Give 'Em Hell, Kid

I don’t know how long I stayed outside for. The thought of going back to the party was too much at first. I needed solitude and peace to sort out my thoughts and figure out where I could go from here. I leaned against the scratchy bark of the tree I had been using for cover and slid down ungracefully until my ass hit the ground soundlessly. I let out a sigh, mentally debating with myself how the situation might turn out. If she meant what she said and she did indeed love me I had a chance to make things right. If she loved me she would want to believe in me. I tried my best to hold on to that hope because the alternative was almost too much to bear. If she wouldn’t listen to me or genuinely believed this was all a mistake there was nothing I could say to her change her mind. Her stubbornness was an admirable trait most of the time but right now I wished I knew how to meld and manipulate her into realising just how perfect we are for each other.

​​​I was eventually pulled away from my thoughts by a drunken Mikey calling out my name as he stumbled in my direction. His glasses were slightly crooked, as was his smile. His hair was in disarray and his grey shirt, which had been ironed before leaving the house, was now creased and dishevelled looking. If I didn’t know any better I would guess he had been making out with some chick until he remembered I was missing. He didn’t see me sitting underneath the tree, and I did nothing to stop him from tripping over my stretched out legs which were cloaked in black jeans. As depressed and agitated as I was, I couldn’t help the girly giggle that escaped my mouth when he crash landed onto the grass with a comedic ‘oomph’ and a yelp of pain as his cheek hit the ground. A string of curses spewed from his mouth, making me laugh even harder to the point where I was clutching my sides in pain as my muscles began to ache. When Mikey eventually managed to focus his drunken vision on me he attempted to give me a threatening glare which was far from threatening.

​​​‘Where have you been? Dude, there’s like, chicks…that wanna make out…like seriously.’ His slurred words barely made any sense to me.

​​​‘I don’t wanna make out with any chicks Mikey.’

​​​‘Why not? Ray’s making out with Melissa from my Geography class¸ Frank’s making out with Alexia I think, you have to get in on the action!’

​​​It took a second for the meaning of his words to register with me, and when they did I leapt to my feet in anger.

​​​‘Where are they?’ I hissed, my brain beginning to shut down and primitive instincts took control.

​​​‘Inside’ he giggled, not taking notice of my sudden dangerous change of mood. I took off without another word, leaving Mikey to try and catch up with me. I didn’t hear his words as he called after, my hearing had gone haywire as my mind was focused only on finding Frank and beating his ass to a pulp. When I reached the house I pushed my way through the crowd, shoving people out of my way aggressively. I ignored the indignant yells that followed in my wake, I couldn’t care less about their feelings when my own were being ripped to shreds. They were nowhere to be found in the kitchen, which was slightly emptier than it was an hour or so ago. The hallway was filled with people though, all tightly pressed together without a care as the alcohol they consumed took effect. I groaned in frustration when I couldn’t find them there either, forcing me to delve into the large living room where the main action was taking place. It was packed, with little or no space to move as people danced on the makeshift dance floor in the centre of the room. My lip curled in disgust at the so called dancing of some of the ‘couples’ which was nothing short of mindless grinding. My eyes fervently scanned the room for any sign of Alexia and Frank. I did a double take when I saw Frank, who was on the make shift dance floor with some freshman girl. I could see how Mikey made the mistake. She was the same height as Alexia and had the same hair colour. In his drunken state he had obviously confused the two girls. I felt instant relief at the sight, and I felt like I could breathe again. I wanted to go home before any more damage was done tonight. I swiftly grabbed a hold of Frank, practically dragging him away from the clutches of the brunette he had been ‘dancing’ with.

​​​‘Where’s Lexi? We’re going now!’ I yelled over the loud beat of the music.

​​​He shrugged before pointing towards the table full of drink.

​​​‘Go get Ray and Mikey and meet me outside.’ I instructed before walking away from him, as my senses started to return. I had barely made it three steps when I was stopped, I didn’t even contain my impulse to flinch when Brittany laid her hand on my arm. I pulled it away as though she had shocked me, my disgust at the sight of her obvious by my expression.

​​​‘Hey, where have you been? I’ve been looking for you!’ she giggled as she pulled at her pink mini skirt that left nothing to the imagination. Her matching halter top was becoming loose, showing off her cleavage.

​​​‘Trying to get away from you’ I mumbled before detaching myself from her and making a quick escape. Her reaction time had slowed down which meant it was incredibly easy for me to get away. I walked to the smaller sitting room across the room, which was occupied by a small group of jocks including Darren and Alexia sitting on the black leather couch. I gritted my teeth when I saw Alexia sitting beside him, their thighs touching due to their proximity each other. She was smiling at him sweetly, giving him all her attention as she tilted her head to the side. She had fixed her running mascara since she left the garden; nobody would know that less than an hour ago she had been bawling her eyes out. Darren’s back was facing me but I could only imagine the self satisfied smirk that was on his face. In his mind he had a drunk Alexia exactly where he wanted her. I strode over to them in a flash, not saying a word as I grabbed Alexia by the arm and pulled her off the couch roughly. She gave me a death glare as she stumbled to her feet, while Darren quickly scrambled to his feet and stood up tall in what I assumed was a threatening stance.

