[ may I get a post notif? also, longer chapter ]

☁︎

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ELIANNA.

JAVI'S jaw was hanging wide open as they drove up to the mansion. Mansion. Elianna lived in an actual mansion. It was three stories tall, covered in giant windows and complete with vast gardens off to the side.

"Holy shit," Javi muttered more-so to himself than Scott as he put the truck in park on the side of the street.

There were already countless cars flooding the front yard and side of the street, and the men could hear the music and bass pounding even from outside. The birthday party was in full swing, and Javi thought it looked like something out of a movie — he didn't know people actually threw insane ragers like this.

"I knew what her parents do, but I didn't think she was rich," Javi said, looking at Scott as they got out of the car.

"Yeah, they have family money on top of her parents' careers," Scott explained, rolling his eyes, clearly not impressed. "Think Scrooge McDuck rich."

"Damn," he whispered. "She has McDuck money."

"Come on," Scott nodded, walking toward the house. "Let's just find Elianna."

"Eager are we?" Javi asked teasingly.

Scott just scoffed. "Once we see her, we can leave."

"Come on, man. It's a party. We can have fun."

As Javi spoke, they passed a couple making out while sitting on the edge of the fountain that was at the forefront of the circular driveway. They couldn't have been older than twenty, making them men feel old and out of place.

"We have no business at a party like this," Scott said, shaking his head. Maybe if they were still in school or even just knew another person besides Eli, they could have tried to have good time.

Javi nodded a bit in agreement as they got through the front door. The party overwhelmed them immediately. Neon lights were flashing in every room, drunk people with glow sticks around their appendages were bumping into them, and the music was so loud that they could hardly think.

Even this seemed too much for someone like Eli. They thought it'd be a bunch of college kids all crammed in the living room, drinking and playing games or something. But no, Elianna was going all out, and half her college must've been there.

"How are we gonna find her?" Javi asked loudly over the noise.

Scott reached out and grabbed the elbow of a passing guy who was double-fisting a pair of plastic cups full of beer. "Where's Elianna?" he asked him, raising an eyebrow.

The guy looked at him in confusion before slurring his words. "Dude, who is Elianna?"

Javi frowned. "You're at her birthday party."

"Oh," he nodded. "For sure. For sure. But I dunno. Never met her."

Javi and Scott shared a look before moving on from the drunk guy. They tried their luck with a girl that seemed a bit more sober, but much to their surprise, she didn't seem to know whose party this was either.

Finally, it was a girl named Amy that at least recognized her name.

"Oh, my god, Ellie! We've been best friends since we met in Calculus," she said. "I'll take you to her."

"Finally," Scott muttered, following after her.

Ellie made conversation while drinking from her cup. "You got her a present? That's so sweet."

In Scott's hand was a very small box, which Javi had been teasing him about all night. Javi brought a simple gift he knew would be appreciated — a bottle of vodka.

"It's nothing," Scott said stiffly as they walked through a kitchen full of alcohol and bags of chips and pizza. He also shoved the box in his front pocket, already thinking of returning it.

"I'm sure your gift was better," Javi said, knowing it would annoy Scott, who'd had a hard and anxious time trying to find a gift. Pointing out that Allison and others would have him beat was just fun. "We're still getting to know her. But for future reference, what are some things she likes?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, hiccuping a bit.

"What's her favorite color?" Javi asked, and Scott strained his ears over the music to hear the answer — not that he cared what her favorite color was.

"Um, orange?" she said even though it was phrased as a question. "But it might be red."

"Uh-huh," Javi nodded with a frown. "Well, like, does she have a favorite TV show?"

"Dunno. Probably something funny," Amy shrugged.

Scott narrowed his eyes at her, getting an odd feeling. "What kind of music does she like?"

"Oh, you know. The good stuff," she told them while going up on her toes to try and spot Eli.

Scott and Javi shared a frown, both realizing that this Amy clearly wasn't Eli's actual best friend, as she knew nothing about her. They'd have to ask Elianna to introduce her to the real culprit when they found her.

Even if she didn't know the girl, Amy did find her. Amy led them to the living room, and as they passed, Scott noticed that the second floor was roped off with two attendants in suits standing guard, keeping people from going up the grand staircase.

Even when he was a teenager and brought over to the house, the upper floors were always off limits.

