Y/n Y/l/n

"Why are there so many people in here?" I huff softly to myself, but that doesn't stop Ashley from overhearing me, as usual.

"Maybe because it's a club?" She teases, and I roll my eyes as she laughs.

"Yeah, yeah. You know what I meant."

"Of course I did, little miss introvert. I just like teasing you." I shake my head, laughing softly as she grabs my hand and pulls me into the crowd of people, directing the four of us towards an open booth.

"Hey Ash, where's Cole?" Sydney asks, as she slides into the booth last.

"Should be here soon, I think he's picking his friend up along the way." She shrugs, and I try my best to keep my attention on the conversation as my eyes wander around the club.

"Ooh, a single friend?" Chelsea piped in, and I can't help but laugh, turning my gaze back towards our table.

"Very, but I was hoping he and Little Miss over here.." she says, nudging my arm slightly, "would hit it off."

"I wouldn't bank on it Chels, I say go for it." I respond, trying to find a way to avoid being set up with another random man.

"Okay, okay. Before you get all hasty, why don't we get a round of drinks, and then we can see." Ashley speaks, already calling over a waiter to get a round of drinks.

In no time, the waiter had returned with four shots, placing them in front of each of us before walking away.

"Glasses up girls."

After gently knocking out glasses together, I tilt my head back, letting the strong liquid run down my throat.

I shut my eyes, shaking my head slightly to get rid of the overwhelming taste as I place the glass back down onto the table.

"I do have to ask." I turn my gaze to Chelsea as she pushes her glasses towards the middle of the table. "What's the occasion tonight?"

"What do you mean?" I tilt my head slightly to the side, waiting for her to elaborate.

"You just don't seem to be hesitant with the drinks tonight."

"Well, if you must know," I sighed, mentally reminding myself of that application form that had been sitting on my desk. "Evelyn is retiring next month and I may or may not be applying for the position."

"Oh my gosh!!" My eyes widened at the loudness of Sydney's voice, noticing the few people next to us turn to look at her. "Y/n/n, this is amazing."

"I haven't decided anything just yet."

"Okay maybe you haven't, but I definitely think you should consider it." Chelsea added, corroborating Sydney's statement. "Girl, you work, possibly way too much, but we all know that you're amazing at what you do."

"Besides, the change could be good for you." Ashley says, managing to say exactly what was already running through my mind.

"Evelyn said the same thing." I mutter, letting my mind wonder for a bit.

"If it isn't my beautiful girl and her friends." I sigh in relief as Cole walks up to the table, unintentionally changing the conversation, but I was super grateful.

"Cole, baby!" Ashley practically jumps out of her seat and into this man's arms.

"Look at you babe." He smirks, whistling as he lets his eyes roam over her body, not once sounding annoyed or agitated. "Aren't you just a sight for sore eyes."

I feel myself zone out a bit, my mind focusing on the way he was completely okay with what she was wearing. In fact, he outwardly complimented her about it.

My eyebrows furrow together, biting down on my bottom lip as I try to rid my mind of those memories.

Memories that I felt were best pushed to the back of my mind, regardless of what my therapist kept telling me.

"Earth to y/n." I shot back into reality, seeing Ashley look at me with that look I knew all too well.

I gently shook my head, letting her know I was okay, not wanting to bring this up on a night out.

"Everyone, this is Elliot. Elliot, this is," Cole gestures to the three of us sitting around the table, "everyone."

I can't help but laugh at that, watching his friend's face scrunch up in slight confusion before he simply nods.

"Well, come sit." Ashley says, dragging Cole into the booth next to her, Elliot simply following suit.

"I'm just gonna go to the bar and get something to drink, anyone want anything while I'm there?" I ask, sliding out of the booth, trying to remember what everyone wanted.

"Why don't you let Elliot go with you? Another set of hands to help." I drop my gaze to Ashley, narrowing my eyes but she simply shrugs it off.

"I mean, sure. If you don't mind. The help can't hurt." I smile gently, watching him nod as he stands up and follows me over to the bar. "Sorry about Ashley, she seems to be on her own agenda tonight."

I wasn't afraid to admit that he was cute. Slightly taller than me, his dirty blonde hair and green eyes easily catching my attention.

Yet I wasn't sure I was at that point yet.

"No need to apologize, I get to spend some time alone with a really pretty girl, can't say I've got too much to complain about."

My eyes widen slightly, my cheeks heat up at the compliment, but I remain silent, unsure of what to say.

"What can I get you?" Once again, I was saved from answering when the bartender finally reached me, taking my order and leaving me there with Elliot as we waited for him to finish.

"Sorry, I hope I didn't make you uncomfortable." I turn my head to the side, catching his gaze as I shake my head.

"No worries, you didn't. Just not used to the compliment, that's all."

"Surely that cannot be true, someone like you must get tons of them."

"Mmh, I'm glad you think so." I smile softly, without it fully reaching my eyes. "Uh, before we go back to the table."

"Yeah?" He raises an eyebrow, looking down at me curiously.

"I'm not sure what Ashley or Cole may have told you, but I don't really think I'm looking for anything at the moment." I say softly, not wanting to upset him.

"Y/n, you don't need to apologize, yeah they may have mentioned something, but after all, it's your decision and I fully respect that."

I look up at him with wide eyes, not expecting that answer, but feeling completely relieved at the sound of it.

"Thank you Elliot." He winks at me, picking up the tray of drinks the waiter had just filled up. "Oh! You can go back to the booth, I'll be there in a few!"

He nods, making sure I was alright before leaving me alone at the bar.

I breathe in for a second, taking my phone out of my purse and opening Seb's chat. The alcohol giving me a little bit more confidence than usual.

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| | 10:45 pm | |

𝐇𝐨𝐩𝐞 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐮𝐧 :)

𝐎𝐡 𝐦𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐝

𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐚𝐛𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐠𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐨𝐮𝐬

𝘐'𝘮 𝘣𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦
𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘣 ...

𝐃𝐨𝐥𝐥, 𝐈 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐚 𝐦𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘳?

𝐉𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞
𝐢𝐧 𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥
𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞

𝘚𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘧𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘣,
𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘺 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵
𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵

𝐍𝐨𝐭 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐲/𝐧,
𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐡𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲

𝐈 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐢𝐫,
𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲, 𝐬𝐮𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴, 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯
𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘯 :)

𝐘𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞 𝐜𝐮𝐭𝐞
𝐇𝐨𝐰'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐛?

𝘈𝘩, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘰𝘬𝘢𝘺, 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵
𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘶𝘴𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺
𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦
𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘣𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵

𝐢𝐬 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲?

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘺𝘯𝘢 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘮𝘺 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘵

𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐭'𝐬 𝐨𝐤𝐚𝐲,
𝐀𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮'𝐫𝐞
𝐬𝐚𝐟𝐞, 𝐈 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐚𝐫𝐠𝐮𝐞

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵?

𝐎𝐟 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐬𝐞, 𝐰𝐡𝐲
𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐈?

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵, 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘭𝘭 :/

𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘐'𝘮
𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘳𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘥
𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘳
𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥𝘴

𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘦𝘣 ;)

"Come on y/n/n, let's go dance!" I lock my phone before sliding it into my bag as Sydney walks up to me, where I was still perched against the bar. "Who's got you so hooked on your phone anyway?"

"You wanted to go dance? Let's go." I smile, trying to avoid Sydney's question.