[warning: some violence, mention of blood]

My head hurts and my mind feels like a mess. I am now regretting coming to the party more than ever. First, I get ditched by my best friend. Only God knows where she ran off to with her boyfriend. And now... this. I don't understand why Noah would do that. Did I ever unintentionally give him mixed signals or lead him on?

I feel so frustrated with myself that I want to rip my hair out. Not to mention the fact that I can feel a headache creeping into my skull.

I navigate my way through the crowd of people, trying to get outside or at least to the backyard, if there is one. At the end of a long hallway, I come across a set of sliding glass doors that looks out to the back garden. Breathing a sigh of relief, I quietly walk over to the doors and slide it open. Stepping out, I breathe in the fresh air and immediately feel myself at ease.

The garden is devoid of overwhelming smell of alcohol and colognes, and sweaty teenagers pushing against each other. The night sky is filled with bright stars which illuminate the various flowering plants and trees planted in the garden.

I mindlessly walk along the flower bushes, brushing my fingertips over the delicate petals, when I spot a bench. I contemplate whether to head back inside the house or stay in the garden. Considering my rising headache, I decide on the latter.

Sitting on the bench, I quietly watch the night sky. The gentle breeze causes me to shiver slightly. Looking at the bright stars makes me feel a sense of emptiness. It reminds me of my mother because that's what Dad always told me as a kid whenever I asked about her. That she lives among the stars. Sighing to myself, I tuck the strand of my hair behind my ear that got misplaced due to the wind.

'I miss Dad, too. When is he gonna be back from his trip? Adrien said it'll take a couple more weeks.'

'Shit, Adrien.'

I quickly pull out my phone to check the time. It was about to be eleven.

'Oh, God. I need to go back home.'

I stand up quickly from the bench and immediately feel dizzy and lightheaded. After I regain some stability, I rush back inside. Or at least try to, with my wobbly steps and the high heels.

Getting inside, I scan the crowd of people to look for Sarah, but she finds me first.

"Amy, there you are!" I turn to see Sarah rushing towards me. "I was looking for you. Where did you go?"

Is she kidding me right now? She has got to because it was me who was blindly searching for her after she completely abandoned me!

"I was in the kitchen and then when I came back, you were gone!" My voice starts to rise in pitch as I fail to hide my growing frustration. "Gone, Sarah. And I couldn't find you." I close my eyes briefly and exhale heavily through my nose to contain my anger. Why am I getting so worked up? It is not like me to have sudden outbursts. I open my eyes to look at her again when she puts a hand on my shoulder.

'What is wrong with me?' I sway slightly from side to side.

"Okay, okay, calm down. I'm sorry, okay? And exactly how much did you drink?" Her voice indicates her concern for me but I'm too infuriated to even care. "You can't even stand on your feet properly."

"It's all your fault," I say. "You asked me to stay close to you but then you disappeared!" Okay, my words sound slurred even to me now and I don't think I'm sounding intimidating to her at all.

"I didn't disappear, I was— forget it." She takes me into the living room and towards the couch. "Stay here, okay? Don't move. I'm gonna go get Alex and then we'll leave."

Huffing to myself, I plop down on the couch and watch as she leaves. As I wait for Sarah to return, I mentally pray to God that I'd be able to get back home before Adrien does. He is going to be so worried if he doesn't find me in the house. And also angry. But I try not to think of the worst possible outcome.

I get up from the couch because I suddenly feel my throat going dry. My body no longer feels all hot. Instead, chills run over my being and I shiver to myself. How long are the effects of the drink going to last? I thought the milkshake would've helped. My vision is still going blurry at times and the headache is the worst of all.

Why isn't Sarah back yet? Did she forget that she left me waiting? I didn't even get to ask her for water. Oh, no. What if she forgot about me again?

I steady myself on my feet to get water. Just then, I see the guy I met earlier walking towards me. Was his name Justin or Damon?

"Hey, Angel. You okay there? You look a little flushed."

'Okay, this is definitely the Damon guy.'

"I'm fine." I grit out my answer. What is it with everyone calling me pet names?

