You were startled awake by a strange sound ringing throughout your room. It took your brain more than a few seconds to realize it was your phone and then you hurriedly grabbed it off of the bedside table.
"Hello." you mumbled.
"Wakey, wakey!" the person on the phone annoyingly sang. "Time to get up and get your back over here."
You grimaced. "What??"
Laughter followed by the question, "You know who this is, right?"
Once more, it took a bit before everything clicked. "Yeah." you answered with a sigh. "And I had promised to help clean up."
"Exactly. So come on over." he told you.
"Shower and food first." You sat up with a little yawn and noticed you were still in last night's clothes. "Especially the shower part."
"Take your time, the trash isn't going anywhere." your friend stated. "Just don't take too long. I don't want this to be a two day project."
"Yeah." you agreed.
You hung up and tossed your phone aside. Standing up, you stretched and shook your limbs to help you wake up. Then you went over to your closet and dug out some clean clothes. You carried them to the bathroom and deposited them on the counter before stripping. Then you stepped in to the shower.
The hot water was a blessing and you closed your eyes as you sighed, this time in contentment. That's when memories of the previous night began to bubble up to the surface. All of which centered around the man you had met.
Blushing, you remembered the way his eyes sparkled whenever he looked at you. The softness of his lips against yours. And how tightly he held you with his arms around your waist. All through the night, you couldn't get enough of him and it seemed like he felt the same way. Even when the night's escapades were over, the two of you had laid down together on the sofa. Talking to only each other and forgetting about the rest of the world. You hadn't realized you had fallen asleep until your ride home gentle woke you, causing you to leave the sleeping male all alone.
With a shake of your head, you banished those memories from your head. Both of you had been drunk and caught up in all the revelry. And it's not like either of you had exchanged numbers. There was no guarantee that last night meant anything more than what it was. Just a little fun.
You hurriedly finished showering and getting ready. After a quick breakfast, or rather lunch considering the time, you headed out the door.

The drive over to your friend's house didn't take very long and as you pulled up to the front of the house, you surveyed the damage done. Empty beer and liquor bottles lined the railing of the porch, not to mention the ones haphazardly scattered around the yard. Plus plates, napkins, some turned-over chairs, and a few other items that had been dragged out of the house. Why was the clock that normally hung up in the kitchen now leaning against the mailbox? And since when did your friend own a dozen or so clown masks?
You got out of your vehicle and walked up the pathway to the house. Your friend was sitting on the porch steps, scribbling on a pad of paper. "Afternoon" he greeted with a smile.
"Hey." you replied and glanced around at the mess once more. You were dreading to see what the inside of the house looked like. "Please tell me we're not the only ones on clean up duty."
"More people will be trickling in later." he assured you with a chuckle. He sat the pen and paper aside before standing up. "And as the first person to show, I'll even give you the easy job of returning the prizes."
An amused smile formed on your face as you followed him inside. The smile quickly disappeared though as you saw the state of the house. Hopefully someone was bringing extra garbage bags.
He led you over to the coffee table where a box of items was sitting. Right by the couch that was in your memories you had thought about during your shower. It was vacant, the guy no where in sight and you suppressed a sigh. Then a yellow sticky-note on the arm of the couch caught your eye. Picking it up, your heart skipped a beat as you read the words on it.
Where did you go?
"Oh yeah, that guy was asking about you."
You turned to your friend in both confusion and surprise. "What?"
"Maybe a couple house before I called you." he informed you. "I told him I'd be calling you to come over as soon as I found my phone in all this."
You furrowed your eyebrows. "Then where is he?"
"Don't know." he shrugged. "Guess he couldn't wait."
"Oh." you uttered, hearing the disappointment in your voice.
A few fleeting emotions washed over your friends face before he was grinning at you. "Don't worry. He has to be friends with someone in the group to join us last night. I'm sure you'll see him again soon."
You tried to not blush at those words and turned away. "Guess I'll get going." you stated and grabbed the box. Without a second look at your giggling friend, you turned and walked out of the house.

