Sue eventually let go of Paulo's arm. She hadn't meant to — she'd have sooner dragged him all the way back to his house if she could have managed the distance — but her grip had weakened the further they ran, and his arm slipped out as she grew exhausted from all the running. Just as well that it had, as in that same moment she rolled forward suddenly as her foot awkwardly caught one of the pavers, and she flailed about uncontrolably to try and regain her footing. She just managed to keep upright, much to her own surprise despite only having the one free arm. Relief was there too, having not fallen over and caused herself yet another injury like her arm to top off the drama from that night.
She was done; done with the running, she stopped abruptly in the middle of the pathway and bent over in exhaustion as she tried to regain her breath. That was crazy! She told herself between them. She didn't pay attention to Paulo, instead turning to where they'd run from, to nothing; just the pitch black of night and street lamps lighting the pavement. She couldn't see the mansion anymore. Not even the lights from the second story windows. The loud music that could hear clearly from the front of the house was now just an audiable whisper, even over her own breathing. Despite that being the case, she kept watching, as if there was something there, hiding in the shadows. She wondered how many yards they'd ran in that short period of time, though stopped when she made up her mind that it wasn't as important as it was getting away from that place as fast as they could. She was about furious as she was devastated at how the night had gone. How dareKatie treat her and all her friends in that way, especially after one of her own supposed 'friends' attacked Paulo from out from nowhere. Was accountability dead? Was it with her instead? She knew it was a bad idea to let Katie host the christmas party, she had a feeling something like this was going to happen! But she so wanted a Christmas party, but none of them had the house for it. None of them could convince their parents to let some forty or sixty or so students in their houses. None of them were like Tess and Rachel, but Katie was, and she had offered. They couldn't have helped but all feel there was something she wanted from it. Katie only ever bothers herself with something unless she wanted something. Everyone they'd invited had seemed to think the same. Maybe that's why it was only them who responded by the RSVP date and nobody else. Katie appeared to have wanted more, so she brought, or she supposed — she '*bought'* her own friends.

The rest was history.

The thought of pulling all of them out from the party had cross her mind days before the day they were supposed to RSVP, but she found herself unable to when Stacy told her she was still going. Stacy didn't tell them why exactly. She couldn't help but shake the feeling they were being pressured to somehow. How right she was! She needed to in order to make sure Katie didn't start to hate her, but a lot of good that turned out to be at the end of the day.

God, Sue couldn't help but think to herself. Why did Stacy even bother with her after all these years? Katie treated her like shit. She had better friends; them! But, her thoughts started to wonder. Maybe it was because Katie would've been alone for the most part if not for her. Someone had to be her friend. Nobody deserved to be alone. A hand went to her own head, she thought the same about Paulo too. They both weren't so different in that respect.

Her thoughts finally went to him and that night. She so desperately wanted to treat Paulo to a good time. One where they didn't fight. Just the two of them having a good time together, and with friends for a change. Something he struggled to admit he had. She begged them all to go despite the urge to pull out of the party. And hell, even when Abbey lost his, she came up with the brilliant idea of convincing the bouncer that Abbey had been her partner and their invitation was for the both of them. That would've been embarrassing has Paulo noticed. She'd arrived earlier than him, but he somehow figured it all out. She stood straight up again. She was...pleasantly surprised though with one aspect of the night when she thought back to that moment. Abbey needed the break as much as Paulo did; a break from a failing relationship, one they had all hoped would work out for the best of them. It was a risk. She knew the two of them wouldn't get along. Not since the two of them had to share Daisy's attention back in the past, one as a friend and the other the boyfriend. But somehow, despite the rocky start, she was even more so surprised when Paulo took it upon himself to try and deal with Abbey's problems. She'd never asked for that, a staggering change she was happy for.
In fact, there had been a lot of changes recently. He'd been doing so well as of recent. He was almost a different person. Certainly not the same person who started at Roseville high. His studies had improved so much having only needed to show him that he can achieve some great results just only if he put in the effort to try. He needed the reward. It might have been too early to celebrate, but with them both deciding not to have Christmas gifts for each other, she decided the party could be one gift they could share together, just to show that good effort would be rewarded.
She had to admit their relationship was working out a little better too. They had been getting along despite some. . . small differences they needed to work through. But they had yet to have a day out together which wasn't with its problems. . .

And tonight had them too, and she was furious in that regard. There'd be hell to pay for Katie when they'd go back to school. She wasn't going to let this go by. She could only wonder to herself how she was going to even the score. She still possessed some influence in the school newsletter committee, she considered, despite having given up her editorial position to one of the sophomores a couple of months ago. Surely someone had a favour to repay her after all the effort she made to getting those printed out on time, enough to do one simple favour, maybe some character assassination.
She grit her teeth again; maybe not, she figured. They'd likely have moved on by now, forgotten about her. That's what that club was like after all. No time to keep tabs with people. But part of her figured that was also what her luck was like too, she found out in no shortage of time. Just another writer. She wanted to use it to improve her writing, but she didn't get the feedback she wanted. No time to go around asking anyone from her school about it either. The assumption was that nobody read it, so they were allowed to run whatever they wanted. Sue ran stories to try and raise people's motivations, but she wondered if that may have factored in, in some way. The worst part of her had wondered if people didn't because they'd thought it'd feed into her ego. She just wanted to improve, but there just wasn't any time to get any real thoughts. She'd only find the way by moving onto the next story as soon as she could.
She felt depressed, thinking back to it for a moment. She stopped herself, shaking her head; it was another lifetime ago. She had to give that all up as much as she loved the role; she just didn't have any time anymore. She needed to make room for Paulo to start with. But she'd never tell him that. Never tell him what she gave up. He didn't need to know. Didn't need to worry. Just pass. That was all she wanted.

