It was far busier than I had expected it to be, with the bonfire in full swing before we had arrived. We had missed the initial lighting of it, but Alex had dismissed it as being rubbish anyways. People were laughing and talking with each other, holding red solo cups in their hands.

I thought they were a myth.

Kaiden and Alex had no hesitation in walking over to a stand selling drinks and grabbing a cup and mixing in an alcoholic drink and pouring in a coke to sweeten it up.

"Do you want to try a can of beer, or do you just want pop?" I shrugged, surprised I was even offered the choice. I knew Alex hated the thought of me drinking, but I honestly didn't have a real want to do so. I was handed a can of fanta to sip on as Alex bought out the weed threw it onto the counter. Almost instantly, people appeared to buy some to smoke, but Alex was quick to lead me away from it, as though he thought even looking at it would get me high.

"Hey, Sam! Introduce Love to some of the girls, will ya? I don't need her surrounded by guys all the time." Sam looked up at us and grinned.

"Sure thing, Al." Alex groaned.

"You know I hate it when you call me that, Samantha." Sam laughed and held her hand out to me.

"Come on, baby, come meet some of my friends." I walked over to her, laughing at her friendliness. She grabbed onto my hand and pulled me to her side, towering over me.

"Damn, now I know how boyfriends feel." I pulled a face at her for making fun of my height and she laughed.

"So," She turned to the group, keeping her arm around my waist. "these are my bitches! There's Jessi, Harlow and Yuna." She leaned in close to my ear. "Those are the true ones, my ride or dies," She stood back up and flung out her hands to motion to the other girls around us, giving us curious glances. "And there's the rest! Now, be free child! Go mingle!" She pushed me forwards slightly and I stood still, before walking off uncertainly.

I spoke with a few girls and guys for a bit, but my shy nature won over, and when it's party time, there's no reason to be talking to someone who blushes and mumbles.

And so I was now sat on my own, leaning against a tree at the edge of the gathering. My brother was talking with his friends and they were getting louder and shoving each other rougher. Kaiden was with a different group of friends, all smoking and lounging around. Sam was off in the bushes with another girl, and I might be naive, but I wasn't stupid.

Sighing, I stood up and went to walk to the car, thinking I could sit on my own for a bit, maybe call my friends from home. They would be at the school, and it would be early in the morning there, which shouldn't be a problem as we usually got up early for extra-curricular activities anyway. Maybe not Claudia though: she always skipped and slept in, saying that she didn't care as it meant she could sleep in detention too.

"Damit." I had forgotten the keys. Maybe I was stupid. I turned to walk back, smacking into something and falling to the floor.

"Oof." I looked up to find that I had bumped into someone, not something.

"Are you fucking blind?" The stranger grumbled, staring down at me. There really wasn't anyway someone could have missed him - he was super tall, and even in the darkness, I could see that he was gorgeous, and with a nice sense of style too. Awkwardly, I stood up, brushing myself down as he stared at me, cursing my luck. Only I could've missed him. I was definitely stupid.

"I... um... sorry... I just..." He sighed.

"You're Alex's sister, aren't you?" I blinked in confusion. How had he guessed so quickly?

"You two look alike and he had told me you were coming today. Plus he'd never let a girl get into his car without him - it's his favourite possession. Come on, I'll take you to him." He walked past me, not turning back to see if I was following or not. I stumbled after him, thankful that I was at least wearing some kind of heel. I don't think I would've even reach his shoulder without them.

People were calling out to him from everywhere as I trailed behind him, feeling like a lost puppy. He ignored them all, storming through the parting crowd straight to my brother, who was the only one to not notice him. He shoved him lightly, and Alex spun around, his eyes widening when he realised who it was.

"Greyson! Dude, thought you weren't gonna make it!" They did a half-hug thing, before Alex noticed me.

"Hey, Little Love, you been talking to Shades?"

"We just met. She smacked into me in the carpark." Alex focused on me.

"And why were you in the carpark, alone I'm presuming?" I faced the floor, twisting the point of my shoe into the ground, blushing at his overprotectiveness.

"I wanted to go sit there until it was over..." He sighed.

"I told you to stay with either me, Kaiden or Sam. Look, I know you don't like crowds, but you've got to stay safe. I worry about you, you know."

"I know," I mumbled back. He knew better than anyone else. He just didn't have to bring it up in front of Greyson...

"Plus, you get used to people easily. Go sit with Kaiden for a bit, none of those guys will be moving very quick." He pointed over to where Kaiden was sat quietly and I went over and sat next to him.

"Your brother sent you over?" I nodded.

"Wanna play a game? You can connect to my hotspot?" I grinned, brightening.

"What game?" He shrugged.

"You choose. Make it one of the ones you connect to, though. I wanna play against you."

"You're so going to loose, you do realise?" He snorted at my sudden change in demeanour. It wasn't my fault I had a knack for games though.

"Bring it on, sweetheart." I laughed, picking out my favourite game.

He didn't even realise what was coming.