Nya's POV

I've been cleaning the house all morning. Kai is quite the slob, so I have to pick up after him. Whenever I bring it up, he just tells me that "mom never cared" or to "call mom" so she can tell me to stop pestering him. Thankfully, Cole picked him up earlier, probably to prep for a party somewhere.

When I see it's only 4:30, I decide to make a little plate of cheese and crackers. I design it so it's in the shape of a bullseye. The rings alternate between different types of crackers and cheeses that we had in our cupboard.

Then, I raid our fridge for different type of drinks. There's plenty of alcohol, no shock knowing my brother, but there's also some water bottles behind those, so I grab them and set them on the counter.

When I finally finish, I realize that I've spent all day cleaning up the house and preparing. I never did this when I use to have people over, but since it's been two years, I guess I want to try to make it perfect. I forgot the happy feeling you get when you're having a friend come over.

Jay and I have been texting like crazy since after school yesterday. He's a lot more confident behind a screen, but the awkwardness still shined through. He's really fun to talk with.

When I heard a knock at the door, I quickly rush over to get it. When I open the door, Jay is standing there with his backpack on his back and a pitcher of lemonade in his hand.

"I know you said I didn't need to bring anything, but my ma got super excited I was going somewhere and decided to make lemonade for me to bring," he scratches the back of his neck with his other hand.

"It's fine. Come in," I move out of the way. He walks in and closes the door behind him before scanning the room. "I'm sorry if it's a bit small. I know that a lot my brother's friends live in mansions and stuff, so our little one story is a bit underwhelming."

"No, no, no, it's really nice," he reassures me. We walk over to the couch. Jay sets down the lemonade, and the two of us sit down.

"So I was thinking..." I grab a paper off the table that I already took out,"that we could give a tutorial on how to build a motor since we both already know how to do that."

His face lights up at the suggestion,"That's great. I doubt anyone else will think of that."

---

"So then I decided to try it. It was a bad idea, a really bad idea. I rammed right into a billboard. It gave me a concussion, but it was so worth it," he laughs while telling me a story about these makeshift wings he made a couple years back.

We finished the project after an hour and a half, but I told Jay he could still stay and hang out. Throughout our entire conversation about our failed inventions, he's still super nice to me. It pushes the question that I've been wanting to ask him ever since I met him to the front of the mind.

"Why do you pretend like you don't know?" I ask him. His eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"What?"

"That you don't know about what happened to me, who my ex is, who my brother is, all of that stuff," I clarify.

"Because I don't," he answers seemingly honestly. He takes a long sip of the lemonade.

"But how? Everyone does. Harumi made sure everyone would when it was happening," I scan his face for any traces of a lie, but there are none. There's only concern.

"I moved my junior year. I'm pretty sure all of that was done by then," he explains, and the pieces fall into place.

When I'm about to say something else, I hear a rumble outside. Quickly, I rush over to the window to peer out. My brothers truck sits in the driveway, now off. He gets out of the truck, a large pack of beers in his hands.

"What the hell is he doing here?" I ask myself.

"Is everything okay?" Jay checks on me.

"Yeah, my brothers just here," I glance over to the passenger side. Cole steps out of the car, two large cases of some other alcohol in his hands. "So is my ex."

"What?" Jay asks, a bit startled.

"They're best friends. Come with me," I walk over and grab Jay's wrist. "If he sees you, he'll kill you. He's threatened easily." Quickly, I pull him through the halls of my house until I reach my room. "Stay in here. I'll get them to leave." He nods, and I shut the door behind me, jogging into the kitchen. I pretend like I was grabbing something from the fridge.

Cole walks in first. He's shocked when he sees me. Kai follows closely behind.

"Nya! What are you doing here?" Kai asks, quickly trying to hide the alcohol behind his back.

"Working on a project with a friend, like I said," I inform him with a bit of snark. He lets out a large groan.

"I thought that meant you weren't going to be here," he explains.

"Nope, and my friend is waiting, so you guys are going to have to move the party elsewhere," I instruct him. He shakes his head.

"No-can-do, little sis. Everyone is already on their way. Can't cancel on this late or a notice. It's only 15 minutes out," he shrugs me off as always.

"You're going to have grind-fest in our house the first time I have a friend over in two years?" I ask him accusingly. He's at a loss for words.

"I'll make sure no one goes near your room, Nya. You two can hang out in there," Cole offers, but it only makes the situation worse.

