Snippet #2435216

The other bartender was attractive enough and she might have been more interested in him if he had been helping her but he wasn’t. He nodded and started to come over. The dark haired one, the one who had helped her appeared and interrupted his action. He came over to lean on the bar in front of her.

“What can I get for you?”

He gave her a smile and Deirdre could not help but smile back. He seemed like the type at ease with charming the women who approached the bar. She was out of her element but that is what she wanted, the whole reason she had fought to go to school. Something new and exciting.

“Water please.”

He raised an eyebrow, surprised at her choice. “Wait a second. A college girl not using a fake i.d. to score a drink. I didn’t think they existed.”

Deirdre shrugged. “What can I say? I came to dance, not fall over drunk.”

As if to illustrate her point two stumbling girls came towards the bar. One tripped, bumping Deirdre and her friend tried to hold her up. All the while the two laughed.

The bartender glanced at them and shook his head before moving to get her water. He returned and placed the glass in front of her. He rested his elbows on the bar, leaning so that they were closer and conversation could be done at a more reasonable volume.

Deirdre took a drink and then stood there for a moment. She glanced to the dance floor as if thinking before turning back to face him.

“I wanted to thank you for calling the bouncers. The guy was being creepy and I was afraid he was going to get worse as the night went on.”

The man shrugged, “Part of the job is dealing with the jerks. Some guys don’t know how to be subtle.”

Deirdre nodded, “Or some girls.”

Her eyes moved to the people dancing. She watched as a girl in a short skirt ground herself against a guy. And they call that dancing... They weren’t even moving to the music, just dry humping each other on the dance floor.

She turned her attention fully to the bartender again. Deirdre took a drink, her glass now half empty. She was trying to kill the awkward silence. Deirdre put the glass down.

“Thanks for the water and thank you again.”

With that Deirdre turned and walked away. She felt like a fool. He didn’t seem very interested and she was terrible at flirting. Nerves and embarrassment mingled now and she couldn’t decide if she should try and leave or go dance. If she stayed, she vowed not to go back near the bar. A glance back saw another girl take her place and the bartender was making short work of talking to her. He was playing with her hair. Deirdre turned away from the bar.

The music was still good and the crowd had thinned a bit more which left more room for her to dance. It felt good to be back on the floor. The failed attempt at flirting was forgotten as Deirdre moved with the music. She danced for a few more songs before the water caught up to her. Deirdre headed to the ladies room. She was about two feet away when a man barrelled out of restroom door and right into her.

“Hey!”

They collided and he kept going while she barely kept herself upright.

“Asshole!”

She moved to the bathroom door just as a blonde girl came to the doorway and shouted for 911. Wasting no time Deirdre pulled her phone from her pocket and dialed 911. She ran in behind the blonde.

Another girl was laying on the floor. Deirdre’s eyes went wide and she slid to the floor as the blonde began CPR.

“911 What is your emergency?”

The phone was to her ear. “I need an ambulance at Galaxy. A girl is unconscious in the bathroom. A-another woman is doing CPR.”

She looked to the blonde. Deirdre watched her. She was scared but something about blonde made her feel better.

“An ambulance is en route. Stay on the line with me. Does she have a pulse?”

Deirdre looked to the blonde. She did not want to interrupt the CPR so she leaned in herself and pressed a hand to the unconscious girls neck.

“Yes but it is faint. She isn’t breathing though.”

The operator’s voice broke through the growing fear, “Okay keep doing CPR they will be there soon. Stay on the line with me.”

Deirdre looked at the blonde. “She says keep going. You are doing great.”

Arey recognized that someone had followed her back into the bathroom and was dialing 9-1-1, but she didn’t really pay attention to who it was, as her focus was all on the girl she was giving CPR to. This wasn’t the first time she encountered someone in immediate distress, it wasn’t even her first time giving CPR, but for some reason Arey felt panicked, and emotionally invested in saving this girl in a way that made little sense. No one wanted to watch someone die if they had to power to help, but the way Arey felt wasn’t natural. It was like her entire world revolved around saving this girl, and Arey couldn’t explain why. The very thought of failure made her feel like she might shatter.

Deirdre's eyes were on the blonde as she worked hard on the prone girl. She did not know what happened in here but she was sure it had something to do with the jerk that had run into her.

"Does the woman still have a pulse?"

