they say it changes when the sun goes down [lexy]

[blaine mackinnley o'callaghan]

Leaning a little wearily against the bar, Blaine watched with a fixed stare as two punters exchanged heated words with each other. Some issue about one eyeing up the other’s girlfriend, he imagined. At the moment, it was only words. Until the point when glasses were smashed and fists made contact with faces, Blaine would bide his time and wait. Besides, he was pretty exhausted and not exactly in the mood to be leaping across the bar to sort out someone else’s argument. They could deal with this themselves for the moment. He grabbed a glass from under the bar and poured himself a whisky, necking it quickly and replacing the glass on the side. It was a pretty lax pub and, as such, Blaine wasn’t too worried about helping himself to the stock now and again. He needed something to get him through the last hour of his shift after all, and watching the dodgy clientele hurl abuse at each other wasn’t exactly keeping him occupied or amused enough right now.

Moving across the bar to serve another customer whilst still keeping his eye on the potential fight, Blaine spotted a girl wander in the door behind the pissed off blokes. With striking pale skin and dark hair, he couldn’t help but let his eyes wander towards her direction, admiring her briefly before taking the next order and pouring the drinks. As he poured the vodkas though, Blaine once again found himself looking over towards the girl. He couldn’t say he’d ever seen her before and this itself was something quite intriguing. This pub was generally one for regulars, with the same people coming in and causing trouble day after day, week after week. Generally this slightly dodgy establishment wasn’t particularly appealing to newcomers and so an unfamiliar face was surprising enough, never mind a pretty attractive unfamiliar face. With the rest of the pub being mainly filled with loutish men and sometimes their chavvy women, the striking brunette provided a welcome change.

Blaine was clearly not the only one who thought that though, and he noticed several of the drunken men beginning to eye up the young girl. He took the money for the drinks he had just poured and cashed it up, still keeping a watch on the girl out of the corner of his eye. Partly for his own benefit- admiring this strange phenomena of an attractive woman in his grimy pub- but also because he didn’t really trust the dodgy clientele to keep their hands to themselves in the presence of a hot young girl. Being prepared and having an eye for trouble were key to dealing with this crowd and so Blaine was always watching the customers and gauging the general mood. As the girl walked through the punters, heads were definitely turning but, for the moment at least, nobody seemed to be getting too ahead of themselves. Blaine gave the customer their change and looked back towards the girl as she headed towards the bar, ready to take her order.

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[lexy katrina hampton]

Lexy lay haphazardly on her couch, only half listening to the television. It was just another old lady speaking about how to make the perfect dinner, or how to make your house look so much better. If anything, she didn’t approve. It seemed like these shows were trying to program women to be better house pets. Staying at home all day, cooking, cleaning, looking after children and just waiting all day for their husbands to come home. Lexy herself was a very independent person, ever sense she had ran away from her parents forever ago. Then again, she was barely getting by on her own. She wasn’t amazing at her school work, and her day job gave her enough money to pay her bills and get things that made her a presentable person.

Slowly, Lexy stood and moved her way into the bedroom.Tonight, I will do something for myself.. Not being the most active citizen of Lipton , she had not a clue where to go. She could easily just walk around, and that would be fun enough. She dressed normally enough, or well. Normal for her. The whole reason for her runaway as child was because her parents didn’t approve of her style, and not much had changed since she was fifteen. She wore a plain white shirt with a black vest, along with a pair of black pair of jeans. It was simple outfit, but her curvy figure made it different.

The last thing she put on was a pair of black flats. On most days she wore her trusted combat boots, but today she didn’t feel like having to walk around in them. She didn’t know where she was going or even how long she would be going. The black flats were simple and matched the plain outfit. Lexy only put her dark black hair in a simple ponytail, and made her lips red. She was a pale skinned girl, and her black hair and red lips stuck out even more.

Leaving her apartment, she set out to walk. She walked calmly but with long legs her strides were just a bit longer. She had thought to bring a purse, just a three tap check for her phone, wallet, and key. Twenty minutes later, she felt lost. There wasn’t that much going on tonight, and the first thing she arrived upon was a small pub. It didn’t look anything like Sparkles, but it was a place where she could find anything to get rid of her stir-crazy.

