Chapter 3
A soft laugh had moved passed Ella’s lips and danced throughout the already noisy room. She moved her right hand to cover her eyes for a brief moment while shaking her head in amusement before looking back towards the two blondes singing outrageously along with P!nk’s song ‘so what’. Her laugh was also being echoed by Ali and Whitney as they all continued to pay attention to Ashlyn and Pinoe trying to outdo each other with a few ridiculous dance moves here and there.
The song finally came to an end which caused both Ash and Pinoe to turn around to the others with massive grins plastered on their faces, not really caring about who did the better job of the song. Megan began to toss the microphone in her hand around as she raised her eyebrows curiously.
“Alright who’s next?” She asked cheerfully.
The three girls that were situated on the lounge which surrounded the area began to look around at each other until a voice suddenly sounded.
“I will,” Ali quickly spoke out as she stood with a smirk on her face and a look of determination in her eyes. “Me and you,” she rose her eyebrow quickly and moved over to grab the mic from Ashlyn, she mumbled a thanks to her as a faint blush spread across her cheeks as their hands touched for a brief moment. The blonde grinned widely and nodded a little before slipping past Ali and over to sit on the lounge next to Whitney.
Ella looked around the room before she quickly stood up from her position, startling Whit who was next to her. The girl raised a curious eyebrow as she couldn’t help the amused look that spread across her face. “I’m going to go get some drinks, does anyone want anything in particular?” She finally announced to the room.
“Just grab a whole bunch of beers, we will go out for proper drinks later,” Pinoe spoke as she waved her hand about, everyone hummed in agreement causing Ella to smile with a nod before turning and heading for the door.
“You’re going down, Pinoe!” She heard Ali tell her friend as she opened the door and headed out of it, closing it behind her, she let out a small chuckle and raised her gaze to look around the main area of the building. She was about to head for the bar when something – more importantly someone – caught her attention and she allowed her gaze to drift in the direction of the entrance. Her breath instantly hitched in her throat at the familiar figure standing by the front desk among a group of women. Her eyes instantly went wide as well as her heart began to race in her chest as she continued to stare with her mouth slightly agape as she saw the woman looking around the area.
After a moment, she finally came back into reality and shook her head slightly, her heart was still racing in her chest as she looked around the place once more before quickly turning around and heading back to the room, she fumbled around with the door handle and once she got it open, she stumbled in so quickly that it startled everyone in the room, she quickly shut the door and leaned back against it to catch her balance before she fell over. That seriously wasn’t a normal reaction to seeing someone you hardly know, Ella…
Everyone’s eyes widened as they just stared at the girl who had randomly dived back into the room without warning and everyone was silent, the looks on their faces resembled that of confusion, but also slightly amused. The only noise coming was from the song moving through the room from the speakers. It wasn’t until Ash spoke that Ella finally realized what she had done and everyone else began to laugh.
“You okay there?” The blonde let out in confusion but also had a major hint of amusement lacing her tone.
Ella quickly shot her gaze to Ash and nodded furiously. “I, uh, yeah…I, well…” she stammered out and everyone in the room couldn’t hold back the chuckles that escaped them even more. The girl closed her eyes for a brief moment, trying to calm down and come up with a reasonable reason to what just happened - that as well as trying to control her rapidly beating heart that she swore everyone could hear as her head was spinning out of control. Really, what the hell just happened!
Finally she slowly opened her eyes after a moment as she took a breath in and slowly let it out. “Uh, I just realized that I probably won’t be able to carry all the drinks back,” she let out softly, not exactly lying, because it was partially the truth, but she just didn’t want to tell the whole truth because she already knew what the result would be.
“Oh!” Ashlyn quickly let out as she stood from her position on the lounge and quickly made her way over. “I’ll come help you then,” she smiled.
“Bu-“ she tried to counter back as she didn’t want the blonde to go out just yet, but it was too late because the girl was already guiding her out of the way and opening the door. Ella let out a soft breath as she closed her eyes and shook her head. Damn it…
Ashlyn stepped out of the room and turned back to Ella with a curious look. “You coming? Or do I have to go by myself,” she laughed softly.
“No, I am coming,” the brunette mumbled as she scurried out of the room behind Ashlyn and closed the door.
