baby you're the right kind of wrong.

Ebony and Chase watched some more movies for the rest of the day just enjoying spending time together even if it was doing something as simple as watching movies. "So I heard that there was going to be a paint party tonight and while I've had a lot of fun watching movies with you all day we should go," Chase said smiling at Ebony doing his best to convince her. Which didn't take much really. "Well I was planning on attending for a while actually, but we can go together if you want," she replied given there wasn't anything wrong with that. She wasn't dating anyone, he wasn't dating anyone, and while they hadn't talked about what they were or anything yet they'd been spending a lot of time together. So going to a party together wasn't a big deal. "Great,"

---

Liam let Maisie climb onto his bed first and get comfortable before he followed. He wasn't entirely sure how things were going to work out with her. He knew how he wanted things to work out with her, but well that didn't mean that's what would happen. He also wasn't exactly used to this anymore, it'd been so long since he'd had a girlfriend, or anything like this at all really that he was a little nervous. Honestly, since his last girlfriend most of what Liam had done was party and hook up on occasion. Really he didn't hook up with anyone, at least not as often as a lot of the other guys. Regardless he'd gotten out of the habit of dating or even just being a couple and not actually going on dates that cost money because he was too poor to afford them. He just hoped he could figure everything out.

After a quick trip to the store with Lindsay, they finally had all the paint gathered for the party, as well as a large amount of alcohol that Lindsay had insisted Zayn purchase. He knew the party was going to crazy, and he was both nervous and excited to see what was in store for the night. He wasn't much in the mood to get blackout drunk, but for some reason he felt like he needed to.

---

Maisie felt the bed dip where Liam had sat down and looked over at him. He was adjusting himself to get comfortable so she tried to stay as much out of his way as she could, still unsure of how close she should be to him. She was happy just to be around Liam, but she still got nervous around him since their relationship was so new. She didn't know whether she was supposed to touch him and be close to him or give him his space and she didn't want to mess it up.

"So, are you going to the paint party tonight?" She asked as she leaned back against his pillow. It hadn't been well advertised, but Maisie assumed it would be crazy nonetheless.

@ Sirius Black..
[do you wanna skip ahead to the party?]

[ that sounds like a great idea! And I've been a little distracted this week or I would've replied sooner! ]

Ebony and Chase had agreed that Ebony would leave about an hour or so before they were meeting up at the party so she'd have time to get ready. Which was mostly just changing her close, and even though she was just going to have to take another one afterwards, taking a shower. She didn't mind taking two showers in a day though, and she did want to be clean before the party too anyways so it was all fine. "I see you dress to impress," Chase said walking into her room with a smile at the time they'd agreed to meet. "Thanks. And well I had to show a little skin somewhere," she biting her lip and smiling at him.

---

Liam had informed Maisie that he had been planning on attending the paint party later that evening. Of course, he tried his best not to miss any of the parties thrown. Not because he always enjoyed them, not even because it usually meant free alcohol, or that he was being given a chance to get shitfaced. But because it was his last year in college, and he wanted to have as much fun as he could. Plus he didn't exactly like to be so drunk he couldn't remember anything. Regardless of why he went though he'd asked her to attend with him thinking it might be a nice idea for them to go to a party together, especially a paint party.

[ sorry if this was awful! ]

[That's okay! It's not big deal!]

---

Mostly because of Lindsey's insistence, Zayn was attending the party in a pair of jeans and no shirt. He couldn't lie and say that he didn't enjoy the attention being half naked gave him, but he wouldn't have done it if Lindsey didn't make him. He currently had a big 'L' painted on his stomach, which Lindsey had done as soon as the first sorority girl started talking to him. Lindsey was certainly the jealous type, but Zayn figured after a few more drinks he could get over it. He was still on drink number one and people were just starting to arrive.

---

Maisie wasn't really sure what people were supposed to wear to a paint party, so she took a cue from her roommate, who was wearing as little clothing as possible, which wasn't surprising. Maisie wasn't nearly that forward, so she just threw on a pair of short shorts and a small top. After she was dressed, she went back down to the living room of the sorority house, where Lindsey already had the party going. She searched the few people that were there, hoping to find Liam.

