Hello Ladies and Gentleman,
As you've probably seen, I made the decision to change the rating of the story to M. Starting this chapter and beyond things do start to get a bit questionable as to what I can get away with, so just to be safe we'll stick with the M rating.
That being said, enjoy chapter 2
Chapter 2
For the next while, my routine with Leaf would stay rather consistent. She and I would have a great time when we were alone, Blue would show up and then she would go off with him.
Now, I must preface; up until now, I never thought anything of it. Regardless of what I thought of the guy she was with, in the end, it was Leaf's choice and whether I liked it or not, I had to respect her decision. In the back of my mind, I could always take comfort in knowing that Leaf and I could still have our time together and that didn't seem to be at risk of ever changing.
However, it would be the events of one fateful night that would lead me to start doubting her choices in life and whether or not I should do something about it.
XXXXXXX
"A party? Tonight?" Red bafflingly stated as he and Leaf left their first class together.
"Y-yeah are you interested?"
The request threw Red for a loop. Granted, he had been to a few parties back in high school, but they never really thrilled him the way that certain movies promised him they would and for the most part, he remembered Leaf feeling the same way. When it came to their high school parties, the two would often leave early, opting to go home and play a videogame together; so this offer definitely came as a shock.
Moreover, she sounded really nervous to even ask him in the first place. It was like she knew that he would feel this way.
"But….we have a test tomorrow," Red tried to argue, crossing his arms in protest, "….and, to be honest, I don't want to go to a party with a bunch of people I don't know."
No sooner did Leaf hear that, and she immediately glanced away.
"Well…honestly I'm not really too big into going either," she admitted to him as she began to explain her situation, "See, Blue's parents are away tonight and when he told me he was having a party at his place, I just said yes without thinking."
Leaf paused for a moment, sighing deeply. "…..now both he and my friends are all expecting me to be there."
"…..and he can't he drive you because?"
As if on cue, she immediately began waving her hands about.
"W-well….see…..when I introduced Blue to my parents a little while ago….it ended with him being told to never come back; so he can't drive me," Leaf stammered as she continued to explain, "…..and my parents would be far too suspicious if I asked to take the car by myself….s-sooo….."
Red raised his eyebrows.
"So?"
Her eyes rapidly darting from side to side, Leaf stuttered wildly as she finally choked out the request she'd been building to since the beginning.
"I….uhhh….I was wondering if maybe….you…..would drive me?"
"W-wha-"
Before Red even had a chance to react, Leaf immediately ran up to him and grabbed his hands.
"Oh please, Red, I'm begging you!" she pleaded to him, "If you do this for me I promise I'll make it up to you somehow."
"W-well….I-I can try….but-"
"Oh Red! Thank you soooo much you're the best!" Leaf happily exclaimed, causing the red-capped boy to blush as she hugged him tightly, "….pick me up at 6:00?"
With a giggle of absolute joy, Leaf skipped off leaving Red standing there with his mouth agape.
It took a few seconds for the weight of what he'd just indirectly agreed to sink in and when it did, it hit like a ton of bricks.
"B-but! I don't know if my parents will even let me have the car!" Red attempted to yell out, but it was no use, Leaf had already skipped away and whether he liked it or not, he'd already sealed his fate.
XXXXXXXXXXXXX
"Wow….."I heard the hairdresser chuckle behind me, "She suckered you in, huh?"
"…like a fish to a hooked worm…."
My response was met with a chorus of laughter.
"Well, aren't you just the sweetest thing!" she teased while patting me on the shoulder.
Her laughter was enough to make me even force out a chuckle before returning to the subject at hand.
"Yeah…sweet enough to agree to going to a party I didn't even want to go to in the first place," I noted while shaking my head, "Worse...once I got home, I had to somehow convince my parents to let me take their car."
Pausing I raised my eyebrows as recalled the events that followed.
"….aaaaaannnnnddddd they reacted about as well as I could have expected."
XXXXXXXXXX
"A PARTY?!" Red's mom yelled as soon as he revealed his request, "NOPE! NO! NO WAY ARE YOU TAKING THE FAMILY CAR TO A PARTY!"
"But Mom! I-"
"No buts, mister!" she sternly replied, "You have school tomorrow and-"
Her words were cut short as a hand gestured in front of her face.
"Hold on, Delia," Red's dad suddenly interjected, trying to be the voice of reason, "Let's hear him out."
