`dark night, hold tight {BEN!}

[Ava Breit]

Lipstick, compact, cell phone. Everything in place. Ava checked her purse to make sure nothing had been stolen while abandoned at the bar with several rowdy frat boys. It wasn't really a possibility, the chance of one wanting to touch up their make up or steal her scratched up iPhone, and yet she wanted to check. Ava wasn't the type to trust strangers.

A plump hand tugging at her bony wrist implied that she hardly had time to do so, and was most certainly stupid for trying. One of Ava's few friends in the world, Nicole Hillenbrand, was anxious to get the night started, and had just called Ava over to dance when the blonde refused and pretend to be in need of a hearing aid thereafter. She knew she'd be retrieved eventually, but had been trying not to think about it, instead immersing herself with looking through her phone contacts, trying to decide on a person to text. 'You're not getting off that easy.' Nicole giggled obtusely, easily managing to drag her friend to the dance floor. [color=4e88bb"Rape! Rape!" Ava screamed loudly, unafraid of causing a scene. It's not like it was completely preposterous, the idea of a girl raping another girl. There were ways. And Ava could probably school whoever she liked on any one of these ways, considering the perversity of the people she typically hung around. Still, no one in the club appeared to pay her any more attention than a concerned glance. One that said they were much more worried for her mental state than who was having their wicked way with her. 'Don't be silly.' Nicole laughed deeply again, throwing Ava amidst at a group of gyrating, hip-shaking girls. Enter Miss Breit's own personal hell. It's not like she hadn't known the night was going to be an accident. She'd realized that the moment she stepped into Nicole's extremely unattractive red Prias. Even after several similar failed attempts to get her dancing and not a drink in sight, Ava had truly underestimated the meaning behind that statement.

Maybe she was psychic.

That could be quite possible, since she'd had this sneaking suspicion that she would run into him again for weeks. "I don't want to dance, Nicole. I've told you this twenty million fucking times." The tiny blonde was asserting to her friend, attempting to free her hands of the chubby fingers. Nicole was a couple inches shorter, and at least twenty pounds overweight, making Ava look that much more like a waif next to her. A weak, anti-shake-yo-ass waif. It was mid hair flip when she thought she saw a familiar face across the room. At first, she tried to shake it off, finding it somewhat easier now that she was free from the smiling, giggling jaws of death and on her way to where she belonged - the makeshift bar that was really a countertop - but inevitably had to look back. So it was him. That gay man masquerading as a straight, 'good guy' that truly saw the best in women or something like that. Benoit Castel. Ava snorted to herself, crossing her arms defensively as she awaited her drink. What in the world was he doing here?

She pored it over for a couple moments, grabbing a drink and falling on the stranger's couch, eventually coming to the conclusion that this was the house of one of his bandmates, and she was crashing yet another afterparty. Coincidentally, Nicole had been unable to remember the name of their obviously shitty, forgettable band, and here they were. Fuck.

This whas pitiful. Not only did she look like a fan of the band now, she probably also appeared to be here for an apology, some form of reconciliation. Well, he could hold his breath for that all he wanted, but he'd be dead by the end of the night. Ava sniggered to herself again, receiving several more awkward glances as she returned to the beer table, knocking back several more red plastic cups. It was becoming harder and harder to think, but she finally decided it wasn't a big deal. She could always just leave. The party sucked, anyway. Maybe, if she ran into him, she'd give him another piece of her mind. That could be fun, especially in front of all his friends.

Ava grinned again, raising her eyes from her drink to look at him. She'd already had a few before the dancing episodes, likely the reason for the suddenly spinning room, though she could never be sure. Damn, was that Ben across the room? How come she'd never noticed he was so ... hot? Ava downed another beer, running her tongue over her teeth behind closed lips. She should have slept with him that night at his apartment. She should have just done it anyway, no matter what he had to say about it. She thought about approaching him and trying her luck again when she managed to see the rest of his company, however, only by excessive squinting.

