The ABC's of Growing Up

According to Sarah and Lyndsey the best way to get over a break up is to go to a party. They then spent a while trying to think of a party that we could go to. But they couldn't think of any. This meant that I had to deal with two pouting girls for about an hour before Lyndsey phoned up Brian and begged and pleaded that we could all go round to his to drink our asses off. There wasn't really much begging and pleading to be done, since Lyndsey has that boy wrapped around her finger.

I didn't personally want to go. A party would have been fine in my books because I could have slipped out and no one would have noticed. However, going round to my best friend's boyfriends house just to drink…I couldn't slip out. It also meant that I had to spend the evening with a bunch of people who treated me with indifference…or in Brian's case, malice.

"Why?" I whined and pouted as Sarah and Lyndsey dragged me up to Brian's house. "Why do I have to be here? What happened to the old fashioned way of getting over a dick head by eating your own weight in ice cream and sobbing at crappy romance films?"

Lyndsey stopped for a moment as if to think about what I'd said before shaking her head and grinning at me.

"We discovered alcohol works a lot better."

I rolled my eyes and tried to wrench my arms from their grips but found that all it did was pull us all to the ground.

"There's a pile of girls in front of your house Brian."

I didn’t know who had said that, mostly because I didn't know the guys well enough to decipher whose voice was whose. Sarah and Lyndsey giggled from their places on top of me. And then I heard a yell of excitement.

"Lyndsey! I told you to tell me about these moments so I can film this shit."

Lyndsey rolled her eyes and climbed off of me.

"Brian, you perve," she chastised him. "Now take me inside and get me good and drunk."

"Yes ma'am," he responded and I could almost picture him saluting her.

Sarah chuckled before looking at me from her spot on top of me.

"You'll have fun ducky, I promise."

"Yeah, yeah. Now get off."

"Sarah! Come give me some loving!"

Sarah grinned and looked up to who I presumed was Jason. She climbed off of me and ran off. I heard her giggle and then there was silence before a door shut. I turned my head and saw the front door had shut. I sighed and sat up, not wanting to go in but not really wanting to just sit at home either. I ran my hands through my hair and wondered if the girls would notice if I slipped away. As much as I loved them, sometimes they did forget about everything else when they were with their boys.

"You okay there?"

I looked up at the question and saw Zacky looking down at me, an amused smile on his face. I rolled my eyes and nodded but said nothing. I looked at the floor in front of me and heard shuffling beside me, only to find Zacky now sitting beside me.

"If you are okay why are you sitting outside and not in the house?"

I shrugged. "I don't want to go in but I don't want to go home. So I made a compromise with myself and sat here."

Zacky chuckled before nudging me. I looked at him to see a small smile on his lips.

"Smile," he coaxed me.

I shook my head but couldn't stop a small smile flit across my lips due to the childish grin on his.

"How comes you don't want to go in?"

"Because," I sighed. "I don't know any of you lot. I have Sarah and Lyndsey but I almost become invisible when they are around Jason and Brian. The guys all ignore me, hell you usually do as well. Brian is always mean to me, which makes me sound like a pathetic school kid but it's true. And I just…I don't want to have to sit in a room with a load of people I don't really know. I'm not in the mood."

Zacky remained quiet through what I was saying and he still didn't say anything as he wrapped an arm around me and pulled me closer to him. He didn't even say anything as he propped his chin on my shoulder and eyed me carefully.

"Teagan," I heard whined and I looked over my shoulder to see Lyndsey standing in the front door way.

Her eyes flickered between me and Zacky, a smug smile on her lips as she crossed her arms over her chest. I rolled my eyes because I knew that she thought she and Sarah were right about Zacky having a crush on me. I shook my head and stood up, making my way up to the house and pushing past Lyndsey.

"So what were you and Zacky talking about?" Lyndsey asked as she followed me.

"Nothing," I muttered before following the noise I could hear.

Lyndsey caught my wrist and made me look at her.

"Are you okay?"

I looked at her as if she'd gone insane before my expression softened.

"Yeah," I smiled as I wrapped an arm around her and hugged her. "And I'll be even better once I've got some drink in me."

Lyndsey grinned and dragged me through to the backyard where everyone was just sitting around and drinking, except Sarah and Jason who had evidently forgotten about everyone else around as they slowly instigated what would probably turn into free porn for the rest of us.

"Teagan! You came!" Brian yelled out.

I glanced over at him and grabbed a beer from the cooler.

"You had sex yet?" He asked.

I rolled my eyes and groaned in frustration.

"Brian!" Lyndsey shrieked before lobbing something at him.

He laughed and ducked before reaching for her and pulling her onto his lap.

"I'm only asking," he commented before looking over at me. "So have you?"

I shrugged and sat down. "What's it to do with you?"

"Just curious," he smirked.

I nodded and let a look of realisation flood my face.

"Oh…well that's not what I asked but I'm glad you've started to come to terms with the fact that you are possibly batting for both sides, if not batting for the other team. I can give you Jack's number if you want to find out how he is first hand."

Lyndsey snorted but tried to cover it up by sipping some of her drink. Brian narrowed his eyes at me before glancing at his giggling girlfriend.

"Lyndsey!"

Lyndsey looked at me and winked before looking down at Brian and pressing her lips to his. I rolled my eyes before tilting my head back and looking up at Zacky after he'd put his hand on my shoulder. He sat down beside me, laughter spilling from his lips as he passed me another beer.

