Fireheart [Fanfiction - Alternate Universe]

A 'thanks' would do

[Header image of Lysandra Caraverre]

The dance floor was still packed, the same as it had been since the start of the night. People came and went, but the crowd never diminished. Sam had been dancing to the side of the room for a while, trying to talk with as many people as possible while keeping an eye on Celaena. He hadn't been surprised when he saw her walking up the marble stairs, and had made sure to start a counter on his wristwatch.

It was sitting on eleven minutes when Sam started to get fidgety and walked closer to the stairs' landing while dancing with a girl called Ansel. She was so incredibly full of energy; Sam was almost struggling to keep up.

"This party is lit!" The girl said as she raised her arms in the air and started spinning around in circles.

Sam used the distraction to leave the girl behind and move closer to the stair, casually lingering around the landing while fake sipping from an empty plastic cup. By the twelfth minute Chaol Westfall, the one he had learned to be Dorian's best friend, headed up the stairs. He waited until the guy was almost to the top before he rushed up on silent feet. The staircase ended up in a long hallway stretching to the right, and a dead-end to the left. Sam peeked through the corner, watching Chaol walk halfway across the hallway and stop in front of a door. His hand sat on the knob for a moment before he looked to the side, towards the end of the hall, and kept walking.

"For fucks sake," Sam murmured under his breath.

He tiptoed the first half of the hallway and once he was there, Chaol's hand on the knob of the last door, he purposely tripped with the carpet and cursed out loud. Chaol almost jumped up as he turned around, his brows tightly knit together.

"What are you doing here?" The student president asked in a stern voice.

"So- So sorry, mate," Sam half slurred. "They-Someone... told me there was a- agh- toilet up here," he finished as he scratched the back of his neck, holding himself against the wall with one hand.

"You shouldn't be up here," Chaol said as he walked towards him. "There's a bathroom downstairs you can use."

"There was a - agh - really long - que... queue," he finished as he stretched an arm and rested it on Chaol's shoulder for extra support. "I'm really... busting."

"Come here, I'll show you the way to the secret bathroom out back, Dorian will kill you if you puke up here," he continued. "He will get the place professionally cleaned up before his father is back in town, but still, he hates when people sneak up." Chaol kept talking almost to himself as he walked Sam down the hall and towards the stairs.

Sam looked back just in time to see Celaena peeking through the door before they turned the corner.

"You owe me," he said under his breath, low enough for his voice to be lost under the music that was already reaching them from below.

***

All everybody was talking about on Monday morning was how amazing Dorian's party had been. But all Sam could think about, was how close of a call it had been. He was sure Celaena had a plan B and could have gotten out of it, but any kind of suspicion could have ruined her plan. They were lucky no one had found anything out, and Celaena had shown back in the middle of the dance floor minutes later, dancing around as if she had never left.

He hadn't told Arobynn about the incident, he was too scared he would have scolded Celaena for being careless and almost getting caught. He was risking his neck by keeping that information to himself, but it was worth the risk. And obviously, Celaena hadn't thanked him for the help. She hadn't even spoken a word to him since the party.