Scream Me a Dream

“Are you still not talking to me?” Ville asked, watching as Soya pulled on her grey tights.

Soya bit her lip as she stood from the bed pulling her tights all the way up before moving to her closet, looking for the dress she had in mind when she’d picked out her tights and shoes. No, she wasn’t talking to her boyfriend.

“You know, you’re going to have to talk to me.” Ville teased, moving towards her to rest his hands on her hips, only to have her turn and glare at him. “Fine, no touching.” He said, moving his hands away and stepping away from her as she continued to look through her closet. “I was just evening the playing field, Soya.”

“Hmm.”

He watched as she moved her clothes around, barely dressed only in her black lace boy shorts, her grey tights and a black lace strapless bra. He was really regretting what he’d done in the bathroom, mostly because at this point he was pretty sure he was the one suffering, not only because of Soya’s silence but because of the fact that she’d purposely started undressing and then dressing in front of him when she’d come back from the bathroom.

“You got us mobbed.” He pointed out as she pulled a grey dress off the hanger and stepped into it, only moving closer to him and allowing him to zip up the back of the dress. The grey dress stopped mid thigh, three tiers of ruffles making up the skirt while a bow lay at her waist before going up with the grey bust with black outline. “You look amazing Soya.”

“Flattery won’t get you back in my good graces.” Soya said, slipping on her dark grey heels with a bow buckle.

“It got you talking to me again.” Ville pointed out.

“How about while I go finish my hair, you finish getting ready.” Soya suggested, taking the clip out of her hair and letting it fall down her back before leaving the room. Ville sighed, getting up and changing from his his t-shirt to a black button down shirt before going to the bathroom and holding out his arms.

Soya looked up at him, before setting her curling iron down starting to roll up his sleeves to his elbows. “I’m not…angry.”

“Good to know.”

“I’m frustrated, but not angry.” Soya said, a small smile gracing her lips. She patted his arms when she finished and leaned up to kiss him softly. “But do it again, and you’ll be sleeping alone for at least a month.”

Ville chuckled. “Deal.”

“I’m almost ready.” She said, turning back to the mirror and picking up her curling iron again. Ville nodded, going back to the room and sitting on the edge of the bed, slipping his converse on. Going to the dresser, he tucked his wallet into his back pocket as Soya came out, her hair slicked back into a high ponytail, curls bouncing as she walked. She had very little make-up on; the only thing that stood out to him was the red lipstick that stained her lips.

“Beautiful.” He murmured as she pulled on a black cropped blazer that molded to her body, causing him to shake his head. “You’re going to freeze.”

Soya shrugged. “I figure if we’re inside most of the night, I’ll only freeze on my way to the cab and out of the cab.”

Ville chuckled, pulling on his own black coat, “You’re still confusing New York winters with Finland winters.”

“No,” Soya laughed, picking up her grey clutch, “I remember Finland winters well. This isn’t winter yet.”

Ville chuckled as he watched her touch her neck, where the pendant on the necklace he gave her lay, before slipping on a gold intricately woven ring with a pale blue stone that lay in the center. “Ready?”

“Yes.” Soya said, slipping her cell phone into the clutch before following him out of the room. They locked the door behind them as they made it down the steps, Ville grumbling about the lift still not working even three months later causing Soya to roll her eyes. He opened the door to the lobby for her before she opened the door to the cab that was already waiting. She climbed in with Ville behind her, telling the driver the name of the club before it took off.

“Cold yet?” He teased

“No.” Soya muttered, crossing her arms over her chest before leaning her chin on his shoulder.“Ville?”

“Hmm?”

“Are you going to be okay going out?”

Ville frowned as he looked at her. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You don’t drink.”

Ville chuckled, kissing her nose lightly. “Thank you for worrying, love, but I’ll be fine. Just because I don’t drink anymore, doesn’t mean I don’t go out every once in a while, I’m not a total hermit.”

Soya chuckled, “Are you sure about that?”

“Positive.” Ville laughed. “But you, if you want to drink tonight, I’ll be very willing to take care of you.”

Soya laughed, kissing his chin. “Thank you for the kind gesture, but I won’t be drinking tonight.”

Ville chuckled. “This’ll be an interesting night then.”

Once they reached the club Ville helped Soya out of the cab, watching as she fixed the bottom of her dress. Soya smiled at him as he paid the driver and led her to the door. She gripped his hand as they entered the club easily, the pulsating music assaulting her ears quickly as they made their way further inside. She watched as Ville typed on his phone with his free hand, before looking around, only to turn slightly when Ville’s lips found her ear.

