I stumbled into the house, still in only my bra and pants, trying to be as quiet as possible. That didn't really work. I walked into multiple things on my way into the kitchen, muttering curses under my breath. I rifled around the cupboards, probably rather loudly, grabbing various food. The Moore house always had an abundance of snacks.

"Lily?"

I dropped everything in shock and swore. I turned and in the process, whacked my hand on the counter. "Ow! Shit!"

Joseph was standing in the kitchen, arms crossed, an amused look on his face. He was also shirtless. Then I saw his eyes run down my body before snapping back up to my face. "Lily, what are you doing? Why are you..." he gestured to my lack of clothing, then rubbed his jaw and looked away.

It took me a while to comprehend what he said. "Because..." I frowned to myself. "Because I am very. Drunk." My sentence was a little disjointed, my words struggling to come out.

"I can see that." His mouth twitched. "You should probably put on some clothes, though."

I shook my head slowly, pouting. "I don't think so." I attempted to move towards him gracefully, but nearly fell over on my way. Joseph took hold of my arm to keep me upright. "Why? Do you find this..." I seductively – or so I thought – motioned to my body. "...distracting?"

Joseph's jaw was clenched, his hand still on my arm, but his touch was light. "No."

I laughed drunkenly. "Oh come on, Joseph, I thought... that we were being honest with each other, now?"

"Fine," he said quietly. "Your lack of clothes is... slightly distracting."

I smiled smugly. I mean, to be fair, my underwear was pretty cute – a matching red set, with some lace detail. And I'd been running and working out a fair amount, so I was pretty toned, if a little thinner than I used to be. "And I could say the same about you." Without thinking, I lifted a hand and placed it on his bare chest, running it down his toned stomach. I could feel his muscles tensing under my touch, and suddenly he grabbed my wrist, pulling my hand away.

"Lily," he said, his voice so low it was practically a growl.

I smiled slyly. Although it could have been more of a grimace – I didn't seem to have much control over my facial muscles at this point in time. "Come on, Joseph. I know you like me."

He didn't answer, but his eyes were dark and intense. Drunk me always tended to be a lot bolder than sober me, so I went on tiptoes and pressed a kiss to his cheek, dangerously close to his lips. "I think... that I make your heart race." To demonstrate my point, I pulled my wrist from his grasp and pressed my palm on his chest, over his heart. "I think... that I make you nervous."

A choked laugh escaped Joseph's mouth. "I'm not a nervous person, Lily."

"Maybe not usually." My hand trailed up his chest to his face, gently touching the side of his face. "But I'm special. And I definitely have that effect on you." The words were just pouring out – it was like I didn't have a filter. I was also being very overconfident. My eyes flickered up to Joseph's.

All he said was, "how much have you had to drink?"

I frowned at him, pouting slightly as I dropped my hand. "Stop bossing me about. You're not my brother and we both know it."

Joseph chuckled slightly. "Trust me, I know. I just want to know the probability of you throwing up."

I scrunched my face up. "Mm... like a solid, ninety-two percent. Maybe ninety-three. I'm not too sure." The world span around me slightly. "Why – stop spinning."

"That's what I thought." He took my arm and began to lead me somewhere. "Come on, you need to go to bed."

"No," I complained. "I need to take snacks out to Ryan. He's expecting me."

"I imagine that Ryan has passed out by now."

"No, no," I said. "He has not. We still have to party. More alcohol."

"You do not need any more alcohol, Lily."

I yanked my arm out of his grasp before he could take me upstairs. "That's boring." And then I ran away from him, laughing.

Joseph groaned. "This is like looking after a toddler."

"Not quite the same," I said, wiggling my eyebrows. I went to pick up the food I'd dropped earlier, tearing open a packet of tortilla crisps and chomping on one. "Mm. I have never tasted anything so good in my life."

"How about some water?" Joseph said, already getting a glass and filling it up. "Sound like a good idea?"

I thought about it. "Only if you give me a kiss."

Joseph looked like he was holding back a smile as he handed me the glass of water. "Fine. But drink the whole glass first."

