rainbowfic | Tequila Rose and Spring Green

Author: Nikki
Story: Phase; the title is “for when I’m drunk, I’m as happy as can be.”
Summary: Angie runs into Rayne for the third time, which is the charm.
Word Count: 508
Colors: Tequila Rose 9. Sing and glory be to God that there are no more of us/For one of us can drink it all alone!, Spring Green 11. I never took the easy way
Rating: PG-13

One thing Angie loved about bad bars in bad parts of places was that no one bothered him, no matter what mood he’s in. What he loved about them when he was in a particularly bad move was that nobody was quick to call the cops. The other patrons wanted to see the cops as much as Angie did. If he got too drunk or too angry and started or finished trouble, they were quicker to throw him out for the night instead of helping him get thrown in jail.

It had ended like that tonight, because he had taken the bottle from the bartender early. When they eventually tossed him out, he didn’t stumble to wherever he was staying, wherever that was. Instead he nearly ran into Rayne. He hadn’t seen her in a few nights, didn’t think he would again because she didn’t work in a bad bar, because he had been so coked up that night. He wasn’t much better now, drunk and pissed from the whiskey and nothing in particular, and he saw the question in her eyes before either of them spoke. The one that wondered if he was always like this, if he would always be like this, and Angie felt an angry lurch in his chest at the fucking bullshit positive answer.

“Are you always getting into trouble?” she asked.

Angie swayed on his feet as he stood, his grin wide and dark. “I am trouble.”

“That’s what worries me.” She shoved her hands into her jacket pockets, his jacket he realized, a heavy leather thing that looked far sexier on her than it should. There was no hiding the heat in his gaze, and Rayne blushed. She turned away with a huff. “Come on.” It was a command as she walked away.

He followed her, of his own will he told himself. “Where we goin’?” Angie hoped she said her place, because now that he was seeing her in the wonderful, curvy flesh, he remembered why he both liked her and avoided her. He had never wanted anything so bad in his life, and it made him want to run. He just wasn’t sure if it was away from her or toward her.

“To get you coffee,” she said dryly, not looking back at him.

Angie frowned, a displeased groan escaping him. “Why?”

“Because I only want to deal with you when you’re sober.” Rayne said it almost like a challenge.

The words left him before he could stop himself. “I could be sober.” Liar.

“Mmm.” It was an unimpressed noise that told him that Rayne had had the same thought.

There was an overpowering urge to prove her wrong, something that surprised the hell out of him. No anger, no shame, just the drive to show her that he could be some version of good, and he wondered what the fuck was in the whiskey. He tried his best to walk straight as he hurried to catch up with her and be by her side. “Fine. Let’s get coffee.”