The voice on the phone startled Deirdre. She was focused on the blonde as she worked so frantically. Something about her face, the distress and panic in her eyes that bother Deirdre a great deal. It pulled at her like a weight in her chest. She wanted to reach out and help, to do something but she also did not want to be in the way. Her fingers went to the victim's neck. The once faint beat was now gone.

Her voice cracked, "N-no...there is no pulse now."

Minutes passed, and Arey kept up the CPR, though the girl remained unresponsive. She couldn’t even find a pulse anymore, which was a very bad sign. What they needed was a bloody AED Arey thought cursing as she went back to pumping her chest, desperately trying to keep oxygenated blood flowing. Arey had basically dissolved into a mindless rhythm, tears flowing freely down her face, when paramedics finally arrived. One had to haul her off the girl, when Arey proved to be unresponsive to their orders, before they applied the AED. Arey broke down in sobs after the first failed attempt still left the girl unresponsive, and after the second, she felt inconsolable.

The bathroom was suddenly full of people. Deirdre had tears in her eyes. She watched as the paramedics pulled the blonde away. They began working. Deirdre backed off and hung up her phone not saying anything more to the operator. it was slipped into her pocket and she moved to be closer to the blonde. Not just move. She had the overwhelming urge to be close, to console her. The woman was sobbing as she watched the paramedics work. Deirdre's eyes were not on the scene but the anguish in the woman's face.

Deirdre wrapped her arms around the blonde and hugged her tightly. She was quiet. The sounds of the paramedics were overwhelming. The bathroom was small and suddenly felt claustrophobic. Deirdre put her head down towards the girl's shoulder and closed her eyes.

Suddenly everything went very quiet. Deirdre hugged the blonde a little tighter. Things felt odd, as if they two were apart from the entire scene. Almost like a dream. There was an odd feeling of comfort, her arms around the woman like this.

Rationally, Arey couldn't explain why she was this upset. Feeling bad that she hadn't been able to save the girl who had been attacked would be understandable. Being in shock and going into a funk would be normal. This wasn't normal, a very small and rational voice that she recognized as her own was chanting it like a prayer in her head, but that did little to console her. Arey felt overwhelmed by the feeling of crushing failure. Faces she didn't recognize seemed to flash across her mind, each like a dagger to her heart that brought on such unbelieveable guilt that all Arey wanted to do was crawl into a bawl and die.

Then Arey felt arms circling around her, and she felt such immediate comfort and safety that she felt shaken in an entirely new way. Her mind was whirling and chaotic, and Arey felt like she was suddenly competing for space in her own head as another, stronger presence reared up; a tidal wave of chaos that was once the calm waters of her mind.

All will be well, dear heart. Deirdre suddenly felt like her thoughts were not her own. Yet, it felt entirely right as she held the woman. The woman was taller than she by a few inches and Deirdre rested her head close to her shoulder. It felt natural. She felt like she had been here, in this position before and on numerous times. It also felt like there was more than just comfort in the embrace. She stepped a bit closer and one hand reached up to stroke the woman's hair. Deirdre's eyes closed.

She wanted to say something but there were no words that formed. Every fibre of her being wanted to comfort her, to make her believe that she had done all she could. Deirdre opened her eyes.

Gone was the bathroom. Gone were the body on the ground and the paramedics. Instead there were stone walls and a stone floor. A tapestry hung on the wall in front of her. There was the smell of dirt, blood and sweat. She was still holding the woman, the blonde but something was different.

"The war is not lost, dear heart. There will be many more battles to come. You are stronger than those that oppose you."

"I am just a man Guin. How can I be what they need me to be? I do not know how to be a king...be everything they say I'll be. I can't even lead my men to victory in battle, how can I lead a kingdom?" Arey's voice shook with self doubt and despair, except it wasn't her voice at all. It was a man's voice, completely strange and yet hauntingly familiar. A part of her drew immeasurable comfort from this vision, but there was also pain and an aching sorrow that lingered as well.

Her face moved slightly, snuggling in closer to his neck. She inhaled deeply. The smell of him, even under the coppery scent of blood was comforting. He had returned to her.

"My heart, you are a man and it is because you are a man that they follow you. There was victory today. Not in the battle but in what you learned of those you fight. Those men followed you into battle because they believe in you Arthur, as a man and as their ruler. Not because of what Merlin says but because your men trust in the man you are. A kingdom is not built on prophecies and predictions. It is built by the work of men and those that follow them. Those men learn from defeat and fight harder against those that would bring them down. That is why you are stronger than those who would see the kingdom fall. That is why your men swore their loyalty to you and follow you into battle. They believe in you as Arthur, the man. As long as you have faith in them and the things you hold dear, they will follow you. That is what makes you the king you are."