Once in the living room, it was easy to spot Elianna. She was up on a coffee table and dancing with two other girls. And they walked in just as a man below them shook up a champagne bottle and sprayed them with it, making them giggle and squeal.

Scott couldn't help how his body reacted when he saw Eli. He swallowed thickly, taking in how the tight, silky blue dress hugged her figure. It had a swooping neckline and was impossibly short too. And god, as she turned around and revealed the strappy back, he realized she wasn't even wearing a bra.

She looked beautiful, especially with the wide smile on her face as she celebrated her wild birthday with her friends, Scott thought.

And then she turned around fully, her eyes landing on them, and if she wasn't happy before, she was on cloud nine now. Scott didn't understand how she was genuinely so happy that they were there.

Eli hopped down from the table, somehow not twisting her ankle in the heels she wore before bounding up to them. Scott noted that even in the heels, she only came up to the top of his shoulders.

"Scott! Javi!" she exclaimed. Though she smelled of alcohol — not just champagne — she wasn't fully drunk yet, they could tell. "You actually came!"

"Of course, we did," Javi told her. Then he gave her a quick hug. "Amy here helped us find you. Happy Birthday."

"Oh, my god, Amy is my absolute best friend in the whole world," Eli said, grabbing the girl's hand. "She helped me plan all this and invite everyone."

"Anything for you, babe," Amy said, kissing her cheek. "I'm gonna go find that good Cristal you said your dad left you."

"Just leave me some," she said, giggling as Amy stumbled off. Then Eli faced the men once more, looking so happy as she swayed on her feet. "I can't believe you actually showed, if I'm being honest."

"I'm glad we did," Javi chuckled, looking around. "This is a wild party, girl. Seriously."

"I try," she said, putting her hands up as she swayed to the upbeat music. Then she grinned at Scott. "And you, my good sir, don't look like a nerd tonight."

And she wasn't lying. Not even trying to hide how she was practically leering at the man, Eli looked Scott up and down.

Rather than the StormPAR branded clothing he usually sported, he was in a pair of jeans that showed off his ass well with a dark blue t-shirt tucked into it. It hugged his biceps — Eli didn't even know he had biceps — as he crossed his arms. And the color brought out the blue in his eyes. Gone was the ball cap he'd been wearing earlier in the day when she saw him, and his hair was combed back except for one little curl that fell on his forehead.

"I do own other clothes," Scott said dryly. Then he couldn't help but check her out again. "Evidently, so do you."

"My mom left the dress out for me this morning," she said, spinning for them.

Rather than question what she meant by 'left out' for her instead of gifting it to her in person, Javi just completed her. "You look beautiful."

"Thanks," she said with a smile. "Okay, drinks and pizza are in the kitchen. No one goes upstairs. Please, have the time of your lives. What's mine is yours."

Scott and Javi watched as Elianna went back to the circle of people that were all dancing, her squeezing her way to the center of them. Javi had a smile on his face, just happy that she was happy, but Scott was frowning — not that it was unusual for him.

"Okay, ready to go?" Javi asked him, patting his back. "You can just leave her gift with the others on the table we passed."

"Um, no," Scott said, shaking his head. His words came slowly, him thinking them through carefully. "We should stay a while longer. Just to... make sure things don't get too wild."

"Fair point," Javi said, looking around once more. "But I'm gonna need a drink if I'm gonna be around this many drunk college students."

☁︎

For the remainder of the night, Elianna had a shadow, not that she knew it. Scott was in the corner of every room she waltzed into, taking in every single move she made and drink she had.

And as the night went on, he noticed the subtle changes in her.

She stopped dancing. She stopped approaching people. They never came up to her either — it had always been her talking to them. The smile was long gone from her face as she drifted from room to room, downing drink after drink as she monitored the party, barely able to walk.

No one noticed when she ended up in an empty hallway at the back of the house, sliding down the wall as she kicked her heels off.

Scott quietly rounded the corner, his eyes on her form. He watched her for a second longer than necessary, taking in how her sad eyes stayed glued to the floor as she traced the woodgrain with her fingertip.

She was drunk and sad and alone. He hated it.

"There's the party girl," Scott spoke up, grabbing her attention instantly.

