Everything Better Plan

As the night went on, the laughing became louder and the words became sloppier. Jack and Alex were intently discussing ideas for differently themed restaurants they could own, whilst Olivia and Amelia chatted about Amelia's career in makeup artistry and where she went to school for it; the pair were sipping on cocktails and giggling like they'd known each other for years. Alex's arm was still draped across the back of Olivia's chair protectively, and occasionally he would lean over and check she was okay; the pair having secret conversations, but also occasionally laughing and sharing memories with the group – it was like listening to an old couple. In fact, they had received a couple of comments from both Amelia and Cassadee about how cute they were together, but the pair did their best to avoid them.

"God, being in the beauty industry is my dream..." Olivia gushed, stumbling on her words as she sipped her Piña Colada, laid back in her seat relaxed; Alex's arm against the back of her shoulders comfortably.

"Oh my god, well you should totally do it!" Amelia squealed. She began digging through her Louis Vuitton purse – which Olivia had already compliment 5 times, but she did it again – and pulling out a business card. She handed it to Olivia, "this is the place I learnt," she stuttered as Olivia examined the blurry words on the card, "it's like a night school at Maryland Community College," Amelia explained, excitedly pushing at Olivia's shoulder in encouragement. Olivia wasn't exactly in the correct mindset to be making career decisions, but she thanked Amelia anyway.

"Dude we gotta do our song man!" Zack began yelling from across the table, whilst thumping a rather sleepy Rian repeatedly on the back. A woman who had just done a very emotional recount of No Scrubs by TLC was making her way off the stage to the sound of applause and this had caught Zack's attention.

"I thought you hated karaoke?" Olivia accused, shooting him a confused look.

"He does..." Alex responded, trailing off, "unless he's completely shit-faced," he added, the whole table laughing as he winks in Zack's direction. Zack stuck his tongue out as a comeback, before getting to his feet and dragging Rian up onto the stage.

Cassadee began clapping and cheering, whilst Amelia covered her face with her hands in mock-embarrassment. Olivia laughed and pulled her hands from her eyes, forcing her to face the stage as Shaggy's classic It Wasn't Me began playing. "God NOOOOOO!" Amelia cried out and they all laughed at her pain as the pair began their performance. They began with the dialogue right at the beginning of the song, you know, the yoman, open up man, my girl just caught me. You let her catch you? With who? – simultaneously completely unnecessary, yet brilliant. Zack began belting out the main chorus and then it was Rian's turn to rap along with Shaggy, which he struggled with immensely. He did it in what almost sounded like a Jamaican accent but not quite; very borderline racist. The whole thing was hysterical, Olivia kept glancing back at Alex to confirm what she was seeing, but all Alex could do was shake his head as he held back laughter.

After recovering from the shame and watching another few people make fools of themselves, Amelia downed her third cocktail and turned to look at Olivia with gleaming eyes. "We should... we should go up there," she managed to get out in a hushed voice, making intense, drunken eye contact with Olivia. Olivia immediately became excited and widened her eyes at her new found friend. "We should do..." Amelia trailed off in deep thought, her tongue sticking out like a 4th grader doing their homework as she searched her brain for a song.

"Independent women! By Destiny's Child!" Olivia yelled in response, suddenly very hyped about it. She instantly got to her feet and dragged Amelia to hers. Amelia also very enthusiastic about Olivia's song choice. It was a staple song for Olivia when she did karaoke on nights out in LA with her friends, she was well known for her empowering rendition of the classic.

During the whole song, her and Amelia held hands, their mics in the other. They swayed and danced; laughing hysterically as they performed – at some points it was incoherent what they were even singing, they were laughing so hard. But as soon as it got to the chorus all the women who independent, throw your hands up at me! They became suddenly serious about the song and began waving their arms, encouraging others to join them. People across the bar began chanting back to them and waving their arms around, including the odd drunken man – Rian.

Olivia kept sneaking glances at Alex and every time he caught her and held her gaze. He couldn't help but laugh as the two girls yelled along to the lyrics dramatically. He shook his head at her, biting his lip to hold back his laughter. In response to this, Olivia began looking at him as she sung, trying to look extra silly – her new goal to make him laugh. After a very dramatic hair flip in which her hair ended up covering her face and muffling her voice, Alex couldn't help but beam and let out a laugh at the blonde, who seemed incredibly proud of that achievement.

When they returned back to the table, the group applauded them, Zack leaned over and gave Amelia a kiss which lasted way too long. Alex leaned down to whisper to Olivia sarcastically, "brilliant." She laughed and shoved him away.

