. random chance [wesley]

[ember]

The night was cold with flurries in the forecast but Ember didn’t seem to really care. Growing up in California Ember wasn’t used to any type of extreme temperatures. She did live in San Francisco so it never even got to the point of being warm, like most people seemed to think when they thought of California but it never got to anywhere near freezing either, thanks to the ocean regulating the temperature. Either way, she wasn’t used to this but no one would know by looking at her in the club. She was actually wearing long pants, skinny jeans to be specific, but when she took off her fairly thick but old winter coat she had on nothing but a white tank top and over her shoulders one could also see the straps of her red bra. She had on strappy stilettos that gave her an extra three and a half inches to her fairly short height. She looked like she would be freezing but with all the bodies around her in the dance club it was getting pretty steamy in there.

Ember, more or less, had two jobs and it was really quite rare when she would have a night off from both. She was a resident assistant at school, the job everyone knew about and praised her on. It was a good job for her; she was very outgoing, bubbly and easy to talk to, not to mention loved talking herself and promoted good grades like no other. She did enjoy the job, gave her free room and board as well as food every once in a while, even though the food sucked. The only issue she had with the job was the times she had to be on duty. If she was on duty she had to not only be in the dorm but also be able to tell, which meant not drunk (though she wasn’t supposed to have alcohol in her room in the first place) nor hungover. To add onto that even if she wasn’t on duty she had her other job to consider, the one not so many people knew about.

At least five nights a week Ember took a bus out to the city (she had no car) to work at a strip club, something she had been doing since she was in high school to pay for her horrible habit of having no sense of money. She wasn’t all that embarrassed about the job to be totally honest, though that did sound a little crazy when you thought about it, but she never really wanted it to get out to too many people. Mostly because she didn’t want to know as they stripper around school nor did she want her residents to figure out where she worked and go to see her dance around. Either way, it was hard to find time to come out to the club with the girls and she had been looking forward to it all day.

Ember knew from the moment her friends told her they were going out that night that she was going to feel awful in the morning. Before she left she put a bottle of Gatorade and aspirin on her bedside table and made sure to set out clothing to wear through the night that she wouldn’t mind getting too dirty. One of the perks of being a resident assistant was that she also got her own bathroom, something she absolutely loved after drunken nights. Hangovers sucked, but for some reason she always felt they were worth it the night before. She could never logic her way through it, she could sometimes barely even remember the nights so then couldn’t realize why she thought they were worth it, but somehow, in her crazy mind, they were so it was just going to be her way of doing things for a while.

Ember and her friends got to the club around nine and it wasn’t long before Ember had a pitcher of beer in her hand, sitting on the bar with all of her friends chanting her name as she finished off the pitcher before she put it back on the bar and spun it along top before holding her hands in the air. “That’s right boys, try to keep up!” she said, tossing her hair over her shoulder. The hair had been cut short a while back but it had grown back out but still didn’t look too bad. She hopped off the bar, still having her mind about her but started to feel pretty buzzed and she couldn’t tell you how full the pitcher had been when she had gotten her hands on it. Did she have the money for this? Hell no, but she was going to drink to her heart’s content anyway. See? No sense of money.

When she took a step she miscalculated her heels and half tripped over her own feet and fell onto… well, something kind of warm and soft. She looked up and straightened herself, pushing gently against whatever she just fell against. “Sorry,” she said, her speech not slurred yet but it was obviously she had been drinking, “I tripped,” she explained as she took a step back, now back on her feet and able to handle herself fairly well. She looked the man she fell against up and down, mind racing to try and place him but she couldn’t so decided she didn’t know the man. “You’re hot,” she said, being very straight forward about it, as she was rather she was drunk or not. “Like… really hot,” she made a show out of looking him up and down once again. With how heavily she flirted it was good they always had a designated driver to stay sober and pull them out before they did something stupid, and it was just Ember’s luck that she didn’t have a car so the job rarely fell on her.

“I’m sure you know that though,” she continued, “hot guys always know their hot, even if they pretend not to,” she teased, taking the step she had taken away and taking it back, getting quite close to the man, but that was her calling card. She was surprising comfortable close to people she didn’t know. She was more than used to her flirting not being returned and it never bothered her. There were plenty of other fish in the sea and, honestly, she was pickier than any of them.

[wesley]

Thump, thump. The sound rang out through the still of the early morning. Thump, thump. It was followed by the heavy breaths being released into the cold morning air. Thump, thump. His hear pounded chaotically in his chest. Thump, thump. His shoes hit the ground in a rhythmic beat. Thump, thump. Sweat was dripping down his face… This was his morning routine. Every day at 4 am exactly Wesley sat on the edge of his bed running his hands through his hair and tying his shoes. It was so quiet that early. The fog surrounded the house and from the moment he stepped out the door the only thing he could see was the ground beneath his feet and his shoes. Somehow not being able to see the world around him was comforting. He punched at the air as he sprinted down to the lake, along it a ways and then back again. No iPod just the sound of his breath and his shoes pounding away at the ground. The quiet was soothing and it allowed him to just sink into his thoughts. There was nothing but him and the fog for at least an hour and a half until he got home and even then he was alone for at least another half hour why he showed and made some coffee. Those couple of hours were what kept him behind the lines of sanity… without them he was convinced that he’d lose his mind.

Tonight was his normal “regular guy” night. He went out the club hung out with a couple of friends for a while got a couple beers then went home. Getting drunk wasn’t his thing, he liked getting buzzed and having some fun but he was far too responsible to get wasted and risk doing something stupid. It was about 9 pm before he actually left the house and that was fairly good timing if you knew what he had to get done before he left. But once he was at the club he started to relax into to it. He was nothing like he was when he was younger and more rebellious but he was still fun… or at least he liked to think so. The bar was pretty packed and compared to outside where it was freezing it was pretty warm and steamy in the club with all the bodies. It was loud but he kind of liked how it kept him from thinking too much. They ordered a round of beers and sat at the bar for a while just speculating. Wesley wasn’t much of a dancer it just wasn’t his style… not this kind of dancing anyways. He used to dance but that was put to an end a year ago…

Being that he was still a Marine he still got paid, getting paid to do nothing wasn’t half bad. But not having a job was driving him crazy he had absolutely nothing to do all day. So after a couple of months of moving to pinewood he went out to find something to do. Shortly after going out he discovered that this town was too small to find anything to do. There was nothing here. Being that he had medical training in being an EMT for one of the missions that he had to go on he considered becoming a doctor… but since he was still a Marine on active duty he couldn’t exactly be a doctor then all of a sudden be called out. His commanding officer promised that he wouldn’t be called out… but there was a piece of him that knew there was a chance that he would be… and a piece that hoped he would be. He was way more himself out in the field as compared to this small little nothing of a town.

He didn’t dislike Pinewood, not in the least, he actually really liked it. This is where he grew up… well for the most part anyways. It was the closest thing to home that he had. Being here reminded him that he had a chance at a normal life. Normal was exactly what he wanted especially for Jack. He was doing the best that he could with the circumstances he was given. But for the sucky life that he was given he was doing pretty good. He smiled a lot even laughed… especially when he was at home but even when he was out with the guys like tonight. He had a charming smile on his face and was enjoying himself more than usual. It could be due to the fact that he had already had 2 beers and was very relaxed or that he was just in a good mood which was also possible. It wasn’t as if he was a light weight… he just didn’t drink all that often anymore maybe one beer every now and then with the exception of the one night a week that he went out. That and he didn’t really like getting totally drunk and crazy anymore…. Well that’s what he tried to tell himself anyways… He liked it he just knew he shouldn’t.

