A Burning Thing {Avi Kaplan fanfic}

-19-

Dinner was incredible, and with Mina’s help interpreting the menu, we gorged ourselves on authentic Korean cuisine. I would have been happy to turn in for the night but naturally everyone else was hyper and excited to try the nightclub Mina recommended. Kevin wasn’t always a nightclub guy, but it was pretty obvious the others were right – it looked as though he would have followed Mina into a lion’s den if she’d suggested it.

We’d barely made it through the door before half our group – Ellie among them – went shrieking over to join the massive crowd on the dance floor. I went with the remaining (sane) people to secure a few tables and order drinks for everyone.

Watching Ellie dance in her skin-tight skirt was definitely not the worst way to spend an evening. I would have gladly nursed my scotch and let her do all of the work, but after a few songs she grabbed my hand and pulled me onto the dance floor. Apparently the girls had taken a few dance breaks to down shots because she was more than a little tipsy. All of her usual modesty had gone completely out the window and she was rubbing against me as though we were the only ones in the room.

“If you keep this up, I’m going to have to take you home soon,” I said, somewhat breathlessly.

“I don’t know,” she said into my ear (shouted, really, given the volume in the room), “it’s pretty crowded … I don’t think anyone will notice.” She ran her hand down my chest, past my belt and over the growing pressure under my zipper.

“Whoa! Time for a break!” I leaped away, my face reddening, and steered her out onto the patio where the air was cooler. I ordered us each a bottle of water as we sat on a small sofa with a beautiful view of the city. We were both quiet for a while as we cooled off and waited for the ringing in our ears to subside.

“I’m sorry if I embarrassed you, I was just caught up in the moment,” Ellie said, placing a warm hand on my arm.

“That’s okay. I didn’t entirely mind, but I definitely wasn’t planning to put on a show for my friends.”

“Ugghh!” she groaned, dropping her head into her hands. “Or your sister! I think I better keep drinking, I’m starting to sober up and I don’t really wanna remember that!”

I laughed and pulled her closer. “I’m pretty sure Esther was nowhere near us, and even if she was, she's had just as many drinks as you.”

“Well, that’s a relief. I don’t want to make her think I’m even more useless than she already does.”

“She does NOT think you’re useless. If anything, I think she’s afraid that you’re too amazing, and I’m going to throw everything away to become a househusband so I never need to leave you again.”

Ellie sat up straighter, trying to focus on my face.

“Are you serious? She doesn’t think that’s what I want, does she? Because I would NEVER …”

“No no, it’s not you. In fact, I don’t think it’s just me either. Have you noticed how much Kirstie’s been complaining about being away from Jeremy? I overheard her talking to Esther on the plane, and Esther was giving her a pep talk about not being so mopey on Twitter – she’s afraid it’s giving the fans the wrong impression when she spends so much time talking about missing home and Jeremy. And now there’s us, and I think she’s afraid that if too many of the Pentatonix get into serious relationships, pretty soon there won’t BE a Pentatonix.”

Ellie fiddled with my ring for a few moments, looking thoughtful. “Well, I guess eventually that’s going to happen, right? I know Kirstie wants kids some day, and I can’t imagine she’s going to want to be away from home so much.” She paused again, then asked: “What about you, Avi? How DO you see your future?”