Maroon

L.A

Max

09/03

I was surprised by the amount of people that were already there when I arrived at Ricciardo's place, around eleven. Stepping out of my parked car, I could already hear the music, and my foot touched an empty bottle that must have been completely full less than an hour ago. I wasn't even inside, but I could already feel how the party was buzzing with so many different people, probably already drunk or at least tispy, all socializing.

I made my way inside, brushing past groups of wasted people, a flirty mix of girls and guys and a few friendly faces. But it's only when I got to what seemed to be the living room that I started to recognize people. Standing, around a tall kitchen island covered in liquor bottles and solo red cups that reminded me of movie parties, I found Lando, who was unsurprisingly drinking with a smile. With Oscar and Lewis by his side, they waved, and I waved back before getting attacked by a completely drunk Ricciardo  who wasted no time to get a drink in my hand.

I didn't quite know what to do as the crowd around me danced, drank and laughed. All having fun, but I felt kind of stuck on the outside. Like all I could do was observe, and pretty soon, the music faded, being only a hint of a sound in my ears now as the flashing purple colored lights made the atmosphere simply... calming. The jumping people next to me were barely noticeable as I took the energy in, trying to loosen up as the haze of the pure moment only made me want to drink and forget about everything to have fun.

And just like that, I took a swig of the clear bottle of something in my right hand and closed my eyes as the liquid slowly slid down my throat with a familiar kind of burn. And I started smiling, opening my eyes up to find none other than Charles heading towards me with an inviting grin.

Our eyes locked, as if there weren't hundreds of people around us, and my lips bent into a smile. He hurried to my side, squeezing between sweaty bodies with a strange agility.

Wearing a dark red turtleneck that honestly looked as soft as a cloud and grey jeans, he looked really good. It was a great color on him. I couldn't decipher the exact color of his stormy eyes because of the lighting, but I just knew they were sparkling.

When he got closer to me, his hand reached out to me, and he grabbed my arm, pulling me against him to get us away from the crowd who visibly disgusted him a bit. He chuckled as his fingers lingered on my forearm and he looked at his shoes. "I don't like it when there are too many people." That earned a small laugh from me and I looked around to finally get us somewhere a little quieter, away from the jumping party people. And, though the music was still thumping in our ears, we were in a calmer place, in a corner of Ricciardo's kitchen.

"So, what's up?" He pushed his hair out of his face and the dimples that appeared every time he truly smiled came into view. "Nothing in particular. You?" I shrugged with a small smile of my own and offered him the bottle in my hand, in case he wanted a swig but he declined. "I still gotta drive home..." I could tell he wanted to though, so I gave to him anyway. "I'll take you home, don't worry." He frowned a bit with the liquor in his hand full on rings. "Don't you want to drink?" I shook my head, realizing it myself.

It was strange because it's all I wanted to do before, but I didn't feel that need anymore. Charles surprisingly made me feel more at ease, like the alcohol wasn't something I needed to have fun, let go and breathe, anymore. "Nah, it's ok." He put the clear glass bottle down on the counter next to us, at hip level, and his emerald eyes shined as they burned like a pine forest, looking into mine. "Then I'm not drinking either. Let's just have fun."

The coruscating lights, flashing all around us on a deep but bright purple shade were almost blinding. But it wasn't enough to pull us away from the dance floor we were spending our time. While dancing, he seemed to forget about the number of people. And it looked like we both let go of whatever strange fear was holding us, me back before he got there.