Alice opened her eyes slowly, feeling an ache behind her eyes before she'd even gained full consciousness. "Mm..." she groaned... opening her eyes a little bit to see the light pouring in from the large window to her left. She was lying on her side, facing the rest of a room she didn't recognise and furrowed her eyebrows.

Her body ached, and her lips felt dry and her throat felt sore... how much had she drunk? She couldn't remember. She lay there for a while, slipping in and out of consciousness until she heard a door open. "Is she still out?" A voice asked, she recognised it to be Noah Wilson a few seconds later.

"Looks like it." Another voice grumbled, and Alice recognised the voice as Magnus Johnson's, or at least her chest did before he'd finished his sentence. It seemed to tighten and ache, which only made her want to go back to sleep.

"What did you say happened again?" Noah asked, sounding concerned as Alice heard footsteps and closed her eyes tighter, but then remembered she needed to relax in order to pretend to be asleep.

"I was talking to Trey and Charlie when she stumbled into my dads office, she was pretty gone already." Magnus replied, sounding like he'd stayed by the door as Alice felt Noah's presence beside her suddenly. "I can't really remember but yeah I thought it would be a good idea to put her to bed,"

"I could've driven her home if you'd told me sooner," Noah replied and Alice felt the air go slightly strange, as if it had suddenly gotten colder and harder to breathe. Magnus didn't reply, but she heard his footsteps retreat as if he'd left the room. For a moment or two the room was silent, and Alice felt some hair be removed from her face, which made her flinch slightly at the surprise. "Alice?" Noah asked, and touched her shoulder gently. "Are you awake?"

"Hm," she hummed, pretending to wake up and opened her eyes slowly. Her gaze landed on a messy haired Noah crouched next to the bed she was lying in, his glasses were off and for a moment she almost didn't fully recognise him. He looked so different, a good different, without the large big rimmed glasses that took up half his face. "Oh god, don't look at me,"Alice groaned, lifting her hands to cover her face as she rolled onto her back whilst wondering if she looked as bad as she felt. "My head is killing me," she mumbled, mainly to herself instead of Noah.

"Do you remember anything from last night?" He asked, keeping his voice fairly quiet so he didn't aggravate her headache.

"Oh I don't know," she replied quietly, dropping her hands from her face and looking up at the clean white ceiling. Memories came back in flashes, like snippets of a movie she didn't really pay attention to. "Um..." she hesitated again, remembering the loud thumping music and the taste of alcohol on her lips. Her ears were ringing now, and at the memory of the taste of rum she felt her stomach turn. "I think I drank a lot," Alice murmured, sitting up slowly and wincing as her stomach turned again.

"I think so too," Noah chuckled, sitting up properly and smiling warmly at her. "You disappeared and next thing I know Candice was telling me you'd been put to bed," he added with a playful smile as Alice blushed in embarrassment. "How do you feel? Do you need some water? Or something?" He then asked as Alice sighed heavily and tried to push the feeling of embarrassment down along with the urge to throw up.

"I don't know," she replied, wanting to shower and clean up a bit, since she felt vile in more ways than one. "I'm not sure how to handle this," she mumbled, pressing the base of her palm against her forehead.

"A hangover?" Noah asked and Alice hummed in response as she closed her eyes for a moment since the sun seemed to be brightening itself on purpose, just to spite her. "Lots of fatty foods, juice, maybe some aspirin... stuff like that..."

"Is there a shower?" Alice asked, opening her eyes and looking at Noah directly, she could feel the irritation in her chest suddenly and wasn't sure why the sound of kindness in Noah's tone was making her angry. "Is that okay? Like can I have a shower?"

"Y-Yeah sure, I'll get you a towel," Noah replied quickly and pushed his hand through his hair to get it out of his eyes as he walked walked away and out of the bedroom Alice was in. He glanced back at just before he left the room and wondered if she was annoyed with him.

A few moments later Alice got up and out of the large plush double bed slowly, and after feeling her world spin a bit she put her arms out next to her to balance herself. Her body felt weird... as if she was as light as a feather, but also heavy as dead weight. Her stomach churned and she whines quietly and closed her eyes, wishing for this feeling to be over.

