Never Without You │ BOTW modern AU fanfic

Consent

(Decided to drop an extra chapter today because it's Thanksgiving! :) A little content warning though: this chapter includes alcohol, drugs, sex, and the use of vulgar language. Nothing that hasn't been seen before in TAY or NWY, but I like to give a little heads-up anyway for those of you who'd like to skip to these symbols "✤ ✤ ✤" and avoid those themes! Happy Thanksgiving and thank you for all your continued love and support!)

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Karusa's POV

I stand outside the fraternity house, the damn bass thumping like a headache. Didn't even plan on showing up to this shit, but whatever, it's the last Friday night party before the grind starts again. Might as well make it count.

I push myself in, and it's a fucking zoo in here. People everywhere, drowning themselves in alc. I'm supposed to find Malice and my teammates in this mess.

Ghirahim's probably upstairs, getting high on cheap drugs. Not my scene tonight. I'd rather find Mal. Haven't seen her since she crashed at my place that one time. She's been ghosting me ever since. Don't know what the hell happened, or what I did wrong this time, but maybe if I find her tonight we can sort shit out.

I shoot her a text:

*U at the party? Got some coke.*

She hasn't replied in weeks, so my expectations are pretty damn low. Still, I give it a shot. I ring her up too, just in case she feels like actually picking up tonight. Straight to voicemail. Perfect.

I shove my way through to the kitchen to pour myself a drink. Leaning against the counter, I scan the place, looking for her. No luck.

Zant, Dethl, and Kiroh are chilling on the couch. I could join them, but there's this sorority chick by the fireplace catching my eye. I watch her dance for a while until she notices my eyes on her.

She doesn't look away. She smiles at me and keeps dancing. I keep watching. She's into it, she likes being seen. I raise my cup in a silent toast to her and smile. She smiles back, keeps dancing. I check my phone and scroll for a while. No text from Malice.

Empty. Useless. That's life lately. Everything's just one giant annoyance. Barely feeling anything except the itch for some sort of pleasure. Like the coke in my pocket that I wanted to share with Mal. I wanted to celebrate tonight.

She kept guilt tripping me about visiting Ganon in prison. I finally went through the damn trouble of getting on the visitor list, and now she's gone all quiet. I'm definitely not gonna visit him by myself. She's been gaslighting me about it for months, the least she can do is go there with me.

I look back up from my phone and she's still looking at me, still dancing. I down my drink, pour another, more alc, less mixer. I need to feel something, or maybe feel less.

I push myself past some people to get to the couch and say hi to my homies. They seem happy to see me. I fake a smile and do shots with them. Kiroh doesn't take them, so I double up, taking his shots without a second thought.

The empty beer bottles keep piling up on the tiny table. Crack open another vodka bottle. More shots.

At some point I light a joint and create a smoke circle. Zant passes the joint to Dethl and Dethl passes it back to me. I turn to Kiroh who looks uncomfortable and distracted. He needs to loosen up a bit.

"Yo, Kiroh, you in for this?" I ask, the joint hanging between my fingers.

Kiroh shakes his head. "Nah, man. I'm about to head out."

"Huh? Why? What time is it?" I check my phone but forget to look at the time. There's still no text from Malice.

"My friend asked me to give her and her friends a ride home from a bar tonight. Can't get messed up," Kiroh says.