K Y L I E

“Are you sure? Last time I ask, promise.” Victor remained a bit doubtful, given her struggle to keep her balance on the way over. It was concern more than anything, but he also couldn’t ignore how inconvenient it would be if he had to carry her all the way home. “Just make yourself comfortable, Kylie,” he smiled warmly at her, quite happy to have gained her company. He liked her a lot, and tipsy or not, her presence would definitely help him relax.

He took a long sip from his beer, then turned back to her with a smirk, ”So, have you been beating up any Arschlöcher lately? I feel like the streets have been remarkably safe since the two of us teamed up.” It was pretty great to have an inside joke with someone. It felt like an actual friendship, not just one built on mutual tolerance and convenience like most of his relationships with housemates had been. “In any case, I feel a lot safer myself, so thank you.” He actually meant that, too. Somehow, Kylie made him believe that everything would be okay in the end.

Letting out a soft laugh as he asked again, “I’m fine. Just a little buzzed. Don’t worry. If I do get piss drunk, I can usually find my way back so don’t feel like you have to worry about it.” And that was the truth. She never passed out and she always hoped that she never would. Kylie didn’t want to get too drunk anyways, she knew that if she drank too much she would start overthinking and all the feelings would finally hit her. She wasn’t ready for that. Especially when she was now with someone who she didn’t want to scare away with an emotional break down. “Thank you, Vic. I can call you Vic right?” She asked. After all, she knew some people had nicknames they hated.

His question caused a smile to appear on her lips. “I think people heard about us and they ran off because I haven’t dealt with any recently. If anything, I think I’m the biggest Arschlöcher around. But I don’t really favor the idea of me punching myself.” She admitted. Her inner thoughts have become a battle between her and herself. She began having problems with feeling like she could enjoy herself. She didn’t want to be having fun because that’s NOT why she was here. She was here because she was a coward. “I’m glad you feel safer, thanks to you I feel safer too though. You’re not the only one.” She said, taking another swig from her whiskey.

“I really like Parker, Kennedy, Victor and Theo. And Ada is also pretty cool.”

Parker listened as Kylie went through her list of different types of research he could do on crocs, before shaking his head and laughing. “I uh, I genuinely think I would lose the last remaining bits of sanity I have if I spent that much time dealing with crocs” He admitted with a nod. “I’m pretty sure just hearing you say the word that many times already stripped away a good chunk of that remaining sanity. I guess I uh, I don’t really have anyone yo blame but myself for that though. I was the one who brought it up in the first place” Feeling a great deal of relief after a tense moment where Kylie made him wait for her to finally agree to go to the club opening with him, Parker laughed, and raised his eyebrows in a slight surprise at her admittance to enjoying clubs. “That’s uh, that’s good then. Maybe that means you can show me how to enjoy a club going experience” He joked with a grin.

“That is very true, but you would learn something new.” She said, attempting to point out the silver lining. “Actually, no. It’s not even worth it.” She corrected, changing her mind with a shake of her head. “Yeah, that’s true. So don’t even try to blame me because you stopped me just to talk to me about crocs.” She lectured jokingly. “But on a serious note, we would’ve ended up talking about crocs at one point or another seeing how much we have to say about them.” She said with a laugh. “I will try to make you enjoy it. But if you end up loving it, it might just be because you were with me.” She joked with a smirk. “So, what time is this thing again?” She asked, unsure if he had already stated the time.

Victor had spent his entire day trying to prepare for a talk with the dean, not an easy task. It was incredibly frustrating, and it was nowhere near from over. There were still so many things to be sorted out, but he just couldn’t deal with it anymore. Not tonight. Finally he had decided to go out, dragging himself away from his laptop and the task of getting his job back. Maybe drinking wasn’t exactly the right answer, but a couple of beers would certainly go a long way to calm his nerves. He was deep in thought when he saw a figure stumbling towards his seat, clearly much more intoxicated than he was.

“Hey,” he said with a smile and just a hint of concern for her state, “Are you okay?” He scooted over the slightest bit to make more space for her; it was never a good idea to sit too close to a very drunk person. When she started talking about intrusion, he shook his head, “No, no, stay here. I like your company. Although I’m not sure what your name is either…” He looked at her for a second, then laughed and offered her his hand, “Victor Forst, your most trusted yet surprisingly anonymous partner in crime.”

Clearing her throat, she nodded. “Yes, I’m fine.” Which she was. “I just got up too quick.” She admitted. She was tipsy, and that was a fact and she didn’t really handle her alcohol all that well. “Okay good. It would’ve been really embarrassing if I had to go back over there.” She admitted. Rejection really was an ugly thing and even though Kylie had been rejected on endless counts, it still didn’t make it any better. 