Crap! She hadn't even thought about Paulo for real until just now; he mentioned how sore he was to her and the others earlier. She hadn't even spared a thought about that when she dragged him all of a sudden from the front of the mansion! She didn't mean to make things worse! She just had to! Needed to! Everything else was secondary!
She turned towards towards him with a dread in her heart. It turned out to be misplaced; he was smiling back towards her. Of all things. There was something else there too she wasn't happy with. He didn't look exhausted at all! Was there not a single bit of sweat on him from that? No, of course there wouldn't be. This was normal for Paulo; walking, running, riding, everywhere, all the time.

He was ready for more. He bought his hands to his hips, 'That was a good run.' He said with some glee in his voice. He struck a pose, ready to go again. 'Ready to run another few hundred?' He asked.
She exhaled through her teeth at the display, her breath mixing with the cold air and crystalising into a white mist before evaporating, not doing much to mask her own frustration at his promptuous display. That did nothing but piss her off further than before. 'Shut. . .Up.' She said between breaths, trying to keep that familiar feeling down.

He smiled and patted her on the back, 'Takes you back to middleschool when this was all compulsory, doesn't it?' He said.

That did it. Her eyes narrowed onto him. Nothing more could have been said that wouldn't have made her more cross. But she did her best to make it seem not apparent to him, she knew he wasn't deliberately trying to antagonise her. It was just his usual boasting.
Her competitive side flared at it. She wanted to play that game with him again. Like they had in the past — her game; the one where she strove to beat Paulo in everything there was.

Sue wouldn't want to admit it to anyone, but there was a time when she wasn't doing so well in middle school. She liked to read her books, but those weren't the ones from school. It only took one bad mark when Sue realised it was time to get serious, and she started to read a different kind of book that would teach her to how to do that. One of those taught her to treat things was to treat things like a game, and she certainly liked those. It gave rise to the spirit she had today, to be the better person than she was yesterday, and that included her studies.

And it was effective.

It was always one sided; her friends didn't know. Sue kept it secret from them, she couldn't begin to imagine what their thoughts would be if they'd learned. She'd sooner died from embarrassment. But treating everything she had to do a school like a game seemed to be quite effective with her. She needed that way of thinking back when she was a kid, she needed it even more throughout highschool. It was especially hard not to be so demotivated around so many people who were just absolutely perfect to her in comparison. A driving force to push her further and further. She'd come out the top of all of them. . .one of these days.

At some stage during middle school she felt she needed someone to compare herself against. A medium that she could use to gauge whether she was improving or falling behind; a rival. It used to be Mike, once upon a time. She knew him from as far back as kindergarten. The competition with him didn't start there, but it did in third grade, back when she started to have feelings for him. She sighed inside herself when she realised how much of a bad decision that was. Mike triumphed over her and everyone else in their class in everything. She needed to start smaller.

Eventually Paulo came to Roseville at some point , and that's when things started to change. Finally, there was someone who was on equal footing to her. She remembered when they were so happy with the teacher marked them with a B in their maths exam. That's when she'd decided it was going to be him.
There was a bit of unease in her when she thought back to that moment. She wanted to be friends with him by that stage as well, but she'd never tell him that. Daisy was quicker to jump onto that once her own best friend left, and then slowly they made friends with Mike and Lucy. She begged to be part of that group.

Her closest friend at the time had let her.

But it was before that when Paulo had started to lack in his studies. There wasn't much competition any more in him as Paulo's marks began to fall, and he suddenly became more irritable to her. She was sad for it. She pitied him and his lack of drive. Part of her wanted to help him find that competitive spirit in him again. But Paulo had changed, and neither of them were ever going to get along.

She had to shelve that dream, for a long time until very recently when she instead felt he need he needed her help too.
Never the less, Paulo did remain on top in one area where his brain didn't have to be used. And that was in sports. Paulo was always well above her in sports. She couldn't win despite her best efforts, Paulo was far too fit and she was trying to win in every place he couldn't.

So she got over it. Told herself she needed to focus more on where she wanted to go. That seemed to work, she could always continue playing the game, but she'd only do it with things she prefered to enjoy. But even now that part of her bemoaned her for giving up so easily.
There was stll a rivalry. She was still trying to come out on top of him, even in their studies. She was winning, but that made her all the more sad.

'How the hell are you not exhausted?' She managed to gasp.

'I walk to and from school every day.'

'Doesn't that become a problem given how far your house is from home? What if it rains?'

'Then I take an umbrella in with me.'

She grumbled to herself. She didn't know why she bothered. Pointing out a lot of the inconveniences in Paulo's life never went anywhere and she should've learned better by now. He'd insist there wasn't ever a problem; never would he admit to being a victim of being disadvantaged in an unfair world. It grated on her. Things didn't have to be this hard for him. He could always ask for assistance from some government agency. It would help him out in the long term, maybe help him afford better things for himself. He didn't have to suffer. If only she could find a way to get him to stop being so arrogant with his persistence that things were fine.

