The memory bombarded through my brain every few minutes. It was like my hippocampus was short circuiting. It was trying to rewire itself, but it seemed that the liquid from my shot glass was meddling with the connection. My body still felt Audrey's pressed to mine. I could still feel her goosebumps raising under my hands that were so tight on her waist. My brain could recreate every anxious feeling I had in that moment.

I wasn't actually going to kiss her. I just wanted to be close to her. My adrenaline mixed itself in with my skyrocketing self confidence, which wasn't considered the norm for me. Especially not with Audrey. Audrey had all the self confidence in the world, of course. Or at least that's how she acted.

"Another?" Kennedy asked, flicking her warm brown eyes between me, Michael, and Audrey. Michael had joined us an hour ago when we asked him to bring us pizza. Which he declined at first, until I mentioned Kennedy's name. He was over relatively quick.

Audrey nudged me, gazing up at me with her glassed over eyes. "For good luck," she joked. Whatever that meant.

We all reached out for one, this being our third of the night. It was nearing 10pm, the sun was long gone and we were swiftly approaching the same status. Audrey's soft voice rang through the dining room.

"One, two, three." We all bumped our glasses down on the table and then to our mouths. Audrey locked eyes with me as she licked the salt off the back of her hand before downing the clear liquid. She didn't even wince. Not even after she bit into the lime. It seemed she'd done this a million times over. Of course she probably did, she wasn't grounded all summer like I was.

Who cared? The vodka burned my lips and throat. A long bite of a lime blanketed the feeling as much as it could. I set my miniature glass down on Audrey's wooden dining table. It was perfectly sanded and stained a deep mahogany, just like the rest of the furniture in her house.

It was Kennedy who started this scene of typical teenage trouble-making. She was the one who brought out the frozen drinks in the first place. I can't deny something of such sweetness. Sugar strawberries? Come one. It was two of those and a few shots that had knocked me off my ass. I think Kennedy had a strong future in bartending.

The night played out like this after that last round of shots:

One horror movie we all obnoxiously talked through, then a heated debate about The Beatles and if they really were good, one more gut wrenching shot, followed by Audrey and I gossiping about how close Michael and Kennedy were getting.

"We can hear you," Michael groaned from the living room.

Audrey and I laughed from our spot at the bottom of her stairs. She struggled to get up them earlier, so we parked it here for the moment.

Her cheeks were scarlet and her eyes deeper than ever. Her head rested lazily on the metal stair rail behind her. I was rested against the wall opposite of her. It was covered in pictures of her and her older brother.

It felt like if we stood up we'd just fall right back down. I hadn't been drunk more than a handful of times, but this was probably my most interesting experience.

"So, Luke," Audrey spoke, her smile wide. I stayed silent as I patiently waited for her to continue on.

"Luke?" She worriedly asked. Audrey was definitely an emotional drunk. I sighed in annoyance.

"Audrey, I'm literally right here."

She giggled at my harsh words. "Oh, right, sorry." She paused. For no good reason other than she was drunk. She picked her head up, her blurred vision meeting mine. "Are you listening?"

"Yes, Audrey."

"Okay, good. Do you believe in ghosts?"

"Yes," I responded quickly. A hiccup followed. It felt like a boulder was resting in my lungs.

"My house is haunted," she whispered. I didn't understand why she was whispering. But I also didn't understand really much at all right now. "Specifically my basement." She added.

I stared at her with doubt. Audrey could read me like the front page of the morning news. She sat up better, using my knees that were curled up to my chest to balance herself.

"You don't believe me?" She asked, sounding rather offended.

I rubbed my eyes. "It's not that I don't believe you," I laughed, my words slurring just a tad. "It's just I have no proof or evidence from you besides one single statement."

She looked at me like I was stupid. Like I was supposed to believe her basement that I've never been in was haunted just from one sentence from her drunk mouth. I didn't like when she looked at me like I was stupid. I didn't like when anyone did it. Mostly because I'd like to consider myself of above average intelligence. But don't we all?