Her face lifted. "I believe in you Arthur."

They were not just words. She loved him. She also fiercely stood by him. Every part of her knew with a certainty that Arthur was a leader. She was not fond of Merlin, there was even rumour that the man had told Arthur not to marry her and that she should have been drown at her birth but she did believe him when he said that Arthur was destined to be a great king. Guinevere knew this to be true. She knew the man, knew that he was a leader and king.

"I would be lost without you." The man who was not Arey declared with such sincere emotion as he clutched the woman tightly, one large calloused hand gently cradling her cheek. Arey felt overwhelmed by him, his love and devotion to this woman so strong that she began to feel it as well. As he rested their forehead against that of the woman's, their lips meeting in a desperate mash, Arey felt stripped bare by the sheer intimacy of the moment.

Her body was crushed tightly against him. She met his eyes as the hand came to her cheek. Deirdre was overwhelmed. The kiss took her breath away and she desired to be closer.
Deirdre could think of nothing else.

"Clear!" The voice of one of the paramedics shouted as they tried for the third time to start the girl's heart with the AED. "I got a pulse, grab a respirator and get her on the stretcher!" Arey was brought out of the hallucination suddenly, by the sound of the AED, only to find herself lip locked with the girl who had hugged her after calling 9-1-1. Arey jumped back as if burned, feeling shaken and confused, and very much in shock, as she managed to do little except stare and offer a token apology that resulted from instinct than any real thought process. "Sorry, I'm really not gay..."

Deirdre was brought back to the bathroom. Gone were the stone walls and floor. She was still holding the blonde but they were kissing. The woman jumped away and Deirdre's eyes were wide, one hand on her lips. They were staring at each other. There were words, an apology but she did not really register them.

Arey couldn't really process what was happening, and she wasn't sure how much time had passed when once of the paramedics cornered her. "Jesus, those are goinging to be some serious bruises on your neck. Were you assulted too? Do you need medical attention?" Arey just blinked, feeling dazed. Words simply wouldn't form when she tried. "She's in shock. Joe grab her a blanket. You should really come with us to get checked out, I see blood. The police are going to want to talk to you anyway."

Deirdre stood there as a paramedic led the blonde away a short distance. They were treating her and Deirdre looked around. Everyone was busy and it was a good time to get away. She was confused and a little freaked out but she wanted to leave. She slipped out of the bathroom. It was easily done with paramedics and police more concerned with the body and the blonde.

The blonde Leaving felt wrong. A part of Deirdre wanted to go back to stand with her as she talked to the police but she shook this away. The club was emptying of dancers. It appeared only the staff and a few scragglers remained in the building. She took this as a cure to head out.

“D! Hey D!”

Deirdre’s head whipped around to look for the source of the voice. Heather stood in the crowd. They lined the street watching with morbid curiosity. Her feet carried her quickly to her roommate.

“Let’s go.” Deirdre grabbed her hand and began pulling her through the crowd.

“What the hell? Deirdre, what is with the rush? Did you see what happened? Come on slow down!”

Deirdre was on a mission to get out of there as fast as she could. Her lips still felt like she was being kissed. Her first real intimate kiss and she did not know what to think of the whole thing.

“Deirdre!”

The woman turned and looked at her roommate. “Heather I don’t want to talk about it right now okay?”

She dropped her hand and walked off. Her roommate’s heels clattered on the cement as she ran to catch up. “Okay, okay....”

They walked in silence to the subway and remained that way all the way home. There were short good nights and Deirdre closed the door of her room and sat on the floor with her back against it. Her face went into her hands and she began to cry. Her shoulders shook with the force of the sobs.

She felt guilty, sad, elevated, desired and simply overwhelmed by the crazy mix of emotions that were running through her. She did not understand what had gone on but she did know that what she thought she saw, the stone room and the man felt entirely too real.

The kiss was certainly real. The woman seemed as confused as Deirdre. Did she have the same vision?

The tears slowed and Deirdre pulled herself up and into bed. Maybe it was just adrenaline.... A weak reasoning to attempt to get herself to calm down. Not bothering to undress she laid down.

Sleep came out of exhaustion but her dreams were filled with the man, his arms around her, his voice and his kiss.