble, barely audible, but apparently loud enough for her to hear.

"It's just a job," She tells me, but even if that's the truth, it wouldn't be good enough. "Okay? I just dance, and that's it. I've never even given a lap dance in my life."

"That guy," I begin before she can continue talking. "The night when we met, you told me about a guy dressed in black." I look her in the eyes, "Who is he?"

Angel blinks at me, and I can see the nervousness wash over her face. "It doesn't matter, he's not who you think he is," She tells me, but I just shake my head. And of course that's her answer.

"How am I supposed to believe anything you say?" I ask, through a small laugh that isn't humorous one bit. "All you've done is lie to me."

"I haven't lied to you about a single thing," She frowns at me. "I just don't tell you things."

"Yeah, that makes everything better," I mumble, rubbing my face. She's just impossible; and I'm sorry that it's the bad kind of impossible.

"You know everything that you need to know," She says, and I can almost taste the urge to roll my eyes. "I'm... I don't like giving people information about myself."

I nod at that; it's not exactly something I haven't noticed. I want to take her seriously, believe there's a reason behind everything she does, but what I've seen tonight is still too fresh in my mind for me to do so.

I hear Angel sigh and cross her legs a few minutes later, "It's the owner of the club."

"What?" I ask monotonically, slowly turning my head to frown at her.

"The guy in black. Well, his father is the owner, but they work together," She tells me, and now she's the one looking straight ahead of herself while I'm looking at her. But if he's just the owner, what was he doing there?

"Why'd you tell me?" I ask; talk about a first question.

"What?" She says and, a bit ironically, frowns as she turns to face me.

"You said you don't like talking about yourself," I say slowly and tilt my head to the side a bit, "So why'd you tell me about the guy in black?"

She sighs after a second or two of just staring at me, and goes back to looking outside at the road again. "Well, the world I live in is corrupted enough for me to tell the people who care and the ones who are just curious apart."

Angel turns her head to look at me again, "I feel like you're one of those who care." Is this how being in a movie feels like? "But please, correct me if I'm wrong," She adds.

I refuse to smile at that; I don't want to give her the satisfaction of smiling at her words when her career choice is still bothering me. But I think that was a good answer; hell, even if she's lying, it's a good lie. I would definitely blame her for having reasons that sound like legitimate reasons.

"Do you want me to take you home or something?" I ask through a sigh, and in a flash remember Seth; but he's probably doing body shots as I sit here, so even if I went somewhere, he could wait.

"Do you even have a license?"

"No, I only have an ID. Two of them."

"Two identity documents?"

"Long story."

She breathes out a laugh at that, and takes her hat off to run a hand through her hair. "Alright. If you're confident that the cops won't stop you."

"Why don't you just drive then?"

"I never learned how."

I frown as I laugh at that, already starting the car. "You never learned how to drive?"

"Hey, don't laugh, I'm telling you stuff about myself."

I shake my head at that; I feel like she's going to use it whenever I want to say something. "Can-can you find yourself here, though?" I take my phone out and hand it to her, after I open the Maps app. "Like, your address. 'Cause I've no idea where the hell we are, nor do I know where you live."

"And you still offered to give me a ride home?" She doesn't say anything after that; just smiles at me and takes my phone. But her words make me think; yeah, I'm lost in one of the biggest cities in the United States, and I've offered to take her home instead of myself. Am I whipped yet?

"Here you go." She gives me my phone back. "Right now we're at the blue spot, and you have to get to the red-"

"Yeah, I know what to do, thank you," I murmur and see her sit back in her seat from the corner of my eye.

*******

"What floor do you even live on?" I ask through a breath, looking around the hallway; what kind of a building has fifteen floors and no lift? "I have knee issues."

Angel looks over her shoulder as we walk up the stairs, a slight frown on her face. "This floor right here. What's with you knee anyway?"

I shrug, "Nothing, I just..." But I cough and trail off after that, continuing to walk behind her. I shove my hands in my pockets as the building is almost as cold as outside - and I wonder just how sick Angel is going to be tomorrow. Sick enough not to go to work, perhaps?

"Well, this is where I live," She points at a door, and I look up from my shoes to see her unlocking it. There's nothing special about it; from my spot at the door, I can only see walls and some windows across the room. I can't get an insight of anything about Angel from looking at it.

"Are you gonna come in?" Angel asks as she walks in, and immediately takes her shoes off. I lean on the door frame and shrug, even though she can't see me right now.

"Nah," I say when she walks over to me, now as tall as I'd like her to be. "Seth... my friend that brought me to the str- the club, he's, he's still there. And... that's his car down, so..."

I trail off again as she nods, and runs a hand through her impossibly messy hair; I can't help but wonder how the fuck is her comb going to survive that. "Alright," She says through a sigh as she crosses her arms. "You sure though? I have beer. And Irish coffee."

I give her a small smile when she says that, "It's okay. I should be going."

"Is something wrong?" She asks before I can even think about walking away. "I mean, I know you don't exactly approve of what you've seen tonight, but... that doesn't actually change what you think about me, right?"

After just staring at her for a few seconds, I shrug. "Not really, no. Don't need to worry about that."

"You were awfully quiet in the car," She begins again, and I'm actually shocked by how much she's talking all of a sudden. Usually it's me that does all the talking. "But, you know... if you need time to process everything, that's okay with-"

"Can I kiss you?" I nearly whisper, cutting her off as I lean my head against the frame of the door, still not taking my eyes off her.

Angel widens her eyes for a second or two, before blinking a couple times to compose herself. "I... what?"

"Leanne," I start, "My not-so-lovely girl. She left me tonight. You know why? 'Cause she noticed how I look at you. She noticed what I'm like around you."

I scan her face as her entire expression softens, and she almost looks like she feels sorry for me. "So, I guess I'm saying... I ruined something that could have been a perfect relationship, and I don't wanna feel like I did it for nothing."

She presses her slightly parted lips together, and I notice her gulping. That must be why I'm surprised when she nods. "Yeah, you can do it. It's just a kiss."

"Just a kiss," I repeat, already taking a step toward her.

"It's not like it's gonna happen again."

"Nope, never again."

"One-time thing."

"One-time thing."

Her hair is still damp when I place my hand on the back of her head, and even if she wanted to say something else she isn't able to. Her lips are too busy doing something else.

*******

Dedicated to @hashtagme_, thank you for understanding Leanne's decision/reaction! I was afraid people would think she overreacted but yeah, thank you <3

Please vote and comment for a dedication!