She sighed again, the thing from earlier was still in her head; defeat at the hands of Paulo. She groaned out aloud in absolute frustration; this was the worst. She was completely out of breath. The night had been filled with nothing but problems after problems. Now there was another one which caused her more strife at the very same second; she couldn't decide whether she was hot from the exertion, or cold from the sweat that had formed all over her. It wouldn't take her too long; the cold won over. She held onto her sides like before and shivered as they walked through the street. 'Tell me it's getting colder.' She said through her chattering teeth. 'I'm starting to shiver like crazy!'

Like a cue, he didn't miss a beat. He reached over and held onto her hand. 'How about now?' He asked her with a grin, squeezing it a little.

She rolled her eyes and sighed to herself before smiled and squeezing his hand in return. 'Well. . .I'd say that's better in a way. But I wouldn't say I'm any warmer.' She shouldn't have said that. She felt his hand let go and felt a little sadder for it. She shook her head as she watched Paulo removing his coat. 'No! Don't do that! Surely you feel the cold too!'

'Nah, I'm thick, remember?' He told her, before whipping his jacket over and around her shoulders. After a while, 'No good, huh?' He commented.

She shook her head and hugged it tighter over herself. 'I—It is; it's warmer.'

'Ah, wasn't referring to that.' He said, clarifying, 'I meant I was expecting you to make a quip just before.'

She looked at him with a blank expression, still trying to process what he meant.

'I said I'm thick, you know? Thick-headed?.' He elaborated, seeming a little concerned and disappointed. 'Really, I was expecting a quip from you on that - thick headed, ya know?'

She felt awful inside from the thought. 'N-No I wouldn't!' She said, saddened. 'I wasn't going to complete it either.'

'Aw, come on, just trying to bring your mood up.' He joked, his arm came around her back. She kept facing forward with a very somber look on her face and he sighed when he saw it. He couldn't help but notice she'd appeared down since the party. He could have taken a few good guess as to why, having quite a few of his own suspicions. He knew she felt responsible for everything that happened that night. That's the kind of person Sue was above everything else, and she couldn't have felt more miserable.

But she wouldn't be allowed to dwell on it by herself. She felt Paulo's lips against her temple. She forgot about all of in that moment.

'H-Hey! You can't just go doing that without asking first!'

He looked at her surprised. 'How come?'

'What did I say about being affectionate in public?!'

Paulo looked around slowly. 'Gee!' He started, 'It looks like there's no one around for miles, Sue.'
She glared at him. He was making fun of her. Of course there wasn't a single soul around them. She knew that. She didn't know why she blurted that out of all of a sudden. 'S-So?!' She shouted. 'W-We should use this as practice for school. No more of those problems like we had a month ago.'

'Or. . .I could drown you in all the affection I could muster until someone picks us up.' He mused, trying to poke into her side with a finger.

She dodged it. 'No. . Why would you?' She asked somberly.

He gave an aggravated sigh. 'Because you need to stop thinking about that dumb party.' He told her. 'You're acting like you were responsible for it or something.'

She couldn't help it, she still felt she was responsible in someway for that shit-show. She looked at the ground. 'I only wanted you to relax for a bit.' She sulked.

'I'm relaxed now.'

Her shoulders dropped as she studied him. 'Are you, really? Even after that drunk idiot hit you?'
'What am I supposed to do about it?' He shrugged. 'Keep being upset about it?' He flapped his arms. 'Should I? Am I meant to be angry at someone? Katie? It was her party after all?'

'You can be angry at me.'

His face soured. 'I'm not doing that. It's not your fault, so cut it out. I'm relaxed now.'

'How can you act like everything's fine?' She sulked.

'Because I'm out here in the freezing cold with you.' He laughed, 'Sure beats being in Katie's stuffy house.' He said looking behind himself.

She couldn't help but blush from it. It wasn't fair. It wasn't fair how he kept his inner emotions to himself, and at the same time it wasn't fair how she would flare up something crazy and feel so different inside when he said such things. She held onto her arm. 'Just how can you still be so positive after that?!'

'I dunno.' He said. 'I mean, it's great I didn't die or anything, but. . .' He held onto her hand again, 'But I came to the party for you and Stace, one of us has to be the positive one' He said. He paused for a second, 'Seriously, I appreciate the thought of getting me out for a bit. You're the best.'

She said nothing and watched the ground as they walked. She sighed to herself and pushed up against him. 'Hearted.' she said.

'Huh?' He asked, confused.

'I—I said you're thick-hearted.' She stammered, looking away from him.

He couldn't help but bellow out a laugh. 'You're getting a lot better at this flattery thing.'

'Oh, stop it.' She held her eyes closed for a moment as the feelings inside forced her to smile. She forgot how weak she felt in her legs. Her balance shifted suddenly, threatening to fall off the pavement and onto the road. Paulo had only just managed grab hold of her before she could fall.

'Close one.' He commented when he caught her.

'Y—Yeah.' Sue agreed. She held onto his hand as she pulled herself up again. She tried to thank him, but instead shrieked in his face as her bare foot touched the cold footpath. She didn't mean to do that; she hadn't expected it at all. She found herself staring down to her bare foot hanging in the air, refusing to touch the pavement again. Then she and Paulo looked behind themselves. They found the shoe right behind them on its side with the broken stap that once kept it in place..

