Best of Friends 6 - Party Night

Noah sat nervously in the back of Jack's car, drowning in the spare suite he had loaned him. Noah knew Jack was tall and built, but he had no idea of the size difference between them until now. Noah tugged at his baggy jacket, taking in the fine interior of Jack's car. Sleek cream leather lining decorated the car's seats, accented by black details along its sides. The car's roof was glass, allowing Noah a full view of the skyline above. It rode silent, the only sound being the jazz playlist Jack had turned on in the background.

Rachel sat in the front seat, her delicate form glowing in her white halter dress. Noah stared at her with a sense of admiration and respect. She looked right at home amongst the elegance surrounding her. It became clear to Noah that, unlike him, Rachel never belonged in a small town. She was always meant for something more.

None of that mattered to Rachel, however. She smiled in the same innocent manner she had since high school, looking back at Noah gleefully as they entered the heart of Delborn City. Jack's wealth and lifestyle seemed to have no effect on her, Rachel was just happy to be experiencing life with Noah.

But it wasn't due to Jack's lack of trying. It frustrated Noah that he had offered Rachel the front seat. But in her usual fashion, Rachel countered by saying.

"Only if Noah is ok with it."

And because of that, Noah was.

"So, what do you two think of the city so far?" Jack asked, turning off a ramp into the city's center. Glowing amber lights flowed overhead, illuminating the ornate architecture of old and new buildings. Young individuals and students sprawled the busy streets, and Jack drove through it all without struggle.

"It's amazing!" Rachel said energetically. She pressed her face against the car window like a child. "It's more beautiful than I realized!"

"Well, we are in the downtown district. Some parts are a lot rougher than this."

"Do you guys come here often?" She asked. Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"Yes and no. Honestly, I wish Godfrey had a city campus, every time I come downtown it feels like I'm not here enough."

"Honestly, now seeing it? I totally get it. I thought Godfrey was big…"

"But it's nothing compared to the city," Jack stopped at a red light, looking over at Rachel. The two caught each other's gaze. Electricity flowed between them while Noah watched silently.

"And you fit the city perfectly," Jack said softly. Rachel blushed and fixed her hair.

"I definitely don't feel that way." She glanced back out her window. An awkward silence hung in the air before Rachel jumped in her seat. "Oh my god! Noah look!"

"Huh, what?" Noah said, looking out his window.

"It's that retro-tech store you were telling me about! Remember the one from your reels you shared with me?" Rachel pointed at a large storefront with a Neon sign with the glowing words 'Tech Noire.' Noah couldn't help but let out an excited laugh.

"Holy shit, there it is!"

"We have to go Noah! You've always wanted to go!" Rachel said.

"I'd stop off if I could, but we'll be late, unfortunately," Jack said between their banter.

"Oh don't worry about it, that's a Noah and me date. You'd be an awkward third wheel." Rachel said with a laugh. Jake smirked and shook his head.

"Noted." Jack cut between the streets, bringing the three to the front of an ornately sculpted building. A line of expensive cars rested in front of them, valets dressed in black tuxedos servicing each car with smooth efficiency.

"Oh, did we take a wrong turn? Rachel asked. Jack glanced over at her with a smile.

"Nope, this is it. Dorsia's." He said cooly.

"THIS is Dorsia's?" Rachel said in shock, she looked back at Noah, giving a him wide-eyed expression that caused him to laugh.

"It's a tough place to get into. Hopefully, they won't boot us out for being late." Jack replied.

"Uh, are you sure Noah and I are dressed enough for this?" Rachel asked as she began to quickly adjust her dress.

"She's right, I feel out of place in this baggy suite," Noah added. Jack glanced back at Noah through the rearview mirror.

"What the hell are you guys talking about? You look fine!"

"I don't feel fine." Rachel and Noah said in unison. A set of valets came to Jack and Rachel's door. As they opened them, Jack adjusted his suit and smiled at them both.

"Just follow my lead and you'll be fine."

The doors opened, Jack stepped out while the other valet offered his gloved hand to Rachel.

