somedaylove (somedaylove) wrote in solsticerp, @ 2009-12-15 14:45:00 |
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Entry tags: | ava, camilla, cian, june 13 2009, liam |
Saturday: Unattainable Crushes
Who: Camilla and Cian, then Ava and Liam
When: Night!
Where: Vapor
Camilla had spent most of the night dancing, and getting Liam to dance with her when he wasn't looking piqued over the dimness of the club. After several dances, and a few drinks, she'd excused herself to use the ladies room... which had quite a wait, so she was gone a lot longer than she'd meant to be. However, when she made her way back toward where she'd left Liam, she saw him dancing with a young looking brunette, so Camilla made a detour to the bar instead. She ordered a rum and Coke and once she got it, tried to find a place where she could stand and observe without getting knocked into too much. This place was definitely somewhere Camilla would be spending a lot of her time. Drinks, loud music and dancing... she couldn't ask for anything better.
Once Cian and Ava had parted ways for a little while, Cian had caught up with some of the guys on the team, bullshitted for a few, danced with a few people, started to make the rounds. Usual party stuff, although this was the hugest party he could imagine. He'd decided it was time for something else to drink, and he shoved himself through the crowd around the bar, finally managing to order a ginger ale. Then he turned around as well, just hoping not to get run over, and nearly walked right into someone. "Sorry, I didn't--. Camilla?" There was surprise in his voice; he'd had no clue Liam's smokin' hot cousin was in town. He squinted, trying to make sure he wasn't a total idiot and that it was indeed her.
Camilla had to hold her drink up with a tense arm as not to have it slosh all over her when the guy beside her bumped into her. She wasn't irritated though. She had been to enough of these places to know you couldn't walk three feet without getting an elbow in the back or side, or someone's hand on your ass. She glanced down to double check that nothing had spilled on her shirt before she looked up at the voice. One that apparently belonged to someone who knew her. She stared at the guy for a second before it clicked in her head who it was. "Cian? Hey!" Smiling brightly, she flung an arm around his neck - thank god for three inch heeled boots! - in greeting. "Oh my god. You look so different!" He'd always been cute but now he was tall and buff and cute.
Cian managed to hold his own drink out and away so it didn't spill on him as she gave him a one-armed hug and he hugged her in return. Awkwardly, in that trying-not-to-spill-what's-in-my-glass kind of way. It would be truly embarrassing if Camilla Bristow knew how many adolescent fantasies of his she'd starred in over the years. She was older, so he hadn't gone to school with her or anything, but he'd been around Liam enough to have seen her quite a bit before she'd moved away. She was the great unattainable crush to him, pretty much, and he felt his cheeks color slightly at her proximity. "And you look... really awesome," he said with a warm smile. Hey, another reason for him to be irritated with Liam. He hadn't told him Camilla was coming back to Darkwater.
"Hey! Really awesome," Camilla said with a laugh when she pulled away. She glanced down at her outfit before smiling. "Thanks! I strive for awesome whenever I leave the house, but really awesome is even better." She was wearing a simple, tight red t-shirt with a black skirt and knee high leather boots. Pretty simple for someone like Camilla, but it was acceptable for a place like Vapor. Although, she had seen the dude in a dress earlier, so maybe she could pull out one of her more colorful outfits next time. Camilla let her gaze wander over Cian, still shocked by how much older he looked. "You look so great! Did I already say that? No, I said you looked different. But great too. How are you?" It was hard to have a good conversation in a place like this, but Camilla didn't care. She loved seeing people that she'd known before she moved to California. Especially the attractive ones. Which was so pervy of her since Cian had to still be in high school, but there was nothing wrong with looking, and appreciating. It helped that she'd had quite a few drinks already so she felt decidedly less pervy.
He was such a dork. Telling her she looked awesome like she was another teenager or something. He'd feel dumb telling her she looked hot, although she did, so he'd needed another descriptive word. He took a gulp from his ginger ale and then set it down on the bar next to him, unable to help how much it pleased him for her to tell him he looked great. She sounded like she meant it, not like she was just talking to hear the sound of her voice or to flatter him. 'Cause, yeah, no. She'd have no reason to do that. "Thanks," he said, leaning a little closer just so he could hear her and she could hear him. "I'm good, really good. Are you visiting?" Because it was too much to hope for that she might be back. Not that he'd ever have a chance with her, because hell. She was gorgeous and fun and totally an adult, and he totally... wasn't. He might be eighteen, but he knew there was a world of difference between eighteen and twenty-five. But he could look. Cian didn't find a thing wrong with looking, either. It was still free.
