A/N: Another week in lockdown. Hope everyone doing alright! Thank you to Harmony, SPQR-Alan and KazMyres for the lovely reviews. 10 points to Harmony for getting the Mortal Instruments reference and to answer Kaz's question, I might be able to arrange that ;) Enjoy! ~ Emma


"One shot to the person on my left."

Rory rolled his eyes. "Liam, that says right."

"Oops."

"Too late." Emma's face contorted in disgust as the vodka went down her throat. Rory had expected her to go wild on the alcohol as soon as she'd made the decision to drink, but she'd actually been quite restrained, sipping at the drink he'd made her. That was until the drunk Jenga came out. Ever since she'd been downing drinks as fast as she could. But she wasn't a complete mess. Yet.

"My turn." Emma grinned, tapping at one of the bricks. "Sorting hat. Gryffindor's drink."

"You are so not a Gryffindor." Rory smirked at her. "You breath literature."

"Fight me. I've taken the test three times." She snapped her fingers as she spoke, her exuberance making him chuckle. He'd never heard her so sure of herself. Trust Emma to have more confidence in her Hogwarts house than she had in herself.

Tyler frowned as people started drinking, making the fake horns he'd stuck to his face drooping. "I don't know what house I am."

"Don't worry Tyler, you're a Hufflepuff." Emma assured him, though Rory wasn't sure how assuring being a Hufflepuff was.

As Rory brought his drink to his lips, Liam exclaimed in horror, "Put your drink down Slytherin."

"Slytherin!" Rory gawked at his friend. Sure, he's only seen the movies, but how much could he have missed? They were the bad guys, right?

"You totally are." Emma laughed, shaking her head. He grinned at her and put his cup down. Best not argue with her on it. She'd probably spent more time reading those books over and over than he'd spent reading.

Rory tapped out a centre brick, not wanting to topple the whole structure. "Kiss or Slap? Am I the one kissing or slapping, or the one getting kissed or slapped?"
"That depends on the council's choice." Liam said with an evil twinkle in his eye as he drummed his fingers against each other. Rory snorted. Everything Liam did or said was made funnier by his Peter Pan costume. "Turn around McKenzie and we will discuss your fate."
"You know I'll still be able to hear you right?"

"We will silently discuss your fate."
Rory turned around, his heart beat faster in his chest. He didn't want to kiss anyone but Emma. The thought of kissing someone else in front of her made his stomach lurch. But kissing her for the first time in a game? That wasn't how he wanted to do it.

How do you wanna do it then?

Honestly he didn't know, but before he could think about that Emma tapped him on the shoulder. His heart rose into his throat as she looked at him, her lips curling at the edges exposing the dimples each side of her parted lips. She licked them gently and leant toward him, inching closer slowly. His world froze, was this really about to happen? Then she raised her palm to his cheek, though not in the nice caressing way before a beautiful kiss. No, she slapped him square across the face. The tension in his body flowed out with a shaky laugh.

"Emma Turner, you are a truly evil human."

"Why thank you, my father would be so proud."

The game resumed and Rory felt the weight of the emotions that had run through him. The desperation for her to kiss him and the plea for her not to. He hadn't known what he wanted to happen.

When the game came to an end with Tyler bringing the stack down, Niomi and Emma went off to get more drinks. Who knew Tinkerbell and Alice could be such good friends.

"Your lucky I had the final say otherwise you're whole 'right time' thing would've gone to shit." Liam said, keeping his voice low.

"I know." Rory conceded. "Thank you. I'll tell her soon."

Liam shrugged. "She clearly likes you, I don't know what you're waiting for."

"What?" Rory blinked at his friend.

"It's pretty obvious. You guys have sparks flying around like it's New Years Eve. Tell. Her."

"Alright, alright." Rory threw his hands up in surrender. Someone snatched one of them out of the air and he turned to find Emma dragging him to the main room.

"I love this song and we're not gonna miss it!" She insisted after he raised an eyebrow at her. He couldn't imagine saying no as she pulled him along.

They danced together but never touched. His movements were rigid compared to the way she let the rhythm flow through her. She moved like it was just the two of them in the room. Even when they left to get drinks she couldn't help but sway to the music and mouth the words when she knew them.

"Why don't you sing along like everyone else?" He asked as he poured some vodka into his cup. He contemplated just giving her juice, but she seemed to be handling herself pretty well.

She looked away and reached for another jello shot. "Because I can't sing."

"You act like I can't hear you singing around the apartment."
Her jaw dropped. "I… I don't. Not when you're around"

"Yeah you do." He beamed at her. "I like it."

"Great. Now I don't just need to drink to forget Riley's existence, I also have to drink to forget how embarrassing I am as a human being." She tipped the shot into her mouth.