"Madam," He said. Rachel touched her chest with her fingers and laughed gently.

"Oh my, so fancy!" She took the valet's hand and stepped out of the car, grasping onto her gold clutch tightly as Jack walked over to her side. The valet on the driver's side entered the car, adjusting the back mirror and seeing Noah slumped in the back.

"Will you be exiting sir?" He asked.

"Huh oh uh… yeah just give me a second here…" Noah fumbled over his door, struggling against the lock several times, failing to open it.

"The door is locked, sir." The valet said.

"It… it is?" Noah asked.

"Yes sir."

"Right," Noah fumbled with the door a little while longer, failing to find a way to unlock it as his face flushed red. After a few more moments of struggle, the valet cleared his throat. Noah looked at him through the rearview mirror.

"Could you… could you open it for me?" Noah asked bashfully. The valet's eyes never left Noah as he clicked the unlock button. Noah gave him a polite nod.

"Thanks."

"Please exit sir," The valet replied. Noah nodded and promptly stepped out of the car.

As his heart raced, Noah saw Jack leading Rachel through the large double entry doors with his arm wrapped around hers. Noah tried to catch up with them, fumbling over his baggy dress pants with every awkward step. The doors closed in his face, Noah lost his footing, resulting in him slamming into the glass and leaving an imprint of his face. A service worker glared at Noah with disdain before opening the door for him.

"T-thanks," Noah said weakly.

He had never felt more out of place in his entire life.

Noah fumbled into Dorsia's. A dimly lit space with a high-end industrial aesthetic. Chandeliers hung over wooden tables and black leather chairs, and every dinner guest was more well-dressed than the last. Several couples passed Noah by, giving him a look of confusion as they did so.

God, he really didn't belong here, Noah began to feel his anxiety welling up in his chest. Rachel had left him for Jack. She had taken his arm and happily walked into a better life without a second thought. Noah clenched his hands as he aimlessly wandered the receiving lobby.

But before his thoughts took him to a dark place, he saw Rachel standing in front of the service desk, both hands resting on her clutch as she looked through the crowds…

For him.

And as soon as she spotted Noah, Rachel's eyes lit up as a smile stretched over her face. She waved at Noah with playful articulation of her fingers before walking over to him. Soft piano music played in the background. Rachel's body swayed gently under warm overhead lights. Her smile glowed as she reached for Noah and embraced him. His arms wrapped around her in return. He squeezed her tightly as her head buried into his chest.

"I found you," She said gently.

"You waited for me," Noah said.

"Of course I did," Rachel replied. She looked up into his eyes, leaning forward to kiss him on the lips gently. "I'm sorry I left you behind, I thought you were right behind us."

"Yeah well, Jack seemed more focused on you than me," Noah said, doing his best to mask his resentment.

"Oh, I'm sure he didn't mean anything by it." Rachel said gently. She stepped to his side and rubbed his back with her fingernails. "Remember, they're our friends."

"Right…" Noah looked around the dining area, taking in the countless high-class folks surrounding them. "God, I look like a clown."

"Oh Noah stop! You look very handsome!" Rachel said with a laugh.

"What are you talking about, I'm drowning in this thing!" Noah said, matching Rachel's upbeat attitude. She always had a way of calming him, it was as if the world melted away, and it was them. Only them.

"Well, what do you expect when you put something together last minute?" Rachel wrapped her arm under Noah's. "Next time we come here, we'll make sure to get you a suit that fits better. But for now, let's be grateful Jack had a suit you could borrow. We wouldn't have gotten in otherwise."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Noah admitted. Rachel squeezed his arm gently.

"We can feel out of place together, ok?" Rachel looked up at Noah, smiling as their eyes met.

"Deal. Now let's go find these guys." Noah said.

"They're this way, come on," Rachel took Noah's hand and led him to a long, very full dinner table.

Jack's interpretation of a few friends may have been slightly different to what Noah was accustomed to. He counted over a dozen dinner guests, all laughing and surrounding the four stars of Godfrey. Noah took a deep breath and tried to relax the tension in his shoulders.

