Chapter Text
Megan let out a soft sigh as she opened her wardrobe for what felt like the hundredth time, hoping that by some miracle they’d be something new in there to wear.
Of course there wasn’t. The wardrobe was from IKEA, not Narnia.
“There’s nothing Lara. I’m not going,” she grumbled, throwing herself on the bed in defeat, body sprawling out in a sign of surrender.
“If you don’t pull yourself together and just put something on, I’m going to come over there and drag you out,” Lara taunted through the phone speaker.
Megan groaned at the threat.
“I’m being serious Larz, I have nothing.”
“Just throw on some jeans and a shirt or something, it’s just Happy’s, who cares?”
“What are you wearing?”
“That dress I got the other day, the green one that makes my thighs look great.”
Another groan from Megan.
Of course Lara was wearing that perfect dress to go to a dive bar of all places on a Friday night. Megan couldn’t fault her really, she thought if she looked anything like Lara, she’d probably use any opportunity to walk around naked. The girl was blessed with perfect genes.
“Real chill, real lowkey Larz. Fine. I’ll see you in a bit.”
“See you in a bit Mei, first round on me!” Lara’s enthusiasm was bubbling even through the phone. Megan let out a soft laugh, finally loosening up at the idea of seeing her friends for the first time in what felt like forever.
Megan hung up and set the phone back down, opening her drawers and pulling out a pair of blue baggy jeans and a Spiderman baby tee.
“It’ll do,” she huffed to herself.
She moved through her dimly lit apartment, sliding her feet into the boots she kept by the door. The black leather was scuffed and worn from years of use, but the months of blisters from wearing them in was worth it. They felt like an extension of her at this point, and the extra few centimetres of height they gave whilst her friends all wore heels was a bonus too.
The bar was only a ten-minute walk away from her apartment in downtown LA, but she took her time to appreciate the late-spring evening air.
She watched the bachelorette party pass by in fits of laughter, their wrinkly Amazon Next Day Delivery ‘Bridal Party’ sashes starting to fall lose off their shoulders as if the night had already been long for them.
She watched an old couple walk arm in arm, moving slowly as if they had all the time in the world. She wondered if they’d just got back from dinner at one of those fancy restaurants that she’d never be able to afford.
She watched a couple sat outside a bar nervously chat. She noticed the way the girl fidgeted with the straw of her drink, the way the guy was bouncing his leg as he leaned in closer to talk. Typical first date nerves.
That familiar weight of loneliness fell heavy in Megan’s chest as she continued her walk.
She’d been single for a while, too long to keep track of, she told herself she was focusing on her own life after her last relationship wiped her emotions out. Told herself that she needed to be steady again, that all she needed was herself, her job, and her friends.
She told herself that she was happy, but she’s not sure how much she believed it.
She’d had her fair share hookups here and there, they were enough to put a bandage over the hole temporarily, but never enough to heal the wound.
Every once in a while, the deep ache to be loved crept back in.
She pushed the feeling back down and kept walking, boots hitting the concrete with soft thuds.
The bar appeared before her, the red neon glow of Happy’s softly illuminating the street. It was the same place her friends had all hung out in college, but even after they’d graduated two years ago it had stayed as their place.
She swung the heavy front door open. It was the usual Friday night bustle, college students filling the floor, cheers ringing out as someone sunk a shot in beer pong, cheesy throwback hits playing over the speakers, the dim lighting that hid the spilt drinks on the floors.
It was trashy. It was perfect.
She immediately spotted Lara and Yoonchae at the bar, elbowing her way through the crowd of rowdy frat boys to make her way over to them.
“There she is!” Yoonchae called out, Lara holding her arms out and wrapping Megan tightly in a bear hug that Megan half-heartedly returned.
“Interesting outfit choice,” Yoonchae teased, looking Megan up and down.
Yoonchae was wearing baggy jeans and a red leather jacket over a blank tank. Megan envied how Yoonchae always looked so calmly good. She thought that whatever she wore herself looked like she’d run through the thrift shop blindly, grabbing whatever she could and throwing a twenty-dollar bill at the counter on her way out.
“Nice to see you too Chae,” she jokingly rolled her eyes, lightly tapping the Korean girl’s shoulder.
“And where are the love birds?” Megan asked, scanning around the bar to try and find their other friends in the sea of people.
Just like she’d heard her name be summoned, Manon appeared from behind them with a tray of shots, Sophia trailing close behind with her usual grin flashed across her face.
There was someone else with them, someone Megan had never seen before. Their eyes locked for a second, the unknown girl flashing her a warm smile in response.
“Celebrations are in order!” Sophia called out.
Megan looked at Lara for an answer, confusion furrowing her brows.
