"Come on!" Sam said into my ear, grabbing my hand and weaving me through the crowd of people. We both kept our heads lowered, not making eye contact with anyone so that no one would notice us.

It was a relief when we finally reached the front door, feeling a wave of refreshing cold air wash over my skin. Then after a moment, it turned out to be even colder than I had anticipated. I was shocked that it wasn't snowing yet.

I let Sam continue to lead me down the driveway and towards where he had parked. When I informed Millie that we would probably leave early and that she could leave with Brian if she wanted to, she actually shocked me by saying otherwise.

Apparently, Kiera was in town again and she was willingly to pick Millie up if she needed a ride. So it turned out all of that worrying was pointless. It was reassuring, though. To know that she was going to get home safely without a doubt. .

When we reached the car, I quickly climbed in, the leather of the seats freezing against my ass. "Fuck, turn on the heat." I shivered.

"Yeah, yeah." Sam snorted. "Give am a second to sit down."

"Then hurry up! My ass is freezing." I moved around on the seat, hoping to find a warmer part, but I was unsuccessful.

"I can warm your ass up, if you want." Sam gave me a mischievous smile and a wink. I rolled my eyes dramatically.

"If you would drive us to your house, then I might have a different response." I decided to completely get rid of my filter. What was the point of having one when we both knew the reality of things?

Sam whistled at that, quickly starting up the car and turning on the heat. Without hesitation, he began driving away. "Well if you put it like that."

"You're ridiculous." I finally started relaxing as the car got warmer.

"But you love me." He smirked.

"That I do." I leaned over and placed a chaste kiss to his cheek before turning my gaze back to the window.

He bit his lip and smiled. "I love you too."

It took a little while, but I had memorized the route to Sam's house by that point. The closer we grew, the more restless I was. I was eager to be in his arms and to feel his lips on my skin. Or vice versa. I honestly didn't care at that point. I just wanted to be close to him.

We didn't end up leaving the party until around two-thirty in the morning. It was later than we had intended, but we got caught up in a conversation with some random guys that I didn't know, but Sam did. At that point just about everyone was completely drunk, which made it easier to make our escape.

"Let's get going." Sam laughed, pulling into the driveway and jumping out of the car. I wasted no time getting out of my side, rushing to join him at the door.

He quickly unlocked the front door, holding it open for me. I entered, the house dark and silent. I guessed that his parents still weren't home. It's so weird how they were never there.

I turned to Sam when I heard the door lock behind us. As soon as we were sure it was locked, he didn't waste so much as a second, gripping my waist and pressing me against the nearest wall to the door.

Our lips met in a messy and passionate kiss, his tongue entering my mouth. When his hands traveled down to my ass and groped me, I involuntarily let out a moan.

He moved his hands to my thighs, holding them as he lifted me up. I wrapped my legs around his waist, his body still keeping me pressed to the wall. Sam's lips suddenly veered off from mine, trailing down to my neck. He kissed the skin right beneath my jaw, and I tilted my head back to give him better access.

His hands were slightly cold as they went beneath my shirt, running over every bit of skin that he could. It sent shivers down my spine. My arms tightened around him as he continued to kiss my neck and shoulders. Who knew how long that went on for, all I knew was that it felt really good.

Eventually he pushed me off of the wall, carefully carrying me up the stairs in his arms. I held tightly to him, my legs remaining wrapped around his waist. As he was carrying me, I placed soft butterfly kisses along his neck in return.

I watched as he bit into his lip, pulling open his bedroom door and laying me down on the bed. I smiled when he hovered over me, looking me over as though he was deciding where he should kiss first.

"Get rid of this." He tugged on my shirt, and I laughed. He helped pull me up just long enough for my shirt to be tossed across the room. The moment I was laying down again, he went back to kissing me with fervor.

He couldn't seem to stop touching me, his hands roaming everywhere. It left me even more restless and breathless. He kissed every inch of my shoulders, traveling down to my chest and repeating the same thing there.

He continued that pattern until he reached the top of my pants, moving back to my face and placing even more kisses on my cheeks. I put my hands against his chest to push him back. His hazel eyes were filled with concern when I did so.

"Take it off." I demanded, pulling on his shirt in a similar way to how he had pulled on mine. The concern was quickly reverted back to desire as he took off his shirt. He did so as fast as possible, meeting our lips yet again. The feeling of our naked torsos pressing against each other as we desperately kissed left me dizzy and needy.

As though he knew exactly what I was thinking, he pulled back and brought his head down to my pants. Sam started at me through his blonde lashes as he kissed just above my pant line, his fingers slowly unbuttoning my jeans.

It wasn't until after he had pulled the zipper down that it happened.

"Sam!" A voice yelled from the doorway, someone rudely barging in without stopping.

