- C H A P T E R • F I V E -

It's somethin' 'bout you that's so familiar

Somethin' that's got me wantin' to know you

And I can't put my finger on it

But it feels, oh like I've been here before

It's somethin' about me that makes me wonder

I swear I met you, but you're a stranger

And I can't put my finger on quite what it is

Oh, but I've been here before.

~Fool for You- Snoh Aelegra

-Sera-

"So you're actually going through with this," Ariel's statement hung in the air. I was a bit embarrassed to admit it out loud, but the moment Ash focused his spellbinding crystal blue eyes on me, there was no denying his requests.

My semi- dolled up reflection stared back at me with nervousness and a bit of excitement. The way he spoke, the way he carried himself, and the way he seemed to fixate all his attention on me...

A small shiver spread across my body.

I tried to direct my concentration on the task at hand. I eyed my mid length black dress, decorated with roses hesitantly. Does this dress scream try-hard? I played with the short sleeves and scanned the low neckline with uncertainty.

My mass of lawless curls were brushed up into a high bun, but already a few rouge curls had managed to break free of the extra hold gel. I wore my natural everyday makeup but instead of bare lips, they were now adorned with the finest gloss from the black owned hair store a few blocks from my old dorm.

I huffed in aggravation. There was no turning back now, we had already been standing in the lobby of his apartment building for about twenty minutes now. I stepped back from my distorted reflection of the shiny, silver elevator doors.

"Let's party," the merry words were spoken with little to no enthusiasm. Ariel pushed the 'up' elevator button and we stepped into the awaiting lift.

I was doing my last set of encouraging words when the bell dinged and the metal doors opened up to Ash's floor. His apartment, 512, was at the end of the carpeted hallway to our right.

Our footsteps were muted by carpet, but the sound of my drumming heart seemed deafening. The moment at O'Doherty's dashed through my mind and I felt warmth take over my cheeks.

Ariel and I stopped in-front of the dark gray apartment door. Ariel took the initiative to knock while I coward behind him. There was a deep chuckle from the other side of the door and then it opened to reveal a pale man with blonde hair shaved into a buzzcut. He had light brown eyes and a slight angle to his nose, perhaps from being broken a time or two. His thin, pink lips formed a small knowing smirk.

"Come in, make yourselves at home," he stepped away to let us into the lofty apartment. We entered through the kitchen, with its light brown cabinetry, stainless steel appliances, and granite countertops was an instant eye catcher.

The sink, oven, and overhead microwave were all to the right of us, and a white support beam stood proudly next a small island seated for two. Thanks to the open layout we could see clear through the whole apartment, with exception of the bedroom and bathroom.

The living area was occupied by few but the place was lively nonetheless. It seemed as if there was a drinking game currently taking place, the long dark concrete table was littered with red party cups and uno cards. The group around the table hollered joyously as one of them threw down a draw four card. I quickly spotted Ash among the modest crowd. He currently had his head tilted back in unreserved laughter.

He looked thoroughly bewitching in a vibrant bowling shirt, topped with abstract shapes, and his staple pair of black distressed jeans and black suede Chelsea boots.

As his laughter faded, his head turned to us and a familiar tingle buzzed through my body when his eyes landed on mine. He stood up and walked over to us, our eyes never parted.

"Glad you guys could make it," his smooth voice nearly turned my bones to jelly where I stood. He nodded his head in acknowledgement at Ariel, which was reciprocated, then he turned his complete focus on me. "You look amazing Sera." I could only nod my head in thanks, afraid that the high pitch in my tone would give away my true feelings.

With Ariel in front of me and Ash at the rear, we made our way inside. "Hey Ivan, this is Sera. Sera, this is my friend Ivan," he motioned toward the blonde who opened the door for us. His light brown eyes shown in recognition. "Ooh, so this is Sera."

"Do you guys wanna join our game? It's drunk uno. " An older man with a dark rimmed glasses and a kind face offered. "Yeah I'm down for a round or two," Ariel accepted and took a seat in the middle of the couch, next to a girl with flaming red hair and red speckles across her nose and cheeks to match.

The man then looked to me, silently asking if I wanted to take part. "No thank you, I'm not much of a drinker. But I'll watch." This seemed to satisfy the courteous stranger.

I retreated a few steps and took a seat at the lonesome island and silently began spectating the game.

The game restarted, Ariel was dealt a hand of seven cards and had his full concentration on the game, something that came as a shock to me. Ariel was much like a puppy, hyped up on caffeine, locked in cage with squirrels.

"Want some?" I looked to left of me and saw Ash standing with a fresh plate of buffalo wings and fries. My mouth watered. "Yes, definitely. "

He, along with the tantalizing platter, accompanied me at the table.

