Alan's POV

"Austin. Hurry the fuck up!" I complain, knocking on the bathroom door for the millionth time that evening. "It's eight. Everyone's going to be there already."
"Calm down, Alan." Austin laughs as he finally unlocks the door and walks out of the bathroom. "The party won't kick off until at least ten anyway."
He looked amazing. Well he always looked amazing, but tonight he looked even more amazing and I never knew that was even possible. He was wearing tight black skinny jeans and a red and black flannel shirt.
"Enjoying the view?" He asks, raising an eyebrow at me.
"You look... Wow." I reply quietly.
He bends down slightly and rubs my cheek with his palm before connecting our lips together.
"I could say the same thing about you." He whispers against my mouth.
I smile and he pulls away.
"Come on, let's get going." Austin laughs and takes my hand in his.

* * *

Shayley's house was huge. Austin knocked loudly on the wooden door before he pushed it open to reveal a large foyer. The house was dark inside but strobe lights were flashing and people were already dancing, holding plastic red cups.
Austin puts his arm around me and pulls me closer so that our hips are touching as we walk. We make our way into the lounge where there are many more people. A couple are lying on one of the long, leather couches making out and grinding on each other. I look away, feeling awkward for watching and turn to Austin.
"Do you want a drink?" Austin asks.
I nod and follow him into the kitchen. Almost immediatly he pushes a cup into my hand and downs the drink in his own.
"Slow down, Austin." I say, taking a small sip from mine. "We've only just got here."
Austin smiles and shakes his head slowly. "It's a party Alan. Drink up!"
I contemplate it for a moment before bringing the cup to my mouth and downing it's contents.

It takes me precisely four drinks before I start feeling dizzy. I've always known I was a light-weight. Although it may be because I'm so small. I lost Austin a while ago. He is much more drunk than I am, since he has drank more than double that amount I have8. I decide to get some fresh air, espicially since the kitchen was becoming more and more crowded by the second and I really didn't want an anxiety attack right now. I wanted to give Austin some space to be with his friends tonight and I don't want to freak out and have to go and latch myself onto him all night.
I slide open the back door of Shayley's house and sit down on the edge of the decking, leaning back on my hands and staring up at the sky. It was completely pitch black out here except for the light from inside pouring through the windows and the dozens of stars above.
"A little too much for you in there, eh?" A voice laughs.
I turn around and gasp, only to find Shayley making his way towards me. He sits next to me and lights a cigarette. I cringe at the sight. I hated even the thought of smoking.
"Just a bit crowded, that's all." I reply and sit up so that I am clutching my knees to my chest.
"Yeah. I didn't expect this many to show up to be honest." He says, flicking some ash off of his cigarette. "Want a cigarette?"
I shake my head quickly. "I don't smoke."
"Oh."
We sit in a comfortable silence, just staring ahead. The only noise was the faint thumping of the music coming from inside.
"I'm going to go and find Austin." I mumble, deciding that I hadn't seen him in a couple of hours so it was probably best to go and make sure he wasn't passed out in his own vomit or something.
"Wait, Alan." Shayley calls, stumping out his cigarette and walking over to me. "I wanted to ask you something."
"Go ahead." I reply, his blue eyes searching mine.
He bit his lip and moved his fringe out of his eyes. "Are you and Austin like... dating?" He asked, nervously.
"Yeah, we are."
"Oh." He says, sounding disappointed.
I stare at him for a moment, waiting to see if he had anything else to say. Although, I couldn't understand why he asked that, or why he sounded so upset by it. I started to get paranoid that maybe he liked Austin but quickly shook the thought away.
"Well I better go back inside." He mutters before sliding back open to door and disappearing into the masses of people.

