It's too warm in here, the thick layer of sweat on my forehead making it apparent as I wipe at it with the back of my hand. Rhea doesn't help as she sits on the edge of my lap, her body aggressively moving to the music. She's wearing that tight black mini dress, the one she knows I like and her dark hair is pulled tightly into a ponytail.

"Isn't this fun?" She screams into my ear.

Her mascara is smudged slightly under her eyes and the red lipstick she applied early has disappeared now. I nod slightly. But no this isn't exactly what I'd like to call fun. The music's too loud here, too dramatic, and the club is rammed full of sweaty swaying bodies. This is definitely not fun.

Rhea leans onto me, one hand on my chest and the other grabs a fistful of my hair, pulling me closer to her. I can feel the tickle of her breath on my cheek as she presses her lips to mine and I drag her further onto my lap, deepening the kiss. Rhea's body has turned fully to me now, her legs wrapping around my waist as she rocks back and fourth slowly, teasing me.

My hands runs up and down her petite body, stopping at all of the right places for a moment until they become too greedy and move elsewhere. She bites down hard on my bottom lip and looks up at me with big brown eyes that are full of so much temptation, full of so much desire. "Baby?" She whispers into my ear and plants a few small kisses down my neck.

I grab her hips this time, guiding her up and down and her lips are finally back on mine. And although this is making the club somewhat more bearable, this doesn't mean anything. Rhea doesn't really mean anything to me, it's just comfortable. It's just comfortable to have someone to go to, someone who can distract me from the unthinkable things. Comfortable to have someone to kiss on nights like this. "I love you." She licks the side of my mouth, her hand just inches away for the zipper of my jeans.

And maybe she means it. But it makes my stomach knot, the feeling is definitely not mutual. Sure she's my girlfriend, but that doesn't mean I feel the same way. It doesn't mean I like her like that. She's just company, for now.

I'm grateful she doesn't see how my jaws locks and how my chests begins to tighten. I do my best to match Rhea's devilish grin and I'm grateful when she doesn't ask why I don't say it back.

"Get a room for God's sake, before I have to gouge my eyes out." Kai says sitting beside me, a fresh drink in hand.

Kai and I have been friends since the start of high school, but like Rhea, I think my relationship with Kai has remained so consistent out of connivence, rather than enjoyment. Kai can be a bit of an ass at the best of times. He's blunt and rude, and often acts out impulsively before thinking. Some of us don't have that privilege anymore.

Kai is just another distraction, another person I can pretend that I'm okay with. Another person I can pretend that I'm in control to.

Rhea reluctantly climbs off of my body, puffing out her bottom lip and crossing her arms across her chest, "Kai, you're such a party pooper." And I can only agree.

He shrugs her off and takes a big sip of his drink. Rhea takes my hands in hers and attempts to pull me from my seat. I'm more than ten inches taller than her and more than double her strength so I don't budge. "Come on. Dance with me." She rolls her eyes and places her hands on her hips, her bottom lip puffed out again, she's acting like a child.

Dancing in this club, letting sweaty bodies invade my personal space, attempting to keep in time with this awful electric music, was definitely something I had planned on not doing tonight. I shake my head and Kai shrugs pulling out his phone and pretending he's not listening. Kai doesn't plan on dancing either. "Fine. Be boring." Rhea says storming into the crowd, and just like that she disappears into the mass of heated bodies.

"God, she's annoying." Kai admits putting his hand on my shoulder and squeezing it in sympathy, "You must have your work cut out for you."

And again I can only agree. Rhea is hard work, she's stubborn and irritating. But she pays me attention, she distracts me in the best way she knows how, with her body. It's all physical with Rhea, and that's the way I like it. I don't have to think about too much when I'm with her, Rhea does all of the thinking for me. "She must be really good in bed." Kai smirks and encouragingly pats me on the back.

"You could say that." I match his roguish smirk and take a sip of my cola.

No alcohol will be passing my lips tonight. I need to be in control, I need to be ready in case something happens, in case something goes wrong. I pull out my phone from the back pocket of my black jeans. It's only twelve in the morning, but a yawn passes my lips and reminds me just how tired I am. "This is pretty lame. Do you want to get out of here?"

Kai looks down at his half full cup and shakes his head, "No I think I'll hang out here a bit longer, see if theres any girls I like." Like I mentioned before, Kai can be bit of an ass and his night is never complete unless he has a girl to take home with him.

