Jily one shots

silvertounge

disclaimer: written by siriusblackfoot on tumblr <33

It was really a wonder that Lily Evans didn't just up and rent one of the flats above the Escapade; she went to the bar so often she got in without even paying cover.  For Lily and the group of self-proclaimed rapscallions she called her friends, a perfect Friday night consisted of hitting the bar for their favorite drinks and having just enough of them to entertain the thought of becoming one-night karaoke legends–though Marlene was the only one of them who had ever actually followed through with it.
"Birthday girl coming through!" Marlene shouted, marching confidently past the throngs of people aching to get into the bar and tapping the bouncer on the shoulder with a smile that would have gotten them all in the door even if they weren't already on a first-name basis with bar security.
The girls ignored the grumbles from the mob as the bouncer let them pass, and ignored a couple of inevitable wolf-whistles from the queue as they flounced in. 
"Come on!" Marlene tugged Lily straight over to the bar, Dorcas and Mary hot on their heels. "You already know," she said as she flashed a smile at the bartender, who looked anything but surprised to see them.
"Going to leave me with an unpaid tab again, McKinnon?" he teased as he got to work.
"Going to take a night off and come dancing with me one of these days, Black?" she flirted back at Sirius, who knew the lot of them well enough to start making their first drinks without having to hear their orders.  "And for the record, I paid last time!" Marlene said matter-of-factly as she tossed half her hair over one shoulder.
Dorcas snorted. "Is that what they call it these days?"
Marlene swatted her playfully and Sirius smirked as he got to work on what Lily knew would be her first of many whiskey sours that night. "The only one not paying tonight is Lily," she continued, squeezing her friend around the waist.
"Birthday perks," Lily winked over the bar, making sure to lean forward just enough that Sirius could catch a glimpse of her strategic cleavage; he'd let slip once that he sometimes put a little extra liquor in girls' drinks if he saw a little extra in return, and Lily never forgot that helpful little bit of information, sexist and immature and such a totally Sirius thing to say though it may be.
"Careful, blokes will start to think you're after something," he teased her, flicking his eyes down and back up.
"So what if I am?" Lily said confidently as she straightened up.  "There's nothing wrong with that."
"Guys like you would never get laid if girls like us didn't make the first move sometimes," Marlene said nonchalantly as she picked at a hangnail. Sirius stopped what he was doing and nodded for a moment to recognize that he had been pretty well-roasted.
"Ouch.  Well, fine. First round's on the house, as per birthday tradition," Sirius decided.  "Only the first round, I'm onto you," he added quickly, with a pointed look at Marlene, who just winked.
"Oh, Sirius," she said with a flirtatious giggle, then promptly deadpanned. "Eat me."  She turned her back to the bar as soon as she got her drink and started shamelessly scanning the heads in the smoky room for any male under forty ("We have to get you laid tonight, Lils.").
"How's it looking out there?" Lily said as she, too, spun around and propped her elbows on the edge of the bar as she did her own recon.
Dorcas piped up from on Lily's right.  "A couple good ones by the pool table, but it's mostly just the usual crowd," she sighed. "We need some new faces in this place!"
"Or a new bar to go to," added Mary.
"Hey, hey, hey," Marlene said defensively.  "We do not need a new bar.  We," she gestured to the four of them, "Are known here.  You want to find some dive where they charge you ten just to walk in the door, be my guest. I'll stay where the cover and drinks are free, thank you very much—just the first round, for Pete's sake, it's a joke," she said without even looking at Sirius, who had opened his mouth in protest again.  "It's Friday and it's only 10 o'clock; have some faith!"
"Yeah, Evans, have some faith," Sirius mimicked, earning himself a behind-the-back middle finger from all four of the girls.  "It's scary, you know that?  How in sync you all are?  Cool, but scary," he mused as he tossed a dish towel over his shoulder and moved onto other customers.
"Marley's right," Mary said as she absentmindedly chewed the straw in her dirty Shirley.  "The barhoppers will make it around here later, then it'll be easy pickins."
Lily nodded, although she was a little dismayed at the lack of prospects.  After all, it had been months since her last fling ended and she deserved a little fun on her birthday, of all times.
"Well, I'm going to dance alone, I guess," Marlene said loudly.
"I'm working, woman!" Sirius called back without looking over, though Lily could see a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. 
"Coming?" Marlene asked.
"In a minute," Lily replied. "Gimme two more shots," she translated into Marlene's way of keeping time—in number of drinks.  "You lot go on; I'll be right over."
