"Ugh, why did you let me drink so much?" Millie complained, one hand glued to my sleeve as support and the other pressed against her throbbing forehead.

A loud sigh escaped my lips as I looked at my pained friend. "You're like a defiant child. You would steal drinks from people every time I looked away. Once you started drinking, you never stopped."

"Well, you should have made me." Millie insisted with a scowl, even though we both knew that she would have found a way no matter what I did. I could see soft circles beneath her eyes as mementos of the very long night we all had yesterday.

At least some of us weren't nearly as stupid. Sam and I ended up staying sober the whole night, just talking and fucking around. I admitted that it was definitely not the easiest thing to do without feeling overly self-conscious about all of the eyes on us, but it was a small step. I was also sure that I was probably imagining there to be way more people watching us, because we were just some guys at a party.

Dennis and Sydney dipped at around one in the morning. When she was listening, he used the excuse that she needed a ride back home. But when she strayed, he held up an enthusiastic thumbs up and talked about how he was going to get laid. Did I mention that they were both completely shitfaced? Which was why Sam called for an Uber to bring his shitfaced friend and Sydney to their destination.

Then at about two in the morning, Caden and Brian got into a huge fight. Apparently Caden caught Brian smoking pot out back, which was why Sam didn't want me to go out there. Caden had been yelling at him. It was heartbreaking to see them leave without each other. It wasn't even the pot that aggravated Caden so much, it was the fact that he also had several cigarette butts discarded around him.

I didn't know why he was so adamant about Brian not smoking, but he was clearly willing to go to the grave over it.

Sam reassured me that they would make up once they both were sober. I hoped that he was right, because everything felt off knowing that they weren't on speaking terms. They just seemed like such close friends, the kind that kept balance in our crooked world. The kind that were simply not meant to be fighting.

It was around two-thirty when the last of the night started to fall apart. Millie was barely even standing, having drank so much. As I was trying to convince her that we should head home, she suddenly turned very green. So she turned her head, and vomited all over some other drunk chick's heels.

It was safe to say that we made our way out of there as quickly as possible.

Sam drove Millie home while I made sure that she wouldn't throw up in his expensive car, and we both helped her into her house. Both of her parents were sleeping, but I knew that they wouldn't care either way. They loved me, and were just as convinced as my own parents that we would end up together. They couldn't be any farther from reality.

After we plopped Millie onto her bed, she went green all over again. I panicked, trying to get her up so that we could make it to the bathroom, but it was all in vain.

As a result, Sam and I ended up spending ten more minutes trying to clean up her poor carpet. She was just lucky that it was white, because if it wasn't we wouldn't have been able to bleach it.

Once we finally had the Millie situation under control, Sam brought me to my house. Instead of heading inside to go to sleep like a normal person, we ended up talking aimlessly until almost four in the morning.

I couldn't decide if I regretted it or not.

Oh, and if anyone was wondering about what happened to Jocelyn, then so am I. It seemed that after Sam ditched her, she simply up and disappeared. We asked Sydney where she went, but Sydney just giggled, saying something along the lines of no satisfy, she find someone new.

I was pretty sure that she was talking about sex.

One thing I learned that night was that drunk people were very hard to understand.

"Oh." Millie suddenly perked up, remembering something. "I forgot my book in the Math room."

I frowned. How on earth could she forgot her book? "Alright, I need to go ask Sam something, so I'll be out in the courtyard."

I watched as Millie gave me a weird look for a second, before realization dawned on her. "Sorry, I almost forgot that you two are on speaking terms now."

I just nodded, staying in place long enough to watch her round the corner. Speaking terms? If only she knew how far passed that we were.

I turned on my heel, carrying on down the empty hallway. It always shocked me how little people sat in the hallways during lunch, but I guess it made sense. I was pretty sure the principal was currently complaining about there being too much of a mess, or something along those lines.

Millie and I had never really had a designated place for where we always went during lunch. We usually just bounced between the library, cafeteria, hallways, and courtyard. My personal favorite place was the courtyard, but that was always Sam's territory, so when we went outside, we just usually stuck to the parking lot.

It was funny how quickly things managed to flip around.

I was heading to there to go give Sam something that he accidentally left with me last night. I told Millie that it was to ask him a question, because she didn't need to think that we were any closer than we already seemed. A good secret was well protected.

I rounded the corner and opened up the glass door, my eyes instantly falling on him the way a stargazer seeked out stars. The sun was shining brightly, reflecting off of his golden curls and creating a glowing aura around him. He had a large smile on his lips as he listened to Caden talk. There were other people surrounding them, but that was to be expected. Honestly, I was shocked at how lucky I had been to always catch him when he was alone or close to it.