Camilla did mean it, seeing as she rarely said anything she didn't mean. She had always been of the mind that honesty was the best policy. Lies hurt, although sometimes they were necessary. Camilla just hadn't yet found that filter that gave her a few seconds to think her opinions through before she voiced them. It may have worked in a place like Los Angeles, but it usually gave her trouble here in Darkwater. She leaned in toward him when he leaned in toward her because yes, she did want to hear him, plus he was taller than she was, even in her boots. "Visiting? Oh! No, I've moved back home for awhile. I guess I got homesick or something. Plus, work was totally starting to blow, so it felt like the right time." She sipped her drink quickly to wet her throat. She really didn't need to get into that whole story, especially with someone she didn't know that well. Alcohol tended to make her more open than she usually was. "What about you though?" She eyed him with a flirtatious smile. "Still in school?"
Cian knew that she'd been living in California, and he couldn't imagine wanting to leave there for any reason. It seemed like the place where everything happened, where there was non-stop action and coolness. But he didn't think he should question her on why she'd left, because it wasn't really his business and, yeah, he didn't know her that well. "Great," he said with a smile, hoping he didn't look like an eager puppy salivating over her. He was normally pretty cool with girls, but then Camilla wasn't a girl. She was a woman, capital W. "You stayin' with Liam?" Not that he planned to visit anytime soon, because he feared he might not be able to keep from being snippy if he thought about Liam and Ava, but it was good info to have, anyway. "Senior," he said with a casual shrug when she asked if he was still in school. "I'm eighteen already, though." Just so she wouldn't think she was talking to a seventeen year old kid. Like she cares, the cynical part of his brain interjected.
Well, eighteen made her feel better than seventeen. Though it was still awfully young, wasn't it? With a nod, Camilla turned to set her half empty glass down on the bar next to his ginger ale. "I'm staying with Liam for the moment, but I'll probably start looking for my own place early next week. I don't want to cramp the guy's style, you know?" She remembered Cian lived with his family in one of those really nice houses on the island. Her parents had a modest, nice home, but Camilla had - shamefully - always looked at the wealthier, larger houses with envy. Before her mind could wander, Camilla refocused on the conversation at hand. Or the guy at hand, since he seemed to be paying her an awful lot of attention, which she liked. "Eighteen," she mused, checking him out again before she grinned with a bit of mischievousness. "Good, that means it's legal for me to make you dance with me." She snatched his hand to tug him out onto the dance floor. "Do you mind? I've been dancing with Liam all night and while that's all fine and good, it might be nice to dance with someone who's not a blood relative."
Maybe Liam needed someone to cramp his style, Cian thought meanly. He forced the snarky thoughts away, because it'd be stupid to be thinking about Liam when he had his elusive crush of several years in front of him. "If you need any help, like, moving or something, let me know." He was definitely tuned in to Camilla, his dark eyes not leaving her even once. He'd hoped tonight would be kickass awesome, and after a shaky start, it was going even better than he'd hoped for. He laughed when she took his hand to pull him out onto the dance floor. Was that a trick question? Did he mind dancing with her, really? "I'm a better dancer than Liam," he boasted-- he didn't know whether he was or not, but he was sure as hell going to claim to be-- "and I'd love to dance with you." Because it'd be such a chore to be seen dancing with a hot older woman. Right.
She laughed at his proclamation, pleased that he was eager enough to prove it. "Thanks for the offer of help," she said, pulling him into the crowd. Turning, she pulled him close, her hands on his shoulders as she began to move. Camilla had plenty of rhythm, for which she was thankful. And she assumed a guy like Cian, with his body type, had rhythm too. "Did you come with anyone?" she asked, her lips close to his ear so he could hear her.
"You're welcome," Cian said, and hel-lo, there was Camilla pressed up against him, her hands on his shoulders. She wasn't shy, and that was fine with him. His hands found her hips and he started to move to the rhythm of the music. He was grateful to the DJ for his (or her) selection of songs that had incredible beats but were slow enough to dance close to. This was as close as he'd ever been to Camilla Bristow, and it was awesome. Her breath warmed his ear as she asked him a question, and it took him a few seconds to comprehend what she'd said. "Yeah, my best friend," he told her. "She's around here somewhere." It had been a while since he'd seen Ava, but he figured she would have texted him if she needed him.
Camilla had come with her best friend too, although her best friend happened to be her male cousin. Not that there was anything wrong with that. The two if them had grown up together and she couldn't imagine being any closer to some girl than Liam. She moved against Cian in time with the pulsating beat of the music. He wasn't coming across as awkward dancing with her like so many guys could be, which she could definitely appreciate. Plus, he was tall and had a solid body, which was even better. "Me too," she said with a grin. "Although a girl's night out is usually out of the question since that happens to be Liam." Camilla said nothing about Cian's best friend, since she remembered Liam's confession that he had plans for a sort of date with the girl and Cian had been weirded out by it, or something along those lines. No need to ruin the light mood! Camilla enjoyed dancing against him for a few moments before she smiled. "You're really good at this."