"You totally deserve a drink after what you just said to Brian."

I shrugged but said nothing as I finished the beer I'd got for myself and started on the one Zacky had just given me.

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It doesn't take a lot to get me drunk. I'll be the first to put my hands up and admit that. I am pretty much a lightweight. So after about an hour and three beers and one vodka drink thing that Sarah had made me I was pretty much gone. Brian obviously found that my being a lightweight was absolutely hilarious but I was too trashed to really care. All I cared about at that moment was getting another drink.

"Don't you think you've had enough?" Zacky asked me as he watched me grab another drink.

Notice he didn't try and stop me though.

"Nope."

I sat back down beside him and struggled to get my drink open. It was taken from my hands and I whined as I looked beside me to see that the person who had taken it was Jimmy. He managed to open my drink and passed it back to me.

"Thank you," I cheered up at him with a big grin.

He laughed and sat down with Zacky and I as he grabbed a drink for himself.

"I have never seen you drunk before," Jimmy mused as he watched me.

I giggled and poked him in the cheek. "That's because you've never paid attention to me before."

He frowned before nodding. "True. Sorry about that."

"That's okay!" I cheered and flung my arms around him.

He chuckled and hugged me back, causing me to giggle. Did I mention I'm quite a friendly drunk? I felt another arm wrap around me, pulling me away from Jimmy and discovered that it was Zacky. I smiled up at him; sure that my smile was strong and confident though it was probably just dopey. By the way he chuckled, it was definitely dopey.

"Was there something Baker boy?"

Zacky smirked, his grip around my waist tightening somewhat as he turned me more towards him. Zacky opened his mouth as if to say something and I found my gaze centred on his lips, wishing that they would fall on to mine.

"TEAGAN!"

My attention snapped away from Zacky and over to Lyndsey and Sarah who were giggling and bouncing around.

"What?" I shouted back.

"Listen!" Sarah insisted, pointing a finger in the air.

I did as she had asked and grinned as I realised Livin' On A Prayer by Bon Jovi was playing.

"We've got to hold on to what we've got! 'Cause it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We've got each other and that's a lot for love. We'll give it a shot!" I sang at the top of my lungs as I leapt to my feet.

Sarah and Lyndsey both cheered and grabbed my hands, pulling me towards them so we could all jump and dance about together.

"Woah, we're half way there! Woah, livin' on a prayer!" We all sang together as we danced, our hips moving in time with the music. "Take my hand and we'll make it I swear. Woah! Livin' on a prayer!"

I hummed a long to the next part of the song, chuckling as Lyndsey started doing some kind of demented chicken dance. I looked at Sarah and laughed as she grabbed her knee and the back of her head and started hopping up and down. A moment later and she was on the floor, giggling after falling over. Not even a second after that and Jason had leapt on top of her, making sure to keep her very occupied.

"We've got to hold on to what we've got! 'Cause it doesn't make a difference if we make it or not. We've got each other and that's a lot for love! We'll give it a shot!" Lyndsey sang as she grabbed my hands and pulled me over to her.

"Woah, we're halfway there! Woah, livin' on a prayer!" We both sang, big grins on either of our faces. "Take my hand and we'll make it I swear. Woah! Livin' on a prayer…livin' on a prayer!"

"Drink!" I declared and spun on my heel.

I steadied myself and blinked a couple of times as the world span around me. As soon as it had stopped I made my way over to where the cooler was, perched on the table behind where Zacky was sitting.

"Nice dancing," he commented with a small smile, his eyes running up and down my body.

"Why thank you kind sir," I giggled before noticing that there wasn't anyone else around where Zacky was sitting.

I shrugged to myself before stopping beside him. I furrowed my brow as I was sure that I'd made my way to the side the cooler was on but apparently I hadn't. I chewed my lip before shrugging to myself again and leaning over Zacky, well aware that I was pressing my chest somewhat into his face. I jumped as I felt Zacky's hand on my side and managed to lose my balance, falling down into his lap.

"Well…this is somewhat awkward," I giggled though it was muffled seeing as my face was firmly planted in Zacky's lap.

I heard him laugh before he pulled me up so I was sitting on him. I grinned and pressed my lips against his cheek before reaching around him and to the cooler, once again ending up with my chest pressed up against his face. I grabbed up a beer and leant back to where I had been. I pouted when I realised that, once again, I had nothing to open my beer with.

"Zacky," I whined as I waved my bottle in his face.

I almost melted as Zacky smiled at me, his hand circling my beer bottle before he put it to the table edge and snapped the cap off. I wriggled on his lap and clapped my hands, not aware of the mild groan that slipped from Zacky's lips. I was too preoccupied with the idea of beer.

"Thankie Zacky!" I cheered and wrapped my arms around him, planting my lips loudly on his cheek.

"You're completely smashed aren't you?" He asked, eyeing me slightly.

I shrugged, as I noticed how close our faces were. I blushed slightly, my eyes flicking between his lips and his eyes.

"Not completely," I muttered, trying to defend my case.

"How smashed then?"

I let my hand curl around my beer bottle, my fingers brushing up against Zacky's hand. He dropped his hand from the bottle once he knew I had it and let his hand rest on my thigh, sliding it upwards as he leant closer to me. Then somehow he started falling away from me, when in reality I was actually falling away from him. He said my name but it seemed to echo through me as my eyes rolled shut.