Blaine shifted in his seat, glancing at the growing pile of poker chips in the center of the table, and the smell of stale ale and cigarette smoke stinging his nose. The old pub was blemished with decades of spilt beers worked into its wooden floors and smoke stains running down its walls.

He scooted closer to the table, trying since he entered the room to not feel dirty, and his eyes drifted over the other men at the table. Hed worry about the dark stain on the floor near his foot later. He sat with three men he didnt really know, big burly men who were knocking back beer after beer, and getting louder and swearing more as the game went on. Then his eyes then landed on Sam.

Sam had a smile tugging at his lips and his thumb kept brushing over his cards. An obvious tell, although Blaine wondered if the other men would notice with how much beer theyd consumed. Sam looked up and Blaine lifted a dark eyebrow and then glanced down at Sams hand of cards, trying to silently tell him not to give himself away. Sam seemed to get the idea; he brushed his long blond hair out of his face and placed his cards back on the table top.

Blaine hadnt looked at his cards again since he first drew them; instead, he was sitting watching the other men, trying to read them. Unfortunately he didnt know any of them besides Sam, so it was hard to identify any tells they might have. Blaine didnt feel like he had any tells of his own, sitting still without looking at your cards was something his dad taught him when he was younger.

"Dont keep looking at your hand. Look at your cards once. Remember them and keep a steady gaze." His dad had said.

His dad wasnt a professional or anything, but at the time Blaine had thought he must have been the best poker player in the world. Blaine was seven years old and they were betting Sweet & Low packets while sitting at the kitchen table. It was one of the few good memories he had of his dad. Blaine had won that game and his father had praised him saying they should take a trip to Vegas because Blaine was sure to win them money. It was only years later that Blaine realized with a warm feeling in his chest that his dad had let him win. The memory was from a time before his father had gotten too busy with work to have time for his sons.

Blaine hardly had any contact with his father at all anymore outside of the obligatory Christmas holiday visit and last year Blaine had skipped that all together. Thats why he was vacationing, not with his family, but with Sam. They had decided to go on a trip together and had saved for months. Sam had wanted somewhere tropical with beaches and bikini clad girls.

The fact that they ended up in Ireland instead had surprised them both, especially now that they were in a darkly lit bar gambling away their hard earned money. Blaine felt stuffily warm as one of the men puffed on his cigarette and the smoke got into his face. He stopped himself from pulling at his collar as he didnt want to look nervous around these men.

Sam apparently hadnt had the same early age poker training that Blaine had because he was constantly glancing at his cards and then at the men around the table.

"Well now kid, are you in or out?" the man beside Blaine asked, his thick accent slurred with drink. Blaine had a decent hand, but he also only had so much money left for this trip.

"I fold." He said and leaned back in his chair to watch the rest of the game, Blaine had never been much of a risk taker. The next man raised the bid and then it was Sams turn. Sam looked serious for a moment and Blaine hoped he would fold. They had enough between them to cover the bet if Sam lost, but that wasnt exactly where he wanted their money to go.

"I see your bid and I raise you." Sam said, plopping chips onto the table as if they didnt represent actual money.

Blaine tapped his fingers against his knees nervously. Sam was betting a lot of money that they couldnt afford to lose. He shot a glance at Sam, but didnt say anything. He didnt think either Sam or the men around the table would take kindly of him if he asked Sam to not bet so much. The rest of the men tossed in their chips and one by one started to show their hands.

As Sam laid down a pair of eights and then three fives one right after the other, Blaine smiled. A full house. They might actually win this. Sam smirked and reached forward to scoop up the chips but the last man at the table cleared his throat and started to lay down his cards. One. Two. Three. Four Jacks. Blaine groaned and covered his face with his hands. Four of a kind beat a full house.

"What? No." Sam looked around the table. "I had a great hand. Damn it."

The men chuckled, all but the winner. For the first time Blaine really took notice of the men standing around the table watching the game, several of them were congregating behind the winner looking menacing as they folded their arms over their chest and stepped closer.

"You better be able to pay." The winner said, raising from his chair as his placed his palms on the table and leaned forward toward Sam. His eyes were dark and looked as though they were trying to bore holes through Sams skull.