"How're you feeling?" A voice asked that made the hairs on Alice's arms stand on end, her dizziness cleared suddenly but her stomach churned with nerves now instead of nausea. She turned around, her hands instantly dropping to her sides as if she'd been caught doing something she hadn't meant to be doing. Her hair was messy and slightly static, her make up faded... and she was slightly pale from the high alcohol consumption that was now lingering in her blood stream... but Magnus didn't even notice as he stared into her eyes with an intense gaze.

"Uh," she blushed, her cheeks going an obvious shade of red as she looked down at herself, seeing her in a grey t-shirt and her underwear. She tried to remember putting them on but couldn't seem to find the snippet in her mind. "I- I'm okay," she rushed, lifting her hand to her face to try and hide the blush behind her fingers as she played with some of her hair to try and flatten the knots.

Magnus stood silently by the door, and if it was anyone else they would have simply blended into the background, but Magnus dominated the room, even when dressed in grey sweats and a dark green sweatshirt. His hair was messy, and flopped into his eyes but he didn't seem to mind, since he looked so effortlessly handsome dressed down, which only made Alice's mouth go dry and her chest ache. The term crush at this moment seemed appropriate.

They watched each other for a moment, and as usual Magnus's expression was unreadable, his eyes were void of emotion... he watched her face, her emotions as obvious to him as the pink in her cheeks and wondered if she remembered what had happened, but something was holding him back, and didn't want to ask. "Um, sorry I made a fool of myself-" Alice began, feeling the need to fill the silence. "I don't usually drink that much,"

Magnus felt a twinge of offence suddenly but his expression didn't change. "... It's okay." He murmured, glancing at her lips and then her thighs for a split second before looking back at her eyes. Was she talking about the kiss? Or the fact she vomited over his fathers desk and had to be carried to bed? In reality, Alice remembered neither. And Magnus remembered both very clearly.

"Do you need, um, ... help with the clean up?" She asked, holding her arms around her body as if it was a protective barrier from Magnus's intense yet surprisingly gentle gaze... He didn't seem to blink, which unnerved her a little even though she tried to see past it.

Magnus chuckled suddenly and shook his head, folding his arms as if to copy her body language, he'd read that it was a sign to the other person that you were paying attention. "It's already been taken care of." He replied, and saw her let out a soft breath and move some of her icy blonde hair from her eyes and look down at her feet for a moment as if she didn't know what to say.

"Oh," Alice replied quietly and glanced up at Magnus through her lashes shyly. For some reason the way she looked and her shy behaviour sent a strange wave of emotion through Magnus's veins and he stood up straight, dropping his arms to his sides silently as he felt his muscles tense with the unfamiliarity of the feeling.

"Alice," he said suddenly, causing her to blink quickly at the sound of her name leaving his lips, "Do you remember-" he began just as Noah appeared with two fluffy clean white towels beside him. He shut his lips as he saw Noah in the peripherals of his vision but didn't look away from Alice. She looked confused but intrigued at what Magnus was about to say, but also got the strange sense that it was something not to be mentioned in front of a third party.

Nerves swarmed her stomach again and she wondered if she had done something she'd probably regret. Had she overheard another secret? Had she seen something she wasn't meant to? Was there now another target on her back? Her heart began to race, seeing both the boys staring at her. It had only been a few seconds since Noah had appeared at the door but it felt like time had slowed down for her... a mixture of adrenaline and nausea filled Alice's body and she became tense herself.

"...Remember what?" Noah asked, looking between Magnus and Alice, but his tone was laced with bitterness as he saw his Magnus was staring at Alice with such intensity. Jealousy made his hands grip the soft towels harshly, but he kept his expression neutral.

Magnus muttered something incoherent and turned away sharply and stalked off around the corner, disappearing from Alice's view. She released a breath she didn't realise she was holding and watched Noah as he took the opportunity to present the clean towels to her. "Thanks," she whispered, "I'll be quick, um..." she hesitated as her mind flashed Magnus's intense gaze across her mind and distracted her for a moment, "-and then I need to find my clothes."