I don't think it will take him long to find one though, with his charm and dirty blonde hair. His mouth curves up into a mischievous grin and reveals his artificially white teeth. A lot of girls like Kai. He's confident and loud, with a hint of arrogance, and a lot of girls seem to go for that. "I'll catch you later then."

I push past a couple of drunks, they mutter something under their breath at me, but I'm simply too tired to care. They end up stumbling a few steps and prop themselves up against the bar and I mentally thank myself for not getting into the same state.

The fresh air hits me like a brick wall when the bouncer pulls opens the exit for me and I finally release the deep breath I've been holding in all night. I take a packet of cigarettes and lighter from my back pocket and place one into my mouth. My left hand flicks at the lighter flint and I use the other to protect the cigarette from the light summer breeze that threatens to creep up my shirt.

"Get your fucking hands off me!" A hear a girl yell.

It takes a moment for me to register where the commotion is coming from, my ears ringing from the loud techno music. The alleyway beside the club is dimly lit with a flickering lamppost and appears abandoned at first. Its damp down here and the air feels colder than before, its eerie and dark, and even I'm uncomfortable. "I said get your hands off of me."

The voice is quieter now, like it's almost accepted defeat. But I manage to follow it deeper into the alleyway. "What do you think you're doing?" Dropping the cigarette from my mouth, I grab the shoulder of a middle aged man, with short stubbly hair and a greying beard, his eyes pools of black.

He has his hands wrapped viciously around the girl's wrist, attempting to pull her to her feet, and there's a nasty purple bruise pulsing under his right eye. It's likely that the girl gave it him earlier.

The girl, not much older than eighteen, looks extremely small and innocent in comparison to the man, her dark blue eyes scream help, this isn't where I want to be. She's curled in a small ball on the floor her knees pushed up to her chest for protection. My hand still firmly around the man's shoulder, I drag him away from her and shove him down to the floor. He looks up at me in disbelief, a thick scowl pressed to his face "Get lost before I call the cops." I bark.

He takes my advice, scrabbling from the floor and running to the other end of the alley, disappearing into the night. He doesn't bother to turn around. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?" I turn to the girl, her head resting on her knees and a few soft sobs leave her lips.

She's in shock. God knows what that repulsive man was going to do to her. I crouch down in front of her so I'm at her level, and place my hand on her right knee, squeezing it gently. "He's gone. I won't let anything happen to you."

The sobs have stopped now and a few moments of silence lapse between us. Sure there are a few drunk idiots laughing as they leave the club, but the alleyway is completely silent and it sends a shiver down my spin. I let her take a minute though, a second to process what's just happened and how she is no longer in harms way.

The girl in front of me shivers slightly too, so I shrug off my denim jacket and wrap it around her slender body. "Here." I awkwardly smile and sit on the ground beside her. I make sure that there's a good few inches between us though. I don't want to scare her anymore than she already is. She pulls the jacket tightly around her shoulders and sighs into her knees.

The dark haired girl turns to look at me, through thick black lashes. "J-James?" She slurs at me with wide eyes and a smile pressed to her thick glossy lips, the smile almost reaching ear to ear.

I don't know who James is, but its very obvious now that this girl is extremely drunk. It's obvious now that the man I scared off earlier was trying to take advantage of her. "No. My name isn't James. I'm Tristan." I give her my best smile but it comes across sheepish and fake and instead falls into a thin flat line across my face.

She's turned her body to me now and reaches for my face out of confusion. I can see a puzzled expression pressed to her face as a frown creeps between her brow. She places a hand on the tip of my chin and eyes me up and down. And the confusion is replaced with dread, and the pink apples of her cheeks start to turn a pale white "I'm going to be-"

The girl grabs my arm for support as she hurls onto the side of my leg. And I hold my breath for her, this is extremely awkward. "Fuck."

I quickly grab her hair and hold it away from her face as she carries on throwing up. We stay like this for a few minutes, me attempting to keep her hair away from her mouth and her deciding whether she's finished or not. "I'm so s-sorry." She stammers, tucking pieces of loose brown hair behind her ears and avoiding eye contact, looking down deep into the alleyway.

I force a fake smile, one so fake it hurts as it meets the edges of my cheeks. But I notice the dark red heat creeping up the back of her neck and how she's anxiously chewing on the side of her cheek. And we've all been there, we've all be drunk, thrown up and forgotten about it in the morning. We've all had messy nights, nights we've too embarrassed to remember. "It's fine honestly." I say standing up and wiping my jeans with the back of my sleeve, "It's fine. Um what did you say your name was again?"