"Aren't you my knight in shining armor? You say that as if you won't get shit-faced within the first half hour of the party," I snap at Cole, thinking back to the night everything changed. He shifts back and fourth on his feet awkwardly, like a scolded puppy.

"He was just trying to help, Nya," Kai chastises me, and I turn to him with fire in my eyes.

"What would help is if you guys could leave. You know the party environment itself gives me terrible anxiety, and you knew that even if I would be out, I wouldn't be out past ten while your parties go until 4 in the morning. Yet you decided to throw a party anyways!" the tears start to fill my eyes, but I push them away. "You brought the smell that alone makes me throw up into our house! You're bringing the people who have bullied me for the past two years into our house! Not your house Kai, ours, mine, yours, mom, and dad's! They wouldn't be okay with this if they were in town!"

"They're not though," Kai says, simply turning away from me and bringing the rest of the alcohol into the house. "I haven't had a party in a while Nya. Let me have some fun."

"Have some fun at someone else's house then," I tell him, the tears leaking out now. I hate crying. It makes me feel weak and vulnerable. I hate feeling weak and vulnerable.

"As I said, the people are already coming here," he informs me as if I'm dumb.

"Kai...maybe it would be a good idea if we reschedule," Cole tells him, glancing between the two of us. I give him a small smile of gratitude.

"No way in hell am I leaving," the devil herself walks into the house, dragging a speaker behind her. She's wearing a super tight green dress, and caked on makeup.

"Just...go to your room Nya. No one will bug you there," Kai dismisses me.

I glare at him. "And you wonder why I hate you. You're a selfish, narcissistic asshole!" I stomp off after I see the pain flood his face.

I try to recollect myself as I walk back to my room. When I enter, Jay is sitting on the floor next to my bed, his knees curled up to his chest and his arms wrapped around his legs.

"I hate my brother so much," I close my door, walking over and sitting on the floor next to Jay. He looks at me with concern and care, seeing my teary eyes.

"I heard a lot of it; the walls are thin," he explains, looking at me. "I just don't understand why he thought it would be a good idea to throw a party in the first place, even if he thought you'd be out, because he knew you'd come back, and..." he starts rambling but stops when he sees that the tears are prickling in my eyes again. His eyes widen, "Umm... I'm really bad at comforting people...but I'm going to try."

That puts a small smile on my face. "Can I have a hug?" I ask. I haven't had a hug in such a long time, and I really need one right now.

"Y-yeah...of course," his voice goes several octaves higher, making the smile on my face a little bigger. He untucks his knees from his chest, and I wrap my arms around his torso. Once he wraps his arms around me, I rest my head against his chest. His breathing is ridged, and his heart is beating like crazy.

"I know we've only been friends for like two weeks, but your friendship means a lot to me," I inform him. "I lived in a world where everyone was mean to me for so long that I forgot what I felt like to be treated with kindness. It's...comforting to be around you."

"I haven't had a friend in a while too," he admits. "It's...nice."

"It really is."

"I have an idea," he tells me, his own voice getting calmer. "Since we have time, can you explain to me what all the flowers on your little drawing represent?"

A huge smile spreads across my face. "Of course."

---

Kai's POV

Once Nya walks off, my heart shatters in my chest. I set down the drinks that I was holding in my hands.

"If anything, she was the selfish one by requesting you stop your party," Harumi placed her hand on my shoulder before continuing to move the speaker.

"She's right though. She would've been back by 10:30 at the latest, and the party still would have been going," I sigh, burying my face in my hands.

"Don't let her ruin your night, Kai. Take this," Harumi hands me a drink. I open it with a quick pop and start to drink it.

"Can I go...check on her?" Cole asks. Both Harumi and I look up at him.

"Considering she blames you for having this aversion, I don't think that would be ideal," I tell him. When he's about to say something else, there a knock on the door. Harumi rushes over to open it. Half of the cheerleading team comes into the room, including Skylor.

"It's time to get this party started," Harumi cheers.

---

*1 hour later*

Cole's POV

I lean against the counter, completely sober. The drinks are several feet away from me, but I'm not going to drink them. I want to prove to myself, and Nya, that I can resist it.

Kai, on the other hand, did the exact opposite of me. He decided to drown himself in drinks. He came over and tried to get me to join him, but I declined. Now, he's sitting on the couch, intensely flirting with Skylor. His close is super close to hers, and he's whispering things in her ear. She has a little smile on her face, and is nodding along to what he says.