"They're in the wash, I can go get them for you... and I think your phone is somewhere around here too." Noah replied, adjusting his glasses and then smiling. "When you're ready I can drive you home," he added, causing Alice to subtly frown at his attentiveness. For some reason she didn't like it... but she pushed the feeling away because she knew she had a habit of pushing people away when they wanted to get closer to her.

"That would be great, thanks Noah," she smiled, and although the air between them had gone slightly awkward, Noah still smiled happily at her response.

"Okay- cool, I'll see you in a bit then." he grinned and motioned to where the en suite bathroom was before he left her alone. Once out of the room, Noah pulled the door closed and let out a deep sigh before turning to his left, only to suddenly jump at the sight of Magnus waiting a metre away from him. "Jesus," Noah muttered, still feeling slightly hostile towards him.

"What?" Magnus asked,

"Nothing," Noah replied, going to walk around Magnus but he could tell he wouldn't get very far by giving him the silent treatment... a little further down the hall, Noah stopped and turned back around, seeing Magnus already facing him. "Can I ask you something?" Noah asked and Magnus stared back, humming in response to give him the go ahead as he walked a little closer one step at a time. His behaviour made Noah slightly nervous, but he stood his ground. "Did it mean anything?"

"Did what mean anything?" Magnus replied, stopping about a metre away from Noah again and tucking his hands into his pockets. He knew exactly what Noah meant, but a part of him wanted to see him sweat when he clarified his question, the other part wanted to feel nothing when he heard Noah say Alice's name, even though he knew that probably wouldn't happen. The kiss had felt surreal, as if maybe he could have imagined it, maybe he'd fallen asleep from sheer boredom at his own party and his subconscious had gotten creative... but he could still feel Alice's lips on his...

Noah breathed in deeply and adjusted the way he was standing, feeling like he was shrinking underneath Magnus's intense stare. "I saw you..." Noah said quietly, "When you put her to bed, you... you had her lipstick on your mouth." He continued, then swallowed as Magnus raised his eyebrows whilst each of them replayed the moment in their heads...

The music continued to thump wildly through the house as Noah wandered through the crowd, glancing at his watch and noticing it was already coming up to midnight and there was only a few minutes left. Out of the corner of his eye he noticed Trey and Charlie stood by the wall, throwing back drinks as a couple of drunk girls hung on their arms laughing happily with each other. "Have you seen Alice?" Noah asked after he'd pushed his way through dancing teens to get to them.

"Your Alice?" Charlie replied, then laughed suddenly as he shook his head. Noah could barely hear him over the music and decided to pretend as if he hadn't heard Charlie's mocking tone.

"What?" Noah asked as Trey scowled and shoved Charlie's shoulder harshly, which caused him to spill part of his drink on the girl holding onto his arm.

"I think she's, uh, upstairs man..." Trey replied cautiously, giving Noah a short grimace before patting him on his shoulder. Noah's eyebrows furrowed but he wasted no time in leaving his friends and making his way through the crowded house party to get upstairs. He had adrenaline coursing through his veins as he heard the countdown beginning to sound from all around him, with people chanting with loud, drunk enthusiasm as if their lives depended on it.

It hit twelve, and Noah still hadn't found Alice. The house erupted into cheers and screams, people grabbed whoever they could and pressed their lips together. Noah dodged a few advances and found himself in the east wing of the Johnson's mansion where the crowd seemed to suddenly disintegrate into a few disoriented individuals looking for a way out of the maze of hallways and secret doors.

Noah was about to give up, and he stopped close to the end of a hallway where he knew Magnus's room was... there was no one down here, and it was almost as if the music had been drowned out by the sudden silence. Suddenly, Noah heard a giggle he recognised instantly.

