Serendipity (A Larina Fanfiction)

A Chance Encounter

The sharp sting of vodka as it went down her throat, though strong, did little to faze her. She relished the pain instead, and took another drink. After all, she couldn't be made to feel more shitty than she was feeling now.

She wanted to feel numb, wanted to feel drunken bliss. Running thin fingers through her messy mop of auburn hair, Elizabeth 'Lizzy' Grant wiped her ruined mascara off her cheek, and she was pretty sure she looked just as bad as she felt, if not worse. Huh, in the movies, love is always described as something wonderful, something beautiful. Figures that it's just a pile of bullshit in real life. She could feel herself getting a little tipsy. Good, hopefully I'll only need a couple more to completely get myself shitfaced.

She wanted to get rid of the sharp pang she felt in her heart, even if just temporarily. After dating for a year, her boyfriend had broken things off without warning. He had told her that he had been cheating for most of the time they had been dating, and that the guilt had been eating him alive, so he decided to end things before they got out of hand.

Lizzy proceeded to slap the absolute shit out of him, spill her red wine on his white dress shirt, and storm out of his apartment, trying to keep her composure and hold in the tears in her eyes until she got home and cried and cried before taking a nap. When she cried her eyes until they were absolutely drained of water, she sat on her bed and thought back to the times he would be home late, when he would say he didn't feel well whenever she wanted to go out, when he would say she was the only girl for him... Fuck. I need more vodka.

She did not move in the slightest when the sound of a bell reverberated throughout the bar, signaling that someone had come in. Elizabeth stayed still when that certain someone sat a stool away from her, and ordered a shot of tequila. She just kept looking down and remained in her dark thoughts.

It was after a while that she noticed that someone was tapping her shoulder, and she looked up, looking into the face of a young woman. Her face was one of concern. "Hey, you okay? You look like you just saw an abandoned puppy." Lizzy did raise an eyebrow at that, but sighed, and shook her head. "Mind me asking what's up?" She frowned, a bit hesitant to tell what happened to a complete stranger. "Hey, you don't have to tell me anything if you're uncomfortable. It's better to let it all out than keep it all in though. And if you're worried about me telling someone, don't worry because I plan on getting completely wasted, so I'll probably forget all of this tomorrow morning. Name's Marina, by the way."

After a few more moments of pondering, Elizabeth relented. "Had a rough breakup. Been dating the bastard for a year and I found out he was cheating on m-"

"Ugh! What a dick!" She remained silent and a little startled at... er, Marina's outburst. "Sorry, if it's one thing I can't stand, it's cheating. If you can't keep it in your pants, then you might as well not be in a relationship at all. I've been through enough of that myself, so I know how crappy it feels." Marina moved to sit in the bar stool right next to where she was, her face seething with fury.

The auburn haired woman laughed bitterly. "It feels pretty shit alright."

"Hey, you're not gonna let a fucking guy get you down like this, are you?" Marina scoffed at the other woman incredulously. "Come on, there's other, much better ways to cope after a break up; like... hm, eating some ice cream, watching some movies with your best friends and a big fluffy blanket wrapped around you and your favorite teddy bear at your side, ordering some pizza, speaking of which, I could so go for some right now... Anyway, getting your self piss drunk is pathetic."

Lizzy rolled her eyes and frowned. "Isn't that what you're doing, though?" She watched as Marina had the bartender pour her another shot of tequila.

"Pfft, yeah but I'm getting drunk because I want to. For fun; not because of some arsehole. Why give him the satisfaction of making you feel like this? I'm not saying that you can't be sad. I've always had the worst fucking luck when it comes to love, haha," She drinks her shot quickly, turning to the woman next to her as she laughs. "Besides, you're probably gonna regret this in the morning, when you wake up to a pounding headache, darling. Might as well have a hangover from drinking just to get drunk and have fun than drinking because you're sad, am I right?"

Lizzy didn't respond, and merely chose to stare at the laughing woman. Now that she focused her gaze on her, she could see what she looked like. She was very, very pretty- no, scratch that, she was gorgeous. Her features were beautifully exotic and the adorable accent was an added bonus. She's right though. However, despite Marina's straight-forwardness, Lizzy did see reason in what she was saying.

"Hey, I know we just met and all, but you seem like a cool gal; plus, you were able to stand me for more than a few minutes," She laughed again, and it took a second for Lizzy to realize that she was chuckling along with her. "I would really like to maybe get to know you better? And maybe also talk again sometime? ...Even though I did most of the talking. Sorry about that, by the way." Marina put her hands in the pockets of the ridiculous, but endearingly so, oversized bright blue jacket she was wearing. The jacket might have been ridiculous, but she made it look very good.

Lizzy shook her head, moving her half full shot of vodka away and turning so she was facing Marina more. "No, I don't mind. I'm not usually much of a talkative person anyway. Shit, this may sound strange, but I sort of... like hearing you talk?" Marina just smiled, shrugging her shoulders.

"Don't sweat it! First I've heard that though. I think I talk too much sometimes."

"Not at all." She was so bright and full of life; it was amusing to watch her face change into a myriad of expressions as she talked. "I don't think you talk too much. I think I'm way too quiet, haha."

"You're pretty rad, you know? Oh, and if we do become friends or some shit, you can totally come over my place and eat pizza or ice cream and hang out if you ever go through another one of these."

Lizzy was feeling a little self conscious as she once again thought about how shit she must be looking right now, compared to her. "You're gorgeous," She blurted out, and immediately put her hand on her mouth, eyes wide as saucers. Marina's eyes also widen slightly, before she started to chuckle hysterically.

"That's literally what I was thinking about you right now, to be honest," Marina picked up the tiny glass of tequila, swaying the liquid around. "Now that we both established that we're gorgeous, independent women who don't need no men, would you like to become my drinking buddy for the evening? My friend Derek was supposed to meet up with me here, but he told me that something came up and I kinda wanna keep talking to you. That is, if you don't mind."

Lizzy smiled for the first time that evening, and took another drink of vodka, this time for fun, not to drink away her misery. She actually felt a little better; a lot better compared to how she was feeling at the beginning of the evening. "Sure. I'd love to, Marina."

"Awesome! Um, let's see... Oh, oh! What's your name? I honestly can't believe I forgot to ask you that!"

"My name is Elizabeth, but you can call me Lizzy."