Ever After

Ever After 42

Ever After

Disclaimer: This is a story about gay people...if you can't read it or

Don't like gay people, leave. Go...bye. But if you like it, read it and

Write to me.

"It's live tonight." I said.

"Yeah, I actually got a good band to come down to Hargrove, can you believe it?" Eric asked.

"Yeah, Maroon 5 are tight." Davis said.

We both looked at him with amusement.

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with me saying that." Davis smiled.

"Nope, I mean it's just the bee's knees." I smirked.

"Touché." Davis said, "I really like this song. Wanna dance?"

I looked at him.

"Just as friends." Davis said.

I headed to the dance floor.

"Man, are you ever going to stop hittin on my brother?" Eric asked.

"I..."

"Look, he's going through a rough time and he needs a friend." Eric said, "You hurt him, I'll slit your freaking throat."

"Gotcha." Davis smiled, going to the dance floor.

Eric smiled to himself.

Chapter 42: The Last Supper

"Hey, is my brother here?" I asked.

The guy at the counter rose up from whatever he was doing and I noticed it was Oz, "No, he's out." He said.

"You." I said.

"Me." He smirked, "You got a thing for me, huh?"

"Wha-what?" I asked

"You knew your brother wasn't here." He smiled.

"Actually, I didn't." I said, "You think I have a thing for you?"

"Oh I know you do." He chuckled leaning forward on the bar, "Besides, I can see us doing stuff."

"You know, they say you're a bad boy." I said.

"They?" Oz asked.

"You're a nice enough guy and all, but you've got a big head." I said.

"Yeah, I do. How'd you know?" Oz said.

"You're disgusting." I said.

"But somehow you like it." Oz said.

"What'd you do?" I asked.

"You mean to end up here?" Oz asked, leaning back into a stance.

"Why do people think you're bad?" I asked.

"I used to run with a gang. Not a big gang, but a gang. Grand theft auto, assault, drag racing, Identity theft, vandalism, blackmailing, and drug possession." He said, listing them like they were accomplishments.

"And they let you walk?" I asked.

"I had to start over, get a job." Oz said, "My teen years were fun."

"So, you are the bad boy." I said.

"I didn't get caught much, at least not by the cops." Oz said, "I moved here with my sister to get away from all that. So, when are you going to give me your number?"

"When you ask for it." I said, walking away.

"Oh, it's like that?" he shouted, "Tease!"

-           

Christina stood in the mall, waiting on her friend to show up. It had been so long since they had seen each other and hung out! As she was walking past Rue 21, she looked in to see a gorgeous Latino man. She immediately stopped and stared at him.

"Hey." Kendall said, "Got your tex..."

"Shhh!" Christina said, still staring into the window.

Kendall didn't say another word, she stared with her. Kendall was immediately enthralled by him. He was a dead ringer for J.R. Ramirez (Google him). He was so beautiful, as if he had been sculpted instead of born. Both girls stared dreamily into the window until the guy looked up, at which point both girls turned and pretended to be talking to each other.

"If we're going to...ta...Who is that?" Kendall asked.

"I don't know but he's gorgeous!" Christina said, "We should go and ask."

"Yeah, we'll walk right up to him and ask." Kendall sighed.

"No, isn't that Hope, Adaen's little cousin? We can just ask her!" Christina said, leading them in, "Hey Hope, I didn't know you worked here."

"Yeah, I'm saving up for a car." Hope said.

"You have a license?" Kendall asked.

"I have a permit." Hope said, "But that'll be changing real soon."

"So...who's the beefcake?" Christina asked, not even attempting to hide her lust as she scoped him out.

"Alvaro? He's the new manager." Hope said, "He's totally married."

"No," Christina said, turning to her, "He's not."

"What?" Hope asked.

"No wedding ring and his finger isn't indented where the ring would be, therefore he's not married." Christina said, "Why are you lying?"

"Chris..." Kendall warned.

"Fine," Hope said, shocking Kendall, "He's mine, so back off slut bucket."

"Yours?" Kendall asked.

"Slutbucket? I'm a virgin, thank you." Christina spat.

Hope frowned, "Yeah, right." She said.

