deep burn blue

Finding herself closer to him she resisted the urge to break eye contact and out more space between them. “But you’re not.” Eva finished for him. "I wouldn’t call that fair. You get my name but I don’t get yours.” Better to have this one’s name on her mind than that of another. 

Eva felt bold tonight, self assured. She took a half step closer to him and let her fingers lingering on his hand before she wrapped them around the shot glass. “It’s Eva.“ A smirk on her lips as she gently pried the shot glass offered from his hand. “I wont drink the shot till I learn yours.”

“Eva,” Noah repeated, holding up his own shot glass as if to toast for her. “I’m Noah,” he said. Eva seemed like a good time. She was gorgeous, and Noah would be an idiot if he didn’t try sticking close to her for the rest of the night. 

He knocked back the shot, waiting for the server to pass by again to replace his empty glass with a fresh one. In the mean time, he’d focus on Eva. 

“Are you friends with the birthday girl?” 

It was his own way of asking if she was affiliated with the Costellos. The last thing that he needed was to get fucked up by Costello security again, but she was gorgeous – he wasn’t sure that it’d even matter if she was.

Sofia grabbed Noah by his forearm and started dragging him out of the crowd towards the bar. “Come on, I owe you a drink,” she said, pushing her way through people to get to the front of the line.

“Gimme a bottle,” she said to the bartender. “Tequila or whiskey?” Sofia asked, turning to Noah for his preference. Considering her security caused trouble the last time they were together, buying Noah booze was the least she could do.

Noah let Sofia lead the way over to the bar. Spending more time with her wasn’t the smartest decision, but he wasn’t prone to making many of those anyway. 

“Tequila,” Noah decided, sitting on the barstool. "Where’s your security?” Noah wondered, looking over his shoulder. The last thing he wanted was another fucking run in with those guys. He was sure that his father, and Jack, weren’t very happy about what happened on the Fourth of July. But other than that – Noah had been staying out of trouble.

“Don’t really feel like getting my ass kicked tonight.”

“He’s here somewhere, probably blowing off steam.” Luca deserved it after the altercation with her father on top of stress from work, not to mention the baby; the couple really couldn’t catch a break.

“Speaking of not seeing people…have you talked to dad recently?” Paityn asked, knowing that Noah and Johhny’s relationship was strained to say the least. If anyone could understand how she felt about their father it would be Noah. “We…got into a fight.”

At the mention of their father, Noah made a face. What a way to kill the mood, though he knew that Paityn wouldn’t have brought it up if it weren’t serious. 

“If we’re gonna talk about dad, we’re gonna need some more drinks,” he said, sliding Paityn the spare shot of tequila. He downed his rather quickly, signaling to the bartender for another round. He looked over at Paityn, finally shaking his head. 

“Nah. I try not to go near that bastard if I can help it. He probably thinks I’m back in California,” Noah said. “What did you fight about?”

A hot blonde dressed like... Shakira? Well. Noah was off to a good start. He had a few drinks in his system, and he’d never been shy about dancing, anyway. Although the style of music was certainly outdated, it was manageable. He danced along with the blonde, but the floor was crowded, and he was shoved a few steps closer to her than intended. He stared down at her, smirking somewhat apologetically.

“I’d say I was sorry, but –”

Still, Noah kept his hands to himself. He wasn’t a creep. There was a server making her rounds through the crowd of people. He pulled two shots off the tray.

“We can trade. A shot for your name?” He said, offering her the glass.

Noah would be fun. She still needed to tell him the big news, though she didn’t know tonight was the night for that. She wondered, however, if he’d spoken to their father since the fight. 

“I’m bored, hang out with me,” she said, linking her arm in his as they walked towards the bar.

Paityn was a welcomed surprise. She hooked her arm around his, and he continued on to the bar. 

“I just got stuck with this poor fuckin’ guy. Wouldn’t stop talking about his love life. I couldn’t stand it. Had to make an escape,” he explained, before stopping at the bar. He drummed both of his hands against the counter obnoxiously, not to draw attention, but out of force of habit.