Sure, there were a lot of guests. But Noah reminded himself it wouldn't be so bad if they sat at the end of the table. Hopefully, by keeping themselves hidden, they could get through this night without another incident.

"Hey, love birds!" Jack waved at Noah and Rachel, pointing to a pair of empty seats directly across from the four. "We saved you some seats!"

Noah gave Rachel a pleading glance. She squeezed his arm and leaned into his ear.

"It'll be fine." She whispered. Noah sighed and nodded, sitting alongside Rachel in the center of the table.

The four stared at them with gleeful smiles. For a moment, the conversations around the table died at the sight of Rachel. It was a response Noah had become accustomed to. As the silence began to creep over the table, Ethan spoke.

"You're looking good tonight Rachel, glad you could make it," He glanced at Noah, giving him a polite nod. "Oh, and nice suite bro. Swear I've seen it before."

"It's my spare, he didn't have time to head home to change," Jack interjected. Ethan snapped his fingers.

"Yes, now I see it! I knew I'd seen that one before. Gotta admit, it's a little big for you though."

"I'm well aware," Noah said dully. Mike, already three shots deep leaned over the table and laughed loudly at nothing in particular.

"This motherfucker looks like… uh… you know… like uh…" Mike tripped over his words while Jack and Luke looked at him in dismay.

"Mike, if you're going to open your mouth, make sure you've got something ready to say," Luke said cooly, he turned his attention to Noah.

"Despite it being a little large, the suite looks good on you man."

"T-thanks," Noah said, feeling a smile forming on his face.

"Luke's right, you pull it off bud. We'll have to get you into my tailor at some point and get you one of your own." Jack added with a smile.

"Yeah, that could be nice," Noah said, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably. His eyes scanned over the four. While Ethan's attention was glued to Rachel's cleavage, Jack gave him a hard kick from under the table, making Ethan jump in the air slightly.

"Fuck, dude what?!" Ethan said.

"Don't you have something you want to say?" Jack asked nodding toward Noah and Rachel.

"I do? Oh… right yeah…" Ethan looked back at the two and smirked. "Hey guys, I'm sorry for the way things went down the other night, it wasn't my intention to give people the wrong idea."

"You sure about that? Screaming I had sucked your dick across the party seemed pretty intentional," Rachel countered. Her words were sharp, making Ethan coil back and laugh uncomfortably.

"Seriously, I know the comment I made when you guys were leaving was… well it was bad."

"Telling everyone I'd finish blowing you is a little more than bad, some might call that sexual harassment," Rachel said curtly. Noah looked at her with some surprise.

"That's not what I said," Ethan countered quickly

"It is, in fact, what you said," Luke added, taking a slow drink from his beer.

"Well, it's not what I meant! It came out wrong, alright?" Ethan looked at Rachel, a genuine look of dismay rolling over his face. For once, he actually looked like he might be remorseful.

Might being the keyword. Rachel sighed and shook her head.

"I don't know… Noah, what do you think?" Rachel placed her hand on Noah's arm, making him blush instantly. He cleared his throat and shrugged.

"I… I mean he seems sorry. I think it's fine." Noah's words were tempered. Truthfully, a part of him wanted to tell this entire group to fuck off, to leave him and Rachel alone. But he didn't want to live in isolation anymore, and he certainly didn't want to drag Rachel down with him. He wanted friends, he wanted a change.

"See! He's cool with it, everyone is cool here!" Ethan said before looking at Rachel. "We're cool, right?"

Rachel stared at him playfully, their eyes locking as she drummed her fingers against the table.

"Fine, I accept your apology, for now. But you owe both Noah and me free drinks." Rachel demanded.

"Deal, I'll buy you guys a round."

"No, not a round. You will buy us drinks," Rachel said.

"Drinks?"

"Yes, drinks."

"How many?"

"Until I'm drunk," Rachel said. Ethan smirked.

"Till you're drunk, got it," Ethan offered his hand to Rachel, and she reached over the table and shook it. "Let's have some fun."

