Night Life
Taylor was far, far too drunk to keep dancing through the end of the party, and she knew it. She always made the dumb mistake of getting high before coming to manage her anxiety, but she was so spacey what she got cross-faded that she mostly ended up dancing with herself, managing scattered conversations with the people Victoria would get close to her. Any time one of the jocks or Hayden tried to get to close, Victoria would be on them like a teacher smacking their hands with a ruler.
Taylor loved how Victoria protected her. She was grumpy, sarcastic, and often outright mean, but Victoria always tried her best to keep Taylor safe. She was there for Taylor, maybe even more than she was there for Nathan. And so, she’d get cross-faded and spacey, and even though she’d feel like shit later, Victoria would look after her.
That was how Taylor knew that she’d had too much - because Victoria informed her as much. Taylor could barely make out what she was saying except for “we should get out of here,” and Taylor almost always liked it when Victoria said that, even if she was having fun. So she let Victoria grab her by the wrist and drag her out the side door of the pool, out near the parking lot.
Taylor thought they were going back to the dorms to eat chocolate and pretzels, but no, no, Victoria just dragged her out into the cool air and set her against the wall of the pool. It was so rough - it was horrible to lean on. Why would Victoria set her down here? Here was not a comfy place.
Victoria’s hand under her jaw was not very comfortable either, but her palm was warm and it made her look into her dark green eyes. It was not comfy at all, but it was all okay when Victoria’s lips met hers, blistering still from the humid dance floor. Victoria had her wrist against the wall now too, but she didn’t mind; it still left her with one for Victoria’s hair. She couldn’t knot her fingers in it now that she’d cut it short but she could still hear Victoria’s sharp intake of breath before their lips were together again.
Taylor’s jacket was off now, and Victoria’s kisses were little sunspots all over her neck, her collar bone. Victoria’s skin was never so warm but now it was feverish, and the heat of her soaked into Taylor everywhere their skin met.
Where were Victoria’s lips now? Oh, there they were, at the base of Taylor’s jaw. There they were, tickling her ear. There they were, back on hers where they belonged.
Victoria stared at Taylor, though Taylor could barely open her eyes.
“What?” Taylor asked, confused. Why wasn’t she being kissed?
“Do you need aspirin?” Victoria asked, sounding tired.
“What?” Taylor asked again.
Victoria stood just inside of Taylor’s doorway, still dressed in what looked like pajamas. Or, rather, Victoria’s interpretation of pajamas, which just looked like a slightly small t-shirt and shorts.
“I said, do you need aspirin? You look like shit.”
Taylor sat up a little more, rubbing her hazy dreams from her eyes. Her head was absolutely killing her, and her thoughts were scattered in every direction.
Taylor let out a long, long sigh, re-orienting herself in the world. “Yeah . . . yeah. An aspirin would be amazing.”