Not wanting to engage in any conversation with him, I try to walk past him but he steps in front of me, blocking my way.

"You sure? 'Cause if you want, I could help you, Angel."

"There's no need. I was just going to get a glass of water," I reply to him, and then pause before adding, "my name is Amy. In case you didn't know."

I don't feel comfortable around this dude. There must have been a good reason for Noah to send him away from me last time and warn me to stay away from him. But Noah's not here now so what should I do to avoid him?

"It's alright, Angel," Damon says, completely disregarding the fact that I told him my name. "I insist. A pretty little thing like you shouldn't be doing things herself."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I scrunch my face in equal parts confusion and disgust at his comment. "And it's just water anyways. So what are you talking about?"

This guy is causing my headache to increase. I feel the urge to punch him in the face but I feel too weak to even lift my arm. Should I try to knee him? But he didn't do anything wrong, yet.

"Oh, come on. Don't you understand?" He steps closer to me and puts his arm around me. Damon easily leads me out of the living room. He's so much stronger than me that I can't even hold him back. "I told you I'll help you out."

My nerves start to fill with panic and I look around myself frantically, hoping that Sarah would return now. God, where is she when I need her?

"Actually, you know what? I'm not that thirsty." I say, forcing out a weak laugh and try to deter the guy. "Damon, I-I think I'll sit back down and wait for my friend."

He doesn't respond to me, continuing to walk forward and dragging me along with me. Did he even hear what I just said? I know my speech is a bit slurred now. But he sure as hell would have heard me clearly.

The party must have died out a little when I was outside in the garden because it no longer seems packed full of people. But the music is still as loud. As he continues to walk us forward, I realise that we aren't going towards the kitchen and Damon is leading me towards the flight of stairs.

"Uh, Damon?" I try to escape his hold and thrash in his strong grip. "I don't think—"

Suddenly, his arm is removed harshly from my waist and I immediately get away from him. In a heartbeat, a punch lands square on his face. I let out a loud sound in shock and cover my mouth with my hand. I turn around and my eyes land on my brother.

It was Adrien who just punched Damon.

"Take your fucking hands off my sister." Adrien seethes in anger. He blows another punch to Damon's face that sends him flying backwards against a wall.

"Adrien, no!" I reach out to stop him from hurting the guy anymore, when someone pulls me back into their chest.

I look over my shoulder and see Theo holding me close to him and preventing me from going near them. Seeing Theo immediately causes a wave of relief to wash over me until I hear my brother punching the guy again which is followed by a cracking sound.

"It's okay. We are here now," Theo says soothingly to me when he sees me wince. Few people have gathered around the scene by now.

"You get close to her again and it'll be worse than a bloody nose. Do you hear me?" Adrien shouts in his face. I have only ever seen him get this mad once before. "If you so much as look at her again," Adrien says and pulls Damon by his collar, but I turn back at Theo, not wanting to witness it anymore.

"Theo, you should stop him. You don't know how angry my brother gets." My eyes get blurry with rushing tears as I try to convince Theo to stop the fight. Everyone was looking at the scene now, some even recording. Noah comes rushing and freezes in his spot when he sees what's happening.

"Hey, it's okay. Don't worry about it." Theo pulls me even closer to him and I bury my face into his chest. My lips tremble as I try to hold back my tears.

I look up at Theo but he isn't looking at me. His eyes are focused on the guy my brother is beating the crap out of. If looks could kill, Damon would be six feet under by now. That is, after he gets out alive from my brother's beating.

"I thought you hated me," I mumble up at him. This catches Theo's attention and he looks down at me, his eyes immediately softening.

When I noticed Theo after seeing Adrien here, I thought he'd be mad as well just like my brother. Instead, he looks eerily calm and is trying to comfort me right now. A whole week of him giving me the cold shoulder and now he is holding me close to his chest, shielding me.

Theo cups my face gently and whispers, "I could never hate you, Princess."

That's the last thing I hear before blacking out.

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A/N: Hope you liked this chapter and if you did, drop a vote (⁠☆). If this chapter gets 50 votes, I'll post a special chapter ft Theo's POV.