Motough Prompts

Breaking the Rules

Author's Note: Hi! :) Here's a new one-shot! :) Vote, comment, please! :) (If you like it! :) ) I love reviews :) This takes place 3 years (or so) after Season 19's finale :) "Breaking The Rules"
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It was late, a Tuesday night, the weather abnormally muggy for the early spring season.

He was there, at the local bar, a hole in the wall with not much to its name, knocking back his third beer, the conversation uninteresting.

She was there, surrounded by a gaggle of girls, nursing a fruity drink of sorts and seeming carefree. Her laughter permeated the air more so than the alcohol, and her perfume, a sugary aroma, dramatically overpowered the frowziness of the room, having consensual sex with his olfactory senses. 

The tight dress she wore, and the soft curls that framed her face, made her look womanly, different, though in a good way, than the last time he'd seen her.

From across the room, and even in the darkness of the dimmed lights, he could see the rouge that colored  her cheeks, but would never think less of her for it, for drinking a little too much, for having fun.

He had to remember that she wasn't the newly-turned adult any longer, but that she had experience now, able to hold her liquor and make informed decisions, to look out for herself in a scene such as this - where, for women, one wrong move likely means going home with a stranger, possibly ending up pregnant and alone.

In saying that, he had faith in her, always has, but what he didn't have, was faith in himself - he didn't believe that he had the courage it took to approach her, to talk to her, as if it hasn't been three years.
.......
"Oh my god, I can't believe you would do that! On a dare!? You little rebel, you!"

It was almost two AM, and though she was tired, could feel herself  beginning to lose the stamina that had kept her going since eleven, that wasn't the only reason she found it difficult to carry on a conversation.

In sport of the occasion, she wanted to have a good time, or at least appear to be having one; however, it was becoming increasingly effortful to come up with little tidbits to discuss that seemed free flowing, so she settled for laughing every so often, hoping it seemed genuine, and not factious. 

She was distracted, point blank, and she was sure it was looking more and more obvious by the second.

Her gazes kept drifting, her stare holding too long in that direction, and at the man who sat two tables away, drinking the foam from his beer just put down.

He looked the same, just older, with a stubbly face, and soft wrinkles under his eyes to clearly mark the passage of time. 

His hair was shaggy, something of his physical appearance she wasn't used to seeing; she knew him when it was combed and gelled back, and while this style change wasn't unwelcome, she couldn't help but feel that it was an attempt to look younger, or a shallow guise to pick up girls of the younger demographic. 

"Beth? Hello? You with us? Bethany, hey."

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, Bethany turned her attention back to her friends, those whom were giving her looks, some concerned, others suspicious.

"Oh! Um...sorry Hail. I feel terrible. We're out to celebrate you and your marriage and it's like I'm not even here. What did you say?"

Hailey smirked, shaking her head with a knowing grin. She pulled her dark hair from its topknot, allowing it to fall free along her shoulders and then focussed again on Bethany.

"Nothing, we just noticed that you were totally checking out that guy. It's almost like you know him or something, do you?"

"I...uh..." She realized then, that the bar was horribly lit, and there was a chance that her friends, having not formally met Derek before, didn't recognize him.