Lily waved Sirius down again. "Take a shot with the birthday girl?" she asked, knowing he wouldn't refuse.  Out of the four girls, Lily had known Sirius the longest, and they'd always had a strong friendship.
"You know, if you're looking for 'prospects,'" Sirius began as he poured two shots of tequila and whipped out a couple of lime slices from under the bar.
Lily shook her head.  "Nooooo way.  I haven't forgotten the last time you set me up with one of your friends."
"What's wrong with Peter?" Sirius asked with feigned confusion, one hand over his heart in mock offense.
"Got five hours?" Lily joked, and Sirius snickered into his shot before downing it with a grimace and sucking on the lime, which only made him pucker more.  "Oh my God, Black, get it together!" Lily teased and he returned her earlier middle finger.
"Hey, I'm serious.  Don't say it, I realized as soon as it came out of my mouth," Sirius said, his eyes closed as he held up one hand to stop Lily from making the all-too-obvious name pun.  "But really, my friend who's coming tonight, he's not bad.  Bit of a tosser, but he's no Peter.  I told him about you."
"I'm flattered," Lily said sarcastically, then downed her shot.  She made sure to keep a straight face, which made Sirius roll his eyes with his tongue in his cheek as if to say "alright, you win."
"Sorry to disappoint, but the day I go home with one of your recommendations is the day you finally dance with Marlene," Lily said.
"Hey, could happen!  The girl is charming, I'll give her that, but I've got at least two left feet.  Now do me a favor, Evans, and go enjoy your damn birthday instead of talking to the poor sod stuck behind the bar, yeah?"
Lily tossed a tip on the counter for Sirius and heeded his orders.  She found the rest of her entourage within minutes, dancing away to some B-52s song playing just a bit too loudly.
"You're charming!" Lily shouted over the thudding speakers.
Marlene cupped a hand around her ear. "What?"
"Black says you're charming!"
"Charming doesn't sweeten my tea!"
Lily laughed and rolled her eyes, then her hips as a song with a much catchier beat faded in.  She felt right at home on the crowded, smoky dance floor, and she could feel the drinks starting to warm her as the four of them danced to song after song, sometimes with strangers, sometimes with each other, always with every inch of their bodies.  How some people could just stand around at bars was beyond Lily; it seemed a crime not to move when good music came on.
About an hour later, Lily had nearly reached the perfect level of tipsiness, and she had already marked this birthday down as one of the most fun yet.  It certainly beat last years' when she spent most of the night on the side of the road with a flat tire, waiting for Triple A in the pouring rain.
"Another drink," she mouthed at Marlene and the girls, who all nodded and collectively started making moves towards the bar.  The Escapade was packed now, just how Lily liked it, and it took a while to beat through throngs of increasingly drunk customers as they pushed through the crowd to the counter.  They finally managed to order another round with Frank, one of the newer bartenders, and relaxed against the bar as they took a minute to regroup.
"See anyone you like?" Dorcas asked, and Lily shook her head no.  At the same time, a large, burly man wearing what could only be described as a carpet with sleeves sauntered right up to the group of them. 
"You sure about that? Because I do," he said.  He looked and sounded like he had just jumped out of The Big Lebowski.
In no mood to cause a scene, though, Lily simply smiled at him and tossed her hair over her shoulder as Frank, one of the newer bartenders, slid her shot across the marble like an old pro.  She caught it but didn't take it, and instead stared Mr. Greasy Leather down with a piercing look that, if he were smarter, he would have known to run from.
"I appreciate your concern for my vision," Lily said, and she could see her friends already biting back triumphant smiles out of the corner of her eye, "but I'm extremely sure.  The only person catching my eye is actually behind you and you're blocking my view, so I'm going to have to ask you to leave.  Please," she added sweetly.
The man looked like he had accidentally swallowed a hornet and quickly walked away without another word—no sleaze ever stuck around after being served a heaping plate of Lily Evans sass.  Lily was too preoccupied with her friends' subsequent praise that she failed to notice that there actually was, in fact, someone behind The Dude, and that he was definitely worth looking at.
"You're my hero," Marlene laughed.
"Someone write that one down," Mary added, and Dorcas whipped out her phone to add Lily's clap-back to their ever growing list of funny drunk quotes they all said.
"That was impressive," came a male voice from somewhere on Lily's right.  She ignored it and finally downed her shot quickly before it got too warm.  "As was that," he added.
