"Shouldn't you go after your girlfriend?" you ask, as you hear the bedroom door slam in the other room.
"I prefer to let 'em fly," he replies casually. "You don't want to take her place?"
Your eyebrows fly up in surprise. "Um, no thanks." you reply, although you can't tear your eyes away from his bare upper body, his whole demeanour making your body tense. The steam in the bathroom makes it easier to hide the red flush on your cheeks, and you curse internally. You never felt this kind of attraction with Ari. Your connection with him was on more of an...emotional level, and you still feel it when you're around him - that deeper understanding of each other, the way you relax around him. But it's more of a feeling of safety, comfort. What you feel right now is vulnerability; you're not in control of the emotions when you're around Baxter, and you feel like you've been stripped bare of any defences. It's an intense physical attraction that you can't ignore, can't stop yourself falling victim to his demeanour, his mannerisms - it feels dangerous.
"Fair enough," Baxter replies with a small shrug. He picks up a blue robe from a hanger, one that is obviously Margot's and throws it around his body, admiring his new look in the mirror by the bath.
"I think that's Summer's mum's." you say, and he turns to you.
"Yeah? Well she's got style," he says with a side smile, leaning on the doorframe. His face is only six inches or so away from yours. "Unlike whoever owns this place. Anyway, why are you here? Has Summer sent you to get me out of her mum's room?"
"No, I just came to drop something off in here," you say, thinking you could ask him the same question.
"You sure you don't want to join?" he asks, and you raise your eyebrows again. Do you want to? No. You don't want to be like that girl from earlier, right? Baxter brought her in here, toyed with her feelings then managed to push her away in an instant and didn't even go after her. You might be attracted to Baxter, but his questionable morals leave something to be desired at the moment. Perhaps that's one thing that gives Ari a victory over Bax.
"No thanks." you reply, and Bax's face flashes with understanding.
"Ohhh, yeah that's right. You're with Goldy." he says simply, and you nearly laugh.
Your eyes narrow. "I'm not with Ari. Your sister is dating him."
He shrugs. "Thought maybe he was dating both of you." he says, as if it's the most normal thing anyone could do.
"Are you serious?" you ask, a surprised laugh escaping your lips. "Why would you even think me and Ari were together?"
He shrugs - he does that a lot - "The way he looks at you." he shrugs. "Then again, Goldy seems a bit too...safe, to be with two girls at once."
You try to keep your mouth from curling into a smile. "Me and Ari used to have a thing, but it's over now. It was last year."
Baxter nods. It isn't a condescending nod, but neither is it approving.
"What about you? I'm guessing you're not serious with the girl who practically ran from you five minutes ago." you say, wondering where the confidence to say that came from. Baxter doesn't take offence, instead laughs under his breath and begins to stroll around the bathroom.
"Nah, I'm just going wherever these things take me, y'know?" he says.
"Is this where you bring all your dates?" you ask and gesture to the bathroom - he smiles wryly.
"Nah. Anyway, she wasn't my date," he replies."I just came here to meet new people, y'know?"
"No," you reply - what new people is he going to meet here that he can't meet in any other place in Shorehaven? Besides, there is no way that meeting new people was his primary goal in coming to a party. "Anyway, you can meet new people outside. And lose the robe." you say, and Baxter scoffs. You don't wait to hear his response, as you make your way to the door - you don't want anyone to spot you, or wonder why you were spending ridiculously long in Summer's mum's room.
After carefully shutting the door behind you, you're about to head outside again when a commotion distracts you - it's Ari and Marlon, talking rapidly, walking purposefully through each corridor as if they're looking for something.
"Hey, Mars!" you call, jogging down the corridor to meet them. "What's going on?"
They both hesitate, falter in their responses. "Err, just looking for someone." Marlon says.
"What happened to your shirt?" you ask, noticing a pink stain down the front.
"Nothing, I just spilt a drink," your brother replies dismissively. "Look, can you just leave us alone for like two minutes whilst we do something?"
"Why?" you ask again - curiosity is driving you now, and you want to tell them to just spit it out, tell you what they're doing. But neither boy answers, sharing a glance with each other as they shift awkwardly with their hands in their pockets.
"There's just something we need to sort out." Ari answers, it's the first thing he's said.
"Okay, well now you're worrying me." you say, and your brother throws his hands up, irritated.
"It's nothing to be worried about, Y/n!" Marlon replies frustratedly. "We just-" Ari hits him on the arm, and points to something behind you. Both boys suddenly push past you, Marlon muttering something incomprehensible as an explanation.
You follow them.
As they turn the corner, you keep your distance, peering around the edge of the wall. Ari is holding up a phone, filming Marlon, who knocks on the door. "Oi Griff, you in here?" he calls, and barely waits for a response before barging in. He stops suddenly though, and you can't see what's going on on the other side of the door but it makes your brother's eyes go wide.
"What are you doing?!" he exclaims, and you're surprised to hear the incomprehensible voice of a girl. "Seriously? Still? With him?" Marlon asks, and he obviously doesn't like the person's response. He basically slams the door, then turns away defeatedly.
"Mars!" you hear Ari call, and you position yourself so you're completely out of sight. You don't expect Marlon to come round the corner you're hidden, and he nearly jumps when he sees you.
"What are you doing?!" he says angrily, then appears to gather himself and sighs. "Did you hear all of that?"
You hesitate. "Some of it," it's then when you realise Marlon's anger has faded now, his face is long, and you swear for a moment his bottom lip trembles, but he clears his throat and returns to his normal, stoic exterior. "Hey, are you okay? What happened?"
"Nothing." he replies, and you cock your head to the side.
"Really? Who was in that room? Griff?" you ask, and he shakes his head.
"No. Well, yeah, but also..." he starts, then trails off. "It doesn't matter. I think I'm just going to go home. You can stay if you want, I'll let mum know where you are." he says, then goes to leave without another word.