As quickly as possible, Sam pulled away and I did the same. I was confused and in a daze after everything that had just happened. We both sat up on the bed, me towards the headboard and Sam towards the foot.

My eyes went wide when I saw who was in the doorway.

To my dismay, Caden, Dennis, and Brian were all stood in the doorway, staring at us with wide eyes. My mind was all over the place. Why the hell were they there? What exactly did they see? Why weren't they at the party?

Caden was stood at the front of the group, looking between Sam and I with an opened mouth. Sam had his head staring blankly forward, as if he was trying to figure out what was going on. His tooth was digging deep into his lip.

"You-Sawyer... together? Or are you just fucking?" Caden attempted to formulate something, but it just made me feel worse. I brought my knees to my chest, feeling very insecure about not having any shirt on in front of all of them. "Wait-fucking... you're gay? Or questioning? I'm so confused. We just came to surprise you..."

That made two of us. Or probably five of us, because everyone else was silent and in awe. There was nothing I could think to say, since I had no time to prepare myself for it. I couldn't tell if Caden was repulsed by the idea, or if he didn't mind. I wished that he would just shut up for once so that I could properly think. Why were they going to surprise Sam?

"So you're both gay? I really didn't expect that... I mean, Sam used to fuck girls all the time-who would have thought?" The more he talked, the more I wanted to die. "I guess you two would have thought? Why else would you be shirtless and kissing... we wanted to spend the night because it's been so long, Sam..."

Not wanting to take it anymore, I stood up and found my shirt laying next to Sam's bed. I didn't even bother to try to put it on until I was pushing past Sam's friends and heading down the hall.

•O•O•

"Sawyer!" I yelled after him, doing the same thing that he had, and pushing my friends away from the door so that I could get the hell out of there. It was suffocating. My heart was racing at the mere thought of Sawyer being hurt. God, I loved Cade, but the guy had no fucking filter and it was currently nauseating. Why couldn't he just shut up? Guilt nipped at the back of my mind as I was torn between the two people.

I was horrified by the idea of Sawyer leaving, so that was why I ran after him, catching his arm in my hand. "Sawyer, please." I tried again.

His black hair was a mess after everything that had happened, but it usually was. That was one of my favorite things about him. I loved that he never did his hair, leaving it in the mess that it was when he slept. I did mine like that intentionally, but never quite pulled it off. But he did without even trying.

Slowly, as though he was unsure about what to do, he turned his head. The fact that his dark brown eyes wouldn't meet mine hurt. I couldn't take that at feeling. I needed him to know that everything was alright. But when he finally did look at me, I was at a loss for words. What did someone say at a time like that?

"Sam, please just let me go. I'll call someone to bring me home." Sawyer's voice wasn't his normal one. He sounded both annoyed and in pain. I wanted to turn around and scream at everyone of my stupid friends for ruining something so beautiful.

Without even realizing it, I hadn't responded. I sat there quietly and let him go. That didn't last long, because as soon as I saw him begin to head down the stairs again, I sprung into action. The sound of Cade, Dennis, and Brian all walking behind me left me with the worst sort of feeling. Couldn't they see that I didn't want them right now? I wanted Sawyer. I needed Sawyer.

"Sawyer! Will you please just wait a second!" I pleaded, nearly stumbling down the stairs as I tried to catch up. The stubborn boy didn't say a word, continuing on his way. My chest felt like it might explode.

When he reached the bottom, I didn't stop following him then either. He finally turned around, looking at me with a pained expression. "I don't want to listen to them anymore. Please let me leave."

"Then let me bring you home, Sawyer." I told him, placing my hands on his shoulders to try to relay my emotions.

"It's fine, I texted Millie's sister to come get me while I was walking." He held up his phone, startling me to see it. How had I not even noticed that? A part of me wanted to grab the phone and chuck it across the room. "She's already on her way."

My head was spinning as I tried to figure out what to do. I could fix it, right? I knew Sawyer wasn't mad at me, he was mad at Cade for using that fucking spare key to come into my house. Not to mention the fact that he ran his mouth. If he had just kept quiet long enough for me to find my voice, Sawyer probably wouldn't have been so effected by it. Hell, I wouldn't have been either. At the same time, I knew that could never take the key away from him.

Sawyer seemed to pick up on my loss for words, because he lightly touched his hand to my cheek, resting it there gently. "It's okay. Please, just let me go. I need a few hours to think."

"Sam! Sawyer!" I heard Cade call to us and I swore under my breath. At the sound of him, Sawyer quickly drew his hand back. Before I could even respond to him, he was leaving again.

I heard the sound of the front door open, making me jump. Fuck. Sawyer was already into the center room before I could wrap my head around what was happening.

"Oh, hello!" I heard my mom's voice. She sounded shocked, but polite, just like she always was. It made my head spin more.

