Brute.

Thirty

"Blood on my shirt, rose in my hand, you're looking at me like you don't know who I am, blood on my shirt, heart in my hand, still beating," I sang.

I don't let loose and just belt out song lyrics, ever. I hum and sing under my breath almost always, which is usually annoying to everyone around me I'm sure. But I never just let go and have fun. It felt amazing, and incredibly freeing. Dare I say hello to a new me?

I grabbed the bottle from Hannah's hand and took another drink. We had drank a little over half of the bottle, and at this point I didn't even care anymore. Out of nowhere, I heard a knock on the front door. I turned down the music, and went to answer the front door.

"Who is it?" I called.

"Beast Moving Company!" Chandler called back with a laugh.

"Sorry, your services aren't needed!" I laughed before I unlocked and opened the door.

"Hey!" Chandler laughed when he saw my face.

"Hey," I smiled at each of the guys, stepping to the side to let them all in.

"You know the paint is supposed to go on the walls right?" Jimmy laughed before he kissed my cheek.

"Most of it got there," I laughed.

I shut and locked the door once everyone was inside and grabbed a towel to wipe off most of the paint from my skin. Hannah sat back down on the floor, panting from how hard she was dancing around.

"What were you doing?" Chris laughed.

"Having a dance party," I laughed, "we were waiting for the paint in the bedroom to finish drying so I could start unpacking."

Chandler ran towards my bedroom to see how the paint looked. I didn't tell him what my plan was for painting, mainly because I didn't know for sure until I was buying the paint.

"Looks good," Chandler smiled, "it suits you."

"It's paint on a wall, how could it suit me?" I asked.

"I complimented you, don't be sassy."

"Sorry," I laughed.

I glanced over at Hannah as she slid the bottle of tequila behind her back. I'm glad she thought of it, because I completely forgot about it.

"So what's up guys?" I asked.

"We came to see what you guys were up to. We saw some photos and videos on Instagram that sparked our interest," Chris laughed.

My eyes went wide as I pulled out my phone. I knew we had both been posting on our stories, but now I have no idea what could have ended up on Instagram by accident. I opened Instagram and looked at my own story. The first few things I recognized, knowing I had posted them and there was nothing incriminating in them. I got through the rest of my story and found nothing, so I went to Hannah's. There were a few pictures and videos from the actual painting we were doing, and then it got to some videos of us dancing around. It was playful at first, but then Hannah posted a video of her smearing the paint on me. In the video you can clearly see the bottle of tequila on the counter behind me. The next video was of me sitting on the floor, singing along to whatever song was playing before I took a drink out of the bottle.

"Hannah!"

"What?" she asked, completely unaware.

I showed her the video and her eyes went wide.

"You're so dumb," I laughed.

"We all knew you were the smart one," Hannah shrugged.

I laughed as I reached behind Hannah and grabbed the bottle of tequila. I took a drink before I handed it to Chandler. He laughed and took a drink himself. Hannah laughed and took it upon herself to jump up and turn the music back up. Of course, she didn't let me try to keep up my image of being a hater of fun. Hannah pulled me up and spun me around to dance with her.

"I'm so out of breath," Hannah panted after the song ended.

"It's called being out of shape," I laughed, "the end of volleyball season was cruel to you."

"You are cruel to me," Hannah scoffed, "consider me offended."

"Consider me starving," I laughed.

The guys all laughed at our exchange and I turned the music back down. I didn't want to be that neighbor that was impossible, and no one wanted to live by. I walked into my bedroom and checked the paint on the wall. Everything was finally dry so I will actually be able to sleep on my bed tonight.

"So what are we doing?" Chandler asked as he walked into my bedroom.

"Help me move the furniture so I can finally unpack later?" I offered.

"Absolutely," Chandler smiled.

Together, we moved my bed and other furniture where I told Chandler I wanted it. I really only had furniture for my bedroom, and it was going to take a while to get this place completely put together.

"Thank you," I smiled when Chandler and I were done.

"Anytime kid," Chandler smiled as he pulled me in for a hug.

"The paint," I protested.

"I don't care," Chandler laughed, "I'm proud of you."

"For what?" I asked.

"For letting yourself be happy," Chandler smiled, "and thank you."

"For what?" I asked again with a laugh.

"For taking the keys from Jimmy. You have no idea how happy I am that you don't live with your mom anymore," Chandler sniffled.

"Are you crying?" I asked as I looked up at Chandler's face, "I love you Chan."

"I love you too kid," Chandler chuckled, "now, when are you going to get furniture for the rest of the apartment. It would make coming over to see you much more enjoyable."

"I know," I laughed, "give me a break."