Here we go… Just to let you all know – This is the longest chapter so far (and quite possibly will be in this entire story), and there is no music in this chapter. I just couldn't figure out how to get anyone to sing anything besides maybe using karaoke, but… I really didn't want to do that this chapter. Sorry…

Anyway, as always, thank all of you for your continued support! All of the reviews, favorites, alerts, messages, and tumblr messages/questions/likes mean SOOO much to me! They really keep me going with this story. Without them, who knows if I'd still be writing this or not…

Chapter 11: Out With The Old, In With The New


Liam walks through the door of Sebastian's house with Morgan following close behind. "Why do I have to stay here though?" Morgan pouts.

Liam shuts the door behind him before grabbing his sister and turning her to look at him. "We talked about this, it's important for you to get to know the boys." He tells her. "We could all be a family soon, Morgan."

"But, you're not even going to be here!" Morgan exclaims. "You and Sebastian are taking some romantic New Year's getaway while I get stuck with the gruesome twosome." She shakes her head. Ever since Liam had told Morgan about this little plan of his, she'd been finding new snarky names to call the twins. "That hardly seems fair… or smart by the way." She crosses her arms across her chest and looks at Liam pointedly. "You and Sebastian are entrusting his home to three teenagers on one of the biggest party holidays there is."

Liam chuckles under his breath. "Sebastian already told the boys that they could have a few friends over. And, he's more than happy for you to invite Ryker over, too."

"So, it'll be the two of us and all of the twins' friends…" Morgan rolls her eyes, letting out a sigh. "We won't be totally outnumbered or anything…"

Liam takes a deep breath. "If you didn't think of it in an 'us vs. them' way, maybe you could all just get along and actually be friends." He smiles at his little sister hopefully.

Morgan starts laughing. "Wasn't it you who taught me to never let my guard down around the competition?" She asks him.

"This is different." Liam shakes his head while leading Morgan into the living room, where he sets down the small weekender bag Morgan had packed earlier. "Outside of school and actual competitions, the boys are more like family, at the very least, they're friends, Mo."

"Maybe to you." Morgan tells Liam, her voice lowering slightly. She frowns, biting the inside of her cheek. "To me they're practically strangers."

Liam nods his head. "Which is why you're spending the next three days with them." He smiles teasingly. "I expect to come back and find out that the three of you are all best friends now." He jokes.

"Too bad." Morgan shrugs her shoulders. "There's a high probability that's never going to happen." She grins playfully up at her older brother.

"Who knows…" Liam sighs. "Maybe you'll actually like them if you give them a chance." Liam tells her pointedly. "And, Mo, I know that it's hard for you to trust people and to let yourself rely on somebody new, but if everything works out the way that I want it to, Sebastian and the boys are going to be a very permanent part of both of our lives." He tells her quietly.

Morgan nods her head. "I know." She pauses while taking a deep breath. "And, you deserve all the happiness in the world that you can get, Liam." She sighs. "I just don't understand why I have to be so chummy with his sons."

"Because I'm the only family you've got, and it means a lot to me." Liam tells Morgan. "Now, stop arguing with me." He smiles at her while pulling her into a quick hug.

Liam knew that his little sister had a hard time letting new people in because of everything she'd been through with their parents. She'd only ever really trusted Liam and Ryker. But, Liam wanted Morgan to trust Sebastian and the boys, too. He knew that throwing her into this situation with the boys could backfire on him, but in the past few years of being his sister's guardian, Liam had learned that taking a direct approach usually worked best when it came to dealing with Morgan.

When the two pull away from their hug, Morgan sees Tony and Adrian walk into the living room.

"Hey!" Adrian exclaims happily when he sees them. Truth be told, neither teenage boy was exactly ecstatic about Morgan spending the next few days with them, but not even she could ruin their happiness about getting their father's house to themselves. They had planned the most epic New Year's party for that night.

"Hey guys." Liam smiles at them. "Could one of you show Morgan up to the guest room where she'll be staying?" He asks. "I'm going to go check on your dad."

"No problem." Tony smiles sweetly. The two wanted Sebastian and Liam to leave the house as soon as possible so they could start getting everything in order for the party early.

When Liam is out of the room, Morgan puts her hands on her hips and looks at the two boys. She narrows her eyes.

"It's so obvious that you two are up to something." She tells them matter-of-factly.

Adrian walks closer while Tony looks around, making sure that neither Sebastian or Liam is hanging around.

"We have a little get-together planned for tonight." Adrian grins mischievously at Morgan. "And, if you squeal on us, just know that you're still going to be stuck with us for the next three days, and we are excellent at payback." He smiles sweetly at her.

"I could always just lock myself in my room." Morgan argues while crossing her arms over her chest again.

Tony nods his head, shrugging. "That may work if we didn't know where our dad keeps the master key to every room. And, even if we didn't, we've locked ourselves inside and outside of every room in this house." He pauses. "We have our ways of breaking in or out if need be."

Morgan scoffs under her breath. "You know what, have your party." She tells the boys. "I'm sure you'll do something to get yourselves caught." She pauses. "And, when you do, I'm so going to enjoy telling you I told you so." She shrugs her own shoulders before walking over and picking up her bag. She tosses her long dark hair over her shoulder, glancing expectantly between the twins. "Now, where's my room?"

Meanwhile, upstairs, Liam is leaning against Sebastian's bedroom doorframe. "Are we crazy?" He asks Sebastian, feeling worried about leaving the house with the kids.

"Yes." Sebastian nods his head once, grinning at his boyfriend. "But, what specifically are you asking about?" He asks.

Liam takes a deep breath. "We're leaving three teenagers alone in your house for three days. Aren't you afraid that it's going to be trashed, destroyed, or burned down before we get back?" He asks.

"Oh, I'm sure it'll be trashed." Sebastian nods his head again. "I have two teenage sons that are terrible at picking up after themselves, but they are old enough to stay home alone for a few days." He takes a long pause. "And, Santana said that she'd check in on them every now and then." He smiles up at Liam.

"Co-parenting." Liam nods his head. "It's a wonderful thing."

"It really is." Sebastian nods his head in response. "And, because of all this, I get a romantic getaway with my sexy boyfriend." Sebastian walks over to Liam, leans in, and gently kisses his boyfriend, letting his lips linger over Liam's just a little. "Why wouldn't I jump at this opportunity?" He asks.

Liam takes a deep breath. "I'm just a little worried about the three of them." He confesses to Sebastian. "Aren't you?"

"Of course." Sebastian answers back quickly. "But the boys are juniors in high school. I've got to start trusting them eventually." He shrugs his shoulders. "And, Morgan seems really responsible, too."

"She is." Liam nods his head. She had always been years ahead of her peers, maturity-wise. He could always count on Morgan to be the responsible one, no matter what.

"Then, it's settled." Sebastian tells Liam, clapping his hands together. "The boys can take care of the house, and Morgan can take care of herself and handle my boys." He shrugs his shoulders happily as he flips his suitcase shut and zips it up.

Glee!

Via knocks on the door to Callum's dorm room at Dalton Academy. When he answers the door, he grins at Via.

"What are you doing here, Miss Evans?" He asks with a flirty smirk on his face. He leans against the doorway, glancing over the girl.

