"No," I rejected, shaking my head at Cassie, who would have been begging on her knees if she wasn't driving.

"Please, Leah?" she pleaded, and she looked like she was going to reach out to try to shake me. "I really want to go, but I don't want to go alone! And you know Leslie won't go unless you do, too!"

She did have a point, but I didn't want to go to some party that someone I didn't even know was throwing. I didn't like going to parties, and Cassie knew this but still tried to get me to go.

"No," I said again, trying to scoot away from her so she wouldn't grab onto my shoulders and try to shake some sense into me.

"But..." She looked at me with wide eyes. She looked like she was about to cry. I bit the inside of my lip, cursing her in my mind. She knew I didn't like it when she cried. This was so unfair. "I don't want to go alone! And anyway, Leah, Sean's going to be there!"

"That's not helping your case." I scowled, looking in the backseat to see Leslie reading as usual. "I don't want to go to some party with people I barely know to go see a guy that I'm not even interested in."

Cassie made a pouting face. "Please, Leah? For me?"

If she was smart, she would have just driven to wherever the party was and I wouldn't have had any say in the matter. I wouldn't have been able to sit in the car by myself for hours without anything to do.

Tears still filled up Cassie's eyes, and I felt myself starting to crack. I really hated it whenever any of my friends cried, even if it wasn't my fault. And I was also sure that if I didn't go to this for her, she'd call my mom and I'd get in trouble for not hanging out with friends she approved of.

"Fine," I finally gave in, letting out a frustrated sigh. "I don't even care anymore."

"Yay!" my best friend exclaimed, letting go of the wheel. I was going to scream at her, but she quickly grabbed onto it before we could crash. "Thank you, Leah!"

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, whatever."

It was only silent in the car for about six seconds until Cassie announced, "We're here!"

I felt like hitting my head against the car door as hard as I could. Had she been driving us around aimlessly in the dark, waiting for me to finally give in so we would go to the stupid party? She had to have been!

But we weren't in front of a house, like I thought we would be. We were driving through an apartment complex, and apartment complex that was very familiar, even in the dark.

I blinked up at the apartments as we passed each one of them. "These are the apartments that..."

"What?" Cassie asked when I trailed off, looking at me with furrowed eyebrows. "What did you say, Leah?"

"Nothing," I excused, shaking my head and forcing out a smile. "I didn't say anything."

I looked back up at the apartments, not believing that we actually in the apartments that Blake lived in. How close did he live to the person having the party?

Cassie finally parked, and I didn't know if it was a guest space or if it belonged to someone who actually lived in the apartments. Cassie either didn't notice or didn't care, but I knew she'd care later if her car got towed.

Leslie, who was pretty ticked off that Cassie forced her to leave her book in the car, followed me as I walked behind Cassie, who was leading us to one of the apartments on the first floor. I could already hear the blaring music coming from the apartment, and I couldn't help but be reminded of Blake.

Cassie opened the door to the apartment without even knocking, making her way inside and practically having to force me inside. I really didn't like that the door was unlocked so pretty much anyone could have come inside.

"I really don't think this is a good idea, Cassie," Leslie said, as if speaking my thoughts.

"Come on," Cassie laughed, looking around at everyone at the party in excitement. "We're the only junior girls at this party! You should be excited! I think the only other junior here is Derrick!"

Leslie perked up at the sound of Derrick's name, but all I could do was roll my eyes. Both of my best friends had a crush on a boy that didn't seem to be interested in either of them. This definitely wasn't going to end well.

"I voted for popcorn and a movie," I told her, really not wanting to be there because I knew that Sean was somewhere lurking, probably looking for me. "Parties really aren't my thing. Buttery popcorn is, though."

Cassie shook her head. "Come on. It's a party! Just grab a cup, start drinking, and have fun!"

Leslie made a face. "Even the smell of alcohol disgusts me now."

"Then why did you even come?" Cassie asked, grabbing a red plastic cup from someone who was passing by. I wanted to tell her that she was the one who had brought us here, but she continued speaking before I could. "The whole point of this party tonight is to get totally trashed!"

I was the one to make a face this time. She hadn't informed me that this was her intention when she had asked me to come to this party. If she had, I definitely would have said no.

"Here, Leah," Cassie smiled, handing me a cup just like hers. "Tonight's the night to just forget all your worries and have fun!"

Fun, huh? I couldn't really remember the last time I had had fun. I was with Blake, I knew, but now it was weird around him because I knew he was hiding something serious from me. If I drank, would I be able to forget about that for a little while?

Not giving it a second thought, I chugged the entire cup of beer down. It burned my throat, but I didn't even care.

"Atta girl!" Cassie giggled, chugging her own beer right down. "I knew you had it in you, Lee!"

Honestly, I was only doing it so I could drown her out and actually have some fun without Blake for once. Maybe it was finally time that I started acting like a regular teenager and not a ditzy girl with a crush.

I already felt a buzz, and I liked the feeling. I was starting to not care and I had only had one drink.

I saw the keg across the room, and quickly made a beeline right to it. I filled my cup right up to the brim, chugging it down the second it was full. Cassie came over to join me, but I had no idea where Leslie went. Knowing her, she'd probably gone back to the car to read her book.

