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twenty-one

"You're drunk!" I giggled, pointing at Polly.

"No, no I'm not, s'fine!" she waved a hand at me, her words slurring together as she picked up her empty glass and looked at it in confusion. "Where'd my drink go?!"

"You drank it!" I squeaked, trying to catch my breath from laughing so much. "Oh my God I'm going to go to Hell for getting you drunk!" I gasped, my eyes widening and my hands covering my mouth. Okay, perhaps I was a tiny bit drunk, too. "I can't believe I got you drunk, Pol! You're like God's favourite person and now you're friends with vodka and he'll hate me!"

"Pretty sure if you're going to Hell for anything, it'll be for screwing Harry," she grinned at me and I shushed her, quickly looking round and asking her how she knew that. "I heard you on the phone to him the other day and you sounded all suspicious, then when Sophie called I heard you talking about it with her, too. If you don't want anyone to know you should be quieter about it, Cassie. You're like Dick Dastardly... and Harry's Muttley!"

"And you're drunk, no more vodka for you!" I snorted. We were out with a few people from university to celebrate – well, nothing, really. I mean, one the girls we were with got engaged but that was like a month ago and we were just using it as an excuse to get drunk. Hey, we're students. It's what we do!

"And it's not the first time I've been drunk, nor will it be the last, now give me more vodkaaa!" she whined, gesturing towards the bar.

"Tell you what Pol, if you can stand up and make it to the bar without falling over, I'll buy you an entire bottle of vodka," I raised an eyebrow. Polly frowned, determination on her face as she stood up from her chair, before giggling and falling back down into it. "See? No more vodka!"

"Oooh!" she giggled, looking past me and wiggling her eyebrows. "HEY SEXY!" she hollered.

"Polly!" I hissed, my eyes widening. I turned round to see who she'd yelled at and smiled when I saw Louis chuckling at her. "Hey, Lou!"

"How much has she had to drink?" he smirked, eyeing Polly in amusement and throwing an arm over my shoulder.

"Too much," I replied at the same time Polly answered with 'not enough'. "Clearly, she's making up for lost time. What are you doing here anyway? How did you know I'd be here?"

"I didn't," he shrugged his shoulders. "I'm actually meeting Gemma here."

"Gemma...?" I trailed off. "Gemma Styles? Why are meeting Gemma, what's she here for?"

"To surprise Harry. He's been a bit down lately so I thought a visit from her might cheer him up! She's staying here for a couple of days and coming to the charity concert tomorrow."

"If Harry's sad, get him a stripper. He seems like the kind of boy who'd be happy with a naked lady."

"...You know Harry pretty well then, Polly," Louis grinned at her and pulled a face at me. "Exactly how much has she had to drink...?"

"I'd say, roughly, about a bottle of vodka."

"Huh. Well she should drink more often, I like drunk Polly. Drunk Polly isn't mean to me like sober Polly is."

"Sober Polly," Polly scoffed. "Is the Polly who remembers having to comfort a crying Cassidy everytime you upset her. Drunk Polly embraces her crush on Niall, therefore not caring about the LouCass saga."

"Ohmygod," I scoffed. "I knew you had a crush on Niall!"

"IT'S THE EYES, ALRIGHT?!" she yelled, throwing her hands in the air. "They're just so there on his adorable little face and they're so blue and ungh. I'm a virgin, y'know, but I'd let Niall do things to me."