Warning: Talk of drug and alcohol use.

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The moment Harper opened her eyes, she shut them again.

It literally felt like she’d been hit by a freight train. She couldn’t even move her body. Her head felt like it had been smashed with a hammer. Her stomach churned unpleasantly. Her neck and right arm ached terribly… Could it be because of how she was sleeping? But why did her jaw hurt too? And why did her upper body feel so cold?

Steeling herself for the sunlight, Harper opened her eyes once more.

It took only moments for her to realize why she was so uncomfortable.

She’d managed to fall asleep on Erik’s lap, her legs dangling over the back of the sofa and her head resting at an odd angle against one of the stiff arm rests. Her elbow was wedged against Erik’s neck. She could feel the prickliness of his stubble against her bare skin.

And speaking of bare skin… Shit, where’s my shirt?! No wonder she was so cold! Her cheeks felt warm as she finally realized her current state of undress. At least I still have my bra on… Though she was a bit reluctant to tear herself away from Erik’s warmth, she was very eager to find her shirt before anyone else woke up.

Trying her best not to wake him, Harper lifted his hand from her bare waist, swung her legs over the back of the couch, and rolled rather ungracefully onto the floor with a soft thud.

The impact did nothing to help the persistent pounding in her temples. Ugh… I feel like I’m gonna die. Everything was so fuzzy. And despite how much fun she’d had the night before, Harper just felt… Blegh. And not just physically either.

Great, now I bet I’m gonna wake everyone up and they’ll be pissed at me! Harper thought bitterly.

She glanced over at the pile of bodies on the other end of the couch, searching for any sign of movement. But to her relief, the others remained fast asleep.

Harper was not surprised to find that she was not the only one who’d lost an article of clothing or two the night before. Paul was bare chested, just like she was… Though it wasn’t nearly as much of a big deal for him. Guys were so lucky that way! Brooklyn seemed to have lost her pants somewhere. And judging by how closely she was snuggled up to Marlene, Harper couldn’t help but wonder whether she’d been the culprit.

Grateful that her own shorts had remained on her body, Harper carefully tiptoed on her bare feet around some of the sleeping bodies on the floor to search for her top and vest.

Thankfully, they were easy to spot among the other clutter that littered the floor, and her boots were lying not too far away. She covered herself quickly, and threw on her shoes as well, for good measure. Harper still felt like she’d ran headfirst into a brick wall, but at least now she was less exposed.

Harper couldn’t help but wonder how many of the other party guests had already caught a glimpse of her in her bra several hours ago. The thought made her feel so embarrassed, and sad. But… maybe it wasn’t as bad as she was making it out to be?

Ugh! I wish I could think straight!

Her memories of the night before were fuzzy, to say the least. And her head was pounding too terribly to make sense of any of them. Everything felt so cloudy. It was hard to figure out what parts were real, and what was a dream.

She knew her shirt had come off sometime after the pill Erik had given her kicked in — “X”, he’d called it at one point. The high it had given her was unlike anything she’d ever felt before. It had made her feel like she was floating. Like everything was perfect. And all she’d wanted to do was dance and have fun and snuggle up with her friends.

Despite how miserable she felt, Harper still managed a smile as she glanced back at the couch, watching Devin and Rylie’s sleeping faces. There were other memories too, from earlier on in the evening. Of doing more than just snuggling up with them…

Did that really happen? Or was it all some wonderful dream? It was so hard to be sure. She’d been drunker the night before than she’d ever been in her entire life… Though she had a sneaking suspicion it was more than the alcohol that was to blame for how terrible she felt this morning, and how cloudy and fuzzy her head felt.

Making her way back toward the couch, Harper managed to retrieve a few more memories from the night before. She’d removed her shirt because she’d felt too hot, she recalled at last. And even completely shirtless, she’d kept on dancing. And no one had questioned her or judged her for it. Especially not Erik.