Ash nodded her head slowly as she turned back around and began to head towards the bar area only to stop a few steps in the direction of her destination as a smirk found its way onto her face as she saw a certain individual at the front desk. “Oh…” she trailed off as she turned to look at a confused Ella who had come to a halt beside her.
“Oh?” Ella began as she turned her attention to the entrance and saw exactly what Ashlyn was implying which drew a groan out of her and a bigger smirk to form on Ashlyn’s face.
“So, that’s the real reason why you came diving into the room like there was a fire outside,” she teased.
“Ugh, shut up!” Ella groaned again as she playfully pushed the blonde away causing Ash to laugh hysterically and a little louder than both of them really realized. Rolling her eyes, Ella raised them to where she had recently had them and noticed Erin already looking towards her, she smiled softly and felt her heart skip a beat as the other woman gave her a bright smile in return.
It wasn’t just a friendly smile that you would give some random passing by on a street – no, it was a smile that you’d give a friend that you’ve known for ages and even though she had no idea what was actually going on, she couldn’t help the blush that was forming its way onto her cheeks, she continued to smile shyly at the other girl, until Erin’s friend – the one with the curly hair in which she had no idea of her name– nudged her and she looked away and towards the group of friends she was with.
“Well, that’s entertaining,” a mumble quickly sounded from beside her and Ella quickly squinted her eyes as she turned to her best friend and glared at her with a raised eyebrow. Ashlyn chuckled as she shook her head at the look she was getting and grinned.
“No, seriously, shut the hell up,” she let out in annoyance as she puffed out some air and crossed her arms across her chest.
“Cheer up, Els. It looks like she has a thing for you too, so there definitely is a chance you can hook up with all of that,” she motioned with her hand in the direction of Erin and that earned her an even bigger glare from the girl.
Letting out a sigh, Ella brought her hands up to her face and shook her head. Lowering her hands, she pursed her lips together and stared at Ash for a moment before rolling her eyes. “Let’s just go get the drinks!” She quickly said as she moved over and gently pushed the girl in the direction they needed to go. Not realizing that the group of Canadians were heading that way as well.
----
“Hey, Erin! We’re leaving now, hurry up and get your ass out here!” Carm yelled from the front door as the rest of the group made their way into the hallway of their apartment building.
“I’m coming! Jeeze, I said give me two second the last time you yelled at me!” Erin sighed as she made her way to where her friends were and saw Carm grin brightly at her.
“I just like to annoy you, Bud.”
“You’re the worst,” she rolled her eyes as she slipped past her and into the hallway, saying hi to all the girls.
“Yeah, but you love me,” Carm countered back as she followed her best friend out and locked the apartment door, she turned around and followed them out of the building.
“Dude, we’re gonna have so much fun!” KK called out to Erin as she came bouncing over to her and began hopping beside for a moment as they made their way towards The Singing Den.
Erin rolled her eyes and laughed. “Of course we are,” she grinned brightly as she began to skip with KK.
“Are we going out afterwards?” Sophie quickly piped in as she looked towards the two skipping like idiots and couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her.
“Don’t see why not, man. I’ve got names of places we can go out for drinks afterwards. Would just have to see how to get there,” Carm softly responded as she came up to walk beside Sophie and Kaylyn.
“Was it such a good idea to bring the children out tonight?” Sophie continued as she kept her eyes on the pair in front of them.
All Carm could do was shrug as a laugh escaped her. “Yeah, would probably be worse if they stayed locked up in the apartment together,” she finally said.
“That’s true,” Kaylyn quickly said slipping into the conversation.
They continued their little banter between each other when they finally reached the building and walked inside.
“Alright, I will go see if they have a vacant room,” Kaylyn announced as they began to walk to the front desk and hovered around it.
As the blonde began talking to the girl at the desk, Erin let her eyes wonder around the area filled with colourful lights, seats, tables and a crowd of people which were hanging about, either at the bar or in a group chatting around in which she allowed the buzz to fill her head, not being able to just focus on one conversation as there were so many people talking that even she felt like she couldn’t hear herself think over it all. As the chatter continued to surround her a familiar laugh took over her thoughts and she quickly let her eyes drift into its direction. Her heart instantly began to speed up in her chest as she saw Ella standing next to the laugh she had recognised as Ashlyn’s.