Minding his own business laughing at whatever stupid joke that a friend of his had said he was just leaning against the bar stool working on his fourth beer… or so. The next thing he knew there was a girl practically in his lap and his buddies were laughing hysterically. “Sorry” she said and He looked down at her gently grabbing her arm to help stabilize her as she pushed herself back onto her feet. “I tripped.” His charming smirk graced his face as he shrugged. “Don’t worry about it.” He said before taking a drink of his beer. He turned his attention slightly away from her still aware that she was there but not wanting to stare at her or anything like that. “You’re hot.” The words came out of her rather bluntly and he tried not to spit out or choke on the drink he had just taken. Before he turned his attention fully back to her she continued with “Like… really hot.” He was taken completely off guard and had no idea what to say in response but he figured “Um… ha… uh thank you?” was just about as good as anything.

It wasn’t as if Wesley had never been hit on, I mean really he was a really good looking guy. He had just never been hit on that… bluntly and he wasn’t expecting it at all. To be honest he didn’t even notice her… but it had been over a year since he actually noticed a girl. Yeah, he saw her when she fell on him but he didn’t check her out or anything like that. He just wasn’t that guy anymore… and he hadn’t been that guy in a long time… like years. So you could imagine how lost he felt in this situation. “I’m sure you know that though, hot guys always know their hot even if they pretend not to.” She continued. He tried not to outwardly chuckle but inside he was. I guess he knew he was good looking it didn’t go to his head though not anymore anyways. She stepped closer to him causing his smirk to broaden. This girl had guts he had to admit. “Yeah? You’re pretty gutsy but i'm sure you know that right?” He still hadn’t “checked” her out but he was definitely flirting… even if it was subconscious.

[ember]

Ember had always been a bit of a wild child. Her parents divorced when she was young and due to that they always were trying to make her prefer them to the other so neither of them were ever really her parents and everyone knows that it’s the kids with overbearing parents and those with absent parents that ended up rebelling. Ember was no exception, though she wasn’t sure if she would call it rebellion. Due to her intelligence she was sent to boarding school so she was away from her parents when most of her really bad habits started and since her grades never strayed from their perfect A’s her parents never thought to ask what else she was doing while at school. It was, however, that school that caused her current issues. She was there on a full ride scholarship, everyone around her paid their way in and she found herself trying to keep up with what their money could pay for so found whatever way to make money she could, and since no one could really deny she was a decent looking girl one fake ID later and she had herself a job and then the money to hang out with the rich kids.

Ember’s ego really started to take off while in high school and she was stripping. It was hard for it not to when she had guys drooling over her and then she could turn them down in a heartbeat. She realized how easy it was for her to lead a guy on only to drop them on their ass when they wanted her to go home with them and between that and her grades and her friends her ego started to take a hold. Honestly, she found no issue with it. Didn’t everyone always tell you it was important to love yourself before anyone could love you and all that? Well, she had the first part down pat and didn’t currently care about the second. She didn’t need a man to make her happy and she was only twenty-one, no need to calm down any time soon, which she was more than happy about. She dreaded getting older, being young was too fun.

Now, that wasn’t to say Ember wouldn’t be all right with being in a relationship, as long as the man was respectful and all that. She just wasn’t going to go out looking for one and her nights at the club were only for a good time with the girls, not a time to grab a man and try to convince them to call her after that night. Yeah, she flirted, she always flirted, but who didn’t? Twenty-one was the time of your life when being a little crazy and checking out your options was okay and she was going to do just that unless the perfect relationship fell into her lap. It wasn’t that she didn’t notice if a man was or wasn’t relationship material or she wouldn’t try to pry her way in if she found someone she actually liked but she wasn’t looking for it. In fact, the girls who did go around looking for a man to be in a relationship with were just pathetic in her eyes. She felt more like they wanted to be in a relationship because they couldn’t stand the idea of being alone instead of just wanting to be with the man they were with.

When the man talked to her she just nodded, slowly, “Yeah, thank you would be the right response to that,” she said, rolling her eyes and shaking her head. “Well… I guess unless you don’t like women, but that would be really sad, you’re too hot for that,” she said, a half giggle in her words. She had always found that questioning a man’s masculinity made them sit there and try to prove it, which was always partially fun. And this man seemed to have the need to loosen up a bit, which may be helpful with a few more drinks, which she wouldn’t mind paying for if she had a decent amount of money. Then she would get him something other than a beer. Damn, he needed something stronger than a beer. He stood like he would be flogged if he had even the slightly slump in his chest, which was never all that cool.

It was fairly obvious that Ember had no fear of men. Of course she was very cautious when she was out alone and all that but here, in a crowded club with the girls she figured there wasn’t much any man here could do to her and she was going to do what she would never do when she was alone. When he spoke she just giggled and pushed hair away from her forehead. “Of course I know,” she said, stepping forward once again and wrapping her arms around his neck in quite a teasing motion, “in fact, you’d be pretty stupid not to notice,” she said, pushing out her lips and tilting her head to the side cutely, seeing her friends laughing at his reactions from the corner of her eye the whole time. They were used to this when they went out. There was always at least one guy that Ember made uncomfortable and it was always so much fun to do.

“So,” she continued flirtatiously, “you have two options here. Either we dance and then you buy me a drink. Or you can buy me the drink and then we dance. You’re choice,” she said, a slight raise in her eyebrows as she leaned a little more of her weight on him. She liked to dance and whether he did or didn’t was none of her concern. Besides, what guy in his right mind wouldn’t just dance with the girl who was climbing all over him and flirting so heavily? Well, she supposed unless he had a girlfriend of something like that but that wouldn’t make sense because he had already been flirting with her. Or at least she hoped she read that right.

[wesley]

In high school Wesley was a charmer. He had that scruffy rebellious boy look going for him and could have just about any girl he wanted in the school… But that was just it… he didn’t want them. Now he wasn’t gay, oh no, definitely not gay. He was just a big flirt back then and what would be the fun in settling down with one girl and not being able to flirt with them all. Besides he knew exactly what he wanted out of life and wasn’t going to get distracted by some relationship that wouldn’t last. It mystified the entire school how he and Sam, his sister, could stay single. Seeing how they were twins they were both really good looking but Sam was a major book junky and spent her all her time with her nose in some sort of school book. No one ever understood them… but that was kind of a hard thing to do.

Losing their parents at such an early age and being raised by some random family member that had no clue what raising kids would be like made Wesley very…. Irresponsible and responsible at the same time. He was out late, learned that alcohol could be your best friend and worst enemy, enjoyed a good rush of racing cars or just about anything, and partying every night. But he also knew that he couldn’t let his grades drop, or get any sort of mark on his record… so though he was a thrill seeker he was a very smart one and never got caught. Freshman year he knew for sure he wanted to be a Marine and if you get caught drinking and driving and under the age that was pretty much going to get thrown out the window.

Even though it had been quite some time since high school it wasn’t hard for him to remember… Besides when he went out he was supposed to have fun right? From what he remembered… this was what fun was. He still hadn’t checked her out and to be honest he probably wouldn’t. He hadn’t checked out a girl in years and it was going to take a while before he fell back into that habit. But from their conversation so far she seemed pretty confident in herself… maybe a little too overly confident but the girls at the clubs usually were. “Yeah, thank you would be the right response to that.” He gave a half chuckle and shook his head slightly. She was a feisty one… it was going to take a bit of effort on his part to keep up with her like he used to be able to so easily.

“Well… I guess unless you don’t like women, but that would be really sad, you’re too hot for that,” She continued, that only made him chuckle a little more. “No, I’m not gay, if that’s what you’re suggesting.” He wasn’t gay but he wasn’t looking for a girl. Friend or otherwise. It had been almost a year and he was now able to have a decent conversation with a girl but relationship was far from his mind even though Alan encouraged it so profusely. He just wasn’t ready for that step, he enjoyed the club and the occasional flirting but that’s where he caped it off. “Of course I know, in fact you’d be pretty stupid not to notice.”