"Just seeing if you and the boys wanted to go to a party tonight." Via sighs, matching his grin with one of her own. "I mean, unless you have something better to do..." She shrugs her shoulders dramatically, batting her eyes playfully. She and Callum had been hanging out for a while now, and she was starting to really like him. Who knows, maybe this could actually go somewhere.

"Sounds great," Callum grins. He pulls Via into his room quickly before shutting the door. Technically, the boys weren't supposed to have female guests in their rooms, but that had never stopped Callum before.

Via giggles when he has the door closed. "You couldn't have just invited me in?" She asks him, quirking an eyebrow at him curiously.

"That seemed more fun," Callum answers, before pulling her into a hard kiss. Via gladly kisses him back, but when he starts reaching at the hem of her shirt, Via pulls away.

"Let's save that for later." She tells him, gently moving his hands away as she looks up at him.

Callum lets out a sigh. "Fine." He tells her. "It will be fun to start the New Year with a bang." He grins.

Via rolls her eyes. "So, do you and the boys want to just meet me at Tony and Adrian's dad's later, or what?" She asks Callum, secretly hoping he'd offer to pick her up like a real date would.

"Yeah, let's just meet there." Callum answers, leading her to feel a bit let down. "You'll have your sister with you, and it'll just be easier that way." He tells her offhandedly.

Lately, Callum had been getting the feeling that Via wanted more from him, and that just wasn't something he could do. Even if he could let himself do that, he didn't want to. He was seventeen years old, and he just wanted to have fun while he could. Serious relationships weren't exactly his biggest priority at the moment.

"Great." Via tells him, doing her best to cover up her disappointment. She forces a smile and tries to change the subject. "So, how was your Christmas?"

"Oh you know." Callum nods his head. "Mom and Dad fought over who would get their precious baby boy for the holiday, and Dad won because of all the money he could throw at a judge." He pauses. "Then, when I get to his condo, Dad disappears to LA to work, only flying back for a few hours on Christmas morning." He shakes his head, letting out a scoff. "He's pretty much the biggest joke of a father there is."

Via nods her head, understanding the difficult holiday situation. "At least you didn't have to hear your parents arguing for the last week and a half." Via tells him. "I swear, all my mom and dad do now is scream at each other." She lets out a sigh. "It drives me crazy, and I'm starting to really worry about their marriage." She bites her bottom lip.

"That sucks." Callum tells her. "But, they'll either work it out or get divorced. There's not really anything you can do about it." He shrugs his shoulders. "So, is there something you want to do now, or do you just want to hang out at the party later?" He asks.

Callum didn't want to get into anything emotional when it came to talking with Via. He just wanted to have fun with her, and if she wasn't interested in that, then he didn't want to hang out at all, especially if she was going to talk about her parents all the time. The last thing he wanted to do was relive his own parents' divorce.

"No, I think my sister and I were going to go shopping." Via stands up. "I just thought I'd come by and invite you to the party." She tells him. It kind of hurt her that Callum just brushed her off when she tried to talk to him about her parents. She thought that he, of all people, would understand since his parents had gotten divorced not all that long ago.

"I'll definitely be there." Callum nods his head while Via walks over and kisses his cheek quickly before walking out of the room.

Glee!

Sophie and Nathan are lying in her bed, underneath the covers and cuddling. It had been a while since they'd been able to actually be together since his injury, and the two had definitely taken advantage of the opportunity they'd gotten when Puck and Quinn had decided to take the day to drive out to see his mom a few towns over.

Nathan rests his head back on her pillows, one hand tucked beneath his head while the other is reaching over and softly twirling Sophie's soft hair through his fingers. "I think that was better than I remembered." He tells Sophie.

She laughs when she sits up, tightly wrapping the sheet around her body. She looks down at Nathan. "Yeah, I kind of thought your hip would slow you down." She jokes with him. "Boy, was I wrong." She lifts her fallen hair out of her eyes while letting out a huff.

Nathan sits up and smiles. "Well, when you have a girlfriend who is as sexy as you…" Nathan shakes his head, a dopey grin on his face. "You kind of can't help yourself. You just lose all control and rational thought." He teases Sophie.

"Oh, God." Sophie rolls her eyes. "You are so cheesy."

"You love me though." Nathan leans in really close to Sophie.

"I do." She nods her head before leaning in and kissing his lips slowly. She pulls away before either can get too caught up in the moment though. "We have to start getting ready for the party." She murmurs out.

Nathan shakes his head in protest. "Let's just skip it and stay right here." He pauses. "I mean, they won't really miss us."

"All of our best friends are going to be there." Sophie reminds Nathan.

Nathan shakes his head again. "I don't care." He runs his finger down the length of Sophie's nose before tapping it gently. "I just want to stay here with you and only you." He whispers.

"That's sweet." Sophie nods her head at him before pecking his lips. "But, my parents are going to get home eventually, and if they catch us here together, like this, you may not even live to see the new year, let alone ever see me again." She laughs.

"Your dad loves me!" Nathan exclaims.

Sophie nods her head in agreement. "Maybe so, but if he finds you in bed with his baby girl, you're dead meat." She laughs. "At the very least, he'll run you out of town." She informs him.

Nathan takes a deep breath. "Fine, I guess I'll go get in the shower." He relents. Sophie grabs the t-shirt Nathan had been wearing and pulls it over her head while Nathan stands up and wraps Sophie's bed sheet around his waist. "Care to join me?" He asks while walking towards her bathroom.

"Maybe in a few minutes." Sophie smiles at Nathan over her shoulder as she walks towards her closet. "I should probably figure out what I'm going to wear first."

"How about that?" He points to his t-shirt. "You should only ever wear that. You look amazing…" Nathan says offhandedly and winks at her before entering the bathroom. A few seconds later, Sophie hears the water of her shower turn on.

As Sophie looks through the clothes in her closet, she quickly picks out a sequin skirt and a sweater to wear. She wasn't really worried about looking any certain way, but she did want to be a little festive for the occasion. There were only certain times a year that a girl could get away with wearing something so sparkly, after all.

All of the sudden, Nathan's phone starts ringing. "Babe!" Sophie calls out, but she doesn't hear Nathan say anything back. The phone keeps ringing so Sophie picks it up and starts walking towards the bathroom. "Hey Nath, your phone is ringing."

"Just let it go to voicemail." Nathan shouts out to her from the shower. "Now, get your cute ass in here!" He calls out to her.

"Give me a minute." Sophie lets out a short laugh as she sets Nathan's phone down on her bedside table as she walks to her dresser and gets out the last of the things she'd need for her outfit. Then, Nathan's phone starts ringing again. Sophie picks it back up and turns to walk into her bathroom. "Babe, it's ringing again." Sophie says as she enters the bathroom. "It could be important."

Nathan peaks his head out of the shower and sees that Sophie is holding his phone in her hand. "What the hell are you doing?" He asks her, upset. Nathan quickly turns the shower off, grabs the towel he'd gotten out, and wraps it around his waist before stepping out of the shower. "Why do you have my phone?" He asks her.

"I was bringing it to you." Sophie tells him, confused about why he was so angry. Neither of them ever cared if the other had each other's phone. Sophie and Nathan even knew each other's passcodes to unlock them. "Why are you freaking out?" She asks him.

"That's my phone!" Nathan walks forward and snatches it out of Sophie's hand. "You shouldn't be messing with it."

