Note: This chapter contains sexual/NSFW content & screenshots, as well as a bit of pressuring/not-entirely-consensual sexual contact (though it does not go very far, I promise). Proceed with caution.

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As amazing as it felt to have Hallie in his arms again, Phoenix knew it wasn’t right. Especially not like this.

He pushed gently against her shoulders, finally managing to break away from her. “Woah, woah, woah!” He cried. “Just like, calm down, okay? You’re super drunk, Hallie. You don’t know what you’re doing.”

She shook her head. “I was wrong about you, Phoenix.” She paused for a moment. “Wellllll… Okay maybe kinda right too. You like some boring shit. And you’re kind of a doofus, really…”

Phoenix’s cheeks grew warm with anger at her words. It’s just the alcohol talking, he tried to remind himself. But it didn’t make him feel much better. “Wow, thanks.” He muttered bitterly.

“Noooo! I mean like… you’re really funny and goofy and it’s really cute. And I guess I never realized before. Not til you hurt your foot… and then when you puked in front of everybody… Ahhh! It was sooooo funny!”

“Nice. So I’m a joke to you.” He practically spat.

Hallie shook her head once more. “No! You’re just… funny! I was wrong. You’re not boring. You’re fun! And… can you keep a secret?” She asked softly.

Phoenix simply shrugged in reply.

“I’m kinda jealous seeing you with all those other girls…” Hallie leaned closer to him as she spoke. “I missed you, Phoenix. Did you miss me?”

Before he could reply, her lips were on his neck, and her hands were on his…

WOAH.

“Ha-Hallie… Wait. You’re drunk.” He sputtered as she undid the button on his jeans.

Phoenix reached down, trying to gently guide her fingers away. But Hallie moved his hands aside and kept going.

“So what?” She smiled as he felt his pants slowly drop down his legs. “I still missed you… Do you want me to show you how much I missed you…?”

Phoenix found himself thinking of Gigi, and how sad she’d looked when she’d walked away from him. I told her I’m not that type of guy… And I’m not! He tried to let that thought block out the pressure building between his legs. He wished there was some way to stop his body from reacting to her touch… but he couldn’t.

“Hallie, come on. You don’t know what you’re doing.” He said softly, taking a small step away from her. “And besides, I… I like someone else.” Though he was looking down at Hallie, Gigi’s face was the only one on his mind.

Hallie moved forward and slipped his boxers down as well, lowering herself to her knees in front of him. “That’s okay… You can still like me too…”

The soft touch of her fingers was soon replaced by something wet and warm. Holy shit.

It was like an electric jolt ripped through his entire body. Only seconds had passed, but Phoenix was so close already… He knew he could be sent over the edge any second. It was the most amazing thing he’d ever felt in his life.

But it was so wrong. Hallie was so drunk… did she even realize what she was doing? Fuck, that feels so good… Damn it… I can’t let her do this. How do I get her to stop?

He placed his hands on her shoulders, gently but firmly pushing her away from him once more. “Hallie, come on… Please. You’ve gotta stop.”

And to his surprise, she did.

But not for the reason he was hoping she would.

There was a new sort of warm wetness between his legs now… And running down his legs too. Phoenix felt his own stomach turn at the feeling… And the smell. He didn’t even want to look down at it.

“OH MY GOD I’M SO SORRY!” Hallie had dissolved into a sobbing, wailing mess on the bathroom floor.

“Hey, it’s okay.” Phoenix replied gently. After what had happened last month at the talent show, how could he judge anyone else for puking at the worst possible moment? “Are you alright?”

She looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. “I dunno.” She confessed. “I think you were right about water…”

“We’ll get you some.” He promised. “Don’t worry.”

Phoenix took a few minutes to clean himself and Hallie up as best as he could, then gently guided her back out toward the living room. He tried not to dwell on the disaster that had just gone down in the bathroom, but he couldn’t help it. First ever blowjob and I didn’t even want it! And then the girl pukes on my freaking dick… Seriously?! Who else in the world would that happen to?! Ugh!

Phoenix quickly chased the thoughts away. He had more important things to worry about right now. Everyone was supposed to spend the night at the party… But he knew he had to get Hallie home. She couldn’t stay there like this. And honestly, he wanted nothing more than to go home too.

Unfortunately, most of the people at the party weren’t old enough to drive. And those who were certainly weren’t sober enough to.

“I’m really, really sorry Phoenix.” Hallie sniffled softly as he handed her a glass of water. “I should’ve stopped when you told me to… That was sooooo stupid. And sooooo gross!”

He couldn’t help but agree. A soft laugh escaped his lips. “Yeah, it kinda was. But don’t worry about it… After tonight, we’re gonna pretend this never happened, okay?”

She nodded gratefully, taking a long, slow drink of water from her glass.

It felt so strange seeing Hallie like that. She was so awkward and insecure. It was almost painful…

This isn’t her, is it? Or… maybe it IS her… Maybe she was usually just better at pretending.

Maybe alcohol didn’t really help with Charisma as much as he thought it did… Not after the first two or three drinks, at least. Maybe all it did was bring out the worst in you… The stuff you never really wanted anyone else to see.

