Chapter 7

I watched from the top of the stairs as more of Leah's friends came flooding into the house carrying drinks and snacks. I was aware that she knew a lot of people, but I counted at least thirty heads downstairs and couldn't help but wonder if most of them were randoms that stumbled their way in here because they smelled a party. At least they didn't come empty-handed.

Leah was somewhere among the crowd most likely already drunk from all the pre-birthday shots she took to calm down and I was on my third cup of Pink Whitney hiding away upstairs, waiting until midnight.

"Violet, what are you doing up there?" I furrowed my brows and looked for the source of the voice and noticed Clair standing at the bottom of the stairs with her hand outstretched for me. "Come hang with me, please," She begged.

I exhaled slowly and stood up to join her, not before finishing my drink and going for fourths. "Are you enjoying yourself?" I asked and poured us both a shot of patron.

"I get to smoke and drink for free, does that answer your question?" She smirked and held the shot glass up in the air, I did the same. "This is for Leah and all the other bad bitches celebrating their birthday today." She threw it back and slammed the shot glass on the counter.

"It's actually tomorrow but...yeah," I threw back the shot and winced from the burn. Ok, maybe I should call it quits if I planned on being awake for her actual birthday.

"Let's do another one!" Clair started to pour the shots and I shook my head in disgust.

"I think I'm good for now."

"More for me," She smiled and carried the bottle under her arm and the shots in her hands to the backyard. It was almost midnight and I still had to wait up for Ryan to get back from my apartment. He wanted to surprise Leah with a birthday cake, so I let him use my kitchen. That was over an hour ago and I still haven't seen him yet.

After a few more shots, Clair and I were a tangled mess on the grass as we sang our hearts out to Total Eclipse of The Heart. Her head rested on my chest while my arms were draped across her front.

Clair pulled away and turned to face me, "I hate to admit it, but when I first realized who you were, I was a little jealous of you."

"Me? Why?"

She cocked her head and gave me a knowing smile. "Because I know how important you are to Leah and I thought you were here to steal her away, which sounds dumb now that I hear the words coming out of my mouth."

"I'm not here to steal anyone. Just trying to have fun with people I love and get on the right track in life." I climbed to my feet and held out my hand to help her up. We walked back inside and I scanned the crowd for Leah which didn't take long since she was the only one jumping on the couch and swinging her brown curls around.

I took a seat on the couch and Clair planted her ass in my lap. She was starting to get a little too comfortable with me already. I didn't know if that was a good thing or not.

Leah jumped off the couch and sat beside me. "Where were you guys? I was looking everywhere," She whined.

"We were outside," Clair slurred and took another drink from the bottle.

I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by my phone vibrating. Ryan had texted me that he was coming up the driveway, so I quickly got up and shut the music off which granted me a few groans from some people. "Sorry guys this will only take a minute!"

I opened the door and Ryan stepped inside carrying a two-layer marble-style cake covered with pink, white, and gray. Zane was right behind him with matching cupcakes.

Leah's mouth hung open as she walked over to them and then something happened that I didn't expect, but it was hilarious. Ryan and Zane started singing happy birthday in a low tone and soon enough everyone joined in. Leah covered her face in embarrassment until it was over.

"That was embarrassing and will never happen again," She glared at them both, but quickly replaced it with a huge grin. "But I love you guys so much for this. Thank you!" She wiped her tears and engulfed them both in a hug.

"Shots for the birthday girl!" Clair shouted and leaned in to kiss me.

I pulled away simply from being caught off guard, but then I went in for another one. I've kissed a girl before, but that was so long ago.

"Ok." I pushed her off and took the bottle from her grasp, "No more drinks for you."

"I'm gonna put this in the kitchen and when I get back I'm taking your ass home," Ryan spoke, glaring between Clair and me angrily.

She snickered and tried to walk off to the kitchen but I gripped her wrist preventing her from taking another step. "What did I just say? You're cut off, now come with me." She frowned but didn't put up a fight as I pulled her to the stairs. The next thing I knew someone was crashing into me spilling their cold drink down the front of my dress.

"What the fuck!" I quickly pulled the dress over my head and wiped it off my chest.

"Come with me." Ryan yanked me up the stairs and didn't release me until I was in Leah's room. He locked the door and dragged his palm down his face in frustration, "Why the hell were you half-naked downstairs?"

"Someone spilled a cold ass drink on me and I just acted. Besides they're too drunk to even care."

"So are you, now stay your ass up here, I'm gonna drive Clair home and I can't be worried about you at the same time."

"I'm not drunk, so there's no reason to worry. I wrapped myself in a cover and walked to the door. He lifted me with ease and walked me over to the bed.

"Sleep it off, Violet."

I liked that he cared enough to make sure I was ok, but I wasn't that drunk. If anything Clair needed this treatment, she took more shots than I could count.

"What if I don't wanna?" I grinned.

He pulled off my heels and tossed them to the floor, "Either that or I chain you to this bed"

"Then what?" I bit my lip to suppress my laugh.

"Then you go to sleep."

I pouted and turned to face the wall. "You're no fun." I felt his eyes on me and then a sigh escaped his lips. A part of me wanted him to join me in bed, but I knew that wouldn't happen. I heard the door open and the faint sound of music followed.

"Goodnight, Princess." He shut off the lights and I drifted to sleep