“I got the job with the model agency! I fly out to New York next week for Fashion Week!” Manon announced.
The girls all cheered out in unison, Sophia bouncing on her heels and clapping in celebration.
“To my super-hot, super model girlfriend,” Sophia declared, taking a shot from the tray and raising it towards Manon.
They took a glass each in held it in the air as a toast.
The vodka burned Megan’s throat as it went down, warmth spreading through her as the alcohol entered her body.
“Congrats Manz,” she smiled to the Swiss girl.
“Guess I can revoke my bus driver application now,” Manon chuckled back.
Megan’s eyes settled again on the girl she didn’t know who was lingering, almost afraid to insert herself into the friend group.
“Oh, how rude of me, this is my friend Daniela, hope you don’t mind that I invited her.” Manon wrapped her arm around the girl to bring her into the group circle properly.
Megan fully took in the new girl now. She looked effortlessly cool, cat eye makeup highlighting her hazel eyes, her dark curly hair half-up, two strands out to frame her face. She was wearing a lacy black top, a fur coat slung over her shoulders. She held herself with such confidence yet warmth.
Shit.
She was Megan’s perfect type.
It was like someone had read every diary entry she’d written since she was a child and decided to materialize the most perfect girl she’d ever laid eyes on.
Megan felt heat creep through her neck. She hoped that the dim lighting did enough to hide it.
“You can call me Dani,” the girl said, eyes still locked on Megan.
“Nice to meet you Dani,” Megan replied, letting the name settle in her mouth.
Dani.
It felt nice.
She felt Lara elbow her in the ribs.
“Oh sorry- I’m Megan,” she stumbled, her mind fogging momentarily so badly she almost forgot her own name, hands awkwardly fumbling at the hem of her shirt.
“I’ve heard a lot about you,” Daniela smiled back, endeared by the younger girl’s awkwardness.
“Good things I hope?” Megan winced.
“Debatable,” Manon whispered cheekily.
“Right! Mommy needs to sit down, these heels are determined to kill me, and I am not going to let them win tonight.” Sophia spoke to the group, leading the way to the back of the bar where there was a quieter table free.
They huddled around the table, Daniela taking the seat next to Megan. Megan swallowed hard, picking up a discarded napkin from the table to pick at to distract her mind.
“First round on me but I’m not remembering any orders. So- six double vodka cranberries. Any objections in the court?” Lara announced, hitting her hands down on the table dramatically.
“Make mine a single, I have work tomorrow” Yoonchae sighed.
“Just drink it slow!” Lara responded, already walking her way through the crowd and back towards the bar.
“How’s work going Yoonchip?” Manon asked the youngest girl.
“They’ve got us singing about eating vegetables, I mean what even is a zucchini?” she said with exasperated hand movements, drawing giggles out of the other girls.
Megan felt such pride seeing her friends achieve their dreams since graduating. Yoonchae was recording her third EP, Manon was going to fashion week, Lara had started off as an intern for Balenciaga and was working her way through the ranks, Sophia was working in theatre, only small ensemble roles for now but Megan was sure she’d see Sophia as Glinda on Broadway one day.
“You’re a graphic designer, right Megan?”
Megan stilled for a moment, realising the question had come from the new girl next to her who she was trying to block out in fear that if her brain registered her for too long she might internally combust.
“Yeah- yeah, nothing crazy, just freelancing stuff here and there,” she mumbled.
“Do you like it?” Daniela tilted her head in intrigue.
“Uh, yeah, it’s pretty good. I mean it pays awful and soon robots will be doing my job for me, but I’m enjoying it while I can,” she said, turning to look at Daniela fully.
Daniela was fully composed, eyes lazily open scanning over Megan’s face, lips curved into a soft smile. Megan swallowed harshly, suddenly aware of how dry her throat was. Where the fuck was Lara with the drinks?
The other girls had continued on with their own conversation, the world outside of Megan and Daniela’s moment filtering everything else out.
“What do you do?” Megan asked, clearing her throat and attempting to thread her confidence back together.
“I’m a music producer, nothing Grammy-winning yet though,” she smiled sheepishly.
“Quincy Jones didn’t win his first Grammy till he was 31, you’ve got time” Megan laughed softly, gaining a giggle from the other girl.
“How did you meet Manon?” Megan continued.
“At this stupid snobby party full of nepobabies a few months ago, Manon was the only one who didn’t look like she wanted to hand me a business card or tell me about their crypto portfolio.”
Daniela glanced at Manon across the table who was deep in conversation with Sophia and Yoonchae, giving a dramatic recollection of receiving the call from the modelling agency.
“It’s hard to find real people in LA now, so I took her and ran,” Daniela smiled.
Lara returned to the table with the drinks, drawing a sarcastic round of applause from Manon.