His heart dropped as his eyes landed on Magnus's bedroom door that was slightly a jar. He wanted to turn away, he wanted to not witness what could've been happening inside but before he knew it he was peering in through the crack of the pristinely clean white wooden door with jealous curiosity. "Stop playing around," he heard Magnus mutter, just before Noah saw Alice flop back onto the bed in a t-shirt that obviously wasn't hers. "Give me your shoes,"

"No," Alice giggled and kicked her legs, showing that she still had her sneakers on. Noah was confused at what was going on, and pushed the door open slightly further to get a better look without it making a noise.

"Alice, I don't like shoes on my bed-" Magnus began, grabbing her ankles quickly and taking off the black sneakers in one motion as he held her legs still. He was still fully dressed, and it didn't look like anyone had made an effort to take any of his clothes off, which made Noah feel a little better. For only a moment.

"You're so cute," Alice sighed when Magnus had let go of her legs. He hesitated for a moment before he put her shoes neatly by his desk and looked back at Alice who was now lying on her stomach and looking at him. He felt strange hearing the compliment come from her lips and didn't acknowledge it outwardly, but could feel her eyes on him as he collected up her clothes she'd thrown off only minutes before hand and put them into a hamper.

"What?" Magnus snapped, furrowing his eyebrows and glaring over at Alice who only grinned and giggled again as she slightly floppily moved some hair out of her face.

"Still cute," she smirked and sighed heavily before sitting up and climbing under the duvet. Magnus said nothing again, and this time stood partially facing the door so Noah could see his face... which meant he could see that Magnus had a red lipstick smear across his lips, matching the colour that used to be on Alice's...

"I really like her man," he said quickly, remembering the lipstick smear. "You could get anyone else," he added, wishing that he could shout or shove but he knew if he did either of those things it would end badly for him.

Magnus chuckled suddenly, making Noah shift uncomfortably since it was obvious he wasn't amused. "You've known her for all of two minutes, relax. I was the closest to her at midnight, it was all just coincidence..." He smirked before dropping it almost immediately as if he couldn't be bothered with the facial expression anymore. "So you should be fine." He added, and it felt like a quick shot to the stomach before he patted Noah's shoulder slightly harder than usual before stalking off again.

Noah stood there in silence, replaying what Magnus said over and over again. He pictured them kissing and felt his blood boil. He turned to the nearest wall and in one split second had punched his fist into the stone, the intense pain allowing his mind to be distracted from the rage that almost caught him...

... Alice stood under the hot water, rubbing sweet smelling soap across her skin as she held her eyes closed. The sound of running water calmed her like the rain usually did, and for the last few minutes she'd forgotten where she was and allowed herself to relax. As she ran her hands over her body, Alice's mind flowed and moved with it... slowly showing her memories from last night of someone touching her a similar way.

She could feel their lips on hers, their hands on her back... she was lost in the replay of the moment and for a few moments stood there with her lips parted, now caught in a daze from the slithers of what was left from that sensation.

Alice paused and opened her eyes, her attention now on the fact her memory was revealing to her that she had kissed someone... her head ached a little as she tried to remember who it was, but all she could picture was the feeling... the feeling of their lips on hers, how soft they were... how their kisses made her pelvis ache with need and her legs go numb. "Jesus," she sighed quietly, leaning her head against the tiles of the shower and wrapping her arms around herself as her body craved whoever it was who had kissed her like that again.

Not long after she got out the shower and dried her hair first as she walked over to the large mirror inside this large lavish decorated bathroom and wiped the condensation away so she could see her reflection. Was it Noah who she had kissed? It would've made the most sense. He'd been so attentive, so subtly flirtatious, the whole evening... well, the part of the evening that she could remember.

It surprised her to think that Noah had made her feel that way, the passion... the lust... she couldn't help but admit to herself that it scared her a little bit. But maybe she had more of a connection with Noah than she previously thought...

She smiled to herself and continued to dry off before she left the bathroom, wrapped in the soft cream towel. The material felt so gentle against her skin she almost forgot it was there. The bedroom was light, and smelt clean and fresh like it had remained untouched and new its whole existence. Apart from a few belongings dotted around the room she would have believed that she had stayed overnight in a hotel.