Erin was about to look away when she noticed Ella’s gaze turn to look towards her. When she smiled at her, though, the Canadian couldn’t help but smile in return, but what she didn’t realize was just exactly how big the smile actually was, but all that mattered to her was the adorable reaction she had gotten from the other girl, which was a shy smile that stayed plastered to her rosy cheeks.
Carm had turned her attention to Erin as soon as they finished talking to the lady at the desk and saw the girl with a bright smile on her face, raising a curious eyebrow, she followed her best friends gaze and found herself looking at the two girl’s from the music store they had visited about three days ago. A smirk tugged at the side of her lips as she rolled her eyes and held back to chuckle threatening to escape, she turned back to the group and then back to Erin; nudging her to get her attention.
“What?” Erin quickly said as she adverted her eyes from Ella and over to Carm, she rolled her eyes at the look she was giving her, knowing that her friend knew who she was staring at.
“A room should be vacant in about twenty minutes. We’re going to head over to the bar and grab a drink,” Carm informed her as she nudged her again in the direction they needed to go in.
----
“Oh, hey!” Carm let out suddenly and everyone in their group quickly turned their gaze to the direction she was looking into to find two girl’s standing there, one blonde with tattoos covering her left arm and a brunette. Erin’s eyes widened slightly for a moment as she saw them which luckily went unnoticed by her friends and she let out a small silent breath as she adverted her eyes to the bar area.
“Ah! Hey,’ Ashlyn quickly said as she looked up at the voice and noticed who it was, she gave a friendly smile to Carm before turning to look at Ella while giving her a look in a teasingly manner.
Ella rolled her eyes and shook her head as she took a few steps closer to the bar, waiting for the worker behind it to take her order.
“How’s it going?” Ashlyn quickly asked as she turned back to the curly haired girl.
“Pretty good, just hoping to have a good night out with the girls,” she said casually as she tilted her head back towards the group of friends behind her.
Ashlyn’s gaze followed and smiled at all of them. “Sup, I’m Ashlyn,” she greeted with a small wave. “And this…” she began as she turned to look towards Ella and grabbed her while pulling her into a side hug.
“Oi!” Ella quickly let out in retaliation to her friend antics before the blonde's voice was being heard again.
“Is Ella,” she finished as she gave the woman a gentle squeeze.
Ella rolled her eyes as she forcefully pushed her way out of Ashlyn’s grip. “Dude, get lost, I need to order the drinks,” she mumbled out with a huff, as her face turned five shades of red – which she wasn’t sure if it was because she was embarrassed or annoyed; maybe it was a bit of both - as she turned back to the counter where the guy finally came up to take her order.
“Don’t mind her, she’s a little shy,” Ashlyn grinned and heard Ella sigh loudly which only caused her to chuckle even more.
“Well, hey, I’m Kaylyn,” She quickly let out as she held out her hand, Ashlyn quickly took a hold of it to shake before letting go and turning to the other women, who introduced themselves as well. An instant smirk was plastered to Kaylyn’s face as she turned to look at Erin, finally understanding why Erin was slightly smitten with this girl named Ella.
“Don’t,” Erin whispered knowing exactly where Kaylyn’s thoughts were going.
“What!?” The blonde defended herself as she raised her hands in the air. “She’s cute though…” she finally let out after a moment of silence and all that Erin could do was groan.
“Ashlyn! Can you hurry up and get over here to help me carry these back to the room!” Ella’s annoyed voice surrounded them and Ash couldn’t help but smile amused.
“Yeah, yeah! Calm down would you,” she spoke to her friend before turning to the group. “Anyway, must go help the drama queen with the drinks, but if you aren’t doing anything afterwards, then you all should come head out for some drinks with me, Ella and the rest of my friends,” Ashlyn suggested.
“Yeah, that’d be cool,” Carm nodded as the rest of them hummed in agreement.
“Right, here… put your number into my phone and I’ll text you the details,” she smiled as she handed her phone to the curly haired girl and watched her tap away at the phone before she handed it back. “Sweet, catch you girls later,” she smirked before turning around to an impatient looking Ella to help with the drinks. They then made their way back to the room with the beers.
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Around two hours and a text later, the two groups were at a crowded club either dancing, standing or sitting around while drinking and talking. However, Ella was found sitting by herself in a booth near the back corner while staring into her drink when Erin noticed her, she politely excused herself from the group she was hanging around to slowly make her way over to her.