Taking in a deep breath, I walked over to them, causing Sam to instantly turn my way. How did he know it was me so easily? Knowing that he did caused my heart to speed up.

"Hey, Sam, can we talk for a second?" I asked, making everyone turn my way. There were even a few whispers spent.

However, Sam ignored them, nodding his head and trying to not show his excitement. I was sure that no one else caught on to it, but I knew that I sure as hell did. My heart continued at a fast pace.

"Hey, Sawyer!" Caden greeted me with a wide smile, sending more whispers into the air.

I wondered what they thought about our whole situation. To see two rivals suddenly start to talk, and even leave school in the same car, was probably really weird. What were things like for a bystander? I didn't understand why the whole school was even so invested in what Sam and I did, but that was just how it had always been. Despite being unpopular, I was well known for the various stunts I pulled on Sam.

I greeted Caden in return, before following Sam aways away from the hoard, creating a mass of eyes on us as we went. It was starting to get on my nerves. Why did they have to follow our every move?

Once Sam guided me around a corner, a wave of relief washing over me. I hated that Sam was popular, and that I was well-known. It would be nice if we didn't have to worry about the rumors and stares.

"What's up, Sugar?" Sam started with a wide smile.

My expression dropped into a glare. "Mark my words, I will get you one of these days for that."

Sam laughed, clearly enjoying me annoyance. God, why did he have to be so attractive? It was borderline impossible to stay mad. "Aw, you know you love it."

I rolled my eyes at him before reaching into my pocket. "You left something with me by accident."

His hazel eyes cast downwards as he looked to see what it was I was talking about. My palm unfolded to reveal a silver key.

"Oh shit." Sam's eyebrows raised as he saw what it was.

That night when we were talking, I pulled out a key from one of the cup holders. After asking him what it was, he told me that it was a gift from his parents a few years ago. If anyone was wondering why he was given a key, it wasn't just any ordinary key.

There were carvings in the silver metal, creating swirling patterns of who knew what. I thought it was so beautiful, and I supposed that I just forgot to give it back in my exhausted mind.

When I asked why he got it, he told me that it was a memento from his grandparents. He never really went into detail about it though, and I didn't bother forcing him to. It sounded like they passed away a few years ago.

"Thank you so much." He murmured, picking it out of my hand, "I can't believe I forgot about it. I'm such a dumbass."

"It's alright. I mean, it was four in the morning when I pointed it out, so we were both pretty tired."

Sam studied the key for a few seconds before dropping it into his own pocket. "We still on for later?"

I laughed. "Of course, where else would I be?"

"No clue." He agreed, winking at me. "So long as you're not spending time with anyone else."

"As much as I don't want to admit it, you're the only one I have eyes for." I decided to give in to the flirting, causing his smirk to grow even wider and my cheeks to heat.

"Aw." Sam bit his lip. "And my eyes are only yours."

"That was that gayest shit I've ever heard," I pointed out, earning me a knowing look.

"You know what is more gay?" He asked.

I raised a brow, enjoying this little flirting session. "What?"

"How much I want to kiss you right now." He answered, making my heart hammer a million times faster than it already was. God, he was going to be the death of me.

"Too bad we're in public." I sighed, not even trying to hide my resentment.

"Why do you have to be so logical?" Sam pouted, glancing around. There were people in the parking lot that could see us. Not that they were looking, but they would most likely notice it if we got any closer.

I hated the whole trying-to-keep-ourselves-alive thing. Thinking about being able to finally do things with Sam made coming out seem almost worth it. If only there wasn't any psycho druggies after us. I mentally sighed to myself.

"I don't want to go back to everyone." Sam suddenly said, causing me to snap out of my slump.

"How come?" I inquired, my eyes watching his teeth as they poked at his lip habitually.

"Because I'd much rather get to spend more time with you."

I chuckled at his incessant flirting, before taking a step back towards where we came from. "As much as I want to do the same, there are people waiting for you that will probably start to get very suspicious if you don't go back. Also, Millie is probably pissed at me because she doesn't know where I am."

With a heavy sigh, Sam nodded. "Fine. But for the record, I didn't want to do this, you were the one who desperately wanted to get away from me."

I shook my head at his shenanigans. "Keep telling yourself that."

He had no idea how much it hurt to have to walk away. All I wanted to do was be held by him for the rest of my life.

But no one ever got what they wanted.

•O•O•