As soon as she walked in she wished she hadn’t. This did not look like a place for someone like her, but she would move on through. Lexy was a strong willed individual, and she could live through it. This was just the spontaneous thing her friends wanted her to do anyways. She noticed a few people looking, and it made her shoulders tense up. She moved to an open seat further away from some of the people she noticed looking at her. When she sat down, she kept her eyes down. Lexy didn’t like unwanted attention, and she was such a shy person. She noticed the guy who was working behind the bar, more attractive than some of the other guys. She watched him for a second or two, but then let her eyes flutter back towards her hands that sat in her lap.

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[blaine mackinnley o'callaghan]

Blaine watched as the girl sat down shyly, making herself pretty easy prey for the swarms of men ready and waiting to try their luck. In life, Blaine had found that you had to be tough to survive. You had to stand up tall, stare your demons in the face and never, ever show your fear. This pub seemed to him to be a concentrated mix of all of the nastys in life and so never were the sentiments more true than when standing amongst the down and outs of Lipton, right here against the bar. Blaine of course dealt just fine in this sort of environment, having been amongst all sorts of dodgy characters from a very early age. As a child he could remember being taken to these sorts of establishments, left to amuse himself and chat to the rowdy irish crowds as his dad made some dealings. Nowadays therefore it took more than a grotty pub full of lowlives to rattle him. But the girl, the girl looked like somebody who wasn’t quite familiar with these surrounding. Hadn’t built up that hard shell and strong attitude that shows people you can’t be taken advantage of. She looked, in fact, like she was in the wrong place entirely.

Noticing the empty pint glasses on her table as an opportunity, Blaine walked from behind the bar over to where she sat. Her manner, the entire way in which she sat with her eyes fixed on her delicately placed hands screamed vulnerable. She was like a sitting duck, waiting to be pounced on. Having never been shy and nervy, and never having interacted with anyone who was, this girl was quite the curiosity for Blaine. But, perhaps more than a curiosity, she was a concern. He was admittedly not the nicest of guys and generally didn’t pay much care for strangers, but even so, he didn’t want to see this girl getting harassed or worse. Not on his shift. And knowing his pub quite well, the chances of her surviving this visit unscathed and unhassled seemed quite low.

”Ha’ yer got the right place darlin’?” He asked the girl, picking up the empty glasses from the table. ”Yer don’t exactly look like our normal lot” he continued in a thick Irish accent. Perhaps she was meeting friends, got the wrong pub name or the wrong street. Maybe she just intended for a quiet drink on her own. Either way, this pub didn’t really seem the place for her. Holding two glasses in each hand, Blaine stood next to the table, forming a kind of makeshift barrier between the girl and the masses. She was pretty stunning he thought, now close enough to admire the striking contrast in her jet black hair and scarlet lips against her porcelain skin. Her look screamed feisty but her manner contradicted that hugely. Sitting here quietly on her own she looked shy; painfully shy. Just the sort of shy girl a leering drunk would love to try to woo. The sort of shy girl a leering drunk would hope wouldn’t fight back.

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[lexy katrina hampton]

It was true to thought, Lexy was not the most spontaneous, crazy, out there person. All though to compensate she had an awful temper. It may take a few comments to get her going, but after she reached her boiling point one would be smart to stay away. She was a feisty child, and had become only so shy after she ran away. It was something you didn't get rid of easily. She looked at her surroundings briefly, meeting to many leering eyes than she wanted looking at her. She looked back down. Nothing scared her more than the thought that someone would approach her. She felt like a child who had wandered into an adults conversation area, not a fun feeling.

Shoulders tense and a posture as straight as could be, Lexy was nervously playing with her fingernails. She wished she had painted her nails again, for they were usually a black color. Now they were chipped and only a few things of paint remained. She picked at it nervously, planning her next move. She could stand and just walk out, but that could be taken as a cowardly type of move. Maybe instead she would look up and order a few shots Vodka from the nice looking bartender and be like the rest of the folks in here. The second choice was reasonable, but unlikely due to her shyness. Lexy had never been that girl who spent her time in a bar, or drinking for that matter. Sure she had tattoos, and a rebel style of dress, but drugs and booze was not her thing.