'Ah gee. . .' Paulo said when he noticed and walked over to it. He bent over and retrieved it, taking some time to give it a real good look, some attention going to one of the straps that had ripped from the stress. It was a shame; he'd decided it was a real nice shoe she'd worn now that he could see it. But his attention wavered back to the sound of someone on the virge of sobbing, and quickly turned back to Sue to find her shaking on the virge of tears. She couldn't take it as best she tried. Tonight was just horrible for everyone.
He dropped the shoe and ran over to her, throwing his arms around her. 'Don't cry, Sue.' He begged. 'It's okay.'

'No it's not!' She cried. 'Everything just been. . .horrible! I really wanted this night to be the best for us but everything just keeps going to shit!'

He thought he felt her disappointment. 'There'll be other times.' He tried to reassure her. 'Don't cry, you're going to ruin your make up again.'

She wiped her tears on her arm. 'Hah, I—I didn't put it back on after I left the kitchen. . . Besides.' She pointed down to his shirt and to the make up of hers that she'd sobbed into him the first time. 'I made a mess on you last time.'

'I can clean that out. Stop worrying.' Paulo tried to assure her. He felt worse about her dress. The turquoise dress she wore was now stained in various places with traces of red; his blood when she threw herself into him. It would be a miracle if it took only one clean to remove them. . .
No, he told himself; he was certain the dress was ruined, that was a shame as well. He had noticed how nice it looked when he arrived at the party but never got a real got look at her. Only now did he wonder how it could've looked with a more sober Sue who wasn't doubled over on one of Katie's couches. The dress' radience was gone, marked with smeers of his blood, and he felt sad for it. He squeezed her tighter in their embrace. 'The only thing I've got to be sad about his you spent all this time to look so outstanding, only for me to get it dirty.'

She mumbled something into his arm.

'Sorry?' He said, loosening his hold.

She pulled herself off him to say it again. 'Better late saying that now than never.'

'Well, I tried to before, you know. You really did go all out.' He looked her up and down. 'Still, You really do still look something amazing.'

Her face went red. 'N-Now you're just trying to tease!'

'Come on! You put so much time in to look nice this evening, I could tell!'

She looked to the side and down towards the pavement. 'T-Thank you.' She stuttered.
He smiled once hers came around. There was a different problem they needed to contend with. 'Well. . . How are we going to do this?' He wondered, cupping a hand to his chin.

'Do what?'

'Well, we aren't staying here.'

'No, I'm going to end up freezing up if we do.'

Paulo scratched his cheek. 'I—I suppose I should carry you?' Paulo suggested.

'C. . . C—Carry?' Sue sputtered.

'Sure, I mean I'll just prop you up like thi-' He tried moving his arm around her back, but Sue hopped backwards suddenly.

'We can't do that!' She shouted. 'Look, I'll just try to walk, it'll be a little slower but—' She made a gasp and a pained expression when she stepped back on the footpath with her barefoot again.

'Too cold, right?' Paulo asked.

'N. . .no. I—I think I've twisted my ankle.'

'Then I'm going to have to carry you then, there's no other way.' He moved forward but again, Sue moved away suddenly. He grew frustrated. 'Stop already! You can't walk like that!' He shouted.

'Y—You can't carry me, aren't you sore?!' She said in a panic.

'Well what else do you suggest we do? Do you have reception yet?'

She checked her phone. 'N—No. I don't.'

'Well, we're not getting home any faster like this.'

'I can walk barefoot. It'll be slower but—'

'Like hell, you can.' He said. 'Just let me carry you.'

Sue grumbled to herself. She took a second. 'F—Fine then. Just. . .just not like how you were trying before.'

'What's wrong with carrying you from the front of me?' He asked confused.

'People do that when they're married!' She shouted.

'But we're not!'

'What if someone sees?'

He couldn't help but laugh through his teeth at her embarrassment. 'Come on, Sue! Who's going to care out this late? Fine, then I won't carry you from the front.' He turned his back towards her and kneeled down. He stayed like that for a moment, then got aggitated when nothing happened, 'Come on, get on already!'

'What are you doing?' Sue asked, confused.

'Carrying you on my back, what else?' Paulo shouted. 'Has nobody ever carried you before?'

'O—Of course they have! You don't need to do that anyway! Just wrap your arm around my shoulder and I'll walk with you!'

'Oh come on, you're far too short for that.'

'Am not!'

'You are too! You're head shorter than me.'

'Maybe if your head wasn't so b—'

'Come on, Sue. I'm starting to freeze too. We need to go already!'

She mumbled to herself frustratingly. Paulo had a point. Her only last offer she could make was hopping with him all the way back. But she knew by now he wasn't going to allow that either. Her other shoe could probably fall appart much like the other had. Although it wouldn't be too bad at this point. With the say her face was she could melt the snow around them without much effort, red with embarassment at the realisation this was the only way they could get home. This wouldn't have been so bad if she was still a kid. But. . . to nearly be an adult and be carried like this?
Then again. . .she wondered. She hadn't. . .ever been carried before by a boy her age. It was going to be difficult with the dress, she had to roll it up a little. Feeling even more embarassed now. She stood behind him and put her hands on his shoulders. 'What now?' she asked. She didn't have to wait too long for an answer; as his arms wrapped around her legs, then she ascended into the air, or at least, higher than him.

She couldn't keep it in any longer. 'G—God this is so embarassing!'

'Never met anyone who didn't like being carried.'

'That's not the problem!'

'Haven't you ever been carried before? Was your last boyfriend too short?'

