Oh don’t you dare look back
Just keep your eyes on me
I said you’re holding back
She said shut up and dance with me
This woman is my destiny
She said oh oh oh
Shut up and dance with me.

~♥~

Reign's P. O. V.

Opening the car door she gets in and makes herself comfortable on the passenger seat beside him.

She takes a deep breath as her eyes flutter close and instantly feels peaceful.

His smell has always brought her peace. His being has always made her feel like home.

Home.

She looks at him. Her eyes rake down his smiling face and she notices the small details she would never get bored to see.

His dark brown hair gelled and styled, reminding her of the softness she feels every time when she rakes her fingers through them.

His brown eyes look darker because of the night sky and she doesn't know if she should appreciate the beauty or yearn for the deep pools of honey under the bright sky which could easily swallow her whole.

His lips are parted in delight, showing his white pearls as he smiles making her heart flutter.

She clears her throat when he greets her and tries not to focus on the deep throaty voice of her best friend, Nikolai.

"Hey you," she says calming her nerves, and then asks him, "How do I look?"

He had started the car and was weaving through the light traffic while she was busy printing his picture in her brain. He glances at her for a second and then looks back at the road.

She waits for him to say something. Perhaps even notice her. She doesn't know how she developed a crush on her best friend but she does know it wasn't at a glance, it was gradually over the years.

First, she fell for his lame jokes which used to annoy her. Then, for his smile which always brightened her day. For his voice as it became huskier over the years. His support as he was always there whenever she needed him. His time as they spent the whole day together talking about nothing and everything and then eventually she fell for everything that was related to him.

She waits in anticipation as he stops the car at the red light. He looks back at her. His eyes moving from her face to her outfit. His eyebrows furrow, the same way it does every time he is thinking hard.

"You," he says and then chuckles as if he knew something very funny before continuing, "You could easily pass as a raccoon's doppelganger."

His words didn't offend her. A part of her knew that her best friend would reply something like this but the other part who was waiting for the day he would finally look at her the way she looks at him couldn't help but think if the smokey eyes she did was too much? Or was it the black dress that he didn't like?

But nonetheless, she laughed. Because his laugh was contagious. Because in his laughter lies her happiness.

"And you look like the boring teacher who is told to mind the detention class," she says laughing. She loves these moments where they can roast each other without feeling offended and she should hear him laugh sounding like a melody to her ears.

For another fifteen minutes, they go on and on, bickering and laughing till they reach their destination.

Even though they were two houses away Reign could hear the beats of the music hitting her eardrums and feel the vibration throughout her body.

The last year of college had finally started and this was the first party arranged. She didn't expect anything else. This party was bound to be wild.

After parking the car safely they enter the house. Reign has always been a party animal. She didn't usually consume any alcoholic drinks or drugs at parties but she enjoys them nonetheless. She liked the idea of letting loose. Being carefree.

It would make her forget her every problem for a second and she could just sway to the beats.

They find a few familiar faces scattered throughout. Some standing with the infamous red cups in their hands while the others dancing or making out.

From her peripheral vision, she could see one of her exes looking at her longingly.

She couldn't help but feel chills run down her skin. Reign had dated people for all the wrong reasons.

When Nikolai's presence started making Reign's breath shallow she thought that she is just infatuated with her best friend so she started dating the boy who asked her out. They didn't last long but another boy soon replaced him. This went on and on and every time the reason for her breakup was she-is-too-obsessed-with-Nikolai and soon she accepted it too.

She never dated anyone after that. But this fact made her last boyfriend assume that she is still not over him and he approached her twice or thrice saying that he would take her back. Reign would just give him a sad smile and would say that they weren't meant for each other.

Because finally, she knew who was meant for her.

Even though Nikolai hadn't seen her in a romantic way, Nikolai's romantic life wasn't a hit movie either. His relationships were always on and off that too never with the same person.

Without wasting a minute she grabs Nikolai's hand, leading him straight to the dance floor.

Elbowing a few people, simultaneously thanking God for her sharp elbows, she reaches the center and starts dancing.

She closes her eyes and gets lost in her world, knowing fully well that no sane person would try to touch her as long as Nikolai was near her.

He had always been protecting her even as her best friend since childhood.

Her eyes open as she hears Nikolai laughing and asking her, "What are you doing?"

She frowns her hands and hips not stopping as she says, "Dancing."