"Yeah, I guess so," Cian replied when she said a girl's night would be out since her best friend was her cousin. And how awkward did he feel right now, since he was quite displeased with the dude in question? Well, shit, whatever. He'd have all the time he needed to be pissy about things at a later date. Now was not the time. He was enjoying dancing with Camilla, who smelled really good and felt equally as good against him. Admittedly, he was psyched that she was paying attention to him; he would have expected her to greet him, chat for a couple minutes and then move along. This was awesome, much more than he would've expected. "Thanks," he said when she complimented him, catching her gaze and holding it, smiling and trying to summon some of his usual charm. Could he flirt with Camilla without her thinking he was an ass? "You're better than me, though."
"You're sweet." Camilla smiled and lifted her arms to wrap her arms around his neck. It meant their dancing would become more of a body to body type of dancing, but that was okay with her. She was feeling good, being home after so long, in a brand spanking new club with Liam and yes, having a few drinks already. And dancing with a cute guy, even if he was probably too young to be grinding against. She was so used to dating older men, and look how well that worked out for her. So whatever, she was going to have fun and that was that. She might have started talking again, rambling on about something totally random, but the music was loud, and she was feeling buzzed, so all she wanted to do was dance and press herself against him. Warm, solid boy was easy to get distracted by, wasn't it?
Cian took her wrapping her arms around him as an invitation to get even more personal, and he did the same, settling one hand at the small of her back and the other at the back of her neck, beneath her hair. This close to her mouth, he couldn't help but notice that her breath smelled kind of like booze, but that wasn't a problem for him. Nothing was a problem for him right then as her soft curves pressed against him, and her hips... Yes, he liked that hip motion. She was about to find out how much he liked it, but he couldn't say he really cared. Camilla had to be used to getting that reaction from guys, as hot as she was. It wasn't just that she was pretty, he thought, but she had a sexy way about her... just the way she moved and talked and laughed. He was completely fine with not talking, every bit of his attention focused on her and keeping the rhythm of the music.
Camilla knew she ought to pull back a bit once his hands shifted on her back and neck. It was a pretty intimate position, especially with their hips pressed together. But Camilla hadn't danced with a man like this in a long time. Sam had never been much of a dancer after all and he'd never liked Camilla dancing like this with other guys. She was simply enjoying her freedom now. And Cian really knew how to move. It was smooth and sexy. Unless that was just her drinks talking. Sliding her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck, Camilla looked up at him through her lashes and smiled. "I may have to hog you for the rest of the night."
Dancing like this was the hottest thing ever. Cian had stopped regretting that they hadn't had to sneak in, because if the age was still 21 up every night, he'd be a lot less likely to be able to come to Vapor and do this. His breath caught in his throat as she looked at him from beneath her lashes; he felt almost like he'd been poked in the stomach, hard. It was the little things girls did that undid him sometimes, like that coy, flirty look and the way her nails scratched at his skin just beneath his hair. "I am a better dancer than your cousin," he said, smirking a little. "Admit it." He sure as hell hoped she wouldn't be grinding up against her cousin like this though, 'cause ew. Somehow, he thought not.
Laughing, Camilla gave a brisk nod. "Yes, you're definitely better than Liam. Although I don't dance like this with him, so I am just basing my opinion on how much I'm enjoying it with you." He was pretty adorable, watching her that way, and Camilla was starting to feel how much he enjoyed dancing with her. It was something that would have made her pause, and probably laugh, but she didn't want to stop and embarrass him. Camilla knew she shouldn't encourage him, but this was one of those situations where she didn't think beforehand. There was something empowering about being able to turn a man on. "I think you're enjoying it too," Camilla murmured.
Better than Liam. Yep, he'd needed to hear that tonight, out of context or not. If anyone had told him a month ago that he'd be feeling the need to compete with his seven years older male friend, he would've said they were crazy. It was a competition he couldn't acknowledge in any way, either, which sucked even more. He smirked when Camilla said she thought he was enjoying this too, and he gazed down at her from beneath his own lashes. "Wonder what'd give you that idea?" he drawled. He wasn't embarrassed at all, because hell. He'd had a crush on the girl for years from afar and she was pretty much massaging his body with hers as they danced. Both of those things combined guaranteed that he'd find himself in an interesting condition.
Oh, nice! He was flirting with her. A high school senior, which was just her luck. Why couldn't he be twenty six or twenty seven? Hell, she'd even be okay with twenty one at this point. Sigh. But, there was nothing wrong with flirting, was there? It wasn't like Camilla was dragging him off to the bathroom for a quickie in one of the stalls. Camilla returned his look with a sultry, slightly amused, one of her own. "Let's just say it's a... feeling, I have." Her fingers played with his hair again, though she was more aware of it now. Liam would be rolling his eyes at her if he could see her, she just knew it. "Not that I mind it," Camilla added, her lips at his ears again. She was probably being mean, flirting back like she was, especially with a hormonal teenage boy who already had a boner. But that was all part of the fun.
