As much as I love Maria, she knows how to talk. Everyone we had come out with is gathered around her, straining their ears over the pulsing bass to hear Maria. "So I went to get a drink for me and Daff, and I just hear this guy crying like a baby." Her eyes are glossy, and when she looks over to me, she drapes her arm around my shoulders. "So I look over, and this guy has his arm out like this," Maria splays her arm outward, elbow down and palm up, "and Daphne's just standing there, holding this guy's fingers back towards his wrist." Everyone whistles, shouts, and looks at me with wide eyes. Before I can say anything, Maria continues, "I guess I was drunk enough to look at the bartender and say, 'That's my girl!" He was like, 'Oh, really?' So yeah, we're not allowed to go to Double Down anymore." Maria leans into me, and I catch the scent of oranges and tequila before she plants her lips on my cheek. "But hey, that's my girl!"

I can feel my already warm face heating up again. "I haven't taken a self defense class since." I shake my head, earning a few more laughs from the group. A new song began playing, and everyone raises their near-empty drinks above their heads. Maria jumps towards the open dance floor with everyone else.

I watch as Maria presses her body up against Henry, her latest obsession. He goes to rest his hands on her hips, and then slowly moves them lower. I roll my eyes and turn to the bar. As I walk towards it, the soles of my shoes are sticking to the hardwood. The bartender hardly looks up before asking what he can get for me. "Just a shot."

"That rough of a night?"

"That rough of a year."

The bartender chuckled, turning to pour a few shot glasses worth of something before sitting them in front of me. "I can drink to that." We both clink our glasses together, tap them to the sticky bar, and raise them to our lips. "Consider that one on the house."

I smile and run my fingers through my hair, watching as the stick straight strands glide between my fingers. Something rams into my shoulder, and I look up to see Maria sticking her pretty lips out in a pout. "Daff, do shots with me. You sitting alone at the bar is too sad." She rolls her eyes, and when I look behind her, I see Henry dancing with another girl. She flags the bartender down, and he makes a little line up. It only takes a shot for her to mention it. "I just don't understand his thought process. He's so... so..."

"Terrible?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Cute. Daphne, why do guys suck?" Maria locks arms with me before tossing the second drink back. "I think I was falling in love with him. Or, at least, I could see myself, you know?" Her words create a strange, pit-like feeling in my stomach. I need another shot.

Third shot. "So tonight we can start a fresh page. No Henry— just you and me. Like how it used to be, you know?"

"Ha! Well, I'd like to think we have more experience than we did in high school. You have learned to know when to stop drinking, right? No more vomiting down your shirt the morning after?" She teases me, poking at my rib cage while I laugh.

"That happened once. Now I can at least aim for the trashcan." Another shot. "You are so pretty."

She chuckles and lets out one of those smiles that I can't get enough of. "I know. I have to in order to keep up with my sexy best friend." Maria swings her arm across my shoulders again. Best friend. Always the best friend. The alcohol sears my throat, and I suppress a gag.

When I focus again I see Maria shooting daggers at someone. Turning, Henry is now smashed up against the other girl. Maria slams a twenty down on the table before tugging me out of the bar. "Let's go somewhere else."

"Thirsties?"

"Yeah, sure."

I glance over my shoulder, and then down the alley. "This should be a good shortcut." Maria only mutters something as I begin to lead her down the alleyway. I blink a few times, as if it would help my eyes adjust to the dark and muddled shapes of the alleyway. As we walk through, the soft whispers of music drift into my ears. Distant and honeyed. I stop in my tracks. "Do you hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"The music."

"I don't hear anything, Daff."

I shrug it off as my eyes catch something gold glinting in the darkness. Seeing it glint, the music almost feels closer. Filled with hypnotic voices singing, voices lilting. My body gravitates towards it. The clack of my heels echoes off of the brick in the alleyway and interrupts the music. I run my fingers along the brick wall, searching for any sign of a door or entrance, but finding none. It sounded so close.

"Daff, where are you going?" Maria grabs my arm, her long nails pressing into my skin and pulling me out of my stupor. "There's nothing down here."

I look around in the darkness before walking down the rest of the alley, holding Maria close by. Still, no gold. Okay. Maybe I'm just a little more drunk than I thought. "Sorry, yeah. Let's get out of here."

As we walk back up to the street, a light flashes on to our right. It wavers against the brick wall, swinging slightly in the air before resting perfectly above our heads. What is it hanging from? Before I can focus in on it, a creaking noise sounds in front of me.

