Inspired (CH) •DISCONTINUED•

Chapter 9

"I never said that you weren't allowed to have anymore, just that you should slow down some." He chuckled, pulling out a glass of something I didn't know - I really didn't care to be honest, when I ordered my first drink of the night earlier, I asked for the strongest they've got, which the bartender agreed to and he's been giving me the same drink every time I ask for something more to drink.

"Thanks." I sent him a half hearted smile before gulping down the majority of the drink I was handed.

"Anything bothering you, son?" He asked as he watched me in shock, not understanding how I could do that without throwing up or the burning liquid bring tears to my eyes.

"Why does it matter?" I grumbled, swallowing what was remaining of the beverage I had cupped tightly in my right hand.

"You seem a little distressed." He shrugged, not seeming to really care if I had an attitude or not.

I feel bad for him. The poor man has to deal with helplessly drunk people talking nothing but gibberish, kick people out when things get hectic between a group of adults, and even deal with emotional wrecks that sob about their lives, looking for pity from anyone. But he seems used to it.

"Oh well." I rolled my eyes, sliding the glass back his way, gesturing for him to feel it back up again, which he did.

"What's up?" He raised his eyebrows at me, pushing for me to tell him what was the reason I chose to drink so much tonight. "It's not like I'm going to tell anyone, and besides, you won't even remember telling me this in the morning."

"Fine." I huffed, leaning back in the chair I was occupying. "My best friends keep steeling the girls I like away from me."

"Like they get to your crushes before you or do they actually steel your girlfriends away?" He questioned, pulling himself up a chair so he could continue our conversation in comfort.

"Both." I mumbled, twirling the, once again, empty cup around with my pointer finger.

"Wow, that sucks dude." He sighed, stopping his sentence for awhile, most likely thinking of something helpful to tell me. "You should talk to them about it."

"No, they're happy. One of them doesn't even know he stole the girl from me." I refused, shacking my head 'no'.

"One of them? What about the other?" The guys eyebrows furrowed in wonder, patiently waiting for my response.

"He knew what he was doing. He purposely stole my girlfriend of many years away from me." I growled, the memory of the night I caught them popping up in my head once again.

"He's an ass." The bartender scoffed, acting as if we had been frigid years, but, in reality, we've only known each other for a few minutes.

"I know." I chuckled darkly, "I stopped talking to them both after I yelled out them for awhile."

"That's understandable." He nodded, agreeing with my decision on leaving them both in the dust, never to be heard from again... Hopefully.

"Well, I'm going to head out, anymore drinks and I'll never recover from this already huge hangover." I laughed, pushing myself off the stool, making sure I had all my belongings I brought with me in my pockets before looking back up at the guy I had been talking to for most of the night.

"Good idea." He snickered, finding my soon to be misery somewhat amusing, "and good luck with that nasty hangover your in for tomorrow."

"Thanks." I murmured, beginning to walk my way outside of the extremely stuffy building.

While weaving my way through the crowd, I ran into a small, petite body, knocking whoever it was to the ground.

Me being the newly improved nice Calum, I stopped and offered a hand to the person plopped out on the floor below.

"Thanks." The girl mumbled, gaining her balance before wiping off any dirt that hand collected on her butt after she landed on the floor.

The woman's voice though, it seemed so familiar, but at the same time, so unknown. I felt as if I knew the girl, but I couldn't tell if I did or not since she hasn't turned herself back around to look at me yet.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to run into you like-" as I was halfway through my apology to the small female, she turned around, her face showing details that I could've noticed a mile away.

Details that I've been dying to forget but have never been fully able to do so. Details that have been killing me day in and day out ever since I last laid eyes on them. And even though I have been telling myself I'm better now and I'm over the past, her being face to face with me once again makes my heart stop and plummet into the unknown, and, I don't know if that's a good or bad feeling.

"Ashely."

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(A/N: Hello! I'm sorry, I meant to update earlier but I've just finished my drivers ed classes that were really stressing me out. So, that means I'll be able to update more frequently now I hope. Don't hold me on that, something might come up.

So thanks for reading. Please comment, favorite, and share with your friends and followers!!

-CalumandLukey