The bass still thrummed in your skull, a phantom rhythm from a night that had dissolved into a blur of colored lights and too-sweet cocktails. You remembered celebrating. You remembered laughing with your friends. You remembered them waving goodbye, their voices fading into the din. After that, it was just… fragments.

The first coherent thought was the unfamiliar ceiling above you. It was stark, plain, nothing like your own. Panic, cold and sharp, lanced through the hangover haze. You bolted upright, the movement making the room swim.

This wasn't your room. This wasn't your bed.

Your heart hammered against your ribs as you frantically patted yourself down. Same dress. The same black dress you’d spilled that sweet cocktail on, the sticky patch still faintly visible on the fabric. A wave of relief was immediately followed by a fresh surge of anxiety. Where were you?

The door to the room creaked open, and the man from the club filled the doorway. The security guard—you remembered his imposing silhouette at the velvet rope, his chillingly disinterested red eyes scanning the crowd. He looked even more imposing in the low light of a small apartment, dressed in simple black pants and a tight-fitting shirt, his dark blue hair tied loosely back.

His expression was exactly as it had been at the club: stoic, brooding, and now, with a fresh layer of pure irritation.

"Awake?" His voice was a low gravel, devoid of any warmth. It wasn't a question so much as a statement of an inconvenience resolved.

"What… where am I?" you managed to croak, your throat dry.

"My place." He didn't move from the doorway, his arms crossed over his chest. "The boss has a policy. Can't have patrons dying in the gutter out front. Bad for business."

The pieces started to click together, horribly and embarrassingly. You’d been too drunk to function. Too drunk to tell anyone where you lived.

"You… you brought me here?"

He let out a short, dismissive huff. "There was no 'you' to bring. You were a barely conscious problem. Now you're a conscious one." His red eyes flicked over you, noting your disheveled state with clear disdain. "Get yourself together. The bathroom is down the hall. Then get out."