I didn't know how many drinks I had had, but I could barely stand up without stumbling. I wasn't the only person at the party like this; Cassie and a ton of our other classmates were probably even drunker than I was, which was sure saying something.

When I knocked into someone, I was still hoping that it wasn't Sean, even in my drunken state. I looked up to see that it wasn't, but it was someone that I knew. And it was someone that I wish I really didn't run into while I was drunk.

This guy was Zach Deveraux, a guy who was friends with Sean that I had known since I had entered high school. This guy had pretty much been with every girl in the entire school, and even I had made out with him the year before. But so did Cassie, so it wasn't like I felt special or anything.

"Leah Burkley," Zach smirked, and I had to blink a few times to focus on only one of him. "I didn't expect to see you here."

"Yeah, um..." I slurred, not knowing what I was supposed to say to the guy that had pretty much used me the year before like he did with every other girl. "I, uh... came here with a few of my friends to find Sean."

It was a lie, but I was probably better off with Sean than I was with Zach. But then again, I wasn't so sure about that...

Zach nodded. "I saw him in the other room by one of the kegs a little while ago. I'm pretty sure he's still there."

"Oh," I nodded, finding this as my escape. "Thank you."

"Zach!" I heard another voice cry out before he could say anything else to me, and I could see a very angry looking girl with black hair making her way over to the boy before me. Zach only smirked at her, and I was sure that this girl was one of his current targets.

I quickly scampered off so this girl wouldn't notice me, but I was sure that she already had. The apartment suddenly felt stuffy; I needed to get some air.

So I quickly went outside, stumbling all the way there. Luckily whoever's party this was lived on the first floor, so I didn't go stumbling down a flight of stairs.

I sat down, breathing in and out as my head spun. I didn't feel like going back inside; I liked how it felt outside. It wasn't too hot, but then it wasn't too cold. It was perfect.

As I readjusted myself on the ground, I felt my shorts ride up. I yanked on them, but this didn't do anything to help how uncomfortable I felt.

"Leah?" a new voice suddenly said, and I was way too drunk to jump in surprise. "Is that you?"

I turned toward the person who had spoken, smiling as I sloppily pushed myself up off the ground and stumbled over to them. "Blake!" I greeted, practically falling into him once I had gotten close enough. "You live in these apartments, don't you? I almost forgot!"

I hadn't forgotten when I was sober, but in my drunken state, I was surprised I even remembered who he was.

"Are you drunk?" Blake asked, and I would have asked him how that wasn't completely obvious if I was sober. "You went to Logan's party, didn't you?"

"Oh, so that's whose party it was." I giggled, my arms now wrapping around his neck as he practically held me up. "I didn't know."

Blake was about to say something else, but I didn't let him. I had already stretched up onto my toes and had placed my mouth on his before he could even utter a word.

"Leah," he swallowed when I pulled away. "What are you doing?"

"Kissing you. Duh," I responded, pressing my lips to his again before he could even say anything back to me. I giggled when I pulled away again. "You taste so good."

"Uh... um..." Blake stammered, looking around as if he needed help. "How about I take you back to my apartment? I don't want you going back into the party messed up like this."

I giggled again, my grip on him tightening. "I'd love to."

He nearly carried me all the way to his apartment, which actually wasn't very far away from the apartment the party was in. I very much enjoued clinging onto Blake as he held onto me.

"Sorry if I'm heavy," I laughed as Blake leaned me against the wall so he could take his keys out of his pocket.

"You're not heavy." Blake shook his head, about to put his key in the lock until I wrapped my arm around his neck and pulled him closer to me so he was now pressing me against the wall.

Our lips crashed together, and I wrapped my other arm around his neck as his hands found my hips. Our bodies were so close; the only thing that separated us being our clothing.

We stood there for about three minutes, just making out, until Blake finally pulled away from me. We were both breathing heavily, and all we could do was stare at each other. The only thing I could hear was the music from his headphones.

"We... we should go inside," Blake muttered, fully pushing himself away from me as he now unlocked his door.

He opened it, letting me in first before stepping inside himself right behind me. Right as he shut the door, I reached for him again and crashed my lips to his once more, our bodies pressed right against each other's.

We just stood there, making out for another few minutes just like we had outside his door. I didn't want to stop; I wanted him even closer to me. And the best part was, Blake seemed to want me even closer to him as well.

But Blake was the one to pull away from me again, and we were both breathing heavily as he pulled me through his apartment and to what I was assuming was his bedroom.

"You can sleep in my bed," he offered, gesturing to the large bed that was on the other side of the room. It was so big that it could probably fit ten people, let alone one. "I'll sleep on the couch out in the living room."

"No, no, no," I slurred, shaking my head and wrapping my arms around his neck once again. I would have fallen over if his arms didn't immediately encircle around my waist. "We can both sleep on your bed. I don't mind, unless you do..."

"No, I don't mind." Blake shook his head nervously, setting me upright and letting go of me, even though I didn't want him to. "I don't mind at all."

I giggled, taking a step closer to him. "That's great."

