Chapter 15: Booze (Emma's POV)

It's Friday, it's the night of the party, and my dad's flying back. I am unbelievably pissed off at that one. So, what? He just came here for like 1 day? Are you serious? 

"Honey, your dad's leaving, just tell him bye. Come on, don't hold a grudge now. He'll be back soon," my mom said, sitting on my bed while I pulled my earrings on for the night. 

"It would have been better if he just came later, mom. When he could stick around," I whined as she pushed me out of my room and downstairs where he stood by the front door, his bags in hand. I'm now realizing, he's only brought a handbag, no actual suitcase. "I'm very angry with you," I said while hugging him. 

"I know, honey, but hopefully I'll be back in a few weeks," he said while pulling away, "And maybe you two can come visit as well," he said, kissing my forehead and then my mom's. 

"Have a safe flight, dad," I smiled. 

"You're going to a party like that?" he asked, eyeing my dress. 

"Pretty, right?" I grinned. 

"Hmm," he nodded. 

"Give me a second, let me pull my heels on, I'm leaving right now too," I said, rushing upstairs to grab my phone, purse, and heels. I just grabbed everything in my hand and rushed downstairs. There was a cab waiting for my dad. I sat on the front steps of the porch, pulling my heels on. 

"You're driving yourself? What happened to your date?" he asked. 

"What date?" I looked up at him, "I didn't have a date, I'm going with friends," I chuckled. 

"What happened to that mango, strawberry... Nathan! What happened to him? He seemed like a good kid," he nodded, handing his bags to the taxi driver who was nice enough to put them in the trunk for my dad. 

Nathan? A good kid? Dad, you have no idea. 

"He's still there, as good as new, but he's my friend, dad," I said while standing up, "Nothing more." 

"Nothing more is currently pulling up to drive you," he grinned. 

I looked forward in confusion while dusting my butt off and sure enough, Nathan was pulling up. "What the-" 

"Language." 

"Candy," I blurted out. 

My dad looked at me with disapproval, "Candy? Really?" 

I shrugged, watching as Nathan stepped out and walked over to us. "Hey," he smiled at me. He's smiling. Is he drunk? 

"Uh, hi. What are you doing here?" I asked. 

"Driving you," he shrugged, "Hi, Mr. Hayden," he stuck his hand out for my dad to shake. I think I'm hallucinating. 

"Uh, honey. I think he's waiting for you," my dad said. I snapped out of it and looked at him in utter confusion. He gave me a look that sort of said 'I'll explain later.' 

"Okay, uh, bye dad," I said, kissing his cheek. My dad got in his cab, I got in Nathan's car, and we left. Us going one way, the cab going the other. "I thought we're meeting there." 

"I can't drink tonight," he said, turning the corner off our street. "I can't have another fight with my dad and I'm not staying at someone else's house," he sighed, shifting gears, glancing at me, "I need to take responsibility of someone so I have a reason to stay sober." 

"Okay and?" 

"Okay and... I'm taking responsibility of you, new girl. Buckle up, please." 

"Do you already have booze in your system or something? Rum maybe?" I asked, pulling the seatbelt on. 

"What?" he asked. 

"You seem to be in a... good mood. It's weird, I haven't seen you like this before," I chuckled. 

"For the record, we're late. And I just had a cigarette, so the mood is a little in check," he said, his eyes trained on the road. 

"You just ruined it. Give me the boxes," I demanded. 

"There's one in the controller," he instructed. 

I opened it and took the box, shoving it into my purse. "And the other one?" 

"Uh... in my pocket." 

I groaned, leaning back in the seat. "Keep it, we'll start slow," I chuckled. 

"Are you drinking tonight?" he asked, pulling up in front of a large house. I take it we've arrived. 

"I don't know, maybe a little," I shrugged. 

"Don't go off the hinges, okay? I'm not that good at taking care of people," he said, turning the car off. 

"I'm definitely going off the hinges then, you'll take care of me," I sang, opening the door and stepping out, noticing the way he glared at me. He stepped out as well and walked beside me. "Because you never come to these things, does this mean you'll get a great welcome and stuff?" I asked, linking my arm with his. 