"You expect me to believe that that guy is with you?" Kendall asked, "He's too old for you."

"Our love is ageless, or it will be just as soon as he realizes it." Hope said.

"So, you have a crush on him...nice." Christina said.

"No, we're in love." Hope said.

"Well, your love's about to get put to the test." Christina said.

"Hey, who said you get first shot?" Kendall asked.

"I saw him first."

"Actually, I saw him first." Hope interjected.

The girls began arguing as Alvaro walked up, "Is everything alright ladies?" he asked, smiling with bright, sparkling teeth.

All of them stopped and looked uncomfortable. All three girls split and took off in separate directions while Alvaro stood, making sure his breath wasn't as funky as it had to be to make them walk away.

-           

"Dougland." Eric said.

Oz sighed, "Oz, it's Oz." he said.

"It's `Oz is fired' if I catch you around my little brother again." Eric said.

"Hey, I didn't go and find him." Oz said.

"I like you, you're a cool guy, but he's my only brother." Eric said.

"Why're you tellin me this?" Oz asked, "It's not like I'm interested in your brother or something."

"I'm not stupid." Eric said.

"That's up for debate." Oz said before he could catch it.

"Something you want to say to me?" Eric asked angrily.

"No. Nothing at all." Oz said, "Can I go back to doing my job?"

"Sure." Eric sighed.

-           

I stood outside the Terrance family store, trying to build up the courage to go inside and face my mistake. I hadn't talked Hannah in months, not a text, email, or phone call. In fact, I kind of avoided her altogether. Zack moved after Hannah lost the baby and I couldn't say that I was sorry. He was trying to be a good guy, but he sucked at it. Hannah and Harry were now living together, that much I knew. She was going to school and working, which sounded stressful to me. I sighed to myself thinking about all the times we shared. It used to be me and her against high school and then it was me against high school and now it's me against the world, but did it have to be? Seriously, did it? As much as I love Christina's influence on my life, Hannah was my best friend.

"Are you going in?" Marco asked.

I turned to him, "Marco!" I said, hugging him.

"I heard you were in town," Marco smiled, "It would have been nice to see you."

"Sorry, I was unpacking, then I was...being a douche'." I said

"It's okay, it happens." Marco said, "I'm just glad to see you."

"I'm glad to see you, too." I said.

"I know Hannah's going to be so happy to see you!" Marco said, "As soon as you take the leap."

"Yeah, the problem with that is that I'm not feeling leapy." I said, "I'm figuring things could get potentially preachy, so I decided not to be leapy."

Marco looked at me oddly, then smiled, "Go in." he said.

I groaned and headed in, stopping at the desk, "Hi." I said.

Hannah was silent for a minute before coming around the counter and pulling me into a bear hug, "Oh my gosh, I didn't know you were here yet!" she smiled.

"Yeah, I got in a few days ago." I smiled, "So, how are things?"

"Things are...neverending." Hannah smirked.

"So..."

"Yeah, there's so much we need to catch up on." Hannah said, "I have some time after my shift."

"That would cool." I said, "I have some rounds to make anyway, so, that would be cool."

-           

There was a knock at the door as Janet, clad in a robe, answered the door. The robe barely came below her vagina and her hair was tossed back. As she opened the door, we looked at each other.

"Hey, aren't you that gay kid?" Janet smirked.

"I remember you." I said, "What are you doing here?" I asked, checking the house number.

"I live here." Janet smiled, "The question is, what are you doing here?"

"I...I...Is there a reason you're living here?" I asked.

Janet brought her hand up, flashing the large rock on her hand.

"Please let that be a large shiny tumor." I said, inspecting it, "It's a ring."

"I married Ballard." Janet smiled, "Did you need something?"

I then noticed the robe, "No, I just came to see my friends." I said quickly.

"Janet, is..." Ballard stopped at the sight of me, "Adaen."

"I just stopped by to see you guys." I said, "Didn't mean to stop anything..."

"You didn't." Ballard said quickly.

Janet chuckled, "Oh really? I thought we were going to go again." She snickered.

I put together a small smile, "See you guys." I said leaving.

Janet shut the door and turned to Ballard, "So..."

"You answered my door?" Ballard asked, "This is like the one night stand that won't end!"