I obeyed and drank all the water. I put the glass down on the side and waited patiently. Joseph shook his head at me but placed a palm against my cheek and pressed his lips gently to my forehead, before tilting his head down and resting his own forehead against mine. I closed my eyes, putting my hand to the back of his neck and weaving my fingers in his hair.

"Joseph," I murmured. I pulled back slightly so that I could look at him. His eyes met mine. I grinned drunkenly. "You're so pretty."

Joseph smiled slightly. "Thanks so much, Lily."

And then the world gave an alarming lurch. "Oh no." I ran from Joseph towards the bathroom and before I knew it, I was heaving all the contents of my stomach into the loo. I vaguely felt Joseph come in and hold my hair back, gently stroking my back. But after that, everything went black.

***

When I woke, my mouth was dry and tasted disgusting. I felt nauseous and dizzy. Where was I? What happened? I hazily recognised the smell of Joseph, and realised I was in his bed. With my eyes still closed, I reached out and felt over the other side of the bed, but it was empty.

I groaned loudly. I felt awful.

Slowly, ever so slowly, I forced my eyes open. Everything hurt. As a clumsy drunk, I was always bumping into stuff, so I was sure to have a few bruises here and there. I looked to the side and saw a glass of water on the bedside table. I grabbed it and thirstily gulped it down. It honestly tasted like heaven. As I came to my senses more, I realised I was in a t-shirt that was not mine – it was Joseph's. And underneath, I was still wearing my lacy red underwear.

I groaned again. The door suddenly opened, and Joseph appeared in his room. He noticed I was awake and gave a half smile. "Good. You're alive."

"Barely," I croaked and put my head in my hands. "I'm never drinking again."

"I'm pretty sure everybody says that," Joseph said, sounding like he was holding back a laugh. "But it's always such a lie."

"Yeah, yeah," I muttered, closing my eyes as I massaged my temples. Then I looked up at Joseph, grimacing. "Wanna catch me up to speed with anything embarrassing I did?"

The corner of his mouth twitched as he sat on the edge of the bed. "There are so many things, I don't even know where to begin."

"Oh god." I rubbed my eyes. Slowly, last night came back to me. As I glanced at Joseph, more memories returned. I had practically tried to seduce him in only my underwear. "Oh no. Oh my god. I'm so sorry."

He laughed. "Lily, seriously, it's fine."

"But I..." I winced. I recalled touching him a lot. "I practically molested you."

Joseph laughed again. "I wouldn't call it molesting. You are a very demanding drunk, you know. And very..." He paused. "Bold."

Oh yeah, I'd been bold. I just groaned again and put my head back in my hands.

"I mean, honestly, Lily," Joseph said, shifting closer to me. "I can't say that... I completely hated it."

I choked out a laugh and lifted my head. "Oh yeah? The inappropriate touching or the boldness?"

Joseph met my eyes, a slightly mischievous glint in his. "I probably shouldn't say both."

"Yeah, well, there were a lot of things I shouldn't have done last night," I muttered. Then I remembered all my other friends. "What happened to everybody else?"
"Well..." Joseph frowned while he thought. "There's a chance Alice is still lying outside. Ryan crashed in your room, Sam fell asleep on the sofa in the living room and Ellie is also outside. I think."

I gave him a look. "So you looked after me but left Alice outside?"

He rolled his eyes. "I tried to get her to move, but she refused. I even tried to carry her like I did with you, but–"

"Wait," I interrupted. "You carried me? When?"

"After you were sick." Joseph's eyebrows furrowed. "You don't remember?"

I shook my head. "No. I remember being sick..." I cringed at the memory. "And I remember you helping me, but how I got here is a mystery to me."

"You kind of... lay down on the floor of the bathroom because it was 'nice and cold'. So I tried to carry you to your room, but you said you'd rather be in mine." A slight smirk crossed his face.

I smacked a hand to my forehead. "Great. Of course I did. And you...?"

"I slept on the floor."

"Joseph," I protested. "You should have just put me on the floor."

"I was tempted. You were being rather irritating."

I made a noise of annoyance. "Thanks." I let out a long sigh. "Are your parents mad?"

