A/n: Sorry that this one took a little longer to publish, but I wrote it three different times before writing this version. I hope you enjoy this chapter. Don't be afraid to leave a loving review~
Clementine stops and turns to look at Sarah before the enter Nick's house. He was having a farewell party for Luke, who was leaving for Chicago tomorrow.
"Okay, I know I said that I'd be the designated driver, but I need to ask you to watch how much you drink." Clementine warns, "I know it's your first time drinking, just be careful and let me know if you start to not feel good."
"I know, I know!" Sarah says, giddily, practically bouncing. She was incredibly excited, she had never had anything more than a single, glass of wine once, and that tasted like rotten grapes. "Can we go inside now?"
Clementine rolls her eyes and opens the door. They are greeted immediately with a thick bassline and the smell of hot, hot liquor. There were a lot of people here, some people Clementine recognized, like Nate, Rebecca, Alvin, Wyatt, Eddie, Shel (Becca's older, cheerleader sister), and Stephanie (Shel's best friend, head cheerleader, and the most popular girl in school), but most of them were complete strangers.
"Clem!" Luke's voice shouted from across the room. He sprints from the dining room to the living room, where Clementine and Sarah stood, and picks her up by her legs. He plants five sweet kisses on her lips, and Clementine can smell that Luke hadn't abstained from the alcohol. "I'm so glad you came." He says, gently lowering her to the ground. "You too, Sarah."
Sarah gives Luke a small wave, "Thanks for having me. Where is the alcohol?"
"Everything is in the dining room. Just try not to spill anything." Luke says, "Do you want something, Clem?"
Clementine shakes her head, "I'm the designated driver tonight."
"Tonight? Of all nights? Why?" Luke frowns.
"I promised Sarah," Clementine lies, "She was really excited to drink for the first time. She's staying at my house tonight, so that she doesn't get in trouble with her dad. Sorry."
"I don't want to drink if you're not drinking."
"You don't have to do that," Clementine insists, "You should enjoy yourself. It's you're last night here, after all."
"I won't drink too much then," Luke says, taking Clementine's small hands in his, "I want to remember the last night I spend with you. These memories are gonna have to last me until I come visit, in who knows how long."
Clementine gives him a sad smile. "Don't make me sad. Let's go see what everyone is up to."
When Clementine and Luke walk into the dining room, they see that Nick, Sarah, Wyatt, Eddie, Shel, Stepanie, and Alvin were playing a game of quarters. It was Sarah's turn, and Nick was crouched behind her, his hand on her wrist, showing her precisely how to bounce the quarter off the table and into the cup. She tries to bounce it like he showed her, but she fails miserably. She passes the quarter to Nick, who flawlessly bounces the quarter into the cup. The entire table cheers.
"Whose it gonna be?" Stephanie asks, leaning forward and batting her eyelashes at Nick.
Nick, somehow, manages to avoid eye contact with Stephanie's gratuitous cleavage, and gives Sarah a shy smile. With shaky hands, Sarah fills a shot glass with a clear liquid, before shooting it back. She grimaces and makes a funny noise.
"Yuck. That is horrible. My tongue is numb and my chest burns." She whines.
Nick smirks, "Yeah, that's cause what you just had is tequila. Maybe you should lay off of that stuff until you develop a little more of a tolerance."
"Please," Sarah scoffs, "I'm Spanish. Blood doesn't run through out veins, it's one hundred percent sangria. I think I can handle some tequila."
"Is that so?" Nick says, bouncing the quarter in the cup once again, "How bout another shot then?"
Sarah frowns, but pours herself another shot. She throws it back and grimaces.
"You okay there, Sarah Sangria?" Nick teases, causing Sarah to stick her tongue out at him.
Clementine exchanges a worried look with Luke. "Should we stop them?"
"Who? Nick and Sarah? Why would we stop them?" Luke asks, "Is it cause they're getting drunk and the sexual tension between them is palpable?"
Clementine rolls her eyes, "I don't think we should let them do anything. They're already always frisky, but they're gonna be drunk too. It's not a good combination."
"Clementine, they can handle themselves." Luke says, "Why don't we do something? Wanna dance?"
He points to the living room, where a group of people are dancing, somewhat appropriately. Clementine raises an eyebrow, but agrees. Luke takes her hand and leads her to the living room. He puts his hands on Clementine's small waist and she lays her hands on his shoulders. They stand chest to chest, looking at each other.
"Can we change this song?" Clementine whispers.
"Why? You don't like this song?"
Clementine rolls her eyes, "This song is fine. I just don't like Katy Perry much."
"Neither do I. But when I hear this song, I think of you." Luke confesses.
Clementine flushes, pressing her face into Luke's chest, trying to hide it from him. God, she loved him so much. She didn't want him to go. She wanted him to stay here with her. And sing to her like he was right now, squeezing her gently, until the song ends.
She loves his voice. She loved to hear him sing. She wondered, if he weren't leaving for Chicago, would he sing to the baby? It was a sweet thought, until she realized what she was thinking. Then, it felt like a kick to the stomach.
"Luke, I have to tell you something." Clementine says, softly. Her stomach was twisting and churning painfully.