"Listen, maybe this shouldn't be a one-night stand." Janet frowned.

"It's better if you don't fight it." Ballard said.

"Sorry," Janet said, "But I'm just not that kind of girl."

"Why don't you go and find your next victim." Ballard sneered, walking up the stairs.

Janet smirked to herself and walked back to the kitchen.

-           

I walked in the house and slammed the door behind myself. How could he? I walked into the kitchen and snatched a cup out of the cupboard and slamming it on the counter. I walked to the fridge and got juice and poured it into the cup. Before I took a sip, I sighed to myself and looked forward. I looked down to see something in the oven.

"Dammit, that dinner's tonight." I swore, "I so don't want to go to it."

"Too bad." A female's voice said.

I turned to see an African American woman who looked to be around Eric's age. She was beautiful and...familiar.

"I'm making us dinner." She smiled.

"And who are you?" I asked.

"My name's Melanie. I'm Eric's new girlfriend." She said, "So, you don't want to meet me tonight at dinner?"

"I just have a lot of things going on." I said.

"Sucks to be you." Melanie said, "Listen kid, you're going to show up with bells on. This is a big dinner for us and you're going to be on our side."

I chuckled, "Listen...Melanie, is it? I doubt you have enough tricks up your sleeve to make me do anything." I frowned.

"So, I'm going to have to break you, aren't I?" Melanie said.

"I doubt you could break me." I said.

"I like you." Melanie said, "He said you were cagey."

"Cagey? I'm described as cagey?" I asked, "That's almost an insult."

"So, you don't want to have dinner with me?" Melanie asked, "I'm almost insulted."

"I just have a bad track record with dinners." I said, "Well, not bad, but..."

"I get it." Mel said, "Hopefully this one won't suck. Hope said she'd help but I haven't seen her."

"She's at work...I gotta remember to do that." I said.

"Do what?" Mel asked.

"Get a job." I smirked.

"I'm kind of nervous here, my parents are meeting your parents." Mel said, "But I feel better now that I've met you."

I chuckled, "Meeting the parents...that's a big step." I said.

"The biggest. Meeting the family is bigger." Melanie sighed.

"I should go, but it was a slice." I said, leaving.

-           

Truth be told, there wasn't much to do at Southeastern. Sure there were events, I guess, but I mean in the way of gay guys. It was gay guy lite. I hadn't been with anyone and I had began to wonder was it me or was it them. Cute guys, yes, but no real suitors...lol, suitors! I slammed the door to my room and lay in bed, looking at the ceiling. How did everything go so wrong? Were things wrong? Or was I getting what I deserved? There was a knock on the door and Christina flew in.

"Can I help you?" I asked.

"So, there's this guy..."

"Chris." I warned.

"He's totally cute and totally into me." Christina smiled, "Only problem is that skank Kendall is trying to move in on him."

"I thought you were good with Kendall." I said.

"We were until she tried to steal my man!" Christina smirked, "And also, your little cousin needs to back off too."

"Hope?" I asked.

"Not really worried cause she's just a little girl, but still..." she went on.

I got up and went over to my laptop, "I think we should google him."

"I've been trying but..." She stopped as I looked at her, "Oh, you mean on the computer?" she laughed.

I chuckled nervously and typed in his name to find many hits on his name, "Hey! He was an athlete!" I said with excitement.

"I could have guessed that." Christina said, a dreamy look on her face, "What else?"

"He went to college a few years before us, class of...hey, he was a poet!" I said, impressed, "He is published."

"I don't read, next!" Christina said bored.

"Looks like he was a party boy." I stated, "Nothing bad in here."

"I guess that's good." Christina said, "Now all I have to do is bag him before Kendall."

"Or Hope?" I asked.

"I'll tell you about it later." Christina said, "I've got an errand to run for a friend. Kisses." She said, flitting out of the room.

My phone rang and I looked at the screen to see that it was Ballard. I quickly ignored the call and went back to my bed.

-           

"Dammit!" Ballard swore, ending the call. This was the sixth time tonight he had called Adaen and the guy still wouldn't answer the phone. He was trying to translate what actually happened to Adaen, but how could he do that if Adaen wouldn't pick up the phone?! He threw his phone on the bed and took a sip of his vodka. Something crashed downstairs and there was music. When Ballard made it downstairs, there was a party going on. His wife was dancing on a table in the middle of the room.