Red's father turned his attention from his wife to his son. Even though he was technically fighting for him, he still had a look of complete seriousness on his face that made Red fiddle with his collar nervously.
"Son….why do you want to go to a party on a school night?"
"W-well you see, it's…."
At this point, there was no sense in holding back the truth. The worst that would happen is that they would say NO and that didn't bother Red in the slightest.
"….it's to….impress this girl."
No sooner than he revealed this did a look of shock form on both of Red's parents' faces.
"Ohhhh…." they said in unison.
"Well….it all makes sense now….." Red's mom audibly whispered to his dad, "Sam, can I talk to you for a minute?"
The two quietly backed away to a corner of the kitchen, silently conversing with each other before coming back and revealing their decision to Red.
"Alright, Red, you can have the car on two conditions," Red's dad stated as he laid out the two rules, "First is that you're back at a decent time and second is that you don't drink."
"Remember you-"
"Don't have to have a drink to have a good time, I know Dad!" Red instantly chimed in, clearly having heard this lesson dozens of times before now.
Pleased that his son had actually listened to him in the past, Red's dad smiled.
"Okay! Here you go and have fun!" he exclaimed as he tossed the keys into his son's hands. However, just as Red was about to turn around and leave, the older gentleman teasingly added, "…..and make sure you tell Leaf to not keep you out too late."
Red's eyes widened in shock, his face instantly turning flush.
"H-huh?!" he shockingly exclaimed, "H-how did you-"
While all this was happening, Red's mom shifted her eyes back and forth.
"Y-yeah!" she stammered before finally blurting out, "Remember! No glove, No love honey!"
"MOM!"
XXXXXXXX
"Wow! I can't believe they actually agreed!" The elderly hairdresser stated as she snipped off a few strands of hair.
"You can't believe it?! I thought for sure they were going to give me a hard time!" I bafflingly exclaimed, earning me another head readjustment when I accidentally turned to respond, "Unfortunately, things only got harder for me when I got to Leaf's place."
XXXXXXXX
"Okay, Red, now repeat exactly what I just told you."
"Yes, Mr. Green," Red sighed as he stiffened his back and placed a hand over his heart, "I, Red, of sound mind and body, hereby promise to ensure the safe delivery and return of your daughter, Leaf Green, to and from this party - and if I don't, may God rest my soul.
No sooner than he finished his pledge did Red suddenly have a massive arm around his neck.
"'Atta boy!" Leaf's dad happily exclaimed, giving him a little nudge in the ribs, "You were always good at remembering things!"
"Thanks…."
"Hey, what can I say? Leaf's my little girl," the elderly gentleman bashfully admitted before giving the young man a reassuring pat on the shoulder, "I'm trusting her with you, Red. Remember our agreement."
"I'll have her home by 10:00. I promise," Red noted as the sound of footsteps began to descend from the second floor.
"Oh! Here she comes!"
Within seconds, Leaf came into view, wearing a dark shirt with a generic logo on it. Even though she said not to wear anything special, she'd definitely put some effort into her appearance as she clearly had makeup on.
"You look beautiful honey."
"Dad….I'm wearing a black t-shirt and jeans. It's nothing spectacular," Leaf dully replied before noticing her red-capped friend, "Oh, hey Red!"
"Hey."
Giving him a curious look, Leaf pointed to her shirt. "Don't you agree this outfit's pretty plain?" she asked, hoping her friend would back her up. However, what he ended up saying would kind of catch her off guard.
"Umm…." he bashfully stammered while glancing away, "I think you look great."
Red watched as her eyes slightly widened at what he said. Considering he'd been dropping truths all afternoon, what was one more?
"W-wha-"
"Hey, kids!" Leaf's mom shouted as she barreled into the main room, camera in hand, "Let me get a picture of you both!"
Red watched as Leaf began to blush profusely.
"MOM!" she yelled in embarrassment, "We're going to a house party! Not prom!"
XXXXXXX
"HAHAHA!" the hairdresser laughed at that part of the story, "Her parents sound like a lot of fun."
A smile curled on my face as I thought about it as well.
"Oh, they were definitely eccentric," I chucked as well before my face slowly began to sadden, "But you wouldn't have found anybody else who loved their daughter more than they did…."
Noticing my change in demeaner, the hairdresser resumed her cutting as she grabbed the electric razor and began trimming my sides.
"So….I take it when you took her to the party, she immediately latched onto that guy?"