Cian knew there was a possibility she might laugh at him for having enough nerve to flirt this blatantly, but he felt like taking his chances. It was fun to flirt, and he hadn't been doing much of it lately. He had to force himself not to snicker when she said it was a feeling she had. Yeah, guess she couldn't miss it. It was cool that she was humoring him, at least, because she was hot, and he felt sure that people from school would have noticed that he was dancing with someone older that the majority of them didn't know. He shivered a little when her lips brushed his earlobe; if this was her being mean, he'd take it. Didn't matter that it was just a dance and a bit of a tease. That was all he could expect from someone that much older, he knew.
She quite liked a guy willing to flirt with her rather than trying to come across as uninterested or nonchalant. Camilla wasn't a vain person by any means, and she didn't really consider herself anything more than average when it came to beauty, so when a guy wanted to flirt, and was clearly into her, it did wonders for her ego. Not to mention she found it absolutely adorable. It would be too bad when the song was over, but for now she was having fun. "How is it," Camilla said, her lips brushing his earlobe again, "that you don't have a girlfriend clinging to you every second?" Coming to such a big event with his best friend probably meant he didn't have a girlfriend, which was a bit of a shock, unless the guy was just a player, which was okay too.
"I've been taking a break from girlfriends," Cian told her when she asked why he didn't have one clinging to him. Actually, that was a good description of how a lot of girls acted when they reached girlfriend status. Clingy, clingy, clingy and irrational. "The last one didn't end so well, so, ya know." There was no point in saying anything else about that. Camilla wouldn't be interested in high school drama, and the less said about Jessica, the better. He was surprisingly fine with not having a girlfriend, probably because he knew he could, if he wanted to. Just like he imagined Camilla could have some guy wrapped around her finger right away now that she was back in town.
"High school romances rarely, if ever, end well," Camilla commented. And they always ended except for those freak occurrences where high school sweethearts got married... only to get divorced well into their forties. That was her opinion, anyway. "You're young and you're gorgeous, so you should be out there having fun rather than trying to stick with one girl." Relationships didn't get any easier when you were older either, as Camilla had come to find out. She grinned and pulled back from his ear to look up at him. "It's summer, after all. The perfect time to get a little crazy." At least before 'adulthood' tried to suck him in. Camilla had every intention of having some fun herself in the next few months. And this was the perfect place to start.
Cian grinned back at her, terribly stoked that she'd said he was gorgeous. "I'm all about the fun," he said breezily. It was kind of pathetic how he'd completely lost his usual cool with her, but at least she didn't seem to mind. She was really awesome, and he hoped he'd see her around some. As a friend. He was good with having older friends... well, most of the time. Yes. "I think this is gonna be one crazy summer." He hoped so, anyway. A fusillade of lights skimmed over the crowd, and the song segued into another, gradually beginning to pick up tempo. Which was likely a good thing, because if he spent much more time with his crotch fused to Camilla's, he was going to go nuts, or overheat, or both.
She grinned again, since he didn't seem to be a man of many words. Or maybe he was so focused on not embarrassing himself that his brain had turned to mush or something. "Good, then I think I might have to drag you along for a little bit of fun myself," Camilla declared, her hands slipping down to simply cup the nape of his neck. She kept herself pressed to him, despite the shift in song tempo. Liam's friend was incredibly adorable, even though she had a feeling Cian would probably bristle at that particular description. Boys his age didn't want 'adorable', if she could remember right. And she didn't mind the suggestion. Liam was friends with him, after all. "I think," she mused with a flirtatious look in her eyes, "that we could get into a lot of trouble together."
Ava, meanwhile, was searching for Liam's cousin with Liam and trying her hardest to stay out of people's way. Her head was starting to throb a bit from all the mental noise, but it wasn't anything she couldn't tolerate. She just wanted to get out of the way before her boob got elbowed by a wayward dancer again. "Do you see her?" Ava asked, gripping Liam's arm tightly to stay close. She couldn't even see Cian, which was slightly annoying, but she wasn't going to be clingy, given the amount of friends he had in attendance with them.
Liam was glancing around and trying to find his cousin when Ava questioned him about whether or not he could see her. It was about that moment that the girl came into view. But with Camilla came Cian and Liam arched a brow at that particular development. "Yeah." he said with a little nod. "I see her. I also see Cian. They're dancing together." He didn't sound particularly thrilled with that development. He didn't want Cian pissy about him being with Ava, but he also didn't care for the fact that Cian was with Camilla when he was trying his damnedest to get Cian to stop being a moron and tell Ava that he liked her. Dancing with Camilla, who he was sure Ava would view as some 'hot older chick' wasn't helping that to happen.
