AFTER DARK | Johan Liebert

Chapter 27: So many years ago

Content warning: sexual content (16+)

(Does "Erik" count as a content warning?)

June, 1995

The music was blasting through the boxes as we danced and drank through the night. I was standing next to Gabi and we raised our glasses. "To us!", shouted Gabi, grinning. "The prettiest chicks in this room!" I laughed, taking a sip of my drink. "We'll be so dead tomorrow." "I don't care!" Gabi moved to the rhythm of the music, making the boys stare at her. "I'm gonna skip the lectures on Monday. And tonight, we're princesses anyway! Where's your Prince Charming, by the way?" I pointed behind me. "He went somewhere with the boys."

Gabi leaned towards me, speaking more quietly. "Klara, you should've warned me about your boyfriend. He's so handsome!" "I know", I answered, grinning back to her. "That's unfair. Wanna share?" "No. He's mine." "How cruel of you... oh look, there he is!" I turned around. In a corner of the hall, I could recognise him, standing next to the other boys dressed up as princes. He was returning my gaze, smirking, his pretty eyes making my heart skip a beat.

"So... how is Erik? Before we talked, he couldn't let go of you", asked Gabi, chuckling at the way I looked at Erik. I turned back to her, placing my glass on the long table next to us. "Well... he's quite physical. It's his way of showing affection, I guess." I smiled back at Gabi. "He compliments me a lot and gives me more love than my family ever did." "Ooh. So, did you do it already?" My jaw dropped. "What? Of course not. We've been together for a month!" "Oh, I didn't know. But judging from his gazes, he'd undress you in an instant if he could. Your dress is quite short as well." I blushed, looking away. "All the other Cinderella dresses were sold out! If I wouldn't wear an underskirt, my dress would be even shorter..." "You look good in everything, Klara! Don't worry about it."

'That's not my concern, Gabi...'

I felt someone approaching me from behind. When I looked up, I stared into these beautiful, green eyes. He was holding a glass in his hand. "Let's raise a glass to the prettiest girl in this world!" He looked at me, smiling. "Stop..." I chuckled. Gabi raised her glass as well, looking at me. "To the two of you!"

Half an hour later, as the others were dancing, I stood opposite to Erik near the restrooms. It was much more quiet here, which I enjoyed since the crowd had made me quite dizzy. I preferred solitude over crowds, anyway. We leaned against the walls in a niche, drinking and enjoying the evening. He had laid his arm around my waist and his eyes were fixated on me as if he wasn't able to look away.

"You look so pretty tonight... I can't believe you're mine."

His hand on my back started going downwards as he leaned towards me.

"I'm obsessed with you."

He laid his lips on mine, kissing me passionately as I laid my hands on his chest. His kisses started a firework inside of me every time, it felt so right. Especially after being treated badly by my family for so many years - I had finally found the love I wanted. We only heard the muted bass from the music as we made out. He moved his hand further down, slid it under my skirt, caressing my thigh, before he slightly moved it upwards, gripping my butt. I gasped, interrupting our kisses. We were both breathing heavily, lost in our love and passion. "Damn, Klara... you make me so hot..." I realised he was working hard to maintain his self-control, and it was hard for me as well - but I didn't want to rush into anything. Even if I wanted to trust him, we had only been together for one month, and I was raised to be cautious when it came to men.

"Let's go back to the dance floor", I suggested. "The others will start wondering where we went to." We left the niche, walking on the hallway to the main room. He was still gazing at me, I could feel it. It was such a new sensation to me - the feeling of finally being seen, of being appreciated...

Erik laid his arm around my waist as we walked. "You look so beautiful in this dress, Klara."

I giggled. "Don't you think it's a little too short?" I looked up at him, and I noticed that he looked at me, but not into my eyes. He smirked. "It's just perfect. What's wrong with showing what you've got? Plus", he slid his hand from my waist down to my stomach, right above my legs, "I'd like to do so many things to you in that hot slutty dress of yours."

"Erik!" I reproachfully slapped his hand so that he pulled it away. I was probably blushing like crazy. He managed to catch me off guard all the time, leaving me helpless, addicted to his love. He was laughing, putting a hand on my shoulder. "I'm sorry. I can't control myself when I'm with you."

Even when he touched me in public - once I looked into his eyes, at his pretty smile, I couldn't be angry at him. He was my everything, my knight in shining armour, and I would never let go of him.

The next day, when I woke up, I had forgotten about the events from last night. Then, I remembered - the party, the fun time I had with my friends and Johan and the moments we shared. It was overwhelming, but it felt so good, thinking about everything. I need to find another occasion for Johan to wear his MJ suit.

On every other Saturday morning, I would feel exhausted and look like a corpse, but today, I felt motivated, ready to take on every challenge life would give me. And that was a good thing, because I was planning on calling my brother. He was the only family member I had a good relationship to, but we didn't talk much anymore. I dialled his number, hoping he'd answer.

"... Hello?"

"Hey, Leo. It's me."

"Klara! How have you been?"

"I'm quite good, currently. How are you and mom doing?"

"As always, I guess. But now that I made that interview with dad, I have been in quite the spotlight. Even at university."

"I can imagine. Do you like it?"

He made a pause. "I don't know. For now, I'm just a student anyway, so I hope when I finish my studies, I won't be known as 'Gillen's son'."

I heard him place a cup on the table.

"So, why did you call?"

"Oh, actually, I wanted to check up on you. And there's something else..."

I was nervous all of a sudden.

"I'd like to visit you in July."

"Y-You'll come home?" He sounded shocked.

"Yeah. Please tell mom about that. Also, if she won't mind..."

"Can I bring a friend along?"

IMPORTANT!

Hey guys, I hope you liked this chapter. I just want to address something quickly because I don't want anyone to get the wrong idea about this story. I'll delete this paragraph later and put it in chapter 1 because the issue is important to me.

From this point on, After Dark will become more serious. I mostly write from Klara's perspective and I'd like to emphasise that it's literally her POV - what she thinks doesn't have to be identical with reality. Which means that things happening in this story might be wrong and disturbing, but she's not always able to see it. That doesn't mean that these events are normalised or glorified - it's just a realistic depiction of her (or Johan's) state of mind.

I hope you understand what I mean. Have a good night!