Shattered

Chapter 29

The night went on in a dreamy haze.

I had reached a point where everything became hilarious to me and I wanted nothing else than to be beside Chandler. My mind had lost all sobriety, I was gone. Soren and Nyx were both a bit drunk by the looks of it; the two of them dancing and falling on top of each other. Nakoa was also overcome by alcohol, but while I was wide awake and giggling, she was staring at the ground with droopy eyes, leaning on Lucas's shoulder.

Taking a few steps away from Chandler while he was distracted by Soren, I made it over to Nyx, grabbing onto her shoulders. "Dance with me," I all but shouted, already swaying to the upbeat music. She eagerly nodded her head, joining me in an array of what could hardly be called dancing. We were a giggly mess, but we couldn't find it in ourselves to care. We were having fun, even if our sober selves would be entirely embarrassed.

I wanted Nakoa to dance with us as well, but she was nearly asleep now, occasionally opening her eyes whenever Lucas would shift or talk too loudly. Chandler had moved over to him, a few feet away, and were exchanging words too quickly for me to understand.

"What do you think they're talking about?" I asked, not once slowing down the dancing, even as my breaths became shorter. "Eh, who cares, probably just some stupid business talk." They both did have focused looks on their faces, but the occasional glance at us made me think otherwise.

"You know, for a while, I was sure they'd both give up on dating and just marry each other. I sense some weird bromance energy with them. I have a sixth sense." I scrunched my eyebrows together, frowning in distaste. "They're horrible now, they'd cause too much evil if they were some kind of power couple. Probably plot an apocalypse or something." After I spoke, I paused for a second, thinking.

"Actually, I change my mind, they should marry, that way I can go back home." We were still practically shouting at each other, although we could have survived with normal voices. There was still a pretty good amount of people at the party, but we were in our secluded corner, so there wasn't much of a reason to scream.

"I need a break!" Nyx yelled, untangling our arms and wobbling over to Soren, who was sitting nearby, a bottle of water in his hand. "Soren!" she called, panting and nearly collapsing on him. "Inhaler, I need it now." He was quick to react despite his drunkenness, reaching into Nyx's handbag and pulling out a blue inhaler.

After taking a deep breath, she turned to me with a large grin. "I'm asthmatic," she stated, shaking the pump and tossing it back in her bag with a laugh. "Don't kill your lungs," I said in a singsong voice, turning around and skipping over to Chandler. I had pulled off my heels a while ago, refusing to put back on the painful contraptions no matter how much Chandler tried to convince me.

Wrapping my hands around his arm, I pulled myself to his side, sighing heavily. "When are we leaving?" I asked, exasperated, shutting my eyes and leaning against him. "In a few minutes, baby, go put on your shoes."

"They hurt," I huffed in annoyance, sitting on the chair where my shoes were near. "You can take them off in the car." Chandler reached down, grabbing my shoes and sliding them over my bare feet. If I was sober, I would've kept the heels on, not wanting to get my feet dirty.

Nakoa mumbled incoherently as Lucas softly spoke to her, trying to get her conscious enough to walk on her own. "Jess, can you walk with her outside? Lucas and I are going to help Soren." I couldn't say that I was exactly the most steady on my feet at that point, but I nodded my head eagerly, happy to help Nakoa.

The walk outside was a bit rough for all of us, especially for Soren, who could hardly walk straight. His height didn't help, he was like an unstable, teetering tower. Eventually, we got them into the backseat of the car, Nyx being the easier of the two. I reluctantly loosened my grip on Nakoa when Lucas came over to me, reaching for her. He led her into the passenger's seat, clicking her seatbelt in place while she drifted back to sleep.