V I O L E N T Y O U T H

★ ( manip   made   by   :   tiishas ) ★

! WARNING ! this chapter contains strong
sexual themes — during the second half.

IF THIS HAD BEEN A TYPICAL CLICHE, BLAIR WRIGHT WOULD HAVE SAID THAT IT FELT LIKE SHE WAS THE ONLY ONE ON THE DANCE FLOOR. But it didn't just feel like she was the only one on the dance floor she had curated to satiate her buzzed mind — she was the only one on her so-called dance floor. Among the warm and dim lighting of the Washington Lodge, the dark-haired girl allowed the rhythm of the beat to carry itself from the speaker and through the floorboards until it ran through her veins like a drug.

Each hard hit beat forced her feet to carry her in her dance, with erratic arms thrown in the air that would occasionally find themselves running through her drunkenly messed up hair. It was a true miracle that the liquor rocking back and forth in the bottom of the red cup in her hands — that matched in colour to her flushed cheeks — had yet to spill across her dance floor.

      There were few and far nights that she got the chance to be free, free from the containment of her mind, from the reality of her life and the constant worry of everyone around her. So, she may as well have lived up to her final moments of newfound freedom at the lodge, an escape provided by the wealthy family that resided there on special occasions.

A drunken smile spread across Blair's face when she spun toward the kitchen, where most of the group sat at the bar with a drink in hand. The only one without a drink held a camera in her hands as a replacement for her meaning of a good time.  "Hey, party-goer!" Beth Washington shouted over the music as she approached the dancing girl. "I'm not ruining your mojo, am I?"

      Blair's hand found Beth's free one, and although she was the shortest of the pair, she encouraged the girl with the dark bob to spin beneath her arm and dance with her. "I don't think there's anything during this night that could ruin my mojo," Blair released Beth's hand, adjusting the girl's fuzzy grey beanie before wrapping her arms gently around the taller girl's neck. She made sure the cup in her hands was tight in her grip so Beth wouldn't get the shock of alcohol running down her back. Even after pulling Beth closer, Blair still had to shout over the music, "I feel like I haven't seen you all night! It's about time you finally lived a little and danced with me."

      In her arms, Beth was stiff, and Blair always knew that dancing wasn't her strong suit. They knew everything about one another, which was evident in the fact they chose to wear matching grey sweaters for the night filled with partying.

      "Well, someone's gotta make sure you guys can at least remember something in the morning!" Beth waved the digital camera in her hands, as her eyes found the heart locket with her name engraved into it around the other girls neck.

Blair's gaze was intently fixated on every one of Beth's features, "oh, I solemnly swear to recount everything from this night back to you in the morning!" Their swaying dance ceased when her arms fell from around Beth's neck so they could momentarily hold her head as the effects of the few alcoholic drinks she had started to hit her.

In all fairness, there were countless warnings given to her from the girl opposite her, and from the single warning sheet that had been given to her by her doctor. She had nobody but herself to blame for the incredibly shitty feeling that just washed over her brain. To steady herself, Blair briefly fell forward to rest her forehead against Beth's sweater, the amplified heartbeat of the girl holding the camera almost mimicked Blair's own.

"Woah! Easy there," Beth's free hand rested against Blair's back, gently rubbing up and down until the girl could stand back up for herself. "Don't you think you've had a bit too much to drink considering your meds—"

Without spilling a drop in her cup, a sixth sense had kicked into the dark-haired girl who had only just been moments away from falling against the floorboards as she yanked her arm back away from Beth's outstretched one. "Nice try! Not quick enough!" Blair told the girl that had attempted to take away the red cup from her grasp, laughing in her face as she did so.

      "You're more stubborn than my brother, y'know that?" Beth's hand still lingered on the knitted fabric of Blair's sweater as she made sure the girl was good to stand on her own. As quickly as she realised that her hand was still there, she pulled it back to rest on her camera. "Can I at least interest you in taking a break from the dance floor and getting a few photos for my album?"

      The grip on her red cup was looser now that she wasn't having it taken away from her, "yes ma'am..." Blair had begun to see double of the woman in front of her for a brief moment before her vision returned to normal, "where do you want me for these pictures?" Blair leaned in closer.

