Not good for you

36;

We were listening to a woman in her thirties, wearing shorts and a tank top, showing off her amazing shoulder tattoos, called Aliana, who was Delilah's co-worker before she almost died and quit for the sake of her children. They were still young and she wasn't ready to give up on motherhood just yet.

"Just imagine, you go into the house and hear the child crying but you don't know where he is," Aliana said. "You can barely see anything from the smoke and the fire. Your throat is burning and your heart beats so fast that you can't even imagine. You know you only got maybe a minute or less to find the kid and maybe you start panicking. I did since it was my first day out on the field. I was paralyzed, I couldn't even breathe. My brain just blocked and told me that I wasn't going to save the kid. And then this lady comes in and hits the back of my neck, telling me to get my shit together. We managed to save the kid but I'll never forget that he might have lost his life because of me. I'd never blocked down ever again. Not even at home or when someone on the street called after me at night. I learned to keep my coolness and all because she hit me so hard that my head almost rolled down from my neck."

She gave Delilah a half hug while we smiled and laughed at her remark. They seemed really good friends despite Aliana's quitting a few months ago.

I liked how they managed to keep in touch and visit each other because nowadays you could only hope that at the end of the day you won't be alone.

I wished that maybe Leigh or Emilia could keep in touch after our ways separated. I wasn't afraid of going in the other direction as them. I was afraid of being forgotten.

"Sometimes a slap can save lives." Oswald teased them while finishing his beer.

Once I heard his voice, my smile dropped and I had to focus on my plate and remind myself that Perkyn didn't deserve my possible outburst.

I needed to confront him alone at first. If he didn't want to get rid of me as soon as possible.

The next two hours were kind of a blur. We were talking, shared funny stories, and drank.

A lot.

Perkyn seemed drunk and the more he drank the funnier and lazier he became.

Delilah made me lemonade with tequila because she felt bad that I wasn't able to drink anything. I wanted to reassure her that I just didn't feel like drinking because I needed to keep a level head but she headed into the kitchen anyway.

And you couldn't say no to Delilah and her innocent sweet smile that made you feel guilty if you didn't participate in something.

Later I found myself in Perkyn's arms, while music was blasting from the radio. Half of the group was dancing and Perkyn pulled me up from my seat, not giving me a chance to say no.

"Sorry," I said for the tenth time after stepping on his foot away.

He smiled while his vision blurred – probably from the tons of beers he had drunk – and adjusted my hands around his neck.

His skin was hot under my arms and his hands on my waist made me blush a little. He never turned away from me ever since we started dancing.

"It's okay, you're doing great." He said sweetly.

"Don't even try, I know I'm horrible." I scoffed as I tried to follow his steps.

He laughed and pulled me closer. I rested my head on his chest while he slowly placed his cheek on the top of my head.

He smelled like barbeque and beer but I didn't pull away. I liked being in his arms and listening to his heartbeat calmed me.

"I'm glad you're here." He whispered and I smiled.