"What a catch." Kendall said, walking over to him, "I mean, she's not a stripper at all."

"She's like Herpes. I just can't get rid of her!" Ballard frowned.

"She's a golddigger." Kendall said, "And what does this tell you about one night stands?"

"I don't need sex advice from my little sister." Ballard frowned.

"Somebody's in a bad mood." Kendall said observantly, "You tried to call Adaen, didn't you?"

"Tried is the operative word." Ballard said over the music, "He's not talking to me."

"Can you blame him?" Kendall asked.

"Whose side are you on?" Ballard scoffed.

"Whatever side she's not on." Kendall said, pointing to Janet, who was giving body shots.

"My wife's a golddigging whore." Ballard said.

"Yes, your wife is a golddigging whore." Kendall nodded, "You spent Spring Break in Padre and you brought home a New York golddigger? You're getting really bad at this."

"Can we not talk about..."

"How you slept your way around the world this school year?" Kendall said, motioning to zip her lip.

"Thanks." Ballard sneered, walking away.

Across town...

At my house, we had put together a few tables to accommodate everyone. There was my mother, Hope, my sister, her baby in the high chair, Eric, Melanie next to her, her mother, her father, and a place beside me for her little brother. There was also a place for my father, who we weren't sure was going to show. Dinner was just beginning and already we were down two guests. The air was filled with tension and nervousness. There were polite smiles and exchanged pleasantries. Apparently Melanie's parents were a lawyer and a former Dean of Students from deeper south in Texas. Conservative. It wasn't a thing, though. They were nice enough people, a little arrogant and all, but deep down they were better people. The food was great, a collaborative effort between Melanie and my mom and sister. Mr. and Mrs. Osborn went around the table, asking questions of each of the family.

"So, Adaen, how is school?" Mrs. Osborn asked.

"Oh? It's my turn." I said nervously, "Well, school is..." I thought for a minute. If I told them I had failed a class, they'd think I was a total goober, which I didn't really care what they thought, but this was for Eric, "Great."

"I heard that you have grandparents in New York." Mr. Osborn said, "Are they well?"

"Well? Are they well?" I asked, stifling laughter, "They are well."

Mom shot me a warning look.

"We also understand that you are homosexual." Mrs. Osborn smiled politely. You could tell there was a problem with it, but she buried it, "How exotic."

"Exotic?" I asked.

"You don't see many gay people around Texas..."

"Not in public." I nodded.

"Public? Do you mean on the low down?" Mrs. Osborn inquired.

I chuckled, along with my sister and Hope. Mom stifled hers, as did Eric. Melanie elbowed him to stop his.

Mr. Osborn smiled, "You are a delightful family. We wish our son could be more like you, school-wise." He said.

"Of course." I said quickly. School-wise!? Dick!

"I don't know where he could be." Mrs. Osborn said, checking her watch, "Our son is what you'd call a free-spirit."

"He's a royal screw-up." Mr. Osborn frowned, "To be honest, we're worried about him coming here, to live with his sister."

"Dad." Melanie pleaded, "Not tonight."

"Of course, Lily." Mr. Osborn smiled politely to his daughter.

There was knock at the door. I excused myself and headed to the door. Truth be told, I was excited to be away from the table. Nothing like meeting with new people to get your punching arm ready. I chuckled to myself as I walked to the door, low down, what kind of idiot says that? I'm sure she was a smart woman, but she was more than obvious that she was unnerved by me. They both were. It was a reality check. I had forgotten that there were people who were uncomfortable with me. I mean, I was reminded of it daily at Southeastern. It was just uncomfortable to realize that home was the same. I finally reached the door, I opened it to see Oz smoking a cigarette.

Oz put the cigarette out and tossed it to the ground, "Hey! I wondered if I'd see you." He smirked.

I rolled my eyes, "Are you stalking me or something?" I asked.

"Nice to see you, too." Oz said cheerfully.

"What, in the hell, are you doing here?" I asked, folding my arms.