“They’re upstairs.” He told her, causing her to nod and let him lead her up past the large crowd that was pushing against them. Soya shook her head amused at herself before tugging on Ville’s hand, getting his attention; he leaned down, as she spoke into his ear.

“Now I remember why I like to stay home.” She teased, causing him to grin at her and tug her up the stairs, the entire floor holding a red tint due to the lights that surrounded them. Once they reached the upper level, Ville looked around, obviously knowing where their friends were before pulling Soya in front of him and leading her towards a corner booth.

“You came!” Toni squealed, launching out of her chair to hug Soya, causing her to laugh.

“Sorry!” Linde chuckled, pulling his fiancé away from Soya. “She’s already had a few”

“It’s fine!” Soya laughed, watching as Ville took a seat next to Mige before sitting next to him.“How long have you all been here?”

“About half an hour now, the girls have been waiting for you to go dance though.” Mige chuckled. Soya looked at Vedrana and Toni who were grinning at her.

“At least let me get settled.” Soya laughed, setting her clutch down between herself and Ville.

Linde stood back up, and leaned towards Soya and Ville. “I’m getting more drinks, do you want anything?”

“Coke for me.” Ville told him, looking at Soya.

“I’ll go with you, Linde.” Soya said, sliding out of the booth.

“You don’t have to.” Linde assured.

“It’s fine.” Soya smiled looking back at Ville. “I’ll be back.” At Ville’s nod, she hooked her arm around Linde’s and motioned for him to lead the way. Linde led her to the bar, getting the bartender’s attention before ordering their drinks.

Soya chewed on her lip as she watched Linde carefully, bumping his elbow with hers causing him to turn and grin at her. She crooked a finger for him to come closer causing him to chuckle and lean in. Taking a deep breath, she asked the question that had been plaguing her mind since she’d talked to Ville earlier.

“Why do you have a problem with Ville looking at rings?”

Linde pulled away and looked at her with a raised eyebrow. “You and Ville talk about everything, don’t you?”

Soya shrugged, they didn’t talk about everything, she thought, but they talked about most things. She raised her own eyebrow in his direction, signaling for him to answer.

Linde rolled his eyes before leaning closer. “I don’t have a problem with Ville looking at rings.”

“You made it seem like a problem to him.”

Linde chuckled. “Do you want him looking at rings?” he teased, looking at her, only to laugh at her grin. Shaking his head, he leaned back in. “I’ll tell you the same thing I told Ville.”

“Which is?” Soya asked.

“I don’t want you both jumping into something you may not be ready for. Three months, Soya, and don’t give me that, “we’ve known each other thirteen years” bullshit, because technically you’re going on two years of knowing each other, but still only three months of dating.”

Soya gave a slight nod, knowing Linde had a point. “All right.”

“What you and Ville don’t realize is that if you jump into marriage and things go bad, you’re not only hurting yourselves, which is what I told Ville.”

Soya pulled away and frowned at him. “Linde, I love you, you’re like a brother, but I would hope that sides wouldn’t be taken were things to end with Ville, which they won’t.”

Linde nodded slowly. “I’m not talking about me or Mige or anyone else in our group of friends, Soya. I’m talking of Aida.”

Soya blinked slowly at him, only to turn when the bartender set a platter of their drinks next to her elbow, Linde pulled out his wallet to pay as Soya chewed on her lip, thinking of what Linde had said. Before Linde started to walk back to the table she stopped him, causing him to look at her.

“I wouldn’t stop Ville from seeing Aida!” she shouted over the music, “I’m not that cruel! I see how close they are, I wouldn’t do that!”

Linde stared at her, before giving a nod, leaning back down. “I still think it’s too soon for you both to be talking about marriage, Soya, but fuck it, that’s just me.”

“But you’re not my parent.” Soya said, causing Linde to look at her in surprise. He wasn’t used to the Soya who spoke back or stood her ground, he was used to the more passive Soya who would have backed down ages ago. Hell, she probably wouldn’t have even brought up the subject, having let Ville handle the situation.

Linde sighed. “Are we really going to argue right now?!”

Soya shrugged. “I’m not arguing.”

Linde set the platter back on the bar, looking at his friend. “I love you, Soya, you know that.”

Soya nodded. “Of course.”

Linde sighed, “I just have concerns, that’s all.” He admitted, causing Soya to nod. “If you and Ville want to get engaged and married, go ahead, I’ll be happy for you as a good friend is.”

Soya nodded. “But…” She said, motioning to continue.

“But…” Linde laughed. “I’ll have my concerns, like any good friend would have.”

Soya reached over and hugged her blonde friend, causing him to laugh as he hugged her back “You have nothing to worry about, Linde. Ville and I are nowhere near ready for marriage, but let the man look at rings; it makes both of us happy.”

