An absurdly embarrassing plot, forgive me. Show and characters belong to our Lord and Savior, Judd Apatow. Sorry for any mistakes!

Lindsay was at Ken's house for the first time.

It was kind of amazing that they had known each other for over a year, yet it would be a random Friday night when she would be introduced to Ken's basement.

His parent's house was huge, full of white glasses and portraits of dead family members. Ken's old school pictures were huge on the white walls, and as the years went by, the sideburns grew and the lips turned downward. He was such a happy kid, but she knew what that was like. She felt like all kids were happier before they grew up.

Ken and Amy had broken up, and thought the perfect cure for his depression was to invite Lindsay and the gang over. The others have been there at least once before, and according to Kim, it was "terrible." The food always sucked, and the beer always ran out. That was why everyone was wary about going, but this was Ken and he never invited them to do stuff, and well... He was hurting, if a guy like Ken could hurt.

Everyone agreed to most of the crazy plans Ken made up. But beer was hard to come by (the gang had exhausted every other gas station convincing them to help out "just this one time") and Ken promised that they'd have open season on his parent's liquor cabinet.

"Does it look like I'll give a crap what they'll say," Ken had said when Lindsay asked what would happen if his parents found out. She realized pretty quickly that 1) Ken's opinion of her wasn't any better than when they first met, and 2) the breakup must have really hurt him to face whatever his parents will throw at him. And it certainly didn't improve his mood when Nick told them that Sara was coming. Lindsay did nothing to sway the freak's opinion of her, honestly - it was just that Sara kind of sucked.

Well, okay, she was different. She was really nice and thought going to a drive-in was the greatest, but she did like disco and wore way too much neon-colored eye shadow. Lindsay was horrifyingly reminded of herself at the beginning of her freshman year, aside from the fact that Sara didn't put so much effort to being their friends. She was Nick's girlfriend and that was, by far, the only relation she had with the gang.

So, Daniel and Kim would provide the pot, and Nick would provide the music and his girlfriend.

"Wonderful," Ken muttered bitterly about the entire ordeal.

When the "party" started, Lindsay arrived when it was only Daniel, Kim, and of course, Ken. Kim immediately snatched her arm, squeezing it too tight for comfort as she marched them up the stairs that Lindsay just came down from.

"God, I thought you'd never come."

"The party starts at eight." Kim looked at her. "It's only seven-thirty." Jeesh, and she thought she was way too early.

"Whatever," Kim said, looking at her face in the mirror. Reaching into her bag, she pulled out her eye-liner pen, making the rings around her big eyes even thicker. "And this is hardly a party. A party for losers, for sure."

"Well, nobody's here yet." Lindsay positioned herself on the counter. The bathroom reminded her of ones in fancy restaurants where the Weirs would spend their evenings when the A1 sports store brought in the "big bucks." The tiles looked freshly cleaned, and everything was really sleek and neat. The sink was a dark granite that matched the black tiles on the walls. Ken's parents really were loaded. There were even paper towels laid out on the counter instead of regular cloth ones.

"Pft," Kim snorts. "That's the thing - nobody will come."

"Why not? Ken invited a lot of people."

"Lindsay," she said, putting her liner down and moving to stare at her. One eye looked bigger than the other. "Ken's a sob story. He's not exactly the life of the party." Then she looked around the bathroom as if there were spies, which would be plausible - the bathroom was huge. "Last year, he threw this huge party, yeah? And invited everyone, making it such a big deal that his parents weren't, like, home and stuff. And all these people came to his house and after like, an hour, Ken just set off the freaking alarm on those guys. And not just regular cops, but like security guards, and big ones. Those guys got put into jail and stuff."

"Oh," Lindsay said, blinking. "Did those guys do anything to make Ken do that?" Ken was too laid back to just call people, and while Kim was one of her best friends, she couldn't help but think there was a hole in this story.

"So? Does it matter?" Kim went back to line her other eye with a sneer. "He called his goons and our friends - my friends - got heat for it. He was a wuss, and he's lucky we even came."

When Kim and Lindsay navigated their way back to the basement, Nick and Sara were there.

"Oh, great, now the party's really started," Kim said, rolling her raccoon eyes as she walked over to sit next to Daniel on the couch. Catching sight of Lindsay, Nick and Sara waved.

"Hey, Lindsay, I didn't think you'd be here!" Sara said nicely, but Lindsay felt uncertain grinning back at her.

"Hey, Linds," Nick said, and she offered a curt wave in response. His hair looked as if it had been recently cut, and she wondered if Sara was responsible for that.

