Be quiet

(Marcus)

All the alcohol disappeared, and I turned sober as I saw him shirtless, shameless, and speechless. The room smelled a mixture of their fragrances.

"Are you done betraying me!?" I swung my hand to smack him, but he ducked it and pleaded with me, "Mac, I swear I didn't do anything to her!"

He bluntly lied in my face.

"Am I looking like a fool?" My fine eyes raked over his torso. "Where the hell is your shirt?"

I twirled around in search of it until he tapped my shoulder and said, "It's wrapped around her feet, buddy."

He pointed at Laila's leg.

What the?

"You are kidding me!" His face clenched as my voice shook the place.

"Will you shut the fuck? You wake Benny up." He hissed while pushing me away from the bed.

Broh!?

"Now, what is Benny?" I shove his hand from my shoulder, which he would've used upon the girl sleeping on the bed a few minutes ago.

"Shh!" He placed a finger on his lip and said, "Benito is shortened to Benny, idiot."

He told it like a secret in my ear.

As I stared at the shirtless guy in front of me, who was preparing to shut the door after kicking me out, I attempted to recall a new swear word specifically designed for him.

"Since when did you become a-"

"I knew what you were going to say. Please leave the room." Trevor said this to me without an ounce of concern about his friend.

Is this called betrayal?

"Oh! So, I want to leave you alone with her the whoooole night?" 

I slapped my hand against the wall next to me, "Great!! Have it all. Remember, you need me one day or another. Brace yourself to pay for that. Don't think I would leave y-"

"Are you drunk?" He cut me off.

How did he know?

-^-^-^-

(Trevor)

"Noo... I am not! Look, you are wobbling." Marcus' legs shake in giddiness, and he couldn't hide it.

I muttered in helplessness, "What can I do with my stupid friend?" while placing my palm over my face.

"Hello buddy! Who's stupid, am I?" He yanked the hand of Laila's cousin to him and asked, "Do I look stupid, Nathan?"

He's really wasted!

While Nathan scowled from far from the room, "Messy, who are you talking to?"

"Leave my hand, stupid!" The cousin girl spat at Makky and pulled away her hand, while Marcus blinked for two seconds and still couldn't comprehend what was happening.

The cousin girl jumped to my Laila and whined, "Lai, are you okay?"

But Benny was closing her eyes, sleeping peacefully, and having dreams about me.

"What did you do to her, maniac!?" She growled at me with a venomous face and concerned eyes.

Whoa!

"She tripped on those heels. I just took her to this room and wrapped her sprained ankle with a hot water-soaked shirt of mine. Nothing more." I shrugged, telling the whole truth. 

But she looked unconvinced.

Nathan interrupted, "Why did you do that?"

"'Cause no one was around."

Why are they bombarding me with such eyes?

I turned to Marcus, who flipped his face away when I looked at him. "What about you?"

"Go stick with that hooker and cry your life off." He fumed at me and left the room with heavy steps.

-^-^-^-

(Rhea)

I tapped Laila several times, only her cheek moved but not once she woke up.

Wake up, you pig!!

"Did you give her drinks?" Turning to Driver, I gritted my teeth in annoyance. 

How dare he try to be in a room with my Laila?

But the sight of him wearing nothing on his upper body gave me a headache, and I turned away when he answered, "No, she drank herself before we danced together."

The bone in my neck would have cracked when I swiftly twisted my face toward him.

She danced with this fellow?

He innocently looked at my raging face. While Nathan stepped in between, "You danced with her?"

"We danced with her approval, Nathan. What is wrong with you all?" Driver desperately asked us.

I released a sigh and looked at Laila, who was snoring without knowing what was happening around her. 

She would do everything stupid when she's drunk. I wish what are the things she hasn't told me yet.

"Lai, what have I done? I am sorry; I should've had an eye on you."

I told her, even though she couldn't respond, and I got up from the soft bed when she suddenly grabbed my wrist.

"Don't worry. I am good." Laila sent me a faint smile and winked at me.

"You cheater!!" Giggling to myself, I tickled her in relief that I heard something from her.

It was my fault for leaving her alone.

"Can you walk?" I whispered to see her shake her head.

"You can manage here? Alone?"

"Yes. Until tomorrow." She mouthed and added, "I am not alone, Rhee."

And I looked behind me, where the Driver was standing.

Hmm. There's something.

"Did he hurt you?" I looked at her swollen ankle with guilt in my heart.

She shook her head again and kept her hand over mine in assurance. "He's not mentally ill. He's great!"