She stepped even closer and wrapped her arms around his neck. Her lips puckered just slightly and he didn’t know how to react. He chuckled nonchalantly keeping one elbow on the bar and holding his beer with his other free hand purposefully avoiding touching her. He cocked his head just slightly to the side glancing at her friends then back at her. “You have two options here. Either we dance and then you buy me a drink. Or you can buy me and then we dance. You’re choice,” With that she leaned a little more against him, it didn’t really affect him. I mean he enjoyed the playful banter but if she was attempting to get a rise out of him it wouldn’t happen. He just wasn’t that guy anymore… and it would take some time and a lot of effort to get him back into that mind set.

He took another drink and set the empty glass down on the bar before looking in her eyes slightly challengingly. “A drink I can definitely do… but unless by dance you mean I stand there and you dance I’m not much for dancing.” He looked over his shoulder at the bar tender nodding slightly. “Whatever the lady wants.” He said with a charming smile as he looked back at her waiting expectantly for whatever she ordered. He kind of liked her spunk she was feisty and courageous so he would play along with whatever it was that she was doing. He most likely wouldn’t admit that he was enjoying it but his boyish smirk would give it all away.

[ember]

Ember’s confidence wasn’t something she normally saw in any of the other people around her. Sure, some would do what she was currently doing while they was drunk, and sure, she was buzzed, but she was also known to do this completely sober. Not only was she confident and found this to be insanely fun but she also didn’t get her feelings hurt to easily. Honestly, all she thought when a man wouldn’t return her flirting was that he was either trying to avoid getting into trouble with their significant other or they weren’t as straight as they thought they were. Or, well, they didn’t know how to flirt. Her confidence and ego were a part of who she was and she loved that part and was going to make sure everyone knew that she had no fear, nor did she care what anyone else thought. That wasn’t to say that she never cared what others thought, a huge care of how she appeared to others are what led to both the smoking and the drinking but she was over that. Now she was addicted to cigarettes, which she would admit in a second, and drinking was, well fun, so she was planning to keep that up too.

“Are you sure about that?” she asked when he informed her that he wasn’t gay. “I mean, you haven’t looked at me since you’ve been here, and just so you know, I’m hot,” she said, once again letting her ego shine. She knew she was damn good looking and she had yet to find a man who would disagree whole heartedly. “And I’m sorry hun, but you should have noticed that,” she shrugged her fairly narrow shoulders, turning her head to one side and grinning at the laughs she heard coming from her friends behind her. He really was the best type of man to do this with, the kind who would attempt to flirt back but was really obviously not completely sure what to do or say in the position they were currently in. Ember wondered what they did for entertainment on the nights that she didn’t come with them because she couldn’t see any of her friends doing what she was currently doing.

She had to admit that she was quite glad he was avoiding touching her. While she was very touchy feely she didn’t like guys to be. In fact, she was known out at the club she worked in to be the girl who would flirt so heavily but then make you sit with your hands down my your sides for the entire lap dance. She did not like being touched intimately. She was a virgin and very proud of the fact and she didn’t want men touching her intimately. It wasn’t like she was waiting for marriage or anything, but she was waiting for a man she knew loved and respected her and wasn’t going to let just any man have that part of her. At work she had also had more men kicked out than all the other girls combined and while doing this she usually had to tell men multiple times to keep their hands off her. In fact, she had almost told Wesley to keep his hands to himself when he helped her back to her feet after tripping, but he took his hand back quickly enough for her not to have time to mention anything.

“Oh, now you’ve done it boy,” she said after he told her that he wouldn’t be dancing. “Now we’re definitely dancing. Don’t know how, is that your problem?” her hands slid from around his neck and she placed them on the top of his hips, not low enough to really be teasing or too intimate but still low enough to have a small degree of control of his movements if he would allow it. “You know, especially here, everyone’s too drunk to care what you look like. And besides, you just move your hips,” she rocked her own hips back and forth to the beat of the music around them and used her hands to move his as well before running her hands back up his body to put them back around his neck as he turned to the bartender and listened to what he said, a smile on his face. At least she was getting the drink, if nothing else.

Ember thought for only a second before leaning over towards the bar so the tender could hear her, pulling the man down with her slightly because she wasn’t about to let him go. “Appletini?” she asked, glancing over to the man to make sure it was all right, but he had said whatever she wanted. She got a nod and watched the bartender walk off. She was smart in that she would never accept a drink from a man unless it came straight from the bartender’s hand and she would never leave it unattended. Sure, she may seem like nothing but a total bimbo she really was quite intelligent not only in the class room but out on the street. Granted, she was fully convinced the two went hand in hand. When she heard someone say “I’m not book smart but I’m street smart” all she heard them say was “I’m not real smart, I’m imaginary smart” so she always laughed at the notion.

Soon after she ordered she heard her friend say something behind her and gave a half turn, arms still around Wesley to give her some attention. The girl spoke in French, they were both French majors, Ember doubling in international relations as well, and Ember responded in the same language, informing them that the man she was currently tangled around was a little slow in the uptake but still quite a bit of fun before turning around to look back at him. “Sorry about that babe,” she said as her hand snuck up to mess in his hair. “So… what are you doing here, huh? You are nowhere near relaxed enough for the club scene, believe me, I can tell,” she continued, rocking back and forth slight before seeing her drink handed to her, which she took with a thanks, nodding to Wesley to pay and only taking one arm off his neck. She took a sip and waited for his answer.

[wesley]

Three years in Iraq could really jack you up and Wesley was no exception to that fact. He was great at what he did and was a very well known combat leader… but he was known by another name there. Let’s just say he knew how to clean up. He was skilled in the fields he was placed in and always excelled; he was always the first one into the battle field and typically the last one off. While there he was very removed, distant, he had the tendency to seclude himself from everyone else. He didn’t have a personal connection with anyone out there… he was quiet and would listen or at least most everyone thought he was listening. He was cautious about his surroundings and all that just seemed to follow him home. He constantly was looking over his shoulder making sure there wasn’t anything behind him. Just instincts that most likely would never leave him but he didn’t see them as a problem… There was nothing wrong with being a little on the safe side right? Maybe he was just a little too far on the safe side….Just a little…

Above was his reasoning for not drinking anything stronger than beer. He could handle hard liquor he just didn’t trust his surroundings here. Heck he felt safer in Iraq… at least there they gave him a gun and a bullet proof vest. Here he was a little too vulnerable. He was getting over his antsy-ness slowly but surely but he still had a little left over side effects. He didn’t look over his shoulder near as much and he hardly ever eyed the people around him suspiciously and cautiously. It would never fully go away but he did the best he could not to offend the people around him. “Are you sure about that?” She questioned how secure he was in his sexual orientation. “I mean, you haven’t looked at me since you’ve been here, and just so you know, I’m hot.” A chuckle escaped his lips and he couldn’t help but smile. “I’m sure you are… I’m just not that guy.” That was true he wasn’t that guy not anymore. He didn’t doubt her though he was sure she was right about her statement of being hot but that didn’t mean he was going to give her the look over. “And I’m sorry Hun, but you should have noticed.” Again he just wasn’t that guy.

As she turned to look as her friends all giggled about like girls do, he looked over his shoulder at his friends questioningly and they chuckled and shrugged answering his unsaid question. They all thought he needed to get out… which typically meant get into some girls pants. Yeah, that wasn’t going to happen not even with this girl practically sitting on his lap flirting heavily. To be honest, this was fun, but he wasn’t even close to being turned on. He’d been with one girl his entire life and he wasn’t about to start sleeping around… he kind of had the idea that if he was going to sleep with a girl it would need to be at least somewhat serious… he didn’t do one night stands. Not that he never got the opportunity he just never took it. I guess he was practicing abstinence or something like that.

