Damsel in Drunkiness

He heard the warning signs of trouble before he saw them. "Check it out." It was more the tone Lee's friend used that caused him to turn, than what he actually said. And check it out he did. There, on the pool table was Elle. She was what he guessed was dancing, but she was certainly swaying. Just not to the beat of the music. How much had she had to drink?

"Haha." Lee clearly wasn't seeing a problem so maybe she wasn't as drunk as I thought she was. Perhaps she was just fooling around. After all, Lee spent more time with her than I did. She was my brother's best friend. Somehow I just couldn't see her as a little sister type anymore.

"Oh God. It's hot out here." Or maybe she was as drunk as I thought she was. This was not good. I could see the moment Lee realised it as well.

"Dude." Ok, Lee's friend was really beginning to annoy me. Especially the way he was looking at Elle.

"Oh no." Lee was only just realising what his best friend was about to do.

"Totally dying." Oh hell. Now she was unlacing her dress. I was going to have to do something fast before the entire senor class saw her naked. And I wouldn't put it past at least half of the guys here to try something, despite my threats of what would happen if anyone made a move on Elle.

"No, no." Lee seemed frozen in disbelief at his friend stripping on the pool table. Why wasn't he doing anything to stop her?

"I'm taking this off." She almost fell off the table reaching for the hem of her dress.

"No!" Lee still wasn't moving, but I sure as hell am.

"Who cares." And off came the dress to the cheers from the crowd and my brother burying his face in his hands. Well I care. Did Elle have any idea how much danger she was putting herself in? "We should go skinny dipping!" Not if I have any say in it.

"Absolutely!" Seriously, that guy was going to be on the receiving end of my fist if he didn't stop ogling Elle.

"Yearbook!" I made a mental note of the Yearbook geek. Those photos would never see the light of day.

"Yeah!" Elle was so going to regret this in the morning if she didn't fall off the pool table and give herself a concussion first.

"Dude." Luckily Lee's friend chose to jump in the pool, dragging Lee with him. Cause I was close enough now to throttle him. But my main concern was getting to Elle.

By the looks of her, the alcohol had just hit her full force. "Here I come. I'm gonna oh!" I manage to reach her just as she toppled, right over my shoulder making it easy to carry her back into the house, grabbing her dress as I went.

"Who is this? Are you, are you a girl Princess or a boy Princess?" Her babbling was adorable. "You smell good." I just hoped she didn't puke down my back.

Normally when Elle stayed here, she stayed in the guestroom. But after what I had just witnessed downstairs, I wasn't sure she would be safe. I did know she would be safe in my room. After all, nobody would be brave enough to go into my room without my say so.

This was probably not the smartest move to make considering my conflicting feelings for Elle, but her safety was the more important thing right now. Carefully placing her on her feet, I quickly tugged her dress over her head covering her way too distracting figure.

"I think I'm going to be sick." Should have seen that coming. I managed to get Elle into the bathroom and her head over the toilet bowl before she started heaving. Not quite fast enough for her not to be sick on her dress though.

"Is she ok?" Lee poked his head around the door. "I didn't realise she had so much to drink."

"Just watch her for a second while I find something for her to wear. She can't sleep in a dress covered in sick" I didn't want her falling over if she got up to leave.

"Sure. Is the guest room not made up?" Had Lee not seen those guys slobbering over Elle?

"Yes. I'll stay in the guest room. Elle can stay in here where no one will take advantage of her." I grabbed the closest shirt and could have sworn I heard the sound of a camera. That reminded me I still have to get hold of the yearbook geek's phone and delete those photos. In truth I had no idea if the guest room was made up or not.

Lee was holding Elle's hair back as she continued emptying the contents of her stomach. "I think I threw up a lung." Elle groaned as she sank to the floor. "I don't need both lungs right?"

"I don't see your lung in there." Lee peered into the toilet bowl. "Do you know how many drinks you had? Cause I don't think you had anything to eat."

"Weren't you with Elle?" How could Lee not know how much Elle had been drinking? And apparently on an empty stomach.

"She was with the OMG girls. I was giving her space to talk me up with Mia." Lee shrugged. "But all they wanted to talk about was if you would do the kissing booth." He never had a chance with Mia. She was way too involved in herself to be giving Lee a second look.

