"I swear it's in here!" Sera crossed her arms as she watched Lisa toss sweater after sweater, leaning against the door jamb.

"Where are we going again?" Lisa pulled out a short black, sequinned dress, holding it up as if she had plucked it from the heavens, pulling her favourite pair of black, Louboutin boots from another bag. A brilliant diamond cuff and large hoop earrings completed the look.

Lisa shrugged as she turned to her. "This new club in town." Her nonchalant tone held an edge to it that Sarah couldn't help but pick up on. What's she hiding? Shooting to her feet, Lisa pushed her friend towards her suitcase. "I'm going to shower. Get ready! We only have like an hour." Sarah nodded, laughing as she watched Lisa rush into the bathroom, hopping around while her feet adjusted to the cold tiles.

Just as she finished throwing an outfit together, she was once again being ushered, into the bathroom this time. She turned to protest but was greeted only with the promptly shut door. I'm best friends with an actual dictator, Sarah thought to herself as she tugged her top over her head.

Pulling her hair up in hopes that the bun and steam from the shower would give it some decent curls, she stepped into the shower stall. Scrubbing her body clean with her favourite body wash, she breathed in the calming vanilla scent, the soreness her joints disappearing as the hot water washed the suds away. Quickly washing her face, she stepped out wrapped a white fluffy towel.

Lisa was already in her underwear in front of the vanity mirror, working on her eye shadow. Sarah waved her off as she offered a turn at the table, opting for the bathroom counter instead. She laid all her make-up on the counter, before pulling her underwear on.

Making quick work of her eyeshadow, which was essentially a single, warm brown shade blended from her eyelids onto her crease, Sarah proceeded to apply eyeliner. A dusty, coral blush and a natural looking highlighter followed, finished off with a couple sweeps of mascara and a glossy, dark, berry-toned lipstick.

Pulling on her outfit for the night; a figure-hugging cowl neck dress the colour of red wine, she adjusted the thin straps on her shoulders, feeling them settle across her back, the hem falling just short of her knees.

Moving to do her hair, she pulled it out of the twist on her head and fluffed the top, creating some semblance of volume before parting it to the side. Stepping into a pair of platform pumps, she clasped a thick black choker onto her neck as she left the bathroom, earning a low whistle from Michael. "Looking good, Sarah."

She smirked at him taking in his dark button up and jeans. "Thanks. You don't look too bad yourself.

Lisa walked over, draping an arm over her friends' shoulders for balance as she slipped into her other boot. Her legs looked even longer in the dress, revealing skin all the way to her upper thighs. "If we're going clubbing, you better watch Lisa. She could get into a lot of trouble in this dress."

He shrugged. "She can take care of herself. If not, re-enacting those WWE moves were a waste of my damn time." His phone beeped. "Time to head out, Tyler and Gary are already rolling up to the club."

***

Claire met them at the door in a white bustier and black skinny jeans under her heavy fur coat. Hurrying across the snow covered driveway, they all ducked into an awaiting SUV.

Sarah absent mindedly watched her fingertips glide over the cold glass of the window as they drove past snow covered houses. Large pine trees dotted the spaces between them, frosted in white. Lisa adjusted the deep-V that was her neckline. "So it's been a while since we've seen Tyler. What's he been up to these days?" Claire mused. Lisa's shadow of a scowl caught Sarah's attention.

Michael shrugged. "He's been messing around in Uni last I heard, burning through his trust fund." He chuckled. "But what's new with Ty."

Lisa did her best to look deadpan, but there was definitely something there. Tyler. Why is that name so familiar? Wait- "No." Lisa's eyes widened almost imperceptibly as the pieces clicked in Seraphine's mind. "Is this him?" She asked pointedly, slightly aggravated. Mike raised a brow from his seat in front of us.

"Which 'him'?" He asked, frowning.

"He was the toxic prick she was," Sarah's eyes darted to the chauffeur, pressing the button to raise the partition, "seeing, for a bit." Mike's eyes widened and he sat back. "Ty? When though? I thought he's been overseas for like a year now."

Lisa waved a hand dismissively. "He came back during his break, remember? He didn't wanna make it awkward with you, and we weren't anything serious anyway." He ran a hand through his hair.

Claire piped in then. "Wait, wasn't this the guy you were super hung up on? He ghosted you, no?"

She scoffed. "It's not a big deal."

The other woman seemed to be searching her mind for something. "No, I remember he was, in fact, a big deal." She grasped her temple, thinking hard before her face lit up with comprehension. Oh shit, she's not going to mention- "Isn't he the first guy you'd ever slept with?"

My mouth fell open. "Claire! Are you for real?!"

She flinched, eyes darting to the man beside her. "Oh shit, you didn't know?"