It was getting quite late and everyone was becoming pretty tired. The bar had had a little countdown to midnight and everyone had wished each other a Merry Christmas as the clock struck 12 AM. Alex leaned over to Olivia, his cologne enveloping her, "Merry Christmas," he whispered, his lips an inch above her ear; her hair tickling at his nose, he was so close to her.

"Merry Christmas," she repeated, turning to face him and colliding their faces in the process. She laughed and grabbed at her nose, which she'd knocked into his chin and he wrapped an arm around her shoulder and pulled her into his chest, also laughing at her. It wasn't incredibly flirty, just how friends acted, laughing with each other, except a little more touchy feely.

Another hour passed; Cassadee and Rian performed a lovely duet of Nelly's Dilemma which mostly consisted of Cass singing and Rian mumbling with his eyes half-closed; Olivia had put on a very theatrical cover of the 2004 classic Pieces of Me by Ashlee Simpson. Her goal had, again, been to make Alex laugh and so she was constantly extending her arm out towards him dramatically, as if serenading him.

The whole night, watching her perform, had made him see her in such a different light. She was silly and funny and adorable and not afraid to make herself look like an idiot. It wasn't like she wasn't fun in high school, but just from the way she dressed now, the way she described her life and her career, Alex had assumed all of the fun had been sucked out of her – but he was wrong.

"We gotta do Stacy's Mom," Jack slurred. It was around 1:30 AM at this point and it was currently last call at the bar so people were rushing to get in their final orders – including Alex who was getting another round for him and Olivia. Jack looked up with heavy eyelids at Zack, who had a very intoxicated Amelia draped over him, half asleep on his shoulder. Zack shot him a look which said 'I don't know dude...'. "Oh come on," Jack begged. He looked over at Rian who was practically snoring, passed out whilst Cass sat and chatted away with Olivia about her modelling career, "it's not like Rian's very capable," Jack laughed, taking another sip of his drink.

"Okay, okay," Zack finally gave in and Jack rejoiced as the pair made their way onto the stage; Olivia and Cassadee now paying attention as they began the classic that was Stacy's Mom. Alex chuckled heartily as he made his way back over to the table, recognising Zack's high pitched voice instantly.

As soon as they got to the chorus of the song, Jack began motioning for Alex to join them on stage. Alex just shook his head laughing, "no way dude," he mouthed to the drunken, taller boy on stage.

"Yes!" Olivia squealed, turning to face Alex and clapping excitedly, "do it!" she demanded playfully. Cass joined her in her mini chant, and even Rian mumbled incoherently in an attempt to convince him to do it through his intoxicated, sleepy haze. Alex just laughed and shook his head.

The head shaking was pretty useless and Jack took no notice, he instead took the microphone with him and came over to the table, dragging Alex away. "Fuckers," Alex muttered to Olivia as he was pulled past her and over to the stage, making her laugh.

Jack held Alex in place with his arm around him on stage and would intermittently hold his own mic up to Alex's face, allowing Alex to sing parts. Alex grimaced the whole time, his voice dull, making it evident to everyone that he didn't want to do it, which made everyone watching laugh more. He kept sending looks of agony to Olivia, who was singing along, ignoring his faced and grinning at him.

At around 2 AM they'd all finished their final drinks and the bar was closed for the night, forcing everyone, except staff, out into the cold. Jack stayed behind to clean up and whatnot whilst everyone else disappeared into cabs, leaving just Olivia and Alex outside of the bar, waiting for their ride in the freezing cold.

"God, I had so much fun!" Olivia exclaimed, despite her shivering. Her eyes were lit up in pure joy as she turned to smile up towards Alex, "thank you," she said, more sincerely now.

"Here," Alex laughed, as he removed his own jacket and attempted to hand it to her. At first she refused and pushed him away, claiming he would be cold if he gave her it but he draped it across her shoulders regardless, and she eventually slipped her arms into the sleeves and wrapped her arms around herself; breathing in the manly scent she'd come to love over the course of the night. "I'm glad you had fun," Alex eventually breathed after a few moments of silence. The pair were rather drunk, but out of the group, they were the two most clear-headed. They were both still perfectly aware of what they were doing, even if they did stumble a little or stutter the odd word.

The ride home had been hilarious; they sat and sang along to the radio with their cab driver; who they questioned relentlessly about why he was working so late on Christmas day. They learnt that he didn't celebrate the holiday as it didn't correlate with his religion, he also told them that he loved driving drunk people, and that they had been his favourite customers all day which earned a few woos from Olivia.

Once back outside of Alex's apartment, the pair couldn't stop giggling as Alex fumbled with his keys, missing every attempt to get it in the lock. His laugh had surpassed breathing and it had become just a loud wheeze as he inhaled; a laugh that was so gut-wrenching it had became silent. Olivia doubled over at his own reaction to his lame attempts before grabbing the key from him and making quick work of getting the door open.