Lexy looked up when she noticed someone standing right before her, and then she heard him speak. His deep Irish accent startled her at first, for she thought maybe he was drunk. Lexy could not help but blush the tiniest bit even though it stuck out on her pale face. "Uh, I was just walking and this was first place I found.." She explained nervously. She looked around and gave a slight chuckle than looked back down into her lap. "I'm obviously very different from the 'usual' here."Taking in the fact that a little bit more than all of the people here were guys, that wasn't a bold conclusion. She did her best not to notice how attractive the guy talking to her was, or how cocky he was already beginning to sound. Lexy hated being as shy as she was, but she felt as if there was nothing she could do about it. She felt her cheeks were pink, and her heart was beating fast in her chest.

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I can make thinks move! : D

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[blaine mackinnley o'callaghan]

Blaine studied the girl as she replied, the nerves quite audible in her voice. On top of that, her posture and the little giggle she gave after she had spoken gave the game away that she really didn’t feel too comfortable in this situation. He couldn’t particularly blame her. The pub was dingy and smoky and the eyes of the customers drove into her, checking her out shamelessly. It didn’t do much to calm down and reassure a nervy character.

”Alright gorgeous?! one drunken voice called out to the girl over the chatter and noise of the crowd. Blaine ignored it, although noted the truth in the sentiment. She was gorgeous, there was no question about that. But of course attraction wasn’t solely based on looks. And, despite acknowledging her beauty, Blaine knew the whole innocent and vulnerable thing didn’t really make his ideal girl.

Looking at the pretty brunette thoughtfully, his mind wandered back to Adele, the only girl who he had really had anything with recently. The one girl who, since leaving prison, he had got to know more than having just a quick drunken shag and a hasty goodbye in the morning. Adele was headstrong, fiery and independent. She was cocky, snarky and difficult and that was exactly what attracted Blaine to her. The way she could take his shit and throw it back at him with a vengeance, the look in her eye that told him she wouldn’t take any messing. She was powerful, in control and addictive. That was Blaine’s sort of girl. This girl sitting before him, twiddling her fingers and avoiding eye contact, she was a whole different concept. They may have both had striking looks, but the two girls were clearly poles apart.

Still, the fact that this girl wasn’t his ‘type’ didn’t remove the concern Blaine felt for her sitting alone amongst all of the regulars who he had gotten to know so well over the last few months. The regulars who he knew well enough to not trust with the new, fresh ‘meat’. He would keep an eye on her, for the moment. He knew that whilst she was here completely on her own, he was possibly the girls only ally. And that made her somewhat his responsibility. It wasn’t in the job description to take vulnerable women under your wing, but there was some inkling of a decent guy underneath Blaine’s rough exterior that wanted to look out for the shy lone girl.

Perhaps it was from some deep rooted issue from childhood, but for all his wrongs, Blaine did try to look out for those in need. Obviously most of all his brother Oz, who he had almost parented from a young age. But even with Adele, he had taken her as his responsibility when she had gotten pregnant. Maybe it all stemmed from never having anyone to look out for him as a child. Maybe Blaine was trying now, such as with this girl, to prove to himself and people around him that he wasn’t all bad. Maybe he was just an irish gentleman, unwilling to see an innocent girl get hurt. Whatever it was, while he was watching her, Blaine was quite confident the girl would be safe.

His lips raised into a small smile at the girl after she had spoken. ”You don’t say” he ribbed gently, looking from the attractive young girl across to the rest of the slightly rugged and mean looking customers. She couldn’t really have been any more different from the regulars. ”Not that I’m saying it’s a bad thing” he added with a sly smile. Okay, so she wasn’t his type and she seemed far too innocent to be flirting with, but hey, she was good looking, and in this pub that was commodity enough to allow for some harmless fun.”I mean, a pretty girl is a good change from this lot.” he smirked. ”What can I get yer darling?”

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[lexy katrina hampton]

This was nothing Lexy had handled before, she had grown up in religious community with strict parenting. Her parents had taught her to be polite and respectful, and had hid all the worlds abnormalities. She was also an only child, and her parents wanted to do everything right the first time. She had not a clue how to hide the nervous giggle her jilt in her voice, Lexy just spoke softly to solve that one. Though it obviously wasn't working and she knew it. Lexy was a horrible actor, even worse at hiding feelings.