“Two shots. Tequila. Expensive,” Noah told the bartender, before looking over at Paityn. “Where’s your husband? Haven’t seen Luca since I’ve been back. Seems a bit rude.”

He wasn’t being serious. Noah actually didn’t mind Luca all that much. He’d grown up away from the feud. As long as Paityn was happy and taken care of, that’s all that mattered.

Noah fucking Sinclair.

Great. A cute boy who could definitely get her into trouble. Sofia hadn’t seen the man since they made out on the Fourth of July. 

“Shit, I’m sorry,” she said, biting her lip as she twirled one of her pigtails in her fingers. “Didn’t see ya there.” Sofia quirked a brow. “How’d you get an invite anyway?” she asked, wondering if Chanel had somehow orchestrated something after their discussion over coffee the other day.

Noah couldn’t help but smirk whenever he spotted Sofia. If she were smart, she would’ve stayed far away from him. Their last hangout had only resulted in trouble. Noah was already in deep shit with his father, but that had only made things worse. Still, he wouldn’t go back to California until he was ready.

“Dunno. Sinclair clout, or whatever,” he shrugged, not particularly caring. He’d ended up there because there was nothing better to do. All of his friends lived in L.A. “How’d you get an invite? Surprised you’re not permanently banned from places where they sell liquor.”

“Dude, yeah, I feel ya. It sucks. Hey, I’m gonna grab us some more drinks, you hang tight.”

They were causing a scene and Sofia hated to be ogled, used as a source of mass entertainment. This was sure to make headlines. “Get your hands off him,” she demanded, watching Noah wrestle free. “You’re not my brothers! You don’t get to fight the boys I kiss.”

She wrapped her arms around herself, drunk and chilly in the night air. Thing 1 and 2 didn’t seem to do too much damage. Though, Noah did have a mouth on him.

“You’re both fucking fired,” Sofia slurred, even though she didn’t exactly have that kind of power. She shrugged and leaned against the wall. “Now will you let us make out in peace or do we need to find a room?”

Her security guards didn’t take too kindly to Sofia’s demands. In fact, one of them rolled his eyes at her remarks and turned to face Noah. He quickly sucker punched him, fist colliding with Noah’s jaw, despite his hands up in defense.

He did want to start a fight. With both Sinclair and Costello hired guards in the picture, Sofia was sure he’d get his wish.  

Sofia was arguing with her security, insisting that they couldn’t fight the boys that she kissed. Noah wondered if this happened often. There was no time for Noah to get out of this – before he could even devise a plan, he’d been hit square in the jaw. It was disorienting, for a brief moment, before he got back on both legs and lunged towards the Costello security without thinking too hard about it. He wound his fist back, delivering a pretty decent punch to the side of the man’s face. He could hear commotion behind him, and as Noah tangled a hand in the man’s shirt for leverage, he felt himself being yanked away by his own security. 

What happened next was – messy. 

Both sides went at each other, all because of a fucking kiss. He didn’t even like Sofia like that. The kissing had just been impulsive and fun – a signature Noah move. While the guards were beating the shit out of each other, he made his way for the exit. His jaw hurt. He swiped a bottle from behind the counter and made his way down the stairs.

His destination? The beach.

Fuck the party. He could watch the fireworks from there. 

“But maybe they just like nothing to hinder everyone’s vision of the fireworks. Or a spark could light one off accidentally. Or it would ruin the smell of hotdogs.”

“Clean air?” Noah repeated, fully prepared to argue with the woman beside him – until he noticed that she was pretty hot. So he exhaled to his right, even went as far as holding his cigarette away from her. She didn’t look like the smoking type.

“You’re right, I’m an ass,” he said, once she mentioned all of the things that his smoking could ruin. Not that he really cared. “You don’t smoke? I’ve been a nicotine addict since I was fifteen. Shit’s hard to quit.”