A deep, black door sits among the brick. Ornate details decorate the wood, images of thorny vines and blossoms. 'FAED' is spelled out in gold lettering upon the door, glinting in the light. Just beneath it are the words 'COME IN'. How did I miss it among the brick? The sounds of the music and laughter seep through the wood from the other side.

"Way to go, Daff. This looks awesome." Maria tugs on my arm with excitement as the door swings open by itself, revealing a dark, dark tunnel. A draft of warm, fresh air pours out onto the two of us. It reeks of flowers and berries. Despite the fact that the door now stood open up all the way, the music and laughter seems just as distant as before. "Please?"

"Maria, I'm not sure..." I remain in front of the door, but she snatches me by the wrist and drags me into the tunnel.

We make our way, step by step, down the hallway. As my eyes adjust, I can make out a rainbow of colored lights just at the other end. No sweat or cigarette smoke lingers in the air like I am used to. The iridescent lights fall over us as we walk closer. A beam of crystal blue light flashes on a tall, lithe couple meshed together in a frenzy. As Maria and I walk past, their hungry eyes trail after us.

The hallway lets out into a large room, filled to the brim with people. The lights dance over them in fragments: a pink waist here, a long purple arm there. They don't seem to be dancing with each other, but alone. Each person looks drawn into themselves, taken in by the music. I make my way around them, reaching out for any sign of a wall but not finding one. The edges of the room fade away, no signs of corners or ledges. Those radiant beams of light are practically sucked up into the darkness.

I move to grab Maria, but my hand falls through the air behind me. Turning, I see nothing but the entrance and the crowd. "Maria?" I skirt around the mass of people before my eyes finally come to rest on Maria's body. I let out a breath. How long had I been holding it in? Maria leans in close to some guy with fluffy, spiked hair and a sly expression. "Maria," I say again as I come to stand beside her. "Hey, want to go get drinks?"

Maria just shrugs my hand off and continues smiling at the boy. "I'm fine. I'm already pretty buzzed." Her eyes didn't even look to me. They focused in on the guy before us, who looked back and forth with intrigue. When I didn't move, Maria turned and rose an eyebrow. "You can still go get a drink though?" Her voice was slow, desperate.

"Yeah." I nodded and looked away, heat rising up the back of my neck. "I'll... I'll just be at the bar if you need me." I slunk away, looking back to watch as that stranger whispered something in Maria's ear before pulling her into the dancing crowd.

"You look like you need a drink."

I turn slowly, but my head is beginning to whirl. Tilting this way and that. My eyes land on a smiling redhead. He lounges against the bar, his elbows propped back while his body faces me. A dainty glass is perched between his fingers, leaning dangerously close to where liquid nearly tumbles over.

I move to sit a chair away from him as I take in the bar. The man's eyes bear down on me from where he sits, watching me lean against the slick countertop. There isn't a bartender in sight, or any alcohol, or any sort of distraction. Just a seemingly endless black wall. Looking to the guy beside me, I ask, "Where can I get a drink around here?"

The redhead moves closer to the bar, leaning over towards the edge. He pinches his fingers around nothing, and I watch as he pulls his hand away, a thin glass perched between his fingers. He slides the glass over to me. I look up with raised brows. "It's empty."

"It doesn't look empty to me." Glancing down, I see that it is, in fact, un-empty.

I stare down into the bottom of it. Pinks and oranges swirl up from the bottom, dancing around the berries and into the golden liquid. I raise the drink to my nose, taking in the sweet smell. Without hesitation, I toss it back. While the glass is cool to the touch, the drink spills over my tongue in warm waves. The warmth spreads throughout my body, and I let out a long sigh. The flavor of the drink is hard to pin down. Almost like oranges, or maybe raspberries? No, it tastes like the feeling of sunshine warming up the skin of your shoulders on a breezy day.

"Not exactly one I would gulp down, but you seem to be enjoying it. I'm San Mony."

"What is this?"

"Du Parine."

"Du Parine? What is that, like, a wine?"

San's thin lips quirked upward into a smile. "Something like that. It's one of the better nectars." San's eyes narrow in on me. It could be the alcohol, but he looks almost like a fox. "What did you say your name was again?"

I shrug. "I don't remember saying it at all. I'm Daphne Morahan." My head spins slightly as I turn to look at the crowd. The people dancing look different, too. The low, colorful lighting flashes spastically, highlighting their beauty. Was that a tail or a scarf?

"You're looking for your friend."