"Anything for my fans," Lily drawled in response, but her eyes widened when she actually turned to see who was speaking.  She'd expected to see another scummy bloke, or maybe Peter back for a second attempt, but the man before her was completely unfamiliar. And bloody gorgeous, Lily thought to herself, before shaking that distracting thought out of her head.   
"Nice hair," was what ended up coming out of her mouth, and she nodded towards the mess of dark curls on the guy's head.
"I could say the same to you," he replied, leaning on the bar with such casual ease it was almost annoying.  No one should look that good with their elbow accidentally propped in a puddle of spilled Cosmo, Lily thought, but he pulled the look off fantastically. 
"What? Sorry," Lily said, as she had turned away for a moment when Marlene signaled she was heading back to the dance floor, and pointedly dragged Dorcas and Mary with her after one look at the man Lily was talking to.  Lily waved her friends off, assuring them it was fine, then turned back to face Mystery Man.
"I said ditto on the hair. So, at the risk of being the next guy you shut down because he hit on you at the bar, care for a drink?" He held out an unopened beer; Lily stared at it with one eyebrow raised, still stuck on how fit this never-before-seen bar-goer was. 
"You heard that, huh?"
"Quite a sharp tongue you've got." The stranger winked; Lily felt her heart do a backflip.  "What do you say?"
"I'm Lily, I'm not a beer girl," she finally managed (stupid, stupid, stupid, she cursed herself).
"Guess I'll have to drink them both myself," the man replied with a shrug, unfazed.  "What do you drink, then?"
"Whatever's strongest," Lily replied with a smirk, finally getting back on her flirting game. "So you're hitting on me, is that it?"
"Shit, did I say that part out loud?" he smirked as he used the side of the bar to pop the cap off his bottle. He held both hands up in mock defense and took a swig. "Hey, I just wanted to meet the birthday girl."
Lily furrowed her brow and pointed an accusatory finger at him with slight difficulty because of her impaired depth of perception.  "How'd you know it's my birthday?" she asked.
"Pin," he answered simply, pointing at Lily's chest.
"What? Oh, fuck, I should take that off," Lily laughed as she looked down. She'd completely forgotten about the green pin Mary had slapped on her jacket before they got to the bar—it read 'Kiss me, it's my birthday!'
Beer Boy shook his head. "Keep it on, I like it.  Very neat."  He boldly reached over and pressed a little button on the pin that Lily hadn't even noticed was there.  The button immediately lit up, and although they couldn't hear it over the din of the bar, she was pretty sure it was squeaking out a very tinny version of Happy Birthday.
"Now that, that is a look."
"Thanks," Lily laughed, more than a little flustered.  She fiddled with the pin for a moment until it stopped giving off the impression she was a human traffic light, and the man took that opportunity to hold up two fingers in Sirius's direction.  If Lily had been looking up, she might have caught the knowing glance that passed between them.
"They seem to know you here," he observed, nodding towards where Marlene, Mary and Dorcas were still dancing and casting occasional, excited glances over at Lily.
Lily shrugged.  "Those are my friends, but yeah, they know us all here. It's kind of like a second home. I don't have a drinking problem, I swear," Lily joked.
"Really," He said, an amused smile on his face.  "Well, I'm James, and I'd like to know you, too," he said. 
Lily squinted suspiciously at this "James," this untraditionally yet exceptionally attractive man who seemed to share her particular proclivity for alcohol. 
"Well, alright then.  Don't just stand there, tell me about yourself," she said after a moment's pause, shaking James's hand this time and causing him to smile widely.  He took a big swig of his beer as if he had to prove that he could, in fact, drink, then pulled up a stool and plopped down into it.
"What do you want to know?"
"Dead serious, I swear!" James shouted over a horrible rendition of Total Eclipse of the Heart that some shmuck was singing over on the karaoke stage—if you could call it singing.  Poor guy was putting his heart and soul into it though; Lily could give him that.
Lily shook her head, stealing a sip of James's third beer and trying not to gag at the taste. 
"No way.  I refuse to believe you actually took a piss next to Matthew McConaughey."  James leaned in close, so close that Lily could smell the alcohol on his breath as he shoved a finger in her face, holding onto his bottle with the same hand.
"Cross my heart.  Pinky swear."
"Well?  Did you peek?" Lily asked mischievously, her eyes wide and a smirk playing across her face.
James put his hand over his heart (Where did I see someone do that before? Lily wondered.) and he acted shocked. 
"What kind of imbecile do you take me for, Evans?" he denied, but his smile betrayed him.
Lily quirked an eyebrow, not believing him for a second. 
