Ash's POV
The news that Alex and I were together spread around the school quickly. Well, quickly as in five seconds quickly, since Alex decided to announce it by shouting it out throughout the halls. After he did it the first time, I couldn’t stop giggling. Jack was obviously still confused about not realizing anything had happened between me and Alex, but I could tell he was secretly happy for us, no matter how annoyed and angry he tried to seem.

Now, I’d like you to think about the fact that I said 'the first time he announced it'. Because, really, that boy just wouldn’t stop shouting it at every person we met in the hallways. Some just smiled at him, happy for him yet not knowing what to do, others then just frowned at him and walked away, I would sometimes get comments about how they couldn’t believe I had converted Alex into something that wasn’t a fuckboy, and some people just gave Alex one of those bro-hugs. It definitely left a constant blush on my face for the entire day. When I told Alex that there was no point in hiding anymore, I didn’t exactly expect him to go around telling everyone, I was thinking of a more subtle approach where people would have to figure it out themselves.

Oh well, at least we got to act like a couple in public as well now. No more secret dates after school, no more sneaking off the the music room, and no more Jack harassing Alex. Surprisingly I didn’t get any judgemental looks or stares. Everybody was completely fine with me and Alex being together. There were no stupid remarks, and I actually wasn’t bombarded by jealous girls, which obviously was a relief. I guess everybody just saw it coming. Everybody thought Alex’s crush on me was obvious, and I felt absolutely stupid for never even considering it. Sometimes I would wonder what would have happened if Alex and I got together much earlier on. Would I had thought he was weird for crushing on me? Or maybe I would have given him a chance? I honestly didn’t know. Of course I would say I would have dated him now that I actually was dating him, but I was so stubborn when I just came here, not wanting to even think about going out on one date with somebody. Luke helped me break out of that shell, but then pushed me back further than when I started. Alex was the only good doer… for now. I really hoped he wouldn’t turn out to be different than he seemed.

Anyways, our relationship had now been public for a week or two, and things were going pretty well. Alex and I didn’t do the obvious coupley things. We would hold hands occasionally, and maybe quickly kiss each other if we parted ways, but we were by no means that one couple that couldn’t be separated, always had to touch each other in one way or the other, and had full blown makeout sessions right in front of the entire student body. Even if Alex would have wanted that (which he didn’t) I would have told him that there was no way that I was going to be doing that. I just wasn’t the person to rub it in people’s faces and make them uncomfortable. Plus, I also didn’t want all that attention on me. What Alex and I did at home did not have to be shown in the school building. I didn’t mind people knowing, but they did not have to know that much.

Today was the first day I was going to be sleeping over again at somebody else’s house. Well,‘sleepover’ maybe wasn’t the right word. Harper was throwing a party at her house while her parents and brother were out visiting their grandparents (while we still had to go to school for another week before Christmas break, her brother already had vacation). So, Lianne and I decided to come over and help her set up for this most anticipated party. I was basically killing two birds with one stone. This was my first night staying over (if you didn’t count Jack’s place when it all started) and it was my first party as well since the incident. Strangely, I wasn’t afraid at all. I had this new found confidence now that Alex and I were officially public. It was like nothing could take me down.

I got my multiple bags from my locker while Lianne and Harper waited for me in the car. They told me to hurry up, that we needed as much time as possible. Not only did we have to get everything ready for the party, but Harper wanted us to get ready as well, which meant she was going to have to approve of our outfits before she would just force us to wear something she owned.

Alex showed up at his locker, just as I was closing mine. He smiled at me, so I leant against mine and looked at him. “So, you’re coming to Harper’s party right?”

“Yeah,” he chuckled, throwing his books onto a shelf carelessly, “she made it pretty clear that I had to be there, or I was going to be dead to her. But the only reason I’m going is to keep an eye out for you of course.”

“Keep an eye out on me? Boy, if anybody needs to be monitored at a party, it’s you.”

“Shh,” he put a finger to his lips and smirked, “nobody has to know that. It sounds cuter when I want to look out for you than when you are forced to look after an alcoholic like me.”

“You’re not an alcoholic, though,” I quickly pecked him on the lips.

“I’ll try my best not to be, just to impress you,” his stupid grin was still on his face, caressing my cheek to give me a kiss that was just a bit deeper and longer, but nothing too bad, it was still innocent.

“PDA!” Jack screamed as he joined us, “I hate PDA unless it’s me who’s PDAing.”

“Shut up, Barakat,” I laughed before saying goodbye and rushing to the car, where harper wasn’t giving me the happiest look. My short conversation with Alex had obviously made me take too long for her liking. Lianne couldn’t stop laughing whenever she looked at Harper's serious face.