Arriving at your first destination, you carefully opened the door without dropping the box. Then headed over to the bar counter where only a couple people were sitting. It was still too early for the main rush.
"You damn kids."
You smiled at the owner as he stalked towards you. "Nice to see you too." You indicated the box of goodies. "What's yours?"
"You took my towel!" he accused and grabbed at the box. He dug through it for a second before pulling out his item. Then he gave you a pointed, stern look. "Don't you dare try pulling this crap anywhere else either. The only reason you get away with your 'shenanigans' here is cause we've all known you kids for years."
You solemnly held up your right hand. "I promise we'll behave ourselves in other towns."
"If only you behaved yourselves here." he mumbled under his breath.
You chuckled as your gaze wandered over the room. You eyed the wall where you had been standing by the night before. And then you inhaled sharply.
With long strides, you quickly closed the distance and grabbed the sticky-note that had been stuck to the wall.
No regrets. I'd do it all over again.
This was the spot where you had met him. He had come up to you, introducing himself and asking your name. Both of you were surprised that you were each in on the night's game. And when someone had yelled 'shenanigan', he had reached for your hand before the two of you started running with the others out of the bar.
"That guy that was chatting you up left that there."
You spun around to face the bar owner. "Did he say anything?"
"Just that it was for you, and then he left."
You looked back down at the note in your hand and read the words again. This was two notes now, both in places you had been...
Tucking the note into your pocket, you went over and reclaimed the box. "Thanks. See ya around."
"Think of a different game next time!" the man called out after you.
You hurried outside and over to your car. After stuffing the box back inside it, you got in to the driver seat. In no time at all, you headed to the next stop.

At the next bar, you tried to open the door only to find it locked. You pressed your face up against the glass and peered inside to see a person behind the bar so you knocked. She glanced over at you before rounding the counter and heading towards the door. You stepped out of the way as she unlocked the door and swung it open.
"Hey, I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Me specifically?" you questioned suspiciously. "Or just anyone bearing gifts?"
"Both." she said with a chuckle and went over to the bar. She grabbed a sticky-note off of it and offered it to you.
You set the box down and took the note from her.Like the others, there was a small note written on it in a handwriting that you were becoming familiar with.
Did I talk too much? Or did I not say enough?
The two of you had spent every second in this location to talk. About anything and everything, not realizing that time was ticking by. You had even forgotten about the reason you had came here. When the shout had rang out, you practically choked on your drink before grabbing your stuff in a hurry. In between the words of him talking about himself, he would ask you about yourself. As well as other words that seemed to have come out of nowhere. "How can you be so beautiful?" Was he normally so cheesy or was it the alcohol talking?
"Can't believe you guys took off with this." the lady laughed as she retrieved the black eight ball from the box. "Pissed off everyone else who wanted to play pool."
"Yeah." you agreed, barely paying attention. Then you held up the note. "Did he say anything?"
"Just to give it to you. Guess he knew you'd be the one making the drop offs."
That brought a giddy smile to your face. "Guess so."
She in turn began to smirk at you. "Which also means you better hurry with the rest of the deliveries."
In silent agreement, you stuffed the note in your pocket and picked up the box. There weren't many stops left, would he be at the end waiting for you? Or would it simply be another note?