I saw her grin sheepishly with a sleepy face. I chuckled back and turned to the shirtless guy.

"Once your finger touches my honey, you're done living."

He smiled at my warning, showing a peek of timidity. "Like you said, miss."

"I'm Rhea Anderson. At least you try to call me with that, unlike your dumbass friend."

I walked past him and reassured whether Laila was alright.

"Tomorrow, I want her to be back in the dorm room, Driver." I told him, and he nodded consciously.

I hope he's not drunk like the other guys.

"My name is Trevor Greyson, so try using that instead of Driver, unlike Benny." He retorted back, and I smirked thoughtfully.

Oh, he's Trevor.

"Mr. Greyson, turn off the lights, please!" my cousin's voice floated to the entrance, and Trevor seemed to enjoy her calling him with his surname, maybe.

"Thank you, Trevor. Bye, Lailaa," said before seeing the door shut.

I went out of the room and saw Nathan trailing behind.

"Aren't you mad at me?" He asked like it was a big deal.

"Mad? Why would I?" Whirling my head back at him, I climbed down the stairs like a horse.

"Uh, because it was my friend who took a room with your cousin." His voice held a hint of hesitation and worry.

I looked at him. His drunken face was like a puppy when he looked anxious about my reaction.

Nath! How will I get mad at you?

"You think I would scream at you?" I caressed his cheekbone with my thumb, and his skin was cold under my finger.

"No," he said. "I thought you would cancel the date with me."

I burst out laughing without holding it back, which made him perplexed.

"How did you come up with that, cutie pie?" I pinched his cheek, grinning.

"Cutie pie?" He murmured, but I heard it.

"I will not cancel it, Nath. I would love to be with you." I looked into his eyes once before leaning on his cheek and pecking it gently.

His eyes came out of his sockets as he jolted in surprise.

"Rio, how could you do that without..."

"Do you want me to show that again?" I searched for a reason in his eyes, which was looking around us to see if someone saw me giving him a kiss.

Nathan, finding no one around, looked at me with a flushed face and asked, "Can you?"

He shyly asked me, and I couldn't compare anything with it to tell how adorable he was!

"You close your eyes; I am getting nervous." I was thrilled to say that to him, and he obeyed me but opened his right eye for a second.

"Tsk. Don't!" I placed my palm over his eyes and took a deep breath before giving him a kiss on his left cheek. 

He felt like velvet under my lips.

My face turned red in blush at the fact that I kissed Nathan. 

He grinned at me while pulling me for a hug, and I stumbled to hug him back, knotting my hands around his neck and heeling up.

Nathan caressed my hair, and I parted away from his embrace. "Is it enough?"

"I guess..." he shrugged and got distracted by something behind me.

"My car keys. I need them." The voice of my senior spread terror all over my body. All of a sudden, he was gone, and now back again?

"Where are you going?" Nathan refused to return the car key.

Marcus' red face was urgent and he couldn't explain any reason, "Give. My. Car. Keys." He said so, and I stood away from them.

Okay. Something must've gone wrong in his brain.

He was on the brink of knocking anyone on the way. 

"I don't think you can drive." Nathan pointed at his friend's drunken face. 

Why is Marcus looking furious? Because Trevor is with Laila?

"I want to go home!" Marus placed his head in his hand and growled like his soul is going out of his body.

"Are you alright, Messy?" Nathan shook his shoulder to only get a faint reply. "I want to sleep, Naddy."

Seriously? This poor boy just wants to sleep.

Though he looked like a giant anaconda with those eyes which could gulp me down, he is behaving like a baby who wants a corner to sleep in peace. 

I remembered once he asked me, 'Do wanna sleep?' as if he wanted to sleep.

He was also dozing off, like he has a knack for sleeping, without knowing that I stole his phone!

I couldn't understand this guy. Hot yet childish. Dangerous yet tameable.

"You want to sleep?!!" Nathan's face was like, Oh, my God, you-can-float!

"Let me drive you home, Marcus. Come with me."

Ah? Excuse me?

"What's going on Nathan?" I touch his back but he was busy holding on his best friend who was lying on his shoulder.

"Take the car keys from my pocket and go; unlock it. I am on my way with Marcuz, okay?" Nathan urged me, and I pushed my hand into his right pocket like a shy puppy and found the key he was meaning.

And I ran towards the parking lot—the car showroom.

Where in the hell will I search for my senior's car now?

I immediately pressed the unlock button on the key, and about two rows behind, a headlight fluctuated from a vehicle.