"Alright, let's get started!" Ken announced, Daniel offering a fist pump in the air as a salute.

Throughout the night, there was rock, pot, and beer. Lindsay drank a beer and a half, and she and Sara were the only ones who wouldn't take a hit. It was a little nice to know that she wasn't the only one, but it was less nice knowing that it was Sara.

Nick sat nearest to the speakers, bobbing his head and smacking his thighs to the beat of the Who and Journey while Kim and Daniel spent the majority of the night either flirting or fighting. Maybe it was both - it was hard to tell which was which between them. Maybe the fighting was the flirting?

Lindsay and Ken were virtually by themselves, together. It was weird to be sort of doing the same thing with someone who's so completely indifferent towards you, but it wasn't so bad. While Ken initiated parties, he was never really the partier.

A beer in one hand and the other on the couch cushions behind her head, he sighed. "Man, this sucks." And it took a moment for her to realize that he was talking to her.

"It's not so bad," Lindsay countered. "The music's good." Because if all else failed, at least they had good tunes to jam to while they got wasted together. Because Kim was right - nobody else came.

"Heh, yeah." He took a swig. Kim was squealing on the other side of the L-shaped couch, and Ken rolled his eyes. "Why are you even here."

It wasn't a question, but a statement that expected some sort of response. Lindsay wasn't sure if she should answer, because this could just be another one of his drunken comments made to make her feel like crap. But the silence made him look at her from the corner of his eye and she shrugged. "I dunno… Because everyone else is here?"

Ken hummed and took another drink, quickly losing interest in the only time that he had ever made an effort to talk to her.

"And...you're a good guy, Ken." He rose an eyebrow at her, and her face suddenly got very hot. She looked around to make sure everyone else was in their own little world before continuing on. "And you shouldn't be alone after what happened."

"I'm not a charity case, so don't pity me," he said, and Lindsay realized that he could have said that a lot meaner, but he didn't. And instead of looking severely pissed off, he just stared at his beer can. Her beer was gone, she realized, and she went up to get another.

"Sick! You've got the new Van Halen," Nick cheered from across the room. He held Fair Warning as if it were precious gold, popping the vinyl in. "Sick, man!"

Ken snorted behind Lindsay, which made her jump slightly. Was he following her?

"Sorry, princess," he sneered at her. "Just getting another bottle."

She frowned and opened her mouth to retaliated, but Sara spoke first. "Hey, have you got any Space Michael?"

The gang looked confused, and Lindsay's heart sank for her.

"Who the hell is that?" Kim asked from under Daniel's arm pit.

"Michael Jackson," Sara confirmed, and a sudden icy chill overcame the room.

"I'm sorry," Ken said, sneering at her. "I must have forgotten my Abba shirt upstairs. Who do you think we are, disco freaks?"

"Hey man," Nick said. "Lay off. I personally would love to hear some Michael Johnson, what 'bout you guys?"

"Jackson," Sara muttered.

"Uh, no, man," Kim said. Beside her, Daniel shrugged sheepishly. Nobody turned to Lindsay, thankfully. But that doesn't mean that she wouldn't speak up.

"Well, hey, Ken's got some KC and the Sunshine Band, right?" Eyebrows around the room rose, and Ken shot her a deadly look. "That's not really disco, but it's something, yeah?"

"Yeah, man," Nick said, nodding at Lindsay with a small smile on his face. "Yeah, KC sounds great right now."

"Yeah, with some freaking orange soda and go go boots," Ken muttered, and Lindsay nudged him harshly. She froze immediately afterwards, because she's never really done that to Ken before, but he just smirked at her, and not at all meanly.

"Rad!" Sara said gleefully, putting the record in while the others rolled their eyes.

It wasn't so bad, even when Sara tried to get them to dance. Lindsay had to admire her for her courage; to like something that had died before she was even in junior high school took a lot of guts. Lindsay bobbed her head to the music her parents would like, and Sara and even Nick looked at least a little bit happier.

"How's it feel saving the day?" Daniel asked her while Kim argued with Sara that there was no way she was dancing to "this disco scum."

"A little buzzed," she joked, holding up her fourth cup of beer. Daniel laughed and Kim came stomping back to ask what was so funny.

The "party" wasn't a complete bust. At least Ken forgot about Amy and the break up for at least a little while.

Daniel was a lot more drunk than Kim, and started singing along. "Baby-babe, let's get together. Honey-honey, me and yeeeww! And do the things - ohhh! Do the things! That weee! Like to dooo!"

"I think I'm gonna barf," Ken said beside her. Somehow during the night, he and Lindsay migrated so close together, that the sides of their bodies were touching, and the realization made her heart speed up.