"Okay, yeah, quickly," James finally admitted with a chuckle that Lily immediately knew she just had to hear again, or she might actually die. "No more impressive than mine, in case you were wondering," he said nonchalantly.
"Someone's confident," Lily said with a playful eye roll. 
"Someone's assuming I'm packing," James retorted with another wink, and Lily had to admit, that one left her grasping at thin air for a comeback.
She decided she liked James. Maybe not enough to actually take him home right away, but enough to entertain the thought.  It was her birthday, anything could happen.  After all, he was cute and outgoing—an ideal combination—and Lily figured she deserved to have a little adult fun on her birthday if that's what she wanted. 
Half an hour later, Lily felt much more amicable towards her new friend.  They chatted for a while longer over the sounds of drunk girls giggling and music blaring, filling up James's (and Marlene's) tabs.  Before too long, as bar conversations go, Lily knew all about his job and aspirations, and she'd probably described her college major to him in more detail than he bargained for. 
"So what brings you to the Dirty E?" she asked, using the nickname for the Escapade that she and Dorcas had come up with after one night when they'd both fallen on the grimy floor one too many times and gotten covered in dirt and spilled liquor.  "I've never seen you 'round theeese parts before." Why she said those last three words with a Western accent was a mystery, but James didn't make a face, so she figured it was alright.
"I was hoping to meet someone like you," he said without missing a beat.  It was the cheesiest line Lily had heard in a long time, but the buzzed devil on her shoulder told her to let it slide.  James suppressed a burp into his hand.  "Actually, I'm between flats right now, so I'm crashing with my best mate," he replied.  "Just in town for the night."
"That sounds like a fancy way of saying you're homeless," Lily couldn't help but tease. 
"Not if I go home with you," he said casually, and Lily nearly choked on air.  It took a lot to knock her off her feet, but James had some kind of je ne sais qois that kept catching her off-guard. Normally she'd be turned off by such a bold comment, but all she wanted was to keep talking to James and see what else would come out of that mouth of his. Or what else it could do, a voice in Lily's head chimed in, and she bit her lip involuntarily.
"I might need another drink before I do that," Lily laughed, then realized how that might have come across as an insult. "I didn't mean—"
But James was smiling. "You're a tough nut to crack, Evans. You say you're not a beer girl, eh? Let's get you something stronger, then."
Within seconds, Sirius had slid a pair of shot glasses and a small bottle of amber liquid down the bar and James caught it.
"Cheers," he said after he filled both their glasses. 
"You did not pay for a whole bottle," Lily deadpanned as James winked, flashing his teeth in a smirk. "Really?" Exasperated but slightly amused, she raised her glass as well and they downed them together.
Lily's eyes widened a little as the liquid burned her throat.  "Fireball?"  She'd know that burning sensation anywhere.
"Strong enough for you?" James pried, and Lily wanted to laugh at his sorry excuse for flirting.  Nevertheless, he wasn't nearly as obnoxious as the majority of guys she'd met in bars.
She shook her head and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  "You wouldn't know a strong drink if it punched you in the face.  Keep on drinking your wheat tea," she said, pointing at his beer with her pinky.  "Since you seem to like drinks with as much alcohol content as a dog treat."
"Did someone say my name?" Sirius swooped in, looking a little pink in the face, and Lily guessed he had downed a few more shots during his shift. "I see you've met James."
Lily's eyes widened. "This is the friend you were talking about?"
"He's a catch, right," Sirius said with an exaggerated wink at James, who mimed blushing. "You'll thank me later."
"Yeah, he's alright," said Lily, with an appraising glance at James, who wiggled his eyebrows.
"He's my best mate," said Sirius proudly.
"He's about to piss his pants," James announced unceremoniously, and he slid off his barstool to run to the men's room.
Sirius laughed and stared after James.  "Charming, really charming."
"That your word of the night?" Lily slowly swiveled in her chair and raised one unamused eyebrow at Sirius, who was grinning like a kid in a candy store. "You know, I was considering it until you blew your cover," she said loftily. "This changes everything."
"Doesn't change the fact that you've been looking at him like he's a snack for the last hour," Sirius teased, and Lily took a swing at him and nearly managed to cuff him in the ear.
"Don't you have a bar to tend?"
Sirius leaned far over the counter and Lily leaned in for this impromptu conference. "Look, Lils, he's a good guy. Obviously don't do anything you're not okay with, but I don't want to hear you moaning about how you didn't get laid on your birthday when you had a perfectly good prospect sitting right here."
