river-soul:

I’m still accepting prompts for this pairing so send them to my ask tumblr!

She can see Richie over the sway of the crowd, expression tight and angry as she moves in rhythm with the boy on the dance floor.  Seth’s expression is placid but Kate can see the white-knuckle grip he has on his beer. This is the third man she’s danced with tonight, the third stranger she’s let press himself against her and put his hands on her body.

Kate knows she’ll feel embarrassed about this tomorrow morning when her body isn’t loose and warm from too much tequila but right now all she can think about is how god-dammed tired she is. Tired of seeing the want that pools in Richie’s eyes when he looks to her and tired of the way Seth never quite touches her anymore.  She’s tired of always feeling sad and exhausted from the grief that steals into her dreams at night.  It’s been six months since they buried her father and Scott and she just wants to feel whole again, wants to feel alive.

She knows it’s a dangerous game to play, to see how far she can push them because she still remembers Seth and the bouncer at the strip club and Richie with the knife against that boy’s throat in Columbia. She isn’t this kind of girl, drinking underage at some seedy little club and oh she thinks, oh if daddy could see me now. He’d be turning in his grave she thinks and it’s that last thought, the sharp feel of her father’s disappointment that makes her disentangle herself from the boy.

Kate’s halfway back to the bar when she feels someone’s hands settle against her waist.  Her body tenses, chest tight with fear but then Seth whispers easy girl and she relaxes into his grip, tension leaving her body as she breathes out.

“That was quite a show back there.” He says and she can hear the grin in his voice as he leans in closer to her, letting her feel the heat of his body wash against hers in the small space between them.  “I’ve seen Richie kill men for less,” Seth whispers, lips warm and wet against the soft shell of her ear. “Is that want you want, huh?”

Oh, she thinks, warmth pooling between her legs at the sound of his voice and the expression on Richie’s face as he watches them together across the room. It sends a little thrill through her, the hungry way he looks at her as Seth draws his hands up her sides, sweeping away the curtain of hair from her neck. The air of the club feels cool against the exposed flesh as the tips of his fingers fall against the vulnerable skin of her throat.  Kate can’t help the sigh that slips out between her lips, eyes falling closed against the feel of his hands on her after all these months.

“What about you? What would you do?” She asks, embarrassed at the breathless sound of her voice.

“Oh sweetheart,” he drawls, “I’d make my displeasure known in other ways.“