"No... I hope not," he mumbled. He didn't unlatch his arm from mine this time like he normally would. We got to the door but neither of us opened it, or rang the bell, or knocked. 

"You really hate these things, don't you?" I asked, looking at him. 

"Yes," he sighed, turning to me, "Can I just go back?" 

"Then who'll take care of me?" He glared at me, rolling his eyes and going to ring the doorbell. "Wait," I said, turning him to face me, wiping the eyelash off his cheek. "Your hair looks nice," I smiled. He actually styled it. 

"You look nice. Head to toe," he mumbled while ringing the doorbell. I grinned, pulling my arm out of his. He won't like being seen like that, people will assume things, he'll get angry. Let's prevent that from happening. Liam answered the door, looking straight at me. 

"Hey," he grinned. 

"Hi," I smiled. 

"You look gorgeous," he complimented. 

"Thank you," I bowed my head. 

"Come on in," he said, stepping aside. 

"That's both of us," I mumbled to Nathan, pulling him inside with me. "Liam," I turned to him, "Do you know if Kendall and Brandon are here yet?" I asked while Nathan linked my arm with his. I chuckled, looking around the room. 

"Uh, I think they're in the kitchen," Liam nodded before disappearing into the crowd. 

I looked at Nathan, neither of us moving. He turned to me, asking me simply with his eyes what I found so amusing. I glanced at our arms, raising a brow at him. 

"You're my responsibility, remember?" he asked. 

"Right, keep telling yourself that," I laughed, walking through the crowd and into the kitchen with him. He's in a good mood, I'm in a good mood, everyone here is in a good mood. Let's keep that way. 

We spotted both Kendall and Brandon in the kitchen and went up to them. "Hi," I sang, hugging Kendall, then Brandon. 

"Hello, you look good," Brandon nodded at me. 

"Thank you, but she looks beautiful, I hope you told her that, you idiot," I said through gritted teeth while Nathan and Kendall were busy saying hi to each other. 

"I did, about three times, and made a fool of myself," Brandon mumbled while pouring me a drink. 

I chuckled, "It's okay to mess up sometimes, it's kind of cute." He shook his head, rolling his eyes. "So, what's everyone doing around here?" I asked. 

"People are playing beer pong and swimming in the backyard, there are drinking games going on upstairs, there are kissing games going on upstairs," Kendall scoffed, "And uh, there's dancing." 

I looked at the throng of people that just looked like a blur of swaying bodies. "Can we play beer pong?" me and Brandon asked at the same time. "Couple vs couple, let's go," he chuckled. 

"Very funny," Nathan said sarcastically, walking with us outside regardless. When we finally got our turn, it was me and Nathan against Kendall and Brandon. One thing about Kendall. She can't throw. Or catch. 

"We're gonna win," I stated. 

"How are you so sure?" he asked. 

"Uh, cause that's Kendall. And we make a good team, even Mr. Cole thinks so," I said smugly. 

"The night is going by a little fast, can we bring in some more booze to slow it down?" Brandon asked. 

"I'm staying sober, I drove her here," Nathan said, glancing at me. 

"Why'd you drive her here?" 

The whole game was basically just me getting points against Kendall while she complained and the guys talked. 

"Last shot, you ladies wanna try?" I asked, handing the ball to Nathan. Standing with him so far into the night, talking to him, joking around with him, I've come to notice that he's starting to loosen up. He's actually been smiling and he's been making jokes. Not with me, with Brandon but still. It counts for something. 

"Hmm, what do I get if I win?" he asked. 

"What do you want?" I asked. 

"I don't know, you'll owe me something, deal?" 

"Deal," I laughed. He took his shot and of course... we won. 

We were all still laughing and messing around when we entered the house. "Everyone's called for games upstairs!" someone announced. I take it this is where the chaos begins. 

The night is just getting started.

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Chapter 15

writing this chapter I felt like it was rushed, hopefully, it didn't come off that way

the thing is, I had no reason for it to be rushed, I was just typing and writing really quickly so maybe I just wrote it up quick

next chapter: memory