She turned and smiled smugly at him before tripping up the step into his door. Alex laughed harder and quickly grabbed her at the hips before she tumbled to the ground. He kicked the door closed with his foot, still laughing with his hands on her hips. She turned to face him, also cracking up at the pair of them, her hands reaching up and grabbing the sides of his neck as she flung her head back in hysterics. The pair stayed like that for a couple minutes; just holding each other and laughing, their body's magnetising together slowly.

Olivia finally met Alex's eyes once their laughter had subsided to just devilish grins. Their gaze locked and she looked down, biting her lip, feeling suddenly conscious of how close they were and where her hands were placed and where his hands were placed.

Alex watched her for a minute, trying to read her body language. Her hands were still on his neck, but he couldn't tell if she was looking away because she was nervous or scared or ashamed. He noticed her chewing the inside of her lip and decided to go for it. His brain was having a mental debate, listing pros and cons, but he took no notice as he raised his hands to caress either side of her face. Olivia's eyes moved to look up at him through her brow, not moving her head. Alex leaned towards her, coming under and up, using his nose to nudge her head upright gently, the whole while remaining eye contact with her.

The pair were deadly silent; just the sounds of heavy, nervous breath as Alex closed his eyes and pressed his lips lightly against her soft ones. For a couple of seconds they just remained like that, with their lips just pressed together gently. Olivia could feel her heart beating like it was about to fly out of her chest, a million thoughts flew around her head at such a speed that it was impossible to focus on just one.

Not knowing what had came over her, she moved her arms so that her wrists were now crossed at the nape of Alex's neck, draped around him like in a hug. She moved her lips slightly, melding them with his, tasting him – beer and sweat. Alex took this as her approval and moved one hand to the small of her back, pulling her closer into him; their bodies now touching. Their mouths began to work in synchrony, simply just tasting each other. After a while, Alex's tongue licked at Olivia's bottom lip intuitively, begging for entry; she quickly obliged, opening her mouth slightly and allowing him access. Slowly and hesitantly he slid his tongue into her open mouth, instantly greeted by her own tongue.

Their tongues danced together, battling for dominance – which Alex eventually won. Alex decided to take this opportunity to encircle his hand around her hips and push her against the nearest wall, as carefully as he could. She tasted like raspberry and coconut from the Piña Coladas, it was intoxicating him further. He pulled his hand back up to the side of her face; their kissing becoming more aggressive. Olivia's fingers had now tangled themselves into Alex's hair, pulling him closer – if that was possible. She found a window to nibble at his lower lip and he felt a groan arise in his throat instinctively. Olivia removed her hands from his hair and moved them down to his top button, fumbling with it. She undid a couple; just enough that his collarbones and chest were exposed before moving her hands back up into his hair.

They stopped for a breather; Alex pecking at her lips lightly. During that one second break Olivia's mind began racing – it had been completely empty for the entirety of the kiss but now her brain was screaming at her to stop; telling her what a horrible thing she was doing. She was engaged and here she was drunkenly kissing her ex. But Alex didn't feel like her ex, he felt like someone she had truly cared for in the past, yes, but was now getting to know him all over again and in new ways. They were adults now; it all just felt so different and new and exciting. She felt like she couldn't even use her alcohol level as an excuse either, she was perfectly aware of what she was doing and who she was with and who should would be hurting in the process. In fact, the kiss had cleared her mind completely; it had simultaneously sobered her up whilst also intoxicating her further.

Olivia untangled her hands from his hair and pulled her head back to lean against the wall her back was to. Her hands still remained around his neck and their bodies were still connected at the hips, but Alex instantly sensed her withdrawl. He pulled his own head away, meeting her eyes, trying to engage what the problem was. Olivia pulled one hand from Alex's neck and used it to rub at her face in distress, her fingers pulling at her lower lip as she assessed what she'd done. "Fuck..." she groaned under her breath, avoiding his eye contact. Her eyes travelled down to his exposed chest, a great urge overcame her, to lean down and kiss at his well formed and shaped pecks; to feel the strong muscles of his shoulders with her hands; to leave sloppy kisses up the crook of his neck and place them along his sharp, strong jawline – but that was all besides the point. She shook her head, not believing she had just came to her sense yet still been distracted by his impeccable chest.

"What?" Alex whispered, he took his finger and placed it beneath her chin, tilting her head up so her eyes could meet his. He was on fire all over, he couldn't believe what had just happened and that now it was over, he didn't have the ability to even process it fully. Olivia noticed slight disappointment on his face, but his eyes still oozed excitement, his pupils largely dilated, as she imagined hers were too.

