âSeriously, Noras, how long have we been dating?âI was grumbling as Liam took me with him through the chaos. âFor too long, apparently.ââTwo years." He replied, ignoring my comment with an annoyed expression on his face. âAfter two years, I can guarantee ttI can feel when you cry.âRolling our eyes, we passed another couple who were a little too explicit and headed to the dance floor until we found aslight gap between the pile of sweaty bodies. Liam pulled me to his familiar chest and I wrapped my arms around his necstarting to move as best we could in the limited space.The only thing I could think of was how familiar Liam was. From the way one of his hands held me just below my pelvis, this musky aftershave, everything about Liam was comfortable.âHenris is coming to usHe whispered in my ear, destroying the comfort I felt with these few words. âIf I get hit, I will repoyou!"I got a little closer to Liam out of nervousness, hoping maybe to absorb some of his rather positive mood. âTurn it over.You'll have more money."âGood. Did you tell her I had a girlfriend?ââNo, and you won't tell him anything eitherâ said in a low tone. âNow, how far away is that?"It wasn't Liam's solid voice that answered. Instead, I received Henris' baritone voice and his powerful arms around mywaist, pulling me against him, letting out an annoyed growl from my mouth.âYm going to dance with Noras."He announced. I could feel the anger emanating from her body; she probably had to grither teeth while staring at Liam like he was the devil himself and not an extra large puppy. âNoras?âHearing my heart pounding in my ears, I turned around, and found him staring at me instead of Liam. Henris was standinin front of me, a scowl on his handsome face and his hands in the pockets of his jeans. âCome and drink with me," heordered in a low voice, at the table. With me."I tried to have the most insolent expression possible. âI'm good here. Thanks anyway."âNoras.âAs I took a step back, I felt my back come into contact with Liam's arm and I shook my head. âYm going to dance with LiarHe fixed me with a cold look and brought his arm closer, and for a second I thought he was going to hug me and dance wme, as he wanted, but instead he lightly ran his knuckles over my arm, frowning. Then he turned around and left.I felt anger all over my body, then disappointment, then annoyance. I turned around to Liam and grabbed him by the collof his leather jacket, pulling him towards me and practically forcing him to dance with me. âWell,â he said amused. âI gue:it didn't go very wellâI dropped my head on his chest with a grunt. âFuck you, Li. It's so frustrating. I mean, is it that hard to dance with me?ââsince you keep stepping on my feet, a little, yes.âA high-pitched laugh escaped my lips and I started dancing again. Liam strutted around me, one hand raised, shamelessIpracticing the worst moves I could remember in college. He kept teasing me and trying to make me smile.I could barely concentrate on him, my eyes kept coming back in the direction of Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome, leaningagainst the wall, a glass in his hand. Each flash of blue and red light illuminated his green eyes that looked at me fromacross the room and his joints were white from holding the edge of the table.The fact that he was wearing a white shirt that he had probably worn to work a few hours earlier, with a few buttons operrevealing a hint of his tattoos, didn't help. These damn tattoos attracted me every time; they practically asked to be traceby my fingers. Or by my lips.imploring in a low voice, I turned to Liam. âIt's so frustrating."l said, annoyed, pulling my arms back around her neck. âWhgave him the right to stand there, so perfect, while I'm here, in a rage?âLiam chuckled as he looked at me. âWell, to be honest, he looks pretty angry too.âI shrugged my shoulders in agreement with him and tried to get rid of the feeling of being observed. It didnât work out vewell, until Louis staggered through the crowd and half of his weight fell on me, a drink in his hand and a drunken smile ohis face.âNoras."He mumbled. âYou seem to be in desperate need of a drink."âtam.The blue-eyed boy took my face in his hands. âWe're going to get drunk. We're going to get drunk, really, really.âI didn't need to hear more, given that Henris was practically spewing venom at that moment. Three minutes later, Louis aI were sitting at the bar and were on our third drink. With a laugh, I put my head on his shoulder. âIt may not have been tbest of our ideas.ââProbably not. But Jace is boring"Louis has stammered. âI'm, like, mad at him, I guess. You're also mad at your boyfriend.Another shot?ââOne more.'l agreed, without even correcting him for his inappropriate use of the word âboyâ. We took it down likechampions and slammed our glasses on the bar, before looking at each other with a smirk, as if to say âWe are completeldrunkâ.Laughing, he wrapped my hand in his and started walking, towards Liam, who was doing the robot or some other crazymovement. We were about to enter the crowd when another hand, bigger, grabbed me by the wrist, just above whereLouis's was.