“Oh, now you’ve done it boy.” He had absolutely no idea what it was that he had done exactly but it didn’t sound all that serious so he played along to get the full story. “Now we’re definitely dancing. Don’t know how, is that your problem?” He wanted to sigh and roll his eyes but he reframed, he wouldn’t mean to seem annoyed that was far from being it. He just hated dancing. Formal dancing is where he drew the line. As far as he was concerned this kind of dancing was just pole dancing. The girl was obviously the dancer and the guy the pole… that’s how he saw it even in his younger days. But in his younger days he never had a problem with being the pole. He didn’t really have a problem with it now he guessed… but the last girl he was a pole for was Lauren… Remembering her only made it that much harder to have fun and relax. “You know, especially here, everyone’s too drunk to care what you look like. And besides, you just move your hips.” Her attempt to reassure him was futile. He shook his head slightly "I'm not worried about what I look like."

The beat of the music pounded around them and she used it to rock her hips to trying to move his along with hers as well. He just let her have control figuring letting her push him around wouldn’t be a total mistake. She may be a little bit too much of a flirt but she seemed harmless and he still had his wits about him to make sure nothing stupid happened so he was comfortable for the time being. She ordered her drink and he nodded slightly to the guy to let him know to put it on his tab. He’d been coming the same night for almost a year now and always paid off his bill so they knew he was good to his word. After ordering she turned her attention back to her friends again keeping her arms around him. Like he was going to go anywhere or something I mean she was practically straddling him so going anywhere was pretty much out of the question.

Her friends and her were speaking another language, he was no expert but he was pretty sure it was French from the slight accent and from the words. He didn’t know French, but if it was any consolation he knew Iraqi quiet fluently and a little bit of German, that was about it though. So he turned his attention back to his friends who were no longer much interested in his situation as they were talking with some girls of their own… as soon as he looked over though they turned their attention back to him just long enough to crack some joke about how he really didn’t know what to do even when a girl was placed in his lap. He glared slightly… they always seemed to have a great time at his expense. “Sorry about that babe,” She apologized running her fingers through his hair, one of the few things that a girl could do that would grab his attention but in this case it did only that, grab his attention.

“So… What are you doing here, huh? You are no where near relaxed enough for the club scene, believe me I can tell.” It was then that he realized he had yet to ask her what her name was or even offer his name to her. I guess that wasn’t to foreign considering names rarely got exchanged in a club… at least from what he had experienced they weren’t. She took her drink and he took his newly filled beer. He shrugged slightly as he took a drink. “I just come to make the people around me happy.” It was true this wasn’t exactly his idea he just learned not to fight it and do as he was told. His friends dragged him out got drunk and he drove them home and Alan got the house to himself. Everyone won… well almost everyone . Wesley didn’t really win but he got a few beers and time away from his thoughts and that was about as close to winning as he was going to get these days. “And this is about as relaxed as I get.” He smirked and tipped his head to the side before taking another drink.

[ember]

Ember was about as carefree as one could get. She wasn’t easily worried or frightened and was never checking over her shoulder. One of these days it may get her into trouble, but for right now she was doing all right. Her intelligence did help in that situation, though. While she normally wasn’t one easily worried she was did know when it was time to stop being so lighthearted and pay attention to what was going on around her. She had a good sense of woman’s intuition and knew which men she shouldn’t be hanging on, which ones may get the wrong idea. Of course she had a few issues with men not getting “no, I was just flirting and drunk, I really wasn’t interested in going home with you” but when she was around so many other people a single yell got her surrounded by other men who wouldn’t let anyone hurt her, and the girl could yell. That being said, she would be all over men that seemed to be uninterested. They were the most fun to mess around with and hell, if they weren’t interested she never had to worry about the before mentioned issue that sometimes aroused with her current situation.

“You know,” Ember finally started after Wesley told her he “wasn’t that guy”, whatever that meant. What guy was he talking about? There was no type of guy that would or wouldn’t take a look at an attractive girl. There was no reason to be ashamed of simply being able to appreciate a good looking woman, just like no one looked down at girls when they mentioned a guy wasn’t bad on the eyes. It was human nature to notice that kind of stuff at their age, when they had this need to procreate and all that. Okay, yeah, you have to remember, Ember was intelligent and knew a lot of random facts so could tell you all this for a fact and any man who tried to deny these basic instincts may as well be a plant in her mind because even animals knew when one of their species was healthy. “Girls like compliments, rather your ‘that guy’ or not,” she said, picking up one leg and bending it at the knee behind her so she could lean over on him more. “In fact, ‘I’m sure you are’ can almost be an insult. You should just be glad I’m not sensitive because, well, I think we both know where I’d be putting my knee,” she raised her eyebrows as she let her leg drop back to the floor, hearing her heel clap against the hardwood floor. She leaned her weight back a little, hanging onto his neck and shook her head before moving back to her original position.

“And the more you say you’re not ‘that guy’ the more I wonder if there’s something about yourself you’re hiding. I mean, I know I keep coming back to it but…” Ember shrugged once again before shaking her head and dropping the topic. One of these days he was going to get himself into trouble, she could just see it happening and just the thought made her tipsy brain want to laugh a bit. “The fact that you’re standing up so straight makes me beg to differ,” she said once he told her that he didn’t care what he looked like. “You’d have more fun if you’d dance, you know. It’s a good time, I promise.” Now, coming from someone who pole danced for a living, Ember would adamantly disagree with his idea of dancing even being able to be compared to that. Granted, Ember’s pole dancing was something to watch, and not for any sort of sexual reason either. It was an art form, what she did, and something that required skill and strength. Then again, even if it wasn’t, Ember would still disagree. Anyone who danced like that didn’t know how to dance and she would stick to that one.

Once the drinks were given and their conversation continued things just seemed to go a little downhill for Ember. When he gave his answer she couldn’t help but roll her eyes and sigh deeply. “You are such a downer. You know, it makes the people around you happy when you’re happy, right? The least you could do is pretend a little,” she rocked her weight back and forth a bit before taking another sip of her drink to give her drunken brain a little time to think. It seemed to move slower with alcohol in her system, but that was obvious, wasn’t it? Once she took her drink and felt the alcohol’s taste sting her throat she set it down on the bar next to her and took her arm and wrapped it back around his neck, running her finger nails over his neck in a slightly tickling fashion. When he spoke again Ember sighed and shook her head, leaning forward and resting her head on his chest for a second before lifting it back up to look into his eyes.

“Okay, you started out so good,” she said, looking around the club as if trying to find a new guy to cling to, “and now you can’t flirt to save your life.” She sighed deeply and gave him a very flirtatious look, rocking her weight back and forth slightly. “You know how this is supposed to work, right? You make me feel good, be kind’a funny, I laugh even if you’re not funny, you know, play back and forth?” she asked, obviously just teasing about it all but still a little tired of his inability to play along. Sure, it was fun when they were clueless and it was fun when they weren’t at all interested and couldn’t get her off his arm but he seemed kind of half way in between. Like, he knew what he should be doing and was having a good time with this but still somehow wanted her off his arm. It was weird. “Asking my name, and coming up with something cute about it, good place to start,” she continued, hoping something would come out of this because well, honestly, he seemed like the man could be fun.

[wesley]

Constantly being reminded day after day that there would never be a girl like Lauren, discouraged Wesley from ever following through with all the flirting he did. One way or another he would be reminded that the girl he was bantering with wasn’t her or like her in anyway, and if she was that deterred him even more because it just made him miss her. So at the end of every night like this he went home more miserable than he was before… Just to be reminded by Alan when he got home that this isn’t how she would have wanted it and by acting like this he was only disappointing her. It was such a vicious cycle that he couldn’t seem to avoid and he just kept living it over and over again. When he looked at Jack it all made complete sense and yet at the same time made everything worse. In him he saw her smile, her laugh, her spirit, her ability to make him smile without a single effort, everything about Jack reminded Wesley of Lauren. That killed him and comforted him all at the same time; he was warmed by the idea that he still had a piece of her to hold onto and torn up by the thought that he will never have her in his life again. Moving on was the hardest thing he had ever attempted to do, and that was saying something.