"What are we doing?" she exhaled through her nose in a slight nervous laugh, her eyes looking back to his chest again. His deep, chocolate eyes were too inviting, too tempting.

"What do you want to do?" he whispered, his voice low and smooth as his breath tickled at her face. She glanced up quickly to check his expression, his eyes were now filled with concern, worried he'd made a mistake. But he hadn't, this was what Olivia had wanted.

"To kiss you again..." she trailed off in a meek voice. She shook her head and held his gaze firmly now, "but we can't," her eyes filled with sympathy – both for Alex and herself.

"Well then..." he took a deep breath, his chest ached, "we won't," the corners of his mouth twitched slightly in an attempts to smile but it was all he could muster.

Olivia closed her eyes for a second, shaking her head in disbelief. She couldn't believe what she had done but she also couldn't believe that she wasn't doing it anymore. It was breathtaking; unlike any kiss she'd ever had before. Alex waited with baited breath for her response. "Okay," she gulped, her face genuinely sad. She wanted more than anything to continue this further; to just stand and kiss him and forget where they were and what time it was and what day it was and who might be angry about this situation.

"Fuck that," Alex responded in a louder tone, reading into Olivia's sadness, he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers once more, instantly gaining access from the small blonde beneath him, "Don't listen... to me... I was wrong..." he breathed through the sloppy, urgent kisses. Olivia laughed into his mouth, their breath entangling, before she pulled away and looked at him, chewing at her lower lip. Alex sighed deeply; knowing that this was the end of whatever this scenario was. It was heart-wrenching.

"I'm so sorry..." Olivia whispered, feeling tears prickle at her waterline and threaten to spill out over her cheeks, but she choked them back, "but this isn't right," she gulped, the feeling of guilt slowly creeping up and washing over her, "I just, I cant do this right now..." she explained, her eyes heavy with sorrow. It was strange; she knew she should feel guilt for what she had done as an engaged woman in a serious relationship with a fiancé just a few hours from her, but her guilt stemmed from her feelings towards Alex. She didn't want him to feel like she had led him on, made him think she felt a way that she didn't – because she did feel that way, it was just inappropriate.

Alex clung onto every work she spoke. Right now repeating over and over in his mind. What did that mean? Did it mean that there would be a point in the future where she could do this? Where they could kiss forever without any interruptions? "I know," Alex breathed, barely audible. He bit his lip hard and looked down, he couldn't believe how badly it hurt. It wasn't like he was angry or mad at her, he completely understood; she was in a tricky situation and he couldn't force her to decide anything, but he couldn't help feeling like he had almost had her back. Good things don't come easy he told himself.

After a moment of silence; neither of them making any efforts to untangle from the other, Olivia let out a small yawn. Her head was pounding, the beginnings of a hangover already forming. "Is it okay if I go up to bed?" she asked quietly, their eyes connecting with his and holding them there. She muscled up a small smile, because despite what had happened, she still wanted Alex to know she cared for him.

Alex returned the smile and nodded, reluctantly peeling himself from her and freeing her from the wall – not that she was complaining about their contact. "Yeah," he yawned himself, "I think I'm gonna stay down here," he told her before wrapping an arm around her shoulders and pulling her into a hug, pecking her lightly on the top of the head. He too wanted Olivia to know that they were okay, that this didn't change things in terms of their friendship.

Olivia smiled, rubbing at her eyes a little as she made her way up to bed. Alone with her thoughts it began to dwell on her the veracity of what had just happened. She wasn't sure what to make of it; she didn't know what to do about it, whether to confess to it or pretend it had never happened. As she undressed and slid into the comfort of her bed she began really thinking about how she felt, what she wanted, how to attain that.

It was blatant to her that they had undeniable chemistry and that she was clearly very sexually attracted to Alex – in short, she wanted to fuck him, badly. However, after tonight she now felt like maybe she was more than just sexually attracted to him, more than just attracted to the comfort and familiarity of him. He was no longer Alex-from-high-school. He was Alex the art teacher with insane talent, Alex the guy who does karaoke with his friend and does shots of Jägermeister for fun and not for torture. He was the guy who had let her stay in his home when she was alone in a hotel room; the guy who opened doors for her; laughed at her when she was being silly; called her Liv; could make fun of himself but also be poetic when he spoke. Olivia was so confused about a lot of things, but one thing she knew for sure was that, without realising, she had began falling for Alex Gaskarth– again. However, this time around it wasn't just a silly high school crush, it was more difficult; more people were involved, it was going to be a minefield of emotions and possibly life changing. Yet still, Olivia dozed off with a smile on her face.

Notes