And that was when he truly saw her turn it on like she had before. The smile on her face was breathtaking and yet so fake, it not reaching her glassy eyes one bit. She raised her empty cup and called out for him as if she was still in a room full of celebrating people.

"Scotty!" she exclaimed. "You're still here!"

"Yeah," he said, coming closer with his hands in his pockets.

"Well, then you and I need to dance to celebrate you not being a complete stick in the mud," she said, moving to get up.

But seeing her start to sway as soon as she was on her knees, Scott knelt down and steadied her by holding her hands. "You're not in a state to dance right now, Elianna," he told her.

"But I've got to. It's my birthday. Yay," she said, the excited tone sounding so forced to him all of the sudden. Had she been that way earlier?

"Elianna," Scott said in a surprisingly soft tone. "Are you okay?"

And god, Eli hated that her eyes watered. Thankfully, no tears fell. "Yeah," she nodded before looking down. His large hands were still on her hands from steadying her. They were so warm — then again, she was drunk, so everything was warm.

"You don't look like you're enjoying your birthday party," he noted.

She let out a humorless laugh. "It's barely a birthday party. I only know like five of the people here."

"Like your best friend Amy?" he asked accusingly.

"She is my best friend," she insisted, not sounding very excited about that.

"Why couldn't she tell me your favorite color is blue?"

Eli tilted her head and looked at him through bleary vision. "How'd you know that?"

"I noticed you wear a lot of blue," he found himself saying, avoiding eye contact with her. "Was easy to infer."

Rather than focus on the fact that he noticed her, which she usually would've made fun of him for, Eli just smiled sadly. "Amy is the best friend that I have. Just so happens she's not a great one." Then she sucked in a sharp breath. "But I bought her a ticket to an Ariana Grande concert, and we've been besties since. I've never had a real best friend though, you know? At least one that I didn't buy in some way or another."

"You deserve better than friends that use you for your money," Scott told her with a frown.

"And then I'd just have no friends," she said, scoffing. "You say it all the time, Scott. I'm fucking annoying. You're not the only one who thinks so."

"I don't think you're annoying."

"Yeah, you do."

"...Yeah, I do," he said, sighing. But then Scott shook his head. "But I also think you're so smart and funny and beautiful and creative and helpful to the team."

Eli slowly looked up from their hands to meet his gentle gaze — those blue eyes had never looked so soft while fixed on her. "What?"

"Don't expect me to say it again," he said with a smirk. "I'm only admitting it because I don't think you're going to remember this conversation in the morning."

She rolled her eyes playfully as he chuckled. And when it died out, she squeezed his hand. "I like when you laugh," she said with a soft, dreamy sigh afterward. "I like everything about you, Scott."

He froze for a moment, his pulse quickening as he read far too much into her words. But weren't drunk words sober thoughts?

"You have a funny way of showing it," he settled for saying.

"Yeah. That's part of being annoying," she said with a nod. Then she looked over his shoulder, her expression turning sad again. "I don't wanna go back out there. And they don't care if I stay here anyway. I just wanna go to bed."

"Well, you can't sleep in the hallway," he informed her.

Eli raised a challenging eyebrow. "I can certainly try."

"At least make it up to your room. It's very sloppy to pass out in the hallway," he said while standing up.

Then Scott offered her a hand, which she took. Once she was upright, Eli took two steps forward, only to drunkenly stumble and hold onto the wall to keep from falling over as she groaned.

"The floor seems more attainable than my bed right now," she groaned, shutting her eyes.

Scott studied her for a moment silently, watching how she leaned against the wall with her eyes already falling shut as drunken exhaustion washed over her. Then, moving quickly before he could change his mind, Scott swooped in and lifted her off her feet — god, he really hoped she wouldn't remember come morning.

A noise of surprise escaped her mouth as she wrapped her arms around his neck, looking up at him with wide eyes. "What're you doing?"

"I'm taking you to your room, obviously," he told her in a tone as if she were stupid. "You'll have to direct me once we're upstairs though. So, don't fall asleep yet."

Eli just hummed and then tried to keep her head up. But it was so hard with how heavy it felt, so she eventually caved and leaned against his chest. His surprisingly firm and broad chest. And he made it seem so effortless as he carried her, not even seeming winded as he got past the attendants guarding the stairs, which he walked up without getting out of breath.

"Second floor," Eli mumbled tiredly. "Make a right, two lefts, then second door on the right."