Gotcha!

I sprinted to the car to open the door for Nathan and Marcus, but my body froze at the sight.

Within, I could get myself movable, and Nathan and Marcus reached the place where I am.

I saw Nathan pushing Marcus into the passenger seat and snatching the keys from me. "Get inside, Rio."

I catch my breath and jumped back to reality. "W-What?"

Nathan was already inside the driver seat, twisting the key of the car, and he gestured for me to enter. I, questioning myself twice, hopped in.

My cheap ass is inside a Lam-fucking-borghini!!

There was a drastic temperature change as I got in his hot-shot red Lamborghini, as the air conditioner had been running inside it for hours.

My bare thighs and calves turned numb when they came into contact with the leather-covered seat.

"Nath, can you turn up the temperature?", I rubbed my arms, turning to my left to find Marcus lying like a dead body with his head facing up the roof and his hands carelessly hanging aside.

"I can't, Rhea. Marcus would wake up." Nathan twisted the steering wheel while his eyes focused on the road.

How rude!

"I would freeze, Nath!" I put my shivering-cold palms inside the coat's pockets, and the warmth creeping to my skin didn't help me much.

"Bear with it, baby." He sharply said, looking at me through the rear-view mirror, and I forgot everything else.

"Baby?" I whispered to myself, thinking that he called me again like that, and bit my lips while pushing my back against the cold seat.

The rotting chillness was nowhere! Carefreely, I watched the running street lights and admired their beauty for the very first time.

You're so lucky, bish!

I glanced at Marcus, who gave me this opportunity for the priceless moment to take place, and squealed in a low voice, "Thank you, senior!"

Nathan's mobile shrilly cried a ringtone that my conscious mind had a heart attack in dismay.

"Tsk!" Marcus hissed in between his sleep, and I gasped in fright.

He is such a light sleeper!

Nathan stumbled to hold his vibrating phone before attending the call. 

"What's up, mom?" He angrily yet silently spoke. I think Marcus was not awake, but that thought vanished when the car bumped over a speed breaker!

"AH!" He groaned, placing his hand over his sleeping face.

"Shit!" Nathan rode further, as slowly as he could. "Easy, Mark."

Marcus snuggled a little and went silent again. The demon had suppressed itself, I thought!

"Are you alright?" I was so genuinely worried about his sleeplessness that I forgot when I placed my fingers over his hand, and I shuddered when he pulled away.

It wasn't the fact that he refused my touch that made my heart sink, but I was shocked to sense a red trickle on his knuckles.

B-Blood?

I thought back the scenario when Thomas tried to strike Marcus' face with a serving tray and how he blocked it with his bare hand. Yet he resumed beating the other guy with the same swollen knuckles.

I jumped back to where I was, ponderously, looking at his wounded knuckles, thinking that it would be the impact of his defense.

Gosh!

His punches were ruthless and are surely going to give me nightmares for a week!

Meanwhile, I haven't noticed when Nathan conversed with his mom or what it was about.

The car screeched on the cemented platform and halted while the headlights of the Lamborghini went off.

I had been sitting quiet like a kitty as the reminder of my senior next to me haunted me—that I wasn't aware that we're home—his home.

As I got down the car, a wave of shock was ready to beat me. Is he a billionaire or what?

The golden lights from the mansion, his home, were dazzling inside my pupil. How many heart throbs can I bear?

Nathan held Marcus by his shoulder and waist to lead him outside while I was frozen by the money-made building. 

How long will it take to build this master piece of architecture?

If I were him, I would go no party and stay in this palace for my whole life like Rapunzel.

No one knows the value of money when they have it. 

Isn't that true in some way after I saw Marcus spoil his money with all his drinking habits overnight?

Also, he tipped the guy who poured him beer like he owed him loan money!

"Rhea, my mom had asked me to go to look after my dad tonight." Nathan worriedly pleaded with his eyes for no reason.

"What's wrong, Nath?" I caught hold of Marcus' wrist as he was upto fell to the ground.

"He's in the hospital, as you know, for the operation. I need to be with him tonight, baby." He left the weight of Marcus all over to me. 

"Until tomorrow, make sure you look after this drunken dawg. Let him sleep, okay? Good night, Rio. Bye!"

He said it all in one go and left with Marcus' car.

What the sh*t?

I looked at the guy who was resting his head and hands over his shoulder. Argh!! It felt like an anaconda was coiling my neck!