After a little bit of begging, and the promise that she'd do more than her very best to make sure there was no drama with her at all, Ebony had convinced Chase to take his shirt off so they could paint something on one another. After all it was a paint party and that was part of the purpose. "So I'm not the best artist therefore I can't promise anything I paint on you will look good, but I'll give it my best go," Chase told her as he led her to the table with all the paint. "I'm sure whatever you decide won't be that bad, and even if it is bad there's no way that you're worse than me, honestly I'll probably just give you some nice stripes or something," she joked with him.

---

Liam had found his way to the kitchen first thing when he'd arrived at the party. He was pretty pleased with the idea of a paint party, and had high hopes that this party would be better than the last couple of parties Lindsey had put together recently. He also hoped that this party wouldn't need drama to liven it up, he also hoped there wouldn't be any drama, mostly because he was pretty much over it. And he wasn't even one of the people actually involved in the drama that seemed to be everywhere. Though he could admit it had been a little toned down lately. Either way he hoped the night would be fun and enjoyable. So he grabbed two drinks then headed out to find Maisie.

Zayn had just finished off his first drink when he spotted Ebony at the paint table with Chase. He knew they had been seeing more of one another, so it shouldn't have been a surprise to see them there together, but it threw him off nonetheless.

Ebony and Chase looked like they were having a good time while he just looked ridiculous with the 'L' painted on his chest. He knew he shouldn't because Lindsey would be pissed and Ebony was so clearly with Chase, but Zayn just wanted to talk to Ebony. Zayn had heard from a very reliable source that Chase had some serious feelings for Ebony and was quite serious about being in a relationship with her, but Zayn figured it wouldn't hurt to just talk to her.

Blaming it on the fact that he'd had a beer (just one, small beer), Zayn walked over to the paint table, second beer in hand, and stood next to Ebony on the side opposite Chase. He leaned against the table and smiled at Ebony, purposefully avoiding Chase. "I could paint you if you'd like. I'm kind of good at it." He gave Ebony the playful smile he always gave her when they were together, not failing to notice that Chase was glaring at him.

---

Maisie was admiring everyone's horrible body paint decorations when she spotted Liam across the room, two drinks in his hands. Her face immediately lit up when she saw him, and she quickly walked over to meet him in a group of dancing people. It seemed as though Lindsey had done a pretty good job of setting up this party, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves.

"Well, the party seems good so far," Maisie said to Liam with a smile, as a few dancing bodies nudged into her, rubbing a bit of paint off onto her arm. She tried not to notice the fact that Liam's body looked absolutely incredible, but it was hard not to keep her eyes from trailing over his abs at least once or twice. She still couldn't believe she had managed to get someone so gorgeous.

Ebony looked over at Zayn when he spoke and she smiled back for a second giving Chase's hand a squeeze. "Chase would you mind grabbing me a drink please?" She asked him trying to avoid any weird confrontiation between the two. There'd been enough of that between Zayn and Harry at the last party. "Yea," Chase said, letting go of her hand, it worked for Ebony because she well whatever was going on with Zayn she wanted to figure it out now, and it was probably best she do it alone. "Thank you," she replied sending him a smile.

"What're you doing Zayn?" She asked him turning to face him completely. She wanted to smile at him again, and she couldn't deny that it made her heart skip a beat to know he'd came over here to talk to her. Maybe he'd come to flirt, or make Chase jealous because he'd seen her with him, or maybe he was standing in front of her right now for a different reason. She didn't know why he'd left Lindsey or whatever to stand here with her. And she was glad that he was actually willing to speak to her, especially after how long they'd went without speaking. But at the same time she couldn't help but feel like it could only end badly. "I'm mean I'm glad we're friends, but Lindsey 'll be pretty pissed if she sees you here talking to me," she told him wishing that weren't the case, but she was pretty sure they both knew it was.

