Sun Upon Dark Clouds

47: Together at Past Midnight

Just when Wyatt was supposed to have his chance to be with Ghrae at the party, his chance had to be taken away. Especially when the raven was looking extra gorgeous for the night, the blond was ready to leave all of the women just to be with her. It was supposed to last a few minutes to be with the birthday girl after being pulled away by her from the rest when they just had to be on the dark corner near the comfort room after having drinks and introducing him to her friends while sucking each other’s face off.

“Wait, wait,” Wyatt panted after pulling out as he held the wrist of the blonde that was reaching for his belt. “Let’s enjoy your party first.”

“But I’m horny!” the blonde, who was already obviously drunk, whined as she forcefully pulled her hand from his grip and tried to reach for his belt again but he held both of her wrists this time. “What’s wrong with you?”

For the entire time that they were making out, Ghrae just remained staying in his head that he could not help but stop making out with the blonde. Since Wyatt was born as a gentleman, he let out a light chuckle as he gently pushed her front that was pressed on his and looked at her with dark gray eyes that made her shiver in arousal and intimidation at the same time.

“I’d like it if we enjoy your party first,” Wyatt smiled at her as he moved his hands to intertwine his fingers with hers.

“Alright, fine,” Belle let out a sigh as she slowly calmed down and nodded.

The both of them left the dark corner as they joined the enthusiastic crowd. They wore friendly smiles as they went to the table of Belle’s friends and took their glasses with martini. Wyatt drank it one shot as his eyes secretly roamed around to search for a certain raven when he spotted her on the dance floor with the brunette and the purple-haired woman. The blond placed his glass back on the table as he excused himself to use the restroom and went to approach them instead when the music suddenly switched to a slow, sensual one.

Wyatt clenched his jaw as he saw how Coley was leaning her face in toward Ghrae’s as he turned around and quickly went toward the DJ booth. The blond whispered something to the DJ’s ear as he took the microphone that the DJ pointed to and placed it in front of his lips. Just when the both of them were about to close the distance in between their faces, the blond spoke with a fake grin on his face.

“Happy birthday to Belle!”

Ghrae shot her eyes open as she saw how Coley leaned back with her eyebrows slightly furrowed. While everyone was cheering for Belle who raised a bottle of tequila, the brunette bit the inside of her cheek as her hand slowly slid down to hold the raven’s hand instead. Deep inside, Coley was annoyed at Wyatt who just had to ruin the moment that they were about to have. Though they could just continue the kiss that they were supposed to have, the both of them no longer had the chance as Nora and Margo approached them with the red-haired woman skipping.

Despite the exasperation that the brunette was feeling, she forced a smile on her face as she did her best to move on from what happened while watching her red-haired woman dancing enthusiastically, which led to the four of them laughing together as if nothing had happened.

***

It was already past midnight when half of the people finally left the nightclub since Belle rented the nightclub for the entire night with only invited people allowed to enter. Some of the guests left the nightclub with strangers that they found to spend the rest of the night with, some had already passed out at the tables in the club, some still had a lot of energy to continue partying as if it was the last party of their lives, and some were already preparing to go home.

“Be careful,” Coley lowly said as she gently pulled Ghrae closer to her by holding her waist when the other guests left the nightclub along with them.

Since the raven was wearing heels, she had no choice but to put her hand around the brunette’s arm as she leaned closer to her while they walked out of the nightclub along with Nora and the others. Fortunately, all of them had high tolerance in alcohol that they were only slightly tipsy as they left the party though they did not look as fresh as they were from hours ago when they just arrived.

“Bye! Stay safe!” Coley and Ghrae smiled and waved at Margo and Nora as they separated since they lived in opposite directions.

For the entire time, Lizzy kept her promise as she stayed with Noah until they decided to leave together. It felt nice for the coffee shop owner that he at least enjoyed the party thanks to the medical student’s limitless humor that he felt comfortable just by chatting with her with drinks. The both of them were talking about how sea turtles were the superior sea animal as they went out when Noah widened his eyes in realization when he saw Coley and Ghrae, making him stop as he lightly pulled Lizzy to his back.

“What? Is there an actual sea turtle out there?” Lizzy asked as she tried to take a peek over his shoulder though it was unsuccessful because he was tall.

“I got to go,” Noah glanced at her. “Thanks for your company. See you at my coffee shop!”

