University Roommates (Restart)

Emily:
As soon as I had a second, I scanned the bar area for Ash. I found him quickly enough and excused myself for a second. I made my way over and tried to get as close as I could and caught his eye. "I just wanted to say hi!" I called over to him. 'I didn't know I was gonna be here, otherwise I would have warned you..." I shrugged, hoping he didnt mind.

Ashton:

I raised my eyebrows questioningly when she approached and gave her my own shrug when she explains. "Alright," I said and picked up my beer as I stood up from my seat. "Who are your friends?" I asked, nodding over to the two she had left.

Emily:
I looked over at them when he nodded and pointed. "The girl is Taylor. She went to highschool with me. And thats her friend Nick," I said. "If you get a break or whatever and you wanna come hang out, youre totally welcome to" I told him. I was wearing a dress and i smoothed mt hands down the fabric.

Ashton:

"I'm actually off already, I was just having a couple drinks at the bar," I explained. My eyes followed the movement of her hand and lingered for a split second before returning to her face. "Do you want something to drink?" I asked.

Emily:
I glanced back over at my group and shrugged. "I guess i should bring them drinks since i walked all the way over here," i said. "What should I get?"

Ashton:

"There's a pickle juice shot. It's weird but it's actually pretty good." I gave a little shrug and waved Alicia over and had her start a tab for me. She gave Emily a little wave.

Emily:
I smiled at Alicia and asked her for a few of the shots Ash recommended and handed her my credit card. "Do you wanna come hang out with us?" I asked Ash. I didnt think he would but it would be nice if he did.

Ashton:

"Alright, yeah, I'll come," I said. Alicia made four shots and handed them out. "It's on Ash's tab," She said as she slid back the card. I finished my beer, set the glass on the bar top, and picked up two of the shots. "Let's go."

Emily:
I frowned but took my credit card back. I would pay him back some other time. I grabbed two of the shots and headed in the direction that Taylor was. "Hey guys, this is my roommate and friend, Ash. Ash, this is Taylor and Nick." I handed Nick one of the shors since he was closer to me. I looked at Taylor and she was looking Ash up and down like a piece of meat. Maybe inviting him over here was a bad idea.

Ashton:

I gave a half grimace meant to be a smile. "Hey guys," I handed the girl the shot then tipped back my own. It was my fourth drink of the night, but I was only barely buzzed.

Emily: 
We talked for a while about nothing particularly interesting before Nick asked me to dance. I had only had the one shot but I wasn't having a bad time so I agreed. "You guys should come too!" I said to Ash and Taylor when Nick grabbed my hand and started pulling me towards a crowd of people that were dancing.

Ashton:

"Sorry, I don't dance," I said to Emily's friend, watching the pair as they walked off. I didn't like Nick. Not because he seemed like a bad guy, normally I probably would have gotten along with him. He was simply too flirty with Emily. And even worse, she seemed to like him too. I had absolutely no right to feel this way, but it made my chest tight.

"How about I get you another drink?" I said, looking down at the girl next to me whose name, for the life of me, I could not remember.

Emily:
Dancing with Nick was fun. I had been having fun all night. But my eyes still kept going to the one person I couldn't have. I laughed when Nick spun me around giggled when he playfully dipped me. The song wasn't exactly and twirl and dip song, but he made it work. 

Taylor:
I smirked. "Sure, I could go for another drink," I said. I couldn't help but notice this guys intense immediate dislike of Nick. But I knew Nick and I knew he was cool so the only reason he had to dislike him was because of Emily. Which confused me because Emily wouldn't stop looking at this guy, so if he wanted her, it seemed like he could have had her. "Something tells me you'd dance if my name rhymed with shmemily" I leaned closer so he would hear me over the music.

Ashton:

"Heh," I said without humor. "Nah, I really don't dance. And she's out there having fun anyway." I put my arm partly around her to help lead her through the mass of people. She had guessed my feelings based on what she said. Since Emily knew herself, I didn't see that it mattered. When we reached the bar, I pulled a chair out for her.

Emily:
The song changed but Nick seemed inclined to keep dancing and I didn't see any reason to stop either. 

Taylor:
I nodded in thanks and sat down at the bar. "She could be having fun with you," I commented. "And I can't understand why she's not," I raised an eyebrow so encourage some answers. I ordered some fruity drink when the bar tender approached so I could sip on something without getting plastered.

Ashton:

I ordered whiskey. "I'm not fun," I answered with a shrug. I took a sip when Alicia slid over my glass. "I'm a pain in the ass, just ask her. And," I added, looking at her sideways, "I might be gay. Jury's still out." I caught Sight of Emily and Nick still dancing and my brow furrowed slightly.