'Shut up! We never did anything like this!' God, what if someone sees us? I had to roll up the dress!'

'O—Oh.. . . Well! Nobody's around to see, it'll be fine.' He tried to assure her.

'Easy for you to say. Nobody will recognise you with that headdress wrapped around your head!'

'Oh my god, who's going to recognise us? The older kids?!' He shouted over his shoulder.
She didn't give him a response. 'N—never mind. Are you sure you want to carry me around?' She asked worryingly 'You were hurt earlier, you shouldn't—'

'Stop being a worry-wart, I'm fine.' He told her. But that ended up being a bit of a lie. It was when he felt his grip slipping, he tried to move his hands in a way he could get a better grip on Sue's legs, but he'd instead strained with how sore his arms they really were. He hoped she didn't notice. 'Keep your phone out, if you get a signal you let me know.' He told her before slowly starting to walk forward, carefully so he wouldn't slip over himself and trying to get used to the extra difficulty. His back hurting was the next problem, but he figured out what was causing it. 'Put your cast around my neck with my other arm, you're better holding on like.'

She did so, bringing her other arm around to the front of him too and held on tight. Blushing all the while.

Without a moment's hesitation, Paulo pressed on, carrying Sue with him into the night.


'Paulo!' Sue shouted suddenly.

His ears flicked when he'd heard it. 'What's up?'

'Your hands are sliding back too far.' She said, pulling on his ear. 'Are you trying to cop a feel?'

'Ow! Stop! I'm not!' He winced in pain. 'My grip's just slipping because you're pushing into me!' He shouted back.
She was going to let him have it just for that, until she found herself in mid-air for a moment when he moved his hands quick enough so he could re-adjust them closer towards the back of her knees. 'Better?' He asked.

'Much.' Sue said. But she seethed in embarassment from what he said just now. His hands hadn't actually come too close to her at all. It was that she had panicked when she found herself getting too comfortable being carried like this. She thought of something to talk about to distract herself from it, but Paulo already had something. Her ears perked up once she heard him.

'What do you think of Abbey and Jasmine?' He asked.

'What do you mean?' She wondered. 'Do you mean if they make a good pair?'

'Yeah.' Paulo said nodding.

She took a moment to think about it. She hadn't paid too much attention to Abbey's relationship as of late. She was much too busy with Paulo until he suddenly showed up on their MMO server a few weeks before. She was going to tease him about his relationship and all the cute things they must have been getting up to together. It didn't work out like that at all, and Abbey shot offline once she tried. It was when she rang his house in desperation she got the full picture, and felt sad for him, sad it had gone in the way that it had and that she hadn't been a good a friend to him during that time. She was there when Jasmine became his rebound but certainly wasn't there to see much of how they were both going. 'I don't know.' She ended up admitting. 'They seemed to get along, I guess? I'm really hoping they worked out their differences from before. I was really sure for a moment it was going to work out from much earlier in the week.' She scratched her chin with her finger. 'What about you? What did you think.'

Paulo didn't say anything for a good while. 'Dunno myself.' He eventually said.

'Did either of them talk to you when you spoke to them?' She queried.

'Oh, yeah. I spoke to Jasmine for a bit. Get this; it seems like at times it's very one directional. Abbey seemed to be keen on following her lead with everything.'

'But that's fine, isn't it?' She asked. 'Abbey just needs to do things he wants to do sometimes, right?'

'Yeah but it's starting to sound all too familiar.'

'What do you mean?'

'Daisy used to talk to me about this too.'

Sue was surprised. 'Huh.'

'What?'

'I wouldn't have taken you to be interested in their relationship at all.' She said.

He turned his head as far back as he could to her, 'Hey, she was my friend, you know? Someone had to care about it. She asked me to get them back toget—' He stopped.

'It was you who got them back together?!' Sue shouted. 'Were you thinking correctly?! Especially after what she said about Mike?'

'Hey! She really wanted to be in a relationship with him again!' He turned back towards the front. 'But. . .god, you're right. I shouldn't have even tried back then.' He turned back to her. 'You seem to know more about him. Does he ever do anything for himself?'

'What do you mean?'

'Like does he ever go and see movies he wants to see or drag Jasmine to them?'
She tried giving it some real thought. She couldn't think of a recent time, maybe back during the game? She really couldn't see him not. . .helping someone or something. 'I can't really think of a time.'
He gave a small exasperated sigh, 'Yeah, that's was the problem back then too from what Daisy told me.'

'But that's fine, he can work on that, right?'

Paulo shook his head. 'They'd been going out for a while now, haven't they? Even with Daisy, he should've learn—.' He stopped all of a sudden. 'Now that I think about it, I think they've worked out they're two different people. Maybe they got along for a while when they started going out but. . .I don't know. Jasmine seems to think he's only doing things to please her. Maybe she's realised and she's starting to look for something else.'

Sue didn't say anything for a moment. There was a bit of unease in her at what he was saying. 'What about us?' She asked.

'What do you mean?'

'Do you think we get along?'

'Whaddya mean all of a sudden?' He chuckled, 'Of course we get along!' He jumped a little in his step. 'Why would you ask?'

'I. . . dunno.' She said, sinking down from behind him, 'I. . .I was just wondering, I guess? We didn't. . .exactly get along for a long time either.' She said softly beneith her voice.

He looked behind his shoulder for a moment, then forward again towards the road. 'You know, we haven't fought with each other in a while, haven't we?'

