Billiards and Boundaries

three: the pool party

"Wake up, loser, we're going to a party."

Blair opened her eyes to Charlene flicking her bedside lamp on.

"Huh?"

Char was already dressed and ready to walk out the door — her makeup done and everything. She flung the duvet off of her best friend and smiled jubilantly. "We're going to a pool party."

Blair sat up and stretched, squinting as Char opened the blinds to let in the daylight. "Who's throwing a pool party?"

"Harry," Char replied with a wink.

Blair had told her roommate about the kiss with Harry the first thing the next morning after her shift, and Char was all excited about it, even though she knew of Harry's reputation. But she thought Blair could be the one to break him of his bad habits. Blair wasn't sure she even wanted that though. She didn't know what she wanted with Harry, if anything.

It was Sunday, not even a full 48 hours since Blair's kiss with Harry. She had no idea how she would act around Harry if she decided to go to this party.

"Niall invited me, you know," Char informed Blair.

Blair's eyebrows perked up as she grabbed a hairbrush from her nightstand. "You mean, like, as his date?"

"Yep."

Blair began running the bristles through her strands thoughtfully before responding. "What about Sabrina? Will she be there?"

"No." Char shook her head back and forth. "I actually talked to her at my shift last night, before Niall had even approached me."

"And?"

Char sat on Blair's bed and tried not to laugh as her friend tried to tug a particularly difficult knot out of her hair. "And...we decided we're just going to stay friends. She's happy being single."

"So how did the conversation go with Niall, then?"

Char leaned onto her hand, tilting her head with a smile. "I had told him what Sabrina and I talked about and he was basically just like, 'Well, now that I know there's nothing going on there, what do you think about me taking you out?'"

"Damn, he's bold." Blair giggled as she checked her phone for any notifications.

"I know!" Charlotte squealed. "I was surprised, honestly. But Niall is cute and super sweet so I thought why not? Then he told me about the party Harry was having today."

Blair's shoulders stiffened at the sound of his name. She had forgotten about Harry for those few moments she was fonding over her best friend's giddiness.

"Char...I don't know if I can face Harry this soon. If I see him, and especially if I have alcohol, I will have sex with him. I won't be able to help it. He's just..."

"Do you not want to have sex with him?" Char asked as she lay down on her back, kicking her flip flops off and placing her feet at the edge of the bed.

"I mean, I do," Blair admitted as her cheeks turned pink. "And it's not like I'm looking for a relationship or anything serious, but I also don't want to be one of those girls to him, you know what I mean?"

Char looked contemplative as she examined her freshly painted nails. "Yeah, I do. Tell you what — let's just go, have some drinks, get some sun and relax. You need to have some fun. If something happens with you and Harry, you figure it out later. What's the worst that can happen besides getting some good dick?"

************

Blair was already annoyed.

Her swimsuit bottoms were riding up her bum beneath her cotton shorts, the leather seats of Niall's car not helping the matter. Niall had his music playing too loudly for her liking, and her tummy was growling because had been too nervous to eat anything more than a cereal bar before they left.