But, yes there is always a but, He came out on this nights to make everyone around him think that he was pulling himself out of the pit that he was in and slowly getting better when in fact he was in the same spot if not getting deeper in the pit. He laughed he smirked he showed his charm but none of it was actual, true blue, or honest happiness. He was trying though and that’s all that mattered. As for the girl in his lap, she was sassy, feisty and all around a nice fun flirty girl. But she wasn’t his type and he could guarantee that he wasn’t hers either… But she like most of these girls had to find out the hard way. There was no point in disappointing her early in the game though. “I’m sure you’re the hottest, most sexy girl in this entire room. And from the way you handle yourself I know you’re confident enough to not need some guy like me telling you that.” He added a charming wink just to top it off. “I’m not gay I don’t need to prove it.” He said completely assured in his sexuality there was nothing to doubt about that besides he was far too good looking to be gay.

It didn’t seem like she wasn’t going to let the dancing thing go so he ordered himself a couple shots figuring if she was going to make him dance he might as well be a little more under the influence then he currently was. Dancing wasn’t his strong suit that was for sure… I mean he danced with Lauren all the time but that all ended a while ago; you couldn’t really blame him for that. He gave her his charming smile before taking a shot and let his eyes do the talking. He wasn’t a handsy guy at all and probably wasn’t going to put a hand on her the entire night he was far too much of a gentleman to do anything like that. “If you really want to dance, far be it from me to keep that from you.” He nodded his head to the dance floor. Of course he wouldn't make her dance alone if she truly wanted to dance he would dance with her but that didn't mean anything.

“Alright, you’re right, I’m sorry, Where are my manners?” He said completely genuine. “I’m Wesley, After being the ass that I have been do you think you could give me another chance and let me know your name?” He may be a few years out of the game but he could still lay on the charm rather easily. He flashed his classic smirk looking her in the eyes sincerely. He knew how to play the game. And knew that his friends would be happy if he was happy but that was asking a bit much considering she had just met him. He wasn’t a downer… or at least he didn’t think he was and if he was he had every reason to be which is what he would have said if he didn’t remind himself that not everyone knew that… in fact hardly anyone knew about any of that, at least no one that lived around her. In a town that couldn’t keep secrets Wesley was doing a perfectly fine job at that.

[ember]

Ember had never been in love. Hell, Ember had hardly ever even been in like. Sure, she had a few boyfriends but none of them lasted for all that long and none that she was really with because she liked them, more like because she could be in a relationship with them. She really wasn’t in any sort of hurry to find love, or even like, either. She was at the point in her life when she could just have a great time and that’s what she planned to do, there was no need to settle down anytime soon, especially while she was still attending college. As long as her grades stayed up and she did het jobs well she felt that was all she needed to keep in mind right now, as long as she didn’t one day open her purse to find she didn’t have money for groceries. Long story short, love was the last thing on Ember’s mind. Sure, she flirted, she flirted heavily but she never even thought about even seeing the men she flirted with again. It was just a part of the fun and everyone knew teasing was just a good time.

She also never thought the man she was climbing on was her type either, they were never her type, she didn’t even know what her type was much less looked for it in a guy to flirt with for the night. Honestly, she did this to not only have fun herself but for the guy to have fun, any friends the guy was with but mostly the friends she went out with too. It always gave them a good laugh to see their virgin friend climb all over some guy that looked more confused than anything and she could see why. It would give her a great laugh too. He couldn’t disappoint her at all, no matter what he did, because she had no expectations. “There you go,” she said as he finally complimented her, nodding her head, blond hair bouncing against her shoulders as a piece fell into her face. She blew it away and gave him a rather sexy look as he continued. “Well, of course not, I know I’m damn gorgeous, it doesn’t mean I don’t like being told,” she said very matter-of-factly, leaning her weight against his neck as she leaned back slightly, trying to look at his friends over his shoulder, giving a wink to one that matched her look before pulling her attention back to the man at hand. She really was big on only one at a time, probably because men weren’t all that into sharing, though.

“You keep telling yourself that, sweetheart,” of course Ember knew he wasn’t gay and she believed it from the start but that didn’t mean she didn’t like to tease about it. The fact that he kept saying something about it meant the teasing bothered him on some level, which was always something she liked because being called gay just made some guys act so funny, especially when Ember kept getting more and more tipsy as she finished off her Appletini and set the glass back on the counter, smiling to Wesley in a form of thank you. “Me too!” Ember called after the bar tender when the man she was crawling on ordered some shots. She gave him a seductive and playful smile as if trying to make sure he would in fact pay for the drinks she had just ordered. She was tipsy, yes, but she had every intention of being stone cold drunk by the end of the night so a couple shots wouldn’t be too bad.

When the shots came Ember grabbed one and matched the look in his eyes as he took one, which she did the same soon after. Her face showed that the drink stung down her throat but she didn’t take too long before grabbing the second to show that she did in fact want the drinks, even if the taste wasn’t her favorite thing. “Now there’s a good boy,” she said, bringing her face closer to his for second before pulling away to take the second shot she had in her hand. She did love dancing and, sure, she got a little more physical on the dance floor but she would never be flat out inappropriate. Besides, she didn’t want him to get any ideas and think she would want to go home with him because that was honestly the furthest thing from her mind.

Ember had to admit that she was a little surprised when he sounded so genuine when he apologized. She was by no means insulted, just a little annoyed that his flirting skills weren’t what they could have been, especially for someone so hot. She knew she wasn’t the first girl to flirt with him so she thought he would at least be decent at this, not so… unknowledgeable about the whole situation. Sure, she was probably more forward than most but it was still flirting and still followed the same principles. “Well, I suppose,” she said, as if obviously actually considering giving him her name or not. “I’m Ember,” she said, putting a lot of pressure on the name. She hated people calling her Amber, it wasn’t her name damn it and even though it was more common she didn’t take well to people who made the mistake.

“It’s very nice to meet you Wesley, though we probably should have exchanged formalities before you starting buying me drinks,” she informed, obviously getting to the point that she was a little more on the drunk side than the tipsy but still not completely out of it and nowhere near passing out or throwing up. Not yet at least. Even if she was, that was what her friends were for. They would never let her get hurt or in a bad situation and would keep a close eye on her throughout the club, but that’s why one had friends come with, of course. As the DJ started to play a new song Ember perked up at looked over at Wesley, an excited look on her face. “Oh, I love the song!” she said, finally taking her arms away from his neck and reaching it down to his hand, grabbing hold of it as she pulled him towards the dance floor. “Come on! You even said you would!” she encouraged, knowing she couldn’t actually drag him, even if she wanted to.

[wesley]

He was 17 and she was the prettiest girl he had ever seen. It was mid-summer the sun was in full effect and every teenager was running amok all throughout town, with the exception of the rich kids who went to Aruba for their break or something. Wesley and his group of reckless teenage friends had been sitting at the Hub all day bored and hot… Drumming his fingers on the bar, slumped on the bar stool he raked his brain for something mildly entertaining for them to do. Before long they found themselves at the Wilshire Bridge looking over the edge all of them wearing the same mischievous grin that was usually a good hint that they were about to do something that was dangerous and going to get them in a lot of trouble. But when had that ever stopped them from doing it. Less than a half an hour their group had grown from four to eight, within seconds six of them had climbed over the railing and flung themselves off the edge into the water below. He stood there, hands pale white gripping the railing behind him, and looked to his right smiling his charming smile at a beautiful blonde who looked like she was about to faint.