Apparently, the figure that had at first looked like Jesus with a backpack on and no facial hair turned out to be a curvaceous, pretty brunette, Ben's arm draped around her waist as they talked casually. Ava blinked several times before sitting back on the couch, pursing her lips as she wondered what was going on. The last she'd heard, Ben didn't have a girlfriend. She could even faintly remember him saying something about not wanting to be in love. Or something similar. Of course, it'd been a month or so since they'd met, and a lot could happen in thirty days. A month was thirty days, right? She tried counting it out on her fingers before she realized she didn't have enough, hopelessly giggling at the realization. Yeah, four drinks was more than enough to do her in.

Still, despite the fact that Ben appeared to be very much off the market, she couldn't seem to shake the idea of ripping all his clothes off. She had somewhat collapsed in on herself, aimlessly watching the television and progressively scooting closer and closer to the stranger on the couch beside her when she looked up to find Ben and his new woman standing right next to her. "Oh, hey, Ben!" She smiled, feeling particularly fliratious, though maybe she sold it off as being friendly. As drunk as she was, she'd nearly forgotten the girl on his arm at the moment. "You know, you look really different from up close." She nodded, eyeing the girl suspiciously from her place on the couch.

[/color][/font][/size][/blockquote][/blockquote][/center]
^{STARRING : The one and only Ava Breit! ... Oh, and ... uh, that Ben guy.
WORDS : 1123 YAY (:
STATUS : finished!
NOTES : YAY, DRUNKEN AVA.
LYRICS USED : USE SOMEBODY - KINGS OF LEON
LISTENING TO : Bright Eyes<3
BANNER CREDIT : TANA
TAGGED : TANA}

[Ben Castel]

she said if heaven's hypothetical and if the cigs keep you
warm, how's she supposed to think about
HOW IT'S GONNA MOVE IN THE MORNING?

A little over a month had passed since Ben Castel's very odd encounter with Ava Breit. Now, when I use the word “encounter” don't think of it in a sexual way, because fucking the twig of a blonde was the last thing on his mind. Their initial meeting was completely by chance; had Ben not decided he wanted a beer, placed himself between Ava and some other woman, and almost spilled some of his drink on Ava's hand, their paths would never have crossed. The two got to talking, and while he found her interesting in a sort of “wow this chick is fucked up” way, he mostly felt bad for her when the massive amounts of alcohol she'd been pounding back started to take a toll on her. The woman had barely gotten out of the dark, crowded club before she puked her guts up, and after a very vague and confusing speech from Ava, Ben had taken her to his place for the night because there was no way in hell she was getting home safely. Before you go saying anything bad about my son, please know that he wasn't the one who'd suggested that they return to his humble abode; he'd asked for her to give directions back to her own place, but she'd insisted that they go to his apartment. At the time he hadn't thought much of it, but in hindsight, it was probably because she was too drunk to think straight, much less guide someone to her home.

But, this very odd meeting hadn't really crossed his mind in the weeks that followed. His time had been filled with band practice in stuffy garages and studio sessions that went so long the musicians and producers had to call for takeout; when he had even a moment to think about something not music-related, it was usually about how he should hurry up and hit the hay before he repeated the cycle the next day. This very odd meeting is not what is on his mind right now as he grabs two glasses of some mixed drink he didn't know the name of – it had rum in it, and that was good enough for Ben – off the drink table his friend Greg had set up for a small party at his pretty sweet condo. It is certainly not on his mind as he returns to the woman he had brought as his date to the party and hands her a glass with a smile.

Benny had met Rachel Falke under much more romantic circumstances than he had Ava; there was no yelling or puking, and certainly no accusations of rape. He'd played a show in downtown Chicago just three days after he'd played savior to Ava, and after the band had finished their set, a friend had introduced them. Ben immediately found her attractive, and it was easy to see why. Rachel had a pretty face, the focal points of which were her lovely lips and stunning blue-gray eyes. Her long brown hair had hints of both gold and red in it, and she kept it loose, swept cleanly behind her neck so that it fell over her right shoulder in a glistening sheet. She was about 5'7” but looked taller, as her legs were long, long, long; they seemed to stretch for miles. Her hips were pleasingly wide and her breasts were...basically amazing. So essentially, she was Ben's ideal woman – at least physically. Fortunately for Mr. Castel, it turned out that he and Rachel had a lot in common, and her personality was bright and easy but not freakishly peppy. They hit it off, and before the night was over they had arranged a date for the next day. They had dated at least twice a week for almost a month before they'd had “the talk,” and decided that they were officially together; exclusive, an item, a couple, et cetera. This was Ben's first real relationship after Sophie had stomped all over his heart, and he was very, very happy.