'Hmm?' Sue shot up.

'I know right? Guess we are a good pair!' He shouted loudly with a huge grin.

'Yeah.' Sue said with a smile.

'But. . .going back to Abbey and Jazz though, I don't know. . .maybe they'll come around? Maybe not. But one thing I thought was clear was he might not be who she really wants inside.'

He felt Sue lean her head against the back of her neck. 'It would be sad if they broke up. I thought he finally found the support he really needed.'

'Yeah. . .but that fruitcake needs to share some of the things he likes to do. You know?' He gave a bit of a chuckle,

'Jasmine's certainly a different person now.'

'Bet you wish you didn't blow it as hard back then?' Sue teased.

'What's with that?' He asked suddenly. He had a stern face when he thought back to that moment. 'No.' He thought aloud. 'Needed to happen. It probably would've been the same. She would've gotten sick of me eventually.' He laughed.

She felt sad for asking. 'Why did you both break up originally?'

Paulo was silent for a while. 'I liked someone else.'

That didn't need an answer from her. She had a feeling who he really meant.

'How about you?' Paulo had to ask.

'Hmm?'

'Are you happy?' He asked.

Sue squeezed her arms around him tighter and pressed herself against his back. 'I am. Thank you for trying to find out what was going on back there between them. It was selfish of me to try and get you involved.'

'Yeah. . .well. . .not entirely sure why you thought I could help of all people.' He laughed again. 'But, it was nice that you thought I could.'

She moved her head next to his and hugged him tighter. 'That's because you're got hidden talent for helping people when they're down.'

That made him feel glum inside, he wasn't so sure. Every time he tried it felt like something had gone wrong. 'God, now you're sounding a lot like Daisy..'

'I really mean it! Thank you for trying.' She said again.

He felt a warmth in his chest. 'Sure, anything for you.'

After a while they had left the rich part of the neighbourhood and reached some form of the town they could recognise. Sue had been keeping an ever watchful eye on her phone since he started carring her. In that same time she'd managed to convince herself to not worry about the party like Paulo had suggested. But there was a different sadness in her this time. She knew at some point she'd have to get down off Paulo's back at some stage. She'd gotten used to this, daresay she even started to enjoy it. She hugged him into him again .
'You've been really clingy recently.' Paulo thought to say.
Her arms relaxed themselves, almost releasing him. 'O—Oh, have I?' She asked worringly. 'There's not a problem with that, is there?'

'Oh! N—No! Not at all! It's just interesing to see you get so cuddly when we're on our own.' He looked back to her.

'Making the best of the night.'

'Oh...You...' She blushed. 'You can put me down over by that bench there. I was going to tell you, I've got reception.'

'I'll just go a bit further.' Paulo planned, 'Pretty sure it'll just be a weak signal.'

There wasn't a need. She looked at her phone and at the full signal indicator. She'd been mean to tell him for a while. . .but oh, but this was too nice, too nice to give up.

'It's gone to a full signal now actually, you can put me down now.' She said to him.

'Ah, are you sure?.'

'You've done more than enough.'

He didn't listen. He kept walking.

'Paulo I said you can put me down.'

'I've changed my mind.'

'What?'

He turned his head and smiled back at her. 'I'm kidnapping you.'

'You are not.' She shouted.

'Yes I am. I'm gonna walk you all the way home.' He said, turning his head and smiling back to her.

'No you're not! Surely you're getting tired by now!'

'Nope! I'm fit enough!'

Her ears fell. 'You're tired by now. I can tell Paulo. Come on, put me down, you don't have to carry me all the way to my home. You deserve a comfortable ride home now. Let me do the rest.'

He didn't hear her, and kept walking on.

'Paulo!' She shouted and yanked on his ear.

'Ow, alright!' He said, and turned back towards the bench he had walked past earlier. 'It was just a bit of a joke.' He said, setting her down on the bench. He sat beside her as she went to her phone and started to call her parents. He paid no attention to the conversation. He took the time to marvel at the stars overhead instead. There weren't many occasions when he'd thought to hang out here.

Eventually, Sue's phone retreated back into her purse. 'Right!' She said aloud. 'She isn't too far away so we've got the next couple minutes to ourselves.' She turned away suddenly. 'Y-You know what that means right?'

'A few lonely minutes alone under the lamp light at this bench? I can't think of anything else we'd ought to do in a place like this.' He said, leaning in and bringing his arms up around her. Although he couldn't go in for the kiss. He looked down and found Sue's hand pushing back on his chest, he looked back with a confused exprssacross his face.
'What happened back at the party? As soon as we went to help you, you started acting crazy!'

He lent over to the arm rest and rest his head off his hand. 'Nothing.' He lied.

'Don't act like I didn't saw and it wasn't that big of a deal. You didn't take my offer for my parents to pick you up. I didn't expect you'd try to walk the way there!'

''It's not that far of a walk.' He told her.

'It's a five mile walk! That's only half of the distance to school! I never even said I walked, how did you figure that out?'

'I smelt the colone off of you when we were sitting down. You put on way too much!'

He sighed angrily and crossed his leg, 'Look, I just don't want to talk about it.'

'Paulo, I—'

'Leave it.' He said, but the tone of his voice nearly made him seem like he was begging when he went to speak to her again, 'Please, just don't.'

She felt her hands ring around the purse she held. She did everything she could to try and keep her anger in check.