      Beth copied her best friend's movements, leaning in to close the gap before grabbing the dark-haired girl's hand and pulling her to follow in suit toward the warmth of the kitchen and bar, "with the others. Need a bit of a muse over there that compensates for the over-the-top talk from Matt and Mike."

      Even in her current state, Blair could pinpoint the bitterness that rolled off of Beth's tongue as she said Mike's name. There were numerous talks they had over the phone, or in person, that detailed the naive behavior of her twin sister, Hannah. A constant obsession over the man who currently had a girlfriend. His charm had dug its claws into the girl, trapping her for a lifetime of secret want. It bothered Beth that her sister could be so gullible and lured in — for it was only a matter of time before it would come back to bite her.

Beth released Blair's hand, allowing the flushed girl to find her place among the group as she stationed herself just a few paces away from them where she overheard the conversation between Matt and Mike, the class president's arm wrapped around Matt's shoulders as they fell deeper into their conversation. It was impressive just how much a few drinks could bring people closer.

The pink tint on Blair's lips contrasted against the white of her teeth as she walked over to the man whose attention she had been seeking all night, Josh Washington. "Is this seat taken?" Blair's hand found its way to his shoulder as she briefly glanced down at the empty space of his denim jeans.

A whistle sounded from beside them as Chris roughly patted Josh's back. Blair's question pulled Josh from his conversation with Sam — the blonde sitting beside everyone on the kitchen counter with a drink in hand.

Moving his hand out of the way that was occupied with a bottle of beer, Josh's dark eyes lingered on the girl and her eyes that had been dusted with blue eye shadow. "Comfiest seat in the lodge can be found right here."

With Josh's arm out of the way, it welcomed Blair to take her spot for the photo that Beth had now gathered nearly all of the group's attention. Her arm snaked around the back of Josh's neck, brushing up against his dark hair as she stared down the lens of the camera that had now gathered everyone's attention that was in the frame.

"Alright, everybody say cheese!" Beth smiled at the scene on the screen, only capturing the attention of Chris, Sam, Blair, and her brother. The white flash came and went within mere seconds, letting the group know that the photo had been taken.

Blair turned her head to get a better look at the man in her arms. Her smile was as contagious as her laugh in that moment, "thanks for the seat." If it hadn't been for the alcohol that was deeply rooted through her veins and her flushed cheeks, more of what she felt in the comfort of Josh's presence would that been a dead giveaway. Although, everyone around them could see it anyway.

"Anytime," Josh's gaze lingered on the girl as she moved out of his lap, her fingertips gently grazing his neck as she pulled away to make her way back toward the sibling holding the camera.

      Lowering the cool glass bottle from her lips, Sam's eyes darted between the fleeing girl and Josh, "almost felt like we were interrupting something there."

      "Tell me about it," Chris hit his best friend's back, almost knocking Josh from the bar stool, "not every day you get a girl sitting on your lap, man."

      "Well, bro, I heard Ashley's looking for a seat," Josh retorted, taking a swig from his bottle as he earned the chimed-in laughs from those around him.

The dizziness that had set in early had since faded once more, coming and going as it pleased whenever Blair moved around. She wandered over to the girl in the beanie that was intensely fixated on the screen of the camera, "how'd the pics turn out, future famous photographer? Hopefully, I don't look as awful as I feel."

"A famous photographer is a stretch," Beth invited Blair to get beside her to flick through the photos taken throughout the night of the group. Multiple shots were taken of the scene that had just been the twin's muse, a few taken here and there of Emily, Jess, Hannah, and Ashley in the comfort of Hannah's butterfly-decorated room, and some pairs with their arms around each other.

The final photo of the night's album taken earlier in the evening found the twins on either side of Josh Washington — excited and happy along their ride inside the cable car. Blair's toothy smile turned into a frown, a common theme throughout the photos missed one face that Blair thought needed to be there most. "Hmm, I think something's missing."

"What?" Beth questioned, and within a matter of seconds, the camera had been snatched from her hands as the dark-haired girl began her antics. "What are you up to?" She attempted to reach back for her camera, but each attempt left her looking like a fool as Blair brought the camera behind her back to keep it out of arms reach.