"I was invited." Oz said, walking past me, "So much for hospitality."

"Hey!" I said, closing the door and following him.

"Nice house." Oz said, looking around on his way to the dining room.

I followed. When we reached the dining room, Oz was greeted by everyone else. He took his seat, next to mine, and patted my seat. Hope and my sister were whispering between them and giggling. Oz's mom was sniffing the air and giving him a disapproving glare, but his father was all but ignoring him. The rest of dinner went livelier. It was an argument between the other family, which made me thankful for my family. Oz and his mother went head to head about his smoking. His father downed alcohol and Melanie looked really embarrassed. My family watched in awe. The doorbell rang again and this time, Hope disappeared. It was shocking how dysfunctional this family was. It made me forget my own family's problems until Hope returned with my father. I was shocked. I looked to my mother, who looked as if she was punched in the chest. The fighting stopped. Pretty much everything stopped.

Back at the party...

Ballard sat in the corner with Davis, Harry, and Marco, who were checking his wife out. Davis was more trying to figure out what was going on. Marco was leering. Kendall was on the dance floor with Hannah. Christina was a few feet away dancing with some guy. Ballard's wife was still dancing on the table, taking shots every now and then. Ballard took drink after drink of his vodka until his bottle was empty. That was no problem because he opened another bottle and began to pour up. His friends noticed but said nothing, for fear of ruining the party. The party was really jumpin, everyone from Juniors in high school to Seniors in college were there! It was the kind of party Ballard loved to throw, but somehow he wasn't having much fun.

"So, I guess it's not a surprise that Adaen didn't show up." Marco said, taking a sip of his drink.

"I don't think there's any danger of that." Ballard said drunkenly, "He hates me."

"Yeah, he really does." Davis said, "But he hasn't really talked to any of us."

"Yeah," Marco said, "I talked to him and he was really weird."

"How?" Davis asked.

"He was just really down, ya know." Marco explained, "But he seemed better when I saw him outside the store."

"Yeah, Hannah really misses him." Harry said, "She won't say it or anything, but you can just tell."

"Maybe he doesn't feel, like, welcomed." Davis said, "Maybe something happened to him...maybe..."

"Maybe you're just hard up." Harry joked.

"Yeah, maybe." Davis chuckled.

Ballard shot them a disgusted look and continued to drink.

"It doesn't seem like a party without someone getting humiliated." Marco said quickly.

"Give it time." Ballard said even quicker.

Harry, Marco, and Davis chuckled.

Back at the house...

We had finished dinner and had moved to the living room. I was in the kitchen, rinsing off dishes. I had volunteered because...well, it was better than all the small talk and tension. It was my own little way of saying, "Bye, bitches". I had been in there pretty much ever since everyone had gone into the living room. The whole Dad showing up just made everything more unbearable. I thought having my family back together would be good and might cause everyone to see that we're better as a family, but this was just...URGH!

"You can't really hide here forever." Oz said, standing by the door.

I chuckled and let the dish fall into the sink, "I thought you'd be outside losing a lung." I smiled smugly.

Oz chuckled, "You are incredibly funny." He said, "What are you doing in here?"

"Washing the same dish over and over." I said casually.

"Sounds...redundant." Oz said, walking over and leaning on the sink, "So you're hiding from the new family unit? Smart. There is this party across town...whaddya say we hit it up?"

"I am not going anywhere, especially not with you." I said innocently, "I barely know you."

"Do you really want to stay here? Can you honestly say that you want to go into that room with the nuts?" Oz asked.

"Are you calling my family nuts?" I asked.

"No, I'm actually calling my family nuts, but you can join in if you wanna." He smirked.

Just as I was about to laugh at his joke, there was shouting in the living room. I ran out in time to hear:

"So, you're dating someone? We're not even divorced yet!" Mom screamed.

"We're separated! You have a life and I have a life!" Dad shouted back.

"You guys." Eric said, standing between them, "Mom, it's messed up, but he's right. You're separated."

"Are you kidding me? He's a jerk!" My sister said loudly.

"He's a guy." Eric said.

"So, you'd act the same way?" Melanie asked.

"Of course he would because guys are idiots!" My sister frowned.

"Can we all just take a minute?" I asked.