Ben and Rachel were already comfortable enough with each other that they looked as though they had been dating for much longer than just a month as he wrapped his arm loosely about her waist. The brunette leaned into him very slightly as she sipped at her drink, linking her arms carefully about her boy's neck when she had drunk her fill. She smiled up at him and he smiled back. His eyes left hers to slowly rove the crowd, and Ben was about to mention how he was amazed Greg managed to fit this many people into a condo when his eyes fell on who else but Ava Breit, who was obviously alive and well. The boy smiled slightly to himself and shook his head gently. Either she's cleaned up her act or there are other too-nice people out there willing to cart her drunk ass home when she's too intoxicated to walk, he thought to himself.
“What's up, Ben?”

[/i] his girlfriend asked, one perfect brow quirking slightly in question. His gaze returned to hers, and he chuckled slightly before explaining. “Oh, I just noticed that someone I met at an afterparty a little while back is here. She was so drunk she got really sick and...kinda delirious. I felt bad, so I let her crash on my couch.” Rachel raised her brows and pouted her lip just slightly in a silent “wow, sounds ugly,” and Benny nodded in equally silent agreement.

“Wanna go say hey? She's a nice enough girl when she's not insanely drunk.” Rachel, who was almost as social as Ben, didn't seem to mind that her boyfriend was suggesting they go talk to another girl, which was probably just another reason he liked her so much. Unreasonable suspicion or jealousy wasn't her style. The brunette removed her arms from about Benny's neck and, taking a dainty sip of her drink, walked with her boyfriend towards the blonde girl at the back.

Ben started the conversation, of course, seeing as how he was the only one that knew Ava. “Hey, glad to see you alive and well. No more...crazy nights, I'm assuming?” Ben chuckled good-naturedly here to show that he wasn't trying to insult her, just having a little fun. At this point he turned back to Rachel, who had been smiling at Ava in a friendly, if not slightly awkward, way. “Ah, introductions would probably be useful right about now. Rachel, this is Ava; Ava, this is my girlfriend Rachel.”[/blockquote][/size]

[Ava Breit]

The room spinning violently, Ava figured it would be best if she didn't try to stand or shake hands. She might end up falling against the person she was trying to greet, or make an accidental attempt at feeling them up instead of taking their hand. Not that she'd mind doing either with Ben, whom she was really starting to take a liking to, but for obvious reasons, his girlfriend Rachel didn't seem quite as appealing. She decided not to take her chances. Attempting to control herself, Ava bit her lip gently, giggles bursting from her lips every few moments. Hey, glad to see you alive and well. Ben prompted her jokingly. Ava laughed as if he'd told a joke, looking around the room in shock that no one was laughing along. "I don't have ... you know, the clap or anything. I'm not about to die on you." She continued to grin as if the topic was funny, fidgeting on the couch restlessly. "Wouldn't that be great, though?" She grinned, nudging the man sharing the sofa with her, who promptly got up, taking his drink with him. Ava continued on, clueless. "If I died, right here, right now? I mean ... you wouldn't even know what to do with me!" She laughed at an outrageous volume, hardly able to contain herself enough to take another sip of her drink. By then, however, she seemed to be done with the joke, picking at a piece of lint on her skirt.