"No problem man. Of course I can pay." Sam grabbed his wallet from his back pocket and glanced at Blaine leaning toward him a little. "Im going to need some help with this," he said under his breath.

Blaine sighed, but he was already going for his wallet, they would settle their debt and then leave before they lost any more money. Sam opened his wallet and Blaine watched as Sams face went from nervous to flat out terrified as the colored drained from it.

"Um… Blaine." He said in a small voice. "You uh… youre not holding my cash for me are you?"

"What?" Blaine said confused and then looked at his own wallet. It was empty, no cash, no credit card, no key to their hotel room. Oh shit.

"Um..." Blaine glanced at Sam frantically and then slowly stood from the table, Sam following his lead. "Listen, we have the money, we uh… we had the money I swear."

The men around the table grew still, a quiet fell over the whole pub and Blaine felt like he could hear his own heart beating. This wasnt planned, he and Sam werent stupid enough to try to steal from these men, they had to know that.

"Excuse me?" The winner said evenly, even as his nostrils flared. "Are you trying to con me? I won that money fair and square and now its time for you to pay up." The men behind him were clenching their fists and leaning forward.

The other men they had been playing with were scooting their chairs back like they didnt want to get in the middle of this, while the winners friends seemed to be moving in, steely eyed and unsmiling. Oh shit, oh shit they were in so much trouble.

"I dont know what happened!" Blaine said raising his hands. "I think we were pick-pocketed or something."

Sam was nodding along. "I swear I didnt bet anything I didnt have."

"Are you calling us thieves now?" The man said with a mirthless chuckle. Blaine looked around the crowded bar and noticed how many people were watching as they started to mumble to one another.

"No no. Im not saying that I just…" Blaine looked at Sam wildly. What were they going to do?

Sam moved closer to Blaine and then nodded towards the door.

"Run." He whispered.

Blaine wanted to protest, but he didnt have a chance. In an instant, Sam had flipped over the poker table, cards and chips and beer bottles flying everywhere as he turned and sprinted towards the door. Blaines heart thudded and he froze for a moment before he turned and ran, following the streak of blond as Sam sprinted out into the dark. Streetlights illuminated the street outside and cast long shadows. Blaine saw one shadow that looked like Sam so he blindly followed after it.

Oh god, what was he doing? He could hear men shouting and heavy boots pounding the ground behind him. It was just a game of poker, how did it end up going wrong so fast?

This was by far the dumbest thing hed ever done. Dumber even than serenading that guy in the middle of a Gap store back home. But Blaine knew it was too late to turn back now. He could still hear people coming after them, but he and Sam had the advantage of youth and were able to keep their lead.

He followed Sam out of the town and into the woods. Blaine didnt know what good this was going to do them in the long run, but for now he just kept his feet going as branches whipped past his face.

"This is stupid. This is so stupid." He chanted under his breath as he tried to keep up with Sams dark form in the woods.

The further they went into the forest the foggier it started to get. They were away from the light of the town now and while the moon was bright Blaine still couldnt really see where he was going.

"Sam!" He called out breathless from running. He couldnt see his friend anymore. "Sam!" He called again and then stopped running. He rested bent over with his hands on his knees and panted. He seemed to have lost his pursuers, but hed lost Sam too.

Blaine straightened up then, ignoring the stitch in his side and looked around.

"Sam!" He shouted again and he hated how scared his voice was. This was meant to be a vacation, so why was he alone in a dark forest instead of on a warm sandy beach somewhere? Ireland? Whose idea had that been anyway?

He was getting nervous; the fog was making him feel like he was walking into some horror film. Blaine started forward to look for Sam when his foot caught on a tree root and before he could steady himself he tumbled forward. He hit the ground and didnt stop, foliage and roots and dirt flying up into his face as he bumped and rolled down a steep jagged hill.

At the bottom he came to an abrupt stop. He heard his head crack against something hard and immediately a bright pain burst behind his eyes. Blaine groaned and tried to get up but his stomach lurched and he stayed on the ground, his vision fuzzy and his head pounding before everything went dark.