11:52 PM

A small smile was on my lips as I glanced down at my wristwatch, checking the time again as you tugged on the sleeve of my button-up shirt.

“Alex, what time is it now?” You’d ask me again, your words slurring ever so slightly as you clung to my arm, trying to reach the watch on my wrist as well. A drink in one hand, my hand in your other— that’s how it’d been all night.

We were on our yearly vacation, and this summer, we had chosen to visit the Crescent City. The Big Easy. New Orleans. It was unlike our other trips, trips we’d taken to London or Paris or Spain… New Orleans was unique to it all, but we had been enjoying every moment together. Tonight, you’d begged me to go out. “Please, Alex” you’d practically pleaded, and I knew I couldn’t say no.

Bar after bar, you took the lead tonight. You had told me you wanted to get the full experience of the old city, but I knew you just wanted to get drunk. I couldn’t help but find it endearing.

I smiled down at you, still pressed up against my side and already tipsy. This bar in particularly was a much quieter pub than others and gave us an almost intimate space amidst the quiet music.

“It’s nearly midnight.” I finally answered you, my arm mindlessly wrapping around the small of your back as your smile widened, your fingers intertwining with mine as you pulled me toward the door. “Then we should move on!”

Outside, it had been drizzling on and off for hours. Bourbon street, lit up in the late night hours, was dampened with puddles, drips of rainwater trickling from the rooftops. You swayed carelessly from side to side as you pulled me down the street in search of another bar with a tipsy grin on your lips.

Before I could stop you, you had run out and pulled me into the empty street, spinning and laughing as the rainwater splashed around your ankles.

“{{user}},” I scolded. “What are you doing?” My hands found your waist to keep you steady on your feet as you danced drunkenly to the sound of smooth, slow jazz pouring out into the street.