Demons (An AU Nathan Gardner Story)

 Friday night in early, unseasonably warm October. There were high school football games being played, couples on dates, husbands and wives playing with their children...but Nathan Gardner was seated at a bar, his second scotch in hand. This wasn't Nathan's usual haunt, but he had stupidly agreed to go out with a couple of casual friends and this was where the night led him. They told him he needed to "get out there" – he hated that phrase – as well as celebrate getting his old job back. Steven and Jeff were actually out on the small dance floor trying desperately to flirt with a group of women. Nathan just shook his head and looked back down into his glass.

He tried so hard to stop drinking after the fiasco with Charlie, but he was weak. With his ex-wife still riding his back and the superintendent unhappy about his reinstatement as a teacher, he wasn't in the mood to try and "fix himself." He had just set the empty tumbler down when he heard the barstool next to him move. He sighed, hoping it wasn't some chatty creeper who struck out with the women present in the bar.

"Tequila," a voice, very much not male, said, "coconut if you have it...and pineapple juice."

"In it?" the bartender asked.

"Nah, chaser. I know, it's girly." After a moment Nathan, who was only looking at the wooden bar top, saw two shot glasses placed next to him. "Thank you," the woman said. He watched her manicured hand lift the glass with the tequila, then the one with the pineapple juice. She all but slammed them down when she was finished. "Well, that's a start," she said to herself.

Nathan looked up at her, curiosity getting the best of him. He began to wish for the chatty creeper. The woman was brunette with dark eyes and berry stained lips. She had heavy bangs, a neat ponytail, and was clearly going for some type of dramatic look with her dark smoky eye makeup. Early thirties he guessed...and she realized he was looking at her.

"Are you going to say something or just keep looking?" she asked, somewhat amused.

"Ah, sorry," he stammered. "Didn't mean...sorry." He waved for the bartender. "Same."

"Amaretto sour," she said quickly, not wanting the bartender to leave without getting her something else. They were served at the same time and when she took her drink she looked at Nathan. "Bye." He tried not to, but he watched as she walked away. She was in a version of the cliched "little black dress", a generously low cut one that hugged her curves, and black heels.

The establishment wasn't the small, quiet bar Nathan was used to, but it wasn't like one of the downtown clubs either; it fell somewhere in between. It was crowded and loud, people were dancing and carrying on, but Nathan was able to keep to himself - especially since his so-called "friends" had forgotten about him. As long as he could drink, he was fine.

An hour passed and the woman once again wound up beside him. "If you're not going to move from this stool, you're doing a shot with me."

"Uh, no, I'm good," Nathan said, completely avoiding eye contact with her.

She pushed herself into his line of sight, wanting to get a better look at him in the dim light. "I don't think so," she said, obviously tipsy. "Two...cherry tootsie pops!" she said, holding her hand up in the air. A minute or so later, there was a shot in front of each of them. "When a woman buys you a drink, it's only polite to take it." She nudged the shot glass closer to him and he took it, albeit reluctantly. She smiled at him and he felt the corner of his mouth twitch upwards...this caused her to smile wider. "That's what I thought." She held up her glass and he clinked his own against it. "To a less lonely night," she said with a wink. They both downed the shot and put their glasses down.

"That actually tasted like..."

"Like being a kid, right?" She put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm Sydney. Dance with me."