"do i have to?" salem whined. "my toes are killing me." she looked down at her heels, wiggling her toes to test if she could still feel them.
ian smirked, "ask ciarán to carry you."
salem scoffed, "no thanks. i'm gonna go look for tavia." and with that, she walked away.
"do you wanna head to the boys' place?" tavia asked once she had spotted salem.
she hesitated before responding. "it's up to you."
"i guess we're going to the boys' house then." tavia shrugged.
thinking back to what ian said, salem thought: i should probably take this opportunity to talk to ciarán.
with every step she took, salem mentally said 'ow.'
she let out a sigh of relief when she got into the passenger seat, finally getting to rest her feet. her achy feet combined with her tipsiness was a recipe for disaster, so she had to be extra cautious. luckily for her, the ride back to the boys' house was half an hour.
they were the last to arrive, because the driveway was already filled with everyone else's cars by the time they got there.
salem stepped out of the car, and a wave of pain rushed over her feet as they hit the ground. she clenched her jaw, and continued to ignore the pain.
on the front porch, she could see the silhouette of someone sitting on a porch swing. salem could tell they had a cigarette in their hand, because she could see the end of it burning.
"go talk to ciarán." tavia whispered to salem before scurrying off into the house.
she approached the figure slowly, not knowing how he'd react.
"hi, ciarán." she said softly, standing awkwardly by the porch swing.
ciarán took a drag of his cigarette before responding. "hey." was all he said.
"i really appreciate what you did for me back at the restaurant. you really didn't have to do that."
he shrugged, "i wanted to. she needed to be put in her place anyway." he finally looked up at her. there was an inadvertent sharp intake of breath; fortunately for him, salem didn't hear it. "come sit; you've had a lot of wine and you're swaying. your feet must hurt like hell too."
salem blushed, but the darkness of the evening hid it. it was hard for her to contain her smile as she sat down next to him. he put out his cigarette, stomping on it.
"we need to talk about ryan." salem stated, which caused ciarán to let out a groan.
he rolled his eyes, "why can't we just not talk about him?"
"because he's the reason why you're even mad at me."
"i'm not mad anymore." he said, which caused salem to give him a really? look. he put his hands up in defense, "i'm not! just don't bring him up and we'll be fine."
salem sighed, "ciarán, i don't wanna avoid talking about what happened between us. i know you don't like him, but i just want to know what got you so pissed in the first place." she crossed her arms, feeling a sudden cool breeze. she stared at him longingly, waiting for him to say something.
ciarán chewed on his bottom lip, "i admit i was jealous." he finally said, which caused salem's eyes to widen.
"jealous?" she asked in disbelief.
he didn't dare to make eye contact with her, "i thought you were leading me on, i thought you were just using me to get over him," he swallowed dryly before finishing, "or even worse: using me to get him back."
she had felt tipsy before, but now she suddenly felt sober. she took his hand, and he finally looked up at her. she shook her head, "ciarán, me and ryan's texts mean nothing." she assured him, putting her hand over his.
"i wasn't using you," she paused before continuing. "i'm not using you. i'm completely over ryan." maybe it was the wine that was affecting her actions, because she seemed to be getting closer to ciarán without realizing it. it seemed to give her a sudden boldness. "i want you." she whispered.
this was enough to finally break ciarán. "fuck." he said under his breath, before pressing his lips against her's.
salem let out a noise of satisfaction, and she kissed back with just as much desire. she ignored the smell of cigarette smoke on his lips, craving nothing but the sensation of his lips against her's.
that was, until ciarán tasted the wine on her lips. he pulled away, looking at her with sorrow. "i shouldn't have done that." he said, standing up.
salem's brows furrowed, searching his face to figure out what she had done wrong. she tried standing up too, but she had stood up too fast and her wobbling legs couldn't support her weight.
ciarán caught her before she fell, "you okay?"
"i'm fine." she said, her voice beginning to tremble slightly.
"you're not thinking straight. i'll go tell tavia to take you home." he helped her sit back down, and was about to go inside, but she wouldn't let go of his arm.
"don't. i wanna stay." her voice cracked.
"i think it'd be better for the both of us if you just went home." he said solemnly.
his words stung, and she could feel her heart sink down to her stomach. she roughly let go of his arm, "fine."
as he went inside, the first tear ran down her cheek. the wine was causing her to experience extreme mood swings, and all she wanted was her source of comfort to come back.
but he wasn't within her reach, and his unwillingness to listen to her only seemed to grow.
