westlife4ever80, Dylan has no idea! He is a bit surprised to have met someone he likes as much as Lofty, but he hasn't made the connection yet. The kind of thing that happens to Robyn still does happen to me! Thank you for your review.

X-Sammii-X, I do love Riain - I nearly made Zoe and Max's characters Rita and Iain, but Max's character seemed far more like Max. Maybe one day I could write a story about your other OTP - if I can have Ethan! Connie is one of Lofty's sisters, so she is at the party. She won't be in it much, but I do have an idea for bringing her into the story! Thank you for your review.

EDSidekick, thank you for your review. I think Ethan's parents are going to be far from happy! I think Zoe can be a pushy madam as an adult too. I love that side to her. It would be funny if Dylan kept telling Benjamina how amazing Lofty is, but I think Dylan is finding Benjamina quite amazing too!

Tanith Panic, I'm not going to argue about Ethan being adorable! I have to admit I like the idea of Lofty with a bosom. I haven't seen Once Upon a Time (which was very nearly the title of this story), but my Red Riding Hood is slightly inspired by Into the Woods and a film called Hoodwinked.

"What are you doing out here?" asked a voice.

Zoe jumped, then tried to pretend she was just stretching. "I have every right to be out here, Max. Unfortunately, so have you." She turned away from him.

Max failed to disappear. "Are you having a good time then?"

"I was till you showed up," said Zoe. She felt a stab of guilt when she saw the hurt look on Max's face, but sometimes you needed to be honest. "You looked like you were having a good time too, with Honey."

Max looked awkward. "She wanted to make Ethan jealous. I said I'd help out. But he didn't actually seem to notice, so she's looking for David."

"David Hide?" said Zoe, startled. "Don't be stupid, Max. There's no way David could come here."

"Well, I haven't actually seen him myself," admitted Max. "But I have seen Lily."

"Lily Chao?" Zoe shook her head disbelievingly. "Do you really think I'm that gullible?"

Max looked uncomfortable. "I really do think it was Lily."

"You must have got her confused with someone else," said Zoe firmly. "Lily's not into having fun. Everyone knows that."

"Come with me and I'll show you if you like," said Max, holding out his hand.

Zoe nearly called his bluff – but then she remembered Cal. "Do you really think I have nothing better to do than follow you around?"

"Like what?" said Max. "Standing out here freezing to death? You've hardly got any clothes on!"

"I wouldn't have expected you to complain," said Zoe.

"I'm not complaining!" said Max. "Not at all. I think you look great. I love the shoes. I'm just worried you might be cold. So anyway, what are you doing out here?"

"Waiting for my boyfriend," said Zoe.

Max looked worried. "You're not meeting Cal out here, are you?"

"What: do you suggest I meet him inside where it's too loud to have a proper conversation?" said Zoe.

"I'm serious, Zoe," said Max. "He's dangerous."

"Am I interrupting something?" said a smooth voice from behind them.

Max said nothing, which Zoe thought was something he should do more often.

"Get lost," Caleb Knight told Max, and he did. "That, Zoe, is the only way to deal with people like that."

"I do know that," said Zoe.

"Didn't look that way to me," said Cal, moving closer to her.

"It's not like I had anything better to do, is it?"

"I didn't come out here to chat," said Cal. He put his arms around her, and widened his eyes in what is presumably supposed to be a 'come to bed' expression.

He'd be lucky.

"Don't look at me like that," said Zoe. "It makes your eyes look abnormally big."

The third dance ended, but Dylan didn't show any signs of wanting to sit down. As the next song began, Lofty realised with terror and happiness that it was a slow song.

"Okay?" said Dylan. He held out his arms.

Lofty hesitated. He might look like a girl on the outside when it was dark and when Dylan had had at least one drink, but he was sure he didn't feel like a girl. If he let Dylan put his arms around him, he'd know the truth at once.

"You don't have to," said Dylan quickly. He actually looked disappointed. "There must be lots of other people you want to talk to." He put his hand on Lofty's arm. "But perhaps we could talk later, Benjamina?"

Lofty saw the hope in Dylan's eyes and felt his skin quivering beneath Dylan's fingers. "Dylan, I'd love to dance with you. But I just don't know if I… I don't know how."

Dylan's face relaxed and he pulled Lofty close to him. Lofty tensed, but Dylan didn't pull away in horror. Instead, he ran his hands up and down Lofty's spine, and made him gasp out loud. "It's okay, Benjamina. I'll show you what to do. You'll be fine. You're a much better dancer than me. Have you noticed, girls can always dance better than boys?"

"Robyn, please don't go!" called Ethan.

Robyn went into the kitchen, but she knew he'd catch her. There were people everywhere and it was impossible to run in heels. She bumped into some people (one of whom looked like Lily, but that was impossible); tripped over others, and pulled away from more drunkenly wandering hands than she could count. She hid behind a kissing Louise and Ash, hoping Ethan would think she'd gone into the garden, but he found her almost straight away

"Robyn, it's okay," he said gently.

"Ethan, I'm so sorry. It was an accident," said Robyn, trying not to cry.