I chuckled, even she was able to figure out Leaf's routine after only a few minutes of this story.
"Yeah….pretty much," I dully replied. However, just then, a thought popped in my head and I quickly turned to face the hairdresser, "Hey, can I ask you something?"
"Sure."
"Well first of all, what's your name?" I simply asked, "You know mine, so it's only fair that I know yours."
"My name?" the hairdresser seemed shocked that I would ask, "It's….uhh….Leanna."
"Okay Leanna, I have to ask; why do women always fall for guys like that? I mean….can't they see that those kinds of people are going to be trouble?"
The hairdresser sighed, this was clearly not the type of question she'd anticipated answering today. "Well, Red, there could have been a lot of reasons," she honestly explained, "It could have been a popularity thing, wanting to change someone, or simply that he gave her the attention no one else did."
"Hey! I gave her a lot of attention!" I argued back.
"Did you, though?" she pondered, "Aside from school, did you two hang out a lot?"
"S-sometimes!"
"Also, and I don't mean any offense by this, but judging from everything you've told me so far…." she paused before revealing her conclusion, "…..you don't think that maybe she thought of your relationship as a brother-sister one?"
"Ugghhh…I hate that saying…." I grumbled while rolling my eyes, "It's like the only relationship people accept is if you're pining for someone, but if it's two people having fun with one another, it clearly must be a brother-sister relationship."
Seeing how upset this was getting me, the hairdresser gave me a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay, I agree with you. I'm just saying it's a possibility," Leanna quickly reassured me before redirecting the subject, "….anyway, back to this party, what did you end up doing?"
"What every guy my age does at a party: embrace the wall and hit the booze," I laughed while shaking my head, "…..and I wasn't allowed to drink, so that made things even worse."
XXXXXXXX
Music blared as dozens of teens packed Blue's house from top to bottom. Red couldn't help but be surprised. Despite his tacky appearance, Blue's family must have been quite wealthy to have a house this big, and Blue himself must have been quite popular considering how many people were here.
Currently bored out of his mind, as he had no idea who any of these people were, Red simply propped himself up against a wall and folded his arms
"Hey," he nodded to a couple of girls that passed by, only to met with a look that screamed, "Buzz off creep!"
In the back of his head, Red had this stupid idea that maybe if he met a girl tonight, it might make Leaf jealous - but clearly that wasn't going very well.
"Oh my god….will this night ever end?" he sighed, covering his face with his hands, only to hear a familiar voice call out to him.
"REEEDDDD!"
Okay….call was an understatement and Red barely had enough time to glance up, only to see Leaf barreling towards him at full force.
"Leaf!" he screamed as she crashed head-on into him and Red had to react fast to grab her before she collapsed on the ground.
"HEEEEYYYYY! HOWYABEENNNN!"
The red-capped boy was taken aback by the incoherent babble that just escaped from his friend's mouth. Truth be told, they'd been at this party for almost an hour and this was the first time he'd seen her since they'd arrived.
"Leaf, where have you been?" he concerningly asked before beginning to smell the alcohol on her breath, "…..and just….how much have you had to drink?"
It wasn't uncommon for Leaf to have a drink or two at some of the party's they'd attended in the past, but this was the first time Red had seen her full-on drunk, and it kind of disturbed him.
"AHH! LOSTTRACKAROUND6!" Leaf slurred as she happily put her arm around him, "YOU WANNA DO SOME SHOTS?"
"Leaf…." Red dully replied with an annoyed tone in his voice, "I'm your designated driver, remember?"
"AH! YA PUSSY!" she yelled back while taking a swig of her mixed drink, "YOU'RE NEVER ANY FUN!"
Red narrowed his eyes. "….and you shouldn't be drinking so much. We have a test tomorr-"
"Hey! I was wondering where you ran off too!"
He had barely got a few words in before the man of the hour showed up, tacky leather jacket and all. Upon seeing the two friends together, Blue narrowed his eyes, earning a scowl from Red in return. The red-capped boy had gone through a lot of hoops just to get Leaf here and Blue never even said a word to him when they showed up.
"HEYYYY! THERE'S THE BLUE MAN." Leaf announced as he walked up to them and forcefully pulled her off Red's shoulder and onto his own. "I WAS TALKING WITHMMMMM…."
Once again Blue crushed his lips against hers right in front of him and this time it looked especially sloppy considering the state Leaf was in. Her limp body totally caved as her back contorted against his arm.