Taking a sip from her drink, she looked let her eyes leave her glass that was placed back on the bar, and nodded when he said he didn’t know her name. Taking his hand, she shook it firmly with a nod. “Kylie Pratt. It’s nice to finally know the name of my partner in crime. And no I am not related to Chris Pratt, sadly.”

It was one of those nights where Kylie needed to think. She just needed to sit down and think because she’s been pushing it all away for too long. She was fully aware of how much she was pushing back, how much she refused to dwell in. Walking into the bar, Kylie took a seat on one of the stools and ordered a whiskey. Horrible. It was so horrible. Everything she had done, and how she wasn’t planning on stopping either. Maybe that was the worst part. She didn’t care, or she didn’t want to care. Finishing one whiskey, she ordered another, and another. It was her third glass and nothing was clearing up. Her thoughts were still messy and unclear. All of it was so unclear. 

Looking around the bar with a sigh, she spotted a familiar face and she squinted her eyes to ensure that it was indeed him. Getting up, she took her glass and stumbled a bit when she felt the alcohol rush through her body. Shaking it off, she made her way over to Victor and took a seat next to him. “Funny running into you here.” She commented. “You know,” She started speaking as she fixed herself on the seat and placed her glass on the surface before her. “I realized that I don’t even know your name.” She admitted. She then noted it might’ve been a tad bit rude to sit next to him without asking if it would be alright to. “I kind of just intruded your space, if you want to be alone just let me know. I’ll leave you get back to what you were doing.”

@forstandforemost

“Oh thank God. See, I always knew you were a woman of taste Kylie” He said with a chuckle and an approving nod of his head. Laughing a bit at her question, he shook his head. “What is there to research exactly? They’re abominations that should never have been allowed to exist. I actually blame crocs for a lot of the problems the world has today” He joked with a nod. “No, what I uh, what I actually wanted to ask you was, if you might want to go with me to this club opening thing that I was invited to?” After he posed the question, he reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out the invitation he’d been given. “I was in town yesterday and this guy gave me this invitation to the opening of this club that he apparently invested money in? I don’t know, without thinking I agreed to be there and to bring a guest, and now I’m kind of hating myself for it,  because I don’t even really like clubs, but I said I would go, and I’ll feel guilty if I don’t show up” He chuckled sheepishly and shook his head again. “Think you can help a guy out? It would be a lot more bearable with you there”

“I try not to be swayed by shoes that have holes in them.” She stated. “You could research how many people like crocs and from the result, which I hope is most people don’t, you can then research how crocs have managed to got this far when the majority are against them. And then from that write a thesis completely destroying crocs. And if by some miracle majority like crocs, then you write a piece on how humanity is in a serious crisis. Much more serious than we previously thought.” She said, saying the first thing that popped into her head. “I don’t blame you from blaming crocs. They are a serious issue.” Letting out a small laugh, she furrowed her brows in realization. “This is the most I have ever said the word crocs by the way.” Hearing his question, she watched him pull out the tickets. She had already made up her mind to go, but decided to listen to his explanation since it would be rude to cut him off. Then again, maybe she did purposely try to put him on edge since she let a silent moment pass, pretending to think about it. “Yeah, sure I’ll go. I actually enjoy clubs for the most part.” She shared. She loved dancing and having fun, so clubs usually are where she preferred to go when she was bored. It was something her friends got her into.

“I spend around $102 dollars months, sometimes more and sometimes less so…you can see why I was evicted now.” Theo’s face flustered, it was ridiculous how much he spent. Vanity is a deadly sin. “By abuse I mean neglect. Goodbye Liz Earle products.” He waved his hand dismissively, following her and then shutting the door. It was chillier than expected. “We should have some pamper party some time and feel woman together.” He joked, putting on a stereotypical dumb girl voice. “Seriously? You? Getting older? Honey, you’re not getting older till 40 these days and you’re not old till 70. My nan is heading up for a hundred and she has a better social life than me.” He shook his head as they made their way away from SafeHaven.

Hearing the price, Kylie raised her brows. “Wow. And that’s only for your face stuff?” She asked the make sure. It was at the moment that Kylie realized how much her life was about to change. After all, Kylie came from a family that was one of the most wealthiest in Australia. Since she no longer associated herself with her father and she certainly didn’t want to be found, she would have to rely on the money she had left in her bank account which she withdrew before running off to Safe Haven. It was quite a bit of money but she did have to ration it if she wanted to have the money for a while. “Why do you buy the face stuff and then just use smaller amounts? That way it won’t run out as quick.” She suggested. Laughing at his statement, she nodded. “Yes, we should. We could have a day where we do all that good stuff that makes you look like you’re glowing.” She agreed. Smiling as she followed him towards the town, she shrugged. “I guess, but still it’s not too bad to start early. Maybe I wanted to still look 20 when I’m 40. I mean, that’s actually a thing now-a-days.”