“It’s not as far as it looks.” He called over to her as he edged his way closer to her. “You’ve done this before?” She tried to smile and a light nervous laugh escaped her perfect lips. He laughed in return, it almost matched hers. “Well… not exactly… but that’s what I’ve been told. Streaking in the quad was my idea… this one I can’t take credit for.” A light chuckle came in response “Streaking through the quad I would do. This was me surrendering to peer pressure.” Slight surprise graced his features. “Clearly I’m hanging around the wrong crowds, If you jump I’ll jump with you?” He offered in consolation. Her smile brightened and he offered her his hand. “Alright on the count of two.” She took his hand and hesitated when she was about to grasp it with a sort of confused/worried look washing over her face. “Wait! On the count of two?” His smile turned into more of a devious smirk. “Yeah, It’ll make a good story to tell the grandchildren. ” She laughed softly in return and he could see her start to relax. “Right along with streaking in the quad?”
“No one wants to hear about their grandparents streaking through the quad.” He responded and she shook her head still slightly nervously. “Come on….One” He started looking over at her daringly “….. Two!” He yelled and they both flew from the rail and into the water below. They both resurfaced “See How bad ass were you?” He smiled over at her as she caught her breath… next thing he knew her lips were against his. She pulled away smiling, “Tell that to the grandchildren.” With that she began to swim away.

That was when they first met, and that was when he knew that he wanted to be with her. Lauren was everything he wanted in a girl and more. She was adventurous, caring, loving, stubborn, sweet, daring, challenging, courageous, frustrating, strong, sensitive… those were just a few of the things he loved about her. The first and the last girl he had ever fallen in love with and part of him secretly didn’t want that to change. There were moments when he was alone that he could swear she was standing right there with him talking to him about his day and how he should handle certain situations and he held onto those moments for dear life. The worst feeling in the world to him was losing her all over again when someone walked through the door… or interrupted his day dreaming. Just imagine getting one more day with that person you loved dearly and lost… and imagine how it feels when that day is over… it’s like a teaser to the real thing. Just enough to remind you of what it was like to have them around but not enough to satisfy the void in your heart that’s developed from not having them anymore. As opposed to the worst feeling in the world, Seeing Jack come racing up to him each time he walked in the door, or when he snuggled up to him on the couch watching cartoons… That right there… that was the best feeling in the entire universe. Jack was what kept Wesley going throughout this whole ordeal. Nothing in the world compared to that little boy.

The cute girl whom had taken up residence on his lap continued to flirt and drink… and jab at the question of his sexuality and he continued to fight off thoughts of going home… or what he’s going to do when he gets there. Wesley clearly had a problem with focusing on one thing at a time… which was odd especially considering he was a guy with a very, very good looking girl whom, to any other eye, just wanted to get into his pants. He tried not to make assumptions though… and it wasn’t a concern to him seeing how he had no intention of going home with her or bringing her home with him. She wasn’t the type of girl that he would introduce to Jack… or Allen for that matter then again no girl was the type of girl he would introduce to Jack or Allen, not yet anyways, he wasn’t in that place yet. The again he didn’t think he would be in that place ever.

A casual nod at the bar tender answered the matter of him paying for it or not. Paying for her drinks wasn’t a problem… we wouldn’t be rude and maybe he was old school but he still thought that it was completely inconsiderate and a just plan jackass move if a guy made a girl pay for anything… Chivalry wasn’t dead in his mind. Which is why since she wanted to dance, he decided that he would dance… it wouldn’t kill him. He smiled a charming smile when she gave him his name… Making a small mental note of how she specifically pronounced it. Ember… rare… beautiful… elegant… unique. "Nice to meet you Ember" He put just as much emphasis on it as she did to let her know he got the hint. He shrugged tipping his head to the side. “Both were inevitable… the order doesn’t really matter .” It was true she was a very forward girl… of which he did kind of enjoy… so he figured whether or not they exchanged names first or drinks first both were going to happen. The song switched and her hands switched from his neck and grasped his hand he smiled and chuckled lightly as she pulled him toward the dance floor. “I know I did” He followed her out and let her take the lead… not even sure if he knew what to do with himself. He was completely out of his element here.

[ember]

Of course Ember liked men and being around them and she honestly had nothing against them, but she also had a relatively low opinion of men as a general rule. She had amazing male friends that she didn’t know what she would be able to do without them but when she had yet to find a man that had more than half a brain actually in their head it was hard to think too much of the gender. She had been in a couple relationships but there was nothing serious and she had never told any man that she loved them in anything more than jest. She was a woman that was very happy with herself and had more self-esteem than was good for her and, unlike many women out there, didn’t need a man to help her with that self-esteem factor either. If a relationship fell into her lap she would never turn it away, but until that happened she was happy on her own and she couldn’t see herself ever not happy on her own. She knew what she wanted to do with her life and was glad that she had broken the trend her mother and grandmother set for her of being married to a guy you didn’t love by the time you were twenty.

All that being said, there really wasn’t much in life which Ember was passionate about. Well, except herself, that is. She really didn’t have much by way of hobbies, unless one could call shopping a drinking a hobby. She only tried so hard in school before she prided herself in her grades and, more or less, on her intelligence and loved to show that off. She did hate when people didn’t realize that she was in the upper tier of the world when it came to intelligence. Sure, she was a young blonde woman who went out and partied and worked as a dancer and, by stereotype, she wouldn’t be intelligent but she honestly did care. Sure, she hated it when people who dismiss whatever she said due to her stereotype but, in the end, it was their loss. And she knew the man whose lap she had perched on was judging her the way everyone else did. Thought she had more notches in her bedpost than many men he knew and wondered what type of disease she could have, but that was again his loss. She was a flirty girl who easily conformed to such stereotypes but they were wrong, she just liked to flirt and tease and if this man never saw that, well, then guess who the stupid one was.

Once she finally pulled the man back onto the dance floor she started to move along to the movement. She was a bit closer to Wesley than she had been before, but wasn’t flat out inappropriate by all means. As always, she didn’t want to put too many ideas into his head. There was a little grinding but nothing too touchy-feely and a lot of flirtatious looks that Ember threw Wesley’s way. It was probably obvious that she was little shaking in her very tall heels due to the alcohol running through her system but she wasn’t totally drunk as of yet. In fact, right now, she was only a little tipsy. Enough to make her not think perfectly straight but not enough to make her make some horrible decisions, though she shouldn’t be driving either, but she had no intentions of driving. She didn’t even have a car and had only ever driven by herself maybe four or five times due to her family’s significant lack of money, but either way, it probably wasn’t the best idea.

It was a few songs later when one came on that Ember couldn’t stand so took Wesley by the hand and started leading him back to the bar, yelling at the top of her lungs so Wesley could hear her over the very loud music that was playing and very easily heard on the dance floor. “What do you say about buying me a couple more drinks, huh?” she asked as she got to the bar and hopped up onto the stool, a little clumsily, sure, but still managed to get herself to where she was supposed to be. Once up onto the stool she reached up and pulled the stilettos off her aching feet and set them onto the bar. “For how often I walk in these things, you think I’d be used to it,” she half joked before she ordered a couple more shots from the bar tender in Wesley’s name. Those couple more drinks quickly turned into a couple more and before she knew it Ember wasn’t even sure where she was anymore. Her head was spinning and pounding and her eyes refused to focus. She had been this drunk before but normally it was at this point when her friend would take her home. Then again, her friends were out on the dance floor at the moment, with no idea that she was to a point where she could pass out at any moment.