"I should probably go find her," I tell myself.

"Your friend is preoccupied. Why don't you have another drink, Daphne Morahan?" San grabs my drink from me, swinging the glass up to his lips and finishing off the last few drops. When he sets it down in front of me again, the glass clinks delicately against the bar. I watch as the liquid reappears, swelling up from the bottom. It swirls delicately in the glass, coming to a stop just at the brim. I blink my eyes, just to make sure. It was still a full glass. San nudges my face in his direction, his fingers lingering on my chin. "Are you enjoying yourself?"

My eyes drop from his pretty face, down to my new drink, and back to the crowd of creatures pressing up against one another. That warm, bubbly feeling came in waves, growing stronger each time. "Yeah," I sigh. "I am."

"Tell me about your friend. What's her name?" San moves closer, pushing the drink up towards my mouth.

I nod as I gulp down more of that Du Parine. More of that warmth. "Maria."

"What a pretty name."

"Maria is beautiful." I point to the crowd. "Everyone here is beautiful, too. But Maria? She's... she's better than beautiful. She's..." My words tumble off as I search for the word. I look over the crowd once more, taking in their beauty. Their big eyes open every now and again, falling on me with a twinkle. Maria's eyes don't twinkle. They sparkle. And her laugh bubbles. And she is always so warm. It's her soft, tanned skin and big brown eyes and beautiful black ringlets of hair. Everything about Maria is inviting."She's like this." I hold my drink up to San. "Maria is like Du Parine. Can't get enough of her."

"Interesting." San tips the rest of the drink into my mouth and wipes the liquid off my lips. "You seem to think highly of her."

"I guess," I say with a chuckle, "you could put it that way."

San smiles and holds his drink out to mine, clinking the glasses delicately against one another. "To Maria."

"To Maria."

San and I sit like that for a little bit until I rise from my seat. "I think I might dance."

"I don't think you should, Daphne." San rises with me, looking deeply into my eyes. I can tell I made a funny face when he repeats himself. "Don't dance, Daphne Morahan. I would much rather talk to you than watch you dance. You're rather funny."

"Funny? I've never been called funny. Maria's the funny one."

San grins. "Of course she is. You're funny in a different way. Like..." He wraps his arm around my shoulders. "You're amusing. Funny. Cute. Intriguing. Pitiful." I try to protest, but San places a finger on my lips. "Why don't we go find Maria?"

"Yes. We should."

San leads me through the room. He forces his way through the crowd and eyes anyone who come too close to me. Eventually, he stops and turns to me. "Daphne Morahan, tell me: do you love Maria?"

My heart bangs against my ribcage. Love is a strong word. The answer almost feels pried from my lips. "Yes."

San cocks his head at me, those teeth of his glinting in the iridescent light. "You should tell her the truth, then. Don't you want her to know you love her? What if she loves you too?" San's silvery voice drifts over the rest of the music. The lighting is beginning to hurt my eyes, but through it all I can make out San's eyes as they glow in the darkness, a soft shade of honey. "Don't you want to tell her you love her? Imagine all the good things that could come of it. Tell Maria you love her, Daphne Morahan."

I nod. I don't know what else to do. San's right. I'm being ridiculous.

San locks eyes with me, and then guids my gaze to a spot in the crowd.

It's only a flash, but I catch sight of her hair just before she moves somewhere in the crowd. "Maria!" I call out to her, pushing my way through the crowd. Just as people part, my eyes catch her again, glancing back at me, and then she is swallowed up by bodies once more. The lights pulse in and out, shining on everyone in beautiful rays. I watch as the people in the crowd look down at me, bearing animalistic grins and sharp eyes. Hisses and growls and giggles sound behind me as I force my way through everyone to catch a glimpse of her.

"Daphne," a voice perks up from behind me. I spin around in the tightly packed crowd and see Maria standing just in front of me. She cocks her head at me. "Is everything alright?"

"Yes," I chuckle, wrapping my arms around her in a hug. "I was just worried about you." I pull away, looking at her face a little more closely. Perhaps it was the lighting, but her eyes look a little lighter. Not the same deep, dark brown, but more golden, like honey. "Where have you been?"

"Just dancing with everyone."

I nod. I should tell her. I love you. That doesn't sound too hard. Especially with her standing there, right in front of me.

"Is there something you need?"