âLouis! said with surprise that the hand, which I recognized as Henris's thanks to the familiar rings and its smell,tightened its grip. âI have been capturedâjaceâs boyfriend raised and lowered his eyebrows several times. âTraitorâl exclaimed. âYou can't leave me here!"He slippeaway as if I hadn't said anything, walking through the crowd and leaving me to take care of Mr. Tall, Dark and Handsome.âNoras."Henris said in a hoarse voice when I turned around. âJust dance with Louis and Jace.ââOr you could dance with me.âHis eyes briefly fixed on my lips. âI don't want to dance.âWith the confidence that alcohol temporarily gave me, I moved closer and ran my fingers over his prominent jaw. Henrisstared at me emotionless until the tips of my fingers reached his lips; then his eyes slowly softened and his shouldersrelaxed. â0; I repeated. âyou could dance with me. Because I am yours, and you are mine, and I want to dance with you."A spark of uncertainty passed over his face, and disappeared in a second. âNo. Don't dance with Liam."I turned aroundannoyed, wondering if she had really been there or if it was just the lights that gave that impression.I went back to Jace and Louis, feeling better after having had several drinks and shots. Somehow, being with angry Henrisalways seemed to make me sober. âGuys, I complained as I approached them. âYou can't dance without me!âLiam laughed loudly. âHurry up then!âLaughing at his bad shots, I put my arms around his neck and started moving again, too angry to care that Henris waslooking at me from afar. We danced as best we could, given that Liam was more than a little drunk; it consisted, mainly, ohim stumbling and me supporting him, but it worked.âturn around, Noras."she laughed, waving her hand. âDo it!"I continued to laugh, turning under his arm. âDone."l announced. âNow you turn.âLiam gave me one of his usual smiles. âToo drunk, I would fall for sure.ââAs if you weren't falling?âwith another loud laugh, he carried me to his chest as the song changed. We tried not to trip or bump into the otherpeople who were dancing while keeping the rhythm, but we failed when, once again, he tripped.âYou,â I said, laughing, trying to hold him and not bring him down. âyou are very drunk."with a grunt, he put his head on my shoulder. âSophia will kill me if I don't die beforeââWell, apparently you're going to die anyway."l teased you.That's when I felt Henrisâ hand grab me by the elbow and pull me back. I staggered slightly as he guided me through thecrowd with a frosty expression.âLet go of me."l moaned as we walked past another drunk couple. âYm dancing with Liam."âNo. We're leavingâI pulled my arm out of his grip, my head full of anger. âNo, I'm staying here. And I'm going to dance with other peoplebecause you don't want to dance with me. So you have absolutely no right to arrest me.ââNoras."she warned, running a hand through her tousled hair. âNot here."Abitter laugh crossed my lips as I stared at him, tall and scowling. He was so attractive, and so boring that my foggy mincould barely understand him. So I spat out the eloquent âF**k you, Henriâ.The aura around us changed in a second. He turned around without a word and walked out of the club. Her hands wereclenched into fists at the sides, and her right shoulders were pushed back. People got out of his way, and if they didnâtmove, he did.I swore under my breath and staggered in his direction, following his slender figure. âHenris, wait!â He walked through thedoors into the cold New York air and kept walking. âHenris!âThe company CEO turned around with an icy light in his eyes. âWhat, Noras? What could you possibly want?ââIt's just that... you... you can't leave like that!"l stuttered. âYou can't leave like that!"âOh, but can you dance with any guy who comes within a meter?â. Is that how it works?"He said bitterly, taking a step in ndirection; I could see the pupils taking the place of the green one. âYou can't dance with whoever you want and expect m;not to leave.âMy lower Lip began to tremble, and suddenly I found myself in his arms, in a heap of tears and sobs. Henris put his handson the hem of my pants and made circular movements with his fingers, trying to calm me down. It took me about a minutto come to my senses and withdraw from his arms.âStop itI sobbed, wiping off the mascara that had surely run under my eyes. âStop, now."âWhy are you crying?âI stamped my foot on the floor in frustration with the man in front of me. âWhy are you so whimsical. You yell at me andthen you give me a hug!ââI screamed because you were bothering me. Then you started crying, so I hugged you."âWell, you shouldn't do that because it's messing with my head."I shouted at him.âYou shouldn't dance with all the guys looking in your direction in the club He whistled.People in club outfits were walking past us on the streets of New York, looking at us with curiosity and probably trying tounderstand why an angel in a white shirt was screaming at a mortal with frizzy hair and a gin and tonic-stained shirt. Theimmediately looked away when Henris sent deadly glances in his direction.I looked at him with malice. âThen you should have danced with me, if you are jealous and angry, then you should justdance with meââI didnât want to dance!