"I wasn't." Sophie shakes her head and turns to look at Nathan, who had just walked right by her. She furrows her eyebrows at his strange behavior before she continues. "I picked it up to give it to you. I didn't even look to see who was calling you."

Nathan, who turns his back on Sophie, shakes his head. "I just… I don't want you messing with it is all." He turns around and looks at Sophie again.

Sophie shakes her head at him. "I don't know what your problem is right now, but you're being really weird. You know that I trust you and that I would never go through your phone."

Nathan lets out a sigh. "I know. I'm sorry." Nathan shakes his head as he steps closer to Sophie. "I'm sorry I freaked out." He pauses. "Joey has just gotten really creepy lately, and he's started trying to look at my texts and stuff." Nathan easily lies. "He's trying to make sure I'm not breaking any rules, I guess. He just kind of has me on edge." Nathan throws his phone on Sophie's bed before walking forward and placing his hands on her hips.

"I'm really sorry for freaking out on you, Soph." He tells her again.

Sophie nods her head. "You have a weird brother." She tells him.

"I know." Nathan nods his head before leaning in and softly kissing her lips. "So, about that shower?" He smiles at her when he pulls away.

"Down boy." Sophie jokes. "My parents will probably be home soon so you should probably get dressed and head downstairs." She tells him. "I'll be ready in a little bit." She tells him.

"Fine." Nathan sighs dramatically. "I guess I don't want your dad to beat the hell out of me."

"He so would." Sophie nods her head while turning back towards her shower while Nathan enters her room and starts picking up his clothes from earlier. Within a few seconds, he sees his shirt, the one that Sophie had just been wearing, being tossed out of the bathroom and at him.

"Damn…" Nathan whispers to himself as he catches a quick glimpse of Sophie before she gets in the shower.

Glee!

Hours later, teenagers from all over have crowded their way into the home of Sebastian Smythe. Tony and Adrian had really outdone themselves. They had gotten a friend who had graduated a few years ago to get them a few kegs. The indoor, in-ground pool had been heated up and teenagers were all swimming (and hooking up) in the pool and hot tub. Tony had messed around with the surround sound and it was now blasting throughout the entire house. Teenagers from WMHS, Dalton Academy, and Carmel were all wandering around the house and seeing what kind of trouble they could get into. It was pretty much Party Central.

Via and Stella walk into the house, their jaws on the floor. They had not expected this.

"Their dad is so going to murder them." Stella shakes her head. Via just nods her head in response while her eyes scan the faces of party-goers to see if she can find Callum. "Oh, there's Tony!" Stella looks over at her sister. "I'm going to go try and talk to him again!" Stella quickly walks away to try and catch her friend.

Tony had barely spoken to her since their big fight at school, and it was killing Stella. All she wanted to do was talk to Tony and tell him all about kissing Alice and also coming out to her sister, but besides the pleasantries they'd exchanged when their families ran into each other while out the week before, all she'd gotten from him was radio silence.

"Hey!" Stella exclaims when she catches up to Tony. She grabs his arm to stop him from walking away from her.

"Hi." Tony tells her with a deep breath. "Look, we need to talk!" Tony shouts above the music and party guests around them.

Stella nods her head. "Definitely." She agrees.

Tony grabs Stella's hand in his and pulls her out onto the back porch. Sure, it was freezing, but they could also actually hear each other out there. Stella looks him in the eyes. "Look, I'm really sorry about what happened, and you have no idea how much it's sucked not being able to talk to my friend!" Stella tells him quickly. "I miss you, and if I could take back that kiss, I would." Stella says with a sad look on her face.

"I was going to apologize to you actually." Tony tells Stella. "I totally overreacted."

Stella shakes her head. "No, I shouldn't have kissed you like that, especially at school." She pauses. "I called Bailey to try and somehow explain things to her, but she never picked up." Stella confesses to Tony.

Tony smiles at his friend. "That must have been hard for you."

"It would have been if she picked up." Stella admits. "Seriously, whatever you want me to do to make it up to you, just say the word."

Tony takes a deep breath. "I think we should stop… benefiting or whatever we're calling it. I don't know how, but it just made us both so self-destructive."

Stella shakes her head. "It made me destructive, in general." She corrects Tony. "But, I agree. We should have stopped a long time ago."

"We never should have started." Tony scoffs out. "I mean, you're into girls, and I'm into girls that aren't my best friend, even if I can't actually talk to them." Tony grins over at her. "It wasn't ever right."

Stella shrugs her shoulders. "But, we needed it at the time. It made sense when we started."

Tony chuckles underneath his breath. "That's because I never thought I would actually be able to sleep with any other girl." He says in a self-deprecating tone.

Stella hits Tony's arm. "As soon as you realize what a truly amazing guy you are, you'll have all the confidence in the world." She tells Tony. Then, she grins. "Plus, from personal experience, I can attest to how great you are in bed." She wiggles her eyebrows at him.

Tony starts laughing out loud. "Thanks, I guess." He nods his head uncomfortably. "Do I have to tell you how great you are now?" He jokes back.

Stella shakes her head. "I already know I'm amazing." She smiles cheekily. "I really missed you, Buddy." She smiles sadly at Tony.

"I missed you, too." Tony tells her while reaching forward and wrapping his arms around Stella. "So, did anything exciting happen in your life while I was being a jerk?" He asks.

"Kind of." Stella nods her head and gets a serious look on her face. "I kissed somebody, and then I told my sister that I'm a lesbian." She says without looking at Tony.

"Way to bury the lead!" He exclaims. "How did Via react, and who did you kiss?" Tony asks her excitedly.

Stella smiles at Tony. "V was really great about it, and I can't tell you who I kissed." She tells Tony. "It's kind of a secret."

"A girl though?" Tony asks.

Stella nods her head. "A girl that I like very much." She tells him while rubbing her arms up and down, trying to create some friction to warm her up a little bit.

"That's awesome!" Tony exclaims while quickly hugging Stella again.

Stella nods her head in response. "It would be if I hadn't messed that up, too." She tells Tony with a sigh.

"How'd you do that?" He asks.

"She saw me kiss you at school." Stella explains.

Tony shakes his head. "Just explain things to her. If you can't tell me who she is, then that means she's not out either. She'll have to understand that you're doing the best you can while learning how to do all this stuff, you know coming out." He tries to be supportive of her.

"I'll try, I guess." Stella tells Tony. "Although I don't think it will work."

"Just be completely honest." Tony encourages her.

Stella takes a deep breath. "Can we go inside now?" She asks. "I'm really cold." She says. She really didn't want to talk about her messed up love life anymore.

"Yeah, let's go." Tony smiles at her, understanding her completely.

Glee!

Morgan is sitting on the kitchen island while Ryker is standing right next to her.

"You have to give Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum some credit." Ryker looks at Morgan, referring to Tony and Adrian. "They throw a pretty good party." He admits.

Morgan shrugs her shoulders, unimpressed. "Loud music and beer is all it really takes to get a bunch of horny teenagers in one place."

Ryker turns his head as a few pretty girls pass by him. "Yeah, but that's the point." He turns back to Morgan. "We're all here to have a good time." He grins at her.

"Oh, Ry…" Morgan shakes her head. "When are you going to learn that none of these girls are good enough for you?" She looks around at all of the desperate looking girls hanging around the kitchen who were dressed in barely-there clothing even though it was the dead of winter outside.