---

"I have to agree," Liam said handing one of the drinks over to Maisie. "Let's just hope the party stays this way," he said hoping that it would. He actually really did want this party to end well. He kind of felt like the last few hadn't been the greatest so it'd be nice for one to actually go over well. "So do you want to head over to the paint table?" He asked figuring he'd ask if she wanted to take part in the painting part of the party or not. It didn't really matter to him. Honestly, Liam kind of just wanted to spend time with Maisie at the party. It didn't matter what the were doing as long as they were doing it together.

"What do you mean 'what am I doing'?" Zayn said as he took a quick sip of his drink. "I'm not Lindsey's property. I can talk to whoever I want." He knew that probably sounded less true than it actually was, considering he was standing there with a big 'L:' painted on his chest. He meant it, though. He did care for Lindsey quite a bit, but that didn't mean he wasn't still interested in Ebony. He didn't see the harm in the two of them spending a bit of time together, and the fact that it might piss off Chase did make it a little bit better.

---

"Yes, that sounds good," Maisie said with a nod of her head, knowing they'd have to use the paint eventually. She wasn't sure if she'd be painting herself or if her and Liam would paint each other. His body was absolutely perfect and she hasn't failed to notice a few of the other girls staring at him. She walked over to the paint table, where Zayn and Ebony were standing, and turned back to Liam. He was more gorgeous than what should be humanely possible, and after a few sips of her drink, Maisie was dying to get her hands on him. "So, who first?" She asked with a smile as she picked up a bottle of green paint.

"I didn't say you were Lindsey's property; though you might wanna clear that up with her," Ebony said eyeing the 'L' written boldly on his bare chest. "I wasn't talking about that though," she said stealing his drink to take a sip before handing it back to him and turning her head to look towards the drink table where Chase was grabbing them both drinks. "He's really great. Probably threatened even more by you now, and I just don't want to mess anything up with him. I don't even know if I know where things are going though," she told him biting her lip and looking at Zayn again. It was so hard still have so many feelings for Zayn not sure if they'd ever go away but knowing you couldn't do anything, and also feeling like you were developing feelings for someone else. Honestly, it left Ebony feeling conflicted, and a little helpless but she was trying her best to deal with everything without crying and eating ice cream by the bucket fulls.

---

"Fantastic," Liam said heading over to the paint table, "you can do me first," he told her with a smile not sure what she'd paint on him, or what he'd paint on her once he got the chance. But he was sure if he gave it a minute or so to really think over he'd figure something out. Maybe something simple like a flower or something. Or maybe that was weird, honestly he'd never been the best at figuring this kind of shit out. He also wasn't nearly as talented as Zayn it when it came to art either so he wasn't even sure anything he painted would look good. He'd give it his best shot though.

"Relax. No need to have a fit, Eb. It's not like I'm trying to undress you. Just wanted to paint you up," he said with a sly grin, leaning a bit closer to her. He knew Chase was watching from somewhere and the more pissed off he was the better. He took a step away from her and held his hands up. "I'll back off. No need to worry."

---

"Alright, then," Maisie said as she dipped her fingers into the paint. She leaned forward a bit, so she was closer to Liam's chest, and ran her finger over his skin. She wondered if being so close to her was making him as nervous as it was making her, but she highly doubted that considering Liam was much better off in the way of experience. She decided to finish Liam off with some abstract squares and circles and when she was all done she pulled her fingers from his skin and took a step back. "All done."

Ebony bit her lip before she stole Zayn's drink again deciding to just finish it off this time. "I am relaxed, and I'm certainly not worried," she told him wishing that were even a little bit true. The truth, however, was that Zayn acting how he was made her nervous. Like how she'd left when they'd first met nervous. And the fact that she actually kind of liked the attention she was getting from him right now while she'd come with someone else, even if there wasn't anything going on at the moment, was one thing she'd been hoping to avoid. She wanted to just tell him that if he wanted her back to just say it, or that if he was jealous to just tell her, or even that if maybe for whatever reason seeing her there with Chase not sure what was happening bothered him to just say something. But she didn't. Because well she didn't know what kind of reaction that would get from him, or if any of those things were even true. So she stood there for a second longer before doing something she didn't even know why she was doing. "You can paint one thing here on my shoulder. That's it," she told him as she dipped her hand in the pink paint then left a hand print on him. "There just like the first paint party we went to like forever ago,"