“Phoenix?” This time, the voice that called out to him was a welcome one. “There you are!” Meg looked relieved as she walked toward him. “Jasper was looking for you.”

“Where is he?” Phoenix glanced over for a moment to make sure Hallie was still drinking the water he’d given her. “Is he okay?”

Meg bit her lip before replying. “Kind of… He’s pretty drunk. And a couple guys started passing around some pills or something a little while ago… They were trying to talk him into taking one. You know how those jerks can get.” She rolled her eyes for a moment. “Anyway, they started giving him a hard time, and he kinda freaked out about it. Tam took him outside to calm him down. But he kept saying he wants to go home…”

He felt his stomach drop. Pills?! A few drinks was one thing, maybe even a hit or two if they were passing a joint around. But pills? That was something he knew not to mess with. And he couldn’t help but feel proud that Jasper did too.

Okay, now we’ve REALLY gotta get out of here. This party was just getting more and more out of hand as the night wore on. And who knew what people would start doing once those drugs kicked in?

“Damn… I shouldn’t have made him come tonight.” Phoenix shook his head and rose to his feet. “Thanks, Meg. Hallie’s gotta go home too. She’s not feeling so good… Do you and Bryce want a ride? I think I’m gonna make a call…”

His friend shook her head. “Nah, we’ll stick it out for a while. If things get too crazy, my house is like two streets over.” She smiled gently at him. “I can sit with Hallie while you call your Papa, if you want.”

Mama, he corrected her mentally. Though Erik believed he and Jasper were spending the night with Tam, he was still technically under his father’s care for the weekend. But there was no way he could call his Papa… not about this. He’d kill me.

Of course, part of him knew that his father would hear about this eventually… There was no way his mother would keep this from him. But Phoenix tried his best not to think about that right now.

“Thanks, Meg.” He smiled gratefully at her, then headed off to find a quiet corner where he could make the call.

His heart beat violently in his chest as he dialed. It took him two tries before he was successful. All the stress of the past several minutes had sobered him up considerably… But he was still feeling pretty buzzed, and had no idea what he’d possibly say when his mother answered.

She finally picked up on the fourth ring. “Hello? Who is this?”

Harper’s voice sounded so groggy. It was then that Phoenix remembered it was nearly two o’clock in the morning. Fuck.

“Hey Mama.” He tried to keep his voice casual. “It’s Phoenix.”

It was like someone had flicked a switch in his mother’s brain. Her drowsy mumbling was suddenly replaced by frantic cries of alarm. “Phoenix? Oh my God, what’s wrong? Are you okay?! What happened?!” Phoenix could hear the rustling of sheets in the background, as well as a tired groan of confusion that must have come from his stepfather.

“I’m okay.” He assured her. “I just… I really need a ride home. Me and a couple friends… We’re at this party. And one of my friends got really sick. And then I guess people were taking like, pills and stuff?” Oh God, why did he have to tell her that? “And we really just wanna get out of here.”

“I’m glad you called me, honey. I’ll be right there.” Harper’s voice was only slightly calmer than it had been a few moments before. “What’s the address?”

“I dunno… It’s that big gray house on Cliff Street.”

“Alright, I think I know which one… Give me like ten minutes, okay? Wait for me outside.”

“I will…” Phoenix let out a small sigh of relief. “Thanks, Mama.”

“Love you.”

As he returned his phone to his pocket, it felt like an enormous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He could finally escape from that stupid party, Hallie could go home and rest, and he could get Jasper as far away from those stupid drugs as he could.

Jasper… I’ve still gotta check on him. Meg had said he went outside a while ago. Phoenix needed to find him and let him know they’d found a ride home. Then maybe I can go to sleep and pretend tonight never happened.

He’d thought the night of talent show was bad, but this one… Seeing Amna again, making things so awkward in front of Gigi, and then what happened in the bathroom… It was just too much. Was this what his life was doomed to be now? One critical failure right after the other? Whoever’s DMing my life is a real piece of shit. Phoenix thought bitterly as he made his way outside.

His eyes scanned the yard, searching for some sign of his brother or Tam. But they were nowhere to be found, it seemed.

It wasn’t until he’d made his way around to the side of the house that he heard it.

It was a soft groaning, interspersed with sharp, heavy breathing. He could hear a wet sort of sound mixed in with it too… One that could have easily been mistaken for kissing.

But Phoenix knew better.

God, I hope that poor guy doesn’t get HIS dick puked on too… To his surprise, he was already able to joke about what had happened. Wonder who the lucky guy is… For a moment, all thoughts of Jasper had fled his mind. Was he just as bad as Marco, wondering who was getting busy back there?

His first guess would have been Bryce and Meg, but Phoenix knew they were still inside. Would it be wrong to peek? Creepy, even? Probably… But he was just too curious!

I’ll just look really quick, Phoenix told himself as he drew closer to the source of the noise. They won’t even notice I’m there.

Taking great care not to make a sound, Phoenix crept around the side of the bush, and looked.