"Come on, we're doing more shots over here," Blue said, forcibly turning Leaf around and leading her away.
"MORESHOTS!" she screamed loudly while raising her fist in the air, "BRINGEMON! WHOOO!"
Watching as all this happened Red upsettingly crossed his arms "Okay….great….." he frustratingly muttered as he slammed his back against the wall, "I guess I'll just stand here by myself again!"
As he resumed his position, a huge group of guys and girls walked on by. However, much to Red's surprise one of the guys quickly turned around and came running back over to him.
"Hey man, you look like you're having a great time over here," he said as Red upsettingly glanced away.
"Can you tell?" he jokingly remarked as the guy held a beer up to his face.
"You wanna join our Smash tourney? Loser's gotta get everybody a round."
Red was taken aback. This was the first time someone other than Leaf had even acknowledged him the entire time he'd been at this party, and Smash happened to be one of his favorite games. It would definitely be a good way to pass the time and get Leaf off his mind.
However, there was one little problem with this proposal...
"I'm designated driver tonight, so I can't drink," he admitted before immediately trying to save face, "…..but I got no problem getting everyone a round before we start."
"Hey! I like this guy!" another guy yelled out as he slapped Red on the shoulder before pointing out, "TV's on the second floor, meet us at the couch!"
Overjoyed that he finally had something to do, Red made his way over to a nearby table with a huge cooler on top of it. Quick as he could, Red grabbed as many beers as his arms could carry, however, as he was making his way upstairs, Red noticed Blue and another guy conversing in a nearby corner and paused at the wall just in front of them.
Despite the blaring music, Red could faintly make out what they were saying and what he heard shook him to his core.
"So that Leaf chick you're seeing, she's quite a looker."
"She's something, alright," Blue noted in return as his voice became audibly angrier, "Too bad her parents are such shits and fucking kicked me out of their house."
"Oh yeah?"
"I don't understand what the big deal was," he yelled out once again, "So I grabbed her ass in front of them a few times, so what?"
"That sucks man."
"Yeah, well joke's on them cause between you and me, I'm planning on going all out on their daughter tonight."
"Really? I mean yeah, she's super drunk right now, but she still doesn't seem like the type that would just put out."
There was a pause before Blue responded with. "I know. That's why I'm not taking any chances."
Another long pause followed before the other guy audibly asked.
"What's that?"
"Oh….just a little insurance policy," Blue's voice proudly stated, "In just a few minutes I'll be fucking the shit out of her so hard she won't be able to-"
"Hey! You coming?!"
Red was immediately snapped back to reality as one of the girls from the group tapped his shoulder and gestured to everyone over at the couch.
"Y-yeah! I'm coming!"
XXXXXXXX
"Wow….this guy sounds like a real winner," Leanna stated after she heard my explanation about what Blue said. At this point, she had stopped cutting my hair and was listening intently.
"At the time, I had no idea what this 'insurance policy' of his was," I admitted shamefully as I disappointingly placed my hand over my head, "Considering the loud music and the fact that I was hiding behind a wall, I couldn't see it or really tell if that's what he'd said."
"….and where was Leaf during all this?"
I shook my head. "I don't know. I never saw her when I went upstairs," I then paused as memories of that night began pouring into my head, "….but I trusted that she would do the right thing if Blue tried anything funny."
"….and as for this Smash tournament ?"
I couldn't help but chuckle. "Weellll….considering most of my opponents were totally wasted when I faced them…..they didn't put up too much of a challenge."
XXXXXXXXXXXX
"GAME!"
The voice of the Smash announcer echoed throughout the house as Red claimed his 15th victory in a row.
"WHOAAAA!" Everyone cheered around him. Whether it was because they were drunk or not, Red had amassed quite a number of both guys and girls congregating to watch his victory streak and they only got louder the more he won.
"LEGEND!" someone yelled out while pointing at him, "THIS MAN IS A LEGEND!"
Red couldn't help but blush. It wasn't every day he had a huge crowd cheering him on and he had to admit…..he kinda liked it. All of a sudden this party went from one of the worst experiences in his life to a pretty fun one. Everyone was laughing, and despite probably being the only sober person in the room, Red was having a great time.
There was one thing that would have made this whole experience even better in his opinion, and that is if Leaf was present with him. As kids, they used to play Smash religiously and despite not looking it, Leaf was a beast when it came to playing and Red rarely ever beat her. He wished he could have a 1-1 to determine who the better player was, but unfortunately, he would just have to bear being the best tonight.