I couldn't tell what exactly was said, but I heard the door open and then shut again. Sawyer was gone. I fucked everything up. To keep my legs from giving out under me, I sat on the leather sofa, placing my head in my hands.

Cade was saying something, but I didn't know what. I didn't want to know, I couldn't take his obnoxious personality at a moment like that. Was Sawyer mad at me? I wasn't sure and it was killing me.

"Cade." I heard Brian scold him with more authority than I had ever heard before. It let relief flood my system. Thank God, Cade would stop talking.

There were too many thoughts running around my head. I didn't care that I was still shirtless and my lips were still kiss-swollen. Or even the fact that my hair was messy from Sawyer's hands running through it and tugging. What did any of that matter if he wasn't there to do it again?

"Sam." Dennis' voice was much more soothing than it normally was, and I saw him crouch in front of me. His breath smelt of alcohol, but I think he sobered up at that point. "It's alright."

He wrapped his arms around me, emphasizing the fact that it was actually alright. I wasn't really sure if that was true or not, but I still returned the favor. Dennis was my best friend, and nothing would stop me from expressing that. He was like a big teddy bear, others just didn't get to see that because he fronted otherwise.

"Sam what's going on?" Mom sounded like a loving and concerned mother should at a sight like that. Dennis stepped away and I looked up at her.

She wore an elegant sliver dress, her blonde hair done-up and her eyes soft. They had just been out at some sort of fancy party. Honestly, I wasn't really sure where at that point, or why. She sat down on the couch beside me, wrapping her arm around my back.

I couldn't meet her eyes, staring down at my lap. "Just... nothing."

"Well, who was that Sawyer boy? He said he needed to get going." Mom was good at finding where my problems stemmed, but she never knew the reasons.

Instead of answering her, I looked up at my friends, who were all staring at me with concern, slight shock, and uncertainty. "Can you guys just go? We'll talk in the morning."

"Be more polite." Mom scolded me softly. I almost rolled my eyes, but refrained.

"Its alright, Vicki." Dennis smiled a solemn smile. "We need to get going."

She nodded, looking at them all as they left. Brian lightly touched my shoulder as he passed, giving me his silent approval. It felt nice.

Once they were gone, I pretty much collapsed in on myself, suddenly feeling exhausted. A part of me wanted to just cry. I couldn't stand the notion that Sawyer might have been mad at me. I needed him.

"Hey, Sam." Mom cooed, wrapping her arms around me. I listened as I heard my father stop behind the couch. He lightly touched my back to let me know that he was there, too. God, I loved my parents so much. "It's okay."

"There's something I need to tell you." I murmured into her shoulder, keeping my hands tucked in my lap. I didn't want to hold her. I just wanted to be held the way I had been when I was a child.

"What is it, darling?" Her dress was a soft silky material that felt nice.

I paused for a moment, not knowing what exactly to say. It wasn't that I was scared to do it, it was that I was scared that it would be pointless. What if Sawyer hated me? For some reason, I didn't think it was possible; we loved each other. But what if that changed?

"You know Sawyer?" I asked, keeping my head against her shoulder.

"Mhm." She hummed.

"He's my boyfriend." I told them, listening into the deafening silence, hoping to hear so much as an echo back. I didn't think that they would care, so I wasn't too concerned. But it was still hard.

"How come we haven't been able to meet him before?" Mom asked, and I let out a breath of relief. I felt the couch dip on the other side of me as my father sat down.

"It just never happened." I shrugged.

Mom tentatively let go of me, forcing me to look at both her and Dad's faces. They both had soft smiles on their lips. It was Dad's turn to speak. "Don't worry, Sam. We don't care who you date. But what happened?"

When I felt a sharp pain in my lip, I realized that I had been biting the hell out of it throughout that entire thing. Sawyer has told me that I needed to break that habit. He had no idea how hard it was, but he was the only person who has told me that. Everyone else just let me do it without so much as a thought.

"Just... things." I frowned, wiping the fresh blood from my lips and looking at them both with tired eyes. It was already Friday, given that it was probably three a.m. by that point. Mom and Dad would often go out and party until very odd times, so I wasn't shocked to see that they had come home so late.

Dad sighed. "Alright. But I want to meet him soon."

I wanted to tell him how much I wanted him to meet Sawyer too, but I didn't.

"Yes, darling. You should invite him by." Mom smiled, brushing my hair back with her fingers. "Now run along to bed. It's way too late for you to be up still. We'll talk further in the morning."

As I was trudging up the stairs, I thought about Sawyer. The way he laughed, or that ridiculously determined look he got whenever he made a good point. I thought about the softness of his hair and the truth behind his eyes. I thought about how much I loved and needed him right by my side.

And I thought about what might happen that day. Maybe it was for the best. I couldn't let them hurt him.

They were going to have to kill me first.

•O•O•