"These photos are missing someone, y'know? The camera woman needs to have a few photos, too," Blair's drunken smile made a return as she gazed into the dark eyes of Beth, taking a long sip from her red cup before setting it aside on the closest flat surface. "I can't just let such a face and our matching outfits go to waste."

      Her hands drunkenly fiddled with the camera that she hadn't worked around before. But, even with slightly shaky hands, she managed to capture a few "good" shots of Beth with a smile, broken from her usual seriousness about everything. Blair smiled at the screen like Beth had been doing just mere moments before her. She wasn't sure how many photos she had taken before her hands began to fiddle again, flipping the camera so the screen faced away as she made sure to get in close with her best friend, keeping an arm wrapped around the taller girl's waist.

      "Say cheese!" Blair smiled down the lens as the flash threatened to blind the pair. "Oh, I really regret that..." She passed off the camera to Beth, reaching back for her red cup sat against the flat surface nearby.

      A laugh threatened to spill from Beth's lips — she truly didn't even have the words for the turnout of the images captured. Blurred messes where the faces could hardly be made out, "maybe we should leave the photos to the people who are sober."

      "Hey," Blair raised her hands in the air, her cup feeling awfully empty, "no need to be so jealous of my photography skills," her speech slurred briefly as she brought the cup to her lips, tasting nothing but air from the empty sip. Her brows furrowed as she looked at the bottom of the cup.

      "Perhaps your sign to start taking it easy, party-goer?" Beth noticed the girl's sudden change in attitude with an empty cup.

      With her eyes drifting past the twin, Blair's gaze found a way to rest on the man in the kitchen, leaning cooly against the counter as he now found himself out of the loop in a conversation between Chris and Sam, or the one between Mike and Matt. Her lip tucked under her teeth as she rotated the red cup in her hand. It felt like a calling for some sort of interaction. One with her.

      "Mmm," she hummed, her gaze flickered back to Beth as she began to stumble backwards toward her new calling, "perhaps not. After all, the night's still young..."

      Blair didn't miss the way Beth's eyes rolled when she went off to pursue her best friend's brother. But she took no offence as the warm lighting of the kitchen welcomed her. She wasn't sure what process in her mind convinced her to do it, but with a free hand, she hit Josh's denim-covered rear with a giggle, as though she were thrown back to being a stupid school girl with a crush, "fancy seeing you here," she said as she caught the dark-haired boy off guard.

      His posture straightened as he removed himself from leaning against the counter. Josh's eyes trained on Blair as she walked by, and he noted the gap of skin between her jeans and the knitted sweater.

      "Hello to you too, Miss jeans tighter than a virgin," he joked before taking a long and endearing swig from his nearly empty bottle.

      As she cracked open a fresh bottle that Josh had fetched from his family's wealthy collection, she rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder to shake her head at him with a laugh. Blair focused her attention back on pouring herself a drink into the red cup. She didn't overdo it, only filling around the halfway line. She promised herself this would be her last drink. She wanted to at least remember some things from the night that had yet to end.

      "You like such jeans?" Blair teased, still feeling his gaze on her as she closed the cap back on the bottle and pushed it away from the edge of the counter. When she grasped the cup that had been glued to her hand the whole night, she found herself walking over toward him. Somehow they felt closer than they did when she had taken a spot in his lap just earlier.

      Josh Washington thought for a moment, "I like what's wearing them," his speech was slightly slurred, how much alcohol he had throughout the night was also evident in his breath. Bumping their hips together playfully, the flush in Blair's cheeks returned as she took a hearty sip from her cup. Even with all the alcohol in the world running through her veins, she still was anxious. Josh watched intently as she drank, eyes trained on where the cup met her pink lips, "I'm surprised you know how to handle all that."

      He caught another glance of how her eyelids shimmered in glitter blue as her dark eyes met his, "I could show you what else I know how to handle..." She strung him along for a moment, interlocking their free hands for a few seconds as she moved from his right side to his left and closer toward the exit of the kitchen before she gently dropped his hand. "Maybe a little... alone time?"

      "Well, when you say things like that... I'm hooked," he teased.

      Blair struggled to remove her eyes from Josh but fought hard to do so, so that way she could glance at the clock behind her. She struggled for a moment, but turned back to face him, "theatre room? At twelve?"

