I asked Caelum as we stepped into the hangout. It wasn't that filled up since it was just minutes past 7 PM. I hadn't been here before but from the little knowledge I had, I knew that people started arriving at the club a few hours before midnight.

"I don't know." He shrugged, sitting on the stool. "We just sit here and wait until Emery arrives."

"Nice plan." I nodded, squinting my eyes at the colorful probe lights rotating around the club. Whatever Caelum said was as good as not having a plan but I didn't want to argue with him since I didn't have a better plan.

After sitting for close to twenty minutes, I turned to him. "Have you come here before?"

"What?" he asked.

"Have you come here before?" I screamed over Kehlani's Toxic.

He nodded, taking a sip from his second bottle of beer. "Yeah."

"Oh." I nodded in understanding. "That's why the bald bouncer recognized you."

He shrugged, then asked the bartender for another bottle. "Yeah."

"But how do you keep entering?" I asked curiously. "You're not turning eighteen anytime soon."

"They don't know that."

"Well, it's not right," I said, taking a large gulp from my orange juice.

He quirked a nicely carved brow, placing both his arms on the concrete bar. "Yeah, it's not," he said, glancing at me through his lashes. "Go inform them that I'm not yet eighteen, then we'll both be kicked out and we won't be able to watch Emery."

That made a lot of sense. I didn't have a fake ID but Caelum had one and he was able to convince the bouncers that I was over eighteen. It took a lot of effort to convince them to let me in, though.

I stared at him for a millisecond, before looking around. "I don't see Emery here. When is she arriving?"

"I don't know," he muttered, taking a large gulp from the fourth bottle.

"Caelum, stop drinking!" I scolded.

"Why?"

"It's bad for your health and you're still too young," I said. "You'll eventually get drunk, you won't be able to assist me when Emery comes, and you'll fall sick tomorrow."

"Too late." He hiccupped and I groaned in annoyance.

The only person I had to assist me with my plan was now drunk. What was I supposed to do?

I received a text from Emery almost immediately and all I wanted to do at that point was to jump into a well. Apparently, Cole changed the location for their date and they were currently on their way to the restaurant.

"Hey." Caelum grinned goofily at me and my heart fluttered. "Who was that?"

Sighing, I shook my head and placed it in my hands. "Emery isn't coming to the hangout."

"Then why are you sad?" he asked, placing an arm on my shoulder and pulling me closer. "I am here, aren't I?"

Caelum was a happy drunk.

"Let's just go home," I said. "Mum wants me back before ten."

"Oof," he pouted, his eyes turning glassy. "I wish I had a mum."

Caelum was not a happy drunk.

"Let's not talk about this now," I said, slowly pulling him to his feet. "You're drunk."

"Doesn't matter."

"No, C." I uncrossed his arms, gesturing for him to walk beside me. "We can only talk about it when you're not drunk and when you're fully aware of your surroundings."

He was quiet for some time before linking his fingers with mine. At that moment, I died three hundred and fifty-seven times before my cheeks flamed abnormally.

He was the first guy to ever hold my hand, except my family members obviously. I memorized the feel of his hand on mine. His fingers were rough and slightly calloused probably from years of playing the guitar. I smiled softly at the sight before raising my head to look at him.

"Do you want to know why I disliked you?"

"Hate is the right word to use in that sentence." I laughed awkwardly at the conversation change. "But I do want to know. I may as well get one or two things out from drunk Caelum tonight."

He deeply inhaled the cool air when we finally stepped out of the club.

"I'm freezing," he said. "But I've known you for a long time."

I laughed out loud, shaking my head at him. I actually thought I was going to get something out of drunk Caelum but whatever he said didn't make sense in the slightest bit.

"Just get in the car," I said, opening the passenger side.

"No."

"Please, C?" I begged, unlinking his fingers from mine.

"Fine," he said. "Only because you asked nicely."

Snorting, I ran to the driver's side and entered the car. I was going to drop Caelum at home first before going home. When we arrived at the Jensen's household, Caelum wasn't willing to get down from the car. I tried dragging him out but it felt like I was going to break my waist before we even reached the door.

After what seemed like hours of dragging Caelum, he finally stood and we walked to the door together. The key was under the flower pot and I realized there was nobody at home. Even though I found him annoying, I could not just leave him in the living room. The least I could do was put him to sleep. And that was what I decided to do.

"Oh, my God," he said as I wrapped my arms around his waist, helping him up the stairs. "You're so pretty." He grinned, stumbling a little. I tried to hold him up as I pushed his bedroom door open, but it wasn't as easy as it sounded. Caelum weighed an absolute ton.

I steered him towards the bathroom, wheezing along the way.

"Are you seducing me, Daesyn?"

I laughed, despite the situation. "No."

"Then?"

"We need to get you cleaned up, and then you're going straight to bed," I said.

And that was pretty much all he needed to hear because he followed me into his ensuite without much stress. I grabbed a fresh towel from the cupboard, placing it on the rail before turning on the shower.

When I turned around, he was struggling with his jeans and I told him to chill. I stepped forward and undid the button of his jeans while he quietly watched me.

I wished we were in different situations because all I wanted to do was reach up and kiss him. And you know what? It felt like he could read my mind, because he pulled me up and without a word, placed his lips on mine.

Time froze.

I froze.

His lips were soft, just like what I'd always imagined. On the tip of his tongue, which was slowly parting my lips, I tasted the alcohol he'd taken in the hangout.

Caelum continued to kiss me, his hand reaching up to cup my face and sending tingles along my skin, but I didn't move. My thoughts were chaotic. It felt so surreal and so wrong and so damn right.

Against my lips, he murmured, "You're supposed to move, Daesyn."

His words probably sparked something in me, because before I knew it, I was backing away. "I'm sorry," I said, avoiding the look of rejection in his eyes. "You're drunk, Caelum."

No words were spoken after that, but things were done a lot quicker. Caelum fell asleep just as his head touched the soft pillow, and I was left staring at his figure for several agonizing minutes.

When I saw he wasn't waking up anytime soon, I brought a glass of water from the living room, placed it on the nightstand along with the hangover medicine I could find. With a peck to the side of his face and my heart filled with guilt, I tucked him in and left his room.