"Anybody else wanna step up?" he confidently stated as everyone around him put their hands up in disagreement.
"Nah, man! We're sticking to free-for-all now," the guy beside him stated before nudging Red in the side and joking, "Maybe we'll have a better chance of winning if we gang up on ya."
Just as they were about to start another match, Red noticed something out of the corner of his eye. It was hard to make out at first, but coming through the crowd was Leaf and Blue. They were stumbling about with Blue holding one of Leaf's hands as she dragged behind him giggling the entire time.
"Red! Get your game on, man! We're starting!" another person yelled out as Red brought his attention back to the TV.
"Y-yeah."
However, no matter how hard Red tried, he just couldn't bring himself to focus and just as the game began, Red watched as Blue and Leaf went into the room behind him and slammed the door shut.
He could feel his heart beating faster and faster as he wondered just what was going on.
"There's no way…." he worryingly thought to himself, "There's just no way…."
Despite all the sounds around him, Red listened and at first, everything was quiet. His stomach churned in panic, hoping they would come back out any second…..but they didn't. It was then that he heard a distinct feminine voice yell out, followed instantly by moan after moan.
Red wasn't stupid, he knew exactly what was going on and felt sick the moment he thought about it. The girl he loved, that he cared about more than anything, was having sex right behind him and there wasn't anything he could do about it.
His stomach was knotted so tight, he didn't think he could breathe.
"Red? You okay, man?" one of his companions on the couch asked before Red suddenly sprung to his feet.
"I-I don't feel very good!" he exclaimed before abandoning the game and running downstairs.
"But you haven't even been drinking!"
Despite how stupid Red felt for just leaving everyone like that, he didn't care. So many emotions were swirling in his head right now and he struggled to fight back tears as he pushed his way out of the house.
Even once he got outside, there was still a bunch of people strewn about and Red quickly ran around the back as tears began just flowing from his eyes.
Was this just some kind of cruel joke? After everything he did, going through so much to bring the girl he loved to this party, he had to endure hearing her having sex with someone who clearly just saw her as an object to be used.
He wanted to leave. He wanted to leave so bad and put this night behind him, but he couldn't. Until Leaf was ready to leave….he was trapped.
*RING* *RING*
Red's eyes widened as he heard the sound of his phone ringing from within his pocket and upon pulling it out, saw that Leaf's mom was calling him.
As quick as he could, Red tried to compose himself as he answered the phone. "H-hey Mrs. Green," he attempted to greet the best he could.
"Red?" she replied with concern in her voice, "Is everything okay? You don't sound good."
Embarrassed that she might have heard him cry, Red forced himself to compose even more. "I-I'm okay." he reassured her, "What do you need?"
"Well, it's 9:40, and I was wondering if you guys were coming home soon?"
Red's eyes widened even more as he looked down at his watch. Sure enough, 9:40 was displayed there and he'd promised to have Leaf home by 10:00.
"R-right!" he stammered, trying to mask the panic that was festering within him, "We'll be home in just a bit!"
With that, Red quickly hung up the phone, his breathing starting to intensify. Forget being sad. Red was now in a full-on panic.
"…shit….." he cursed under his breath while grabbing his head, "…..shit! Shit! SHIT!"
With that, Red stormed back into the house, pushing people aside as he made his way back upstairs. Right now, it didn't matter if he walked in on Leaf having sex or not. It was either that or having to endure the wrath of her parents.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
Red slammed on the door as loud as he could. "LEAF! YOUR MOM JUST CALLED! I HAVE TO TAKE YOU HOME RIGHT NOW!" he yelled out loud enough that everyone at the Smash tournament all looked over in his direction.
There was no response but upon pressing his ear against the door, Red could hear someone talking. He couldn't make out everything that was said, but he definitely heard the words "old bitch" and "wants you back."
Just then the door suddenly swung open and Leaf was unceremoniously shoved out before it slammed shut once again.
What he saw, Red would never forget as without warning the following words instinctively flowed out of his mouth.
"W-WHAT THE FUCK?!"
Leaf looked horrible; she was totally silent, her eyes were all red and puffy, but worse was the fact that the front of her shirt had totally been ripped off right down the middle, exposing her chest for all to see, along with her pants being halfway down her knees.
As quick as he could, Red removed his vest and covered her up before bending down and buttoning up her pants. He didn't know what the hell happened in there and angrily started banging on the door to get some answers.