"You're not embarrassing." He said, resting his hand on her shoulder. "You're actually a lot more fun when you let go of all your insecurities."

Did he actually just say that out loud? Holy shit. Yes it was true, seeing her drunk made him happy because she acted more like herself, but it made him sad that she wasn't herself all the time. He knew she was insecure, but that wasn't exactly the kind of thing you tell a girl. Jesus.

"It's not insecurity," she said as he held his breath. "Well, it is, but it's also that being yourself is scary. If people can't judge you if you don't let them know you. You're the only person I can trust with seeing who I am."

It felt like her green eyes were extracting his soul from his body. She blinked and turned away, allowing him to finally breathe out.

"Wow, poisoning yourself with alcohol really does make the truth start to spill our doesn't it." She reached for the vodka making herself another much stronger drink.

He nodded. His statement had shown it just as much as hers. "It can have that effect."

She took a long drink before glancing at him with a wicked sparkle in her eyes. "Then maybe I'll finally tell my truth tonight."

"More juice?" Niomi asked, peering over Emma's shoulder with a grin. Liam thwacked Rory's arm and only then did Rory notice he had been glaring at Niomi. Could Liam really blame him? He was dying to know what Emma meant, how could he ask her now?

"It's the only thing I like." Emma blushed. "Well, this and jello shots."

"Try this." Niomi held out her up and as Emma took a sip her eyes lit up.

She raised her fingers to her lips. "That's really good."

"Right! Come on, there's a jug in the kitchen." Niomi grabbed her hand and swiftly took Emma away from him. How was it fair that Niomi could touch her so easily and without cause yet he couldn't even try?

"I hope she didn't interrupt anything." Liam said wiggling his eyebrows.

He shook his head. "Come on dude, now is not-"

"The right time? Yeah sure." Liam waved his cup through the air.

"She's drinking."

"So are you." Rory's eyes dropped to where Liam had poked him in the chest. He looked back up at his friend. He would have missed the slur in Liam's voice if it hadn't been for that. "Make the most of that dutch courage."

"And add a whole 'nother layer of complicated onto the situation? That sounds like a horrible idea." Rory meant it. As soon as she was away from him he could think clearly, see clearly. He understood what would happen if he tried to kiss her now. Best case scenario she wouldn't believe he actually wanted to kiss her. Worst case scenario she would freak out after having flashbacks to Evan. "Besides, she wouldn't want to, not in front of people."

"No harm in a little flirting though." Liam's attempt at batting his eyelashes looked more like a seizure. "Maybe dancing a bit closer. Maybe your hand on her waist."

"Maybe my fist on your face." Rory mocked Liams tone, giving him a wide smile.

"Alright, alright." Liam raised his hand, almost stumbling backward. "I won't press anymore. Wanna go find Tyler?"
Rory's eyes flickered to the archway Emma and Niomi had gone through. "I said I'd look out for Emma if she drank tonight."

"Niomi wouldn't leave her." Liam assured him. "She'll find us."

Rory weighed up how much Liams word meant. Technically, he hadn't left her side, she'd left his, but that didn't stop him worrying.

"Yeah, sure."

The boys hung out at a back for a time, chatting and drinking until the girls returned.

"Rory!" Emma squealed, launching herself at him. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed so tightly it almost winded him.

"Hey, um, are you alright?" He asked, pulling her arms from around his neck and trying to get a look at her face. To his surprise, she was beaming at him.

"I'm fine! I just missed you." She giggled raising her fingers to her lips. She just had to make him look at her lips.

"Niomi, what was in that drink?" Rory said, glancing at her suspiciously.

"It's called a mojito, relax." Niomi said, her hand resting on her hip. "I didn't drug your girlfriend McKenzie."

She definitely had the sassy side of Tinkerbell down.

"Sorry, she just seems... and she's not my-"

"She can hear you." Emma slurred, crossing her arms and pouting adorably. He had to bite his lip to stop himself smiling.

"I- I apologise." He tilted his head toward Niomi.

"Apology accepted." Niomi said, taking a sip of her drink.

"It's kind of warm in here." Emma looked around the room.

"Backs out that way." Liam pointed toward the double glass doors than any sober person should have been able to see, but neither of them were sober.

"Thanks." Rory nodded to his friend before taking Emma's hand and leading her out.

He didn't realise that he was actually touching her until they were outside. Her hand gripped onto hi tightly as they found a quiet spot away from anyone who thought it was a good idea to make out outside in late October. He knew he should let go of her hand, but he didn't. He couldn't.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. Only then did he notice that his own words were slurred as well.

She didn't answer at first. She just turned her head up to the sky and closed her eyes. "Light. Everything feels easy. Everything feels simple."

She turned toward him, her big bright eyes shining more than the stars above them. He wondered what it would be like just to hold her and kiss the top of her head. He wondered how she'd react to something like that. He could never tell if she wanted someone to look after or for someone to look after her. Maybe it was both.