Joseph just shrugged, his expression going blank like it always did when his parents were mentioned. "I don't know. I haven't talked to them."

I was going to say something about his parents but stopped myself, reminding myself that it wasn't my place, and I needed to stop being nosy. "Okay. Well, I should probably go check on everybody else." I dragged myself out of the bed and stood up, stretching, realising too late that I didn't have any trousers or anything on.

"Oh. Oops." I saw Joseph's gaze drift to my legs, and I swatted his shoulder. "Hey. I saw that."

Joseph just smiled slightly and stood up, too. "I don't really think you can be modest after last night."

I made a face. "That was my alter ego. She is extremely confident and apparently very fond of your abs." I winced as the words came out. Why did I say that? Maybe I was still a little drunk.

Joseph just laughed. "And this Lily isn't?"

"Well, objectively speaking," I said carefully, not wanting to embarrass myself further. "You have quite a nice...torso. But that is very objective and not me talking at all."

Joseph shook his head at me. "Sure. But I thought we were being honest with each other now?"

I remembered saying that last night. I should have known it would come back to bite me in the ass. "That was me being honest."

Joseph stepped closer to me. "I think you're lying."

I shook my head. "Not me."

Joseph lowered his voice and said, "I think I make your heart race. I think I make you nervous."

I stared at him, my lips parted, heart beating loudly. Then I realised that that was what I said to him last night and pushed him away. "You're the worst." He laughed and I scowled. "I'm glad to see you're getting some amusement out of this."

"You have no idea how much fun I'm having," Joseph said.

I rolled my eyes. "I can imagine."

"Ana!" There was a sudden shout from downstairs, and both Joseph and I looked towards the door. It was Alice's voice. "Ana!" she shouted again.

We glanced at each other and I made to move towards the door.

"Lily, trousers," Joseph said lazily.

"Shit," I muttered. I could hear Alice coming up the stairs. "Quick, just give me some of yours."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Might look a little suspicious."

"Better that than this." I gestured to my bare legs. "And, well, she's got nothing to be suspicious of. Now hurry up."

"Fine, fine." Joseph rifled around his drawers and chucked me some tracksuit bottoms. "These are a little small for me, so they might fit you."

I quickly pulled them on, not very gracefully, ignoring Joseph's amused expression. "Okay. I'm going." Just before I left his room, I glanced back to Joseph. "Thanks for making sure I survived last night."

He chuckled. "Who else is going to do it?"

"Probably shouldn't have been you."

"And you shouldn't have been dancing around in your underwear. A lot of things we both shouldn't be doing."

I held back a smile. "Yeah, yeah." And then I left.

I found Alice in my room, where Ryan was asleep in my bed. Alice saw me, and her expression became very surprised. "Ana! What..." She glanced down at my clothes. "Are those Joseph's?"

I attempted to look unbothered. "Yeah, he kinda looked after me after I threw up last night."

Alice sniggered. "You threw up? Sorry, probably shouldn't laugh." She ran a hand through her hair. "Last night did not go how I planned."

"What happened to you?" I asked, folding my arms. Ryan still didn't wake up to the sound of our voices. "Joseph said you slept outside?"

Alice rubbed her face in despair. "Yep. I passed out and didn't move. And I feel not great today, I won't lie to you."

"You do look a little green."

"I could throw up at any moment."

I smiled slightly. "Are your parents mad?"

She grimaced. "Quite mad, yeah. Dad's at work so he doesn't know yet, but mum found Sam on the sofa and Ellie and me outside..." She shook her head. "It was not ideal."

"How's the mess?" I asked, dreading the thought of how many bottles and crisp packets we'd left outside.

Alice's expression confirmed my thoughts. "It's bad. Ellie and Sam have started clearing up, that's why I came to get you. I thought we should all suffer together."

"Oh, absolutely." We both looked at Ryan. "Let's just leave him."

"I agree. Poor Ryan probably thought he was just coming over for a nice quiet night with his friends." Alice shook her head. "Whose idea was it even to get hammered?"

"Yours, I'm pretty sure."

Alice laughed and then winced, touching the side of her head. "Sounds about right."