      His drunken eyes struggled to remain just on her face alone, travelling back down to the jeans he had commented on a few moments ago, "oh honey, I'll be there."

      Their gaze felt millions of years apart as she moved away, but her tongue ran across her lips before she bit down on her bottom one. She turned to look at her surroundings, spotting Beth on the nearby sofa flicking through her camera. A new destination formed in her brain that would hopefully pass the time quickly as she waited for the clock to strike twelve.

      With a final glance, Blair nodded at Josh, "see you at twelve. Don't stand me up."

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IT WAS A LITTLE AFTER THE CLOCK HAD STRUCK TWELVE THAT BLAIR WRIGHT HAD FINALLY MANAGED TO ESCAPE THE TALKATIVE GRIP OF BETH WASHINGTON. She slipped through the doors of the lodge, making sure to cover her tracks as she made her way through the warmth of the lodge that had begun to dissipate into a chilling cold the further away from the fireplace she got.

With a deep breath, she tugged on the rounded knob of one of the double doors to the theatre room, sliding through the gap between the two doors as she quickly checked that the coast was clear behind her.

"You're late," Josh's voice echoed through the large room as he pushed off of the back of the leather theatre seat, bouncing off of the emptiness of the rooms walls decorated with posters of old movies, "I almost thought you were the one going to stand me up."

Blair's eyes rolled as the door creaked in her grasp, closing it behind her as she finally faced him. "If anything... I'm early," she approached him, allowing her fingers to dance across his shoulders as his much rougher grip found her waist as they closed the space between them. "Do you know how hard it was to get away from your sister?"

      "Mmm, don't really want to talk about my sister," Josh mumbled as his hands found the gap of skin between Blair's jeans and knitted sweater that he had been craving since his eyes first found it.

      Her breath picked up as he guided her toward the back wall, knocking them both into the table littered with books and other papers that served no importance to them at this moment. One of his hands remained tight on her open waist while his other moved the books that covered the table out of the way, ensuring a free space for her to sit.

      With his hands moving from the comfort of her waist to the curve of her rear that the jeans helped to accentuate, a small squeak sounded from Blair as he lifted her onto the space of the table. It was at this moment that she finally realised how deeply rooted it was that she had wanted this the entire night. A warmth mixed with butterflies pooled in her lower stomach.

      Their chests rose and fell in the heat of the moment, with Josh spacing her knees to fit around his legs so he could allow himself to be closer to her. To feel her. Lust filled the cold air of the theatre room, their breaths entangling with one another with the scent of the alcohol that still rested on the backs of their tongues.

      Josh took the opportunity to lean in closer when Blair's arms wrapped around the groove of his neck. Before he got too close, she teasingly pulled on the hair that was available to her, yanking his head back to get a better look at him.

      His eyes were filled with need and want — everything Blair could have asked for and more. He wasn't mad at the tug against his hair. He enjoyed it. Smiling at the little act of defiance from the girl beneath him.

      "Oh, so you wanna play that way, huh?"

      Licking her lips as she looked up at him, Blair finally allowed her fingers to release his hair and end her teasing, "maybe." This was the first time in a while she had felt it since she started taking her new medication — felt alive.

One arm locked around his neck while the other found his jawline, brushing her thumb against the bone as he took his second shot to lean in closer. Josh pressed her back against the wall with one hand keeping him steady against the table, and the other craving the warmth of her skin — finding a home in the dip of her lower back.

Their breaths finally merged at the connection of their lips, and it took no time at all for a soft kiss to be deepened intensely in desperation for one another. The straddle that Blair had on Josh became more intense as their tongues melted against one another — tasting the bitterness of the lingering alcohol.

Blair didn't enjoy the taste of beer in general, but when it roamed on Josh's tongue, it tasted other-worldly. And she wanted more of it.

Josh was the first one to pull away, placing a hand on her thigh while the other ran through the mess of his hair. All the while, his eyes remained on every part of her, taking her in as if he was sightseeing a landscape he craved to explore.

"Well," Blair bit back rather impatiently, her chest falling as she yearned for air, "we finally get some alone time and you just wanna kiss me all night until they come looking for us?"

His smile was contagious as the hand he had just run through his hair now mimicked his other one, both finding comfortable places on her jean-covered thighs. "Honey, I just need a moment to take all of you in."

