Lydia cheered at Harry’s assessment, looking pleased that he’d liked it.  She beamed at both of us, nodding expectantly at the drink in my hand.  I rolled my eyes teasingly at her before bringing the cup to my lips.  Whatever it was, I couldn’t deny that it was delicious; if there was one thing Lydia knew how to do, it wax mix a good drink.

So much for me not drinking. 

“Games?” she asked, clapping her hands together in front of her and raising her eyebrows at us.

I looked to Harry, not wanting him to do anything he wasn’t comfortable with.  He wore a careful smile on his face as he shrugged in my direction.

“Sure,” he said, his deep voice difficult to hear over the music. 

“Yay!” Lydia exclaimed before leading us out of the kitchen and back toward the living room she had come from.  I followed after her, grabbing Harry’s hand to pull him behind me.  When we arrived, I discovered Will, where he had been, as well as Haley, Jack, and a few other people I recognized from Lydia’s other parties but didn’t really know.  They all looked at us with friendly, inviting, slightly drunk faces when we stood near them.

“Everyone, you know Joey, and this is her…” she paused, looking at us and frowning, eyebrows pinching together.  “He’s your boyfriend, right?” she asked me, genuinely unsure of our official title.

I giggled.  “Yes, my boyfriend.”

“This is her boyfriend, Harry!” she announced, sweeping her arms in our direction as people nodded and muttered, ‘I know.’  This wasn’t news to most people from our school, but I suppose that was a detail that didn’t really occur to Lydia.  She grinned happily at us before sitting down on Will’s lap, just as Haley and Jack were doing, each of them perched on the couch.

A variety of seating options had been pulled around a coffee table, some most occupied by other people participating in the game.  There was one chair left, not quite large enough for two people to sit on comfortably. 

I nodded at letting Harry sit down on it before I settled myself on the floor in front of him, leaning back against it between his legs.  I knew he probably wouldn’t be comfortable with me sitting on his lap in front of everyone, despite my two best friends doing the very same thing two feet away. 

His fingers of his free hand brushed along the back of my neck, snaking their way through my hair to run gently across my skin.  I hummed in appreciation.  He was leaning forward so he could see the table, his elbows resting on his knees and I could easily feel his proximity.   I was surprised when he ducked his head and pressed a quick kiss to the top of my head, and a smile pulled across my lips.

“What are we playing?” I asked the group. 

“Presidents and Assholes,” Haley informed me, smiling at me from across the table.  “You guys in?”

“Sure,” I returned.  I was a little rusty but still remembered how to play.  Harry ducked his head again and I felt his lips at my ear.

“I don’t know how,” he whispered.  His fingers tickled across my neck again.  I tilted my head back, letting it rest against his knee as I looked at him.  His face was very close to mine as he looked at me with a nervous expression. 

“It’s okay, I’ll help you,” I told him, smiling at him reassuringly.  “It’s not too hard.” 

He nodded at me and picked up the cards Haley had started to slide in front of him.

“Ah! Drink, Harry,” she scolded, smirking at him.

“What? Why?” he asked, confused.

“You can’t touch the cards until I’m done passing them out,” she explained, as if it were obvious.  He looked at me for confirmation, to which I nodded.

“She’s right babe, that’s the rule,” I said, giggling softly.  “You don’t have to though since you didn’t know.”

“Well it’s the rule, so…” he said, grinning slightly and raising his drink to his lips and taking a sip. 

After getting all the cards dealt and briefly reviewing the rules, we started to play.  Harry was very confused at first, seeing as this was his first drinking game ever.  He leaned his elbows on his knees, holding his hands in front of me so I could see his cards, sheltering my body in his as I tried to walk him through his moves. 

His chin rested against my temple as he watched, his chest pressing against my shoulders.  It felt so good to be so wrapped up together without being over the top in a public place, and my heart fluttered every time a new part of him touched me. 

It had taken hardly any time for each of us to down our drinks, taking sips for the extra rules my friends had invented to facilitate more reasons to drink.  Our empty cups were filled almost instantly by Will, who ventured to the kitchen and returned with drinks for nearly everyone.  By the time the game was over, Harry had consumed three full cups of the mysterious liquid, while I nursed my second one still.

I could tell he was getting a bit tipsy, because his words slowed even more than usual, his lips dragging across the words as he spoke carefully, trying not to slur.  His hands, too, grazed across my back and down my side, getting touchier the more he drank, not that I minded.  I, too, found myself craving more contact with him, pressing my back into his legs and reaching around to tickle my fingers along his ankles. 

His lips mumbled against my ear, whispering some silly nonsense about something he had just observed across the party.  I leaned my head into his, turning my face more towards him as I grinned, loving the feeling of his lips against me. 

His arms tightened in front of my shoulders, hugging me to him from behind.  I couldn’t stop laughing as he smirked into my ear, his silly words pouring into me, completely captivating me.  I quickly forgot we were even at a party, utterly loosing myself in him. 

When he pressed a kiss to the hinge of my jaw, I couldn’t help but reach my hand back to snake into his hair, tangling at the back of his head.  I tilted my head back and pulled him down to me, pressing his lips to mine. 

The world disappeared around us as he exhaled into our kiss, holding himself there for a few seconds before pulling back.  He shot me a shy grin before his eyes darted quickly around the room, suddenly remembering we weren’t alone at all. 

