A Coalition Story

Day Drinking: A Bad Idea

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Ravyn was drunk. She'd stopped drinking hours ago and was now focusing on water (even self-destructive Ravyn didn't want a hangover), but she was still drunk. Drunk enough to make her way to Lev's room (which was also Torin's, and Ravyn didn't particularly want to see him, but he had a training session today, so she was fine) to confess her feelings. It was about time he knew, and it was about time he chose her over Alice. Ravyn had already lost everybody else important in her life. This was a last, desperate claw at the closest thing she had to a romantic relationship she had. Not that she'd even slept with Lev since before Halloween. Almost four months without him.

Ravyn reached his dorm and knocked on the door. Was this a bad idea? Definitely. Was there a chance Alice was with Lev? Also definitely. Did Ravyn care about either of those factors at all? Definitely not.

"What are you doing here?" he asked upon opening the door. A scowl disguised his handsome face, but even when upset he was beyond sexy.

"I'm here to see you." Ravyn smiled up at him flirtily, a move that had worked a hundred times before. She placed a hand against Lev's chest, but he brushed her off.

"I'm not interested in sex right now, Ravyn. I have a girlfriend." His stony tone was serious, but that didn't mean that drunk Ravyn was going to take it that way.

"And when has having a girlfriend stopped you in the past?" she giggled, stepping in closer. Lev continued glowering at her.

"It's different this time," he hissed.

"That's what they all say, but it's never different. C'mon, I know goody two shoes Alice hasn't satisfied your needs, so why not let me?" She came even closer, practically standing on his feet now. But Lev didn't reach out for her like she wanted him to. Was he really not interested?

"What do you want, Ravyn? You're drunk. You're at my door. And you're not leaving even though I've made it clear I'm not interested in screwing you anymore."

Her brows furrowed with fury. He didn't want her? Seriously? She was so much more his type than Alice! Maybe she'd just have to tell him why she'd really come.

"I want you as more than a hookup! I like you, Lev, a lot. And I can't see why you're picking Alice over me." Ravyn's answer may have been petulant, but Lev's chuckle felt even more so. This only worsened her anger.

"All you will ever be to me is an easy screw." His reply, nonchalant and apathetic, made Ravyn's heart race with fury. No! No! He was not allowed to leave her, too!

"I'm not an easy screw!"

"You throw yourself at me again and again. That's what makes you so easy." Lev leaned in closer, arm raised against the doorframe. She could smell his too-familiar cologne, except this time it didn't whisk her away with fantasies of a relationship. It only angered her more. So Ravyn, drunk and ripe with fury, did the only thing that she felt could express how she felt: She pushed him. Hard. Clearly, he hadn't seen it coming, because he stepped back. Except now she could see just how angry Lev was now. His light eyes, now as black as midnight, glared at her with the hatred she recognized from her father's eyes whenever he looked at her. Hesitantly, she stepped back, but Lev had grabbed hold of her waist before she could get away.

His tight grip was going to leave bruises. Ravyn grunted in pain, but as she struggled to get loose, his grip only tightened. So much for loving those hands and their strong grip on her before.

"You think you can take me, Ravyn? Do you want to go down that path? Your friends can't protect you from everyone you cross. Neither can your father. So do us both a favor: never touch me like that again and maybe I'll be kind enough to leave you alone." Lev pulled Ravyn close, hissing the words with a thick accent in her ear. She had given up on trying to free herself, but Lev dropped his grip, and she nearly fell.

"I hope you die," she spat out, but this terrified her. Her heart wasn't angry anymore so much as it was scared. But still, it raced.

Lev chuckled, and slammed his door shut, leaving a drunk and injured Ravyn to stumble home alone.