Another Night, Another Score

"L-O-V-E is just another word I'll never learn to pronounce."

I woke up to myself, sprawled out on the bed. Was that my phone? I don't remember having that ringtone.. I thought to myself. I stepped down from the bed and immediatley felt a cold wet spot. I looked down to see Jack that spilt right out of it's bottle. Shit.

I threw piles of clothes back and forth between my room to find my phone, and before I knew it, it stopped ringing. Finally I found it under another pile of clothes, and called voicemail.

"H-Hey Dani. It's Alex. Um, the guy from Fierce the other night. Look, all I can remember is memories of when we were sober, and we were telling each other about our lives. Anyways, I found a bracelet at the bar after you left, under the stool you were sitting under, and I assume it's yours, so if you wanted to meet up sometime to get it back, and maybe even hang a bit... call me. See ya" he told me from the other side of the line.

I searched through my contacts for his number, and pressed call.

"Hello?" he asked groggily.

"Alex. It's Dani" I replied.

"Oh hey, I just left you a message" he said awkwardly.

"Yeah, I heard it. Would you like to meet me at the restaurant off of Hare Street?" I asked. "I think it's called Hudson's Hot Treats?"

"Yeah, sure. My friends and I go there all the time. I'm so sorry about the other night. That was all my fault. I never meant for it to get that out of hand"

"Oh, it's fine. Don't take all the blame. I made some bad decisions too. Bring your friends too if you like. Goodnight Alex"

"Okay, well, goodnight Dani"

&&&

I opened the door to the restaurant and saw Alex sitting at a table in the corner. He looked up from his phone as I sat down. I weakly smiled at him, and he returned it.

"You're Dani, right?"

"I am, and you must be Alex"

"I'm sorry, I gotta be honest, I have no remembrance of the other night" he confessed.

"Totally fine. Neither do I" I told him. "So, can I have my bracelet?" I asked him.

"Oh, yeah" he pulled it out of his pocket. "Wait. I need to give you a test" he told me. I looked at him confused. "I have to make sure you're not some screaming fan girl, wanting to take Dani's bracelet"

"And why would I be that?"

"Because I'm in a band. Not to brag or anything, but we're pretty well known around here. This is where we've all lived since we were kids, so, you know"

"Oh, I see. Have I heard of your band?"

"Are you trying to play it cool, or have you actually never heard of All Time Low?" he asked raising an eyebrow at me.

"I've actually never heard of 'All Time Low' " I replied.

"Hmm, you're definitely not a fan girl" he observed. He handed the bracelet to me.

"So, what now?"

"Now. we reintroduce ourselves, since I have not a lot of memory of you, and you don't have a lot of memory of me. But enough for me to call you, and you, enough to answer your phone. Well, technically you didn't, but you found it in the short time span I called you. Good enough" he smirked. I laughed.

"Danielle Marie Robinson, 21 years old. You?" I asked offering my hand for him to shake.

"Alexander William Gaskarth, 22 years old" he said taking my hand. "Can I buy you a drink?"

"Are you kidding me? The whole reason we're here is because of the intoxicating mess that happened just the other night, and you want to buy me a drink?"

"Oh come on, we're mature adults, having a good talk. We can handle a few. I swear it won't turn out like last time" he smiled.

"Fine" I told him and picked up the drinks menu. I looked through it, decided what I wanted, and put it down. The waiter came over to take our order.

"Hello, what can I get you two today?" he smiled.

"I'll have a Stella Artois from the tap please. Thank you" I said as he wrote it down on his paper pad. Alex smirked at me.

"I'll have what she's having"