Ryker laughs. "I know that none of these girls is going to be my future wife or whatever." He throws his head back with a short chuckle. "That doesn't mean that they can't be Mrs. Right Now though." He smirks when he looks at her again.

Morgan rolls her eyes. "You are such a man whore." She tells her best friend.

"I know." Ryker says. "So, my little prude, who are you going to be kissing at midnight?" He asks while bumping her shoulder. Morgan knew that he was joking about the prude comment. "See any prospects?"

"Not really." Morgan shakes her head. "Even if I did see someone I could like, I'm sure you would chase him away before I could get to know him."

Ryker shrugs his shoulders. "I'm just doing my job as your best friend." He tells Morgan with a genuine smile on his face. He really did care about Morgan, and he'd be damned if any stupid guy was going to break her heart. Just then, Ryker sees Audrey, the blonde girl he'd met a few weeks ago, walk into the kitchen. "Oh, if you'll excuse me, I think my midnight partner just walked in." He tells Morgan before winking at her.

Meanwhile, the three Warbler boys are standing by one of the kegs, waiting to refill their cups. Dominic looks over at his best friend Callum.

"So, you're going to break up with her, just like that?" Dominic incredulously asks his friend.

"No." Callum shakes his head, crossing his arms over his chest. "We're not dating so I don't have to break up with her." He tells Dominic, continuing calmly. "Look, Nicky, I know you're pretty naïve when it comes to girls and relationships… But, you'll get it someday." Callum slaps his friend's arm, grinning.

"Don't listen to him, Dom." Isaac turns to look at Callum. "So, what are you going to do? Just stop talking to Via?" Isaac asks in a somewhat disapproving tone.

Callum shrugs his shoulders. "She's starting to get the wrong idea about me… and us." He tells his two friends. "I have to put a stop to that before she gets anymore attached."

Dominic shakes his head, his face flushing a bit. "Here you are, you have this great girl as far as I can tell, and you're just going to throw away what you could potentially have with her just because she shows a little bit of emotion." Dominic continues to shake his head, his hands now flailing to emphasize his point. "You realize that most people would want to hang onto something like that, right?"

"Not me!" Callum exclaims while shrugging his shoulders. "You may believe in love and all that bullshit, but I know the truth." He tells both Dominic and Isaac, holding his hands up defensively. "And, the truth is that it doesn't even exist. Maybe you'll get a couple good memories out of a relationship, but they all end. Always." He emphasizes.

"You're such a cynic." Isaac rolls his eyes at Callum. "Just because you've known a few couples that have split up, it doesn't mean that every single couple does eventually." He pauses. "Look at my parents, they've been happily married for over twenty years, and they were together for years before getting married even."

Callum shakes his head. "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its on way." Callum quotes to his friends.

"Okay Tolstoy." Dominic rolls his eyes, kind of not believing that Callum had ever read Anna Karenina to begin with. "But, Via seems like a great girl, and one who could easily put up with all your crap." He pauses, patting his friend's shoulder as he lowers his voice. "Make sure you've thought it through before you just toss her away."

"I have." Callum nods his head. "And, I'm done with Via." He pauses, brushing his jacket off. "It was fun while it lasted, but she's just not the girl for me."

Dominic's eyes get big when he sees Via standing behind Callum, and he can tell that she's heard what Callum just said because the look of hurt in her eyes is obvious. "Dude…" Dominic nods his head towards the girl, and Callum turns around.

"Via…" Callum starts. As much as he wanted to end things with her, he hadn't wanted her to find out that like. He wasn't heartless. Overhearing something like that at a party had to be pretty hurtful.

Via starts shaking her head at Callum. "Just save it. I understand completely." Via throws her hands up at Callum and starts to back away from the three boys. When she does, she accidentally bumps into someone. "Oh sorry." Via tells the person without even looking up at them, then running off.

Audrey, who was standing a few feet away talking to Ryker, had watched everything that had just happened. She was going to go after Via, but she stopped short when she saw who was going after her instead.

Via starts walking towards the stairs when someone pulls on her arm to stop her. "Just leave me alone!" Via exclaims, thinking it's Callum. She didn't want him to see that she was crying, that she actually cared.

"Hey, what happened back there?" When Via lifts her head up, she realizes that it's not Callum that chased her. It's Grant.

Via shakes her head. "Nothing, it's not important."

"The tears say otherwise." Grant tells her while reaching forward and lifting her face to look at him. "Did one of those guys do something to you?" He squints his eyes while using his thumb to point behind him from over his shoulder.

Via rolls her eyes while letting out a sigh. "Why do you care?" She asks Grant. "I thought not caring was one of your rules."

Grant smiles at the realization that she remembered a study session they'd had close to a month beforehand. "I don't do feelings and caring in relationships." Grant shakes his head. "But, I care when my friends get hurt." He elaborates, locking eyes with her.

"So, we're friends?" Via asks Grant.

Grant shrugs his shoulders. "You've grown on me this last semester." He tells her. "Plus, you didn't spread any untrue rumors about me, so I really appreciate that." He jokes with her, hating seeing her so upset.

Via cracks a smile. "I'm sure that would have just introduced you to a whole new dating pool." She teases him.

Grant grins when he sees Via's smile make an appearance. "So, are you going to tell me why you're crying?" He asks.

Via shakes her head. "It's really not a big deal." She wipes at her face, trying to brush the tears away. "I just did what I always do." She tells him quietly.

"Which is?" Grant asks while leaning against the wall behind him and looking at Via, his arms crossed.

Via rolls her eyes. "I fooled myself into thinking that a guy actually cared and wanted to be with me." She tells Grant, even though she doesn't know why she's telling him anything about the situation. He'd probably turn around and use it to make fun of her the first chance he got.

"So, was it a 'one and done' type of situation?" Grant asks, a weird look on his face. He knew how most guys could be, but Via just didn't strike him as that type of girl, not at all.

"Not really." Via shakes her head. "It's Callum, that guy I mentioned a while back." She tells Grant. "We had been hanging out, but apparently I'm just not the girl for him." Via rolls her eyes, repeating the exact words she'd overheard him say.

"Do you want me to beat him up?" Grant asks. "It's been a while since I fought anyone, and I'd be happy to punch him in the face for you." He offers to Via.

Via looks at Grant and realizes that he's not joking. "You're serious, aren't you?" She smiles.

Grant nods his head. "Yeah, it's good to prove that I'm still the toughest guy around every once and a while." Grant puffs out his chest. "It keeps everyone else too intimidated to challenge me." He nonchalantly tells her.

Via starts laughing. "You are seriously one of the most interesting people I've met in a long time." Via tells him. "And, no, you don't need to fight Callum." She shakes her head slowly. "It'll just make me feel worse to see you fighting my battles for me."

"So, what are you going to do?" Grant asks.

Via takes a deep breath. "Ignore him and try to have fun with my friends." Via tells Grant honestly. "Maybe find a hot guy to kiss at midnight to make him jealous." She jokes while shrugging her shoulders.

"I know someone who's available." Grant smirks over at Via.