"You're doing this in front our children, too! God, maybe this is why nobody wants to see you, not even your youngest child!" Mom said angrily.

"Oh yeah?! I guess he didn't tell you about the weekends I would come and see him. I see all my children!" Dad said, "He forgave me a long time ago, no thanks to you!"

Mom was quiet for a minute and looked at me, betrayed and lost.

"Mom, I..." I started.

"You lied to me. I asked you had you seen your father and you said you hadn't!" Mom said, walking over and ascending the stairs.

I ran to the stairs, "Mom!" I said quickly.

"You lied to me!" Mom said angrily, "I'm not asking you to pick sides, I'm glad you and your brother and sister see your father! I am humiliated, once again, and this time it's because of my son and his father." She said, going up the stairs.

I bit my lip and didn't bother to turn to the rest of the house. I just grabbed my keys and left. Unknown to me, Oz was quickly behind me.

§   

Ballard was drinking very heavily, very happy his `wife' had stopped dancing on the tables and had now moved on to some undisclosed part of the house. Kendall had disappeared too, probably because of her ex slinking in with his new girlfriend. Ballard resisted the urge to throw him out on his ass. He might be a little too drunk at this point to throw anyone out on their ass. Davis and Marco were now talking about some stupid sports team. It wasn't important. Harry and Hannah were dancing very seductively on the dance floor. Ballard smirked; he knew what they would be doing in about fifteen or twenty minutes, maybe sooner. Christina was now hugged up with a different guyl I guess her `virginal' ways were null and void. Ballard was about to take another drink when he saw Adaen come through the door, followed by some guy who looked like he should be on 90210. It was annoying. Very annoying. I walked in, taking the first bottle of alcohol I could find. Oz had hopped in the car with me and inquired where, exactly, we were going. He was obviously excited when we got to the party. All his worry for me seemed to have faded as we drove up to the party. Even though the party was at Ballard's house, I hoped I wouldn't run into him...or Davis for that matter. The last thing I needed was for an awkward silence followed by some awkward screaming. I took more than a swig from the bottle and shushed Oz. He was congratulating me on something or other. I stopped when I saw Ballard stagger over to me and send me a wicked smirk.

"I didn't think you would come here." He said grandly.

"Well, I..." I started.

"I didn't think you would have the balls." Ballard said, still smirking drunkenly. I felt embarrassed as the crowd began to pay attention to us, "And then you walk in here with your boyfriend. Pathetic Homo."

I stared at him, unsure what to say. Nothing can really take back embarrassment. I learned that lesson years ago. It felt like years ago all over again, only this time I was being embarrassed by a different person.

"So, where'd you find this one?" Ballard asked, "Isn't it enough you've been on your back for everyone around here?"

"You should talk." I frowned.

"I can't believe you actually showed up. Do you remember what I used to call you in High School?" Ballard asked.

"Sir?" I frowned.

"That fa.." Ballard started.

"Hey!" Oz interjected, "You need to back off, jack off."

"You're going to come in my house and call me a jack off?" Ballard said, amazed. He turned to me, "I like this one. Why don't you take him and get the Hell out of my house!"

"Ballard..." Christina said.

"You stay out of this, born again whore!" Ballard spat.

"Dude, maybe we should just get you..." Davis started, grabbing Ballard by the arm.

"Get the fuck off me!" Ballard said, snatching away.

"Jerk." Christina sneered.

"No need in asking how many times you've laid on your back in college. You and Adaen probably took on the entire football team together. Were the grass stains hard to get out?" Ballard smirked.

"And this dick is your friend?" Oz asked.

"No, he's not. He's just a dick." I said, turning to leave.

"Oh come on, all that gay hasn't given you thick skin?!" Ballard shouted after me.

Oz flipped him off and followed.

"Oh come on, it's all fun!" Ballard shouted after them.

"Dude..." Davis said, leaving with Christina, Marco, Hannah, and Harry.

Outside...

"Would you stop?" Oz asked, grabbing my arm, "You actually put up with his shit? You should have..."

"What? Told everyone that I used to date him?" I asked.

Oz looked impressed, "You used to date him?" he asked.

"Not date exactly...Doesn't matter now." I frowned.