"Guess you found Cian and you get to meet Camilla all the same time."
Fuck.
Halle-fucking-lujah. The way Camilla said trouble sent a new thrill all through him. He was always, always up for trouble of whatever the kind, and there wouldn't be any dragging involved. Pretty much all she'd have to do was let him know she wanted to hang with him, and he'd be there. "I love trouble," he told her, very much aware that she hadn't stepped away from him yet even though the dancers all around them had picked up their pace when the music changed. He was completely unaware that Liam and Ava were nearby. Hell, the roof could fall in and he might not notice right at this particular moment.
"Do you?" She arched an eyebrow, still grinning. "Then I think we're going to get along just fine this summer." Camilla raked her fingers through his hair, at least the hair above his neck again, since she didn't want to ruin any of that gel she could see. She also noticed that he hadn't pulled away, not that she expected him to. It was just freeing, being able to flirt without any restrictions or obligations to someone else. Maybe she could drag him to a dark corner for a few minutes. Or, again, maybe that was her several glasses of Jack and coke talking.
Ava was confused at first until she spotted Cian. He was tall enough that it wasn't terribly hard. And he was 'dancing', aka, pressed up against, a woman who looked vaguely familiar. "That's Camilla?" Ava asked, feeling jealousy spike through her the way it usually did when she saw Cian with another girl. It usually dulled pretty quickly after she beat it into submission, but geez, he might as well be mounting Liam's cousin in the middle of Vapor, right? That definitely didn't help her mood. Not that Ava was going to walk up to the two of them like a sullen baby. Although Ava was now wishing Camilla had been fat with a lot of acne. She walked with Liam toward the Cian, pasting a falsely bright smile on her face to show how much she didn't care. "She's pretty! Hopefully we're not going to like, interrupt them or anything."
"She's pretty." he nodded, feeling bad because he could feel what Ava was feeling and it made his stomach churn. "You can't tell me that you don't like him now." he pointed out. "You'd be lying if you did. What you're feeling. You felt it, I felt it, the whole club probably felt it and damn right I'm going to go over there and interrupt them." Liam said, hand squeezing Ava's as he all but dragged her across the dance floor and lightly tapped Camilla's shoulder. "Can I cut in?" he asked, plastering a fake smile across his face. No, he wasn't happy with this situation, but he could pretend he was just peachy.
Cian was pretty much in a daze of anticipation as he thought about lots and lots of trouble with Camilla, but he was jolted out of it when Liam suddenly spoke from behind Camilla's shoulder. Nice, just what he'd wanted. Only not. And hey, Ava was with him. Why wasn't he surprised? "Hey, guys," he said, blessing whatever Power That Be that had made him a null. He grinned, doing his best to project 'happy' and 'carefree'. If his gaze was a bit cool when it skimmed over Liam, well, maybe nobody would notice. He took his time about dropping his hands from Camilla's back, because hell if he'd act like he'd been caught doing something wrong. Camilla had asked him to dance, and they'd danced. So what? He felt sure that Ava and Liam were together because they'd been dancing.
Camilla glanced over her shoulder at Liam and smiled brightly. "Hey! I saw you were occupied when I got out of the restroom so I thought I'd keep myself busy until you were finished." She let her arms fall from around Cian's neck, though she gripped his arm in a hug, happily oblivious to any of the tension that might be floating about. She'd been drinking, it was loud and she was having fun! No harm, no foul. "I found Cian who was gracious enough to take pity and dance with me." Her eyes drifted to Ava, the brunette she had seen Liam dancing with. "I'm Camilla, Liam's cousin." It was a friendly greeting, since no one else seemed eager to introduce the two of them.
Ava's smile slipped briefly at Liam's comments, because yeah, she supposed he had felt that. It was a bit frustrating, but she was sure the same could be said for Liam when it came to her reading his mind. She avoided Cian's gaze though, because she felt like if she looked at him she'd give him the stink eye or punch him in the arm or something totally juvenile. He was allowed to dance with whoever he wanted. She'd danced with Liam, after all. Fair was fair. Only she doubted Cian had spent the entire dance talking about Ava. That was the only difference. Pfft, if she knew Cian, Ava had been the last thing on his mind when wrapped around a girl who looked like that. Stupid Liam and his stupid attractive family. "Ava," she said loudly, over the music once Camilla focused her attention on her. "Nice to meet you." It was about as phony as a carefree, happy greeting as she could muster, but at least she tried.
Liam smiled at his cousin, despite his annoyance with her obviously drunken self. "Didn't I tell you it was wrong to take advantage of legal adults?" he teased Cian. "How much have you been drinking miss Cami?" Liam asked. Probably a lot by the tipsy that he could feel. It almost made it hard for him to stand still himself with the wobbly way that he was already starting to feel.