Michael looked like he'd be sick, directing a glare her way. "Of course I didn't know! I don't need to be hearing that about my little sister." He grasped his head. "God, of all the firsts, Ty?" Lisa flashed him a look.

She narrowed her eyes. "What about him?"

"Let's just say he has quite the notches on his pole." Lisa's look implied this wasn't news to her.

"It's Ty, I knew that going in." She said, giving a humourless chuckle.

Michel seemed taken aback. "I'm surprised little sis, you've never been good at sharing." Sarah grasped her temple, not having any other choice but to watch this dumpster fire unfold before her.

"Like I would get jealous of his past."

"Wait, so you were seeing other people too?" He rubbed his head. "Who are you?"

At that her eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

Comprehension lit up Michel's face, meeting Sarah's gaze as she cringed. "I mean, he never sees just one girl at a time."

Her lips twitched, brows drawing together. "That piece of-" She took a calming breath. "Well, like I said, it doesn't matter so can we just stop talking about this? I'm not trying to be furious at the club, and I'm not looking to get him back. I'm over it." Translation: she is so not over it. One quick glance over at Claire, and Sera knew even she wasn't convinced.

Seraphine nudged her. "Well you know what they say, the best way to get over a guy-" The SUV pulled up outside a tall, brick structure. The word Titanium was carved into a block of metal over the door, invisible behind a large, muscular doorman. He wore sunglasses despite the dark sky.

Claire grabbed Lisa's hand as they exited the car. "is to get under-"

Michael covered his ears, gagging exaggeratedly. "I do not need to hear this!" The group couldn't help but laugh at his expense.

As they stepped in, Sera found herself surrounded completely by chrome, all the way up to the high ceiling. The mirror-esque surface changed colours as it reflected the colourful strobe lights flashing about. Moving bodies gyrated on the dance floor, grinding to the music blasting through speakers mounted into the walls above. In the centre of the room was an elevated, circular DJ booth where a man stood behind a deck.

A couple of guys waved at them from the bar, each one holding a bottle of beer. They smiled at Mike as they approached, eyes raking blatantly over every woman present. One of them was built like Michael with short, messy brown hair and excited green eyes. He'd licked his lips as though needing to make the eye fuck more apparent. The man beside him was lanky, his red hair short and spiky over his dark eyes.

Rushing to the bartender, Lisa ordered and downed a couple of shots. The lanky one was the first to address the group. "Mike, how've you been man?"

He nodded. "Work's been a little more than what I bargained for, but I can't complain. You two?"

The brown-haired one shrugged. "It's been okay, school still sucks but what's new about that? I'm more interested in these three you got with ya." He said, his lips curling up in a salacious grin.

Michael motioned to them in turn. "This is Sera, Claire and you know my sister." Mike's tone became cold as he introduced her. Mike didn't exactly respect every woman he'd screwed, but if there was one woman he loved, it was Lisa. So, the brown-haired guy is Tyler and Mr. Redhead's Gary.

Tyler brushed off the cold treatment. "Wow. Look at you!" He exclaimed. His eyes travelling down the length of her body. He gave a low whistle. "Fine as always, pixie." She didn't seem pleased at the mention of the old nickname. "Maybe, you wanna come to my place tonight? For old times sake?" He said, wiggling his eyebrows. She frowned.

"Maybe not." Her tone was severe.

"Damn, aren't we fiery tonight?"

Lisa scowled as she fully face him. "Tends to happen when you lie your way into a girls' pants and then fall off the face of the planet."

He held his hands up. "C'mon Lis, that was ages ago. You know I don't do the whole texting thing." When she only glared in response, he brushed it off with a rough chuckle. "Your loss." Without missing a beat he turned to Seraphine, grasping her upper arm. "You the jealous type too, babe?"

She sneered. "Get your hand off of me."

His grip tightened. "Oh, playing hard to get huh?" He moved closer. "I'll bite." As his other hand moved to grab at her ass, Sera surprised herself; sending her knee up, brutally connecting with his groin. He yelped and reared back, clutching his jeans as he fell to his knees.

She leaned over him. "I said, don't touch me."

Tyler's angry gaze met hers. "You psychotic bitch!"

Lisa chuckled. "Have I told you how much I love you?"

Tyler slowly got to his feet, glaring at the back of her dark hair. Michel stepped between them then. "Back off, dude."

The other guy shoved at his shoulder. "Make me! Did you not just see the shit she pulled?!"

Michael frowned. "What she pulled?! Man, I don't know why I've put up with you for so long." He shoved Tyler back. "Walk away while you can."

Claire screamed as Tyler charged. Michael narrowly avoided him, sending Tyler flailing into a heap along with two dancers on the dance floor. The crowd visibly parted as the bouncer walked in.