"Do you need to change your clothes?" Blake asked, looking down at my short shorts and tank-top. "You can wear something of mine, if you want. If that doesn't bother you and everything..."

"No, I'm okay," I nodded, grabbing the hem of my tank-top and pulling it over my head. I was wearing a thin camisole underneath, so it wasn't like I was showing him anything. "I can just sleep in this."

Blake swallowed before nodding. "A—alright."

"I need to call my mom and tell her where I am," I slurred now as I made my way over to Blake's bed and flopped onto it. "I'll lie to her and tell her I'm at Leslie's or something. She'd let me spend the night at her house."

Blake nodded again. "Okay. I guess I'll go change... in the bathroom or something."

I'd normally feel bad for practically kicking him out of his room, even if it was only for him to change, but I didn't really care about anything in the state that I was in now. I was surprised that I had enough sense to call my mother.

"Hi, Mom," I started after I had dialed her number and pressed the phone to my ear, biting down on my lip as I tried to sound as sober as possible. I had to stop myself from giggling for no reason. "I'm going to stay over at Leslie's tonight, okay?"

My mother took a moment to respond. "Alright, dear. Just don't come home too late tomorrow."

I bit down on my lip to stop myself from giggling again. "Okay!"

I hung up before she could say anything else, knowing that she would have definitely caught me if I continued on talking with her. I then sloppily texted Leslie, telling her where I really was and how I had told my mom that I was staying over at her house. I then told her to tell Cassie that I had gone home if she asked, which she probably wouldn't since she was even drunker than I was.

"Look who's finally back," I smiled when Blake reentered the room, shutting the door behind him. He was in a normal t-shirt and pajama pants, but his headphones were still on.

He got into bed next to me without saying a word, obviously not knowing what he was supposed to say to the girl in his bed.

"You sleep with your headphones on?" I asked, confused as to why he hadn't taken them off yet. "Isn't that uncomfortable?"

"Um, I don't normally do it," he muttered, staring down at his lap now that we were both under the covers. "I usually take them off before going to sleep."

"Then take them off," I giggled, reaching forward and gripping onto his headphones. Before he could stop me, I slipped them right off his head and onto his nightstand, where the iPod the headphones were connected to was.

I heard his breath catch in his throat, and I didn't know if it was because of our sudden proximity or because I had taken his headphones off. But honestly I didn't care, because all I could notice was how his lips were right by mine again.

I leaned forward, and Blake did as well. For the fifth time that night, our lips battled. Blake leaned back as we continued kissing so that his back was now on the mattress and I was now on top of him.

When he pushed me away just like he had all the other times, we stared at each other just like we had before. "We can't do anything," Blake gulped, reaching up and brushing a piece of my hair out of my face. "I just... I wouldn't feel right doing anything with you when you're so out of it like this. Only assholes do things with girls when they're drunk."

I pursed my lips and pouted. "Aw, Blake. You're no fun. You seemed to like kissing me."

"I loved kissing you," he blurted, and then bit down on his lip.

"See?" I giggled, leaning forward and pressing my lips to his again. Another heated make out session ensued, my hands traveling up Blake's shirt to feel his abs and chest. His body tensed as he pushed me away.

"Stop," he breathed, breathing just as heavily as I was. "You have to stop, Leah."

"But I don't want to stop." I smiled stupidly and leaned forward to kiss him again, but Blake stopped me.

"If you don't stop, I won't be able to stop."

I found myself smiling again. "But that's just what I want."

Blake shook his head. "Leah. I know you're drunk, but think about this," he began. and I tried to concentrate as hard as I could on what he was saying." If you do anything with me now, when you barely even know what's going on, you're going to regret it. And I don't want to do anything with you that you're going to regret. Because I'm not going to regret it. I'm going to love every single second of it and want you even more. I don't want to do something that I've been wanting for the longest time and have you just regret it."

I did what he told me to do and tried to think. Most of my thoughts were clouded with him and me tangled in the bed sheets together, but I understood what he was saying, even with me being as drunk as I was. Having sex with him when I was this wasted would have ruined the moment anyway. I wanted it to be perfect.

So I leaned forward again, pressing my lips to his for only a moment before snuggling into him and pressing my face into his neck.

I was close to falling asleep until I felt Blake's body tense. I heard him groan, so I now lifted my head to see if he was alright.

"Are you okay?" I asked, my eyebrows furrowing at him as he continued to press his palm against his forehead while squeezing his eyes shut. His jaw was clenched, too. "Blake, are you alright?

"I'm fine," he excused, even though the way he was acting said the contrary. "I just have a headache, that's all."

"Oh, okay," I nodded, burying my face back into his neck as I cuddled even closer to him. "I'm glad you're okay, Blake."

"Yeah," he whispered, just as I drifted off to sleep. "Me, too..."

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Is it just me, or is what Blake said about not wanting to have sex with Leah even though he really wanted to because she would regret it probably the most romantic thing ever? I have no idea why I think it's so cute...

I love Blake. :3

A lot of you think Blake killed someone... Well, I'm not going to ruin it for you. ;) You're actually going to find out his secret very soon...

Please COMMENT, VOTE, and FAN! <3