Yours Truly. | [au.]

chapter six.

Chapter Six.
RIP luv. 21 Savage, Metro Boomin.

    Layla poured out a line of six shots of Fireball after Yarah had politely declined her offer. Everyone grabbed ahold of a shot glass that was closest to them, and said "Cheers!" As they raised the glasses in the air and downed the alcohol.

    "I want another." Elsie quickly scooped up the big bottle of Fireball and poured it into the same shot glass she had just drank out of, then downed the second shot in the blink of an eye. She groaned as the liquor made its way down her throat.

    "She can really do shots huh?" The guy that Elsie didn't know had finally spoken up. He must've been Layla's boyfriend because she was leaning against him, his arm draped over her shoulder.

    "Sure can." Finn nodded, looking more worried than impressed. He leaned down next to her ear and whispered, "Is everything alright?"

    She looked up at him once he leaned away and she flashed a quick smile at him. "Yeah, of course."

    "If it isn't the Suicide Saints!" A girl's voice called over the loud music, making her way toward the group in the kitchen. She had beautiful straight black hair that she had pinned back on both sides above her ears, and she wore a white slip dress with white mesh thigh-high socks. Her shoes were white platform boots that looked like they were from Princess Polly. "Lovely to see you all again."

    "Hey Ivy," Tate greeted the girl with a hug, and Roman did as well.

    "Finley." She said matter of factly once she had stopped in front of the two of them.

    She almost completely ignored Elsie until Finn said, "Ivy, this is my Elsie, our new background vocalist."

    The girl's eyes fell on Elsie who looked visibly uncomfortable by Finn's side. That and she was a big ball of anxiety.

    "You're Ivy Stone right?" Yarah spoke up, noticing how awkward her friend looked. "I'm Yarah, a friend of Elsie's and Finn."

    "I must say you are so gorgeous." Ivy complimented Yarah. "Yes, that's me."

    "Your voice is beautiful."

    Elsie tried to think of who this girl was, but she just didn't know. Her brian ran through every influencer that Yarah had told her about and nothing came to mind. She truly had no idea who this girl was.

    "You gonna join us on tour again?" Roman spoke up.

    "Yes actually, Carolynn messaged me about it yesterday." Ivy nodded.

    Finn's eyes narrowed, looking quite pissed off after Ivy had confirmed that she would be going on this new tour with them.

    "Who else wants another shot? I do!" Elsie spoke up, grabbing a hold of the bottle again and pouring herself a shot that was much larger than the last one and downed it in one go.

    "Elsie, you really need to chill out with all the shots," Finn whispered under his breath to the girl who was already starting to feel the alcohol. She was a serious lightweight, and it didn't help that she had a White Claw and two Trulys before they left.

    "It's fine, I'm fine." She insisted.

    Ivy eyed the redhead up and down, watching her as she leaned back into Finn's side. After another shot, she seemed more laid back.

    Finn glanced at Yarah and gave her a worried look. She gave him one in return, not knowing what was going on with her friend.

    "Why don't we take a moment outside," Finn whispered. Elsie tried to brush him off, but he eventually guided her to the sliding glass doors that lead to the outdoor pool. He helped her alongside the pool, making sure no one ran into her and made their way behind the house where there was a volleyball net. He silently thanked god when he saw that no one was back there. "Elsie, what's going on?"

    "Nothing dude! What makes you think something is going on?" She laughed.

    "You've downed three shots and you looked very uncomfortable when we were inside."

    "I did?" She asked. "Uh, I don't know. I guess I'm upset that I didn't get into the performing arts school I really wanted to get into, and now I'm meeting so many famous people and it's just really fucking overwhelming." She spilled out. She didn't realize that she had said all of that out loud until she noticed Finn had a genuine look of concern on his face. "Fuck, sorry, I know you don't want to hear that."

   "It's okay," He assured her. "Nerves tend to get the best of me a lot, especially when I'm about to perform on stage in front of thousands of people."

    "Oh my god, I'm going to have to perform in front of thousands of people…" Elsie visibly gulped, an image of a full stadium in her brain, and she was the only one on stage, spotlight hot against her skin as it shined on her.

    "Man I just made it worse didn't I..." Finn regretted his words. "Here, come here." He guided her to the side of the house where he leaned against the wall. He placed her hand over his heart and took slow breaths. "Copy me."

    She copied his breathing pattern, easing her heart rate.

    "My mom used to do this when I had a panic attack," Finn said, leaning his head back against the wall. "It always seemed to work."

    Elsie looked up at him, the moonlight hitting his skin just right. It was almost as if he was glistening like Edward Cullen under the sun. She suddenly became aware that her hand was on his chest. Sure it was over two layers of clothes, but she was still touching him. She never noticed how pretty he looked with his head thrown back like that. Her eyes fell from his face to his neck. She wondered what it felt like…

    "Feeling any better?" He asked, looking down at her once again.

    "Uh, yeah." She said, it coming out quieter than she expected. She quickly yanked her hand away and lightly brushed her fingers against her forehead. "Thanks…"

    "Of course."

♫

    The rest of the party flew by. The alcohol definitely sped up time. Finn had taken both of the girls back to Elsie's apartment and helped them up the stairs. Mainly just Elsie though since the alcohol was definitely hitting her now.

    "Thank you so much for letting me come with you tonight." Yarah thanked Finn, propping Elsie up on her shoulder.

    "Yeah, of course." He nodded. "If you can get ahold of her phone, text me when she's in bed?"

    "Yeah, I will." Yarah nodded. "Goodnight Finn, it was nice meeting you."

    "You too." He nodded, starting to take off down the hall.

    Yarah shut the door with her foot as she helped her friend to the couch. She sat her down and helped her out of her boots. "Did you have fun tonight?"

    "Yeah, I did." Elsie nodded with a drunken grin on her face. "I'm glad you came with us."

    "Me too," Yarah said matter-of-factly as her friend began wrapping herself in a blanket. "Do you want me to stay the night? I can make you dinner really quick if you want."

    "You would?" Elsie looked like she was about to cry. "Thank you so much you're the best friend in the whole world."

    "I know." Yarah chuckled. "Will you be okay to take a shower?"

    "Uh-huh." Elsie nodded, standing up. She had slowly, but surely made her way to her bathroom and managed to strip off all of her clothes. Maybe she shouldn't have taken so many shots.

wc: 1282