Cian was still smiling, but there was a slightly fake edge to it. It looked a lot like Liam and Ava's smiles, to be honest. The words legal adults sent his eyebrows skyrocketing, but he didn't comment. What he wanted to shoot back was, Well hey, at least my dance partner is a legal adult. The main reason he didn't was because it would mortify Ava-- she couldn't help it if she had a crush, or whatever it was, on Liam, and he wasn't into embarrassing her in public-- and also because Camilla would wonder what the hell had crawled up his ass and died. "Maybe she was taking advantage of me," he pointed out. His tone was jovial, but there wasn't much humor in his gaze. He glanced at Ava again and saw that she wasn't looking at him or acknowledging him in any way, and he wondered if it was because Liam was right there and she felt awkward about their conversation earlier.
Arching a dark eyebrow at Liam, Camilla assessed him with a studious gaze before her smile returned. "I've only had a couple of drinks, dear cousin, and I'm not drunk, thank you." She was buzzing, and that was completely different. Camilla had learned to hold her liquor years ago and it took more than a couple drinks to get her falling over. She was starting to catch onto the way everyone was smiling... that tight, 'things are totally cool... not!' smile that she had seen a million times over when there were unspoken problems hovering. "And Cian is right," she added. "I was taking advantage, completely. He's just such a great dancer, it was hard not to. Thanks again for humoring me." Camilla smiled up at Cian before hugging his arm tightly again before she released him and stepped away. Instead, she slipped an arm around Liam's shoulders and pressed a happy kiss to her cousin's cheek. "Now that you're back, think I could steal you away and buy you a beer?" He clearly needed one. Or three.
Not really caring who was taking advantage of who, Ava shifted uneasily from one foot to the other. Liam's thoughts weren't happy ones, even though he was smiling, and Camilla's thoughts seemed to just now be catching onto everyone else's. Except Cian's, since Ava had no idea what he was thinking. When Camilla let go of Cian, Ava felt a bit of relief inside of her, and she finally glanced at her friend. He didn't really look all that happy, but that might not have been evident to the others. But Ava knew him, and she knew when he was putting on a show and when he was sincere. "It's okay," Ava told Liam with a tiny grin. "I think I'm gonna go find a place to sit for awhile anyway... my feet are starting to hurt."
Liam wasn't even sure what to say. He was annoyed with Camilla, but not as much as Cian, or maybe more at himself for bothering to look for them and interrupting their dance. He didn't want to leave Ava alone, but he doubted that she really wanted to be around anyone at that very moment. She definitely didn't feel happy. "You can steal me away." he finally said with a bit of a shrug. "I guess I could use a drink." he sighed. After all this he definitely could. "Find me again before you leave?" he asked Ava, giving her a hopeful little look. He's a stupid fucker anyway. Don't let him get to you, okay? Please? So maybe having her be a telepath was a little handy sometimes. "Thanks for not letting her get into trouble." he said, actually giving Cian a real smile this time. "She tends to get wilder than she realizes." he teased.
Cian's smile had changed to slightly smug. Whatever, he was the one who'd get to be with Ava all night after they left here. He shrugged a little at Liam's words, and his eyes turned to Camilla. "Thanks for the dance," he said, his expression warming. "It was great to see you again." He would have asked for her number if Ava and Liam hadn't been right there-- for that trouble Camilla had mentioned-- but hey, small town. He could find her. He nodded to Liam and then turned to Ava. Her head had to be at least starting to hurt by now, he thought, concerned. He smiled, a more genuine one than he'd worn since she and Liam had walked up to them. "You want us to find somewhere to chill for a few and I'll go get you a drink?" he asked.
"I'll see you soon, I'm sure." Camilla blew Cian a kiss before wrapping her arm around Liam's and tugging him away. Whatever testosterone issues those two had, they could work it out on their own time. "I don't get wild," she told Liam, resting her head on his shoulder as they walked away toward the bar. "I just have fun. Big difference!" And the night wasn't over yet. Not even close. Liam would just have to wait it out with her until she was ready to leave.
Ava glanced at Liam with a small, grateful smile and a nod before he disappeared with Camilla. She supposed it was beneficial she could hear his thoughts, and she mentally promised to try and take his advice to heart. She didn't think Cian was a 'stupid fucker' but she understood the context in which he meant it. She turned back toward Cian and thought about his suggestion as she glanced around the club. She kind of wanted to bail, but it was still early, and Cian had driven, so that wasn't happening just yet. Clearing her throat, she forced herself not to be grouchy with him. "Um, sure. There were a couple of empty tables in the back," Ava said, motioning in the proper direction. "I'll just... find some place back there. It's okay if you've got other people to go hang with, I don't mind sitting alone."