"Guy's a dick. You didn't deserve that." Oz said.

"So, I got embarrassed...must be a party." I sighed, "I really don't want to talk about it."

"You didn't deserve any of it tonight." Oz said, "You're a better guy than me."

I chuckled, "You obviously don't know me." I smiled.

Oz leaned in and kissed me quickly, to which I pushed him off.

"Sorry. It's what I normally do when I'm comforting somebody...usually a girl, but..." Oz said.

I rolled my eyes and thought about him. My life wasn't exactly a mess, but it wasn't the best. As he was about to turn and walk away, I grabbed his hand and he turned to me. I took a deep breath and leaned in, kissing him. He didn't taste like I expected, like an ashtray, he was...well, tasty? Great. He was great. As we were kissing, The gang walked out. Everyone stood, bewildered. Davis felt like someone had just kicked him in the balls.

"Davis, I'm sure this isn't..." Hannah said quickly.

Davis nodded and walked away, leaving them to watch Oz and I kiss.

§   

"Hey," Janet said, finding Kendall in the laundry room and sitting on the dryer, "What are you doing in here, sister-in-law? There's a party out there! Your brother just went agro on some dude."

"Was he black and cute?" Kendall asked.

"He was here earlier." Janet said, "I think his name is Abernathy or something."

"Adaen?" Kendall asked, "He was here?"

"Yeah, but he's gone now." Janet said, "We shouldn't let Ballard get that drunk. Aren't they, like, friends?"

"Yeah, something like that." Kendall said nervously.

"You don't like me, do you?" Janet asked, sitting beside her on the washer, "We're going to be good friends."

"You think so?" Kendall said, brushing her off.

Janet chuckled, "You know, you have the cutest lips..." she said, touching Kendall's lips. All of a sudden, she leaned in and kissed Kendall. The two shared a passionate kiss before Kendall hopped off the dryer, "...Relax, it's just a kiss. You're tipsy, I'm drunk. We're a Katy Perry song." She said, hopping off the washer, "You should join the party." She said, leaving.

Kendall stood, her fingers on her lips. She was shocked and oddly enough, exhilarated.

§   

When I came through the door to my house, a light flipped on and Eric was sitting in a chair.

"Dramatic much?" I asked.

"Are you slightly drunk?" Eric asked, "And you were driving?"

"Actually Oz drove." I explained.

"Oz?" Eric asked, "Didn't I ask you to stay away from him? God, I'm going to have to have a talk with him again!"

"You talked to him?" I asked, "About me and him?"

Eric sighed, "I just wanted to protect you." He said, "He's not good for you."

"And you'd know that how?" I asked, "How about next time you feel like having a talk about me to a guy, you don't! If I want to date him, I'm going to date him. You don't get a say."

"Aid..." Eric groaned.

"I'm not saying I'm in love with the guy, but maybe I want to see where it goes!" I said, "Why do I even come here anymore?"

"Did something happen at the party?" Eric asked.

"Yes, dad, something happened at the party. Besides getting kissed by Oz, which I really enjoyed, Ballard shredded me in front of everyone." I frowned, "I left here because I was getting shredded and went to a party, filled with people I used to know, only to get shredded again. If anyone needs me...don't." I said, heading up the stairs.

Eric groaned, sighed, and sat back in his chair.

§   

Harry walked in the store to get condoms. He was excited to have a night with Hannah, especially after everything that had happened tonight, all the broken hearts. It felt good to be the only couple to actually be happy. And Hannah was waiting for him in the car. He happily bought the condoms and turned to see a guy in a mask, pointing a gun at him.

"Get against the wall," and he turned to the cashier, "And give me the fuckin money!"

Harry instinctively tried to grab the gun and they fought for a second, knocking down items from the shelves! The gun accidentally went off and Harry clutched his stomach. The gunman stood and ran from the store with his gun in hand. He snatched off his mask by the time he got the parking lot, figuring it was too dark. Oz sucked in several breaths, expelling the gun in an opened window of a car. Hannah immediately noticed him and watched him as he walked through the parking lot, thinking nothing of it.

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Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Please give me some feedback because that's how I get started. So, I want you guys to tell me how I'm doing.