His eyes widened and he blushed.  Turning my head, I saw what he was looking at.  Every single girl sitting around the table was staring at us with wide eyes.  Some had their lips bit into their mouth, some had their jaws hanging open, but the universal theme to all of them was clear: adoration. 

“You guys are fucking adorable,” Haley said, sounding slightly surprised and jealous all at the same time.  She smacked Jack on the chest.  “Why aren’t we cute like that?” He just laughed.

Harry cleared his throat, embarrassed at having been caught and scrutinized so closely.  I reached my hands up to hold onto his, which were still draped around my shoulders in front of me. 

“Seriously, so fricking cute,” a girl I didn’t know chimed in.  She was looking at us like we were the most amazing thing she had ever seen.  I grinned.

“Thank you?” I said, laughing.  I squeezed Harry’s hands and tangled my fingers into his.  Harry kissed the top of my head and the group, including Will, let out a collective, “Awwww.”  I giggled again, feeling extremely giddy from the combination of Harry, my friends, and the alcohol.  Tonight was going so much better than I ever thought possible. 

I released one of Harry’s hands to grab my cup from the table, only to discover it was empty.  I turned to tell Harry at the same time he realized his was empty as well. 

“Want another?” I asked him, glancing over my shoulder.  “I can go get you one.”

“I’ll come with,” he said, gripping me under my arms and standing me up in one swift movement, catching me when I stumbled slightly before pulling himself up after me. 

“Drinks, anyone?” I asked, glancing around the circle as Harry took the empty cup from my hand.  Everyone mumbled in response, saying they were okay.  I took Harry’s hand in mine and tugged him away from the group toward the kitchen. 

The party had really picked up, and bodies were packed into the house, crowding with each other in every space possible.  I could hardly see where I was going as I wove through the people, finally making my way into the kitchen.

I was surprised to see there was no one in there; usually it was the center of all the activity, seeing as that’s where all the alcohol was.  Harry clutched onto my hand, relieved that we had made our way through the crowd.  I was so impressed with how he was handling himself- so calm, friendly, affectionate, even.  He leaned against the counter, setting the cups down there and resting his palms against the granite. 

“Am I doing okay?” he asked self-consciously, head titled toward the ground, eyes looking up at me through his eyelashes. He bit his lip into his mouth, and I almost passed out from how attractive he looked.

“You’re doing so good, babe,” I told him, stepping closer to stand between his legs, my hands coming up to grip his hips.  “You’re amazing.” My thumbs traced back and forth over his hip bones.  He peered into my eyes, studying me to make sure I meant it.

“You sure?” he asked quietly, eyebrows pinching together. 

“Yes, babe,” I told him, standing up on my toes to press a kiss to the corner of his mouth.  “I love having you here, you’re doing perfect.” 

He smiled a close lipped smile and raised his hands off the counter to wrap around my face, thumbs resting in front of my ears as his fingers wove into my hair.  “I’m having fun,” he told me.

“Good, I am too,” I returned, smiling up at him.  His grin widened a bit before he leaned down to kiss me.  His lips captured mine, molding perfectly around my lower lip.  My arms wove around to his back, letting my fingers slip under his soft flannel shirt to slide across his skin.  His tongue slid slowly across my bottom lip. 

I parted my lips, letting my tongue meet his as he deepened the kiss and exhaled into my mouth.   His thumbs traced across cheeks as he gently bit my lip before running his tongue over it.  I could feel his kiss down to my toes, burning through me and waking up my entire body. 

My hips had just pressed forward into his, craving more of his body, unable to stop myself, when I heard yelling from the living room.  Angry shouts drifted over the throbbing music, indecipherable.  I pulled my lips from Harry’s, turning my head toward the living room, unable to see where they were coming from or who was shouting.  I turned to look at Harry, shooting him a confused look before taking his hand again and pulling him out of the kitchen. 

The mood in the living room was palpably tense; people stood facing the source of the shouting, craning their necks to try and see over people.  A girl climbed to the stand on the table, only to quickly fall off in her drunken state, landing on two guys who were luckily quick enough to catch her. 

I pushed my way through the bodies, anxiety rising inside me as I got closer and closer.  I had an awful feeling this was something to do with me, and prayed it wasn’t what my mind immediately jumped to. 

“Get out, Colt, I told you that you couldn’t be here,” Lydia screamed.  Finally, she came into my view.  She was standing in front of Colt, fists angrily pinned to her side as she glared up at him.  Will hovered behind her, looking angrily at him as well, his jaw set in a tight grimace.

I felt a chill run through me as my eyes turned to Colt.  He stood in front of Lydia, arms crossed firmly in front of his chest.  Even as he stood still, his body wavered back and forth slightly, and his eyes were bloodshot.  There was an obvious dishevelment to him that he had the last time I was confronted with him in this house; he was drunk.  Extremely drunk, and that scared me. 

“I can do whatever the fuck I want, Lydia,” he sneered, throwing the use of his name back in her face.  He glowered at her as he tried to hold himself steady before turning his gaze to glare around at everyone.  His eyes burned into everyone he looked at, searing around the circle that had formed around him before he finally reached me.  He froze, his pupils dilating and his jaw tightening, lips pulling back into a grimace as he glared at me. 

My heart clenched in my chest as he took a shaky step toward me, menacing glare on his face.  “Hello, Joey.” 

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