"Not going to do it." How could he? There was only one girl he really wanted to kiss and she was currently crashed out by the toilet. Making out with random girls to cover how he felt about his brother's best friend, was getting old.

"Why not?" Lee seemed genuinely confused. "It's not as though you don't kiss a lot of girls now. This way you could help raise money for charity as well."

"Can you just hold Elle up while I put this shirt on her?" Now was not the time to discuss this with Elle unconscious between us. I dampened a face cloth and wiped Elle's face before carefully removing the dress I had just put back on her, replacing it with my shirt. Damn if she didn't look good in my shirt.

"Are you seriously going to sleep in the guest room and let Elle use your room?" Lee looked suspicious. Had I given my feelings away somehow? I thought I have been covering it well.

"Nobody will try anything with her in here." I picked Elle up and carried her to my bed and tucked her in, pushing my trash can closer in case she got sick again. "Can you get back downstairs and make sure nobody's trashing the house?"

"Sure." Lee was still suspicious. "You're coming back downstairs, right?" Now he was looking after his best friend?

"Yeah, I'm just going to put her dress in the wash and make sure she doesn't get sick again. We can't send her home tomorrow in my shirt." It was a delaying tactic sure, but as a responsible host I had to be certain my guests were all looked after. Really, I just wanted a few minutes more with her.

I tossed the dress in the washing machine making a mental note to put it in the dryer once everyone had gone. Making sure nobody had broken anything and that I was at least seen at my own party, I crept back upstairs to check on Elle.

She was out like a light and so adorable. I was pretty certain she'd have one hell of a hangover in the morning and a sneaking suspicion that Lee had taken photos of her as proof. I couldn't believe that she and Lee were trying to get me to take part in the kissing booth. What were either of them thinking?

Now that I had thought about it, I doubted Elle had ever been kissed. Probably because I had scared everyone who showed any interest in her off. Especially when she stopped seeming like a little sister to me. Truth be known, I had always been drawn to her.

She was so different than the other girls. It was a refreshing change. Elle never threw herself at me or tried to get my attention. She didn't wear a lot of make up or skimpy dresses. It seemed as though she was comfortable in her own skin most of the time.

I sat on the floor leaning against my bedroom door watching Elle sleep. She was driving me crazy with her mixture of sweetness and strength. She had stood up to me defending Lee since we were little. But why did she have to be my brother's best friend? Even if she felt the same way about me that I felt about her, Lee would not deal with it well.

Despite my reputation, the thought of Elle choosing her friendship with Lee, over me did not sit well. Realising my absence might begin to be noticed, I headed back to the party. It seemed as though Elle was out for the night, but I'd check on her randomly until everyone headed home.

It didn't take much persuasion to get the photos of Elle stripping off the Yearbook geek's phone. I just glared at him and he handed over his phone. At least they wouldn't be showing up in this year's yearbook or anywhere else.

The party wound up at a reasonable hour. Keys were taken off of those too wasted to drive. The living room was covered in sleeping bodies by the time Lee and I headed up to bed, after a quick tidy up so there wouldn't be as much to do in the morning.

"Wow, she's really out of it." Lee peeked into my room. "So I managed to do a survey of the party and she had roughly five different shots and at least two pints of beer and also she was at one point, drinking straight from the jug."

"And she hasn't eaten anything since lunch since she had practise after school and then ran home because she didn't want to get on my bike." I concluded. In other words, Elle had worked off anything she had eaten during the day and drunk half her body weight in alcohol.

Lee had the decency to look guilty. "I guess not. I probably should have asked you to take your car today."

"Get some sleep. We'll have to tidy the rest of the house up tomorrow before Mum and Dad get home." I had made sure the guest room was made up earlier but I needed something to sleep in. Lee said good night and I went into my room to grab something to wear.

Who was I kidding? I was going in there to check on Elle. At some point she had kicked off the blankets so I tucked her back in. Before I even thought about it, I kissed her forehead. I had to get out of here before I did something really stupid.

I grabbed something to sleep in and went across the hall to the guest room. Normally I would be in my own room with the door closed, but tonight I was sleeping with the door open in case somebody decided to try their luck upstairs. I would keep Elle safe from everyone. Including me.

THE END