After the countdown to the new year, he’d stayed by her side for the rest of the night. They danced together. They laughed together. They made out with each other…

Her cheeks reddened at the memory of where Erik’s strong hands had touched her as they’d kissed. Places she’d never been touched before… But that was all he’d done — touch.

No matter how high he was, never once had he tried to pressure her to do anything more than that. He never did anything she wasn’t comfortable with. And she loved him for that.

Despite the slight warmth that washed over her at her memories of Erik, it was quickly becoming impossible to ignore the incessant pounding in her head, or the unpleasant churning of her stomach. Harper made her way into the kitchen, suppressing a few groans of discomfort as she did so.

Her stomach still did not feel good… She didn’t even really feel like eating. But the grumbling of her stomach indicated otherwise. Maybe getting some food in her system would help with her headache too? Or help put her in a better mood? Harper certainly hoped so.

She glanced around at the filthy apartment, but all she could find were half-eaten, stale slices of pizza that had been left out the night before. As much as she hated going through Erik’s cabinets and eating his food, she could barely even bring herself to look at the disgusting leftovers, let alone try to eat any of it.

Thankfully a box of cereal and carton of milk were easy to find. Harper poured herself a bowl and made her way as silently as she could to one of the vacant chairs. She glanced down into the bowl and, after a moment of hesitation, raised a spoonful to her lips.

Harper regretted it instantly.

Ughhhh I’m gonna die. I’m seriously gonna die.

All she wanted to do was curl up into a ball and go back to sleep… Forever. But instead, Harper hugged the bowl of the toilet, groaning slightly in misery.

She was so distracted by how terrible she felt that she almost didn’t notice the sound of the bathroom door opening behind her.

“Harper? Is that you?” Erik’s soft, deep voice reached her ears. “Are you okay?”

“Um… not really.” She answered truthfully.

In an instant, she felt his warm hands on her shoulders as he helped guide her back to her feet. Erik studied her face for a few moments. “You definitely need some water… We both do. Come on.”

Harper followed him back out into the living room. He helped her sit back down on the couch, then disappeared across the room into the kitchen for a few moments. When he returned, he handed her a glass of water and two small white pills.

She glanced down curiously at them for a moment, earning a soft chuckle from Erik.

“It’s nothing exciting. Just ibuprofen.” He assured her. Though he smiled, his eyes still looked so tired. “Figured your head must be killing too.”

Harper swallowed both pills eagerly, and practically chugged the entire glass of water to wash them down. She hadn’t realized just how thirsty she was until the water finally touched her tongue.

“Thank you.” Harper said seriously, placing the empty glass down at her feet. One of Erik’s friends stirred slightly in his sleep at the sound of the glass hitting the wooden floor, but everyone else remained fast asleep.

“No problem. Just take it easy… Maybe lay down when you get back home.” Erik suggested. “I plan on sleeping this shit off once everyone leaves. It’s the only thing that really helps with the comedown…” His voice trailed off for a moment. “Anyway, you’ll feel better by tonight, I promise.”

“I hope so…”

“There’s, uh… A chance you might still feel a little weird for a day or two though.” Erik continued almost guiltily. “Everyone’s different, so you might be fine. Just a heads up… I should’ve warned you about that. The crazy high kinda comes with a price sometimes.”

She shrugged, smiling slightly. “It’s okay. I mean, yeah, it doesn’t sound too fun… But trust me, last night was worth it.”

The corners of his mouth curled upward into a hopeful smile at her words. “Oh yeah?”

Harper nodded.

“Thank God… I wasn’t sure how you were gonna feel about everything…” Erik replied almost nervously. “Look, I just… I want you to know that I really, really like you, Harper. It wasn’t just the drugs or the booze doing the talking last night.”

Despite how drained she felt, Harper still found the energy for a teasing smile. “What about the kissing? What was doing that?”

Erik leaned forward slightly. “Wanna find out?” He replied softly.