I furrowed my eyebrows at her. "Don't look at me like that."

"Like what?" She cooed, blinking her red eyes at me. Her eyelashes were thick and curly. They complimented her high cheekbones and strong jawline well.

I softly kicked her leg. "Stop that."

"Stop what?" She asked again, mocking the tone she just used. She exhausted me.

"Just shut up," I huffed.

Audrey narrowed her eyes at me. I did the same back, feeding into her game. She got up from her spot, gripping onto the railing for dear life.

"You're rude," she said. She looked down at me. I could feel her dominance creeping onto her, which I halted by standing up directly in front of her.

"I never said I wasn't," I lowly replied. I looked over her head and focused in on the couch where I expected Michael and Kennedy to be, but they were gone.

I walked past Audrey, leaving her there at the steps and entering the living room. She approached me a moment after, reenacting my confusion. I stared her down as her facial expression changed. Then suddenly, it was like a light bulb went off in her head.

"The guest room," she informed me, pointing to the door on the right. The light was on, and sure enough we could hear the two drunken kids faint giggles. And rustling of cheap bed sheets.

Audrey's eyes got big at the sound. It was funny, a girl like her getting uncomfortable. She studied all of life's abnormalities and uncomfortable aspects. Death, crime, mental illness. It seemed sex was left out of that list.

Audrey stumbled through her kitchen to get away from the noise. She was trying really hard to just walk straight. She couldn't, and I was trying so hard not to laugh at her. But shit, neither could I. Just a moment ago my words were overlapping each other in attempt to make conversation with her.

She led me to a hidden room. By hidden, I mean a room you couldn't see initially from stepping into her home. It had a high ceiling and beige walls. A black velvet loveseat and grand piano occupied the room. A white faux fur carpet in the center.

She didn't bother to turn on the light that was encased in a massive glass chandelier. Moonlight shined through the spotless windows, illuminating the outlines of the important things. Specifically Audrey, who was sat on the piano bench.

Her hair was tucked behind her right ear and a white outline was painted over her profile. She played a few cords on the piano, struggling to position her hands in the right spot.

I joined her. I sat to the left of her, repeating her actions and playing a couple cords.

"Can you play?" She quietly asked.

A smile tugged at the corner of my lips. I thought about the keyboard I had sitting in my room a house over and how often I played it. "A bit," I responded.

The muscle memory in my wrists and fingers played "Perfectly Out Of Key" by The Maine. A simple, yet aching ballad.

I hummed the first half of the chorus, desperately trying to remember the words swirled in my brain, intertwining with alcohol and memories of holding her body so close to mine.

"Disconnected and so naive." I mumbled the lyrics as they came to memory. Audrey was watching my hands as intently as I was.

"I'm perfectly out of key," I lightly sang. One chorus was all it took for me to play the wrong note. I took my hands off the porcelain keys and ran them through my hair.

"I'm too fucking drunk for this," I laughed.

Audrey's hand lightly touched my elbow. Her desperate eyes met mine. "No. Keep going. Please."

I contemplated it. She seemed so soft and vulnerable in the moment. Not her usual self when her nose is in the air or when she was spewing pretentious comments. In that moment she felt tied to me, like we were one. It was a feeling I had never felt before.

I sighed, placing a hand to her shoulder right where it met her neck.

"Audrey, I'm hammered and it's 3am."

The moon glimmered in her eyes. I ran a thumb over her jawline and cheek. She titled her head towards my hand, letting it rest there for a moment.

A half smile sat on my face. When she was drunk, it was like she was the broken version of herself. Like a talking toy you got on Christmas when you were 7 that you broke a few days later and it never sounded right again. That type of broken. Her exterior walls fell down and she turned into a God damn puppy.

And I was obsessed with it.

-

A/N:

i want luke to play me like that piano WHEW

i love this song btw it's so emotional and raw and cute i thought it fit

plz comment and vote and share it takes a sec <333

thank you so so much if you're reading it means everything to me!!!! i hope u all have a great day/night depending on wherever ur from :,)