"Woah, I don't want to carry you home," Ace muttered, taking the red plastic cup from Hunter's hand.
"I've only had one," Hunter protested.
"And we know what happens when you have one and a half."
"Oh please."
Carla bustled around the room, exchanging hugs with everyone. Hunter had been there for almost three hours and he still hadn't managed to spot Cathy. He'd seen Ella for a brief moment, and come to think of it, he'd hardly seen Dean all night as well.
Ace turned around suddenly, looking around, alert. "What is it?" Hunter asked. Ace stayed silent, for a moment before taking off. He pushed past the groups of people, nearly sending the refreshment table toppling over as he darted past. "What is it!?" Hunter exclaimed.
"I think I heard her scream."
"Who?"
"Cathy."
"What? Why?"
"I don't know. She's afraid of crowds. Strange crowds," Ace replied.
Hunter and Ace ran through, listening for her voice, desperately searching. She was afraid of crowds? Hunter had never even known. He hadn't thought that the invincible, emotionless, really kind of mean girl would have an overwhelming fear.
That was when Hunter heard her cry for help. "Help! Ace!"
Hunter ran. Ace ran. They found her pressed against the wall, terrified as Alec approached. "Cathy!" Hunter exclaimed. She looked up, the terror momentarily vanishing from her eyes. Hunter stopped running, but Ace kept going. He grabbed Alec by the shirt and tossed him to the ground.
Hunter stopped by Cathy. She squatted down against the wall, inhaling and exhaling ridiculously quickly while the beads of sweat rolled down her face. "Are you okay?" He asked. She nodded slowly. Instinctively, he wrapped his arms around her, feeling her body shaking, shivering. "Breathe slowly," he said, though he wasn't quite sure if that was the right advice to be giving.
For once, she looked fragile, and this was the only time she needed, and he could protect her. She rested her head against him and he held her close.
Finally, her breathing returned to normal and she stopped shaking. Hunter let out a sigh of relief. "Do you want to stand up?" He asked. She nodded and he helped her up. He kept his hand around her arm as she steadied herself against the wall.
There was a loud shattering and Hunter and Cathy looked up. The fight was still going on. Alec had tackled Ace into the refreshment table, knocking over the glass punch bowl and other jugs and cups. The cordial pooled out onto the ground as the two scuffled.
"Guys, stop!" Carla shrieked, switching the lights on and the strobe lights off. The DJ turned off the music. Dylan ran towards the two and tried to pull one off the other, but they were still throwing fists, tumbling and skidding across the ground.
"Oi!" Riley yelled, launching herself onto the mass of bodies. She dragged Alec back by the elbows while Dylan grabbed Ace.
"Get out!" Carla shouted. Riley dragged Alec outside and slammed the door. With a final kick against the wooden door, he shouted some curses and left. The mess was quickly cleaned up, but the party was pretty much over, with most of the people clearing out.
Ace looked at his arm, a thin line of blood running down. Cathy walked over to him. "Thanks," she said, looking at her feet. "I'll help you clean up the thing," she said, gesturing to his arm and the kitchen.
"Sure," he shrugged.
Hunter watched as she led Ace to the kitchen and pulled the small fragments of glass out from his arm. She dabbed a cloth with disinfectant and cleaned the cut before putting a bandaid over it.
It was Ace's name that Cathy had called. Hunter felt a sinking in his gut, though he wasn't exactly sure why. Ace's name, not his. He grabbed a cup from the table and drank it down.
Ace and Cathy returned. Cathy headed for what was left of the refreshment table and grabbed a plastic cup, dispensing the drink from the blue plastic barrel.
Just as she raised it, Ace grabbed it. "Don't drink that, you alcoholic," he said, downing its contents in one shot. She looked up at him and let out a chuckle.
"Come on let's go guys!" Carla said, dragging Ace and Cathy to the small circle forming in the middle of the living room. The strobe lights stayed off, as did the music. Most of the people had left, leaving only a bunch of people behind.
Cathy remembered what had happened the last time she'd sat in a circle, but hesitantly sat down anyway. There were bottles of beer in the centre and several red cups.
They'd missed the introductory bit, or everyone basically knew exactly what this game was, except Cathy. "Someone spins the bottle, and the person it points to has to drink a cup," Ace explained. "It's literally just sitting on the floor and drinking."
"I'm not playing," Cathy said quickly.
"Come on!" Carla chimed.
"It's fun!" Riley continued. "You should see these idiots drunk," she laughed, stretching out her legs.
The various other people also continued encouraging.
"Let's tag team!" Hunter exclaimed. "I'm on your team," he said to Cathy, sitting behind her.
