𝐃𝐄𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐓𝐄𝐋𝐘 𝐘𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐒 | 𝐁𝐗𝐁

ＴＷＥＮＴＹ ＳＥＶＥＮ

It appeared in the crowd like a damn vision. 

I was just dancing with Ethan and I didn't have a care in the world. But I could barely breathe when my eyes landed on a scene looming behind one of his broad shoulders.

Overall I was fine, I wasn't like that, a fucking weakling. But what else could I do when I saw Matt's hands on my sister? I moved away from Ethan a little bit, maybe I pushed him away from me a little bit, I don't know. I told him I had to go to the bathroom urgently, and without another word, I moved to find Luke in the crowd. I knew I had to escape from there urgently. Run away or hide.

I desperately looked for my friend among the dancing people, knowing that it was almost impossible to find him in such a crowd. Coming here was a terrible idea from the very beginning. If I couldn't find Luke, I'd go alone. I knew I had to escape at all costs. This was all so new to me and I didn't even know if I was ready to see these two together. So I was literally walking to the bathroom to take a breather and think about what to do until I found Luke.

That's what I did until a hand from the crowd reached out to me and turned my body towards there. My eyes widened and I had to swallow as a name came out of my mouth, "Kate?"

"You remembered me." The blonde girl was holding a drink in her hand and had a wide smile on her face, just like the last time I saw her.

"What are you doing here?"

"You didn't expect me to spend New Year's Eve in a dump like Georgetown, did you? Are you alone?" Kate asks, leaning in close to my ear over the loud music.

Let's take a brief look at the situation. I was kissing Matt in a deserted bar bathroom three minutes after meeting Kate in Georgetown, so we weren't off to a good start. Moreover, Kate seemed like the pushy, sarcastic, loud type at times, but she was definitely outgoing and that was what would get me through for a while. I've always been a quiet person and although I didn't have many complaints about myself, now wasn't the time and I felt like Kate's small talk took my mind off the situation a bit.

"I'm renting an apartment here," she continued without waiting for my answer, "I'm coming to New York as a transfer student. What's wrong?"

"I'm fine," I said, "I came with my friend."

"Man, it's so boring in here."

"What do you want to tell?" I'm surprised she finds a party boring.

"I prefer some silence, wine and quality conversation. What do you say? Let's go to my place."

Wait a minute, I can't leave Luke here. But when my eyes fell on a specific one among the dancing couples, I shook my head slightly. I didn't care what Kate thought of me. After all, just because I agree to go to her house doesn't mean I'm going to fuck her tonight.

***

Kate's apartment was in one of the classic, office-style lofts with panoramic views of the city. There was even a mezzanine for the bedroom and it was really cute.

"So you're gay?" She grinned as she poured another glass of wine.

I couldn't believe that three minutes after having a real conversation with her, I told her everything. "It's not like that," I protested, "What happened between me and Matt was a one-time thing."

"That tall boy who got punched by our men?" She raised her eyebrows as she sipped her wine, "He's handsome and hot, but he's definitely a fuckboy type. I can't believe you're in love with him."

"I'm not in love with him! He's dating my sister!" I shouted.

"Didn't you ask why he was kissing your sister seconds after he tried to fuck you?"

"I was about to punch him in the gym." Remembering what happened brought a sad smile to my face, "But even if I had gotten a decent answer, it wouldn't have changed anything."

"I dated some of those guys," she said casually, "I mean, I'm a dancer and I have guys hanging around, you know. But I still chose to stay away."

"Aren't you dating anyone?"

"No." Kate rolled her eyes as she poured another glass, "What about you? Do you like guys?"

"I only dated girls," I muttered, "Until Matt. But he and I never actually dated. It wasn't a relationship at all."

A sad look appeared in her eyes. I could feel she pitying me as she looked at me. "Don't," I said, laughing quietly, "I'm not that bad. Luke dragged me to that party because he thought I might meet a nice guy."

"You took me instead," she exaggeratedly pointed at herself, "Sorry."

"I'm not complaining! You helped me get out of that damn party and I get to talk to you. I really enjoy your conversation."

That night, Kate said that she had been dancing since she was seven years old, that she fell in love with ballet when she was in middle school, that she wanted to be a real professional in the future, that she had a Golden Retriever named Guru, and that although she was unhappy living here alone, she had a great hunger to explore New York. I liked her, we got along really well, and she seemed like she was going to be my best friend after Luke. She didn't judge me even once.

"I guess you're a cute bisexual," she jumped in, "Don't worry, so am I."

"Wait, have you dated girls?"

"Only once." Her eyes looked distant and she chuckled as she drank her wine, "It didn't turn out well. You know, I never knew I was on that side of things. I was still in high school and we were at Bible camp."

I couldn't help but let out a huge laugh, "This doesn't seem like the right place to explore your homosexuality."

"Isn't it? But it was exciting!"

"I'm sure it is," I said, standing up, stretching my legs that had been numb from sitting cross-legged for a while, "I'd better get going. Luke must be worried about me."

"Why don't you stay?" She said excitedly as she stood up.

"You want me to stay here at your house?"

"Please don't get me wrong, it's not for making love. I just like your company."

To be frank; I liked her too. So she was a good listener, had a great sense of humor, and seemed to know everything about me anyway. Staying with her didn't seem like such a bad idea. "Will there be midnight snacks and movie marathons?" I asked, laughing.

"That's what I'm talking about!" Kate jumped up, bumped her hand with my shoulder, and grinned, "Or we can leave all this until tomorrow night and you can help me organize the stuff in here tonight." She turned her head to look around. The floor was littered with dozens of disorganized boxes.

"I'd love to help you get settled into your home," I said modestly, "I have an undeniable obsession with order, too. I mean, I do."

"That was great to know. I broke up with my boyfriend, whom I dated for six years before I moved away from Georgetown. If you find pictures of me with a shitty guy in my stuff, feel free to throw them in the trash," Kate said, heading to the open-plan kitchen to grab another bottle of wine so we could drink while she tidied up her house.

"You're amazing, Kate," I said, leaning over one of the boxes and turning the item over in front of my face a few times. It was a vibrator, but it was sitting freely on top of the items in the box, as if it wasn't worried about me catching it.

It made me wonder what kind of joke this was.