*BANG* *BANG* BANG*
"BLUE! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU D-"
"Ughhh…."
All of a sudden, Leaf began teetering forward and Red had to rush to catch her.
"Leaf!" he yelled as he quickly wrapped his arm around her waist to keep her upright. Forget dealing with Blue, he needed to get her home as soon as possible and the two stumbled as they began making their way through the crowd.
"Hey, Leaf! You gonna knock this guy up too?!" someone yelled out as they passed by, causing Red's eyes to narrow even more.
"….come on….let's get you out of here…."
Once they finally made it to the car, Red had to perform a very peculiar balancing act to open the car door while holding the swaying Leaf in his arm then put her in the seat.
He then ran around and got in the driver's side, only to see her slumped against the door, totally motionless.
"What the hell am I going to do?!" he screamed under his breath, "I can't take her home like this!"
Red panicked; there was no way he could get her decent in the 10 minutes he had left.
So…with no better options left, Red picked up his phone, called both Leaf's and his parents, and told them the most basic lie possible.
"Leaf was wondering if it would be okay if we stayed an extra 20 minutes?"
His lie was met with a bit of reluctance by both parties, but they eventually agreed, and with now 30 minutes at his disposal, Red at least had some time to come up with a plan to help her.
Thankfully, the local department store was still open and Red scrambled inside, grabbing the first black t-shirt he could find. It wasn't an exact one-to-one match of what Leaf had on, but as long as he kept his vest on her, Leaf's parents wouldn't know the difference. Before leaving, Red also grabbed as much water as he could. Even though he wasn't really familiar with being drunk, he definitely knew that water would help alleviate the hangover.
As soon as Red got back to the car, he noticed Leaf beginning to stir.
"R….e….d….."
"Leaf! You're awake!" Red exclaimed. However, no sooner than she looked at him did Leaf begin dipping her head, unable to keep her eyes open, "N-no! No! Leaf! Leaf! Leaf! Head up! We have to put this shirt on you!"
"I….c…a…n…'….t….."
"Oh boy…."
Red quickly glanced around, hoping no one would see him for fear they would think he was doing something bad, before reaching over and pulling down her two ripped sleeves.
On any other day, his face would have been red as a tomato at the thought of seeing Leaf half-naked in front of him, but right now Red was in such a panic that admiring the sight before him was the furthest thing from his mind.
"Come on, Leaf! Hands up!" he shouted as he struggled to raise Leaf's arms up and put the shirt on at the same time.
How he did it, Red would never know, but only after a minute or so of struggling, he managed to get the shirt on.
"There we go, have some water."
He held the bottle up to her face but her lips wouldn't move, so Red had to use his finger to part them. Once again, on any other day, this would have turned him flush with embarrassment, but right now he was all business.
Thankfully, Leaf managed to take a few sips and Red decided to let her rest for a second.
"Leaf, what happened in there?" he asked as she stared blankly ahead, "Are you okay?"
What happened then, Red would never forget, as she turned to him, her face totally expressionless and muttered in the most monotone voice. "I…..feel…..amazing….."
No sooner than she declared that did Leaf open the door and threw up in the parking lot.
After a few more mishaps, they found themselves in the driveway of Leaf's house. Upon looking over, Red saw that Leaf was totally passed out and that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to wake her up. As such, he got out his side of the car, walked around to her side, and scooped her up in his arms.
It was strange, the last time Red carried her like this was back when they were kids playing wedding together. Now things were totally different. Not only were the circumstances completely warped from before, but Leaf was definitely a lot heavier now than when they were kids and Red struggled as he walked up the front steps to ring the doorbell.
*DING DONG*
As soon as the bell rang the door flew open, revealing the concerned looks of Leaf's parents.
"You're back!" Leaf's mom exclaimed before looking down at the state her daughter was in, "What happened? Is she okay?"
"She's okay, don't worry," Red quickly reassured as he looked down at Leaf as well, "…..but she had a little too much to drink and fell asleep as we drove home."
Sighing as Red walked inside, Leaf's mom shook her head. "I told her to watch the drinking!" she disappointingly noted, "I'll have to talk with her tomorrow."
Slowly nodding in response, Red once again looked down at the brunette-haired girl in his arms. She looked so peaceful right now, but he knew that after everything she'd done tonight, she wouldn't have the happiest of mornings to wake up to.