"Me too," Ace grinned.
Carla's face dropped a little, but she smiled again. "Yeah, alright then, pair up? Team up?"
"You and me?" Dean said to Ella. She nodded and grinned.
Dylan glanced over at Riley, but she immediately latched onto Carla.
The others were partnered with their boyfriends of girlfriends, and any leftovers formed a team. The game started with Carla spinning the bottle. They eagerly watched as the bottom slowed down, passing by different pairs before finally coming to a stop.
"Teresa!" They shouted. She looked at her partner and they decided she'd be drinking. Carla poured the cup and Teresa drank it down in one go.
"All right!" Everyone exclaimed, wildly clapping as she wiped her mouth. She spun the bottle and Cathy had a sinking feeling that it would stop at her this time. She was right.
"Oh yeah, Cathy, come on!" They cheered.
"Um..." she mumbled.
"Mine," Hunter grinned, grabbing the cup from the centre and drinking it.
"Spoil sport," the others scolded.
Hunter shrugged, laughing.
He spun the bottle. It landed on Cathy. Again.
"Whoops," he said.
"Mine," Ace said, one-shotting the cup.
Ace spun it, and against all odds, it landed on Cathy again.
"Good spin, Ace," Hunter said sarcastically, drinking the next cup. As Hunter reached forward, he nearly stumbled over his own arms and legs. Carla's jaw tightened, forcing a smile as everyone looked at her. The two of them were taking the drinks for that girl.
"He's a total light weight," Ace laughed.
"Shut up Ace," Hunter grumbled.
The game continued well on into the night, with every spin that landed on Cathy being taken by Ace or Hunter. That is, until Hunter fell asleep. His head landed on her shoulder and she nearly fell over sideways with his weight against her.
"And we have one out!" Derek hooted.
Cathy peered up at the clock. It was reaching one, which was already pushing her limits. She figured it was about time to go home. The only problems were that Hunter was currently sleeping on her shoulder, and Ella and Dean were busily and happily laughing; Cathy didn't want to ruin their fun. Did she want to keep her friend happy and incur the wrath of her parents, or ruin her fun and incur less of a wrath?
She decided on the lesser wrath. "I need to go home now," she said.
"Seriously?" The others asked. "Stay a little longer."
"Okay, I'll walk with you," Ella chimed, still as chirpy as ever.
"Nah, don't worry about it, I'll walk her," Ace offered. "Dean can walk you later," he added.
"Yeah, it's fine. Stay," Cathy said.
"Oh, alright then. See you," she beamed.
"Now, to get this idiot off of you," Ace said, grabbing Hunter by the shoulders and laying him flat against the ground. He helped her up and they waved goodbye to everyone before leaving.
Carla felt a growing sense of annoyance at the supposed nerd. Since when did she turn up at parties? And since when was she so close to the badboys? Not one, but two of them.
Cathy and Ace walked in awkward silence. The cold winter breeze gave her goosebumps and she found herself wrapping her arms around herself to stay warm.
"Here," Ace said, taking off his jacket.
"It's fine," she replied quickly.
"I'm not cold," he said, putting it over her shoulders.
They took slow strides while Cathy fidgeted in his jacket. They reached her house and dawdled in front of the door for a while. "So, I'll go inside," she said slowly.
"Yeah, okay, night," he replied.
As she was about to turn, he held her back. "I'm sorry about tonight. I forgot."
"It's okay," she replied weakly, her heart beating faster and faster. "I'll make sure I stalk one of you guys down next time," she laughed awkwardly.
"I'll make sure I find you next time. I'll never leave you by yourself again."
They stared at each other for a while. She looked up at his dark eyes, glimmering in the moonlight, and he looked into hers. They didn't say a thing. She was about to open her mouth to finally say goodbye again, when he hugged her.
Despite the cold winter night, she felt warmth. A strange warmth that spread from the inside to outside.
~*~
I shut the door and let out the breath I'd been desperately holding in. Oh crap. I realised his jacket was still around me, but I didn't want to go back outside. My heart was racing so fast that I figured I'd probably faint and cause a huge commotion.
I shook my head and crept to my room. I hung his jacket on my chair, brushed my teeth and went to bed. Despite it being about half an hour ago, my heart still hadn't calmed down, and I found myself tossing and turning.
He was drunk. His judgement was clearly clouded. It meant nothing.
Eventually, I faded into sleep, the smell of him still lingering from his jacket, the memories from earlier refusing to leave my mind.
~
Whoo new semi-chapter guys! :) The POV is all funky and so is the pacing; I'll go through and edit this chapter later. Anyhoo, as usual, please vote if you enjoyed! I also love reading your comments!