Harumi stands away from them with her arms crossed. She started making out with Griffin to try to get a reaction out of Kai, but there was none, so she stopped. Now, Griffin is making out with a drunk PIXAL, which shocks me. She doesn't seem like the party, the drinking, or the make out type.

"Hiiiiii, Cole," Mackenzie walks over, obviously drunk.

"Hey Mackenzie," I greet here.

She eyes the water bottle in my hand. "Why are you drinking that?"

"Because I don't want to drink."

"You drank yesterday, silly," she giggles, taking the seat next to me.

"Yeah, but I'm in Nya's house now. I feel wrong drinking here, and I want to prove to her I can keep my composure. It'll help me get her back," I explain.

Her face drops. "You know she has a guy over tonight, right?"

My eyes widen, and my heart drops. "What?"

"I had to take a pissss, so I went over there. Preeeeetty sure I heard heard talking with Jay Walker," once she tells me that I squint my eyes. I take the water bottle in my hand and squeeze it to the point where the lid pops off.

"I have to go to the bathroom," I dismiss Mackenzie, grabbing a beer on the way. I walk over to the bathroom, but linger outside the door when I hear Nya laughing in her room.

"It's pronounced few-sh-uh, not fuuuh-ch-ee-a," she giggles from behind her door. The sound of her laughter makes me take a step closer.

"My bad," a male voice says, and I'm reminded why I'm over here. I walk into the bathroom, and slam the door behind me.

Looking in the mirror, I pop the beer open that's in my hand,"I'm so sorry."

---

Skylor's POV

I forgot how I got to where I am now. I remember showing up to the party and having a couple of drinks. I danced some. Now, however, I'm sat on the couch next to Kai as he whispers in my ear, his hands on my waist and his hot breath trickling down my neck. My eyes are closed, and my hands run up and down his back.

I can't make out what he's saying. My mind is too jumbled. I don't care though. Everything about this feels so right; his hands on me, his breath sending shivers throughout my body. A little part of my brain tells me that I shouldn't be doing this, and that it's wrong, but that part of my reasoning is drowned out.

"You're..." he places a kiss on my neck,"so..." he places another one lower down on my neck,"beautiful." He's so good at what he does. Every touch makes me want more.

He pulls back to look at my face. Softly, he traces my jawline with his thumb. "How are you so gorgeous?"

I run my hands through his hair, keeping eye contact with him. His eyes are intoxicating, a deep shade of brown that makes me want to melt. I break the eye contact to scan over the rest of his face. Finally, my eyes settle on his lips. When he realizes where I'm looking, a little smirk gets on his lips. Taking him off guard, I lean in, pressing my lips against his. After a second, he regains his senses, pulling me closer to him.

Our lips mold into each other's, like pieces of a puzzle. I tug on his lip slightly, and I can hear him let out a little sigh. He pulls me even closer.

The alcohol buzzes through my system. Without it, there's no way I'd be doing this. I'm at a party, and I might as well have fun.

---

Nya's POV

"So your parents own a junkyard?" I clarify, looking up at him. I haven't moved in at least an hour and a half. It's comforting to be near someone. He calmed down as well, his heart rate returning to a normal state.

"Yeah. We kind of live there too," he admits, scratching the back of his neck with his free hand. Once he tells me that, his heart rate increases as if he expects me to think of him differently because of that.

"That's cool. I don't know anyone else who does that," I tell him, trying to ease his racing heart.

"What do your parents do?" he asks me, changing the subject.

"They work as sales reps, so they're constantly gone in the city on trips. They're home once every several months maybe. They practically don't live here anymore," I admit, looking at a picture of my family on my wall.

It's from the summer before I started high school. Kai is giving me a huge hug from behind, and our parents are hugging us from both sides. After that summer, my parents decided that we were old enough to be left at home for long stretches of time, and they went into the city more frequently.

Once I started high school, Kai never had me leave his side. He had always been protective of me, but now he was always near me. He introduced me to his friends, some of which I had already met at cheerleading tryouts over the spring and during the summer practices, and I joined their group. With that and the decreased supervision, I went off the rails. We both did.

"Are you okay? Jay asks me. I look back up at him and nod.

"Yeah, I was just...thinking."

Once I'm done saying that, my door flies open. Jay and I jump apart. Cole stumbles in and closes the door behind him. I roll my eyes.

"Get out Cole," I snap at him.

"Hear me out," he says, slightly slurring each syllable, "Let's try things again, me and you."