---

Liam stood as still as possible while Maisie painted him up. He didn't want to move and mess her up or anything along those lines. He wasn't really sure what she was painting after all. "Great, I guess it's my turn then," he said biting his lip for a second longer while he thought about what he wanted to paint. And when he finally really had it all figured out he picked up the can of purple paint and dipped his fingers in it. To be totally honest he really liked parties like this, he also really liked the fact that he was at this party with an amazing girl. The fact that he didn't have to do anything insanely artistic either made it that much better. Because well he wasn't that artsy, even if he wanted to be. So he took his fingers and trailed them down her neck and across her stomach. It was pretty simple, and the best thing he could come up with. But once he was done he had to admit it looked pretty cool. "All done,"

"Don't worry, I won't do anything to risqué," he said with a smirk as he stepped behind Ebony and pulled down her bra strap. He made sure to paint so it would be just out of her line of sight, because he was feeling a little edgy. He knew if he started a fight with chase it wouldn't be anything he couldn't finish, so he wouldn't be the least bit worried. He finished painting and stood back in front of Ebony with a smile. "There, looks great."

---

Maisie looked down at her new paint job and then back up at Liam with a smile. He'd done a much better job on her than she had on him, but she didn't figure it would matter in the end. "So, what now?" Maisie asked, not really sure what else there was to do at the party or what else Liam would be interested in. She hated that she was so clueless when it came to being a sorority girl and hoped Liam wouldn't get bored of her.

"If it's nothing to risqué then you'll tell me what you just painted in a spot I can't see," Ebony said running her fingers through her hair and staring him down. She could've easily chosen to change the L on his chest into an E but she didn't. Not because she cared about Lindsey or her feelings, but because Ebony didn't want to cause some huge scene. She didn't want to do anything to cause Lindsey to lash out at her. Honestly, her and Linsey were the farthest thing from friends you could be but Ebony had made a promise to try and be civil. She'd also promised mostly to herself, that no matter how badly she wanted to at times she wouldn't do anything to purposely ruin whatever Zayn and Lindsey had together. Though she had to admit lately she hadn't really wanted to ruin whatever they had. She'd been kind of happy that he'd found a way to forgive her and try to move past it. She was also happy that he was trying to be happy. Right now though it felt like he was trying to pick a fight with Chase. Like he was waiting for him to get back with the drinks and cause a scene. It almost felt like Zayn was jealous, but she couldn't be sure that's what it was. She couldn't even think of why he might be jealous. After all, he'd told her time and time again he didn't want to get back together because he was with Lindsey. Whatever was happening right now, and whatever was going to happen when Chase got back soon enough with their drinks, Ebony was sure of one thing. She wasn't prepared for it.

---

"Now we party," Liam said laughing and downing his drink. This, of course, wasn't his first party, and so he knew how these things worked. Plus unlike the previous two parties they'd both attended this one wasn't falling apart. Well, it wasn't yet, and as much as he wished it would stay this way he knew it wouldn't. Especially not with whatever was going on with Ebony and Zayn, but he wasn't going to get involved. What he was going to do, however, was party with Maisie, and enjoy as much of his night as possible. "After all this music is probably the best music that's ever played at one of these things and it'd be awful to waste perfectly good dances and whatever else on standing around," he told her positive that he could make this fun. There was dancing, hell if he had to he'd come up with some kind of paint game to keep things interesting. He was determined to make sure Maisie had a good time. He was also determined to make sure she knew that he was interested in her and had no intentions on finding someone else. She was great, even if she was younger than him by a few years.

