Men suck.

Other than being occasionally fun to look at, the only purpose they served on this Earth was to sustain the population. More often then not they wasted precious time breaking the hearts of girls who deserved much better. At least this was the conclusion you had come to as you sat at the edge of the bar, glass of whiskey in hand.

The caramel colored liquid sloshed around as you lazily mixed the half-empty glass with your straw. James had never liked whiskey. He was always telling you to stop wasting your time with bourbon and switch to gin. You should have known then that it would never work. How could you have trusted someone who couldn't handle their Macallan?

Now that you thought about it, Amanda didn't drink whiskey either. Amanda had always been partial to shots of tequila, a habit that had gotten the pair of you into trouble many times over the years. No matter what tricky situation Amanda landed herself in, you had always been there to pick up the pieces. Apparently, that had not been enough to keep Amanda from stabbing you in the back.

Maybe girls suck too, or just all people. That was it. All people suck. You laughed to yourself bitterly, amending your previous statement.

You brought the cool glass to your lips, downing the rest of your drink. That's when a tall figure grabbed the stool adjacent to yours.

"Mind if I sit here?"

You didn't look at where the voice had come from. You didn't really care.

"Go ahead," you replied simply. You were staring at the reflection of the bar lights on the various bottles of alcohol, jumping slightly when the man kept talking to you. You had thought the conversation was over, figuring he had just wanted to sit in the chair not a drinking buddy.

"Can I get you a refill on your drink?" he asked, motioning to the empty glass in your hand.

You hesitated for a moment. The fact was you had come to this bar to be alone. It was far from campus and you didn't want to see anybody you knew and be forced to make small talk with classmates whose names you wouldn't even remember in a year or two. You weren't in the mood for conversation and were perfectly content to wallow alone in self-pity. But who were you to turn down a free drink?

You nodded so the man got the bartender's attention, motioning for two more of what you had been drinking.

"Thanks, I'm (Y/N) by the way," you said, sticking out your hand for him to shake. You figured introducing yourself was the polite thing to do considering he had just paid for your drink.

"Steve, nice to meet you (Y/N)," he fit his hand into yours and shook it, then reached for his new drink taking a sip of the copper liquid. "Mmm, you have good taste," he commented making you smile for real this time.

At least, someone appreciated your taste for whiskey. You turned on your bar stool to fully face him properly, taking in his appearance.

You couldn't help but notice how attractive the man was. He had gorgeous dirty blonde hair, and stunning crystal blue eyes. When he smiled back at you, you couldn't shake the feeling that you had met him before but your alcohol clouded brain couldn't place where.

"You look kinda familiar, do I know you from somewhere?"

Steve chuckled, hesitating slightly before shaking his head and replying, "I don't think so, I'm just Steve."

"Well alright, just Steve," you replied, mockingly repeating his words then grimacing slightly. Sarcasm was like second nature to you, and you silently chastised yourself for making fun of someone you had known for less than a minute. Any worries turned out to be unnecessary however as Steve laughed deeply before taking another sip of his drink.

"So (Y/N), what brought you here tonight?"

The question was innocent but it stopped you short, your heart beating rapidly. You took a large sip of your drink, leaving about half of the glass he had bought for you left and thought back to your night before you had stumbled into the bar and onto the stool where you were currently perched.

You were walking to the small but homey apartment where James lived, the cold winter air blowing your hair backwards. You had just finished a particularly long exam and were in desperate need of cuddles from your boyfriend. Climbing up the steps to the apartment, you opened the door with the spare key he had given you. A key that to you had symbolized the trust and love that you both shared. You stepped inside the apartment, calling out his name but there was no response, so you walked down the long hallway heading to his bedroom to check if he was there. He had this thing for blasting music through his headphones so this wasn't that strange. Cracking open the door, your eyes landed on two bodies rather than one, entwined in the sheets of his bed.

You pinched your arm, convinced that you must have been dreaming. This couldn't be real, could it? Your arm stung dully from the pinch, but that could not compare to the pain you felt as you processed the image before her. Amanda and James, in the middle of a passionate kiss, both stripped down to their underwear. After a moment you were able to shake yourself out of your frozen state, anger bubbling up quickly.

"Sorry for interrupting, I'll just leave you to it," you remarked, your voice shaking slightly as the two broke apart in surprise.

James's eyes widened in horror when he saw you standing in the doorway.

"(Y/N)?"

You looked into his eyes, and then at Amanda. Her face was flushed, cheeks tinted a light pink as she searched frantically for her clothes. Deciding that you had seen all that you needed to see, you tossed the spare key onto the floor and spun on your heels heading towards the nearest escape route.

You heard James calling after you but ignored him.

"(Y/N) wait-," he yelled, grabbing your wrist as you reached to open the front door.

"What?" you snapped. "What could you possibly have to say to me right now?" you said, locking eyes with the man you had once thought was your person. You waited a moment for him to speak, to give some sort of explanation for what you had seen, but there was only silence. There was no explanation he could give to fix this, and you both knew it.

"That's what I thought. Go back to Amanda, no need to keep her waiting," you said, wrenching your hand from his grip, slamming the door behind you.

"(Y/N)? You alright?"

Steve's voice calling your name brought you back to reality. Realizing you had never answered his question you thought about what to say. Maybe it was the alcohol, or maybe it was the fact that you knew you'd never see this man again but you decided to tell him the truth.

"Well I walked in on my boyfriend, or ex- I should say cheating on me so..."

Steve winced at your words. You could tell from the look in his eyes that the man had experienced heartbreak on some level before. He shook his head back and forth before responding.

"Ouch," he grimaced. "Sounds like you really needed that drink."

You scoffed, taking another sip and savoring the bitter taste on your lips.

"That's not even the worst of it," you continued. "The girl he was with was my best friend, or supposed to be at least."

He stared at you sadly for a moment. There was some other emotion hidden in his eyes that you couldn't place.

"I'm sorry (Y/N), nobody deserves that. Sounds like you deserve better than both of them," he said consolingly. "I know that doesn't help you feel better right now, but it's the truth."

You downed the rest of your second drink placing the glass down, your fingers drumming lazily on the top of the bar.

"I'll be fine. It's just strange. I feel like I should have seen it coming, but Amanda and I have been best friends since we met at orientation freshman year. Everyone said that orientation friendships don't last but here we are, one semester left of senior year, almost done with Columbia, and she does this," you sighed, staring sadly at your empty glass. It may have been odd but you were more hurt by Amanda than James. Boys broke hearts, that's what they did. But best friends were supposed to be forever.

"Wow, Columbia?" Steve interjected. "We've got a smarty over here!" He smiled when he heard you laugh in response to his joke. It was strange, he really didn't know you at all but he felt in that moment he would do anything to keep replacing your sadness with laughter.

"Want another drink? This one's on me." You had noticed Steve's drink was also empty but he wasn't exhibiting any signs of the alcohol affecting him. Impressive, as this was strong stuff. Steve nodded so you waved your hand to get the bartender's attention and called out for another round, ready to drown your sorrows in another drink with the company of a handsome stranger.