[wesley]

Music was blaring throughout the entire building and Wesley was beginning to wonder if you could actually call it music. It was so loud it was just the same solid beat from the base you could barely make out what the lyrics were. But that was just him being a big party pooper old man. He had a tendency to do that, he liked his life at home with his son and Allen. Let me rephrase that. Wesley could enjoy this scene and in any other life he would be, but now that he was a dad he knew what it meant to enjoy every minute of sleep that you could get. If he wasn’t a parent then he would probably be all over this. But since he is a parent it changes things. He wasn’t complaining though it was nice to be appreciated and have this girl all over him. There was a side of him that was young and having fun and just wanted things to be like this, fun and relaxed. Then there was a side of him that was only thinking about his little boy at home and how they were going to make it on their own. Learning how to deal with the hand that life had dealt him was difficult and he was just now getting the hang of balancing it all…

His attention was quickly brought back to her as she grinded against him with a flirtatious look on her face. He smirked back in response and moved with her trying to keep his mind from wandering away from her, for one it was rude and two what man in his right mind would let his mind go off somewhere away from the sexy attractive girl that he was dancing with. Wesley may be a father and responsible adult but he was still a man and well men will be men. Next thing he knew she was dragging him back to the bar… she was more stumbling though but he tried not to pay too much attention to that especially when she asked for more shots. She was a grownup she could handle herself and if she couldn’t it wasn’t his place to say anything. He nodded towards the bar tender giving her the go ahead to order more. He drank a few more keeping up with her… but seeing as how he was bigger and used to a lot of alcohol wasn’t nearly as affected as she was.

After a while they went their separate ways he stopped drinking and was just joking around light heartedly with his buddies waiting till he sobered up some so he could walk home. One after one his friends left… either left the bar completely or found some girl to give their attention to. Meanwhile Wesley was about to head out when he noticed a nearly unconscious limp body hanging on the bar. He stepped closer to get a better look… being the marine American hero that he was he didn’t like seeing a girl in such a vulnerable state without someone looking after her. Then a guy stepped up to the girl and brushed her hair off her face then he began to say a few vulgar things and well Wesley wouldn’t have that so he intervened. After getting rid of the jerks and realizing that it was Ember he tried to find her friends. Failing at that he sort of stood there for a moment then let his instincts kick in.

The next morning he had a rude awakening from Jack. The giddy boy pounced on his sleeping dad and stared down at him with a curious furrowed brow. “Dad…. There’s a girl in your bed.” was followed by a childish giggle. Jack for one wasn’t used to having older women around and thought that girls were gross so you could understand the poor guy’s confusion. Wesley rubbed his eyes and yawned then roughed up Jack’s hair. Propping himself up on his elbows he was about to try and explain when he noticed Allen standing above him with a very serious questioning look. Wesley just gave him a wiry smile in response and picked Jack up setting him on the floor. “Uh… Why don’t I just go see what in the world is going on in there… while you... and grandpa make pancakes.” He nodded and looked between the two while backing up into his room. He slipped into the room rubbing his eyes again and looked down at the sleeping girl. He snuck out grabbed a glass of water and aspirin then snuck back in before Allen or Jack could ask him anymore questions. Setting them down on the side table he grabbed his shirt off the floor then covered her up with a blanket. This wasn’t going to be fun to explain to Jack…. Or Allen for that matter…

[ember]

The rest of the night was really nothing more than a blue to Ember. She drank a little more with Wesley and when he left she finally decided she had enough and stopped her intake, but it was significantly too late. There was so much alcohol running through her system by the time she stopped drinking she would not have believed you if you told her what her blood alcohol level was. She could hardly remember what had happened when Wesley left to go his separate way. Her friends came up to her for a bit before going back out onto the dance floor and… that’s it, that’s all her mind had grasped before she had passed out onto the bar. How she managed to stay on the bar stool, she didn’t know, but she had to think that it helped that she had slid her heels back on and had them hooked over the lowest rung of the stool and was otherwise mostly laying on the bar. Her friends had stayed out dancing and the bartender got too busy to keep an eye on the drunk and passed out girl to make sure she was all right. Though Ember did love to drink and often passed out from her drinking she was never quite this vulnerable, or quite this full of alcohol.

Ember barely even stirred when the men came up to her. She hardly had the strength to even think about why this was such a bad thing. Her head ached and throbbed and all she wanted to do was sleep. Normally men who even touched her without her say so really got laid into, to the point where they were usually escorted out of the bar because she would accuse them of sexual harassment, which no bar or dance club wanted on their name but now, well, now she didn’t even have the energy to keep her eyes open, much less tell the idiots that they better know how to keep their hands to themselves if they didn’t want a stiletto heel in their man parts. Next thing she even half knew was a man’s voice and then, once again, losing all control of her body. A part of her tried to struggle against the feeling of the strong arms around her but she simply couldn’t and before she was even out of the bar she passed out and was completely out of it all the way to the house Wesley shared with his father and son.

Normally, Ember was quite the lightly sleeper who would wake up from the smallest knock on her door from the residents or the guitar playing all the way down at the other end of the hallway that she had to tell to shut up but when she actually passed out completely from alcohol apparently sleeping in the same bed as a random guy, having his son jump on the end and then a conversation in her ear kept her sleeping just fine. She stayed sleeping fine when Allen and Jack left the room but stirred slightly when the blanket came towards her head when Wesley brought it up. After less than another minutes her eyes fluttered open and she was met with a searing pain in her head, a sick feeling in her stomach and the strong urge for a cigarette. For a couple seconds she just believed that she was back in her dorm room sleeping in her own bed and was about to try and go back to sleep. That is, until, she realized that the bed was not only much larger but way more comfortable than the one she had at school when she snapped her eyes fully open and jerked up in bed.

Her head swam right away, having a hard time focusing on anything until she saw Wesley standing in the room when she let out a fairly loud, high pitched involuntary scream. Her breathing increased and a hand flew to her head as her own scream made it throb. “What the hell? What am I doing here?!” she screamed, looking down at her body for the first time and honestly shocked when she realized she was still completely dressed. She fixed the tank top so it completely covered her bra with shaking hands, completely unsure what was happening. She tried so hard to think about what had happened to her the night before but it was gone. She met this guy at the club… his name… what the hell was his name! Where were her friends? Why was she here? She glanced around for her purse before forcing her eyes back on Wesley, not trusting him not to do anything to her after he brought her apparently back to his place and she didn’t remember it at all.

“What did you do to me!?” she screeched once again, feeling her throat tighten and tears perk up in her eyes as she put together what she was convinced had happened to her last night. She couldn’t believe she let herself get into that position. How could she let herself get that drunk when she didn’t have a friend of hers right beside her to take her back to her room where she was safe and in no harm. Instead she had to be an idiot and now she put herself into heaven only knows what position. She choked back a sob as she kept a firm eye on the man, half convinced that he was going to knock her out with a lamp at any second. “You… you dick,” she said in sobs, “how could you? I… I,” she was having trouble getting anything out. Besides, she didn’t even know what to say. What do you say to the man you thought raped you the night before?

[wesley]

“What the Hell!” Lauren screamed at him from across the living room… next thing he knew he was deflecting a shoe that was flying straight for his head. “Come on Lauren… I can’t say I’m sorry if I don’t know why you’re mad at me…” He called after her as she stormed into their bedroom. “How can you not know!?!” “Okay I’m sorry… for what I did it was wrong and I shouldn’t have done it…? Said it….? Thought it….?” The other shoe came flying out at him. “Now you’re lying to me?!?! I hope you like the couch!” He leaned against the door way and began tugging his tie loose. “I’m beginning to think you just want to argue with me for the heck of it.” Then there she was standing in front of him glaring. “Nope okay… I definitely did something… “ He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “Please just tell me what I did so I can fix it.” … “You told Jeff that I didn’t like him.” Wesley walked over to the closet and hung up his tie then turned to face her smiling… “But you don’t like him.” … “You weren’t supposed to tell him that now I’m just the bitch wife that never lets you hang out with the guys!” Unbuttoning his shirt he rolled his eyes at her… “No one thinks that of you… I wouldn’t let them.” “Yeah right you’re just saying that to make me feel better so I won’t be mad… think again its not going to work.” “Oh jeez now you’re acting crazy.” “Great so now I’m crazy!” “Yes! You’re acting like it” “Well maybe you should just leave then!” “Maybe I will!” He said before walking out of the room toward the door. “Fine!” “Fine!” he called over his shoulder of course always having to have the last word… With that both the front door and the bedroom door slammed.

