That's What You Get

"Are you absolutely sure?" I sighed into the phone.

"Yes!" Zac repeated. "Please say you'll come with us."

"I dunno.." I stuck my index finger in my mouth and chewed on the nail. "I really don't want to make a fool out of myself." Remembering the belching incident so long ago from our first date, not to mention the whole embarrassing paintball fiasco, I added in my head:

Ok, at least not in front of Taylor.. again.

"It's not like I'm asking you to go out on a limb."

"Yes you are." I replied stubbornly.

"Not even! I'm sure you're a great dancer."

"Not even exactly.." I agreed with him for the first time in this conversation. "Not even close. I assure you, I'm terrible. You'd have a better chance going with a rent-a-date. Tell you what: I'll look up the number for you."

"You would know how to get the number to a place like that." I could practically see him rolling his eyes.

"But I want to go with you." The soft pleading in his voice softened my opinion slightly. Not enough though.

"I don't think so.."

"I went to that stupid foreign film with you a few weeks ago." He added.

He's got a point..

"Months ago." I corrected him.

Wait a minute.

"And it was my treat." I remembered.

"Maggie," he called softly. Now he was playing with me.

"Zac," I replied in the same tone after sighing. "Do you enjoy making me do things I'm not good at?"

"I don't have a clue what you're talking about," I didn't fall for the innocent tone in his voice for a second.

"Paintball." Nothing else needed to be said about that day. I heard him chuckling through the phone.

"If I remember correctly, we almost won because of you."

"Uh-huh." I wasn't going to let him know that I was caving in.

"Maggie.. please?" he asked in the softest of tones. I cringed, feeling myself weakening even more.

This isn't fair.

"Zac.."

Is this what it feels like to be a flirt?

My mind danced happily like a four-year old ballerina. I remembered the last time I felt like this, back in elementary school when my best friend JJ wanted me to jump off the swings with him. A broken ankle later, I'd vowed never to give into a sweet sounding male request.

"See, it's not so bad in here." Zac said, slipping his arm across my shoulders as we walked down a darkened hallway.

"Yes it is." So I'd broken my vow. Glancing at Zac, I tried to remember just how many other vows concerning guys I'd broken in my life for him.

Uh-oh.. how many more have I got left? I couldn't remember anymore.

"Oh, shut up." His voice was drowned by the blast of music that nearly blew me over as he opened a door at the end of the hall. Looking around the dance club, I first noticed a mass of people on a dance floor, writhing their bodies in more than inappropriate movements.

This is why I don't go out very much.. he doesn't want me to do that, does he? I worried. If so, he's in for a disappointment.

"What?" I replied back, clasping my hands over my ears.

"Huh?"

"What!?" I yelled into his ear.

"Never mind!" He grabbed my hand and dragged me up a small, neon-decorated staircase. I got a better view of the club from up there: bright lights and lasers flashed around the room, highlighting the already illuminating neon decor. I also noticed several large speakers located by the door we'd entered through. This was a completely different scene from the Blue Swan, similar only in the fact I'd never been here before. I tried to remember the club's name as he pulled me towards a table, only to fail miserably in my guessing. I think it's pretty obvious I'm not much of a club-hopper.

I could have worse faults, I decided.

"We're just sitting?" Feeling relieved, I slipped into a booth next to him.

"Yup. I didn't want to force you into the whole dancing thing right away."

"Thanks."

Bless his sweet little heart. I leaned over the small table and placed a soft kiss on his cheek.

"What was that for?" I actually heard him speak that time.

"You deserved it-" I started to say.

"Aww, man! You two aren't going to be like that all night, are you?" A familiar voice interrupted me from above us.

"Hey! I didn't know you'd be here." I took in the sight of Mia and Taylor in each other's arms standing over our table.

"Slide on over," Tay said to me in that tone of his that nearly drove me to the brink of insanity.

What is it about all that casualness? I wondered, looking up at him momentarily, before replying:

"Sure," I slid over closer to Zac on the plastic U-shaped seat that surrounded the table. Noting the grin on his face, I doubted he minded. To my disappointment, Taylor offered the seat next to me to his (argh) girlfriend.

No, I'm not bitter about it.. of course not. I thought sarcastically.

"Isn't this place wild?" She asked, bumping hips with me.

"It's something all right." I mumbled, watching Taylor try to squish into the small seat with the three of us. Even with his tiny frame, we didn't all fit.

"Hmm.. Mia?" he stood up after unsuccessfully trying to fit his bony butt down. "Would you mind sitting in my lap?"

No! My mind answered for her. I was surprised when three heads turned towards me.

"Gotta problem with that Maggie?" Although his voice sounded friendly, Zac's eyes showed confusion.

Shit, that was out loud.. moron. I inwardly kicked myself.

"I mean, I'd, uhh.. rather dance right now.. with you, Zac." I threw him a meek smile.

Anything to avoid the two of them, I glanced at the 'happy couple,' catching Tay looking directly at me, smiling like the Cheshire cat. Being the spineless jellyfish that I am, I dropped my eyes.

"Really?" I couldn't blame Zac for sounding surprised. He took my hand and practically raced down to the dance floor, tugging me behind him.