Noah kissed her and Sofia reached one of her hands to grip the side of his face. Of all the reckless things Sofia did, macking on Noah Sinclair was probably the stupidest. Though, she was drunk and angry. She wanted to piss Luca off, hell she wanted Paityn mad, too. 

He pulled away and smirked, looking to see if there where any stirs from Costello men. Sofia just winked at her security and brought her lips back to Noah’s, slipping her tongue in his mouth.

This wouldn’t be good. The moment that Sofia winked at her security, instigating them, Noah knew this wouldn’t end well. Shitshitshit. The kiss was decent, though, and she leaned in for another. He had no time to react – he just felt two arms on his shoulders, felt himself being violently flung onto the pavement. He laughed a little. Whoops. 

He couldn’t see what was happening with Sofia, but one of her security guards had hooked their arms beneath Noah’s, dragging him towards the exit. Noah wasn’t going to make this easy on them. Plus, they’d put their hands on him first, and this was neutral territory. He wasn’t ready to fucking leave the party yet!

And, as disliked as Noah was, he was still a Sinclair. The family’s security made their way over, attempting to free Noah from the Costellos. Once free, Noah took a few steps back, raised both hands to show he wouldn’t try anything. Yet. His back burned from being dragged along the pavement. All of that for a fucking kiss? 

“You guys miss the wedding, or what? The whole feud’s fucked anyway. What’s one kiss gonna hurt?”

“You sure? Because all my ideas end with you getting a black eye from at least one of my brothers.”

This was obviously a bad idea. An impulsive, fucked up idea, but he’d asked for it, hadn’t he? Noah wasn’t wasted, but he was tipsy enough to do something like this. 

“Fuck your brothers.”

“Risk getting lectured again? No thank you,” she replied.

He mentioned it was his first weekend back in Chicago, hoping for something entertaining to happen. She raised a brow. “You really wanna cause a fight? I can think of a few ways to get fists flying.”

“Getting lectured is still better than getting banished from the city.”

Banishment still wasn’t going to stop Noah from sticking around this time. At least semi-permanently. 

"Alright. I’ll bite. Let’s hear it.”

Sofia could feel her security watching her intently, worrying for their jobs assuming she was planning on making a run for it with the Sinclair boy. Leon would certainly have their heads. She didn’t want to, but seeing the cocktail waitress bitch about them to her supervisor made her put out the cigarette on the brick wall of the building, tossing the butt over the edge of the roof.

Leaning on the wall for support, she sighed, throat aching for another drink, head telling her one more would mean she’d spend the night with Thing 1 and 2 holding her hair back as she vomited. 

“This party fucking blows.”

Noah played it close – he kept smoking until he saw the waitress again. That’s when he took one last drag, flicking his cigarette over the building. He exhaled to the side, before glancing back over at Sofia. 

‘This party fucking blows.’

"It does,” Noah agreed. He could smell all of the liquor on Sofia, the way she leaned on the wall. Noah wasn’t quite there yet. “You could probably ditch and find a better party. I’m just here to see what shit goes down. It’s my first weekend back in Chicago. If someone doesn’t get into a fight... I guess I’ll have to do something about that.”

“Rules are meant to be broken,” she said, exhaling a cloud of smoke.

“So philosophical,” Noah said flatly, exhaling away from Sofia. Since he didn’t spend a lot of time in Chicago, it was difficult for him to feel as involved in the feud between both families. He knew about loyalty, though – only for Noah, it worked a little differently than for the rest of his family. 

“It’s all out doors anyway. Not sure why they give a fuck.”

He eyed one of the cocktail waitress who had spotted them. She stomped off in the other direction, probably to go get her supervisor and fuck up his night.

“We’ve got like, one minute to finish this smoke before we get busted.”

“What kind of shitty party doesn’t allow smoking?” Noah wondered, lighting up directly in front of a sign that said not to.