"Maybe I wanna hang with you for a bit, unless you're tired of me already," Cian told her. He was completely relieved that Liam and Camilla were heading off elsewhere; the four of them was entirely too complex a mix right now. "Why don't you go grab a table, I'll get drinks and come find you?" She didn't look particularly pleased, he thought, but maybe she was just tired and getting headachy. Maybe Liam had stepped on her feet when they'd danced. The thought made him smile. "What do you want me to get you?" he asked her. He knew what she usually liked, but if he got that and it wasn't what she'd wanted, she might be miffed. So he'd ask.
"I'm not tired of you," Ava said with a small, weary smile. It was pretty impossible to get tired of Cian. She just wished she hadn't had such an indepth conversation about him with Liam at the moment. Admitting she liked her best friend and then seeing him holding onto some girl like that was sort of embarrassing. And reminded her exactly what her stance was in Cian's life. Best friend. Which she had loved for six years so she could be content with that. "Maybe a lemonade would be good. I'll grab a table." She shot him an easier, more sincere smile before moving away from the crowd toward the tables.
"Okay," Cian said. He headed back up to the bar, noticing that his ginger ale from earlier was gone. Which was fine; he'd never pick up a drink he'd left sitting out like that. "Two lemonades," he requested once he got the chance to place his order. He was glad to have a couple of minutes to collect himself, anyway. Liam and Ava joining them had been an almost instant deflater, but still. He paid for the drinks and wove through the crowd again, nearly getting run into a couple of times and calling greetings to several people from school. Finally he was at the table Ava'd found, and he put the drinks down before sliding into the chair next to hers. "You all right?" he asked her, his gaze intent on her face. "Head hurt?" He figured it annoyed her sometimes, but he couldn't help worrying about her whenever they were someplace like this.
Ava had found an empty table and sat, waiting for Cian. She took those few moments alone to get over whatever moodiness she'd begun to feel by seeing Cian dancing with Camilla. It wasn't Camilla specifically. It could have been any girl, or woman. But Ava had been able to tell by Cian's body language that he'd been into Liam's cousin. Which had thrown her off a bit, for reasons she couldn't really explain to herself. Liam had been trying to encourage Ava to tell Cian how she felt, or to at least feel around to try and see how Cian might be feeling. But now all that sounded really silly to Ava. She was just letting herself get caught up in something she shouldn't. And it made her feel really stupid. When Cian arrived, she smiled and reached out for her lemonade, taking a quick sip to wet her throat. "I'm okay. I probably should have brought tylenol or something. Everything's just disjointed in my head... but it's not unbearable or anything." Setting her drink down, she looked over at him. "Seems like you're having fun."
Cian had never gone into his crush on Camilla with Ava. Ava hadn't known her, and he'd never gotten into the habit of gushing about other chicks to her, anyway. So Ava wouldn't know that talking to Camilla and dancing with her like that was the fruition of many unrealized fantasies. Of course, that'd be all it was, but he was content. He hadn't even told Liam, because it'd be too dorky to be all your cousin is sooooo hot when Camilla was that much older than him and would never be seriously interested in him anyway. So he'd just enjoy the warm, contented feeling of getting to dance with her and the potential for some sort of friendship, maybe, and continue to keep quiet. "I wish I had some for you," he said of the Tylenol. "We can get some when we get back to my house, and we could swim if you wanted to. It'll be nice and dark and quiet... I'll turn on the green and blue pool lights." Which gave the effect of some kind of magic grotto, all blue-green and inviting, when there were no other lights turned on. "Yeah, it's cool," he said nonchalantly. "How about you? Seen many people yet?"
Ava already dealt with enough thoughts from girls having crushes on Cian. She definitely didn't want to hear about his crushes, even though she had to witness him flirting pretty frequently at school or when his current girlfriend was hanging around. It just felt never ending, which it probably would be. Cian could stay single, but that didn't mean he wouldn't be dancing like that with some girl again soon, or getting a bit too close to one in his pool during his party, or... whatever. She was just feeling like crap now, and she totally blamed Liam for putting stupid, unattainable thoughts in her head. At least Cian was a null and not an empath. "Yeah, swimming could be fun, though I don't have my swimsuit so I don't know." She shrugged and tapped a nail against her glass. At his question, Ava's eyes darted around to see if she'd recognize anyone. "I've seen a lot of people from school but I haven't spoken to any of them. I found Liam, but he's the only one I spoke to other than hanging out with you."
"We don't have to swim if you don't want to," Cian said, hitching his chair a little closer to hers. He was starting to feel as if something was wrong, something subtle that he was too thick-headed to see, but he didn't want to come right out and ask. Because if it was just that she was getting overloaded from all the mental noise, that might make her really get irritated with him. "I think there's two or three of your suits in the poolhouse, though." He'd thought it might be nice to relax in the water, float and look at the stars overhead, or something. Whatever they decided to do, they had all night to do it, and that was cool. "I think everyone that's old enough from school is here somewhere," he remarked, reaching over to straighten the shoulder-seam of her dress. "I blocked texts except for your number, 'cause it's getting ridiculous." As long as Ava could reach him, he didn't care if anyone else could tonight. He was going to have a headache if he had to squint at his phone in the dimness and try to answer every text.
