Caleb came five minutes later. Bringing drinks. And taking out more drinks that I had kept away. I should never have told him where I kept those. We were all sitting on the couch. Chloe was playing with Whiskey, Indigo was just sitting around. I don't think she's feeling too good today. Maybe it's her period, maybe it's something else, I'm not sure. I was sitting there watching her. I got caught thousands of times but I didn't stop. She caught me at times, Chloe caught me at times, and even Caleb, all the way from the kitchen.

He came in with glasses, bottles, and an opener. "Let's have game night."

"I don't see monopoly here," Indigo mumbled.

Chloe moved closer to the table then we all slipped off the couches and sat on the floor around the table while Caleb served us drinks and slid each one of us a glass.

I looked at Indie, thinking she shouldn't drink. But she downed the entire thing in one go and then reached for the vodka, filling it up again. She set it on the table and didn't drink this one right away.

"Indie," Chloe said warningly.

"What?" she huffed, turning to Chloe, who watched her warily for a minute before shaking her head softly and letting it be.

"Nothing. I think I won't have to do much tonight," she chuckled, sipping on her drink.

"What are we doing, guys?" Caleb asked, also drinking down his glass.

I looked at the drink in my glass and decided to make it last as long as I could. I would drink little by little and not get drunk. The other three all look like they're planning to get wasted. Someone has to be sober and watch them. But I'm a little worried about Indie because she downed her second and third drink too. And she's already dancing in place.

Chloe was on her third drink, Caleb was too. I was still on my first and nobody noticed. Chloe and Caleb were laughing about something when Indie decided to get up with her head still spinning.

She stumbled and I stuck my hand out and grabbed onto her immediately. I grabbed the waistband of her sweatpants and steadied her while sipping my drink. She started mumbling and then yelling something about our college and her classes but nobody was listening.

I finished the rest of my drink while still holding onto her. When she tried to move, I pulled her back.

She frowned and looked at my hand before looking down at me with a pout on her lips. "Let go," she demanded, loud and clear.

I shook my head, looking up at her. "You're drunk and I'm afraid if I do let you go, you'll fall right on this table."

She shook her head.

I nodded.

She shook her head again.

I nodded again.

She threw my hand off and I sighed, waiting for her to fall. She turned to look forward and lost all balancing, going right for the table.

I grabbed her by her sweatpants again and yanked her back.

She huffed at me. "Let me go, I said!"

I shook my head, looking up at her.

She tried pushing my hand away but I grabbed onto her waist and took the opportunity to pull her back down to sit. "Oi!" She fell right into my lap. She sat sideways and looked at me, her brows furrowed, her lips in a pout. "I hate you," she said.

I nodded, glancing at the time. Good thing I already gave Whiskey his dinner and took him out on a walk before they got here. I leaned against the couch, putting my head back on it while she watched me.

"Reece," she mumbled.

"Hmm?" I lifted my head and looked at her.

"Have sex with me."

"But you're on your period. And more importantly, you're drunk. So it's a no."

"Reece!"

Chloe and Caleb stopped talking when she yelled and looked our way.

I put my head back down and closed my eyes. I'm tired today.

She shifted and straddled me instead, grabbing fistfuls of my shirt as she looked down at me. "Have sex with me," she said slowly.

I shook my head, pulling her hands down.

"Reece," she whined.

I sighed and put my hand over her mouth but I quickly pulled it back when she bit my finger. "Ouch," I scoffed, looking at her in disbelief.

"Have sex with me!"

"Indie," I rolled my eyes, sighing.

"Have sex with me! Have sex with me! Have sex with—"

I grabbed her hips and pushed myself up to my feet. She instinctively grabbed onto my shoulders and locked her legs around my waist. I grabbed onto her and she stopped talking when I stood up. She stared down at me, frowning.

"What?" I asked.

"Hold my butt."

I bit back a smile and complied. She put her head down on my shoulder while I carried her like a child. "I think she's done for the night then," I mumbled, looking down at the other two. "Please, continue. It's your party. Rock out. Go crazy." I started walking to my room, thinking she already fell asleep in my arms. I pushed the door open with my back and kicked it shut behind me once I came inside. I was walking to the bed and stopped when she lifted her head and looked at me again.