“Took you long enough, Raj.”
“There was a queue, Bannerman,” Lara rolled her eyes, setting the tray of drinks on the table and handing them out.
Megan took a long gulp, the alcohol flushing a buzz through her body again, grateful for the spike in confidence she desperately needed.
“So, Dani,” Lara started, raising her brows in intrigue “you seeing anyone?”
Lara swirled her straw, watching both Daniela and Megan’s reactions.
“Uh- no, I actually just broke up with my boyfriend a few weeks ago.”
“Oh I’m sorry,” Lara replied sympathetically.
“No, it’s good, he was a douchebag anyway. He thought he was some new emerging artist when he just lived off daddy’s money and used AI to copy other people’s work.” She threw her head back in a sigh. “It just got to the point where everything he did irritated me. Like, he just had his mattress straight on the floor in some kind of quirky way and all I could think about was the ventilation.”
Megan let out a dry laugh.
“Never trust a man who just has a mattress on the floor,” Sophia shook her head.
“Never trust a man,” Manon corrected.
“Yeah, maybe that’s where I’ve been going wrong,” Daniela said softly, her eyes flickering to Megan for a fraction of a second, not long enough for anyone else to notice, but long enough for Megan to feel it.
The first notes of Young Hearts Run Free played over the speakers.
“Oh my god I love this song.” Daniela exclaimed, eyes widening in excitement.
“You’re joking? This is probably on my top ten songs of all time,” Megan replied in equal elation.
“Well, I think I know what the obvious thing to do here is,” Daniela said, standing to her feet and extending her hand towards the younger girl.
Megan threaded her fingers into Daniela’s hand, making a mental note of how small the Latina’s hands were compared to her own; information she’ll store for later.
Daniela lead them into the makeshift dancefloor in the middle of the bar, the speaker directly above them loud enough to flush out all thoughts that were rushing through Megan’s head.
It really wasn’t the kind of song that required anything sexy. They both screamed the lyrics at the top of their lungs, not a care in the world about if everyone around them was giving them strange looks.
Daniela’s hands came up to cup Megans face during the chorus in a dramatic fashion. Megan smiled so wide her whisker dimples marked her cheeks, letting herself melt slightly into Daniela’s touch.
The song continued through to the bridge, both girls dancing as if no one was watching. Daniela pulled in closer, letting their bodies press flat against each other as Daniela moved her hands to rest around Megan’s neck.
Megan was sure she was close to having an aneurysm.
She could smell the vanilla on Daniela’s skin mixed with the vodka and the musk of the dive bar. She moved effortlessly, her hips swaying in time with the music, it felt hypnotising.
The song came to an end, shifting into something that was nowhere near as fun. They looked at each other and shook their heads, silently leaving the floor and moving back to their table, pulling themselves out of the moment they’d just shared which had altered Megan’s brain chemistry.
Her head was still moving cautiously, it would be foolish to be head over heels so fast, she knew she had to slow her emotions down. But, fuck, Daniela was making that hard.
Six new drinks sat on the table. Megan drank greedily; screaming along to the song had unsurprisingly dried her throat.
“Slow down kid,” Sophia ushered with a soft smile, always the mother of the group since they first met.
The group fell back into conversation, a heated discussion about which Tyler, The Creator album was the best. Lara being the ringleader of the debate was getting increasingly agitated. “It’s obviously-”
“IGOR,” Megan and Daniela said at the same time.
They looked at each other smiling.
Megan saw out of the corner of her eye Manon and Sophia exchange some sort of look and a giggle, Sophia’s hand resting gently on Manon’s thigh like they usually do.
“You’re both wrong,” Lara sighed in defeat, taking a long slurp of her drink and slumping back into her chair.
Manon slid a pack of cigarettes out of her pocket. She leaned towards Megan in a silent question. Megan nodded.
“Oh gross Manon, do you have to?” Sophia threw her head back and crossed her arms.
“I’m a model now baby, this is like model diet 101.”
Sophia rolled her eyes. “Don’t think I’m kissing you later.”
“I give it ten minutes before you break,” Manon teased, throwing her girlfriend a teasing pout as she stood up.
“Gross,” Megan could hear Yoonchae mumble as they walked away from the group.
Outside the bar was quieter, the noise from inside still radiated out in pulses, but Megan felt like she could catch her breath again as they stood with their backs to the wall.
Manon handed Megan a cigarette, passing her the lighter after lighting her own.
Megan took a deep inhale, letting the smoke fill her lungs, watching the tip glow amber in the dark of the night.
“Dani’s nice.” Megan meant to say it casually, but something about it came out as more of a statement than a passing comment.