Her eyes rolled to compensate for the gulp she took. It wasn't long before his lips returned back to her like they belonged there, and each inch of her skin melted in warmth wherever they touched. Roaming by her ear, before travelling further down the open space of her neck.

A moan escaped her lips, mixing with his own as if kissing her skin was the best part of the night. Her breath hitched when his hands moved from her thighs, finding and drunkenly fiddling with the buttons of her jeans. He was slow in the way he pulled at the zipper, wanting to take the moment slow so that it would never end. Blair didn't want it to end either.

His lips momentarily left her skin as he helped her to pull off the fabric that blocked him from what he craved — letting them fall to the floor at his feet. But, his lips found home once more in the comfort of the nape of her neck.

"Josh—" She practically begged him for more.

      A tight grip found its way to her bare thigh, "keep moaning like that and the whole lodge is going to hear us," he slurred.

      Blair, even with her eyes closed, worked her way around his body — her hand finding an open point between his layered-on sweater and his skin. Her gentle touch had become rough as in danced around the warmth of his skin.

      He kept his grip on her thigh like a hungry animal and freed the other from keeping them steady against the table. Eagerly, a single finger hooked around the laced hem of Blair's underwear while he pulled away from the slow and hungry kisses against her neck. He wanted to see her. All of her.

      Her eyes closed, desperately wanting to leave it up to her other senses to feel the moment. But, as quick as they closed, they rapidly opened at the sound of a knock that echoed against the wooden double door of the theatre room. Just when they were getting down to business, and someone had already found them.

      "Blair?" It was Beth. Of course, it was. Out of all the rooms in the lodge.

      "Fuck!" The dark-haired girl hissed, harshly shoving Josh off of her and forcing his finger away from the most vulnerable place on her body. It felt as though the alcohol had left her body and she had finally sobered up.

      He groaned, suddenly annoyed by the disturbance. Josh helped her in picking up the jeans from the floorboards that she hastily snatched from his hands. She fiddled with the zip and the buttons, all in perfect timing for the door shooting wide open.

      The pair found their comfortable places that hopefully didn't give any hints as to what had been occurring. Blair leaned against the table while Josh partially hid himself behind one of the theatre seats he had been leaning against earlier.

      As she stepped into the room, Beth's gaze passed between the two in front of her, sensing what she had walked in on. "Ew. Gross. I don't even know what you were just doing with my idiot brother," Josh's eyes rolled at the unneeded remark, "I need you to help me clean up. The party is practically over... you two have been gone... a while."

      Blair's hands found her hips as she sighed, "I'll be up in a minute," she called after Beth as her best friend left the room — leaving a deafening silence between her and Josh in the theatre room.

      Josh broke the silence first, breaking out into a deep laughter that earned him a feisty shove from the dark-haired girl.

      "You enjoyed that, didn't you?" Blair leaned in closer to him, and he only raised his hands in defeat, "the thrill of getting caught?"

      He smiled down at her, "your words, not mine, honey." Playfully shoving him again, Blair turned around and approached the door that had thankfully kept Beth from seeing them at their most vulnerable state. "You're seriously going after my sister? What the hell do I do about this?" He directed her gaze down toward his jeans, an obvious issue that was suffocating him.

      Blair shrugged, an evil look on her face as she opened the door, "I'm sure you'll find a way to take care of it yourself, honey," she winked, giving Josh one last look at the blue shimmer that dusted her eyelids.

      When she left the room, she shut the door behind him and looked up at the overly large staircase that faced her. She sighed and bit her lip as the dizziness emerged once more that forced her to hold her head.

      She hoped that she would remember this night.

──★ ˙ ̟. A U T H O R S N O T E

╰┈➤ a little romance between blair and beth? absolutely! gotta make beth haunting blair's narrative be even more painful after she goes missing. also never ever written anything sexual before, so i hope that the scene between josh and blair was okay —because they're never gonna be happy ever again i fear so take this chapter in as a breath of fresh air.

╰┈➤ also 4600+ words? yeah we are SO back in so hyped to write this story. because i genuinely believe blair is the most fleshed out character i've ever written, and i can't wait to tap into the after effects of the twins going missing and her schizophrenia.

★ vote   💬 comment — etc. <3