Nikolai laughs harder as he says, "It looks like you're having a stroke."

Reign wasn't a blessed dancer but that couldn't stop her from dancing. Skill or not she will do whatever she feels like.

She rolls her eyes at him and then shouts along with the lyrics Shut Up and Dance with Me. Nikolai laughs but then joins her, copying her crazy moves and making her laugh.

"Now you look like you're having a stroke too," she says pointing at him.

"Your stroke was contagious," he shrugs and then continues dancing, not bothering about the weird glances they are getting.

After some time she stops and goes to greet a friend she saw, after telling Nikolai about it. He nods and continues dancing.

Thea and Reign used to be close friends when they were neighbors back in their hometown but over the college years, their friendship had faded away.

They weren't very close anymore but Reign still considered her a friend. Recently, Thea recently broke up with her boyfriend and there is no way Reign is going to let her go through it all alone.

They greet each other and they talk as Thea drinks. At first, Thea tries very hard not to show her emotions but with each second her mask of indifference starts crumbling till tears cover her face.

Even though Thea was the one to call off her relationship, it wasn't easy. Toxic relationships do that to you.
They make you feel special and worthless at the same time.

It's like standing on the shore. When the waves crash against your feet you feel like the world is under your feet until the next second it goes away and you are sinking in the sand.

She tries to stop Thea when she gets up to go to the dance floor because she could see the five shots of tequila she had taken were making her sway. But Thea said she is okay and she needs it so Reigns stops and sits back on the couch keeping a firm eye on her.

She sees Nikolai coming and sitting beside her.

"How is she doing?" he asks.

"Bad," she says and then looks back at the dance only to not find her there. Reign curses under her breath and gets up telling Nikolai she will be back in a moment.

Broken people always make stupid mistakes. Reign always said that you can trust them with their own responsibility. She looks around and finds her making out with a guy in the hallway.

She feels pity for her.

Steps people take to forget their pain.

Just as the guy was about to take her to one of the rooms upstairs she goes and grabs Thea's hand.

"Thea you are drunk. Let's take you back to the dorm," she says and Thea mumbles something.

"She doesn't want to go the room, she wants to go upstairs, with me," the boys who Thea was making out with slurs, he too being halfway drunk.

"If you haven't noticed she is drunk and is not thinking clearly. There is no way she is going anywhere till I'm beside her, " Reign says pulling Thea slightly away from him.

"Then don't be beside her because she wanted this. She was the one who was grinding into me," the boy speaks and Reign scrunches her nose at his bad breath.

"You know what I don't care," Reign says as she takes Thea's hands and starts to leave but the next moment the boy stops them and pushes her away harshly such that she falls on the floor.

"I don't care either," he says and she looks at Thea who is trying to free her hand from him as she has sobered up a little.

She looks around to see all the people who have stopped dancing and are now looking at her, clearly enjoying the drama.

Reign smiles as she gets up and dusts her clothes. Do they want drama? She will give them drama.

Will slow calculated steps she goes near the boy and then slaps him. Hard. She could already see the imprint of her first two fingers on his cheek.

She hears gasps from the crowd and smirks.

Taking Thea's from his she is about to leave once again when she feels his hand around her neck but before he could squeeze it tight he is thrown on the ground by Nikolai's punch.

She looks at the boy who is on the ground passed out by one single punch.

The girls in the crowd hoot and she raises her eyebrows. What happened to girls supporting girls, huh? So what her slap didn't make him pass him out, it was clearly an impressive one. She could still feel her hand throbbing because of it.

"Are you two okay?" Nikolai asks and Reign looks back at Thea, then at him, and smiles.

"I think I will take Thea back to her dorm," Reign says, and before Nikolai could say anything she continues, "No you don't need to leave the party. Thea came in her car and she is clearly drunk. I'll drive her back and her dorm is just a block away from mine so it's not a problem."

Nikolai hesitates for a moment but then nods.

He walks with them to Thea's car, occasionally supporting Thea, and then says, "Drive safe."

Reign looks at her best friend in adoration and decides at that moment this year she would finally tell him that in the past ten years that they have known each other she has fallen in love with him in ways that will even make Romeo and Juliet jealous.

This party marked a new beginning from where they won't be just best friends.

Little did she know that this party was the beginning of their downfall and by the end of this year they wouldn't be friends at all.