–

The night began to spin together for Noah. After several shots and a dinner that was way more expensive than Noah wanted to think about, the group broke off and headed to Jack's loft. Like everything else that night, Noah found himself in a world of wealth he'd seen on television screens. The lobby alone was breathtaking, lined with clean cuts of marble and antique furniture, Noah found himself doing double takes more than once.

Rachel appeared to share his astonishment, regularly looking at him with humorously wide eyes as the two made their way past the doormen and into the lobby's golden elevator with the rest of Jack's guests.

When the elevator doors opened to Jack's penthouse loft, the entire group gasped.

"Make yourselves comfortable. There's more drinks in the fridge," Jack said cooly. The group fanned out, many of which made their way over to the oversized white couches in the loft's massive living room. As Rachel and Noah sat at the corner of a couch, she leaned into his ear.

"I thought I knew what rich was, but this is something else!" She whispered. Noah nodded slowly.

"I seriously feel like I don't belong here," Noah whispered back.

"I know exactly what you mean, how long before they find us out do you think?" Rachel and Noah laughed in unison, but before he could answer her, a very drunk Ethan sat on the fur carpet in front of them with two beers in hand.

"And what are you two whispering about over here?" Ethan asked, handing Rachel one of the beers. Noah grimaced as she took it from him.

"Nothing that involves you," Rachel said shortly. Mike and Jack followed closely behind, wasting no time surrounding Rachel. Noah couldn't help but notice their eyes trail up and down her body, making it clear they were only interested in one thing.

Rachel.

Noah's incredibly beautiful, increasingly drunk girlfriend sitting next to him. Rachel's cleavage tastefully poured out of her dress, appearing ready to out at a moment's notice.

"So, I've got a question for you two." Ethan's words were slurred.

"Here we go…" Jack said under his breath, scooting in closer to hear.

Noah sighed.

"What's the question?" He asked.

"How the hell did you two meet?" Ethan said. Rachel lit up at the question, grabbing Noah's hand while smiling brightly.

"Awe! You guys are curious how we met?!" Rachel asked.

"I mean, yeah. How you two ended up becoming a thing has me very… very curious," Ethan said. Rachel might have not picked up on the back-handed comment, but Noah did. Though he couldn't blame Ethan for being confused. Rachel was a league in her own, even Jack's group of friends would've had a hard time finding someone like her.

"Well, it was prom night, and both Noah and I weren't at prom," Rachel's eyes never left Noah as she spoke.

"Damn, so you two snuck off, huh?" Ethan said with a smirk. Rachel laughed warmly and shook her head.

"No, we didn't sneak off! I actually wasn't allowed to go to prom, so I decided to go to a little ice cream shop instead. Looking back it was pretty pathetic, but it was the closest I could get to a celebration. And guess who I found sitting in that ice cream shop alone?" Rachel gently rubbed Noah's shoulder, causing his cheeks to flush red.

"It was pretty weird seeing you there, I honestly was shocked you didn't have a date that night," Noah said.

"I'm shocked too, Noah I could get, but you? How the hell didn't you have a date already?" Ethan asked.

"If you MUST know, I didn't have a date because I had recently broken up with my boyfriend. Plus, like I said, I wasn't allowed to go in the first place. So, I decided to do something by myself. Noah was the big surprise though, I couldn't believe he hadn't stayed at prom with his girlfriend."

Ethan and Jack both reeled back in shock.

"Wait wait, you're telling me that Noah had a girlfriend at the time, and you didn't?!" Ethan said.

"Why is that so shocking?" Rachel said with a laugh.

"Well, I mean... I guess it isn't..." Ethan gave Noah an apologetic look before continuing. "So wait, you had a date that night then Noah?"

Noah felt his heart race as memories of Allison being slammed against the lockers poured back into his mind.

"Yeah... I did," He said.

"So why wasn't she with you at the ice cream shop?"

"... we broke up that night," Noah answered softly. Rachel gave his hand a gentle squeeze.

"Fuck dude, sorry to hear that," Ethan said awkwardly.

"Yeah..." Noah's mind swam with the moans of Allison.

"But it brought us together," Rachel said gently. Noah smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I guess that's true." He said.

"So what did you do to win her over? How did you approach her?" Ethan asked.

"I… I didn't do anything, she approached me." Noah replied. Ethan's mouth dropped, and the rest of the group seemed equally shocked.

"Wait, she made a move on you?" Ethan asked.

"Yeah," Noah replied.

"Jesus…" Ethan slumped back against the coffee table and took a swig of his beer. "So it was love at first sight then?"

"For me it was," Rachel said bashfully. "Though, I can't speak for Noah."

"Oh, it definitely was," Noah replied immediately. The group erupted in laughter.

"Yeah no shit," Jack said.

"Man, I got to be fucking honest, that is not how I expected that story to go, but then again, I don't know what I expected," Ethan admitted. He stared at the couple for a while before shaking his head. "You know, you two really are cute together. You're also a lot of fun, I'm seriously sorry I fucked up the other night. I took shit too far, let my dick get the better of me." Ethan sounded profoundly sincere, despite his **** state.

"It's alright. Water under the bridge at this point," Noah said. Ethan shook his head.

"No man, it's really not though! For real, I feel like shit. I honestly don't know what I was thinking."

"Ethan, we're good," Noah said, turning to Rachel. "Right?"

"Of course we are!" Rachel said, her cheeks rosy from the last few drinks she had. "Plus, if we're being honest. Before you shouted your bullshit across the party, we kind of liked what was happening."

At those words, the energy in the group shifted. Everyone went silent, as if a spell had been cast over them. Noah could feel the surge of desire swell up from the group as his heart dropped.

"Wait, what do you mean?" Ethan asked. Rachel bit her lip and looked at Noah apologetically.

"Well…" She said softly. "We talked about it and… I don't know… it was kind of hot?"

Noah couldn't believe what Rachel was saying. He knew she meant it in the most innocent way possible. But now, there was no going back.

"Really," Ethan looked back at Jack and Mike, the awkward smile on their faces signaling that there was a clear opportunity they wanted to pounce on.

"So let me get this straight," Jack chimed in. "You two enjoyed it when Rachel stripped in front of us."

Noah's face went beat red, he could feel his heart pounding in his chest. But he didn't correct them, and he didn't stop Rachel from answering.

"Yes, we did," Rachel said, immediately covering her face in embarrassment once she did. "Oh my god, I can't believe I'm saying this! Please don't judge us!" She leaned into Noah and laughed warmly. While he wanted to laugh with her, the best he could manage was a **** smile.

"No judgment here," Jack said quickly. He glanced at Ethan, then back at Rachel. "Well, if you guys liked it, would you want to play another game?"

"Another game?" Noah asked timidly.

"Yeah, something fun, something you both will like," Jack said with a smile.

Noah glanced over at Rachel.

"What do you think?' He asked her softly. Rachel bit her lip and squeezed his arm.

"I mean… it could be fun. Are you ok with it?" Rachel asked.

"What exactly is this game?" Noah asked, doing his best to hide his trembling voice.

"It's pretty straightforward, it's called pop the balloon. Each of us will have a balloon attached to us, and several competitors will have to pop all of them as fast as possible." Jack looked back to the rest of the party. "I know a few girls would also be open to playing. So it would be Rachel competing against them."

"That doesn't sound so bad!" Rachel said with a smile.

"Yeah, except the balloons are put right on our cocks, and the only way you can try to pop them is with that fat ass of yours," Mike shouted. Noah could feel the blood drain from his face.

"Wait… you guys will be naked?"

"What? No man! We'll have our pants on, it's a dry-humping game." Ethan corrected. "Don't listen to Mike, he's fucking drunk."

"So, what do you two think?" Jack asked. Noah took a deep breath and looked at Rachel. He already knew what his answer was, he already knew what he wanted to see.

"Rachel?" He asked. She leaned and kissed him on the cheek.

"I'm only going to do it if you want me to," she answered.

Rachel meant those words, and it made Noah want to do it all the more.

"I think it's worth trying," He answered.

Jack smiled. "Then let the games begin."

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