"What's going on here?" He demanded, his low voice irritated. He spotted Tyler and yanked him off of the floor roughly. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" He didn't get a chance to answer before the bouncer grabbed him around the stomach and hauled him out.

"Well," Mike said, running his hand through his hair, "I'm going to get fucked up and party, anybody else down?" Three hands shot up as the entire group turned their attention back to the bartender, to order three tequila shots each. Sera threw two back quickly.

"Whoa, slow down there. They serve it pretty strong here." She turned to find Gary sitting unphased, beer still in hand.

"This a normal day for you?" She asked, waving the bartender over for a glass of water. He shrugged and took a swig of his beer.

"He gets into those kinds of situations all the time. It's nothing new." He held a hand out. "I'm Gary."

She knocked back her final shot. "Seraphine." Her face twisted as the liquid burned down her throat. He nodded.

"Nice to meet you and for what it's worth, sorry about Ty. He's an ass sober so..."

She began to lean onto the counter, realising a moment later the position she was putting herself in. "So, what are you doing with someone like that? You seem like a decent guy." She said, putting some space between them as subtly as possible, as she straightened up.

He smiled. "He's my roommate. We go to college nearby so we have our own apartment here in town. It's only fifteen minutes away. I've known him for a couple of years now, and he's not such a dick to his guy friends." He waved the bartender over.

"What's your major?"

"Accounting," he mumbled. Sarah's eyebrows shot up, earning a weird look from him in turn. "What?"

"Oh, I would have never guessed that."

"I get that a lot. I think it's the hair."

***

They chatted for a little bit and Sera was pleasantly surprised that he was actually an okay guy. She half-heartedly listened to him talking about his classes as the alcohol kicked in, settling on just buzzed enough that dancing seemed like an amazing idea. Excusing herself, she spotted Lisa on the dance floor against a tall, built, blonde hottie. She's out then.

Mike caught Sera's waist as she passed. She laughed as he spun her into his arms, dancing as he warded off the other men around them, one of whom caught Sera's eye. She couldn't see him that well under the flashing lights, but his towering form was pretty hard to miss. She watched him as best as she could over Mike's shoulder. he seemed to be searching the crowd, his entire frame appearing to tense up as he turned his gaze in her direction.

She began to take a step towards him, but the alcohol in her system chose then to remind her exactly how tipsy she was. Stumbling, she couldn't help but feel thankful that Mike had a hold of her. "Woah, steady there. You okay?"

She held up a thumb. "A-okay Mikey."

His look was unconvinced. "Sure you are." He helped her to one of the bar stools, getting a glass of water. "Drink this." She thanked him, gulping down the contents of the entire glass, prompting him to order another.

She patted his shoulder. "Hey, don't worry about me, Mikey. Go have fun, I got this. I'm not even that drunk." She willed herself to sit up straighter. "See? Sober as a bowl of oatmeal."

He chuckled. "And sobriety is related to oatmeal how?"

She threw her hands up, grazing a woman behind her. Michael quickly apologised as she retreated to the next barstool over. "It's l-like the most boring breakfast food!"

"Uh-huh, sure."

"Damn right, I'm sure!" He wrapped an arm around her shoulder, nodding as he patted her arm. Gary came over then, offering keep an eye over her swaying figure while she sobered up a little so Michael could go enjoy the rest of his night.

An intoxicated Claire sidled up to him then, tugging on his hand. He hesitantly agreed to go with her, especially after Sera waved him away. "Okay, but no more drinks for now." She crossed her heart, smiling up at him.

As soon as he left, her intoxicated mind convinced her that what she needed more than anything in the entire world, was something hot and fried. She and Gary discovered that they did in fact have fries there, chowing down on an entire basket before she'd even noticed. Downing another glass of water, Sarah felt the carbs coax forward her lucidity, just a touch.

Her mind wandered back to the man from earlier, urging her to scan the crowd. Where did he go? Gary pulled Sarah from her thoughts with a touch to the shoulder. "I need to go to the bathroom. You okay here for a bit?"

She nodded. "I'm a little more sober now, go ahead." After a moment of scrutiny, Gary decided that she was actually lucid enough to gauge her condition accurately and started for the bathroom.

"I'll be right back." She gave him a thumbs up, watching his back as he disappeared into the crowd.

"That all you drinking, tonight?" The deep voice sounded from right beside her. She looked over to find the most exquisite man she'd ever seen leaning on the bar next to her. Although she hadn't gotten a good look at him earlier, she knew that this was him. Something about the way he's carrying all six-feet, something, of himself.

She looked up at his light eyes as they gazed into hers, unable to figure out their exact colour in the flashing lights. She surprised herself as she leaned her elbows onto the bar, moving a touch closer to him. "Well that depends. You here to buy me something else?"

His full lips quirked up in a crooked grin that sent her stomach to the floor as he waved the bartender over.