"What are you talking about, crazy nights?" The stick of a girl scoffed gently, making some wild gesture with her hand while holding the drink, sloshing beer on the brunette girl's foot. Ava hardly noticed, but when she did, she was hardly apologetic. "Sorry 'bout that. You might want a paper towel or something, before you stain the carpet." She murmured regretfully, just before she was introduced. Ben was desperately trying to calm the air, giving out names and blabbering about introductions. Ava's self-assured smirk turned slowly into a frown as he mentioned the term girlfriend, her eyes narrowing into slits by degrees, like she needed time to process the word. That just ... wasn't possible. How could it be? He was so ... so utterly and mind-blowingly gorgeous. He shouldn't be tied down like that. He should be free to have fun with whoever he wanted. Namely herself. It just wasn't fair. She'd even wanted to dance with him, and Ava never did that with anyone. The blonde crossed her arms stubbornly, still brooding over how hot Ben suddenly was to her, and how strongly she disapproved of this Rachel girl. "I had a dog named Rachel. She died." she nodded, being entirely serious before she drained what was left in her glass and not on the floor. "Nice to meet you, though." She spoke as if it really wasn't.

Ava's earlier friend from the couch returned, graciously handing them some paper towels. These were snatched up quickly by the blonde, anger clear on her face as she tore off a few sheets, more than was necessary. "Well, it's about time. What are you here to do, anyway? It's not a fucking party." Ava called after the retreating man, giggling at her own stupid joke before handing Rachel the towels, perhaps a little bitterly.

"So, Ben, how'd you two meet?" Ava attempted to strike up a conversation, if nothing more than small talk, and for no more reason than that he was terribly attractive. Apart from that, he was actually quite annoying, and ... Well ... in all honesty, he wasn't really that bad. She hadn't minded spending the night at his apartment, from what she remembered of it. A vague recollection of stumbling over one of his chairs, falling asleep on his shoulder, a kiss that had been much better than she'd first anticipated. Of course, recalling the night was alot like trying to bring back a dream after waking up. Only when she was reminded by something external, some kind of trigger, would it all come rushing back. That trigger was obviously Ben, giving her a recap of everything that had happened. Apparently, he wasn't a big fan of her attempts to hook up with him. Frowning, Ava glared up at Rachel. He'd probably let her trap him between the door and her body, kiss him without warning.

Maybe it was all of the thinking about what she'd been missing for the past weeks she'd gone without having sex, or maybe it was some wild endeavour for Ben's attention, but at this point, Ava had resigned herself to looking for new targets for the night. She obviously wasn't going to get anywhere with Ben, so she had to find someone else. It couldn't be that difficult. It never was. Any self-respecting man would be willing to screw around for the night, no strings attatched. Which is why Benoit Castel made absolutely no sense to Ava.

Locking eyes with a tall, troubled-looking man, Ava smiled. She had her pick. As soon as she was finished talking to Ben, as soon as this Rachel girl got on her last nerve, she'd be gone. And probably having more fun in doing so. Either way, it's not like Ben had come over here to do any more than check on her and make sure he didn't have to offer her another ride home. She'd spare him the trouble.

^{STARRING : The one and only Ava Breit! ... Oh, and ... uh, that Ben guy.
WORDS : 939, blaahh.
STATUS : finito!
NOTES : Let's try that again (:
LYRICS USED : USE SOMEBODY - KINGS OF LEON
LISTENING TO : Bright Eyes<3
BANNER CREDIT : TANA
TAGGED : TANA}

[Ben Castel]

she said if heaven's hypothetical and if the cigs keep you
warm, how's she supposed to think about
HOW IT'S GONNA MOVE IN THE MORNING?

While Ben had meant to ease any potential tension by infusing his introduction with a smidgen of humor, he hadn't been expecting Ava to burst into laughter at his not-that-amusing remark. Then again, he should've expected that, if their first meeting had been any indication, she would be well on her way to being totally hammered at this point in the night. Ben groaned internally, wondering at the mess he'd let his good nature drag him into. Ava was drunk (and not in the fairly mellow, if not highly depressed, manner as her last drunken night), making some kind of crack about how it would be funny if she just died right there on the sofa, and nudging the poor hapless bastard that had seated himself next to her earlier in the night as though she had known him for years. The hapless bastard simply got up and left, but Ben and Rachel were pretty much trapped in the situation that seemed very likely to turn into a clusterfuck very quickly.