“So tempting… Like, really tempting.” Her smiled widened. “But… I just… I need some time to clear my head first. Figure things out… And maybe find a toothbrush.” She added with a small laugh.

Over on the other end of the couch, a few of the sleeping figures had finally begun to stir.

“Fair enough.” Erik replied softly. “We don’t need to rush into anything. Like you said, you should take some time to figure things out. Maybe wait for your head to feel like it’s screwed on straight again… I totally know that feeling.” He smiled for a moment, then paused before continuing.

“But I won’t lie. I’m really hoping that what you figure out is that you wanna give me a chance.”

“Oh, I want to. Trust me, I do.” Harper rose slowly to her feet as she spoke, allowing her groggy friends so better situate themselves as they awoke. “It’s just… I gotta take a little time to figure things out. Last night was incredible. But it was a lot.”

“I get it.” He replied softly. “No pressure. And no matter what happens… I’m really, really glad you came last night.”

“Thanks, Erik. Me too.”

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“Alright, so let’s make sure we’ve got our stories straight.” Harper told her friends as they continued heading down the street from the bus stop. It was still really, really hard to focus… Erik said the X was to blame for that. But unfortunately, focus was exactly what she needed right now. “We’re telling my parents we met up with Dev this morning for breakfast, and you guys decided to walk me home from your house, Rylie… right?”

Thankfully it was warming up enough that most of the snow on the ground had finally begun to melt, so the idea of walking all the way from Rylie’s house didn’t seem entirely unreasonable.

The other two nodded in agreement. “And then I’ll complain about how cold it is and ask your parents for a ride back to my place.” Rylie replied happily. Of the three of them, she seemed to be the least effected by the drugs and alcohol from the night before. “And my parents will think yours are just dropping me off from our little sleepover. Genius…”

“Yeah, but what about me?” Devin asked softly as they drew closer to the Rosebrooks’ home. “What do I tell my parents?” As they’d planned the night before, his cousin stopped by Erik’s apartment to drop off Devin’s clothes earlier that morning… But she hadn’t offered him a ride home.

“Hmm…” Harper furrowed her brow in thought for a moment. “Oh, I know! Julia dropped you off at my place this morning to hang out with us.” She answered. “So now my parents are driving you home.”

“Perfect!” Rylie smiled. “Now the only thing left to explain is why our backpacks smell like they were sitting in a nasty bathroom stall for twelve hours…”

Harper couldn’t help but laugh. She was grateful that things were working out so well… And that nothing was awkward between her and her friends now. In fact, they’d barely mentioned anything that had transpired between them at the party. Whether it was because of embarrassment or a lack of memory, Harper was not sure. She was too afraid to ask.

Maybe it was really a dream after all..?

The sun was already high in the sky by the time they made it to Harper’s front walkway. None of them were sure exactly what time it was — their phones had all died the night before.

Thanks to the bus schedule, they knew it had been around 10:30 when they’d left Erik’s apartment. But the seemingly endless bus ride from downtown combined with the after-affects of the night before had made them lose track of time.

“Um… guys?” Devin’s worried voice called her attention back to the present. They had reached the top of the front steps, but his eyes were not staring at the house. He was looking behind them, back down onto the street. “I… I don’t wanna freak anybody out, but…”

This can’t be good… A twisting sensation entered Harper’s stomach as she turned around to look. Beside her, Rylie did the same.

“Oh, fuck.” Rylie breathed.

It took Harper a few moments longer to figure out what they were looking at. But then she realized — There were two seemingly unfamiliar cars parked on the street outside her house.

Except they weren’t unfamiliar, Harper realized.

Especially not to Rylie and Devin.

For one wild moment, Harper considered grabbing her friends and making a run for it…

But it was too late.

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Cement made the most incredible pose for me for use in this chapter (the seven-person couch pose). I wasn’t even sure if it was possible to pull off what I wanted, and she made it even better than I could have hoped for. She is a superstar ❤