"I wouldn't mind swimming," she corrected, having forgotten that she'd left things at Cian's house. "If you've got one of my bathing suits, then we could probably jump in after we get to your house." The water would probably feel good, and the quiet would be even better. The noise, along with the sour mood she was trying to cover up, was starting to kill her head. She had a feeling she would just be sitting there for the rest of the night until Cian was ready to go. She glanced down at his hand when he fixed her dress, smiling a touch at the familiarity of it. That he was comfortable to do that when some guys wouldn't dare. That was one thing she missed, being able to touch him without feeling all tingly and weird. She wished she'd never developed a crush on him, and she wished things would just go back to normal. Ava sighed before looking over at Cian with a tiny smile. She wanted to tell him that she and Liam were going to stay friends and not date, since she felt like that would brighten his mood, but now didn't seem like the time. Maybe later, when they were floating in the water and just hanging out. "You can't help it if you're popular," Ava told him before she leaned over to rest her head against his shoulder, now that his chair was closer to hers. "I bet there's texts going around already about you dancing with a cute, mysterious older girl by now anyway. It'll start out that you guys were dancing, and then the gossip will escalate it to you guys were totally doing it in the utility closet or something."
"That's kind of my plan, if you want to," he said. "Drop our clothes and just fall into the water. Well, you'll have to visit the poolhouse first." He might just strip and swim in his briefs. When only the darker in-pool lights were on, you couldn't see a whole lot of detail. He drew his hand back slowly; Cian and Ava had always been touchy, but lately it had taken on a slightly different nuance with him. Things had changed from the time they'd been twelve and thirteen and she'd been just like another boy except with longer hair and a softer voice. He was aware that she was a girl now, and he liked touching her. It was a little different now, though, and he couldn't even explain it. He chuckled when she speculated about the nature of the gossip that was going around, and encircled her with his arm when she leaned against him. "I don't even wanna know, seriously," he said. "It'll be something crazy that doesn't even make sense." He realized that he felt better, less twitchy and annoyed and more grounded, as he sat here and chilled with Ava. He leaned his head against hers and sighed. Someone would probably think he and Ava were back here making out, as close as they were sitting, but whatever. Rumors weren't all bad. Nobody talked about boring people.
Ava flushed at the thought of 'dropping clothes' with Cian, but his pool was dark at night and when he had the blue and green lights on. She could probably just jump in with her bra and panties instead of changing into a swimsuit. Cian wouldn't be able to see in the water anyway. When his arm came around her, she smiled, feeling her mood brighten a little. It was getting ridiculous, how her moods kept shifting up and down around him. But he always made her feel better, even when he didn't know she was feeling down. And boy, he smelled good. Ava was eager to leave already, just to be selfish and spend some time with him alone, but she knew the night was still early and Cian probably had people he still had to see. "Rumors that make no sense are so much more interesting than ones that do... or... something." She laughed. "It's hard to concentrate in here. Do you have a lot more people to track down?"
While it was true Cian had been having a great time, he was looking forward to being with just her later tonight, too. It was so awesome to have his parents out of town for a little while; it made having overnight guests all the more relaxed. He smiled, too, his cheek still resting against the top of her head. "Most rumors make no sense," he joked. As far as people to track down... actually, yeah. "A few more," he said. "I should touch base with M, a few of the other guys on the team." He squeezed her very lightly with the arm he had around her. "Text me if your head gets worse though, and we can go." No matter what trouble he might've found to get into, he'd drop it immediately if she needed him. He didn't want her to be miserable all night once they got back because her head was killing her.
"Okay... I think I'll just wait here," Ava said, not wanting to pull away from him just yet but knowing she had to so he could go be 'Cian Andersen, Mr. Popular'. She wanted to track down Liam too, just to say goodnight. "I'll text... if you don't hear from me, just text me when you're ready and I'll meet you out front." Hopefully he wouldn't be too long. "Don't get into any trouble without me okay?" Ava carefully slipped out from underneath his cheek and arm, smiling at him. "I'll totally feel left out."
Hopefully she'd find someone to talk to, Cian thought. He hated to think of her sitting around by herself waiting for him. Maybe he'd just make a point to be quick about finding the few people he felt like he needed to find before they left. He sat back and picked up his glass, draining the rest of his lemonade and then muffling a burp with the back of one hand. He was so classy. "You're my number one trouble partner," he told her. "So I'll keep it in mind." He pushed up from his chair. "Seeya soon," he said, smiling and then turning to head off to make what felt like the rest of his required appearances.