Linde chuckled, tightening his hold on her friend. “Fine.”

“Now let me help you with this.” She said, grabbing the two cokes, he had ordered, lightening the load on the platter as they made their way back to the booth.

“What took you so long?” Mige asked, reaching for one of the beers.

“It was busy!” Linde answered reaching for his own beer, allowing his fiancé and Vedrana out of the booth. Soya set down both of the sodas, ready to sit back down, only for Toni to grab her.

“Dance!” Toni laughed, causing Soya to sigh, holding up a finger as she stripped off her blazer, setting it on the seat next to Ville.

“Go!” Ville laughed, waving her away before she had a chance to explain. “Think of this as me making it up to you for messing up your girls’ day!”

Soya grinned, leaning in to kiss him. “So sweet.”

“Go.” He ordered with a grin, watching as Soya got pulled away by her friends, leaving the men by themselves.

“Soya lectured me!” Linde said, causing Ville to turn away from watching his girlfriend go towards the dance floor and look over at his friend.

“Did she?” he smirked.

“She’s changed a lot.”

Ville nodded, taking a drink of his soda. “For the better.”

Linde nodded in agreement. “Definitely for the better.”

“What did little Soya lecture you about?” Mige asked with a raised eyebrow.

Linde chuckled. “It’s nothing important, Mige; don’t worry about it.” Linde looked back at Ville. “Watch him, he’s been going on and on about getting your girlfriend drunk.”

Ville laughed. “Good luck with that, she said she wasn’t going to drink tonight.”

Mige shrugged. “I have a plan.”

Ville rolled his eyes, “I’m sure you do.”

XxxxxxX

Soya laughed as Vedrana pulled her towards the bar, both of them leaning up against the counter, as Vedrana caught the bartender’s eye.

“What do you want? It’s on me!” Vedrana said, looking over at Soya.

Soya shook her head. “I don’t drink!”

Vedrana looked at her surprised. “Not even a little?!”

Soya shrugged. “Only when the mood suits.”

“Well the mood is suiting!” Vedrana laughed, causing Soya to giggle before turning to the bartender who was waiting. “Two vodka shots.”

“Vedrana.” Soya warned.

“You can’t be Finnish and tell me you’ve never had a shot of Finlandia vodka, Soya!”

Soya bit her lip. “I told Ville I wasn’t going to drink.”

Vedrana raised an eyebrow in her direction. “One drink won’t kill you Soya. I doubt Ville would be mad over one shot.” Vedrana snorted. “Or two, or three, or four.”

“Vedrana!” Soya laughed, turning when the bartender set the two shots of clear liquid down in front of them, before walking away again.

“So…” Vedrana teased, pushing the shot closer to Soya’s hand.

Soya sighed, picking up the shot glass. “Just one!”

“Promise!” Vedrana said “Kippis!” Vedrana winked, clinking her glass with Soya’s.

“Kippis.” Soya murmured, swallowing the shot with a wince, setting down her shot glass as Vedrana slammed hers down only to turn to Soya with a smile.

“We have to do one with Toni!” Vedrana said, rushing off to find their friend before Soya had a chance to object. Why did she suddenly have a bad feeling about this?

XxxxxxX

“Is it really possible for the girls to dance for two hours without a break?” Mige asked.

Ville snorted. “Dancing is in Soya’s blood, I’m pretty sure she can dance all night if we let her.”

“True.” Linde chuckled. “It also means the girls are having fun.”

“We’re having fun!” Mige said, taking a drag of his beer.

“That we are.” Ville nodded in agreement, mostly amused at watching his friends get progressively drunker as the night wore on. In the past two hours, Mige and Linde had only consumed two beers since he’d gotten to the club, he hadn’t seen Soya since, so he had no idea how she was faring with the girls, if the girls had decided to start drinking at the bar where they were dancing.

“Should we go find them?” Linde asked. “I would text them, but I think we all got left with their phones.” He chuckled, holding up Toni’s clutch.

“I think this is payback for what we did to them earlier.” Mige said. “Giving us purse duty while they all dance, knowing we wouldn’t leave their stuff unattended.”

Ville snorted. “Yes, because they’re just plain evil like that.”

“You’re not bothered by purse duty?” Linde asked.

“I’m just glad Soya’s not dragging me out to the dance floor.” Ville admitted with a smirk. “All the better if it’s Toni and Vedrana.”

“Ah, here they come.” Mige chuckled. “And they’re stumbling.”

Ville looked at them, seeing Soya covering her mouth as she laughed, her arm looped around Vedrana’s as Toni’s arm was around Soya’s waist. When they reached the table, Linde moved out of the booth to let the girls in, while Ville helped Soya down as she nearly fell into the booth giggling.