"This is a nice place." I said, gesturing to the impressive space. He chuckled a bit and nodded his head in thanks.

"Well, I can't complain," was his modest reply.

I rolled my eyes at his humility. "How can you afford a place like this on minimum wage?" I tautened. I usually wouldn't have asked such a personal question, especially towards someone I had just met a few nights ago.

He gave another unassuming laugh. "I made a few good investments."

"Like what?" I could feel a teasing smirk grow on my face.

His grin never left his face as he turned his chair towards me and leaned in a bit closer. "I'll tell you if you go on another date with me."

I chuckled in disbelief. "Are you trying to bribe me to go out with you again?"

"I can't get anything past you, can I?" I was a bit taken aback at his boldness. "You look amazing, by the way." His eyes quickly traveled the length of my form.

I furrowed my brows and looked down at the rose printed dress. I forgot I wasn't wearing my normal ripped jeans and plain shirt. "Uh, yeah I just, um threw something together."

Which was a complete lie, I had spent hours agonizing over the perfect outfit and had thrown everything out of my new closet until I had came across this dress that I bought on the off chance that I might wear it one day.

And the look in his eye told me he already knew that. I turned to the platter of food to escape his scrutinizing eye. As I took a bit of the warm food, I felt him move his chair closer to mine.

"How is the food?" His eyes seemed enthralled by the movements my mouth made as I chewed, before they focused back on my eyes. I nearly choked on the wing.

He handed me a party cup of water, as I was having a hard time dislodging the food from my throat. "Are you okay?" I nodded my head, despite my relentless coughing.

Once I was done hacking up my food, a comfortable silence spread between us as we focused on the amusing game unfolded before us. So far not much had changed, everyone still seemed to have the same amount of cards, but the redhead next to Ariel seemed to have a bit more red in her face than her hair.

We laughed as the blonde with the buzzcut, Ivan, was forced to take two more shots after having been skipped the previous cycle.

It wasn't long before another outburst of frustration erupted, this time from the kind man from earlier.

"Who is that?" The man had been in the lead, having only three cards remaining, before the red head reversed the order causing him to grab two card and take two shots.

"That's a work buddy, Marvin. He's a sweetheart."

I went back to watching the chaos unfold when a figure behind the game players caught my eye. He was of average height and average build. In fact everything about him was average, even his face was hard to hold in my memory. It was as if he was made to be unnoticeable.

"And who's that? Over there." I motioned to the mystery man standing against the wall. He nodded his heads in greeting as the man continued to stare intently in our direction.

"That's James, also a work buddy. I don't know much about him though," he admitted. I hummed in acknowledgement.

By the end of the night, my head, cheeks and ribs were thoroughly sore from all of the unruliness that ensued. It was a close game, Ariel and Ivan were the last two standing with two cards each, and Marvin was so inebriated, he couldn't continue the game.

The tides turned when Ivan had to draw four cards, but that only played to his advantage. Ivan had managed to pick two skips cards and a draw four. Ariel was absolutely furious. Not only did Ariel lose, but he had to take two shots from the draw four and another three shots for loosing the game.

"But that's bullshit!" Five shots were lined up and ready.

"Take the shots Johnson!" Ivan goaded. A bit tipsy, but clearly enjoying his win.

Ariel was outright wasted by that point. He just continued mumbling about the rigged game and how he wanted a rematch.

"I feel like I'm gonna pee on myself!" I said in between unattractive snorts. And there was Ash, completely red in the face and having a laughing fit of his own. All he could do was shake his head as he tried to get his cackles under control.

We were hunched over, as we leaned closely against each other, howling in amusement and the island supporting both of our weight. I felt his arm around my waist and the warmth of his body pressed to my side.

Even though I had known Ash for all of 72 hours, as I stood their laughing my brains out, I felt almost completely at ease with him.

"The bathroom uh," another outburst cut his sentence short. "It's in my room. To the right."

I giggled all the way to the bathroom, wiping the tears from my eyes. I relieved myself and walked back into the bedroom. I was on my way out the room when I casually looked over the items on Ash dark brown dresser chest and a little brown book caught my eye.

I made my way to it, as if it had its own gravitational pull, and pulled at the black suede leather sting. Before I could read the contents of the book I heard the bedroom door close.

My head snapped in the direction of the door, afraid that Ash had caught me snooping.

"Sorry, I was jus-" the excuse died on my lips as I recognized who I was locked in the room with. I gulped as James, the looming figure, stalked towards me. He finally spoke when he was directly in front of me, trapping me between him and the dresser.

"Stay away from Ash." Was his warning. He turned to walk away when I stopped him.

"Wait, what are you talking about?" I was starting to think that perhaps Ash had an admirer in James and he was scared of a bit of competition.

"Stay away, or it won't end well for you."

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