"I know it was," said Ethan. "I was there." He looked at her, his eyes full of concern. "It's okay."

"I'll pay for it," said Robyn. She wiped her eyes.

"Don't cry, Robyn," said Ethan anxiously. He reached his hand out towards her, then tentatively touched her arm. "I'll tell my parents it was me. I'm the only person who sits in that chair, anyway."

"I can't let you do that," said Robyn. "I'd really much rather tell them it was me."

Ethan shuffled his feet. "Really, Robyn, you don't have to do that."

Robyn looked up at him. "I don't want you to get into trouble."

"You'll get me into more trouble if my parents find out you were here."

"I don't understand," said Robyn, now feeling stupid as well as miserable. "Did your parents say you couldn't invite girls or something?"

Ethan didn't look any happier than she felt. "Well, kind of. My parents are away for the weekend. They don't actually know about the party. They just said Ash and Jacob could stay the night."

Robyn's mouth fell open. "Do you mean you're having a party without their permission?"

"Well… yes," said Ethan. "Lots of people do it, apparently. Ash and Jacob said my parents would never know about it. The only thing that's happened is you breaking the chair. And that's fine. That's absolutely fine."

Robyn stared at him in disbelief. "Ethan, I don't think me breaking the chair is going to be the worst thing that's going to happen."

"What else could happen?" said Ethan. "I don't like that people are smoking, but I don't think they'd actually set fire to anything. By the way, have you seen Zoe?"

"Zoe?" gasped Robyn.

Ethan liked Zoe?

"Yes, your friend Zoe," said Ethan. "I'd like to talk to her. She is here, isn't she?"

"She's probably outside with Cal," said Robyn, hoping that would put him off.

"Not… that Cal?" said Ethan.

Robyn nodded.

"Well… okay," said Ethan. "I'll see you later if Cal doesn't punch my face in. But don't worry about the chair, okay? It really doesn't matter at all."

Zoe was so engrossed in the kiss, she didn't see Ethan coming. When he said her name, she turned to glare at him. "Can't you see we're busy?" she said crossly.

Ethan looked suitably chastened.

Zoe sighed. "Don't tell me. You need me to go to the off-licence."

"If it's not too much trouble," Ethan said meekly. "I'm sorry to be a nuisance, but they won't serve Ash and Jacob at the off-licence since they started a fight in there and I can't find Iain. I don't know why we need more alcohol because we had ten whole bottles of wine and fifty cans of beer, but Jacob said it's nearly all gone. Maybe some of it got spilled by accident. "

Zoe rolled her eyes. "Maybe it did. Well, as I'm sure you noticed, Ethan, I was busy…" She turned to smile at Cal. He wasn't there. "But I'm not busy now. I'll just go up and get my hoodie. It's miles to the off-licence and I'm not going to freeze to death just so you and your mates can get paralytic. Have you got the money?"

"So, what school do you go to?" Dylan asked Lofty. It wasn't exactly the most original chat-up line Lofty had heard in his life, but he was just thrilled Dylan was chatting him up at all.

"The same school as you," Lofty said after a slight hesitation.

Dylan smiled. "That's lucky. Although I don't know why I haven't seen you before."

Lofty gave a nervous laugh. "I don't dress like this at school."

"I'm sure you still look beautiful," said Dylan.

Lofty wished he could be sure Dylan meant what he was saying. He didn't usually say nice things unless he meant them, but maybe he was a very good actor. And although he seemed sober, he might have had quite a lot to drink.

"Benjamina," said Dylan, "I'd really like to see you again. But I understand if you don't want to see me."

"Of course I want to see you!" said Lofty. "But…"

He was silenced by Dylan's kiss.

"I don't know if you really want to do that," Lofty said sadly when he'd got his breath back.

Dylan looked upset. "Have you already got a boyfriend? I suppose I should have asked you that."

"I haven't got a boyfriend," said Lofty. "But… I don't think I can really…"

Dylan sighed. "I thought you liked me."

"I do like you," said Lofty. "It's just…"

Dylan searched Lofty's face. "What?"

Lofty couldn't say it. "If you saw me at school," he said at last, "I don't think you'd like me."

"Of course I would," said Dylan. A thought seemed to strike him. "Do you mean you're a Year 7 or something? That wouldn't bother me. That's four years younger than me, but you're very mature for a Year 7."

"I'm in Year 10," said Lofty. He took a deep breath but his nerve failed him. "I can't tell you now. Not here. But I think you should wait until you've seen me at school before you decide if you like me."

"I've already decided," said Dylan.

Lofty pushed his curly hair extensions aside, and removed one of his small, blue earrings. Until this evening, he'd only had one ear pierced, but Zoe had done the other one for him with an ice-cube and a safety-pin. "Take this. I'll be wearing the matching one when you see me again." He got to his feet. "Will you tell Robyn I've gone home?"

"Of course," said Dylan, "but you don't have to go." He took Lofty's hand.

"I do have to go," said Lofty. He squeezed Dylan's hand, then let go. "I promised my parents I'd be home by midnight."