The girl turns to me and I offer her a hand, she intertwines our fingers and I pull her to her feet. She stumbles onto me slightly and steps on my left foot. "Ivy. My name is Ivy. And I'm sorry about your jeans and your f-foot." Ivy says wobbling for a few seconds before getting her balance back.

She grabs my arm and for a second I think she's going to be sick again, her cheeks turning slightly green. "Do you have anyone I can call? Anyway of getting home?"

Ivy shakes her head and bites her bottom lip, "Not anyone who cares," she shrugs and begins pulling off her black strappy heels and hooks them onto her little finger.

Ivy hasn't noticed that the ground is damp and I think she'll regret her decision in a minute or maybe she's too drunk to even notice or care. I notice the frown on her face again and how the crinkles form on her nose, Ivy's eyes begin to pool with sadness. A few stray tears dare to fall down her cheek taking some of her mascara with them and she quickly wipes them away with the back of her hand. I don't mention it, I don't want her to feel anymore awkward than she already does. "I can take you home if you like?"

A thin smile pulls at the edge of her lips and Ivy's eyes gratefully light up for a moment. "Really? Have you not been drinking?"

I silently shake my head. I don't want to get into it, I don't want to explain to someone why I don't drink and I especially don't want to explain the reasoning to someone I've just met. I pull my car keys out of my jacket pocket and dangle them in front of Ivy, "Come on. Let's get you home."

The thin smile grows, occupying her entire face and Ivy's eye gloss over in complete happiness. I take hold of her arm and wrap it around the back of my neck for support. I also take her heels from her and balance her next to me. "Thank you." She softly whispers into my ear.

It takes a couple of minutes for me to scout out my dusty Ford Focus. The club was extra busy tonight so a few other cars are parked in the parking lot. Ivy and myself have to careful weave and squeeze between them for me to open her door and get her seated inside, "Thank you." She repeats curling up into a ball in the passenger seat.

She gives me a soft smile and her face seems brighter than before, glowing under the interior lights. I round the car and quickly slid into the driver's seat. "Are you cold?" I ask Ivy, altering the AC and lowering the radio's volume, a soft indie song humming in the background.

That's when I realise that Ivy has fallen into a deep sleep, her eyes firmly shut and soft snores leave her lips. A rush of panic comes over me all of a sudden, I don't know this girl. I don't know where I'm going or where she lives. I can't take her back with me, that would just cause more problems. I grab Ivy's snake print purse from her shoulder and search inside.

It takes a minute for me to locate her phone and I swipe it open without a passcode. I call the first name that I see. James sounds familiar, I think Ivy mentioned it before. It's probably her boyfriend.

The ringer calls for a minute, until it is declined. The person you would like to call is not available at this moment please leave a message after the beep! BEEP!

Dammit! I scroll further into Ivy's phones, looking for contacts that might be useful. I notice a few texts earlier in the night from her mom, she's worried and the texts are riddled with annoyance and disapproval. I quickly dial the number and after a few rings I hear a croaky voice, "Hello? Ivy? Are you there?"

I awkwardly shuffle in my seat and cough into the microphone, clearing my throat. I try put on my most confident voice, pretending everything is okay, pretending that I don't have her overly intoxicated daughter sprawled out asleep in the front seat of my car. It comes out more rushed though, a little shaky. "No, not exactly."

The line goes silent for a moment. A deadly silence that causes my ears to ring. I hear a heavy sigh and some movement from the other end of the phone. "What do you mean not exactly?"

The worry in Ivy's mom voice has vanished now and it's clear she's growing in annoyance, she sighs again. I imagine she's rolling her eyes and shaking her head in disapproval saying not again. "She's safe don't worry. I can drop her off, I just need the address."

Ivy's mom groans into the microphone before ending the call and quickly texting me the address. I punch it into my GPS and follow the directions until I reach a modern looking house, with a large white front porch and huge open windows. The GPS lets me know I've reached my destination and I quietly turn the engine off, careful to not wake Ivy.

A women with the same chestnut brown hair as Ivy appears in the doorway, she's wearing a silk dress robe, arms crossed tightly to her chest, her expression twists as she glares into the car and realises the extent to her daughter's intoxication. I see her shoulder raise aggressively as she takes in a huge breath and exhales just as violently. Taking two steps at a time she rushes to the car and pulls Ivy from the passenger seat.

There aren't any grateful thank yous exchanged, or any sighs of relief, no flushed cheek in embarrassment. Ivy's mom doesn't give me a second to explain or help, she disappears into the house and the porch light flickers off, cueing to me that its my time to leave.