"I'm going to pee," Lindsay announced, jumping off of the couch and nearly losing her balance.

"Hot," Ken shot back, and she threw a grin over her shoulder at him.

Retracing the steps back to the big white and black bathroom was hard enough as it was because the Miller house was a freaking maze. Adding in a really drunk high schooler, and it was just a recipe for disaster.

Finding the bathroom before she nearly peed in her pants, she relieved herself quickly when she walked out and ran right into Nick.

"Hey, Linds," he slurred.

"Uhhh, heeeyyy Nick," she said, because she sounded really stupid when she was drunk and this was one of those times. This is why kids under 21-years-old shouldn't be drinking.

"That was really cool, what you did back there for Sara."

"It's okay. She's really cool."

"Yeah?" he smiled, a little hopeful.

"Yeah, Nick," she said, and grinned back.

When they walked downstairs, Sara looked at Lindsay with drunk eyes, and she just smiled at the dark haired disco chick. She smiled back and grabbed Nick's hand to keep on dancing. And Lindsay sat down beside Ken, and the party carried on.

At around eleven o'clock, Lindsay announced that she had to go home.

"Why not stay a little longer?" Daniel whined.

"Yeah, you could totally say you spent the night at my house," Kim said, but Lindsay quickly shook her head. The last time her parents called the Weir house, things had gone from bad to worse. No way was she letting that fiasco repeat.

"No, really - my parents said I had to be home by midnight."

"You have a curfew now, Weir?"

"Yeah, it sucks, but it's whatever." She glanced at Ken, who continued to stare silently at the wall opposite of him. She shifted her weight awkwardly, staring at the carpet underneath her feet.

"That kind of sucks, doesn't it?"

Ken's voice came out of nowhere, catching her off guard. "What are you talking about?"

"Like, with Nick and Sara." Lindsay could physically feel herself bristle at the volume Ken's voice was, and glanced over at the couple repeatedly. "Doesn't it suck to see them all over each other when you guys were together?"

"I…don't think you really want to know."

"I do."

Lindsay chewed the inside of her cheek. "Well. I don't really want to talk about it…"

"It's okay. You don't have to," Ken muttered bitterly into his beer can before taking a gulp. "I already know."

"Know what?" But felt like she already knew the answer.

"What it's like to see someone you loved with someone else."

There it was. Lindsay slumped back, staring at the side of his face. "I'm so sorry."

He didn't respond, but he didn't need to.

"Thanks for inviting me over," she said, and Ken nodded at her dispassionately. He truly looked as if he couldn't care less. But he was drunk - hell, she was drunk - and if he wanted to pout all night because he got dumped, then that was fine by her.

"Later, guys," she announced, before gathering her dad's Army jacket in her arms and walking up the stairs. It wasn't until she was facing the long hallway that she realized she had no idea how to get to the front door. And this time, there was no Nick or Kim to help her. Ugh.

Turning around, she started going back down the stairs to fetch Ken when he almost ran into her on his way up the stairs.

"Oh, hey, Ken," she slurred, slightly surprised.

"Hey," he said back, a bit breathless. "I, um. Did you want me to walk you to the door?"

"Yeah, lead the way."

Things were pretty silent and awkward until Ken spoke up.

"Thanks for coming," he said, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I should have said that earlier, but, you know..."

Lindsay nodded. "It's okay."

Ken nodded back. "Nobody's really been the same about my house since my brothers broke up the fight at my party freshman year."

Freshman year... What was Lindsay doing? Getting Mathlete trophies and winning blue ribbons that she never in her wildest dreams would have guessed that Daniel Desario would think of them to be cool. She didn't think much of Daniel back then, either, or any of the freaks that she called her friends now. To them, they were just losers in her pretty and plain Weir world.

"Yeah, Kim said you called in security guards."

Ken looked at her funny. "Security guards? What? No - that, that's just a stupid rumor." He kicked the corner of the living room's Persian rug, a short cough leaving his mouth in frustration. "That's total bullshit. Those were my brothers, they came home for the summer early that year and broke up the party. But, oh no, everything out of Kim's horse mouth is Gospel."

"Not everything," Lindsay said, but wasn't sure if that would help anything or it was even the right thing to say.

Then Ken, who wasn't the most perfect person to care about how perfectly people worded things, grinned at her anyways. She felt his fingers touch the knuckles on her left pinky and ring finger for a moment before he held her hand. And hell, she could worry about what this all meant in the morning, but in that moment, she felt drunk and happy.

Reviews are greatly appreciated! Thanks for reading :)