The polite part of Ben – the bit of him that adhered to the manners and gentility taught to him during his blue-blood upbringing – suggested that Ben laugh as thought he found her antics amusing, quickly wrap up conversation and get him and his lady out of there before anything more embarrassing or awkward occurred. He found that he couldn't even manage a weak chuckle, much less find the words that would let him and Rachel make a clean getaway. As Ava's laugh increased in both volume and obnoxiousness, Benny grimaced awkwardly but covered it over with a small, supremely awkward chuckle that made it look more like a silly grin. At this point he wanted to flee the scene – he really, really did – but for some reason couldn't find the way to do it. Looking at Ava behave like...a nutjob was rather like watching a car wreck – you were disgusted, but couldn't bring yourself to look away.

Rachel, however, seemed to be taking the strange situation in stride. She had even managed to offer the blonde a slightly strained smile and an awkward chuckle in response to her joke that was even less funny than Ben's attempt at humor. The man could tell that she was somewhat uncomfortable, as she had angled herself into him further, but even that didn't keep her safe from the beer that went flying from Ava's bottle as the blond waved the hand holding it around in an awkwardly flourishing gesture. Neither Ben nor his girlfriend really even heard what the waif on the couch before them had said before she had unwittingly sloshed her beer on the carpet and Rachel's left foot. The brunette flinched backward slightly, and Benny groaned internally even as he asked her “How bad's the damage?”

“Oh, no worries, they're just old Coverse, no harm done.” She moved her foot away from the small puddle of beer that had formed on the carpet without moving away from Ben, merely shifting slightly while his arm stayed firmly around her shoulders. The owner of said arm, meanwhile, had already seen the man who had previously been parked next to Ava go for the paper towels on the kitchen counter and raised his free hand in a silent thank you. He immediately jumped in with the introductions in an attempt to calm the situation, though Ava handled it like a complete brat. At this point the poor man was wondering why on earth he couldn't have just kept away from Ava and discerned from the fact that she was out partying and obviously breathing as a sign that she was doing just fine. Poor Rachel was probably wondering why the blonde drank so much if she obviously couldn't hold her alcohol well, or something else equally disparaging, but there was no tone in her voice as she replied with a “Yeah, nice to meet you too.”. She obviously opted to ignore the dog comment, as most people probably would.

By now the man, who Ben was beginning to recognize as a friend of a friend, had returned with a roll of paper towels which he handed off to Ava. The girl snatched up more than was needed while she scolded the guy for taking too long. He snatched the roll back from the blonde and disappeared much quicker than he had arrived, responding to Ben's “Thanks, man” with a quick, quiet “Yeah, no worries” as he went.

There was a small moment of silence and Ben's heart leapt joyfully in his chest as he realized that this was his opportunity to get the hell out of Dodge. He opened his mouth to give a hurried farewell but Ava beat him to the punch, asking about how he and his girlfriend had met. Ben's eyebrows raised slightly at the question as his heart sank. She'd caught him off guard once again, and he and Rachel were trapped for as long as it took to answer her question. Ben glanced down at the girl pressed against him momentarily, silently offering for her to relate the story of their meeting. Wasn't that something girls liked to do, especially the first time someone asked? Either way, the brunette smiled happily in reply before beginning the tale.

“Well, Ben had been playing a show with a rock band in downtown Chicago. My friend's boyfriend is the guitarist so she had brought me along to see them play. She introduced Ben and I after they finished their set, we hit it off...the rest is history.” Here the brunette smiled up at her boyfriend and Benny smiled right back, stroking her cheek with the hand that had been wrapped around her as she placed a kiss on his own.

[Ava Breit]

It seemed the wrath of a drunken Ava Breit had yet again been exposed to some unlucky onlookers. They'd made their disgust quite obvious, and all the while, she carried on, awful as ever. It's not that she could help it, or would have tried to had she known she was behaving so atrociously. Ben's girlfriend appeared to be handling it quite well, but Ben himself was doing horribly, noticeably deflating as Ava settled herself down for a nice, long conversation.