* * *

"Austin!" I call as I search the second floor for the third time that night. "Austin! Are you up here?"
"Alan." I hear.
I open the bathroom door and see Austin sat slumped against the side of the sink. He wasn't alone. Phil was sat at the opposite end of the room with a girl in his lap and there was another girl, who I had never seen before, sat too close to Austin for my liking.
"Where have you been all night? I've been looking for you everywhere." Austin slurs, attempting to stand up by holding onto the girl's shoulder.
"You couldn't have looked everywhere or else you would have found me." I mutter and roll my eyes. "I was outside with Shayley."
"With Shayley?" Austin questions, raising his eyebrow.
"Yes. Is that OK with you?" I answer, annoyance obviously apparent in my tone since Austin looks taken aback.
"O-Of course it is. What's wrong Alan?"
"Nothing. I'm going back downstairs."
"No, wait!" Austin shouts after me as I turn away and begin to walk off.
Austin grips onto my wrist and I flinch. I always flinched when someone touched me there, I didn't mean to. I guess it was just a nervous habit.
Austin notices and lets go of me, looking extremely apologetic. I pull a weak smile at him so that he knows I'm OK and he smiles back, before moving closer to me. He interwines our fingers and stares at me. His eyes are red and seem distant and he sways slightly as he tries to keep himself stood straight.
"Austin." I begin, deciding to ask him now while he's still concious. "What's going to happen to us when you leave for college?"
"What do you mean?" He asks, letting go of my hands only to rest his on my shoulders. Although he was probably using me as support so that he didn't fall.
"We're going to be miles away, Aus. Will our relationship still work?"
He sighs and shakes his head slowly. "I-I don't know Alan. Can we not talk about this right now?"
"We can't keep putting off having this conversation Austin. You leave next month. We don't have much time left to tal-"
I'm cut off by Austin bringing his lips to mine. It starts out as a gentle, quick kiss but soon heats up. Austin pushes me against the wall and slides his tongue across my bottom lip. I run my hands through his hair and part my lips slightly. Austin reaches down and unbuttons the button on my jeans. I place my palms on his chest and push him back, he stares back with a confused look on his face.
"Not here Aus." I say, stepping away from the wall.
"Right." Austin sighs. "Whatever." He runs a hand through his hair and then walks back towards the bathroom.
"Aus!" I shout after him but he doesn't turn to look back, he just walks into the bathroom and closes the door.
I can hear a cheer and then giggling from inside and decide to get out of here before I start getting upset.

I have no idea why Austin was so mad with me. It's not like I rejected him, I just didn't want to do anything in the hallway of someone else's house. That's reasonable, right? It's probably just the alcohol talking and Austin will be fine again tomorrow.
I made my way down the stairs and bumped straight into Shayley who was running.
"Oh shit. Sorry Alan." He says, gripping onto the top of my arms as he stops me from tripping. "Are you OK?"
"I'm f-fine. I just need to get out of here." I admit, looking down at the floor.
Shayley puts two fingers underneath my chin, just like Austin does, and lifts my head so that I can meet his gaze. I watch as he scans both of my eyes with his.
"What's happened?" He asks, sounding genuinely concerned.
"It's nothing." I mutter.
"It must be something, otherwise you wouldn't be upset."
I sigh and sit down on one of the steps on the staircase. Shayley does the same, sitting so close that our thighs are touching.
"It's Austin." I start.
"Well, that I gathered." He smiles, showing a set of perfectly straight teeth.
I don't know if it was the alcohol or the fact that I was mad at Austin, or maybe it was just the dim lighting, but sitting here, Shayley looked really attractive.
"I think he's mad with me and he's with some girl in the bathroom and although I know he wouldn't do anything, I can't help but be paranoid."
Shayley puts his hand on my back and smiles again. "You have every right to be paranoid Alan but I'm sure he wouldn't do that. He's a decent guy."
"I know." I half-smile back. "Why did you ask if me and Austin were dating earlier by the way?" I decided to ask since I may not have the chance again. It's not like I'm going to stay in touch with Shayley after this.
Shayley looks down at his hands and bites his lip, his lip ring clicking against his teeth. "Um.." He starts.
"You like Austin, don't you?" I mutter, copying Shayley and staring down at my hands.
I hear him laugh and look up to meet his gaze. "No, Alan. I like you."
I sit there for a moment, shocked.
"W-what do you mean?" I stutter.
Shayley looks at my mouth for a second before bringing his gaze straight back up to my eyes. He inches his face closer until I can feel his breath on my lips. He smelt like cigarettes. My breath got stuck in my throat but thankfully I didn't choke. I just sat there, frozen as he placed his lips on mine. What shocked me the most is I didn't pull back. I didn't kiss him back but I didn't do anything to stop him either. Shayley quickly pulled away and bit his lip, standing up.
"I-I'm sorry Alan. I didn't mean to-" He began.
"Alan?" I hear from the top of the stairs.
Austin was stood there, looking shocked and hurt. His face scrunched up to the point where he looked like he was in pain and he took a few stumbling steps backwards before gripping his hair in his fists and closing his eyes, a tear rolling down his cheek.

Notes

Ah shit, trouble in paradise. Please don't hate me for this.
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(pssst, 2 chapters left)

- Georgia x