She kept staring and then blinked rapidly a few times.

"Indie?"

She sniffled a little and blinked once more, making a tear slip out from the corner of her eye.

"Indie, why are you—"

She hugged me tightly, putting her head back down. She didn't make a noise. She didn't let one sob escape, she would just sniffle once in a while and hold onto me tighter every so often.

I couldn't move. I had no idea what was happening. I was carrying her while she clung onto me like a koala and cried. Sobbed silently. I thought she would stop in a while and she was only crying because she was drunk. But when she refused to stop even after at least fifteen minutes of me standing there like that, I figured something was definitely wrong.

Either she's thinking of something, or she's in pain. Something.

I moved to the bed and sat down on the edge with her still in my arms like that. "Indie," I said softly.

She stopped sniffling and pulled back to look at me. Only after she pulled away did I realize I couldn't feel her tears hitting my shoulder anymore. It was now just a cold, damp spot. She blinked in confusion. Her eyelashes were wet, her eyes were still glossy. She was still technically crying.

"Why are you crying?"

"Because you!"

"Why? What did I do?"

She groaned, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand. "Why don't you—" She cut herself short and stopped to think. "Forget it." She moved to climb off of me but I held her hips down.

"Tell me."

"I can't," she mumbled, shaking her head softly. "I'm drunk, not stupid."

"You have to tell me what's wrong. How else can I help?"

"Don't! Don't help me, don't take care of me, don't even hang around me if you're not going to have sex with me. Just don't."

"Are you crying because I'm not having sex with you?"

"No," she groaned, throwing her head back.

"Then?"

"I'm crying because... you hurt me."

"When? Where? What did I do?" I asked, scanning her body for any visible injury.

"A long time ago. Here." She touched her chest, patting it softly before holding my shoulder again.

I don't exactly know what I've done wrong, but I know whatever I did just made her cry. And that makes me feel incredibly guilty. I feel so guilty for something and I don't even know what it is. I want to apologize to her, I want to right whatever I did wrong, but I don't even know what it is. "What did I do, Indie?"

She shook her head. "I can't tell you if you don't know it," she muttered.

I fell into thought, trying to think of anything I might have said that hurt her feelings and made her cry. I racked my brain but... I don't think we've had any conversation where I said something bad about her that could have hurt her feelings. "Is it something I said or did?"

"Both." She scanned my face while I thought harder about it. "Forget about it, Reece. You can't do it. If I ask you to fix what you did, I'd be asking you to do something impossible. So let's not go there."

"But—"

"Please?"

I frowned, looked at her tear-stained cheeks. "I made you cry and you won't even tell me what I did or said to make that happen?"

She nodded.

"Why?"

"It'll make things worse. You'll leave." "Why would I—"

She put her hand over my mouth, stopping me mid-sentence. "I don't want to talk about it. Can we please just go to sleep or something?" She pulled her hand back down when I nodded but she didn't climb off of me. She leaned in but she didn't kiss me. Like she was waiting for me to do it.

I tucked her hair behind her ear and held one side of her face before leaning in, my lips touching hers softly. I've never kissed her so softly before. I've never thought she was so fragile that kissing her could break her. But that's exactly what I felt like today. If I kissed her too hard, she would break, that's what I thought. If I touched her too roughly or held her too tightly, she would crack like a China doll. I know she's not so delicate, I know she's strong. But that doesn't mean I can treat her as I please just because I know at the end, she'll get through it.

I pecked her lips one time before pulling away.

She let out a shaky breath before opening her eyes. You could tell she'd been crying. Her eyelashes were wet and looked thicker and longer, her skin was glowing and flushed, her cheeks and nose were a little red from the number of times she wiped her tears and nose. And her voice sounded broken. "Can we sleep now?" she asked.

I nodded, "Mm-hmm."

She climbed off of me and lay down in bed, pulling the covers over her legs and up to her chin.

I crawled over her and lay down next to her, on my side so I faced her.

She looked at me for a minute and then rolled over, her back facing me so I scooted forward and put an arm around her and she grabbed onto my arm immediately like she was scared I'd draw it back. She fell asleep a few minutes later, but I was wide awake, thinking about what happened.

And I think I know exactly what it was.

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