​​​‘Let go of her’ he almost growled.

​​​‘Why, so you can fuck her while she’s passed out like you did with Katie Finch last year?’

​​​Alexia looked at me shocked, before shooting Darren a questioning glance. He was about to respond to me until Alexia tugged at my arm and muttered a ‘let’s go’ , thankfully believing me in spite of her anger and letting me lead her out of the room before we could hear whatever excuse he was going to make up. Alexia refused to make eye contact with me as we walked, pulling her hand away from my arm the moment we made it out the front door. Frank had located Ray and Mikey and the trio were waiting for us at the end of the driveway.

​​​‘Man, that party fucking rocked’ Mikey exclaimed when he saw me, his body slightly.

​​​‘Fuck yeah, I finally got Melissa’s number’ Ray grinned while high fiving Mikey.

​​​‘Now that’s what I’m talking about!’

​​​I couldn’t respond, my anger at how badly the night went was barely contained. I knew I was shaking, so I decided to stay out of the conversation as we walked to my car. The five minute walk earlier now took at least fifteen minutes as the gang stumbled, giggled and pushed each other all the way to the car. Alexia was acting like she had a perfect night, she was jumping around and messing with Ray’s hair before she hopped onto his back for a piggy back ride. It killed me to see her pretending that nothing had happened earlier. She was trying to show me that she was unaffected by Brittany’s actions.

​​​The car ride was agonisingly slow, with a drunk Frank rambling in my ear as he sat in the front passenger seat which Alexia normally occupied. She had chosen to sit in the back as a snub against me. By the time we pulled up outside my house I just wanted to scream in frustration. I had a low tolerance for drunken banter when I was sober and coupled with my already foul mood it meant that I was one step away from snapping. I kept my mouth shut and tried to ignore everyone as I opened the front door and let the rest in. Their drunken whispers were too loud and I was certain my mother could hear it from her bedroom. I knew I was in for a lecture in the morning when I got up.

​​​‘Ray you’re in my room. Frank you stay with Mikey. I’ll make you a bed on the couch’ I told ​​​​Alexia, who merely nodded at me. I got the spare pillows and quilt from the upstairs closet while the guys went to bed. I had just finished setting the pillows and quilt down when Alexia came out from the bathroom, make up free and clothed her Bambi pyjamas that I bought her last Christmas. I smirked at the memory of her ripping the wrapping paper and squealing with delight when she saw the picture of Thumper and Bambi on the top. The silence was awkward as we stood opposite each other; I wanted to break it but for some reason my throat had seized up.

​​​‘Thanks’ she muttered sullenly, striding past me and lying down on the couch, pulling the duvet around her and turning her back to me.

​​​‘Lexi, the kiss with Brittany, it wasn’t what it look like.’ I didn’t care how pathetic my voice sounded as I pleaded with her to believe me.

​​​‘Okay’ she replied shortly as she still refused to face me.

​​​‘Lexi, please.’

​​​She sighed angrily before throwing the duvet off her body, her eyes were blazing with hurt and fury as they fixed on my shaking body.

​​​‘Gerard, I don’t care if the kiss wasn’t what it looked like. It doesn’t matter. You’re free to kiss and date whoever you want to. It’s not like we’re dating or made any kind of promise to each other. So let’s just leave it at that.’

​​​‘I don’t want to. You’re angry, and you’re right to be but don’t do this!’

​​​‘And what exactly is it that I’m doing?’

​​​‘You’re being passive aggressive and bitchy instead of talking to me. You’d rather think I’m a dick than listen to me.’

​​​She scoffed at me.

​​​‘Fine Gerard, I’m the bad person in this scenario. Whatever.’

​​​She turned her back on me again, immediately igniting my anger. Before she could throw herself back on the couch I grabbed her arm and made her face me. Before I knew what I was doing I kissed her roughly on the mouth. She pushed me away in a matter of seconds before slapping me across the face, a loud smack resounding around the otherwise quiet room.

​​​‘Fuck you. I’m not some fucking whore, don’t you dare-‘

​​​I cut her off with another kiss, this time shoving my tongue in her mouth. She raised her hands to my chest in an attempt to push me away again, which I thwarted by taking a hold of her wrists. She didn’t try to struggle anymore as we kissed hungrily, her tongue battling with my own in a fight for dominance. When I ran out of breath I ended the kiss, taking a few sharp painful breaths.

​​​‘Don’t pretend you don’t care. I’m not letting you push me away, not now.’

​​​Her eyes started to water as she pushed me away from her trembling body.

​​​‘Just go Gerard.’

​​​I knew she wanted to be left alone, if I tried to force myself on her anymore she would snap. I dragged my feet unwillingly up to my bedroom, fighting against my desire to comfort her while she settled back down on the couch. The last thing I heard that night was the sound of muffled crying before I passed out from exhaustion.
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