"What is it?" Luke asks, his voice light and gentle.
"I'm..." She lowers her eyes, "I'm... Gah. I'm just really sad that you're leaving. I don't want you to go. I'm gonna miss you."
Luke pulls away from Clementine, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I'm gonna miss you too, Clementine. I love you so much."
Clementine lays her hand on top of Luke's, "I love you too." She twists around cutely, "Do you wanna, maybe, defile Nick's bed before I have to leave?"
The party has died down a lot by the time Sarah and Nick decide to stop playing quarters. After Sarah and Nick's seventh shot, it was more like a game of how many time someone had to yell to make the two of them stop making googly-eyes at each other. Even Stephanie had stopped trying to get Nick's attention with her ridiculous amount of cleavage and sexual innuendos.
"Fuck, Sarah. I'm really sorry about how I broke up with you." Nick says, spinning an empty bottle of beer on the table.
Sarah looks down sadly, "Yeah. It was kinda messed up. I don't understand why- We just started dating and I really like you."
Nick looks up at Sarah, "Like me? Like, you still like me?"
Sarah looks at Nick, biting her bottom lip. She suddenly stands up and leans forward, planting a kiss on Nick's lips. He tastes like a mixture of whiskey, tequila, salt, lemon, and cheap beer. It's almost as intoxicating as the alcohol they were drinking. His scruffy face tickles Sarah, so she pulls away to giggle, her face red from embarrassment and intoxication.
"Maybe I shouldn't have done that." Sarah smiles, like a child caught with their hand in a cookie jar.
Nick is completely in shock. Sarah was usually so shy and timid, but with a little (or a lot) of alcohol in her system, she was much braver. Two sides of the same coin, Nick figured. He like Sarah no matter how she acted. She didn't deserve to be dumped the way he dumped her. She didn't deserve to be dumped at all. Nick shakes his head, trying to get rid of those thoughts. He liked Sarah, he could have fallen in love with her, but them not being together was for the best. Being drunk wouldn't change that.
"Nick, I..." Sarah looks down at the table, shifting in her seat, her face flushed, "Nick, I've never felt this way before. Maybe it's cause I'm a little drunk, but it's mostly cause, well, cause of you. I want... I want to give my virginity to you."
Nick's jaw practically hits the floor. He blinks a couple times, trying to process what was going on and what Sarah had said. "What? No, Sarah. You can't- We can't. We're drunk and you'd regret it in the morning."
Sarah looks like she has just been slapped in the face. Her face is even redder and her eyes are shimmering. "I.. I wouldn't! I wanted to do it before we broke up and then, well, we broke up. But we're here now, together, and there's something, like electricity, between us, you can't deny it, Nick."
"We're drunk." Nick says, again, "I'm not denying that we have chemistry, but right now? It's wrong."
"So, sleeping with me would be wrong?" Sarah asks, obviously hurt.
"Yeah, but not cause it's you. Cause we are not in the right state of mind." Nick tries desperately to explain, "And, aside from that, Sarah. We're broken up. We're not going to get back together. You're going to go to Harvard, you're gonna meet a great guy whose gonna become a lawyer or a doctor. You're gonna go to college and have all these great experiences. I'm just gonna be an anchor that keeps you in this town. I can't do that to you, Sarah. You deserve so much more."
"I don't want more," Sarah protests, "I want you."
"Sarah, it's just not going to happen. Not tonight. Not ever." Nick says, firmly.
Sarah stands up, angry and hurt. Her bottom lip is quivering, but her eyes are wet with tears. She turns around and leaves Nick at the kitchen. How could he embarrass her like that? How could he? She put herself out there and he turned her down! She has never been more humiliated!
She opens the door to Nick's room, and sees Clementine and Luke, sitting on Nick's bed, obviously post-sex. She buries her jealousy deep within herself. Clementine looks up at Sarah, noticing that she was obviously distressed.
"Wanna go home?" Clementine asks, like she's comforting a child.
Sarah nods, scared that if she talks, her voice with shake.
Clementine leans forward, giving Luke a quick peck, before getting off the bed and putting on her shoes. She pulls Lee's car keys out of her pocket, and swings them on her index finger. "Come on, Sarah. Let's go."
Sarah follows Clementine out the room, and out the house. Nick tries to talk to her, but she brushes him off. She didn't want to talk to him. She wanted nothing to do with him. He broke her heart and rejected her.
When they get inside the car, Sarah buckles her seat belt and slumps forward, letting herself sob. Her shoulders shook and her breaths came in sharp gasps. She didn't say anything, and Clementine didn't push it. She put her hand on Sarah's back and strokes it, comfortingly.
"Wanna talk about it?" Clementine asks, gently.
Sarah turns her head and looks over at her friend, giving her a small, sad smile. "No, not really. I just wanna go to bed. I have to sober up before we say goodbye to Luke tomorrow."
"Okay," Clementine says, starting the car and heading home.
Neither girl says anything on the way home. Sarah didn't want to talk about how Nick had humiliated her. Clementine didn't want to talk about how the love of her life was leaving tomorrow and was never coming back.