Via laughs to herself. "You want to know how I met Callum?" Via asks, but doesn't really give Grant an opportunity to answer her, knowing he'd say no, that he didn't really care. "It was at that party at the cabin in the woods. Do you remember?" Via asks, and watches as Grant nods his head. "Well, you had just gotten there with Colby hanging all over you, and Audrey was feeling pretty low about herself at that point. So, I told her to meet some cute guy and make you jealous."

"And, Callum was that guy?" Grant asks, amused that Audrey had ever thought that would even work on him in the first place.

Via nods her head. "They guy she flirted with all night turned out to be gay, but yeah, Callum was there too. And, that's how we got to talking." She chuckles to herself. "So, no, I don't think I should take you up on your offer." She shakes her head. "I think I'll just dip out before midnight instead." She tells Grant.

"Okay." Grant nods his head. "But, my offer's open until then." He turns to walk away. "Both of them, to punch him and to kiss you." He grins at Via before actually walking away this time.

Glee!

Sophie and Nathan are standing in the living room, sort of dancing and sort of talking when someone bumps into them. "Oh, hey sorry." The boy turns around, and it turns out that it's Dominic.

"Hey!" Sophie smiles warmly at him. "You two remember each other, right?" She asks both Nathan and Dominic.

"Yeah, hi man." Nathan says to him while taking a sip of his drink.

"Hey." Dominic awkwardly waves back. "How's the football injury?" He asks, not knowing what else to talk about. The only thing they had in common for sure was that they both liked a certain girl, and Dominic couldn't very well talk about that with her boyfriend or with her standing right next to him.

Nathan shrugs his shoulders. "It's pretty good." He pauses. "How'd you know about that?" He asks, quirking an eyebrow.

"Oh, I was there that day, at the hospital." Dominic nods his head. "I had run into Sophie and was with her when she got the call." He explains.

"I thought you were with your brother then." Nathan looks down at his girlfriend, confused.

Sophie shakes her head. "I told you that I had stepped out to give Andrew some space." She reminds Nathan. "And, when I did that, I literally bumped into Dominic in the hallway." She tells Nathan. "I would have told you, but it didn't seem important at the time."

Nathan nods his head in understanding. "I guess you're a pretty clumsy guy, right? Always bumping into Sophie like that?" Nathan questions, sort of on edge around Dominic.

"Happy accidents is all." Dominic replies in a confident tone.

Sophie looks between the two boys and is about to say something, but she can see that Nathan is distracted. It was weird of him to say something like that to Dominic. Nathan was never a jealous person because he knew that Sophie would never do anything to hurt him.

From the corner of his eye, Nathan sees Colby standing at the foot of the stairs. When he glances at her, she smirks before nodding towards the stairs and then walking up them. Nathan then looks back at Sophie. "Hey, I'm going to go get some air." He leans down and kisses Sophie gently. "I'll be back before midnight." He smiles at her.

"Oh, alright." Sophie tells him. "You better not ditch me." She jokes with him as he walks away, trying to shrug the awkwardness of what had just happened off.

"I wouldn't dream of it!" He shouts back at her as he walks away.

Then, Sophie turns her full attention to Dominic. "And, who will you be kissing at midnight?" She asks, grinning widely. "Any special girl here for you?" She asks him as she looks around the packed living room.

"Nah." Dominic shakes his head. "The girl I like is here with somebody else." He tells her slowly, hoping he's not being too obvious.

"Oh." Sophie gets a small pout on her face. "That sucks." She tells him. "Well, we'll just have to find you somebody else to kiss then." She bites her lip while thinking. "You know, I have a lot of single friends."

Dominic laughs to himself. How weird was it to have the girl of his dreams offering to help find him a different girl to kiss? Dominic then sighs. "Nah, I think I'll be okay just flying solo this year." He tells Sophie. "It's not like I've ever kissed anyone any other year."

"Really?" Sophie asks him. "I think I was even kissing my guy friends in like elementary school." She laughs. "Like when our parents just had get-togethers and stuff." She tells Dominic.

Dominic chuckles. "So, is that how you had your first kiss?" He asks, and Sophie just nods her head. "And, who was the lucky guy?" Dominic asks.

"Nathan, actually." Sophie smiles really wide while remembering it. "I was 10, and my cousin, Austin, thought it'd be a great idea to play seven minutes in heaven." She tells Dominic while rolling her eyes. "Not only did we have to be in the closet during midnight, but all my friends were on the other side of the door trying to hear if we were doing anything." She shakes her head at the memory while covering her eyes in slight embarrassment. "I was so nervous, but Nathan was so relaxed and put-together like he always is." She takes a deep breath. "When he heard everyone count down, he just leaned in and kissed me. He's kind of cute when he wants to be." She half-jokes. "What about you? What was your first kiss like?" She asks Dominic.

Dominic starts shifting from one foot to the other. "Awkward." He tells Sophie. "I mean, she was more experienced than I was, and I didn't know what I was doing." Dominic shakes his head. He didn't want to tell Sophie that until last year, his freshman year of high school, he hadn't kissed anyone.

"I'm sure it wasn't that bad." Sophie tells him, laughing. The two continue to talk and joke around.

Meanwhile, Nathan finally finds Colby in one of the guestrooms upstairs. "Think you could have left me a hint?" He asks her, clearly annoyed, when he closes the door behind him.

"What, do I look like I have a sign that I could hang on the door that says 'get your drugs here?'" She asks him sarcastically while rolling her eyes.

"How much do I owe you this time?" He asks Colby while reaching into his back pocket to grab his wallet out.

"$200 for the whole thing." Colby tells Nathan while holding up a small bag of white pills.

"Jesus!" Nathan exclaims while pulling the cash out of his wallet and handing it to Colby. "Where are you getting this stuff from?" He asks her while holding the bag.

Colby shrugs her shoulders. "I can't reveal my sources." She tells him with a grin on her face.

Nathan rolls his eyes. "Look, this is the last time." He tells Colby. "I can't keep spending all of my money on pills." He shakes his head. "If I call you again, just ignore me." He tells her.

Colby shakes her head. "You're still in pain, right?" She asks Nathan.

"A little." Nathan nods his head. "But, it's nothing that I can't handle."

Colby rolls her eyes. "Look, either way, you're not hurting anybody. You get a little high once and a while, and you actually have fun for once. I don't see a problem with that."

"I'm lying to everybody!" Nathan exclaims. "And, this is totally illegal." He tells Colby while holding up the little baggie. "I just… My mom and dad can't know that I'm already out. That last bottle was supposed to last me at least another couple weeks." He says of the bottle that he had finished before Christmas. He felt really guilty as he pushes the small bag of white pills into his pants pocket.

Colby shakes her head. "You really don't have to make excuses to me, Honey." She tells him. "But, now, I need to return to the party. I should find someone to be my New Year's kiss." She looks at Nathan. "Unless you want to stay up here and…" Colby lets her sentence end there as she points to the bed behind Nathan, smirking mischievously.

"Not a chance." Nathan shakes his head quickly. "And, don't call me Honey." He shudders as if a chill just ran up his spine. "I have a girlfriend, and she's the only one I want to be with at midnight or any other time."

"Whatever." Colby rolls her eyes. "When you get sick of doing the same old boring things with the same old boring girl, you know how to reach me." Colby grins at him before walking towards the door.

Nathan lets out a sigh. "Colby, wait…"

"I thought so." Colby turns and takes a step towards Nathan, but he puts his hands up to stop her.