Taylor:
I laughed out loud and took a sip of my drink. "If you're gay, then Emily is a dude," I told him. "You keep looking at her, but you wont get up and actually do anything about it," I said. "What's it gonna take for you to get off your stupid butt? Waiting for him to grab her ass or something?" 

Emily:
I was starting to get a little breathless from all the dancing and Im sure my face was flushed. I was thankful when the next song was slower so I could just sway. Nick grabbed my hands and wrapped them around his neck and then put his hands on my hips.

Ashton:

I turned my back on the dancefloor. "He can have her. In fact, I encourage it. It would be good for her." I said then gritted my teeth as I took in a deep breath. I hated that guy, but it would be better if Emily got involved with a normal person. My feelings on it didn't matter.

"You know- Ah... Tiffany," I winced at the name, fairly sure it wasn't right. "I'm kind of a loser, and if you want your friend to be happy, I wouldn't encourage this." I glanced around to see if any of my co-workers were near. They weren't. "I got out of rehab a few months ago. It hasn't even been a full year. I'm a recovering druggie, alright? I'm not stable enough to make her happy. As it is, I make her miserable more often than I do anything else. She deserves someone like fucking Nick." I gestured to them on the dancefloor. It all poured out onto this unsuspecting girl. "Ah, fuck," I muttered and downed the rest of my drink.

Taylor:
I frowned at him and took another sip of my drink while I pondered what he said. "Since you've been to rehab, have you done any more drugs?" I asked him, ignoring the rest for now. 


Emily:
I glanced over to the bar and saw what looked like an intense conversation between Taylor and Ash. I frowned and pulled away from Nick a bit and almost started walking over to see if everything was okay when I felt his fingers under my chin, gently tilting my head up. I felt his lips on mine a second later and my eyes fluttered closed out of reflex.

Ashton:

I shook my head slowly, looking down at my glass. "It doesn't matter. It's gonna happen at some point. I'm not that strong willed. I've lapsed with other stuff, I'll lapse with this too. I gripped the glass tightly. "Fuck," I said again. "You seem like a nice person. I've said enough. Why don't you go back and join your-" I looked up and saw that they were no longer dancing, not with their bodies anyway.

Emily:
I kissed him back for a few seconds before it hit me that I felt...nothing. I wasn't the type of girl that expected fireworks with every kiss, but I knew I was supposed to feel something. I pulled away from him and bit my lip, trying to find the words to say. He beat me to it. "Hey its cool if you don't wanna do anything. I just figured I'd give it a shot," he said with an easy smile. I smiled back, a little sadly and nodded my thanks for his understanding. 

Taylor: 
My eyes followed his when he stopped mid sentence and I frowned. "She's clearly not into it, don't look like such a kicked puppy," I said. "And just for the record, recovering addicts are still allowed to be happy. Even if they have slip ups. But in my experience, slip ups happen a lot less when you're with people who care about you," I told him. Then I stood up and slid something across the bar till it was right in front if him. It was a medallion that read "five years sober". "Im gonna hit the bathroom," I said softly before walking away.

Ashton:

I picked up the medallion and ran my thumb over it. Maybe the reason Emily was so understanding was because of this girl. I set it down on the bar. I thought about her words. They weren't true for me.

"Hey, I'm about to be off. Mind if I join you and your friend?" Alicia asked from behind the bar. I looked up at her. "She's not my friend. I hardly know her," I said which seemed to please her. "Why don't we get out of here?" I said then which really lit her face up. We were gone before, Tiffany was back from the restroom.

Emily:
I let go of Nick and turned around to find the rest of the group just in time to see Ash leaving with Alicia. I frowned again. He didnt even say goodbye. I turned around again to find Taylor and I saw her headed towards us, putting something in her pocket. "Hey...Where is Ash going?" I asked. Taylor shrugged. "I dont know, I was in the bathroom. Are you guys almost ready to leave?" she asked. My eyebrows crinkled but I nodded. I was a little tired from all the dancing. "I can drive, i only had one and a half" Taylor offered. So we piled back into her car and she drove me home. Nick walked me to the door and I thanked him again for being nice. I kissed him on the cheek and unlocked the door to go inside

Ashton:

Nothing happened with Alicia, but I got what I wanted. My heart was racing when I was dropped off at home a couple an hour and a half later. Alicia didn't want me to drive, and she wasn't altogether pleased with my choice, so I didn't get an invite back to her place. Despite the events of the evening, I felt great. There was a little voice in the back of my head trying to knock me down, but I effectively ignored it.

Emily:
I was dozing off on the couch when I heard the door open. I sat up with a yawn and squinted at him through the darkness. "Hey, how come you left so suddenly?" I asked. "You didn't say goodbye," I told him. I wasn't mad, just wanted to make sure everything was okay.