"I'm going to take her up to her room," he stated, having to readjust Leaf so his arms wouldn't get too tired. "I'll be right back."
Leaf's parents nodded as Red began to ascend the stairs up to her room.
The room in question was pretty standard for a teenage girl; clothes were strewn about, pictures of boy bands adorning the walls. As much as one would assume that Red would be nervous to be in the room of his crush, it was far from the first time he'd been in there. In the past, they'd spent many a night playing Smash up here and Red sighed as he noticed that nothing had really changed over the years.
Upon laying Leaf down in her bed, Red took her blankets and tucked her in, making sure to put the water he'd bought earlier on the night table next to her in case she needed it.
With that, he turned the lights off and began making his way downstairs. Despite wanting to stay longer to make sure Leaf was okay, he didn't want her parents thinking any funny business was going on if he took too long.
"Look, I'm really sorry we're late I-"
"It's okay, Red, don't worry about it," Leaf's dad reassured him, giving him a pat on the shoulder as he came down, "At least you let us know."
"Is everything okay though?" Leaf's mom chimed in, "You look out of breath and you sounded upset when I called earlier."
Red lowered his head. There was no way he could explain to them what happened during and after that party.
"Did she give you a hard time?" Leaf's dad asked as Red shook his head in response.
"N-no…it's just….." he paused trying to find the right words to say, "I'm just….worried about her….that's all…"
His honesty was met with a smile from the elderly gentleman. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of her," he happily stated, "Thank you for taking care of her tonight, Red. I'm glad she has someone like you."
Sighing deeply, Red forced a smile as he said the only thing that came to his mind.
"….always."
With that, Red left Leaf's house and finally made his way back home. It was much later than he had anticipated coming back and despite calling them before, he hoped his parents wouldn't be too upset with him.
"I'm home!" Red shouted, only to see his dad sitting in the living room reading the paper, "Where's mom?"
"She was really tired, so I said I'd wait up for you," Red's dad explained before asking, "How was the party?"
Red glanced away. "Honestly…." he sighed, "I don't think it's my scene, Dad."
Hearing that, Red's dad chuckled, "Parties aren't for everyone, son, don't worry," he teasingly stated before raising his eyebrows, "Soooo…..Leaf kept you out later than expected, huh?"
"Y-yeah…."
"She….uhh….look good tonight?"
Red rolled his eyes. "Ooooh….you know it!" he noted, a faint blush forming on his cheeks before an idea popped in his head, "Hey Dad?"
"What's up champ?"
Red glanced away. He was nervous to ask, but if there was anyone who would give him an honest answer, it was his Dad.
"If you thought someone was going down the wrong path in life, would you intervene?"
The older gentleman was a bit taken aback.
"That's a….difficult question…." he stammered, questions beginning to fill his head as he thought about what his son just asked, "Why? What's the matter?"
Red took a deep breath as he prepared to explain his situation, he could just see the look of concern on his Dad's face.
"I….know someone who's been making some….questionable choices recently, and I feel like I should confront them about it," he attempted to explain, "…..but I'm afraid if I do, they may never talk to me again."
"Well, Red, nobody wants to be told that what they're doing is wrong and in the end, they're the only one who can make the decision to change, you can't force them," he wisely advised, "I would say the best way you can help them is to continue supporting the good decisions they make and if needed, recommend them places that can get them help."
Red nodded as he took everything in that his Dad had just said. It wasn't exactly the answer he was looking for, but it was definitely sound advice.
"Okay, thanks Dad," he said as he gave the old man a small hug, "Good night."
Watching as Red disappeared into his room, Red's dad sighed. He had no idea what was going on, but he hoped that his advice would be of some use.
"Good night, Son."
XXXXXXXXX
"That next day was a real struggle to get through," I noted while Leanna danced around my hair with her scissors.
"So Leaf actually managed to make it?" she asked without even pausing.
"Not only did she manage to come to school, but also do the test," I stated in amazement, "It was nothing short of a miracle and I had hoped that what we experienced that night would be the trigger for her to finally open her eyes."
"…unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case. Not at all."
...aaannndddd that's chapter 2. I just want to say that I apologize for being a late with this one, some stuff came up and held it back a bit. I also want to thank everyone for their kind words. Like I said, I really had no intentions of writing again but this idea just kind of popped into my head. So thank you guys for being so amazing and I just want to thank Sarah Kay for taking the time to edit, you know I really appreciate it.
Until next time...ciao!