Blushing, she looked up and around at the seemingly prude comment. Lexy was fearful of eye contact for sure, but she bristled at the comment all the same; un-clenching and clenching her fist. If anything, living alone had taught her to be slightly independent enough to not let others just walk all over her. Her running away had been a weak but necessary and crucial part of her life or mostly of her growing up. She toyed with her hair that was still up in a ponytail. She pulled out the rubber band, preferring it to be around her face now. She pulled it down and it came over her shoulders smoothly at a not to long length. She let fall around her face, and she felt more comfortable.

She was reminded then of her last break up, which was a horribly mutual one. Her and her partner had to practically ask if they still wanted to be in the relationship. Lexy hadn't been upset about it, she was just happy to freely say she was single. Her only genuine heartbreak had been in high school when she had broken up with some kid on the football team just before she ran away from her parents. She didn't exactly love relationships, never having been a really cool one before. Like any girl she had crushes and such, but never had she ever reeled in the guy she liked.

She raised her gaze to meet his, and her heart almost stopped when she noticed he was actually looking at her. Lexy listened to him and almost rolled her eyes at his cocky attitude. It seemed there was not a chance of this guy to be any different from the rest, even if he put on the air to try. She blushed again, spite her feelings. Guessing she would say he said things like that a lot more times in a day than she even sneezed. "Lexy, my name is Lexy. "She said quickly, she didn't want him calling her 'darling' anymore. "And uh... One small shot of Vodka?" She said questioningly, handing over a pretty sum of bills. This was out of her norm, but she didn't want to look like a sissy amidst all the tough guys, maybe they wouldn't mess with her. Then again, Vodka was one of the few hard drinks she liked.

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[blaine mackinnley o'callaghan]

Blaine's lips formed into a slight smile as the girls long dark hair tumbled from the ponytail and onto her shoulders. There was just something so sexy about the way her hair swished, as if teasing and taunting him to get closer, to run his hands through it, grab it, pull it.

Perhaps this train of thought was a little forward. Perhaps, Blaine considered, looking at the shy girl in front of him, she wouldn't even be into hair pulling in the first place. Not like Adele. Adele liked her men tough and her play rough; it all suited Blaine down to the ground. If they weren't both such selfish horrible people, they would have been a match made in heaven. Realising he was once again thinking about Adele, Blaine tried to turn his attention back to the girl in front of him, keeping the sly smile fixed on his face as she nervously met his gaze.

”Lexy” he repeated back slowly, as if thinking this over in his head. ”I think calling you beautiful suits you more” Blaine suggested confidently, his smile sinking a little into a thoughtful but assured expression, still not removing his gaze from the girl’s pretty face ”But I guess Lexy will do”. With her next words, Blaine’s smirk reformed and his eyebrow raised a little. Of all the drinks for the girl to order, a straight shot of vodka was not exactly what Blaine had expected. It was just a bit too.. hardcore. Perhaps there was more to Lexy than met the eye, he thought. Perhaps behind the slightly nervy exterior lay a secret hell raiser, just waiting to be released by the strong sharp alcohol tang of the vodka. But then, as her order tailed off into more of a question than a statement, Blaine decided that Lexy seemed just as unsure of the suitability of a vodka shot as her drink of choice as he was.

Still, he wasn’t exactly going to argue. What the girl wanted, the girl got. Turning down the wodge of notes clasped between her fingers whilst at the same time insulting her choice of tipple seemed an unwise move and instead, Blaine just took the money with a nod, quickly grabbing a shot glass and filling it with the clear liquid. It was a single, whether that was small enough for her he was unsure, but with the vodka filled to the brim, that was what she was getting. Blaine cashed up, taking the vodka and placing it in front of her. With this he stood, as if waiting for her reaction to the drink; waiting to see if she would enjoy it or even drink it. He passed back the change, looking from Lexy to the drink with a sense of curious expectation.