"Jesus, I forgot how big this place was," Scott muttered while following her directions.

And as he walked, he noted that the decor was just as pretentious and fancy as the first floor. Different paintings and portrains of her parents and grandparents and great-grandparents were hanging on the walls, but not once did he see any kind of picture of Elianna.

Finally, he made it to her room, and before Eli could reach out to open the door for him, he shifted her in his strong arms, holding her up with one as he pushed the door open.

"God, you're like Superman strong," she mumbled, making him chuckle. "Since when are engineer nerds this strong? Or am I so drunk I'm halucinating?"

Scott rolled his eyes and headed to the massive bed in the center of the huge, dimly lit room. "Yes, this is a figment of your imagination," he said flatly.

"Knew it," she said, the corners of her lips turning up. "You'd never tell me I was beautiful."

Slowly, Scott laid her on her bed, not meeting her eyes. "Well, you are," he told her simply. "Annoying but gorgeous."

"That's sweet," she said quietly. "And overdo with how often I call you hot to your face."

Scott scoffed, watching as she leaned against the headboard, still wanting to talk to him. So, he took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Yeah, you have a funny way of making fun of the way I look."

Elianna frowned at that. "Scott, I don't make fun of the way you look. I make fun of the way you drive and cry about not getting the front seat and—"

"This could go on forever," he cut her off.

"Point is, you're one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen in my life," she said, her eyes falling shut. "I meant it when I said you make my brain go brrr."

Then she shivered and rubbed her bare arms, the cold air now actually making her brrr.

"I'll get you something else to wear," he offered. Then he looked around, noticing what looked like two different closets in the room. "Where would that be?"

"Left is cold-weather closet," she murmured.

Scott shook his head, unable to believe she had a summer and a winter closet. But he went inside and found a sweatshirt with her college's logo on it along with a pair of shorts for her to sleep in. Once he'd returned, he sat them on the bed and then helped her stand so that she could change.

Elianna, with one hand on the bedframe to steady herself, appreciated that Scott turned around. She quickly peeled the uncomfortable dress off her frame, and she didn't see how Scott's back tensed when he heard the fabric hit the floor.

It took her longer than normal to get changed, but eventually, she succeeded and all without falling over or throwing up. And she got back in bed all on her own.

"Thank you, Scott," she told him, letting him know he could turn around. "For taking care of me."

"Well, it's the least I can do," he said while pulling the covers over her. "Because at work tomorrow, I am going to make your hangover a million times worse."

Eli whined at the mere thought of the hangover that was coming for her as he grinned. "Can't I have a day off? A sick day?"

"Nope. And there are a ton of reported storms heading in tomorrow. I'm setting your alarm for super early. Javi and I will come back to pick you up."

"God, you're an evil asshole," she complained. "Can't you at least bring me coffee?"

"I guess it's the least I could do," he said before remembering something. "How far away from knocking out are you?"

"I got a few minutes in me, but you don't gotta stay if you don't want to," she mumbled tiredly.

"I'll leave once you're asleep," he said while digging his hand in his pocket. "But I didn't get the chance to give this to you before."

As she saw the small box wrapped poorly in blue wrapping paper, her eyes lit up as she sat up off the pillows once more. "You said you weren't gonna get me a present," she cooed.

Scott rolled his eyes and shoved the box into her hands. "Take it before I return it."

It admittedly took Eli a moment to make her fingers work enough to rip the paper off. But once it was gone, she saw a red hinged box. When she opened it up, her mouth parted in awe as she brought it close to her face to examine it.

Inside was a golden necklace, and the charm was a cloud with a lightning bolt striking out of it.

"I figured since you love bad weather so much," Scott mumbled, feeling his face heat up the longer she marveled at the necklace.

"Scott, this is beautiful," she told him, looking back into his blue eyes. "Y - You didn't have to get me this."

"Well, I saw it and thought you might like it," he murmured.

Only to be surprised when she set the necklace on her nightstand and then threw her arms around him in a tight hug. He hesitated for a moment, unable to remember the last time he was hugged. But then, he finally slid his arms around her waist to hug her back.

"Thank you, Scott," she whispered into his chest.

Scott sucked in a long breath, hating how warm and content he felt as she hugged him. "Happy Birthday, Elianna."