I stumbled out of Club 91, gulping down the cool night air in an effort to clear my head. I was drunk for the first time and even worse, I was alone. I had tried to call Maya but it seemed cell service in this area was bad. After a few tries, I decided to let her be. The girl was probably having fun and like the Debbie Downer I was, calling her would ruin her night like mine was ruined. I would just walk out to the road and try to get a taxi home.

This turned out to be quite the herculean task. I already had to practice walking in those heels when I was normal and clearheaded, now I was drunk and each step felt like I was teetering off the edge of a cliff. I could take the shoes off, but I was within the premises of a club, goodness knows the kind of junk that could be lying about on the street.

"I can do this", I muttered to myself, putting one wobbly foot in front of the other and ignoring the stares from the people hanging outside the club.

 Just a few more steps to the main road now, I thought to myself.

I was almost there, feeling a brief sense of accomplishment when suddenly this flashy silver Mustang breezed past. I got vertigo and dizzy all at once, my heel twisted out from under me and I fell to the ground rather unceremoniously.

Damn, that hurt. The ground was made up of some rough cobblestone and I was sure I had scraped my knees. I barely noticed that the Mustang had stopped somewhere in the distance, put on its brake lights and was now reversing towards me.

I heard the car pull up and someone get out and walk towards me.

"Are you okay?" a voice asked. Wow, what a voice. It was deep, but not overly masculine with what sounded like a bit of an Australian accent. I looked up slowly. Cool shoes, dark expensive looking jeans, black dress shirt and the most gorgeous face I had ever seen on a guy before haloed by longish but neat blonde hair.

I nodded and pulled myself up. He reached out to steady me but I held out my hand, not really in the mood to be touched again tonight.

''I'm fine, stranger", I sized him up out of the corner of my eye. He was tall, some inches over 6 feet and the hand he had reached out to steady me looked really nice. Nice, long fingers. Why was I thinking about his fingers?

"You're not fine", he raked his hazel gaze over me, but not in a predatory way "You're bruised and pissed ass drunk from what I can see"

"Whatever", I mumbled breathily. His eyes made my breath hitch in my throat a bit, liquid hazel framed by lashes that were way too long for a dude. This much gorgeousness on one person should be a crime really "I'm just trying to get a cab"

"Where are you going?" he asked in an accusatory tone

"Home", I replied simply, trying not to sound offended by his tone.

He crossed his arms and seemed to be mulling over his options.

"Fine. Get in, I'll take you home"

I scoffed. "I don't need your charity mister. You don't know me and I don't know you, why even bother?"

"Yeah that's true but when your face shows up on the news tomorrow morning detailing how you were squashed to your death by incoming traffic, I would rather not feel guilty about it"

I made a face at him and he had the nerve to smile, a slight curl of his upper lip like he was suppressing laughter.

"Besides there are no taxis around here for at least two blocks. And I honestly don't think you can make it that far"

He was right. I couldn't make it that far. And I was physically and emotionally drained. Surely a ride from him couldn't make my night any worse.

"Fine. Let's just go"

He nodded and pulled open the door to the passenger's side of his Mustang, gesturing for me to go in. I complied and got in, feeling an immediate sense of relief once I got comfortable in the heated leather seats.

Mystery guy got in his side, shut the doors and started up his car, pulling onto the road almost immediately as there was little traffic. I composed a text to Maya and settled in for the ride.

He reached out for a bottle of water from the bottle holder and gave it to me along with his handkerchief. "Clean your bruises. Drink up". I nodded and did as he said.

"So where do you live?" he asked a few minutes into the drive.

"Mmm", I groaned "I'm a college student. Lima dorms, do you know it?"

"Yeah", he made a turn at the next intersection and the car suddenly got very cool and quiet. I don't know if it was the drinks in my system, but I felt quite obliged to be the one to make conversation.

"I'm sure you're wondering why I was wandering alone through the streets pissed ass drunk as you so mildly put it", I ran a hand through my hair

"I'm not wondering. I don't judge"

"You do so judge, mister", I raised my brows at him and he smiled that slight smile again "What's your name?"

"Noah", he replied simply

"Yes, Noah. So my friend convinced me to come to this club to meet up with this asshole of a guy. He totally screwed up, my friend went AWOL and here I am"

"I don't really need to know", he took his eyes off the road to glance at me "And I don't know what to call you"

"Maya", I replied without thinking "And yes you need to know because you probably think I'm some wild party animal or something. I'm not even a party person. I guess... I guess I just wanted to be adventurous for one night. And not be so boring all the time, you know"

"I'm sure you're far from boring, Maya"

"Well you're wrong; I just got called a 'fucking nerd'. Look up the definition of boring in the dictionary and my picture will probably come up"

He laughed then, a deep, infectious laugh.

The car got quiet again; we were about halfway to my dorm. My head suddenly felt very heavy.

"You're nice, Noah", I said

He looked at me and shook his head. "I'm not nice"

"You are. You might try to deny it, but you are", I half yawned "Most guys don't give a shit nowadays"

"The asshole?" he raised his brow and I realized he was asking about Matt

"Yeah, I had an awful night. Is a normal guy really too much to ask for?"

"Define normal", he joked

I rolled my eyes at him. "It's always so hard for me though. You should see my friend, she's beautiful, the total package. She can literarily have her pick of any guy she wants"

Noah looked at me like he might have something to say but then decided against it.

My alcohol fuelled tirade continued. "And you know the worst part, Noah?"

"What?" he asked

"I don't even want normal. I don't think I want to settle for normal", I said "When I fall in love. I want it to be important... Huge", I made gestures with my arms trying to explain what exactly I meant "I want it to be epic"

"Like the movies?"

"Like the movies" I smiled at him and when he looked back at me, I saw something in his eyes, like he understood what I was talking about. And didn't totally mind my chewing his ear off with my issues.

A few minutes later, Noah pulled up in front of my dorm.

"We're here", Noah announced.

"Huh?" I had nearly lolled off to sleep. Noah groaned and got out of his side, before I knew it; he had opened my door and helped me out by the waist. Delicious tingles shot up my spine at the contact.

"Where's your room?" he asked, supporting my weight against his side as he led me through the entrance to the dorms.

"2nd floor. Number 42", I mumbled, wondering where this intense urge to sleep was coming from.

"Okay", he led me towards the elevators

"Elevators are out of order", I informed him

"Well I'll be damned if they weren't", he said and led me towards the stairs.

We began to climb, I tried to put one foot in front of the other and stumbled back into his arms.

"Bloody waste of time", Noah muttered under his breath. I began to laugh but the laughter died in my throat as I felt his hand reach across the bend of my knee. He scooped me up and hauled me against his chest, climbing the stairs two at a time.

I latched onto his shoulders for support. They were strong. He was strong... and smelled of pine trees. He was at my door in record time. Cara was back home because he knocked once and she pulled the door open for us.

I wish I could have captured the look of total disbelief on Cara's face as she took in the sight of this hottie carrying boring old drunken me into the room.

"Where's her bed?" he asked Cara. Cara realized her mouth was still hanging open. She closed it and pointed towards my bed. Noah moved towards it and deposited me on the bed gently. I unhooked my arms from around his neck a bit reluctantly.

"Thank you", I whispered trying to smile against the drunken pull of sleep threatening to claim me.

"Goodnight, Maya", he whispered back. He pulled away, said goodnight to Cara and left. I succumbed to the weariness that overcame me, resigned to the fact that that was the last time I would see Noah ever.