hiraeth ; harry lewis

xvii. you didn't know me long enough

More people had quickly begun streaming in. Some Val recognised, like Will, Chip, Stephen, and their lot, but others she didn't quite know. She mostly stuck with the girls, Vik, Harry, and the Cals, hanging out on the couches and occasionally venturing into the midst of the real party whenever someone felt the urge to dance.

The bottles she had brought along quickly found themselves drained and disposed of. That, combined with the multiple shots she had downed, meant Val was fully out of it, spending most of her time clinging onto someone's arm to stabilise herself while sipping on one of Harry's drinks that he had given to her.

"There you are!" she said, her words blurring together as she bumped into the man in question. Harry's white t-shirt was sticking to his skin, and he had his fingers tucked inside the pockets of his sweatpants. Strands of light brown were plastered to his forehead, and his face had a flushed glow, eyes slightly dilated. "I haven't seen you in, like, ages."

"Didn't we talk five minutes ago?" he asked.

She frowned, pursing her lips. "Maybe. But that's ages!"

He rolled his eyes, a smile flickering at the edges of his lips. "Sure," he said. The music crashed around them, some DnB tune she didn't recognise, and without meaning to, they drifted to the outskirts of the room until they were stood by the wall, facing each other. It was only then that she let go of his arm.

"You having fun?" she asked, blowing a long lock of brown out of her face.

He hummed an affirmative, wrapping his lips around the bottle and tipping his head back. She glanced around as he chugged his drink, trying to find the people she recognised. Talia and Freya were flailing around on the dance floor, a sight that made her giggle, while Flo, Ethan, and the two Cals were talking about something on the other side of the room.

"What do you think?" he smirked, his throat bobbing as he swallowed.

"I think you're pretty drunk right now," she replied, eyes sweeping along the jut of his jaw.

He brought his free hand against the bottle, giving her a mock round of applause. "What gave it away? The bottle or the..." he trailed off, waving a hand at his face and accidentally smacking himself. "Ow!" he yelped, massaging his nose.

"I think that right there was the biggest giveaway," she said, cheeks hurting from the force of her grin.

Harry rolled his eyes and stared at her half-empty drink. "Odds on you downing all that?"

"I'll give you five," she said after a moment of deliberation.

"3, 2, 1, THREE!" she exclaimed, at the same time he shouted "THREE!"

"Bottoms up, Valentina," he cheered, dragging out the last letter of her full name.

She wrinkled her nose. "Don't call me that, Harold," she said, before taking a deep breath and bringing the bottle to her mouth. His startling blue eyes tracked the movement, watching with a keen gaze as she drained the remaining liquid. When it was over, there was a wet smacking noise as she detached her lips from the rim, wiping them against the back of her hand and letting out a light cough.

"Fair play," he said, "fair play. You sure you can't call yourself wild? Because that was a pro move right there."

"You'd be surprised," she said, resting the side of her head against the wall and letting out a long exhale through her nose. "Before these past few months, it was ages since I had a proper night out. Or day out. Or left the house to hang out with friends or anything." Her hands twisted the empty bottle around in her clammy grip.