"M-Marcus?" I patted his broad muscle called the shoulder while his dark hair was tickling my neck.

"Hmm..." His dizzy voice makes me swoon like a jelly fish.

"Can y-you walk by yourslef?" I pulled his face away from me, and he nodded, I guess.

But he wasn't walking—one mere inch. 

I dragged that mountain with my burning palms and the skills I had, as I once played tug-of-war in my childhood.

I put his hard-toned body over the sofa, which was the first thing I got to see inside the lavish living room after struggling for five minutes by walking between limping.

His half-dead torso lies dangerously on the edge of the huge white sofa. I immediately pushed my hands against his arms to resist the hazardous crash.

I heaved and gasped after doing a job, which felt like I had laundered a pile of clothes with my own hands.

"Is it my sin to wear your coat that made you stick with me the whole night, huh?" I told myself, because there's no way he must hear such a thing.

"Now, where will I sleep?" I stood up to my full height in wrath and looked around the big-as-a-universe hall.

Dude! You've been living like a rock star! Who are you?

My liver tingled as some of the artifacts that caught my attention were made of gold.

The guy who owns them is sleeping, but I was peeking at all the paintings hanging around, which sparked my curiosity.

I have a crazy knack for painting! One canvas, a brush, and a nicely setting sun... It's enough to give me free therapy for the depression I am going through now.

All the walls around the house had a handmade painting rather than a print, which ignited my avidity.

Can I buy one of these, sleeping senior?

I clicked some pictures of the portraits and paintings, which would be my inspiration for tomorrow.

After loitering around the art gallery of the house, I checked on my senior. 

Is he really sleeping?

I texted Nathan that everything was fine, and he just viewed it and did not reply. 

Probably, he'll be on a run to his father's issue. The whole night, he won't be sleeping, unlike this guy. My poor Nathan.

I crouched next to Marcus after realizing that I had no room to sleep. I mean, I can't get my own permission to use any of these rooms, though.

"Senior..." I whispered in his face. He was, not gonna lie, sleeping like an angel. 

In pure tranquility, his facial muscles were relaxed, and Adam's apple, which would hop when he growled, was now simply in rest.

My ajar mouth closed after I remembered I was going to date his bestie and not him.

Those beautifully closed eyes were now open like a pop-up on my PC.

"Aaah!!" I screamed, jerking backwards.

Marcus scowled at me like he was aiming to shoot me with his eyes. 

I gulped my dry throat when I heard his rough and coarse voice say, "Don't you dare touch my mobile!"

Old McDonald had a farm!

He does remember it till now??

I shook my head like a programmed doll and slipped the black coat in the right place as his eyes raked throughout my body, wondering whether I was still wearing his coat or not.

"What the fuck are you doing in here?" he asked before closing his eyes as before, but now he is awake.

He's asking such thing to the girl who pulled him to this couch he is sleeping on?

"I-I..." I want to kick you, idiot!!

"Tell!" he growled.

"I want to sleep too." My tiny voice was not even audible to me. Hehe... He didn't hear!

"Go sleep then." He ordered like he was keeping me from sleeping for a long time. There was only frustration in his voice.

He did hear it.

"Sleep where?" I made the right point, but it ticked the wrong wire of the circuit.

Out of the disturbance I made, Marcus annoyingly freaked out, "Don't you find any fucking corner to put yourself in for one night in the whole house? Go sleep on the floor and be quiet, bitch!"

He pushed all the glass vases on the teapoy with one slide of his hand, and the pieces shatter to make the walls reverberate their wandering clanks like hymns, followed by my yelp.

My blood weakened to move, and I inhaled the tightest air into me.

It is his coat, his house, and his rule, ain't they? Why won't he say such things? 

My tiny feet fetch my frightened self far from the broken mess of glass and the brooding devil.

I lay under the painting of a landscape where the moon above a lake is veiled by a series of clouds. It looked gloomy, just like my miserable figure in the dark spectrum of his attitude of arrogance.

Nathan, why did you leave me in this cold corner of this emotionless mansion?

Some teardrops unknowingly fall on my cheek, wishing that I would be with Laila, who would always put her leg over mine and make me enjoy sleeping, whereas here, I have no one or nothing that lets me sleep.

Everything was hallow and giant, appearing like they would gulp me once I fell asleep.

The glass pieces, without knowing why they died, stayed on the ground in front of my eyes until my eyelids were dropped closed and everything went black.

I couldn't believe that I'm writing about a single day for 14 chapters!! 😅

Enjoy reading buddies...