Nathan shakes his head. "I just want to make sure you're not going to tell anyone." He informs her. "If my parents found out what I've been doing…"

Colby cuts him off. "I'm not a nark." Colby tells Nathan, letting out a huff. "You don't have to worry about me saying anything." She looks at Nathan.

Meanwhile, Stella, who had been looking for Alice all night, finally finds her. Stella walks up and tries to smile.

"Can we talk?" She asks Alice, practically having to yell over the loud music. Alice just nods her head, so Stella grabs Alice's hand and pulls her into a nearby bedroom.

"It's almost midnight, shouldn't you go find Tony so you can keep up the act that you're straight?" Alice asks Stella in a passive aggressive tone, refusing to look her in the eyes.

"That's over." Stella promises, her blue eyes focused intensely on the other girl's face. "Tony and I both agreed that we couldn't use each other like that anymore." She tells Alice. "But, I wanted to talk to you so I could apologize for what you saw at school."

Alice shakes her head. "It doesn't even matter." She pauses. "You know, it's not like I didn't know that you and Tony were hooking up with each other." She says, laughing angrily. "I just thought that we were kind of starting something…" She stops herself, then bites her lip. "I guess you didn't feel the same way about what had been happening between us."

"No!" Stella exclaims. "I did… I do!" She sighs, running a hand through her blonde locks nervously. "I really like you Alice, and that scares me." She admits.

"Why?" Alice asks, finally looking up into her eyes. "It's not like I don't like you back." She tells Stella.

Stella looks over at Alice with a bright smile on her face. "You do?" She asks nervously after noticing the way Alice used the present tense. "Even after I kissed Tony?"

Alice takes a deep breath. "I still like you." She pauses. "I just… I don't know if I want to be with you anymore after that." She tells Stella honestly. "I don't understand why you kissed him just a day after you kissed me."

"It's complicated." Stella tries to tell Alice while thinking about everything with Ryker and that whole secret that she was keeping.

Alice shakes her head. "I'm going through the same things you are, Stella." Alice tells her. "I mean, sure, I kind of like guys too, but still… I know what it's like to have a secret and be afraid that it would get out before I was ready to tell people." Alice says. "At least, I didn't go around hurting people's feelings just because I was scared."

Stella takes a deep breath. "I have more than one secret." Stella tells Alice, feeling like she has no other choice if she really did want to salvage things between them.

"What are you talking about?" Alice asks her. "What other secret could you have that I wouldn't know about? We've known each other our entire lives." She reminds Stella.

Stella nods her head. "Yeah, but up until Via and I came back to Lima, we weren't that close. Our families weren't that close." She sighs. "I did something really bad at my old school, Alice." Stella tells her.

Alice takes a step forward and grabs Stella's hand. "Just tell me what you did." She tells Stella quietly. "Whatever it is, it's in the past. It's okay now."

Stella shakes her head. "It's not okay." She says. "I…" Stella licks her lips, trying to find the right words to use. She shakes her head again, tearing her gaze away and looking down at the floor.

"Stella, just tell me." Alice encourages, rubbing the back of Stella's hand with her thumb. "It won't change anything between us or how I feel. I promise."

Stella scoffs under her breath. "Wait until you hear what I did to say that." Stella takes a deep breath before looking into Alice's eyes. "Alice, I burned down somebody's house."

Alice looks shocked. She prided herself on being very observant and intuitive about people, but she just did not see this one coming. Alice stays quiet while trying to figure out what this meant. "Why?" Alice finally asks a few moments later, finally finding her voice.

"I was drunk." Stella shrugs her shoulders, biting her lip. "And angry."

"About?" Alice asks gently.

Stella takes a deep breath. "He spread a rumor around school that I was gay, and I hadn't accepted that about myself yet." Stella confesses. "I was terrified that people would see right through me and all of my lies about it."

Alice nods her head. "But, burning his house down?" She pauses. "How did you even come up with that?" She asks.

"I burn things." Stella says slowly, shutting her eyes as the words leave her mouth. "Fire… It calms me down." She continues. Stella waves her hand in front of her body slowly.

Alice takes a deep breath. "You're a pyromaniac?" She asks.

"If that's what you want to call it." Stella nods her head, opening her eyes again. "But, no one was hurt in that house fire. They were on vacation." She pauses. "That doesn't make what I did okay, and I'm not excusing myself of any guilt because I really do feel guilty about it all of the time. Every day." She tells Alice hurriedly.

"What happened afterwards?" Alice asks.

Stella takes note of the fact that Alice is still holding her hand, and she hopes it's because Alice wants to, not because she is just too stunned to realize it and pull away. "The fire trucks came, and I was still sitting there." She pauses. "I turned myself in, and I spent a couple months in juvie."

"How did I never know this?" Alice asks.

Stella shakes her head. "I didn't want any of you to know and to look at me differently, like I was some sort of monster or something." She tells Alice, her voice soft and vulnerable. "I begged my parents not to tell anyone, and Via swore that she wouldn't either." She sighs, biting the inside of her cheek. "Tony doesn't even know about this." She tells Alice, trying to convey how serious this confession really was to Alice.

Alice takes a deep breath. "Do you still play with fire?" She asks Stella.

"I try not to." Stella bites her lip. "It worries my parents, like I'm going to get out of control again."

"But you slip sometimes?" Alice infers.

Stella nods her head. "Just when I'm really stressed out."

"Okay." Alice nods her head. "So, if this happened before you came to McKinley, why are you so stressed out about it now?" She asks.

Stella shakes her head. "I've just been running into some people from my old school, people who know what I did." She pauses. "And, they like to remind me that they know and can tell everybody whenever they want."

Alice nods her head. "Well, now I know, and I'm still here for you." She squeezes Stella's hand. "I promised you that your confession wouldn't change how I feel about you, and it hasn't." She stands up on her tiptoes, leans up, and kisses Stella slowly. "I still like you."

"How?" Stella asks. "I just told you that I committed arson."

Alice shrugs her shoulders. "I don't think you're that person anymore." She shakes her head slowly. "And, as long as you've learned from it, the past doesn't matter to me." Alice pauses. "I'm still here for you."

Stella looks down into Alice's eyes and a slow tear falls before she leans down and wraps her arms around Alice in a tight hug, thanking whatever kind of God there was that she hadn't ruined things with the first girl that she could really see herself caring about.

Glee!

Out in the living room, Sophie is starting to get a little nervous. Nathan had been gone for quite a while. Sophie takes another look around the living room, and she still can't find him.

"Where's Prince Charming?" Sophie glances over and sees Callum looking at her with a grin on his face.

Sophie rolls her eyes. "He'll be back in a minute." She tells him. "What do you want?"

Callum laughs under his breath. He had kept his eye on Dominic throughout the party, knowing that his friend was fairly socially awkward in these types of situations. When he'd been looking for Dominic earlier, he'd noticed Sophie's boyfriend go upstairs after some girl. He knew how his friend felt about Sophie so he was going to help Dom out. "I just thought you'd like to know that he's not exactly the faithful type you probably think he is." Callum tells her, a knowing smile growing on his lips.

"I know Nathan better than anybody else in this world." She shakes her head at Callum. "He's not a cheater."