"Bye!" she said loudly and wombatted Sirius on the side of his head.  She dodged his retaliatory dish towel swat at the last second and playfully waved him off.
Lily bit her lip when she saw James returning to the bar and decided maybe it wouldn't hurt to swallow her pride just once—Sirius was right; James was definitely nothing like Peter. He wasn't like any guy she'd met in a long time.   Her mind made up, she poured two more shots of Fireball, ignoring the way Sirius's eyes were practically glittering with excitement from down the bar.
"Welcome back, drink with me," she chirped, handing James one of the glasses and clinking hers against it.  "So," she said after James chased his shot down.  "Are we going to stand here all night?"
"Whatever do you mean?" James teased.
Lily huffed a little laugh, but when James caught her looking him over, he gulped and his heart started beating fast in anticipation.  She took a step towards him; now they were so close that he had to angle his head almost straight down to see her properly, and it made his chin scrunch up.  "James?"
"That's me," he laughed breathily, sounding slightly nervous for the first time all night. 
Lily looked up at him through her long lashes and stood on her toes like she was going to kiss him, then swerved away from his lips at the last second and whispered in his ear instead.
"Do you want to come home with me or not?" She tugged his earlobe between her teeth and let her weight fall on him just slightly.
James groaned in amused frustration and Lily relaxed, standing flat on her feet once more, but still supported by James's strong arms. 
"I think I'd like that," he said with a smirk, rubbing his hands up and down Lily's arms as she not so subtly snaked her arms under his jacket and around his waist.  He fell silent and bit his lip when he felt her hands above the small of his back, looking around as if the way they were touching was their little secret that he didn't want anyone else to see.  "Ditching your friends, though, that's not very nice of you."
Lily shrugged, enjoying the way James was holding her shoulders now, rubbing little circles into her collarbones with his thumbs like he was some kind of barroom masseuse.  "I think they'll live," she said, not breaking eye contact.  "But I guess we should at least say goodbye," she decided, and pulled James over towards the booth her friends had settled down in with a huge platter of pizza.
"Surprised you're still here," Dorcas piped up when Lily and James stopped by.
"They won't be for much longer," Marlene snorted laughing as she plucked a piece of pepperoni off her slice and popped it into her mouth.  "Marlene," she said as she stuck her hand out to James.  "You can call me Marley if you want."
"I'm James, you can call me James.  I'm friends with Sirius," he added, hoping it would give him some clout. He was right: Marlene immediately straightened up with a glance towards the bar. 
"Good, you can tell him to call me then!"
James shot her the most endearing grin he could muster.  "I'm sure he will, the way he's talked about you.  I'll pass on the message, though."
"Speaking of calling," Lily cut in before Marlene could interject, "we're going to call a cab. Just wanted to say goodbye before we head out."
Mary laughed.  "Right, like we won't be seeing this one at the flat tomorrow morning," she said, and Marlene and Dorcas burst into giggles. Lily shot James an apologetic look, but he just shrugged, finding the whole situation rather amusing.
"On that note," James prompted, one hand resting just above the back pockets of Lily's jeans.  The pair of them waved their goodbyes and Lily blazed a trail back to the bar, where they quickly paid and bid a quick adieu to Sirius, then hurried out to the sidewalk to hail a cab. 
"I'd ask your place or mine, but...homeless," Lily snickered, poking James in the chest as he flagged down a cab.
"You mean you don't want to fuck on Sirius's couch?"
"Oh, that's what we're going to do? I was thinking board games," Lily teased.
James stopped dead in his tracks.  "Don't even joke, Evans. I will obliterate you in Battleship so hard you'll never want to show your face in public again."
"Well, shit, in that case we better go with Plan A!" she said. "Minus the couch bit.  You know, I'm actually surprised we never met before, with Sirius and all."
"I know," James shrugged. "Never late than—I mean better late than never.  Oops."
Lily put her hands on her hips with a smirk.  "Sir, have you been drinking?"
"Shut the hell up," James laughed, and got the door for Lily when a cab pulled up.  She got in and told the driver her address.  "But hey," James said, "even if I wasn't 'homeless,' I'd still go wherever you wanted."
Lily rolled her eyes.  "My knight in shining armor."
"I mean it, you are the birthday girl after all," he said, shifting closer to her in the backseat. James made a noise in the back of his throat that was something between a groan and a sigh when Lily put her hand on his upper thigh and squeezed.  He threw one arm around her shoulders and leaned down to whisper in her ear. "You get whatever you want tonight."