"Are we simple Rory?" A lazy smile danced on her lips. His heart stopped in his chest. He couldn't breathe let alone reply. "I wish we were simple."

She reached up, resting her fingers on his cheekbone. She traced his features gently as she spoke. He'd never felt so tense before. He always knew what to do with girls, but not her, never her. His mind was empty of all thoughts but that of her lips. She was so close. She'd been so close all night. His resolve was wearing thin. He didn't know how much longer he could go without kissing her. Maybe it was worth a shot, maybe everyone else was right and maybe he knew it too. Maybe she liked him.

"Do you want to know my truth?" She giggled leaning toward him but swaying. He felt each movement as if there was a string that tied her to his heart. Each time she moved closer he felt his heart sore and each time she moved away he felt a tug to stay close. "My truth is this."

She pushed herself up on her toes and her lips glanced across his. As soon as it was there it was gone, leaving only the ghost of a kiss. It was quick and gentle and not nearly enough. He blinked at her. Once. Twice. She wasn't running away. She had kissed him. She had kissed him.

"Oh." She held her finger between her teeth. "You didn't…"

"Emma, it's not that." He shook his head, the corners of his mouth tugging up as he realised what had happened. He was hopeless with her.

"No!" She said, drawing out the word. "It's fine. I don't really know why I did that."

She giggled and tried to back away, but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back toward him. He needed her close. There was a deep hunger in him that had only been baited with that kiss.

She frowned at him. "Excuse me, but it's rude not to let a girl run away from her mistakes."

He dropped his hold. "Excuse me, but it's rude to run away after kissing me so little."

She rolled her eyes so dramatically he couldn't help but laugh.

"But I have had alcohol." She sounded out each of the words for emphasis. "I should get some water. Yes. Then I will be sober and I can say 'Oh oops! I didn't mean to do that. I was drunk! Free pass please.'" She bubbled with energy as she imitated herself, head tilted back, nose in the air. "And you'd have to let me off because I'm drunk and that's the rule."

Emma wagged her finger at him, while her other hand sat firmly on her hip. Her words may have hit harder if she wasn't acting so ridiculously out of character and swaying around. Instead they only made him want to repeat her mistake even more.

"Is that so." He grinned, reaching for her raised hand and lacing his fingers in hers. Each touch threw him off the cliff he'd been teetering on the edge of, there was no going back now.

"Yes." She gave an exaggerated nod. God she really was drunk. Maybe they shouldn't be doing this. "That's how it always happens in my books. They kiss while under the influ-lence and everyone gets to pretend it never happened. It doesn't matter how much I want you, you don't really want me."

A low laugh rippled out of his chest. He leant closer to her, teasing himself with the proximity of her lips. He'd wanted her since the day he met her. She was a game to him then, but that game had soon turned deadly. He wanted her so much he thought it might kill him if he had to go another day without her. "And what if I do."

Her eyes darted between meeting his gaze and his mouth. Her wide eyed expression morphed into a pout as her brows drew down over her eyes. "You're only saying that because you're drunk. Like me."

On the last words her lips curled back into a large grin as she giggled, any sane train of thought gone.

They were still just an inch apart. A distant voice said he should move back, move away, but he couldn't. He had craved her for too long for that. How many weeks had he spent telling himself she would never like him back? Well, here she was telling him she did. He was dying of thirst and she was holding out a glass of water.

Rory wrapped one arm around Emma's waist, gently pulling her body against his, daring her to tell him to stop. One word and he would, they both knew that. He skimmed his thumb over the curve of her cheek allowing her body to intoxicate him further. "I would kiss you every night if you let me."

All humour vanished from her wide eyes. He could feel each of her heavy breaths as she melted into him. Her eyes darted, searching his face. Then her whole body became tense. She snaked her arms around his neck and pulled his lips down onto hers with a ferocity he'd only ever seen her fight with. Alcohol was like water compared to the sweet poison of her every move. Each time her tongue flicked over his lips or she tangled her fingers into his hair, he became drunk with the feeling of her skin against his. But he didn't care. He was already well past the lethal dose.

This was the Emma he'd only seen glimpses of. The one who knew what she wanted and took it. The bold, brave, brilliant Emma who felt emotions with the expanse of the ocean and loved with a heart like the sea. Her mouth ebbed and moved with rhythm like the tide against his. He thought he might let himself drown in that moment rather coming up for air.

She pulled back gasping for breath. Her cheeks were as rosy as her lips and her face shone in a way that his clouded mind found unreadable. He wanted to believe it meant that she felt the same way. That she wanted him as much as he wanted her but he didn't have enough time to think before her warm lips were on his again and again. Each time he felt himself slipping deeper out of his depth.