safe | l.h.

eight

"baby, all the lights came up to illuminate the room, blinded me, i shut my eyes to see an imprint there of you" - Half-Light / Rostam

---

-Luke-

Just as I was about to walk into the bar, Violet grabbed my arm to stop me, "Wait, are you sure there isn't anything else you want to do? Like literally anything?"

I shook my head, chuckling, "Nope. A deal's a deal, you agreed to this. I won our bet fair and square."

Violet frowned, crossing her arms over her chest, "I don't really know if fair is the word that I would use."

Instead of arguing anymore, I just dragged her into the bar, leading us over to an empty table. We were lucky to find one, because trivia nights were pretty popular. Surprisingly, people didn't really have anything better to do on a Friday night. 

I caught a glimpse of the couple sitting at the table next to us and sighed. I had tried to be inconspicuous, but Violet noticed anyway, "What? Do you know them?"

I nodded slowly, "Yeah, Jerry and Vanessa. They're nice enough, but they almost always win. I've gotten close to beating them before with Darren, that guy I work with who comes here with me. But they always manage to pull ahead of us."

As if they could sense we were talking about them, the two looked over and waved, and I gave them a small, friendly nod in return. Violet, however, narrowed her eyes at them, "Well, you have me as a partner now. Even if I don't want to do this, I won't let you down."

I smiled and gave her a quick kiss, standing up from my seat, "I'm going to grab a drink. Want anything?"

Violet just sighed, "Well, ginger ale is fine I guess."

I nodded and went over to the bar, grabbing the soda for Violet and a beer for myself. When I got back over to the table, Violet was looking down at her stomach with an unreadable look on her face. I set our drinks down, catching her attention again, "What's going on in that pretty little head of yours? You've been a little off all week."

She looked over at me and shook her head, taking slow sips of her drink, "Just exhausted, I've been trying to work as much as possible to make up for any potential lost time. And a little stressed, I guess."

I let my arm fall around her shoulder, "Well, I hope tonight is a little less stressful for you. No one else really takes this trivia thing all that seriously. We can just have a chill night and enjoy ourselves."

Violet furrowed her eyebrows, "No, if you want to win, I can try and help. I want to help."

I smiled, giving her hand a gentle squeeze, "Alright, let's do it."

The announcer tapped on the microphone, getting everyone's attention. He explained the rules, as he always did, and passed little bells around to the tables that were participating. Violet was sitting back in her seat, seeming like she was already getting bored.

The announcer cleared his throat once everyone was ready, "All right, first question: In what year did the Cold War officially end?"

Violet looked at me, rolling her eyes, "Seriously? Who can remember that off the top of their head?"

Jerry hit his bell, "It was 1989!"

"That is correct! One point for Jerry and Vanessa." 

I took a sip of my beer, sighing, "Well, better luck next week I guess."

Violet sat up, looking much more attentive than she had before, "No, no. You're not giving up already. We can do this, we're a good team."

I just shrugged, "Okay, whatever you say."