"Hmm, you'll just have to check a mirror," Zayn said with a cheeky smile just as Chase began walking back towards them. Zayn leaned towards Ebony and whispered into her ear. "Or maybe Chase will tell you if you ask nicely." It was unfortunate that Chase had to come back with the drinks so quickly, because Zayn was enjoying spending this time with Ebony, even if they both knew they were only teasing one another. He was lucky enough that Lindsey hadn't popped back up yet, so he could enjoy the party for a little bit longer.

---

Maisie nodded at Liam with a smile before grabbing him by the hand and pulling him towards all of the other dancing bodies. She wasn't a pro dancer by any means, but she could take a cue from her sorority sisters around her, who were mostly just grinding their bodies against whichever guy they happened to be standing next to. Maisie knew she wasn't the sexiest girl on the dance floor, but she would do whatever she could to at least try to make Liam interested in her. She kept her hand on Liam's as she began swaying her body to the beat of the music, making sure she was as close to him as possible.

Ebony shook her head and couldn't help the smile that formed on her face. "Hope you like jungle juice," Chase said when he walked back over to them and handed her a glass. Ebony smiled at Chase and took the cup. "That's probably all there is," she said laughing a little. "Anyways thanks for the drink, now how about we get to painting," she said not planning on asking Chase to tell her what Zayn painted because she didn't want to worry about it. "Sounds good, I think Lindsey's looking for you mate," Chase said motioning his head in the direction behind Zayn. "And thanks for keeping Ebony company for me while I got us some drinks." It'd been nice talking to Zayn for that short while, but well they had both came with different people and of course only a matter of time until those other people came back.

---

Liam smiled and just let the music flow through him best he could. He'd admit that there were much better dancers than him, he'd also admit that usually dancing the way people seemed to dance at these things wasn't usually him. Really he planned on just dancing however he felt like dancing, of course with this music it wouldn't be hard. "I have to say this party is a lot more put together and drama free than the others have been so far," he said which he was happy about. It meant that he could enjoy a party with Maisie and not have to worry about anything stupid. Like his best friend getting into a fight, or any other random fights breaking out over a girl or anything else for that matter. This party was going smoothly and he honestly hoped it stayed this way.

"Not a problem, mate," Zayn said to Chase before stepping away to let the two of them paint each other up. Zayn didn't know what it was about Chase that he didn't like, but perhaps it was his cocky attitude. He decided to listen to Chase and go find Lindsey. He hadn't planned on having sex with her that night or maybe ever, but after what had just happened he might have changed his mind. If Chase all of a sudden thought he was the alpha male of the frat, thinking it was okay to just date one of his brothers exes, then Zayn was going to have to prove him wrong. He walked up to Lindsey who smiled as soon as she saw him and wrapped her into a passionate kiss.

---

Maisie turned back around to face Liam and nodded her head. "Yeah, things have been pretty good so far." Maisie couldn't imagine what it would be like to be the center of attention at these parties like Lindsey and a few others always were. It seemed a lot of them couldn't get through a few hours without causing a scene. "What should we do if they start to go south? Do we need an escape plan?" She asked with a smile, though watching the drama was always a little bit entertaining when you weren't involved in it.

Ebony watched Zayn while he walked away and right to Lindsey, pulling her into a kiss as soon as they were together before just rolling her eyes and turning to Chase. While she wouldn't say she was overjoyed about Zayn and Lindsey, she could say she'd at least gotten used to saying their names together without wanting to vomit. She'd also figured she'd have to see them kissing every so often so she'd tried and prepared herself for that too. Though it wasn't working the best. However, she was over purposely trying to make Zayn jealous and therefore planning to do nothing about the fact that he was kissing Lindsey right now less than fifty feet away from her. She wouldn't say she was over him, or that she would push him away if he tried to kiss her right now, but well the fact was he wasn't. He wanted to be with Lindsey apparently, and she was going to let him be with her without doing anything to ruin it if that was really what he wanted. "So do you know what's up with Zayn tonight? Because I feel like he's out to get me or something, which I know sounds stupid, but I don't know," Chase said once Zayn had left and Ebony was dipping her fingers in paint to paint something on him.