I nod. I should tell her. "I love you." I watch as her smile drops a little, her eyes narrowing in on me. My fingers twitch at my side, searching for something to grab onto. I reach forward, grabbing her arms. "I've been in love with you. For a while now. I never knew how to tell you, but I thought-"

Maria swipes my hands off of her, laughing hysterically. "You're joking, right?" She leans back, and I watch as her beautiful smile reveals menace. "Daphne, that's ridiculous. You must be joking." Her smile drops. "Aren't you joking?"

My throat is closed up. Mouth dry. I can hardly say the word 'No.' I swallow thickly, and manage a croak. "No."

Her face is pure disgust. "Daphne." She leans in closely, but I can't even bear to look at her as she says the next words. Her words are sickly sweet. "I don't love you."

She is beginning to blur from the tears building up in my eyes. The lights flash over her. Blue, purple, pink, red. It's the same Maria as always, but darker. More twisted. As if she were something else. "Maria, I'm sorry, I don't want..." I try to speak. Try to apologize. Why would I ever think she could love me?

"You think we're something we're not. I'm hardly your friend." She lifts my chin between her fingers. "The only reason I've been 'friends' with you for this long is because you're pitiful. Oh, Maria, you're so much prettier than me. Oh, Maria, you get so much attention. You need someone to make you feel better about yourself. You need someone to tell you you're worthwhile."

My entire chest hurts. Maria has always been honest, but never like this. Not even close.

"You need to stop obsessing over me. It's really unhealthy."

Why is she doing this?

"You can't even say anything?"

No. I can't.

I can't say anything. I can't hear anything but her voice. I can't see anything beyond the tears in my eyes. I can't breathe. Why can't I breathe?

I spin on my heel, pushing people over to get out of the dense crowd. I need out of here. I need air.

I wipe at my face as I look for the exit. There are no signs, so I just shove my way to the edge, stumbling over graceful feet. When I emerge, the bar lays before me. San is nowhere to be seen. Good riddance. I don't know why I believed him anyway. I skirt around the crowds, coming in a full circle until I am back in front of the bar.

"Daphne..."

San sprouts out of thin air beside me. His hair is darker, the new curls a dark black. He runs his hand through it, and I watch as the black is replaced by a wild red. I'm seeing things. "I watched it all. I can't believe she would say those things to you. What a monster." The word is stifled in his own mouth.

"I can't believe I let you convince me like that-" I push against his chest.

"You must feel heartbroken."

"I just want to forget about all of this. I just want to drink and forget about all of this." I am slipping. The longer San stares at me, the more drunk I feel. I must be in a nightmare.

"All you have to do is ask," he says with a smirk.

It appears almost out of nowhere. Just like San. Just like this whole place.

This drink feels heavy in my hands as San hands me the glass. There are no colors and no berries. No fruity scents to ease my mind. Just a thick, dense fog. Shades of gray mixed with one another, the whisps turning into a mist that rose out of the drink.

"What is this?"

"Brume Trule. Just another nectar. If you want to forget, this will do the trick." San moves closer, wrapping his arm around me. "Daphne, you want to forget all of this. Drink it. Go ahead. It won't hurt you. It's just a little stronger than the one you drank before this."

I want to forget this.

It can't hurt.

I raise the glass to my lips. It falls over my tongue, cold and tasteless.

I slam my eyes shut. Whatever it is, it gives me an instant headache. Like ice crawling over my brain and burying itself in every nook and cranny. It hurts.

"How do you feel, Daphne?"

I looked up to the person in front of me. His red hair and honey eyes look familiar. He reaches forward, gently pulling the glass from my hand. "Cold?" I search for words. "Like I'm forgetting something."

"You'll get used to that. You remember me, don't you, Daphne? San Mony. Your friend."

I nod. Yes, of course. A sense of relief washes over me.

"Daphne!" Someone yanks on my shoulder, spinning me around to face them. Her big brown eyes look at me with concern. "I've been looking all over for you. This place is a maze. I want to leave."

"Leave?" I pull away from her. Whoever she is, she has a strong grip.

"Are you wanting to stay? I'm just a little scared. I feel like I've been here for hours..." She moves forward, grabbing my hand. "Let's go home. Please? I don't want to leave you here alone."

"I'm sorry, who are you?" I tear my hand away from her.

San approaches my side. "Who are you?"

"I'm... I'm Maria. I'm her best friend. Who the hell are you?"

San grabs me gently. "Come on, Daff. Let's go."

I nod, leaning into San as he walks me away. As he leads me past the crowd of dancers and into the dark curtain-like wall, I let out a heavy sigh.

It feels like something heavy has been lifted off of my chest.

I feel good.