AN: Thanks for all the reviews! That's really what keeps me writing, so BIG SHOUT-OUT to everyone who has commented. Even a "post more" is welcome—what can I say? I'm easily pleased.

ATTENTION: is there a specific character that anyone wants to hear from? Like a different POV (not just from Massie; I feel like she's overshadowing everyone.) Dylan, Alicia, Claire, Kristen? Others? Just tell me and I'll post.

Other then that, please enjoy :)

~HTW

3

Ritz-Carlton Hotel Suite

-Master Bedroom-

12 AM, Sunday

A light breeze whisked by Massie's studded ear as a disturbing scent of Altoids wafted into the damp air.

Giggles bubbled around her but Massie just pressed her head deeper into the goose feather pillow that leveled her head.

"Masss," A girl's voice hissed over her. "Wake up!" A slim hand grabbed her shoulder and shook her back and forth.

"Hmmm," Massie raised a brow but kept her glossy lids closed, letting whoever was talking know that she was somewhat awake and listening.

"We're gonna run for coffee, wanna come?" The voice, which Massie now recognized as Claire's, whispered.

"No," Massie heard her own husked voice say. There was some more whispering between whoever else was there and some fumbling steps, then a click of the door closing.

The room fell disturbingly quiet as Massie twisted around, pressing her back against the foam mattress. She laid under the sheets for a while, just listening to her own patterned breathes. Then she slowly opened her eyes, fully waking up to her friend's shadowed suite. The blinds were drawn with strips of sunlight somehow managing to squeeze through.

It always took Massie some time to wake in the morning after a full night of partying—which was quite often. Her head sometimes throbbed despite the fact that she steered clear of alcohol or any kind of brain impairing drugs.

Just as she shut her eyes again for another quick snooze, she heard a sudden rustling somewhere in the direction of the bathroom. Massie froze in place and listened intently in the silence, wedging in deeper under the Egyptian cotton enveloping her.

When there was no moment after a few minutes Massie finally took a breath. Her imagination could drive her crazy sometimes. Of course the thriller/scary movie marathons she had with her friends never helped with her stranger-danger-phobia.

As the cold sweat left her body, Massie drew in a long breath and nestled into the soft mattress again. But just as she got comfortable another loud clank interrupted her. She immediately sat up this time and propped her back against the ebony bed frame.

"Hello?" She called out, but bit down at her lips at once, realizing her stupid mistake of clarifying that there was someone in the building. "Shit," She hissed at herself as she tried, as carefully and silently as she could, to slip out of the bed.

"Hey," A calm yet eldritch voice greeted behind her.

Before she could process anything properly in her brain properly, Massie let out an eardrum-popping shriek and pulled the orange sheets over her head.

"Shit, relax."

Massie waited. The voice didn't sound ready to harm so Massie gingerly lowered the blanket to take a peek at who the pervert was.

"Oh," She laughed sadistically, "You are such a prick."

"Paranoid much?" Derrick chuckled teasingly as he walked towards the bed.

"Stay away creep," Massie warned jokingly. "Are you stalking me?"

"No," He smiled his adorable lopsided grin, "Just watching you from afar." When he reached the bed he kicked off his shoes and jumped on next to Massie, settling a comfortable distance away but Massie still wished he were closer.

"No," Derrick finally admitted after a moment of silence, "I crashed last night and just woke up in the bathroom. I'm surprised I'm the only one."

"Wow, didn't even have the decency to find a bed, huh?"

"There weren't any left," He countered, "Your friend was in the guest room."

"You could've shared with her, she wouldn't have minded."

"I wouldn't have either," A sinister smirk crawled up his face.

"You're disgusting," Massie pushed him but his buff arm easily resisted it. Even though she was smiling, Massie couldn't help but feel a light sheet of heat spread across her even olive completion. She hated the fact that Derrick wanted to share a bed with someone else, but it wasn't like they were dating—not even close.

"But I think this bed is way more comfortable," He declared as if he had just read envy across her face.

And that was all it took. Massie turned to face him, smiled coyly, and forced a rosy blush across her cheeks by holding her breath. She watched as his face inched in closer to hers and his lips lightly grazed hers. Hey, that was her trick. Yet it didn't even matter because his mouth quickly pressed against hers as if magnetism was in play.

Massie could feel herself smiling as they both scoot in closer and he placed a large palm under her chin, tilting it slightly. Massie usually hated it when guys took control while kissing, but with Derrick everything just seemed so…good. The way he tasted like her favorite flavor of 5 gum, and how he smelled fresh even after a night of being stuck in a room that reeked of beer and coffee.

Wait. Coffee? Shit! Massie swiftly pulled back and pressed the wrinkles out of her shirt—which strangely she didn't remember putting on the night before. But that wasn't important right then. What was critical was that she wasn't harassed and humiliated by her friends about making out with "the new kid"—and not telling.

"Aw, come on," Derrick slumped back against the bed frame, "again?"

"Shhhh," Massie shushed him.

"Mass?" Dylan called from the living room with what sounded like a large group of people mumbling behind her.

"In here," She answered.

Derrick rolled his eyes as the door to the bedroom flung open, flooding the quiet room with loud chatter.

"Here," Dylan handed Massie a cup of brewed Starbuck coffee—ah, the perfect remedy for total lack of sleep.

"Derrrrick!" Cam jumped out from behind Dylan, followed by a few other soccer boys. "What are you doing here?" He strode over and high fived his "buddy."

"Nothing," Derrick replied blandly, then wrapped a broad arm around Massie's shoulders and squeezed—hard. "Just hanging out with my new friend!" He jumped off the bed as quickly as he had hopped on, then slapped a arm around Cam's shoulder and whispered, just loud enough for Massie to hear, "These Westchester girls are pretty hot, got anyone else you can set me up with?"

"Hey, Mass, you OK?" Claire asked as the boys strolled out of the room.

Massie was barely able to crack a smile as her heart sank ten levels below cloud nine. The word "friend" had never stung as much as it did coming from Derrick. And while Massie was rarely ever pleased enough to be elevated to cloud nine, she could tell you; cloud negative one sure as hell didn't feel too good.