Something made this important to talk about. Her hand came on to his hand. 'I want to help! Why can't you allow that?'

'Because it's nobody else's business.'

'I want to make it mine.'

'Why?' He asked, the hand he rest his head on coming down onto his lap, 'Why would you want to care about it so much? It doesn't affect you!'

'It doesn't matter! I want to help! That's what I'm here for!'

She watched him turn to the opposite direction away from her.

'Come on! She shouted! I'm here for you!. . .Please, tell me what happened back in the kitchen?'

He looked in the opposite direction, off into the night to their side. He thought of ways he could get out of this conversation. There wasn't any need to talk about it. It just happened, that's all.

But she had a feeling, finally after all this time. 'It's being the victim, isn't it?' She asked, still finding herself talking to the back of his head. 'You don't like the attention.'

He didn't want to answer. He didn't want to. He couldn't even look at her. He didn't want to show her how angry he felt and the humiliation that came with it. His heart hammered inide of his chest. How could've she figured it all out in one go?

He felt her hand slide over to his, he turned part-ways back to her, but the sorrowful look in her eyes made him turn the full way back.

'You don't need to say anything about it if you don't want to. It just reminded me back to last Summer.' She said. 'You're not alone in this world. You can talk to us about it.'

'Maybe.' Paulo said.

'Whenever you feel like you're ready. Just. . . accept people's help when they offer it.'

His heart warmed from it. He smiled.

'You big dummy' She chuckled back, she squeezed his hand tighter.

It didn't take long before Paulo noticed a pair of headlights off in the distance. He stretched his arms over his head and yawned. It'd been a very long night and he was in some serious need of sleep. 'Someone's finally coming, is that her car?' He asked, peering forward from the bench towards the road.

Sue had been resting on his shoulder from the bench. Much like when she was riding on his back, she was awfully sleepy and threatened falling asleep. She looked out as well with some relief in her heart. But she noticed a problem; The car was coming from the direction they had been, certainly not the direction her mother was coming from. 'No, mom would be coming back from the other sid-' Her heart dropped. She didn't finish the sentence. 'Paulo!' She shouted.
Paulo turned back towards her to see what the problem was, leading into another; he could only see Sue in that moment and only Sue,locking lips with his.

'Sue?!' He tried to say, but the words were lost as Sue wrapped her arms around him and held him closer.

The car shot past them, he wasn't even able to see what it was.
Eventually she moved back and off him. 'A little warning next time?' Paulo said. 'I mean, I appreciate a kiss, it's just. . .not like that.'

'Sorry.' Sue said, smiling and looking a little embarassed. 'I guess I was a bit too quick that time. Silly me! Just getting caught up in the moment.'

He didn't appear to buy it. He raised an eyebrow. 'What's the matter?'

Sue shook her head, 'Nothing. I just thought it was something you deserved after everything you've done today.'
Paulo felt himself blushing. 'I already said it wasn't any problem at all. Not that I wanted to deal with Abbey being in such a depressive mood the day after if he came back to the table.' He said, then. 'You know I was really starting to think you were starting to hate kissing.'

'I never said that!'

'Really? You pushed me back from that time when I tried on the balcony.' He laughed.

'T—That's because everyone was watching us! And I never said I didn't. Kissing is n—nice! Don't be mean.'

'Ah, so . .I guess that was for earlier.' He laughed again, 'So, was it any better than the other times?'

She didn't need to wait a second. 'No.'

'Oh geez! So quick!' He laughed. 'Then. . .Did you want to make out for a bit until it does.' He smiled towards her. 'While we wait?'

'We'd already kissed!'

'Why stop at one little smooch when we have all the time in the world?'

She folded her arms and looked to the side, she tried to ignore the two fingers he walked along her arm.
'Sueeeee.' He cooed.

'What is it?'

'I love you. Especially when you play hard to get.'

'I am not playing hard to get.'

'You say that, but your tail is trying to curl around mine.'
She hadn't even realised. She took one look behind her and groaned. Paulo was right; her tail was doing its own thing.

'Fine.' She finally said. 'But just long enough before my mother gets here.'

He was a dead-man, she'd decided. At some point in the future, she was going to kill him. She could deal with the constant flushing that happened all that night, but this was taking it too far. Not when she squeeled the way she did when she felt a protrusion in her lips while they kissed. She wasn't expecting that. It had taken her completely by surprise. She'd jumped back suddenly and raised her fingers to her lips and to the sensation. Then she realised what had happened and she looked at Paulo with some scorn and embarassment as he grinned back at the noise she made. He looked as if he did it by accident in the way he held up his hands. He was looking for a reaction. He certainly got one, a cute one that he would never forget when he decided it was time to take their kissing to the next level, and she felt furious over it. She felt he'd expect her to get into him over it. So she did the opposite, she grabbed onto his hands with hers and locked lips with him again, but this time she did the same thing back. She drew back as if to say 'how was that?', but Paulo simply looked impressed by it.
Her heart thumped in her chest from the experience. She wasn't a second late in drawing back towards him again. This was something else all together, they'd been dry kissing since becoming a pair. But this. . .this was more intoxicating than the alcohol at the party. She wouldn't let him get away. Every time he tried to pull back from the kiss, she pushed back into him.

An absolute drug.