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[lexy katrina hampton]

The way this man simply smiled made her heart beat faster in her chest, and it was driving her mad inside. What was it about him that put her so on edge? She hadn’t met someone like him in a while, since high school almost. She couldn’t help but make sure she was looking everywhere but him. Though her eyes couldn’t help but wander back to the ground, there she couldn’t accidently meet anyone’s daring gaze. With these men it appeared that one glance would be an open invitation to talk to her, and that was just a bad idea. She was horrible with talking to guys, with such a low self-esteem and tolerance for idiots. She also guessed that most of the guys in here were overly drunk,

Lexy blushed again like a fool, her pale cheeks lighting up. Why must men say such things that drove girls crazy? There was something off, surely. He was the most attractive guy in here yet, and he spoke as if he was quite a player. One of those guys that leave you with nothing but a drunken memory the morning after, one that’s hard to trust. She was just glad; maybe he would stop calling her “darling” and “beautiful.” Though on the inside it made her excited, and she never wanted it to stop. Just the way he said her name.... She mentally shook her head; such thoughts were odd to think of, especially from her of all people. Lexy just wasn’t a very sexual person at all, but she was an open minded person at best. So it all tied in to make just her. A very odd person indeed.

His questioning leer as she gave him her drink order made her raise an eyebrow, Lexy could drink it. She was tough enough. Though her hands were sort of shaky as she gave him her money. Lexy wasn’t usually this nervous, but this was such a new atmosphere all together. She watched him poor the shot, and she was a little taken aback. Apparently nothing was small here, she guessed. Then she almost giggled like a little school girl thanks to her own thoughts, indeed making her blush even more.

With the shot right in front of her she gave it a little odd glance, wondering if it was a good idea at all. She could take this shot and look like a bad ass, or she could pass it up and look like a fool. The latter was obviously the best choice in a place like this. With one determined face she picked the shot up and took it back in one take, then sat the glass down. At first it burned, and made her eyes water up. Then it passed and she smiled, victory for her. ”So what do I have to do to learn your name?” Lexy said with a streak of confidence running through her veins.

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[blaine mackinnley o'callaghan]

Blaine watched Lexy, impressed as she picked up the shot and downed it in one. In the grand scheme of things, downing a single vodka was hardly a shocking sort of act. Especially not for Blaine, who had seen far more dangerous and rebellious acts even in his early childhood than a little bit of vodka drinking. But the proud smile on Lexy’s face, and the juxtaposition between the shy giggling girl and the determined swig of the strong liquid invited Blaine’s curiosity. It’s as if she didn’t quite make sense; didn’t quite fit together. And this sort of unconventional, unpredictable girl was the most interesting type. Maybe Blaine would be taking this all back later, as he had to pick Lexy up out of a puddle of her own sick, the repercussions of her confident rebellion ending up on the both of them. But for now, she seemed to be handling herself okay.

”Hah” Blaine scoffed out loud at her question, grabbing her shot glass and adding it to the building pile of dirties under the bar before grabbing a cloth and beginning to wipe down the bar, letting her hang on for his answer. ”Well, it’s what are you willing to do to learn my name?” He smiled, making an assured eye contact with her and letting it linger before he gave a wink and turned to pick up the glasses on the other side of the bar. He was bad, he knew it. Like an overconfident cat playing with a vulnerable mouse just for the sheer entertainment; a sense of disregard for the feelings of his plaything, only selfish concern for staving off his own boredom. But then wasn’t that his whole life; looking out for number one and messing up everybody else in the process. His previous errors and regrets had only changed him so much and right now, he didn’t have a huge amount of caution in trying it on with the- quite clearly too nice for him- girl. After valiantly defending her and rescuing her from the crowds of dodgy men, Blaine had perhaps now run out of decency and gentlemanly spirit. Back he was again to the sexpest scumbag.

Blaine thought about this for a moment as he cleaned up the glasses and wiped the spilt drink off the bar. He could go with this one of two ways. The right way- the way he had intended- and keep his attention fixed on ensuring the girl came to no harm during his stay. Or he could do this the wrong way- keeping the girl away from the men not just for her own good but also to try his luck with her. He’d started off so well but Blaine could quickly feel his inner dickish ‘charm’ surfacing. It’s not like he was going to hurt her, was it? It was just fun. It was hypocritical at best as Blaine protected her from the other men who he clearly perceived as more of a threat, whilst messing with her himself, but he just couldn’t help himself. ”I’m open to suggestions darling” he finally added, turning to Lexy from where he stood with an easy smile. The latter option it was then.

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