When the song finally faded into the ambient chatter of the club, Julian opened his eyes. The weight in his chest hadn't completely vanished, but for the first time in weeks, it felt light enough to carry. He wiped the sweat from his forehead, stepped off the dance floor, and walked out into the cool night air.
He wasn't there to celebrate. Julian had come to forget the silence of his apartment and the ghost of someone who used to dance right next to him.
Stepping onto the floor, the strobe lights cut the darkness into frantic, stuttering frames. He closed his eyes and let the driving kick drum take over. The lyrics mirrored the heavy, towering weight of everything he was trying to leave behind outside those doors. It was a massive wave of sound, a perfect storm of energy and melancholy designed to make you lose yourself.
The bass pulsed directly through the soles of Julian’s shoes before he even pushed through the heavy velvet curtains of the club. Drake's song "Massive" was already pouring through the sound system, its hypnotic, house-infused piano chords wrapping around the crowd like a physical entity.