You were filled with excitement as you walked in to the next bar. As you returned the item your group had stolen that night, you eagerly searched for the next note. The amused bartender didn't say a word as he pointed towards the small stage tucked in the corner. There was a microphone with a karaoke machine but last night, it was just playing a loop of music for the people on the dance floor.
Heading over to it, you remembered how you had dragged him out for a dance. Your arms around his neck and his hands softly resting on your hips. He had even lent his voice as backup for the vocal tracks. Quietly serenading you as he sang along with all of the songs that had played.
So when you pulled the sticky-note off of the microphone stand, you weren't too surprised to see those some lyrics written on it. And as an added touch, some music notes that he had drawn.
♪ ♫ I know I sound crazy, but let's just work this out ya and maybe settle down ♪ ♫
You could almost hear his voice singing once more and a shiver went down your spine. The way he leaned in to you, his mouth so close to your ear that his warm breath tickled your neck. The heat radiating off of his body as you pressed your own body against his. The two of you swaying in perfect harmony to the rhythm of the song. You could have stayed there and danced with him all night long if it wasn't for the rallying cry that urged your group on to the next bar.
You shook your head to collect yourself and took a deep breath. You hastily added the note to the growing pile in your pocket before retrieving your box.
"Hope you find your lover boy." the bartender teased as he fiddled with the now returned remote to the karaoke machine.
You blushed slightly at those words, despite hoping the same thing as you moved on to the next location.
When you arrived at the next bar, you knew exactly where to go and headed straight for the counter. As you checked it over though, you didn't see a note.
At that moment, one of the workers came up to you with her hand stretched out. You sheepishly grinned and dug through the box to find a small wooden bowl. She took it from you and then offered you a sticky-note. You took it gleefully while ignoring they way she rolled her eyes before walking away.
Missing that midnight kiss.
That was what had happened, right at this spot. You had been in the middle of telling a story when he leaned in and pressed his lips against yours. Then blushing and apologizing profusely afterwards. You could only listen to his embarrassed rambling for a few seconds though before doing the same thing. Unlike him though, you didn't pull back. You kissed him and your heart fluttered in your chest as he kissed you back. Making you feel like you were falling and clinging to him was the only way to stay upright.
When you had finally broke off the kiss, both of you breathless, you happened to have glanced at the clock. Then you turned back to him to see a mischievous twinkle in his eye. Without hesitating, you had grabbed the bowl off of the bar while he loudly yelled 'shenanigans'. The two of you raced out with your prize, quickly followed by the others.
Feeling the rush of those emotions all over again, you decided you had taken an even bigger prize than the one for the game.

You swiftly went through the box until there was only one item left. When you entered the last bar the group had gone to last night though, you couldn't help but fell a bit disappointed. He wasn't there.
Sighing, you made your way to the bar and returned the glass beer stein. You started to leave when something yellow caught your eye. You grabbed the sticky-note and blinked in disbelief at what was on. Then you smiled broadly and silently laughed. It was a cartoon drawing of an obviously embarrassed male.
He may not have been here like you were hoping, but your friend was right. Somebody from last night knew him well enough to invite him along. You would see him again eventually.
Feeling much better, you took the empty box back out to your car. You kept thinking about when you would meet up with him the entire drive back to your friend's house. Plus his trail of notes, and the moments from the night of bar hopping, causing you to chuckle at yourself. You were definitely going to be thinking of him for quite a while.
After parking your car, you got out and grabbed the box out of the backseat. Then you rounded your car, stepped up on to the curb, and made your way to the sidewalk. Only to slow your steps as you looked over at the house.
It was him. Sitting on the porch steps, wearing clean clothes and smiling at you. You gasped in air, not realizing that you had stopped breathing. You slowly headed towards him while the world seemed to fade away.
"Hey." he greeted with a sheepish smile.
You released the box, letting it drop down on to the sidewalk with a light thud. "Hey."
He his lips as he seemed to hesitate. He opened his mouth to say something but promptly shut it.
Everything came rushing back to you as you held your hand out. When he blinked at you in surprise, you merely raised your eyebrows and quickly curled your fingers a couple of times. His eyes widened in sudden realization and he shoved his hand into his pocket. He pulled out a small pad of sticky notes and handed it to you.
You took it from him and retrieved the pen your friend had discarded earlier. You jotted down your phone number before yanking the sheet free. As he reached for it though, you instead pressed it against his face so it was hanging from his forehead.
"This works much better." you stated with a smirk. Then you tossed the pen back and swept past him up the stairs.
You managed to get through the front door when you heard footsteps behind you. Seconds later, your arm was grabbed, forcing you to stop and spin around. There was no hesitation this time as he quickly captured your mouth in a kiss. You kissed him back, his lips as soft as you had remembered them.
"Ahem!"
Both of you jumped and broke apart. You turned to see your friend with his arms crossed over his chest.
"You two going to get any work done today?" he questioned teasingly.
You giggled while hearing the man next to you chuckle. You turned back to face him and noticed that his was looking at you. With that same mischievous twinkle in his eye you had seen last night.
It took a whole two seconds for you to spy the cell phone laying close to you and another two seconds to grab it. At the same time, your other hand was grabbed.
"Shenanigans!" you both yelled before taking off.
"Hey!"
Hand in hand, the two of you raced out of the house and down the porch steps.

Song Inspiration: Stone Cold Sober by Brantley Gilbert