ââOh my God."I put my head in my hands. âYou are so stubborn, and boring, and you... you're always so calm when I feel liyelling at you. And you think you can control every fucking thingâMy bitter laugh interrupted him. âYou? You what? You just want to yell at me and then fuck me? Well, congratulations,because that's exactly what you're doing anyway. You change your mood in the fucking blink of an eye and I can't keep ujwith youâHenris squeezed his upper lip between his thumb and forefinger and looked at me with a troubled expression on his facestared at the less interesting macadam and tried to hold back the tears that had quickly formed on the line of myeyelashes in the heavy silence.âIf 1am so terrible,â he began in a low, hoarse voice. âthen why don't you leave? Why don't you leave, Noras?"There were so many things that I wanted to shout at him at that moment. I wanted to shout how it was because sometimhe has that look that lights up his whole face and turns him into a child on Christmas morning, or his voice as soon as hewakes up in the morning, or the way he makes me feel protected.Instead, with my hands in my hair, I shouted: âBecause I'm in love with your".Henris froze where he was; it's like the nerves in his body are down, like the filter in my mouth. At that moment, I didn'tknow who was more shocked than the one who had just escaped from my mouth. His prominent jaw, due to his clenchedteeth, was enough to bring me back to reality.âWhat?"A maniacal laugh broke through my lips, which almost sounded like a sob. âIs that what you wanted to hear? Thatam pathetically, hopelessly in love with you and that you don't even call me your girlfriend?".He let out a slow breath from his mouth. âNoras...ââIf you're going to tell me that we don't have a relationship, please don't do itââCan you come to my apartment so we can talk?ââDonât do that! Don't start. You said you were going to try"I almost laughed at the idea. âLast time you said you were gointo try and you sent me flowers. Flowers, because I asked you to. And there were a ton of them. My f****g kitchen stillsmells like stupid roses.âI cried again and he moved closer, running an inch over my cheek to wipe away the tears that I hadn't even realized hadflowed. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was staring at me with big worried green eyes.âThere were way too many flowers. whispered as he wiped away another tear. âThere were, like, too many flowers, Henriâ was."I withdrew his hand gently. âPlease stop. Please, not now. My feet hurt, I'm not even drunk anymore, and I'm desperatelylove with you. So please Henris."With that, I turned around and started walking towards the club, ready to look for Louis, Jace and Liam and get me out ofthere. He didn't even hint that he wanted me to stop until I was practically at the entrance.âNoras!"He shouted. I turned around, finding him with his hands clasped in his hair, of which I was sure that all the curlswould be pulled out instantly. âNoras!âI turned around, blowing. âWhat?âThe young company CEO didn't seem to expect my answer. Her lips opened to form words, then closed a few seconds lateI fixed him with a desperate look, giving him a chance to say something, anything to stop me from leaving. Instead, heshifted his weight from one leg to the other.The huge bouncer next to me coughed, distracting my attention from the âcold gaze and endless legsâ that was HenrisSteve. âMiss, are you coming in or are you leaving?ââAre you serious?" replied, annoyed, turning to him, tears running down my cheeks. âCan't you see that I'm breaking upwith my fid... F**K... we're not even together! We've never even been together!âThe man's eye narrowed slightly. âSo he's coming in?ââYou know, I guess it wasn't even technically a breakup.âl sobbed. âI mean, really, if we've never been together, it doesn'tmatter. It doesn't matter that I love her, because you know it. The technique, and all thatââUm, should I call you a taxi?âI looked at it with regret. My kitchen always smells of flowers. Henris Steve can go fuck himself. And then, like, buy me aFebreze. Cinnamon. The one that only comes out at Christmas."l tapped my index finger on my chin. âYeah, that guy. I hatHenris Steve."With that, I returned to the lively club, leaving behind a confused and annoyed bouncer. The lights seemed to dazzle me :I made my way through the crowd. It was too noisy and too hot, and the whole situation was too much. It was too much aHenris was too much.when 1 finally found Jace, I immediately collapsed into his bony arms. He held me tight to him for a second before liftingme up and looking me straight in the eye, discovering cheeks covered with flowing mascara and reddened lips. For one othe few times since I've known him, Jace was silent.âWe need Febreze.'l sobbed. âWith cinnamon. For, uh, you know, the flowers. Our kitchen always tastes like flowers."
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