Before the black-haired woman could even reply, the brunet had already run as she saw him briefly said goodbye to Ghrae and Coley before naturally walking away. Lizzy was not stupid enough to not know that Noah obviously did not want to be seen with her, considering that she was able to get into medical school after all. Still, the woman with bangs could not help but c***k a smile as she realized how cute the coffee shop owner had been for the entire night even when he just ditched her. Instead of feeling hurt, she just fell in love with him even more.

“Lizzy, let’s go home!” Lizzy turned as she saw her friends and nodded with a smile on her face.

Just when Wyatt was about to go after Ghrae to offer a ride home, he stopped on his tracks when he saw Ghrae’s hand around Coley’s arm as they walked away. He clenched his jaw as he dropped his eyes to his shoes. The blond then turned around to look for the birthday girl, whom he just rejected to sleep with, as he pulled her waist to connect their lips harshly while their feet found their way going to his car.

Was Wyatt hating the fact that he was losing Ghrae to another person or was he hating the fact that he was not the person that Ghrae was leaning comfortably on?

***

The both of them were able to walk freely now that they were away from the nightclub as Coley and Ghrae walked toward the direction where Yellow Nest was. The road was empty with only a few vehicles that seemed to be travelling somewhere at a late time. A bit tipsy from the alcohol that they consumed, the both of them walked alongside each other in silence as the clicks of the raven’s heels filling in the silence between them. Suddenly, an idea from her bucket list appeared in the brunette’s head as they passed by a store with a bright light flashing.

“Hey,” Coley called as she stared at the board games in the store through the glass.

“Hm?” Ghrae turned to her as she followed the direction of her eyes.

“Do you wanna play a board game?” the brunette asked.

“At this hour?” The raven slightly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion at the random question that the latter just asked.

“Yeah. Wouldn’t it be thrilling to play a board game while we’re tipsy?”

“Hmm, okay then,” assuming that it was a part in the brunette’s bucket list, the raven decided to agree.

With a smile of satisfaction on her face, Coley muttered an utterance of victory as she stepped in the store with Ghrae following. It was as if the world just wanted the two of them to not forget about their promise of completing the brunette’s bucket list together that a store just appeared in Peace Town with literally everything that they needed being sold. Snacks, beverages, instant noodles, things for rainy days, books, board games, and skateboards—they were all sold in different sections in the store. There was not really a general term to call the store since it just sold random stuff together; aside from that, it was open 24/7 as if it was a convenience store but it was not any ordinary convenience store.

Ghrae started to think whether the store was just an imagination caused by their slight intoxication or not since it was her first time to see a random store though everything felt real. Even though it could be a dream, the raven decided to just go along it as she followed the brunette who was standing in front of the section where the board games were.

“Pick a board game,” Coley said.

“That,” Ghrae pointed at a chessboard.

“Good choice,” the brunette said as she took it.

The both of them proceeded to the refrigerator where bottles of different liquor were. Since they just needed light liquor, they took bottles of beer as many as they could carry. After, they went to the counter to pay for everything. Ghrae secretly observed the cashier as she noticed nothing suspicious yet so far, which could mean that she was not in a dream and a random store like this actually existed in Peace Town.

“This isn’t a dream, right?” Ghrae asked as soon as they stepped out of the store.

“Why?” Coley let out a chuckle. She was holding the board game in her left hand while she held the plastic bag of beer bottles in her right hand. Well, it was not like she would let Ghrae carry stuff.

“I didn’t know that kind of store exists,” the raven replied as they both walked alongside each other on the silent dark street.

“Neither do I,” The brunette flashed a smile that was bright underneath the moonlight as she glanced at the latter.

They were able to reach their apartment without having their ankles ache from walking as the brunette did her best to suppress her excitement while watching the raven look for her keys in her small leather handbag. When the door opened, they immediately pushed it on as they stepped inside while the raven switched the lights on.

“Do you wanna make it a drinking game?” Coley asked as they slumped down the sofa while she put the things that they bought on the table. “One kill is equivalent to one bottle.”

“Sure,” the raven did not hesitate to think as she immediately answered while crossing her legs.

Seeing how Ghrae was being competitive (she was not), Coley felt the fire of determination rose within her as she smirked and briefly stretched her arms upward. After, she opened the board game as the both of them began to set up the pieces on their proper places. Approximately, they bought 12 bottles of beers that were likely enough for the drinking game that they were going to have.

Unlike the others who had already passed out in their beds after partying and drinking for the entire night, the brunette and the raven were completely different as they were able to fight their tipsiness with the desire to play a board game at a silent night that was literally past midnight. It was as if they were a perfect match for each other.