45 Days till Graduation. 45 Days till My Life Begins.

"Would you like another round miss?" I hear the bar tender call out to me over the loud blaring music at the club.

Why am I here you ask?
That's a question I'd like the answer to as well.

I didn't come here with anybody. 

Trying to get over the fact that my dad was murdered and he in fact didn't kill himself is something I couldn't wrap my head around. 

The letters he wrote to me didn't make any sense anymore.

Did he know somebody was after him?

The other thing is that Travis knew all along.
Is he even with me for me?

I don't even know anymore.

I've been avoiding him again. 
There's nothing I do better than hide and run away from my problems it seems.

A couple of hours ago I made the decision to get obscenely drunk. Before I could change my mind, I called up Sierra, the amazing lady who helped me when I was at the hospital at what seems like a lifetime ago. She told me to check out a club called 'Coalition' which is where I found myself an hour after her call. She warned to be careful and not do anything stupid.

Lol.

"Miss, can I get you another round?!" I hear the bar tender yell over the music once more, snapping me out of my thoughts. 

I nod. 

He hands me another shot of vodka.
I grab it, contemplate about it for a second before tipping it back and letting the alcohol burn my throat and run through my veins.

Somewhere through the haze of the alcohol I realize that this is a very very bad idea. It seems stupid to get drunk over this. 
I somehow find it funny and take another shot.

I decide I want to dance. 
Why not?

I head onto the dance floor where there are so many people, pressed against each other, moving to what I think is a remix of Swimming Pools by Troye Sivan.

I like Troye Sivan. 

Just as I step onto the dance floor a guy takes my hand. A very sesky guy.

I mean sexy.

"Hi, um, can I have this dance?" he asks with a smile.

Before my head can catch up I tell him I'd love to join him. He seemed decent enough. When I agree, his smile grows wider.

"Wie heißt du?" he asks me, bringing his head closer to my ear.

He realizes he's spoken in German and apologizes and translates his question.

"Ich heiße Louisa." I grin and reply in German.
Who knew that one course in German ages ago would come in handy.

He grins and we begin to dance the night away.

At one point I feel his hand going lower than I'd like.

That pulls me out of whatever world I was in.

What the hell are you doing Lou?!  I hear my conscious say.
 Ah, conscious. How I've missed you.

I try to get out of his grip which turns out to be quite the task.

I look up and I think he leaning in for a kiss. 
I push his chest and apologize and tell him that this was mistake and that I need to get back.

He does not take this well and his hold becomes tighter.
Panic suddenly grips.

What happened to super sweet, super nice German guy?

"Excuse me mate, I'd really appreciate it if you got your hands off my girlfriend. I think it would be the smartest move you could make." I hear somebody say.

Automatically I find myself free of the guy's hold. 

I turn around to find my boyfriend.

Who turned out to be none another than Michael flipping Hamish.

"What the hell are you doing here Lou?!" he asks, frowning.

"Heeyyy. I'm eighteen. In the United Kingdom it's perfectly legal for me to be here and buy al-alcohol. I do not see what is wrong." I hear myself say and immediately frown. I must be a teensie bit more drunk than I thought.

"Jesus Christ. You're drunk?! Not cool Louisa. Come, I'll take you home."

"Don't Louisa me. I needed to forget a couple of questions running through my head. Capiche?"

"Alcohol is not the answer for that Lou." he says and sighs.

"Ok, it may have been a little stupid on my part. I can't go home like this Mikey." 

Mikey? What even.

"Very stupid on your part. Fine. I'll take you to the cafe. It's a little after midnight, my parents would've closed shop ages ago. Come. Please?"

I agree. Smartest move I've probably made all night.

Turns out Michael didn't come here on his bike so he calls a cab for us and a little while later when enter the cafe through the back. 

I plop down on one of the sofas and close my eyes.

Tonight was bad. So bad. My all time low I think. I check my phone and see about twenty missed calls from Travis. I switch off my phone.

I specifically told Sierra not to tell him. 

"Here." I hear Michael say and look up. He's holding a glass of water and a croissant.

"Thank you."

"Travis just called me asking if you were with me."

"Please tell me you said no."

"Yeah I told him I had no idea. If he finds out, I'm so dead Lou. You better have a good enough reason for pulling this little stunt. I don't need Travis to have another reason to hate me." 

"My dad was murdered."

His eyes widen but he doesn't say anything. He only plops down on the sofa I'm on. 

He stares straight ahead.

"You've known for a while, isn't?" I ask him. His silence kinda  confirms it.

"Yeah. I've tried telling you so many times. After the whole kidnapping shenanigan I was going to tell you. Travis beat me to it huh?" he says finally looking at me.

"Yup. I thought he killed himself Michael. Nothing makes sense anymore. Did Mr.Darcy see him as such a massive threat to whatever he was doing?" 

"Yeah. I don't know why but I do know that Travis is involved in all this as well. As you know, Travis is not biologically related to Mr. Darcy. If Travis makes one small mistake, a wrong move or anything against Darcy, he stands to lose his entire inheritance. Billions of pounds. Did you notice when he moved out of his home he didn't emancipate himself. If he really hated his dad as much as he said he did, he should've gotten himself emancipated. So why didn't he? It's because of the money. After our accident, you and I both know who was behind that, Travis finally rebelled but Darcy told him that they aren't biologically related. That's when Travis realized how vulnerable his position really is and since then, he's been a pawn in Darcy's business. Being your boyfriend was an added advantage to Darcy. Just to show that he was being very serious about cutting him off, Darcy cut all of Travis's allowances for a while which is why he was involved in those underground fights we saw. You should know where his loyalties now lie."

Now that really sobered me up.

"Why'd he tell my dad was murdered then? He isn't supposed, is it?"

"Despite being blinded by the money, I hate to admit it, but he is kind of blinded by his love for you as well. The guilt was probably eating him up and he saw you drifting away with every move he was making. I don't know what their next move is Lou. We are treading murky waters. I'm not saying you should leave him and I didn't tell you all this to change your mind about him or anything."

"Then why did you?"

"Because I love you." he replies looking at me dead in the eye.

Woah. What?