"How many times do I have to say no for you to understand? I told you no yesterday, and last week, and the week before that. What's not clicking?" I stand up to take up more of his vision. My only hope is that he'll leave before he notices Jay. From experience, I know a drunk Cole can get aggressive and try to fight people who he feels threatened by. He could decimate Jay in a second.

"It can be juuuust like old times," he offers. I roll my eyes yet another time.

"Unlike you, I don't look back onto those times fondly. Besides, I'm not that girl anymore, the girl who would go with you to any party you decided you wanted to go to, the girl who always wore little short skirts and her hair up in a high ponytail, the girl who would do whatever you asked her to do. She's gone. You're the one who broke her," I inform him, turning him around to leave. When I go to open the door, he turns around, his hands going down to my waist.

I glare up at him, but he gives me the same look he use to give me. It's the look he would give me when I was being difficult. It always made me melt and give into whatever his side was. I was dumb and naive. Now, I hold my glare.

"When I look at you, I see the girl who I haven't been able to stop loving," he tucks the strands of hair that are dangling in front of my face behind my ear. The action sends shivers through me, and for a second, I'm brought back to those days, the days where I was helplessly in love with him.

I looked forward to seeing him every single day, and staying up with him every single night as he helped show me things I never even would have imagined. He opened me up to a whole new world I didn't even know existed, a world of impulse and pleasure. Then, he pushed too far and broke me. That's all I see now, the man who turned me into a destroyed, broken mess.

"Go back to the party, Cole. I bet there's dozens of girls who are just dying to make out with you," I push him off of me.

"But I don't want to make out with them. No one compares to you Nya."

"Cole, leave," I deadpan now.

With that, he turns to Jay. He strides across the room to Jay, picking him up by his shirt and slamming him against the wall. Jay visibly winces.

I quickly rush over. This is exactly what I didn't want to happen. I don't want Cole scaring off the only friend I've had in a while, and I especially don't want him hurting Jay.

"What the hell are you doing with Nya?" he slams Jay into the wall again, his words slurred.

"Sh-she's my fr-friend," Jay answers weakly, his anxiety visibly high. He's shaking like crazy. Cole snickers.

"Cole, put him down. He's only my friend. I promise, and I don't break my promises, remember," I try to ease him down. If I yell at him in this state, he'll only take it out on Jay. I need to cool him down.

Cole looks at me next to him before dropping Jay. Jay falls, since Cole was holding him off the ground, but he still lands on his feet.

"Do I need to get Kai in here to take you out or can you just leave?" I ask him now that he's dropped Jay, threatening him with my brother.

"I'll go," he stumbles out, turning around after he opens the door. "I love you."

"If you loved me, you wouldn't have just slammed my friend against the wall," I tell him. He sighs, but shuts the door behind him. Right when the door closes, I rush over to Jay. "Oh my gosh, are you okay?"

"That's your ex? He's ripped," Jay winces as he touches the back of his head.

"He's an asshole. That's what he is," I inform him. "Where did he hurt you?"

"My head hit the wall pretty hard, and so did my shoulders, but I'll be fine," he checks the rest of his body.

"I'm so, so sorry," I apologize. Jay shrugs it off.

"It's not your fault. He's just drunk and misses you," he glances at his phone when he says that, and his eyes get wide. "It's 10:10."

"I'm not letting you drive yourself home now. You hit your head hard. You could have a concussion," I let him know. He stands up, grabbing his backpack.

"I'll be fine. Trust me. I don't have a concussion."

"Do you have a headache?"

"I always have tension headaches, but nothing new," he gives me a little smile. I sigh.

"Text me when you get home. I can walk you out to make sure he doesn't ambush you again," I offer.

He shakes his head. "You hate it out there. I'll be quick. I'll also text you when I get to my car."

"Thank you. Be safe," I tell him. He nods.

"Of course. Thank you for inviting me over. I had a fun time. Oh, and you can keep the rest of the lemonade."

"I'm glad you could come. Next time you come over, I'll make sure my brother doesn't throw a party." He goes to open my door, but I quickly give him a hug. "You're a really good friend, Jay. Thank you."

"So are you, Nya."

A/N: sorry for the wait, but at least this one was a long one

Next one won't be nearly as long (just an FYI)

My favorite band came out with an album today (5sos for the win) and it's full of total boos I 10/10 recommend 

I hope you guys are all holding on in isolation. We'll make it through this

Thoughts on the chapter"