Callum nods his head. "Then why did I see him follow some redhead upstairs a while ago?" Callum asks, strolling towards her while taking a drink of his beer.

"I don't believe you." Sophie tells Callum point blank. "Nathan wouldn't hurt me like that." She argues.

"Okay." Callum shrugs his shoulders, holding his hands up defensively. "I actually know that I'm right about this, and I know how to prove it." He smirks. "Just go upstairs and wait for him to come outside of whatever bedroom he's in with that girl." He tells Sophie.

"You're ridiculous." Sophie lets out a sigh. "And, you're just trying to stir up trouble."

Callum takes a deep breath. "Do you really want to take the chance of not believing me and just live the rest of your life wondering where your boyfriend was all this time and why he left you alone on New Year's Eve of all nights?" Callum sighs dramatically. "I, personally, could never live with that, especially knowing that all I had to do was walk upstairs to see if it was true or not."

Sophie looks at him. "If I walk up those stairs, will you just leave me alone?" Sophie asks. All she was going to do was walk upstairs, count to five, and then walk back downstairs and actually find Nathan.

"It's not about me, Sophie." Callum shakes his head dramatically. "It's about you and how you want to live your life." Callum tells her, knowing that if he pushed anymore, he would probably push her too far. He would lose the whole battle, and this little chit chat wouldn't be able to get Dominic any closer to what he wanted. That's what Callum's goal was: to get Dominic what he wanted. Callum wasn't a good guy, but he always had his best friends' backs.

Sophie rolls her eyes. "Whatever. I'll walk up the stairs." She shakes her head before walking away from Callum.

Dominic walks up to Callum at that moment. "What are you doing?" He asks his friend, knowing that Callum hadn't been particularly fond of Sophie the first time they'd met.

"Just making your dreams come true, Nicky." Callum grins at his friend while slapping him on the back.

Sophie lets out a frustrated huff when she reaches the top of the stairs. She couldn't believe that she was even doing this or that she was letting Callum get to her. She takes a deep breath as she starts counting in her head. One… Two… Three… Fo…

Sophie is caught off guard when she sees Colby walk out of one of the guest bedrooms adjusting her dress. Callum's words about a redhead suddenly pop back into her head. Sophie is slowly having a panic attack when all of her worst nightmares are realized and Nathan walks out of the room behind her. "Thanks for everything." She hears Nathan tell Colby.

"What the hell!" Sophie exclaims, staggering backwards.

Nathan suddenly looks up and sees his girlfriend standing there and looking at him with a very angry look on her face. Nathan glances over at Colby and then realizes what Sophie must be thinking.

"Soph, I promise you that this is not what it looks like!" He rushes out. "I would never cheat on you." He rushes forward and stands in front of Sophie. "Especially not with Colby!" He says while waving his hand back at Colby.

"I'm standing right here." Colby deadpans, crossing her arms over her chest.

Sophie looks around Nathan and at Colby. "Now is not the time to open your mouth, Whore!" Sophie angrily tells the other girl. Then, she turns her attention back to Nathan. "As for you, don't treat me like some idiotic bimbo!" She screams in his face while pushing back on his chest. She didn't want Nathan to be anywhere near her at the moment. "I saw you walk out of a bedroom with her. I will never believe any of the crappy, tired, cliché excuses that you try to sell me!" She shakes her head. "We are done!" She tells him with a tone of finality as she roughly pushes him again. Sophie then turns around and starts walking down the stairs.

Nathan grabs Sophie's arm when she's halfway down the stairs. "Sophie, I'm not lying or making excuses." He pauses while looking into her eyes. "I love you, and I would never hurt you like that!"

Sophie rips her arm out of Nathan's grasp. "You don't love me, Nathan!" She exclaims loudly, trying to make sure that he can hear her over the loud music. "You just hooked up with another girl!" Sophie looks at Nathan with a disgusted look on her face before turning around and trying to leave the house.

Andrew, who is across the room talking with Molly and Hunter, sees that his sister is upset and starts making his way towards her.

As Andrew follows both Sophie and Nathan outside, Grant who is standing by the stairs notices Via walking towards the front door. Grant steps forward and grabs her arm. "I wouldn't go out there if I were you." Grant suggests, glancing cautiously at the drama unfolding outside.

"Why?" Via asks. "I'm just planning to go get some air until after midnight passes." She furrows her brow. "What's going on?" She asks.

Grant shrugs his shoulders with a wide-eyed look on his face. "I don't know, but Sophie just ran out of here while screaming at Nathan." He tells Via honestly. "I'm sure they're screaming and yelling at each other out there."

Via furrows her brow in confusion. "Are you sure you're talking about Nathan and Sophie?" She asks. "They seemed absolutely happy earlier when I saw them." She informs Grant.

Grant nods his head once. "I do know who they are." He replies sarcastically. "And, from the little I overheard, I don't think Sophie is interested in being his girlfriend anymore."

"Now I know you're lying." Via rolls her eyes at Grant. "Sophie and Nathan are the most stable couple I know."

Grant throws his arms up before standing up taller. "I know what I heard, V." He shrugs his shoulders. "So, are you really going to run away from that guy?" He antagonizes Via while changing the subject. Honestly, while Grant really did think it would be pathetic for Via to let any guy get to her like that, he also really wanted to see her stick up for herself. At the very least, she needed to at least pretend, in front of that loser, that she was fine. Fake it until you make it, right?

"It's really none of your business, is it?" Via clenches her jaw.

"I'm looking out for you." Grant tries to convince Via. "Look, I get it if you don't want to try and make him jealous, but at least don't run away and hide in a corner!" Grant exclaims. "You're not that kind of girl." Grant reminds his friend.

Via swears that she sees something in Grant's eyes, something close to compassion. "What makes you think you know me so well?" Via asks.

Grant grins. "Because I do." He simply responds.

"Then what type of girl am I?" Via challenges him.

Grant has a slight close-lipped grin on his face. "You're the type of girl who would threaten to make up gross rumors about a guy to make sure he does his homework." He jokes out. "You're the type of girl who is confident and doesn't let any stupid boy push you around or make you feel worthless." Grant pauses while locking eyes with Via. "You're the one who should be making that douchebag feel like a complete idiot for ever thinking that you aren't enough for him."

Via takes a deep breath as she feels her cheeks heating up. She looks away with a grin on her face before looking up at Grant. "When did I become your pet project?" She asks him.

"You're not a project." Grant shakes his head in denial. "You're my friend, and while I may not have many real friends, I take care of the ones I do have."

Via nods her head in understanding. "Maybe you're right about me." Via bites her lip. "But, I really do think I should be getting home." She takes a deep breath, and when she does, Via starts feeling really dizzy. Somehow, Via feels hot and cold all at the same time while breaking into a weird sort of sweat. All around Via, the party starts to swirl around and blur.

"Hey, are you alright?" Grant asks Via, worried when she starts blinking slowly and wavering around just a little bit.

"Fine." Via responds while bringing her hand up to her forehead and wiping away the sweat. "I think I just need some water." She tells the multiple versions of Grant that she sees when she looks at him.

Grant steps forward and puts his arm around Via. "Let's go to the kitchen and get you some then." He starts guiding her towards the kitchen.

Meanwhile, outside the house, Nathan catches up to Sophie. "Sophie!" Nathan shouts at her. "Please just listen to me and let me explain what actually happened." He grabs Sophie's shoulders to make her turn around and face him.