She listened quite well, smiling and nodding at the appropriate parts as Rachel told her about how they'd met. It would have been different had she worried that Rachel and Ben were meant to be together, but with such an ordinary first experience together, it had to mean nothing. She'd met Ben and he'd taken her home the first night. That had to have some kind of meaning, right? Well, in her drunken head, it did. She spun some wild story in her mind that Ben was secretly attracted to her and was just dying to be with her, but couldn't bring himself to do it. "Sounds peachy." She declared as Rachel wrapped it up sweetly, kissing Ben's cheek. Ava tried to keep her stomach from turning in disgust, allowing no more than a hiccup. "But, uhm, if you'll excuse me, I came here for a party, not story time. Nice to see you two loveparrots." Ava was too drunk to realize her farewell's obvious mishap. Continuing to smile smugly as she walked away from what she imagined as a very well-played encounter, she stumbled into some other partygoers, receiving glares and a couple shoves.

Now to find that lovely blond man. He was posted up against the wall, taking sips straight from a bottle of Jack Daniels. Shamelessly tugging the neckline of her dress a little lower - the more rib cage, the better - she approached him, wondering if Ben was watching in the back of her mind. "Why, hello there." She grinned, slouching against the wall beside him, receiving an amused look from the stranger. Salutations. He muttered under his breath, a wry smile accompanying his words. "What's your name?" Ava grinned, swiping the bottle of rum from his hand and taking a swig. It's Chris, and I'd appreciate it if you'd give that back now. He replied, eyeing the bottle that Ava was attempting to shove down her dress, obviously too drunk for spacial reasoning. "I'm Ava." She smiled, looking up from her dress and the bottle just before it was retrieved from her bony hands. You're probably shy of a hundred pounds, but even you couldn't fit that in your dress. He said. "A hundred pounds? Really?" The girl had taken his comment as a compliment, eyes sparkling excitedly. Chris eyed her with a look that suggested she'd just listed off all the previous STD's she had. You're really fucked up, aren't you? He chuckled dryly, though there was no humor in his voice.

"Some might say." Ava said in a singsong voice, shrugging her shoulders carelessly. Well, go on, get to the point. The man said after a few moments of silence. Well, silence between the two. The whole house was shaking from the volume of the music and congregation of partygoers. "What point?" The blonde said, terribly confused. What was he trying to tell her? You must have come over here for something, am I right? He replied, forced to lean in a little closer in order for her to hear. Ava's arms wrapped around his neck, assuming it was an attempt to get closer. "Oh!" She chuckled, looking up into his guarded eyes. "Right. Well, I'm just here to ask you if you wanted an easy fuck. Every man's dream." Her honesty was truly amazing, if nothing else about her was. What the hell? He said after a moment, unhooking her arms from his neck. You just give me a couple minutes to say goodbye to my friends, and I'll take you back to my house. He said. Ava grinned to herself, nodding as she whisked herself back onto the dance floor. That was almost easier than she'd expected.

Content in the knowledge that she was finally going to have sex again for the first time in weeks, the blonde allowed herself to dance, grinding on another man as best she could under the influence. Hips gyrating wildly, it was no surprise when she collided with Ben, detached from his girlfriend for one second. "Ben!" She said, attacking him with a rather awkward hug. "Did I ever tell you that you're terribly attractive?" She giggled, running a finger down his chest. "God, it's really too bad that you've got a girlfriend and I'm going home with some other guy tonight." She pouted, arms locked around him, the only thing to keep him from running.

Ava? The voice of the practical stranger behind her caused the girl to drop her arms. "I'll see you later?" She called over her shoulder.

Ava had apparently turned the tables on the old saying and made a grand exit.

^{STARRING : The one and only Ava Breit! ... Oh, and ... uh, that Ben guy.
WORDS : 926
STATUS : finito!
NOTES : Bah, I'm sorry. I wanted to get that thread over. LOVEPARROTS (:
LYRICS USED : USE SOMEBODY - KINGS OF LEON
LISTENING TO : Bright Eyes<3
BANNER CREDIT : TANA
TAGGED : TANA}