"This was a good idea, Sweetie," Mia said after we'd left, cuddling up to her boyfriend. She was surprised to get no reaction from him.

".. Taylor?" She asked him a few seconds later, snapping her fingers in front of his face. He quickly averted his eyes from Zac's attempts to drag me onto the dance floor to the impatient look on her face.

"Yeah?" he asked quickly.

"What were you looking at?" She tried following his gaze, but he turned his head towards her, thinking quickly before replying:

"Just thinking of how much fun it would be to dance with you."

"Well, what are you waiting for?" She smiled flirtatiously.

"May I have this dance?" Taylor stood up and held his hand out. Slipping hers into it, Mia couldn't remember the last time they'd had so much fun together, aside from the day rollerblading in the park. A few feet below, I had to admit I felt similar feelings. Although incredibly uncoordinated with my feet, there wasn't a whole lot of room on the dance floor to make mistakes- there had to be over a hundred people smashed into the small area. It was hard enough to keep next to Zac, who fortunately held my hand to keep us together.

Not much of a techno fan, I couldn't help but laugh hysterically at the people around us. They were so completely into it, but not as much as my date.

Lucky me. I had to admire Zac's crazy dance moves, even if I'd never get the balls to try them myself. He raised my arm above my head and quickly spun me around. Feeling a little more than slightly dizzy, I got a better look at the people around us surrounded in a fog that smelled of smoke and alcohol. I caught a brief sight of Taylor and Mia dancing (a little too closely in my opinion), along with everyone else.

Damn, are Zac and I the only ones not hanging all over each other? I couldn't help but wonder. Another quick glance around answered that: pretty much.

The fast upbeat sound of techno was immediately replaced with a loud, head-banging, hearing-impairing song of hard core rock.

Uh-oh.. I thought, noticing a dramatic shift in the dancing of the 'people,' although other names come to mind, switching from groping each other to jumping up and down and..

.. moshing? Shit! I realized as someone's arm slapped across my left shoulder. Knocked over to the side, my hand was ripped away from Zac's before I collided with the back of someone else. The guy turned around and shoved me back, sending me flying again.

"Zac!" I'm sure my strained voice drowned in the sea of shouts and swear words that erupted from within the violent crowd.

The impact of slamming into someone else hit me hard. Feeling dizzy, I fell onto my stomach, my head smacking against the hard cement floor. It was all I could do curl my legs up to my chest and reach my arms up to protect my head from the kicking and jumping above me. I felt a set of cold fingers close around my wrists and then a tremendous upward tug on them as I was pulled onto my feet. I squinted and smiled gratefully at the person, blurry in front of my eyes. With his cold hands, the figure continued to pull on my arms, until we were off the dance floor.

The neon decorated walls and furniture of the club was a sickeningly bright blur as I was yanked around tables and chairs. Worse, I tripped over nearly everything and everyone we passed by.

Everything's happening too fast.. The person pulling me behind him was still just a dark blur; I could barely recognize his black jacket as leather. After stumbling over a few stairs, we found ourselves in the dark tunnel of the entrance.

"Hey!" I yelled when I was finally conscious enough to realize where we were. "What-"

"Shut up." I heard a male voice bitterly cut through the darkness. Those cold fingers shocked me as they enclosed themselves loosely around my neck in an unspoken threat of silence.

"Ok, ok." I whispered, my heart pounding so hard in my chest I was afraid he felt it throbbing in my neck. As quickly as they had touched me, he retracted his fingers to a pocket in his jacket. I watched, my entire body frozen with fear against the wall. Only my eyes seemed to be able to function: they watched him pull out a cigarette and a box of matches. The tiny flame that sparked from a selected match illuminated his face for only a second. Getting the first glance of his face, I took in the thin layer of facial hair traveling from his ear to his chin and along his upper lip. Tossled brown hair hung limply over a pair of dark brown eyes.

I gasped at the instant his dirty lips pursed, blowing out the match.

It can't be..

"What's the matter?" He asked me calmly. I tried not to choke as he exhaled smoke into my face. My body tensed up as his hand slammed into the wall above my left shoulder.

"Don't you recognize me Maggie?" He put his face into the dim light, mere inches from mine.

My throat ran dry as I recognized a familiar feature: a tiny scar below his left eye. My eyes widened until I thought they would fall over my cheeks.

Shit, get out of here now! Scream! Kick him, punch him, whatever! Just get your ass out of there! My mind screamed at me, but the rest of my body remained frozen. Only my fingers trembled as I lifted them in front of my mouth. My breathe shortened as I quickly sucked in the warm air of his breath as he exhaled on my face, a lingering stench of smoke and alcohol filtering through my lungs.

"WELL, ANSWER ME BITCH!!" He screamed so loudly it rattled my body, bruising my spine against the wall. After he closed his mouth around the cigarette, my ears burned from his voice.

"Y-yes." I sputtered, unable to look anywhere but in his coal-black pupils. I stared until I saw the reflection of his cigarette embers in them.

Six god-damned fucking years, my mind cursed me. This is what you get for ignoring your problems.

"Justin." I whispered inaudibly.