“I thought you might say that,” Manon smirked, tilting her head to look at Megan from the corner of her eye. “She’s lovely, really, she's just... she’s the straightest girl in the world Mei and she’s just broken up with her boyfriend.”
“I only said she was nice.”
“Just be careful,” Manon said softly.
Megan let the back of her head hit the wall, taking another drag and watching the smoke rise out of her mouth.
“For the plot,” she finally said.
Manon laughed, nudging the younger girl with her shoulder.
“If you manage to get her in your bed I’ll Venmo you $20.”
“You’ve been here for too long Manz, you’re starting to sound like a frat boy, have some respect.” Megan replied, but the corners of her mouth were curling.
“Two bottoms don’t make a top Mei.”
“Hey, I can top,” Megan replied, furrowing her brows at the accusation.
“Everybody wants to be topped, nobody wants to be a top anymore” Manon sighed jokingly.
Megan gave Manon a teasing glance. “We all know Sophia straps you down.”
“That happened TWICE,” Manon called out, but Megan was already walking away giggling.
They flicked their cigarette butts into the bucket by the door and entered back inside, the noise and warmth hitting Megan all at once. Her head went fuzzy, the alcohol and nicotine short-circuiting her for a second, hand reaching out to grab Manon’s for balance as they wove their way through the room and back to the table.
Their hands were still intertwined as Megan reluctantly let go and sat back down in her seat.
Daniela noticed. Her eyes flickered between the two girls, landing firmly on Megan.
Manon whispered something incoherent into Sophia’s ear, who disappeared towards the bar with her usual elegance, people politely moving out of her way to let her through without her saying anything.
Sophia returned with a glass of water, placing it in front of Megan and giving her a light kiss on the top of her head. “Drink” she said softly.
Megan gulped down the water in one go, easing the fog on her brain.
“Lightweight,” Lara muttered teasingly, causing Yoonchae to laugh behind her hand.
“I don’t know why you’re laughing Chae, do we need to remind you about spring break freshman year?” Megan shot at her jokingly.
“I was FINE!” Yoonchae gasped dramatically.
“Chip we found you face down, passed out in someone’s lawn,” Sophia joined the taunting.
“And you’d stolen a road sign,” Manon interjected.
“I still don’t know where I got that from,” Yoonchae mumbled, smiling back at her friends.
They circled around stories of their college days; the time Lara went streaking in the campus fountain and had to be fished out by security, the time Sophia and Manon got caught making out in the back of the library during exam season instead of studying, the time Megan got so high she thought she was actually Spiderman reincarnated and almost broke her arm doing parkour.
Daniela sat and watched intently, laughing occasionally and asking questions about their stories.
Megan didn’t get the chance to make new friends very often anymore, so even despite the way Daniela was making her heart rate spike, it still felt nice to have a new person in the circle.
“I need the bathroom, I won’t be long,” Megan announced to the group.
“Wait I’ll come with, I don’t know where they are in here anyway,” Daniela pulled her chair back and stood up.
Megan nodded once, leading the way through the crowd and towards the bathroom, Daniela’s hand gripping onto her bicep so as to not lose her.
The bathroom was oddly empty for a Friday night. It felt suddenly quiet apart from the faint echo of the music flowing from the bar. Megan took the stall furthest away, Daniela filing into the one next to her.
“You’re settling in well,” Megan spoke through the partition wall.
Daniela laughed softly.
“Like I said earlier, it’s hard to find real people in LA, you’re all good people. At least that’s what I’ve gathered so far. The jury could still be out.”
“I hope I’ve passed the test.”
“I think it’s safe to say you have, you’ve got good music taste,” Daniela teased.
“Wow, the music producer thinks I have good music taste, I must be doing good.”
Megan was grateful Daniela couldn’t see how stupidly she was smiling right now.
She stepped out of the stall and towards the counter. As she was washing her hands she caught Daniela’s reflection in the mirror, looming behind her like a goddess.
They locked eyes. Megan felt the stare from through the other’s girl’s hooded lids run straight through her veins like adrenaline.
“Your eyes are huge,” Daniela spoke, tilting her head slightly. “Like a puppy.”
Megan’s breath caught, turning around to face the other girl.
“Yeah I-I get that a lot. Not the puppy part, the eyes part.”
“They’re cute. You’re cute.” Daniela’s voice dropped. “You’re hot.”
Megan’s cheeks flushed crimson, she could feel the heat radiating from her face, suddenly unable to speak like her throat has closed.
The hottest girl she’d ever seen had called her hot.
Daniela took a step closer. Megan’s back hit the edge of the bathroom counter, fingers gripping onto the ledge to balance herself.
Daniela leaned in, lips mere inches away from Megan’s.
“Take me home, I know you want to,” Daniela whispered.