“You are drunk.” He accused teasingly, looking at his girlfriend, amused at the turn of situations.

“Tipsy.” She said with a laugh, her cheeks flushed red as she grinned at him. “Kiss.” She demanded.

Ville chuckled, leaning down to kiss his girlfriend, tasting the mixture of alcohol on her lips. “You taste amazing, love.”

“As do you.” She giggled, leaning forward to kiss his cheek sloppily, only to use her fingers to wipe away the trace of lipstick she left on his cheek.

“How much have you had to drink?” he asked her, looking down at her as she rested her chin on his shoulder.

“I lost track after we had the pretty blue one.” Soya admitted with a frown.

Mige clapped, kissing his wife hard before moving them out of the booth. “Good work, love.”

“Thank you!” Vedrana grinned. “I was the plan.” She said to Ville.

“I can see that.” Ville chuckled.

“I’ll be back.” Mige assured, leaving the table as everyone slid back in.

“Where is he off to?” Ville asked Linde as Linde shrugged.

“I have no idea. I was in no way a part of this plan.”

“Sure you weren’t.” Ville laughed. “I think it’s a conspiracy between everyone to get my girlfriend drunk.”

“And it worked.” Soya nodded, leaning her chin on her palm. “I liked the pink ones too.”

“Do you even know what you drank, love?” Ville asked.

Soya closed her eyes, her brow furrowing as she thought, before opening them again and shaking her head. “I remember one of them had vodka.”

Vedrana laughed. “All of them had vodka…I think!”

“We stopped ordering after about our fourth.” Toni laughed. “And let the bartender bring us whatever.”

“Very wise of you.” Linde said with a roll of his eyes, grinning when his fiancé leaned over to kiss his cheek.

“Soya!” Mige said, sliding in next to Linde and setting down a platter of shots. “How do you feel about green?”

Soya grinned. “Green is very pretty, but I need water.” She whined. “I’m going to go get water.”

“No, no.” Ville laughed, holding her still as she stood up, her legs not at all stable. “Stay here, I’ll go get you water. You can barely stand, let alone walk.” He muttered, helping her back down into the booth before leaving for the bar to get water for his girlfriend.

“Here ya’ go.” Mige chuckled handing Soya one of the shots.

“What is it?” Soya asked, wrinkling her nose as she lifted the glass and looked at the green liquid.

“Better you don’t ask, and just drink.” Mige said, taking his own shot as Soya continued to stare at her glass. Soya shrugged, bringing the glass to her lips and swallowing the liquid, only to wince as it went down.

“Good?” Toni asked.

“Yummy. Burns, but yummy.” Soya said, getting another one, only for a hand to stop her before she could get it off the platter.

“Water first.” Ville told her, “Before you drink more Absinthe.”

“Is that what it is?” Soya asked as Ville slid back into the booth, handing her the water.

“Yes, sweetheart. That’s what it is.” Ville chuckled. “Come on now, water first.”

“Then I can drink?”

“Then you can drink.” Ville nodded. He was pretty sure his girlfriend was close to consuming her body weight in alcohol. The headache she was sure to have in the morning was not going to be pretty. He watched as she sipped the water and chuckled at the turn of the night, which caused her to look at him with a grin.

“Oh! Oh! Ville!”

Ville chuckled. “I’m right here, what?”

“I was thinking,” Soya said, her hands moving excitedly.

“Thanking about what?” he asked, watching her amused.

“I want kids.” She said decidedly, causing him to laugh, as he looked over at his friends who were watching Soya in interest.

“All right.” Ville said slowly, wondering where the conversation was going.

“But I can’t have kids!” She said with wide eyes shaking her head.

“Why not?” Ville asked, knowing that whatever response was guaranteed to be entertaining.

“Well, we haven’t had sex, silly.” Soya giggled.

“True.” Ville snorted. “Other than that, though?”

“Well,” she said slowly. “I just can’t get pregnant in the next two years.” She said with a frown. “After that, I can have little Villes!”

Ville laughed, knowing that when he told Soya of this conversation when she was sober, she would be embarrassed as all hell. “So, why not in the next two years?”

Soya looked at him as if he should already have the answer. “Because no one wants to see a pregnant ballerina on stage, silly!”

Mige snorted with laughter, sticking out his hand. “Drunk Soya, it has been a pleasure to meet you, truly.”

“It’s nice to meet you too, drunk Mige!” Soya grinned shaking his hand.

Truly, Ville thought staring at his girlfriend as she took another shot, not being able to keep the grin off his face, it was a pleasure to meet a drunk Soya.