"HEY!" Sophie and Nathan turn their heads to see Andrew standing in the doorway. He runs forward and stops a few feet away from his sister and Nathan. "Get your hands off my sister." He tells Nathan angrily.

"Andrew, stay out of this." Nathan rolls his eyes. "Just go back inside."

"Don't tell him what to do!" Sophie exclaims before she looks back at her brother. "I can take care of myself though." She tells Andrew. "You really should go back inside and enjoy the party." She tries to wipe some of the tears away, not wanting Andrew to see her so upset. "I'll be fine."

Andrew shakes his head. "No." He looks at Sophie. "I'm going to stay here with you."

"No, please." Sophie shakes her head. "Just go back in there with your friends." She practically begs her brother.

"Just go!" Nathan shouts at Andrew, getting frustrated.

Sophie turns to look at Nathan again. "You don't have any right to talk to my brother that way!" She snaps. "Even if you were still my boyfriend, which you aren't."

Nathan turns to look at Andrew and tries to take a deep breath to calm down just the slightest. "Can you please just go inside so I can talk to your sister and get this entire mess straightened out?" He asks Andrew.

"I'd rather see how my concussion goes up against your hip injury." Andrew says while stepping up to Nathan. "I don't know what the hell you did to upset her, but you're not going to continue to hurt her." Andrew shakes his head. "Just leave my sister alone."

Sophie grabs Andrew's shoulder and pulls him back to look at her. "Please let me handle this." Sophie implores. The last thing she wanted was for Andrew to get hurt or to somehow make his concussion worse.

Andrew lets out a deep breath. "Fine, but I'm just going to be right inside the house." He tells Sophie. "I want to keep my eye on him." He points his finger at Nathan angrily. Sure, Andrew didn't normally have any problem with Nathan, but when he saw his sister running out of a party with tears streaming down her cheeks, all bets were off.

After Andrew is back in the house, Nathan turns his full attention back to Sophie. "Just let me explain." He tells Sophie. "I swear to God that I wasn't hooking up with Colby in that room." He says with so much conviction Sophie almost believes him. She wants to believe him, but there's something that keeps stopping her from actually doing it.

"Then what were you doing?" Sophie crosses her arms over her chest.

Nathan licks his lips as the bag of pills in his pocket suddenly feels like it's burning a hole right through his jeans. "Can't you just trust me?"

"Right now?" Sophie shakes her head. "No." She bites out at him. "If you weren't hooking up with her, what the hell were you doing?" She asks Nathan again.

Nathan shakes his head. "I… I was in there just to relax for a moment, and she walked in." He tries to lie. "I was trying to get her to leave, and I was just trying to get away from her when you saw us." He tells Sophie.

"Don't lie to me." Sophie shakes her head. "I heard you thanking her for everything." Sophie uses air quotes before rolling her eyes while crossing her arms over her chest.

Nathan shakes his head. "Sophie, I have never given you a reason to not trust me!" He exclaims. "Just trust me now. I've earned it!" He practically shouts at her.

"I'm such an idiot." Sophie runs her hands through her hair. "Everything is making so much sense now!" She laughs incredulously to herself.

"What does that mean?" Nathan asks her.

Sophie rubs her hands over her eyes quickly. "You freaked out earlier when I touched your phone, and I bought that crap lie about your brother!" She shakes her head again. "God, when did I become so stupid?" She asks herself. "You were afraid that Colby was calling you and that I would find out. You know, if you wanted to be with somebody else, you could have just broken up with me. I would have gotten over it!" She shouts at him while turning away.

Nathan shakes his head while pulling Sophie around so she's looking at him again. "I don't want that!" He waves his hands in front of him in a frustrated manner. "You are the only girl that I want! You always have been!" He tells her passionately.

"Too bad I don't believe you anymore." Sophie shrugs her shoulders. "Consider yourself single and free to hook up with whoever you want." Sophie tells Nathan while walking towards the house again.

"Sophie!" Nathan shouts to stop her, but Sophie keeps walking. Nathan runs forward and grabs her arm again. "We can't be over." He tells her desperately. "I love you."

"I'm done with you, Nathan." Sophie tells him, doing her best not to start crying again.

Nathan keeps his hold on Sophie so she can't walk away from him. "Don't do this, Sophie." He tells her. "Please don't throw away two and a half years together over a misunderstanding." He practically begs her.

"I didn't throw us away." Sophie shakes her head while tearing her arm out of Nathan's hold. "You did." She says through a clenched jaw.

When Sophie makes it back inside the house, she hears the rest of the party guests counting down.

"Ten… Nine… Eight…"

Sophie shakes her head, planning to turn around and leave, but when she does, she sees Nathan walking towards her.

"Seven… Six… Five…"

"No." Sophie shakes her head. She looks around and sees Dominic nearby. Sophie quickly makes her way over to him.

"Four… Three… Two…"

"Did you ever find anyone to kiss?" She asks Dominic quickly.

"What? No." Dominic shakes his head, not really sure what is happening right now.

"One… Happy New Year!" Everyone shouts around them.

"Good!" Sophie tells Dominic before leaning in and surprising him as she crashes their lips together. The kiss was hard and intense, and it took Dominic a few seconds to even react and kiss Sophie back. When he finally realizes what is happening, Dominic places one of his hands around Sophie's waist while he raises the other to softly cradle her head.

After a few more seconds, Sophie pulls away and looks at Dominic. "Wow…" Dominic breathes out, barely able to find any words. That was the last thing he had expected to happen, not that he minded. That was easily the best kiss of his life so far. Dominic smiles at Sophie. "Where did that come from?" He asks, feeling nervous and awkward.

Sophie suddenly realizes what she's done. Her hands fly up to cover her face for a moment. Then, Sophie shakes her head. "I'm sorry." She continues shaking her head while lowering her hands. "I shouldn't have done that." Sophie lifts her left hand to cover her mouth again as she quickly starts walking away from Dominic, but not before he can see the new tears forming in Sophie's eyes.

"No, it's okay!" Dominic starts to move after Sophie, but before he knows it, she's lost in the crowd of teenagers around him.

Meanwhile, Ryker pulls away from his kiss with Audrey. The blonde girl smirks up at him. "Who knew our first kiss would be so… celebratory." She looks up at Ryker through her eyelashes.

"Yeah, it was pretty epic." Ryker cockily grins before quickly looking away. He sees Morgan standing by one of the windows, just looking outside it. "Excuse me for just a second." He tells Audrey.

"Okay…" Audrey answers back in confusion, her nose all scrunched up.

Ryker looks down at his watch and notices that it's still 12:00 for a few more seconds. He rushes over and quickly leans down and kisses Morgan's cheek, letting his lips linger there for just a second. "See, I knew you'd get a kiss at midnight." He teases.

Morgan lets out a short laugh under her breath. "I don't think it's quite the same thing." She grins at him. "But, thank you." She tells Ryker.

"No problem." Ryker rubs his hands over Morgan's arms a few times. "You deserve a kiss just like everybody else." He looks around and motions at the rest of the teenagers in the room with them.


That's it! I know that it was SUPER long! But, since I knew there wasn't going to be any music in this chapter, I figured that I'd add in a little more content. I hope you all like it!

As always, please leave me a review! (: