Hearts Quick to Burn

VII.

I drank alcohol. A lot of alcohol. I ended up drunk. I went back to my place with Henley – actually, he helped me go back home. I thought he was angry that I was so drunk, but I didn't really remember. I only remembered the feeling of his hands around my waist to force me to lie down on my bed. Then he left. And I remembered thinking of Lizzy – I fell asleep with the old memories of her soft touch along my body. I was too drunk to remember it was insane to be nostalgic.

...

I woke up to the ringtone of my phone, it was a call from Lana. When I sat up to take my phone in my hand and answer the call, my head turned and I realized I was half naked. Though I didn't remember taking my dress off.

"Hi, Lana?" I asked with a trembling voice as I picked up the phone.

"Can we meet to talk about what happened last night?" she asked me directly, going straight to the reason she was calling me.

"What happened last night?"

"Oh, you don't remember? I'll see you tomorrow, I feel like you're having a big hangover."

I hummed in response to say that indeed, what she was saying was hundred percent true. That made her laugh. I closed my eyes for a second, feeling too dizzy.

"See you tomorrow, Liz..." I murmured. For once, I didn't call her like that on purpose. It was just because I might've had thought too much about Lizzy Grant while I was under the effects of alcohol.

"See you Grace."

...

I joined Lana at the adress she sent me, a little late. I knocked at her door, and she opened immediately – she was probably already waiting for me. I smiled to her and stepped inside the house. She murmured a little 'hi'.

"You okay, Lana?" I asked her calmly, ignoring the fact that 'something happened' two days ago, and I forgot it because of the drinks.

"I'd be better if I had an explanation, but you don't remember what you did," she replied with a mocking smile. "And you, are you okay?"

"I'd be better if I knew what I had done," I imitated her mocking expression and she looked down at me intensely in a way I knew a little too well – a way that stirs every cell in my body and makes my heart boil, torn between several ideas. I sent her a sly smile.

"Grace." Her tone was cold, like when she was lecturing me, but this time it was much more serious. I could see her lips hesitate for a second. She opened her mouth, closed it again. She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, but it fell back onto her face and she sighed at my incomprehension.

"Yeah, Lana?"

She glared at me, probably thinking my tone was a little too relaxed. But it wasn't my fault if I liked watching her fumble around in front of me. I loved the way her eyes searched for a solution to how to answer me.

She sighed a last time before telling me.

"You were with Henley last night, before leaving. You were pretty drunk. You drank a lot while he was with his friends and I wasn't with you on the balcony anymore. But before you left, I caught your eyes and..."

She stopped talking mid story. I raised an eyebrow at her, but she avoided me. After a few seconds, she finally decided to finish.

"You rushed at me and kissed me in front of everyone. Then you left."