A little bit later and came back in quietly then knocked on the bedroom door. “baby…. Can I come back in now?" He cracked the door and peered in just to find her sitting on the bed in tears. He stepped into the room and knelt on the floor in front of her. “… I’m sorry for telling Jeff you didn’t like him… I was drinking and being stupid… and I’m sorry for yelling at you and storming off… Please don’t cry.” He really was sorry now… he hated to see her cry but in all honesty when he told Jeff he really didn’t see what was so wrong about it… But Wesley was a guy and as far as he knew brutal honesty was the right thing… and he and Jeff had been friends for a while now it really didn’t matter all that much what they said to each other… I guess that was the difference between guys and girls. Guys say what’s on their mind and don’t really think about the consequences. He had no idea all this would make her this upset… and now of course seeing that it had he wished he could take it all back. “Do you forgive me?” She nodded solemnly and he wiped her eyes gently… “I’m sorry for acting so crazy… I don’t know why I said all that… you were just being honest… Promise you’ll never leave me?” He cracked a smile and nodded. “I could never leave you.”

Wesley shook his head slightly and blinked looking back down at the panic stricken Ember. It had been a while since the last time a girl has screamed at him like that and it brought back a flood of memories making it hard for him to focus on the current situation. Wesley was a marine… he’d been to war… he’d been shot at… and had plenty of people try and nearly succeed at killing him… but none of that would ever compare to an angry woman… he learned that quickly. He didn’t flinch but from the way she looked at him he had a feeling something was going to get thrown at him… When her previous words finally registered to him, he started to respond. “You…” But since it took him a minute to remember what in fact she had said after being sent through that flashback. So before he could get out just one word she cut him off. “What did you do to me!?”

He had figured this would happen… but no matter how much preparing he’d done it was easier thought than done. Now that she was starting to really wake up it was evident that her anger was now turning into a little bit of fear. He was going to reply when he just decided that she wasn’t done yet so he’d wait for her to finish… He didn’t intend for her to react this way… but given what he’d done it was sort of inevitable. “You… you dick,” that wasn’t the worst name that he’d been called but his brow furrowed a little and he shoved his hands into his pockets… He couldn’t really blame her for reacting this way… but until she finished yelling at him he couldn’t very well tell her what exactly happened. “how could you? I…I,” and now she was starting to settle down… Wesley had no intentions of making her feel like this… he may be avoiding a relationship of any kind but he was still a gentleman and didn’t like seeing her this worried and upset… even if she was a total stranger… well not total but practically.

“Whoa whoa whoa… take it easy…” He said calmly bringing his hands out of his pockets hoping to get her to settle down a little. He looked over at the glass of water and held out the aspirin. “First… this will help you with the headache… and coffee should be ready in a minute.” Yeah he was a stranger to her and he wouldn’t blame her if she refused to take anything from him but he would still try anyways… that’s just how he was. “Second… the only thing I did to you was carry you out of the bar and put you in bed... that’s all.” Being trained on how to break bad news to people helped in this situation… not because it was bad news but because he knew how to go about saying it. He was going to go on but changed his mind and decided to wait and see how she reacted to this first.

[ember]

Ember’s history of dealing with men actually angry at her was a little limited, but that did tend to happen when you were talking to the girl that rarely dated and had never had sex. When you had a lack of conversation it was hard for people to become angry at you. Now, that wasn’t to say Ember talked to guys any less than she talked to girls, it was actually quite opposite. She had her female friends, you know, the ones she enjoyed Ladies’ Night with and went bar crawling with but she often found girls to catty to deal with a lot of the time and also enjoyed watching some sporting events with male friends by her side. With her job as an RA, also, she really had a nice mix of interactions with both young men and women dealing with problems no one really wanted to deal with. She hated those nights when she would be woken up because someone wouldn’t turn a light off or something crazy like that, but it happened and it was her job. Now, her second job, well, let’s just say that she had a lot of interesting interactions with men but she would never say any of them were even upset with her but just the rules of the club she worked at, and those she placed as well but they didn’t have to know she placed those on the men herself.

Now, of course some men got pissy with the girl who would tease as much as she had teased poor Wesley the night before and then just go home with her friends to not even give them a phone number but she really didn’t worry about that. Most guys just kind of stared at her blankly as she left the bar, laughing over whatever she had done to the poor dude and anyone who tried not to take no for an answer generally got a screaming Ember and the kicked out by the nice bouncers she generally knew from the bars as well. In the end, she felt that any sort of drama was too much drama when it came to the opposite sex, at least right now in her life and this morning now was just proving it to her. She was more than happy to just flirt with guys at the bar and then leave them wishing she would give them a little more, or so she thought.

She would never really admit that she wanted a relationship but in the end, she supposed she kind of did. Not too bad and it wasn’t something she couldn’t be happy without but it was something she felt that she was missing out on. She had never been too serious with any guy and had never, for any reason, been anywhere close to in love but, she supposed the curious side of the incredibly intelligent girl wanted to know what all the hullabaloo was about. It never made sense to her that people would throw away everything they had for someone else, or anything for that matter. It may become clear that she had never really been close to anything. Sure, she had her parents and sister, but no matter where she went they would still be in her life, they were her family, but she never had a pet and friends came and went throughout life, we all know that, so she never got overly attached to anyone and really was wondering what it felt to be attached at all.

Either way, none of that was overly interesting considering the situation at hand. “Take it easy?!” she repeated when he finally said something to her, though she supposed he had never had a chance to say anything without interrupting her. She knew that many men could not understand how terrifying something like this was. She just woke up in a man’s bed, thinking he had taken advantage of her and he was still there standing right over her. Taking it easy was the last thing on her mind. “Get away from me!” she screeched when he came closer to offer her the pills in his hand. She swatted out at his hand with hers, if she had hit it a movement that would cause the pills to go flying. “Like I’d take anything from you. I’m not stupid enough to let you drug me again!” she climbed over to the other side of the bed and attempted to stand up but between her dizzy head and her legs tangled up in the bedspread she fell back onto the bed before she could do anything.

“Put me in bed? Put me in your bed you perv! Like sleeping girls, huh?” she yelled again, hot tears falling from her cheeks and able to taste the saltiness as they stuck to her now dry lips. Oh she really could use that drink of water right now. If this was him being trained to break bad news to people she would hate to be in this situation with someone who had no clue about it because he was not making her feel any better at all. The more she thought about what she was convinced had happened the night before the more she could hardly even think about what she should be doing right now. Getting out of the house would be the smart thing, out of the house, call the police and get them here to deal with her rapist but she wasn’t thinking logically. She was very dehydrated and hungover to add to the fact that her life seemed to be falling apart at her feet. She buried her face in her hands and leaned over so her elbows could rest on her thighs. “I’m such an idiot. I wanna go home… I just wanna go home,” she said through tears, not even sure if Wesley would be able to understand or hear her but that was the only thing on her mind right now. Well, that and how she felt so vulnerable right now. He could do so much to her right now and she would be almost powerless to stop it.

((crap post... sorry. Have to admit I really miss playing girls, however lol))