Ebony just started to paint little hearts and arrows on Chase's chest, before biting her lip and looking at him while she replied. "I'm sure he's not out to get you," she said hoping that was true. It kind of brought her back to wishing Zayn would just tell her what he was thinking so she didn't feel like she was getting mixed signals from him, but what could she do really. "And I mean we're just friends, and he's made it pretty clear that's all he wants. So if he is out to get you then that's really not fair. Especially if it has anything to do with you being a brother or whatever, considering he's seeing one of my sorority sisters. But I don't think that's the case. Maybe he just needs time to warm up to the idea of me moving on but give it some time and he'll come around,"

---

"Well as much fun as it is to watch the drama go down around here when you're not involved in it, I think we should have an escape plan. Just so, we don't get caught up in the middle of it. And well given the last few parties it's mostly been the same people and I'm good friends with two of those people I'm sure sooner or later it'd be possible," Liam told her, which really the last thing he wanted was to be sucked into the drama. He didn't want to end up sucking Maisie in too. He also didn't want to ruin the night for her because he was sucked in or she was. It was just best if they were far away from the drama. "I'd feel really awful is some kind of fight or something broke out and somehow I got sucked into whatever and then ruined your night. Or if just because you're here with me or something you get sucked into all the insanity. So an escape plan would actually be a great idea." Even if it sounded a little crazy to come up with an escape plan for a college party, he felt it was best to do what you had to in order to keep from being sucked into the drama.

[Sorry this took so long!!]

Zayn kept his arms wrapped around Lindsey, feeling her press her body as close to him as she could. He knew that she had always wanted him, but hadn't realized how much until they were standing in the middle of the party, with her moaning little things that only he could hear. He thought she'd have sex with him right there in front of everyone if he had asked, but even though he wanted to get under Ebony's skin, that didn't really sound all that appealing. He'd have to settle for making out with the girl he had always sensed Ebony had a little bit of a tiff with while she was over there doing whatever it was with Chase. "Do you want to go upstairs?" Lindsey whispered into his ear, letting her warm breath pool over his skin. "We could be alone."

Zayn shook his head before placing his lips on hers again. "Not yet. Let's just enjoy the party for a little while."

---

Maisie knew that the drama could be entertaining at times, but also scary, especially when they got as drunk as they seemed to be getting. "Great, do you know any good hideouts or escape routes then?" Maisie said as she looked around the room. She'd never had to run away from the police or anything like she'd heard people had to do in previous years so she did have any experience. There was no telling what could happen, and there was always the small chance that Liam would have to stay and fix things up, considering it seemed as though his best friend was almost definitely going to be causing drama tonight.

[ you're fine. you've replied now and that's what matters ]

Ebony had tried to convince Chase that there way no reason to think Zayn was trying anything because he wasn't. Or at least she wanted to believe that he wasn't trying to do anything to ruin the night. After all he was here with Lindsey and he'd made it clear that's how he'd wanted it. Chase wasn't sure he believed her though. Ebony was sure he believed her even less when she'd turned around shortly to grab him a color of paint he wanted and he saw whatever Zayn had painted where she couldn't see it. And well she hadn't brought it up. Because she wanted to believe it wouldn't even be a big deal. Though she'd be wrong there. "I'm gonna go have a word with Zayn," was all he told her before practically storming off. Which put her whole let's have a nice night out at a party with no Zayn or Lindsey drama to an end, sadly.

---

"I know if we can find a way into the kitchen then we'll have easy access to the hall closet to the front door. And if that doesn't work then on the second floor in the first room on the right there's a rope ladder under the bed that we could toss out the window and climb down. Or if it isn't too hard we could climb out one of the windows in this room. Really if by escape route we really want to leave the entire building then there are plenty of ways. And if we'd rather just hide out somewhere, well there's a cupboard in the kitchen big enough for us to hide in until everything calms down. There's also like at least 3 bathrooms in this place. And well that's about all I got," Liam told her knowing it was a big much, but well he'd had to get out quickly in the past so he knew a thing or two. The hiding part though he wasn't as familiar with.