6 Chapter 6

For the next hour or so, Clarice, Sophie and I remained inside the house, helping the boys clean up the mess created by the guests as well as the party crashers. Unfortunately, piled upon piles of red solo cups and alcohol bottles and cans littered the floor. Even a variety of garbage and confetti could be found everywhere. The only places that were spotless were the upstairs bedrooms, which were thankfully kept locked. By the end of it, we had gathered four large bags of trash, a disappointing result of the party-goers lack of respect for Jacob's hospitality. As we were cleaning the kitchen from top to bottom, the boys were still taking care of the unconscious bodies littering the front yard and kitchen. 

We were all unsure of where to bring them exactly. That was until Travis had the bright idea of dumping their bodies at the nearby park. Each and every Kingsman would then be left to wake up and go home on their it. Now, I know what you're thinking: why not just bring them to the hospital or a police station? If we were to do that, how would we explain the situation to the nurses or the police? That our party was crashed by a rival school and a fight broke out? If anything, doing just that would have far more repercussions than benefits. 

The boys came back into the house we were scrubbing it down to the bone. The three of us were unable to stand the sight of spilled food and the strong and sickening smell of alcohol wafting through the air. As I swept up the spilled food and mopped the floor, I felt more and more guilty about trashing Jacob's beautiful kitchen. I was an invited guest in his house, it felt like I abused that privilege with the disarray I created during my one-sided brawl against our school rivals. Although I reassured the girls that cleaning the kitchen was my responsibility, they still insisted on helping me. 

Unfortunately, as I was cleaning, the hem of my dress kept creeping up my leg as I tried to reach the backsplash with my cleaning rag. No matter how many times I tugged the mid-thigh length dress down, it kept exposing more than I bargained for. Part of me as thankful that it was only eight of us left in the house instead of the entire party, where the number of stares I received would be kept down to a bare minimum. Then again, four out of five guys were not bound by a faithful relationship and were unrestricted as to where their eyes wandered. Without having to turn around, I knew that one of them continued to stare at me, even after Clarice and I first entered the house. Never in my life have I ever felt so self-conscious about my looks and it was all because of a guy I couldn't tolerate for the life of me. 

"It's rude to stare," I scoffed, throwing the rag in the sink and turning around. 

Just as I had suspected, Caleb was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. Even as I confronted him, he continued to wear a hardened scowling expression on his damningly good looking face. If only he didn't glare so much, then maybe I would actually put effort into becoming friends with him. I had hoped that he would keep his mouth shut and walk away without any further conflict, but he did just the opposite. The least I expected Caleb to do was take long and confident strides towards me. Having nowhere else to go, he backed me up to the counter I was previously cleaning and trapped me against it. Before I knew it, we were inches apart, where his far taller stature towered over me. 

"What? Cat's got your tongue?" he quipped. 

If there was one thing I hated about Caleb, it was the fact that he was far too observant. There was no doubt in my mind that he easily read how nervous I was and the way I gulped down the lump in my throat. 

"My eyes are up here buddy," I quickly shot back after I caught him glance down. 

Caleb narrowed his eyes at me. Gosh, what is up with him? It's like he can't control his stupid hormones or something; his attitude was so provoking.

"Don't flatter yourself," he sassed. "I'm not interested in you that way." 

"Oh really?" I dared with a smirk. "You sounded pretty concerned earlier."

A wide smirk tugged on my lips as it I managed to catch him off guard and score a point in this game for myself. Caleb gave me one last sharp glare before pulling away completely. It looked like he wanted to say something further but how could he when I shot him in the foot? Without another word, he abruptly left the kitchen, leaving me to my own devices. Rolling my eyes, I finally let out the breath that I was holding ever since I had my bubble invaded by the absolutely intolerable Caleb Melle. I couldn't stand him for the life of me, just getting even with him made me feel better.

In the midst of the new-found silence in the kitchen, my phone suddenly began to ring in my pocket and I fished it out. Upon checking the caller ID, I immediately answered it, thinking that there was something wrong as it was almost two in the morning. 

"Laurence? Everything okay?"

"Damien is outside… should I let him in?" 

I immediately face-palmed myself, how could I forget that he was coming over tonight? Especially after he drove for almost four hours from his hometown. 

"Yes, let him in," I sighed. "I'll be home soon, okay bud?"

Ending the call, I shoved my phone back into my pocket and ran my hands through my hair. As I did so, Felix came into the kitchen looking for me. Seeing the look on my face, he asked if there was something wrong.

"I just need to get home." 

"I'll drop you off at home," he offered with a smile. "I'm driving Clarice home too." 

"Thanks, Felix." 

After once again thanking Felix for the ride and saying goodbye to Clarice, I dragged myself to my apartment door. Grabbing the key from my pocket, I tiredly shoved it into the lock. After a long night, I wanted nothing more than to get myself out of this dress and dive into bed after taking a nice hot bath. The tumblers took longer to undo than I expected, causing me to grow more and more frustrated. Before I even managed to unlock the doorknob, the door suddenly flew open and yanked me inside as I was still holding onto it. Stumbling over my feet, I was expecting to meet the cold hard floor. Luckily, a pair of arms managed to catch me. 

"Florence, nice of you to finally drop in," Damien teased, helping me up to my feet. 

I playfully slapped his arm and leaned against him as I pulled my boots off. He then pulled into a giant bear hug, squishing my smaller form against his larger figure. After I returned his hug, Damien ushered me into the kitchen, telling me to sit down at the breakfast nook. He placed a cup of hot chocolate on the table and took the seat across from me. I couldn't help but notice how tired he was, given the light bags under his eyes. 

"How's Charlotte and the kids?" I asked.

"Char's well and the kids are kids," he replied humorously. "You and Laurence should come and visit sometime."

Following our hour-long conversation, the two of us finally decided to head to bed and get some sleep. We were both exhausted and sleeping past our alarm in the morning was a pleasing thought. Although I offered Damien my bed for the night, he decided to sleep on the couch, declaring that it was far more comfortable for him. Once I was tucked into bed, I instantly fell asleep.