----
Alex’s POV

Jack and I went to the party without Rian -- he said he had too much work to do, even though it was a Friday -- however Zack decided to join us again. While he didn’t go to our school, many people did know him just because we always dragged him along. We were also going to make sure he would go to prom with one of the girls of our school, just so we would all have this high school memory together. Everything had been going well with the band, and all our friendship were stronger than ever. We even managed to get a record deal offer, however I still had to talk to my parents about it. The plan was to announce it all on the same day, so we wouldn’t get angry parents who only got to know through somebody else’s parents. They all wanted us to go to college, but to be honest, Rian really was the only one keeping his grades up and thinking about applying.

Surprisingly, I was the one driving today. I had all intentions not to get drunk and not drink anything, just because I knew Ash would do the same. I wasn’t joking when I said I was going to try to behave just for her. I could get pretty loud and obnoxious when I got drunk, which could be funny at times, but super annoying if you didn’t have any alcohol in your system. There were already a couple of cars outside the house, but I could tell the party hadn’t really started yet. Normally we were also those ‘fashionably late’ people, but Harper actually told us to come earlier, just in case more work had to be done. There were probably only around 40 people here already, which really was nothing, especially in a house this size. We entered, the door already being unlocked, and saw some people just standing around with red solo cups.

I immediately made it my mission to go and find Ash. She had to be here somewhere, and it shouldn’t have been to difficult to find her. But the longer I searched, the more people came to the party. The music got louder and louder as there were more voices that it had to overpower. The rooms quickly filled up with sweaty bodies, and there was alcohol everywhere. I didn’t know how it happened, but there were people already drunk dancing on top of tables while I still couldn’t find my girlfriend. It was literally the only thing I was focused on, ignoring all the people who tried to talk to me. I expected it to be a five-second job, but it was almost three hours later.

I decided to give up when I saw Jack standing somewhere, sipping on some drink he had. This was the first time I saw his at a party without a girl around him. He actually wasn’t trying to chat someone up for us. It definitely was a surprise, but I didn’t exactly know whether or not it was a pleasant one. I just went up to him. As badly as I wanted to find Ash, I didn’t think it was going to happen if I kept walking around. Maybe I was always just missing her, or maybe she was always just missing me. It was much better if I just stayed in one room and waited until she came here.

“You look lost,” I patted Jack on his back and took a look at his drink. It looked like Jack and Coke, something he would normally quickly down, but this one seemed untouched.

He shrugged and took another tiny sip, “I guess I am, but you don’t look any better.”

“Yeah, I was trying to find Ash since we came here, but I haven’t even seen a trace of her,” I pouted with a half smile, “I finally get a girlfriend who I’m completely faithful to, and I can’t even seem to find her.”

“That sucks, I guess.”

“Normally, I drink as much as I can and sleep with the next best girl I can find, but I’m obviously not doing that today. Speaking of which, normally you do that as well. Something up, man?”

He seemed to think of telling me something before softly shaking his head and downing his drink in just a couple of gulps. I looked at him with wide eyes, I was definitely not expecting that.

“I’m going to get some more,” he twirled the cup in his hands and went to find the kitchen, barely any emotion showing through. He wasn’t happy, obviously, but he also didn’t show his sadness. But I just shrugged it off, more focused on trying to find that familiar long dark blonde hair. I knew I would be able to see her if I only tried to look out for any sober people. However, that seemed to be a mistake.

“Alex!” Ash slurred as she stumbled over to me, holding a pretty beat up solo cup. She leaned into me, nearly falling over, so I quickly held her sides, trying to keep her upright. “You came!”

Before I could reply in any form, her lips were pressed on mine in a very sloppy and drunken kiss. She really was going for it, holding the back of my head and started off the kiss way too deep. It was like the way I would kiss girls if I wanted to have a drunken one night stand with them.

I carefully pushed her away, but kept hold of her so she wouldn’t suddenly drop down to the floor. “What did you have to drink?” I chuckled awkwardly.

“Just some of this stuff,” she pointed towards her cup, a reddish-orange beverage being it’s contents.

I took it from her and literally took the tiniest sip I could since I wasn’t planning on drinking, but really wanted to know what she was poisoning herself with. It was the sweetest and fruitiest drink I had tasted in awhile. I could tell that although it tasted to harmless, there was definitely way too much alcohol in it. That drink really was deceiving.

“That’s mineee!” Ash whined as she reached out to grab it from me again.

“I think you’ve had enough to drink,” I shook my head and kept it out of her reach, "how many of these have you had?”

She looked like she was thinking and counting, but the amount of time she took was really unsettling. “I don’t know. Maybe six? I-- I wasn’t going to drink,” she got closer, grabbing onto my face for extra support, “But then they gave me this and it was sooooo good. But I think I got carried away… I feel fine, though.”

“Of course you feel fine.” I rolled my eyes and quickly handed the drink to a random passerby. “We should probably get you to bed, you’ll regret this tomorrow morning.”

“You’re taking me to bed?” Her tone suddenly changed, but in a way I had never heard come out of her mouth before.

“Yep.” I tried to ignore the look she was giving me and picked her up bridal style.

Pushing through the crowd, I found the stairs and quickly went upstairs where all the noise died down. There were only a couple of couples here sucking each others faces off, trying to find the nearest possible place to have sex.

“Which bedroom are you staying at?” I asked Ash, hoping we wouldn’t find any uninvited guests.

“Harper’s bedroom.” She wrapped her arms around my neck and gave we a wet kiss on the cheek.

When I found it, it was locked, however nobody was around. After looking around for a while, and thinking about finding some other place, I found the key hidden on the ledge of the doorway. Clumsily I unlocked the door, still holding Ash in both my hands at the same time. There’s was a mattress on the floor with her bag at the end of it, so I guessed that was where she was going to stay. While I slowly put her down, she kept hold of me, so I couldn’t stand back up and had to keep bent over her in an awkward position.

“You are fucking awesome, Alex,” she mumbled as I tried to peel her arms and hands off me, “really fucking awesome.”

“Great,” I muttered and tried my best to get away, but she only pulled me closer, kissing me.

Once again, is was the most awkward thing ever. Of course I wanted to kiss her back, but she went for too much too soon. She was way too into it, and way too drunk to know what she was doing. When she hooked a leg around my body and pulled me down so I was lying on top of her, I knew things were going wrong. She wasn’t just doing this because she only wanted to kiss me, she was going for more. My head told me to pull away, but my other head told me to keep going. But I had to be the better man.

“No, Ash, not now.” I tried to pry myself away from her, just being able to move my head enough so she couldn’t reach up to kiss me anymore.

“But what if I want to?” She pouted at me sadly, looking offended that I had rejected her. But I knew better than that.

“No, trust me. You don’t want to now. I am not going to let you make such a terrible mistake. I won’t say that I don’t want to, but now is not the time. Maybe later, when you’re sober again, ok?”

But she didn’t reply. When I looked down to see what was going on, I saw she had passed out. I sighed and kissed her forehead before lying down next to her. Moving her body, I got onto the mattress onto my back and turned her so she was sleeping on top of me. I wasn’t going to let her out of my sight when she was like this.

----

When I woke up the next morning, Ash was still sleeping soundly, but nobody else was in the room. Liannes bed looked untouched, and the sheets on Harper’s bed were out of place meaning she had slept there, but had already woken up. It actually felt good waking up without a hangover for once. However, I couldn’t say the same for Ash. She was going to feel like a truck had hit her.

I carefully got out from underneath her, letting her sleep for longer, and made my way downstairs. Harper was already cleaning up the place, knowing how many more rooms she would have to still do after this one. She noticed me and gave me a small smile.

“Mornin’,” she said in a voice that wasn’t too loud, “how’d ya sleep?”

“It’s refreshing waking up after a party and not having a killer headache and the nausea to accompany it. Ash, however, is going to feel like she is dying,” I answered as I stretched out, my shirt rising a little, “I wasn’t planning on staying, but there was no way I could let her be alone like that.”

“You’re a good boyfriend,” she grinned, still not believing that I finally manned up and had asked Ash out.

“I try,” I smiled back before realising how rude it was for me to just stand around here. “Oh, wait, let me help y--”

There was a loud thundering down the stairs and I turned around to see Jack in completely hysterics. He was swearing pretty loudly at himself. What even happened after I left him? He was still sort of fine the last time I saw him, but now he was having a complete mental breakdown.

“You have to take me home,” he cried out to me, “now.”

“Why?” I was stupid enough to ask, but didn’t know what else to do.

“Please, Alex! I just-- Just-- I made a mistake, a horrible horrible mistake. Shit! I need to-- I-- Fuck!”

“Ok, let’s go,” I ushered him toward my car, looking back at Harper and giving her a sorry look. I completely forgot about the fact that I had left Ash upstairs all alone to fend for herself. Right now, I had to focus on Jack’s well being.

After driving a while, and some more tears from Jack, I finally decided to ask him what had happened. He didn’t have to tell me, but if I wanted to help, I needed to know what was going on.

“I-- I--” He took a deep breath to calm himself down before crossing his arms and resting his head on the dashboard, “I slept with Lianne.”

“Well, shit.”

Notes

Jacky-boy is fucking up! WOOOOO!

Writing shitty scenes with drunk people really makes me never want to get drunk... ever. My only experience is people around me being drunk, so this chapter can be complete shit and really inaccurate. Oh well, I'm writing a story about a relationship and have never even been close to being in a relationship, so there's that. This is all me just writing with no experience myself. Oh god, this is a disaster.