Falling to the seat next to the girl, she leaned her head back against the headrest and closed her eyes, not seeing the slight jump that escaped Ella at the sudden company. Letting out a soft breath, Erin opened her eyes and slowly turned her head towards the other woman. “So, I take it you don’t like dancing?”
Ella softly chuckled as she let out a bright smile and turned to look at Erin, her breath getting caught in her throat as the other woman was already looking at her and the smile turned to a shy one as she shook her head slowly. “Uh, no, just sitting out for a moment,” she responded softly.
Erin couldn’t help but be mesmerized by this girl she barely knew, the fact that she was drawn over to her baffled her, but she went along with it, because the more she hung out with Ella, the more hooked on her she got. “Fair enough,” she nodded as they fell into a comfortable silence until Erin broke it once again. “So, how’s work?”
“Yeah, it’s not so bad, always a little busy at certain times, but wouldn’t change it for the world,” she replied softly as she adverted her eyes back to the beer in her hand and began to spun it.
“Good to see you love your job.”
“Most definitely, especially working with those idiots over there every day always makes it worthwhile,” Ella responded as she nodded into the direction of Ashlyn and Whitney.
Erin nodded slowly as she followed the girl’s gaze before turning back to her with a smile she just couldn’t get rid of. “How was your karaoke night?”
While her hands fidgeted with the bottle in her hand absently, she turned her gaze back to Erin. “It was rather entertaining and not to mention completely hilarious,” she replied honestly as a chuckle escaped her at the thought of Pinoe and Ashlyn always trying to outdo everyone. “And yours?”
“Yeah, the same, the girls are a riot,” she laughed softly as she looked out towards the dance floor and let at a small breath as she turned back to Ella. “Well, you know what might make this night a little more fun?”
“Hmm?” Ella hummed. “What might that be?” She asked curiously.
“If we go dance,” Erin grinned and Ella felt her heart speed up even more in her chest at the sight.
“Oh, uh…”
“Come on, don’t be a party pooper!” Erin continued as she slid out of the booth and looked at the
girl still sitting there.
Ella let out a breath and closed her eyes. “Fine,” she mumbled as she herself slid out of the booth.
“Yay!” Erin let out happily and Ella couldn’t help but laugh as she shook her head.
Just as they began to head towards the floor, the song changed to a slower song as the dj informed the room to grab a special someone as he changed it to ‘Collide’ by Howie Day. Erin continued her step for a moment before turning around to Ella as she saw her step falter and she gave her a
look.
“Now come on! You aren’t gonna cower out on me now, are you?” She asked with a slight pout, but Ella was too lost in the look she was getting that she couldn't answer her. “Come on! I don’t bite!” Erin continued as she didn’t get a response out of the American and she reached for her hand, as soon as their hands touched it had felt like electricity and now both of their heartbeats were beating rapidly in sync as Erin pulled the shorter girl out onto the dance floor before pulling her in as close to her as possible.
Ella felt her heartbeat in every part of her body as she moved her arms up to wrap around Erin’s neck as she felt the older girl’s arms move to wrap around her waist, she still isn’t quite sure as to why she’s even drawn to Erin, but yet, she doesn’t want this feeling to stop.
As the song continued to play, Ella relaxed even more into the hold of the Canadian who was practically a stranger to her as she felt a sense of safety surround her and although she wouldn’t admit it to herself, she was definitely falling for this woman.
Erin sighed softly into the embrace, feeling a sense of contentment as she began to hum with the song and soon enough she was singing along with it which melted Ella’s heart – her voice was just too beautiful for Ella to deny.
"I'm quiet you know
You make a first impression
Well, I've found I'm scared to know
I'm always on your mind
Even the best fall down sometimes Even the stars refuse to shine
Out of the back you fall in time
I somehow find
You and I collide
Don't stop here
I lost my place
I'm close behind..."
“You have a beautiful voice,” Ella quietly chimed in as there was a break in the song.
Erin blushed lightly and mumbled a thank you.
“Just telling the truth,” she whispered again before the words of the song continued and she moved her head to rest against Erin’s chest, she could hear the Canadians heartbeat which was beating just as fast as her own and that brought a brighter smile to her face.
God… I think I’m really falling for her.