But Sue jumped higher than he did when they both heard a horn blare loudly from the other side of the road. They both turned towards it, only noticing the car parked on the other side of the road. When did that arrive? Better question; how long had it had been parked there for?
The driver side window wound down revealing her mother's face, and Paulo immediately understood how Sue came to have such an outstanding poker face. He turned to Sue, only to find her redder than a tomato and literally trying to hide her face in her arms. That was to be expected, he thought as he laughed embarrassingly. It was only when he took Sue's hand and walked towards the car did he notice she wasn't so much unimpressed at them, as a very small portion of her mouth was etched upwards; she was grinning. But when she looked at Paulo as he came closer, she was slightly puzzled.

'This isn't the same boy I took you to the party with.' She said. Then she looked appalled when she got a better look at him. Her eyesight must've been much better than the other parents. 'Look at you, you're covered in blood. What happened?'

'It's a long story mom.' Sue cut in. 'That was Abbey. This is my boyfriend. You've met Paulo before.'

'Have I?' She wondered, she gave him a once over from where she sat, before realising. 'Oh! So you're Paulo. I haven't seen you from that one time when your friends were also fighting. Who were they? Mike and Lu-'

'Yeah, back then.' Sue said, trying to forget. She turned to Paulo. 'Where would you like to sit?'

'I'll take the back.'

'Sure.'

Her mother adjusted the rear view mirror so she could get a look at Paulo proper as he took his seat. 'One day we're hopefully going to see each other when you're not covered in blood.' She commented.

'You saw him back when you dropped me off at the movies, remember?' Sue said.

'Oh, I forgot about that. Thank you for being a gentleman and walking Sue home.'

'It's no problem.' Paulo smiled. He almost laughed. 'I can't believe you remember me that far back when we were finishing middle school.'

'Trouble seems to follow you kids an awful lot, someone has to keep their wits up.' He saw her look towards him through the rear view mirror. 'What happened back there?' She asked.

'Ah-uhm. You see.' Paulo tried to say, but Sue had chosen to cover for him.

'Katie ended up bringing friends of hers along who weren't nice. One of them was under the influence and hit Paulo.'

'You should've let me know at the first sign of trouble.' She looked at her daughter. Only then di she see some of the stains in her dress. 'Oh, Susan, your dress.'

'Yeah.' Sue said, giving a light laugh. 'Paulo bleed a bit.'

'You know, we really should take you to the hospital instead.' Her mother said, looking at him in the rear view mirror again.

'It's just a few scrapes.' Paulo said, 'But thank you. I'll be fine.'

Her mother sat with that for a bit, but then she sighed in forfeit. 'Well, then I'm happy it was only that and nothing more serious. Maybe no more parties for a bit.'

Paulo couldn't help but laugh at it. 'Yeah, think we'll stick to movies or trips.'


Paulo stepped out of the car once they arrived at his place after saying his thank-you's and farewells. He quickly felt around, finding his keys where they were supposed to be. He might have lost his phone, but he certainly wasn't being kept from his bed. He kept waving as the car disappeared into the night before walking back towards the front door and sighed to himself. The night had been a mixture of good and bad; sure he got clocked in the head earlier, but at least he felt closer to some of the friends he'd been with for years now. He thought to call him a fruitcake,but instead he chose idiot. Things between him and Abbey probably wouldn't have been solved immediately on that night, but maybe there would be at least some coexistance between them. Despite the night starting out so rough with Sue, by the end of it they seemed even closer.


'So that was Paulo.' Sue's mother said once they were on the road again.

'Did you like him.'

'Well I can't say I know him completely just in those short few minutes. He seemed nice enough. . . for someone covered head to toe in blood.'

'Oh. . .Yeah, there was a reason for that.' Sue said to the floor.

'And your dress, your shoe! What on earth happened?!'

'There was a fight. Some drunk idiot tried to pick a fight with Paulo and he couldn't have said no.'

'Where were the parents?'

'It was just us and a few other people.' Sue said, her voice trailing off. 'A few. . .older. . .people.'

'I should give her parents a ring.'

'No! Just don't! I'm just happy that Paulo made it out okay.'

Her mother sighed. 'I thought you hated him for a while, that Paulo boy, given how you spoke about him over the phone.'

'Oh...that...we had our differences, but. . . we seem to be closer friends now.'

'They way you were both getting into it. I could tell.'

'MOM!'

'We're going to have a talk about that when we get home.'

'You can't be serious, mom!' Sue groaned. Her arm came up against the window, she caught herself smiling furiously to her reflection.


Paulo's key entered the door handle and his hand went to twist, but he hesitated at the precise moment he heard a noise. He turned towards it, leading back towards the mailbox. Something inside was rattling about. It caught his interest. He turned back and walked towards it, opening it up and pulling the contents out. For a moment, he was confused.

'How did this get in there?' He asked as he pulled out his cell phone.

His head raced ahead before his heart started thumped against his chest. It wasn't his imagination after all. He thought he had recognised that car that passed them on that road when he was carrying Sue back. He thought he had recognised the driver. He felt a feeling he hadn't felt in a long time. It spread all around him.
But still, it was a mystery. He didn't see them at the party at all. They hated parties. When did they pick up his phone?

He couldn't for the life of him wonder why Lucy was there at the party.


Author: I said this chapter would be out on the second week, that turned out to be a huge fat lie because I couldn't be happy with how this was written, I'm still not, so I'm sorry if you've been waiting. Work picked up too and things aren't looking too well in that realm. Next chapter is the last 'new' chapter that wasn't part of the draft. Updates will be hopefully sooner after that one.