//------------------------------// // Drunken Friend and Gym Crush // Story: My Cup of Tea // by CousinBraeburn00 //------------------------------// Rarity was definitely drunk now, probably bordering on plastered. But I watched in utter awe - adjusting my glasses for a better view - as my friend slammed back another shot of straight white rum. As Rarity lowered the empty glass back to the tabletop, I wondered what the girl would do to embarrass me this time around. It was almost like a tradition for us whenever we went out. An unwanted, terrible tradition. Last time, Rarity had told my darkest secret to a random stranger before throwing up in his lap. He hadn’t been happy about that, but was apparently happy enough to laugh at my expense. I looked over to my other friend, Fluttershy, who was watching Rarity in a much more concerned way. Tonight the poor girl was so nervous, she had already downed three virgin daiquiris, a side of water with each. To be frank, I wasn’t so sure my friend even knew what a virgin drink was. Rarity hadn’t lifted her head yet from when she had dropped it after that last shot. If she was crying, I swear to all the gods that I would give her some words. The whole point of going out tonight was because my boyfriend of a year had just left me for someone else the week prior, no warning signs whatsoever. After looking back and forth with a flat expression between my two friends several more times, I spoke up. “Hey. You okay there, Rares?” My fashionista friend finally tilted her head back, hair disheveled in a messy but, albeit sexy, way. “Twilight, I’ve got lime juice on my skirt. I was just willing it away with my mind really quick.” “Oh, I’ve got a detergent pen in my purse!” Fluttershy stated. Rarity whipped her head around drunkenly and squinted at our friend in disgust. “I’m not using a detergent pen on this skirt, Fluttershy, are you insane?! Oh, oh, what’s next, do you want me to start putting my wool sweaters in the drier, too?” “Okay, calm down,” I reached a hand out to place it on one of Rarity’s wildly gesturing arms. “Don’t listen to her, Fluttershy. She’s just mad because I accidentally dried her wool sweater and shrunk it.” “Don’t be so dismissive, it was my favorite wool sweater!” Rarity shouted dramatically, making several nearby people look her way. Fluttershy fidgeted briefly before finding her voice again. “Um, I don’t mean to be, um, condescending, but aren’t we here to make Twilight feel better and not you?” Immediately Rarity turned her frown into a pout with a speed that could give anyone whiplash. She nodded, casting her eyes down in a guilty manner. I truly wasn’t sure if it was a genuine action or not. “She’s right. We’re supposed to be showering you with all of our love and encouragement, and here I am going on about lime juice! I’m such a petty friend.” Her lips quivered and her eyebrows cinched, unspilled tears threatening to overflow at any moment. I clamped down harder on my friend’s arm and shook it slightly. “No! Stop it, you are not going to cry. I know I really pissed you off with the sweater thing, but I was really going through some stuff and shouldn’t have been doing laundry at the time. You’re a great friend, Rarity. Look, come on, why don’t you… go to the bathroom and fix yourself back up?” Rarity’s expression did lighten at the idea. “Eh? Eh? Yeah? Okay, go on.” I pushed my friend - who weakly fought me - by the shoulders further and further in the direction of the restroom until Rarity eventually relinquished her resolve. “Oh, alright, I guess I do need to look fabulous for this camaraderie.” She turned and ambled on her way, hands fluttering lightly in the air, and teetering only slightly on her high heels. I breathed out a sigh; after Rarity primped herself, she was always in a great mood, drunk or sober. I heard Fluttershy giggle quietly. We settled into a comfortable wait as Fluttershy sipped at her fourth virgin, making sure to take a drink of water for every several of daiquiri. She mentioned how surprised she was that she wasn’t tipsy at all. I resisted the desire to tell my friend there was literally no alcohol in her system right now. I passed my eyes over the crowd. It was nice to have been able to pick the spot for tonight, and not have to endure another wild club that Rarity always insisted on. Initially, I had kind of wanted to just stay home and drink with my friends, but even Fluttershy had protested that. She had said, “There’s no sadness when you’re having fun, by Tom Wilson,” and I had automatically corrected her, saying, “It’s fear, and it’s Will Thomas, actually,” and I had instantly made things far less excitable. However, my friends already knew I was unintentionally a buzzkill sometimes and forced me out with them anyway. But, truth be told, I was enjoying myself. “Oh… oh no.” I looked back at Fluttershy when she squeaked in distress. “What is it? Are you alright?” “I-I… I just… I-I don’t know how to… um, maybe I shouldn’t… I mean -“ “Fluttershy,” I interrupted, assuming I knew what the problem was. “I’m sorry to tell you this, but those daiquiris have not had a single drop of alcohol in them. You’re fine -“ “No,” The shy girl lifted a finger towards the bar entrance. “I think you should look.” Raising an eyebrow, I turned in the direction my friend was pointing. It only took a second for my eyes to fall on the obvious target. I felt my heart drop at what I saw. It was Timber Spruce, my ex-boyfriend, his arm wrapped snugly around the waist of some blonde bimbo I didn’t know. Worse yet, the bimbo’s hands were running sweetly through his shock of curly jade hair - that I had always jokingly called Hooker’s green, because, I mean, come on, the joke behind that is beautiful. I saw that Bimbo (for that was her name, I decided) was pulling him down to meet her, so I looked away before I could see their lips touch. Man, how stupid am I? This bar had been a favorite of ours, frequented often, so it was actually not a surprise that Timber had shown up here, as well. I could feel Fluttershy’s kind eyes boring into me, probably wide as a doe’s and glistening with tears of sadness. Reluctantly, I looked up to meet them, feigning indifference. “I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.” I’m not sure I was convincing, for Fluttershy dropped her eyes uneasily to her lap. I didn’t have to continue though, because then Rarity was there, basically throwing herself onto our table in excitement, nearly spilling our drinks and toppling us out of our chairs. Her voice was a loud, conspiratorial whisper when she spoke. “Oh, you’ll never guess who I saw!” She didn’t allow time for any guesses and continued. “It’s my friend Sunset Shimmer from our gym! You know, the treadmill runner who you’re always ogling!” I grimaced, embarrassed. “No, you didn’t.” Rarity gave me a “wanna bet?” look and and grabbed my face in one hand, squeezing my cheeks together, and turned my head to the right. I saw her immediately. “Oh, you did.” I breathed out through my smushed lips. Einstein’s balls, Sunset Shimmer was a lovely being. I was used to seeing her in her workout attire; that is, skimpy little shorts and a sports bra and lots of rolling, glistening sweat that liked to pool down her - well, you know, she looked good, that’s the point. But I think she may have looked even better now. Black denim jeans that hugged her just right in all the places that mattered. Long, luscious hair loosed from its usual ponytail, almost dancing down her back. And… a leather jacket? I hadn’t really taken her for the leather jacket type. My body temperature was heating up as I watched her laugh at something her friend had said. Honestly, I thought my glasses may start fogging up. “Do you see her? Oh yeah, you see her.” Rarity joked, pulling me from the clouds and finally releasing my cheeks. As she settled back into her seat, in my peripheral vision I saw Fluttershy lean in to whisper to her, most likely the news about Timber and Bimbo. After a moment, somehow I tore my eyes from Sunset and rolled them over to my friends who were in a frantic conversation of whispers. Rarity had a familiar gleam in her drunken eyes, the kind that meant she had a scheme planned out, the kind that meant I was at the center of that scheme. I had to put an end to this before it could get out of hand. The Embarrass Twilight tradition couldn’t continue. I slapped a hand on the table to get their attention. “Hey, hey, whatever’s going on right now,” I pointed a finger between the two of them. “Stop it. I’m not being part of this.” My fashionista friend sidled over to me, not-so-discreetly wrapping a porcelain arm around my shoulders. The smile on her face was blinding. “Twilight, I have a most wonderful idea. Timber Spruce is here, I heard, with that new skank of his.” I snorted stupidly at that before regaining my composure . “And Sunset Shimmer is here, looking like sex against the wall on a hot summer day.” I looked quickly at Fluttershy, who had gone adorably pink at Rarity’s choice of words. I probably looked no better. “So, what I’m thinking is straightforward,” Rarity began to gesture with her free hand, stabbing a finger on the tabletop to enunciate. “We get Timber’s attention, he sees that you’re here. Timber watches as you saunter over to Sunset and lay the kiss of a lifetime on her. Timber sees that he has no sway over you and your feelings. Timber goes down. In. Defeat.” “No!” I instantly scream. Rarity was insane. She obviously thought I had more cojones than I actually did. I had only spoken to Sunset Shimmer a couple of times. I could count them on one hand! Rarity had been present for those so-called conversations, each one consisting of me sputtering like an idiot for several minutes after Sunset had simply asked me how I was doing today. I pushed Rarity away from me and resisted burying my head in my arms. I peeked a glance in Sunset’s direction, only to find that she was looking back at me. I met her captivating eyes for just a second before looking away. “Okay, I’ll have her come to you.” Rarity stated plainly, before getting up from her seat and beginning her way to Sunset’s table. “N-no! Stahp!” I squeaked desperately. Luckily, I got a hold of my friend’s arm and yanked her back before she had gotten too far away. She spun off balance in my grip and nearly planted herself facedown in my lap. She stayed still for a moment, forearm holding her weight across my thighs, legs splayed awkwardly, head cocked to one side. Then her expression changed to one of soft understanding, a face I had never seen her make. It worried me. She drunkenly slapped her hand to my face, probably a little harder than she meant to, followed by softer, lighter pats along my cheek. All the while she nodded her head. “Twi, I gotta be honest with you,” Her words had become considerably more slurred. All those white rums were really catching up to her now. “I think, if I’m being honest here, am I being honest here? I think so -“ “Yeah,” I nodded with an eye roll. “You said you were.” “Yeah, yeah, I did. Anyways, Twi, honestly speaking, I’m surprised you didn’t leave Timber a long time ago,” She leaned forward to whisper. “For her.” I could only laugh awkwardly, embarrassed, shaking my head lightly. “I-I’m not sure -“ “You have never, I mean, like, never ever ever looked at Timber the way you look at her. And hey, while I, Rarity, your best friend in the world, am being so freaking honest here, let me just say that she looks at you, too.” I swallowed roughly; my mouth was suddenly very dry. “Oh yeah, for real. Whenever you weren’t looking, she had her eyes all over you, girl. She probably does right now, but I’ve got my back turned to her so I can’t say for sure. But here’s my point.” Her tone sobered a bit. “Sunset is my friend. I know her. I talk to her. She asks about you all the time. She thinks she’s being inconspicuous, but definitely not.” Rarity gave me an exaggerated pointed look. I couldn’t help the blush. “So don’t think about it,” She leaned towards me even more, and I could smell the white rum on her breath, but truly, it was the best smell in that moment. “Just do it.” I held her gaze for a few more seconds, searching her face for any sign that this was just a joke, another part of her scheme. She narrowed her eyes, daring me to second guess her. I turned away. “Hey, Timber Spruce!” I shouted across the bar. But I didn’t wait to see if he looked. I was up, walking at a determined pace, weaving through the small crowd, eyes only on one person. Then I was there. Slipping a hand inside her open jacket. Taking her firmly by the waist. Pulling her close. Taking her lips in a gentle kiss. And she kissed me back.