This one's got some underage drinking so be warned. Thanks to Rebecca for the idea!

Another Party

Julie was really trying to get back into the world. The band had made her bolder, but Flynn had convinced her that she needed to be able to stand on her own and be a normal high school student again. So, here she was, at her first party since her mom died in some jock's house who she didn't know.

She had come with Flynn and for the first half hour she had joined in the conversations that Flynn pulled her into. She laughed at the right time, self consciously fidgeted with her hands and her dress and her hair, and made appropriate remarks without really engaging in the topics of conversation. It was… fine.

Then Flynn had to go to the bathroom, and she promised Julie she'd be right back. But minute after minute passed of Julie awkwardly pretending to check her phone and Flynn wasn't back. She sighed, knowing exactly what had happened. Somebody had stopped Flynn either on the way to or back from the bathroom and now she was stuck in a conversation somewhere.

Julie finally decided to head towards the kitchen, thinking maybe Flynn would be there and, if not, she could get a soda or something to help her control her awkward fidgeting.

When she got there, there were clusters of people talking but no Flynn. The only beverage out was a big bowl of punch, and Julie didn't want to overstep any boundaries by going into the fridge if the guests weren't supposed to. So, she put some punch in a red solo cup and started sipping it. It was more bitter than she had expected, but she wasn't really paying attention.

Nick walked into the kitchen with a bunch of his athletic buddies and immediately yelled "Hey, Molina, you're here!" over the crowd in the kitchen. Several people paused for a moment to look at her, which made her blush, but everyone other than Nick soon went back to ignoring her.

He came over and said, "Hey! Can't believe you're here, I never see you at these things."

"Yeah, well, this is what happens when you're an introvert who is best friends with an extrovert, sometimes you get dragged unexpected places," Julie quipped, and was pleased when Nick laughed along.

They talked for a few more minutes about teachers and school gossip. It wasn't that awkward, but Julie kept sipping her drink until it was gone just to have something to do with her hands.

Then Kayla, one of the cheerleaders came over, interrupting her conversation with Nick, and blurted out, "Julie! Is that bassist in your band single?" Nick awkwardly waved and blended back into the crowd, and Julie spent the next fifteen minutes fending off questions about Reggie. Much to her surprise, a bunch of girls wanted to know about the boys in the band, so she had a steady stream of interrogators for the next half hour. She finished another cup of punch, and realized she felt a little woozy and queasy, but she recognized those as symptoms of her anxiety sometimes, so she tried to push them down and ignore them.

It wasn't until she was half way through her next cup of punch that the lead trombonist of the jazz band came over and started hitting on her. Julie could not escape his looming presence fast enough, but when she made it out into the hallway, she realized the world was spinning a little. She stumbled towards the bathroom, feeling increasingly nauseous, and suddenly realized that the punch must have been spiked. She felt like an idiot for not realizing it before, but she had been so focused on dealing with the social interactions, she hadn't paid much attention.

Just before she stumbled into the bathroom, she fell against someone, who turned out to be Flynn. "Julie? Are you okay?" she asked, holding Julie by the shoulders. But Julie turned away abruptly, pulled her into the bathroom, and started throwing up.

Flynn immediately closed the door and started freaking out. "What happened?" she asked frantically.

Julie managed to get out "Punch… spiked… three cups…" which made Flynn groan.

"Your dad is totally going to kill me," she sighed and Julie could only nod.

Ten minutes later, her stomach had calmed down and Flynn had gotten her into Flynn's car. Flynn had snagged a plastic bag just in case Julie had any more problems. "It's all gonna be okay Julie, it was an innocent mistake, and the boys will help. We'll figure something out," Flynn said, reassuringly.

Julie could only nod and keep her eyes closed.

Flynn parked two houses down from Julie's house and told her to stay there. A few minutes later she was back, and all the boys were peering anxiously in the car window. Luke, in particular, looked furious and anxious.

Julie managed to open the door and swing her legs down to the pavement but had to stop for a moment.

The boys chorused "Julie, are you okay?" and "Are you feeling like crap?" and "Don't worry Julie." She smiled slightly at their intense concern, but then grimaced because of how bad she felt.

Flynn and the boys had concocted a plan. The boys supported Julie so they could move quickly, and they practically carried her to her house. Flynn went in with them, because they knew that Julie's dad would still be up. The second they got in the front door, Flynn headed in to talk to Ray and distract him, while the boys carried Julie up the stairs

Unfortunately, Ray asked, "Where's Julie?" when they were about halfway up the staircase

In a panic, Alex suddenly pulled out a spot-on imitation of Julie and called out, "I'm really tired Dad, just heading to bed." Reggie and Luke looked at him in shock, but Ray just called back, "Okay, mija, sleep well!"

The rest was easy. They got her to her bedroom, and left a trash can next to her bed. She fell asleep almost instantly.

She woke up early, around six in the morning, with a splitting headache. She rolled over and saw two things: a glass of water with Advil next to it on her bedside table and Luke, curled up in her pile of pillows on the floor, asleep. She smiled, took the Advil and water, and immediately fell back asleep.

She didn't wake up again until nine, but her headache was significantly improved. Luke was still asleep on the pillows so she quietly got out of bed and sat on the floor next to him before reaching out and shaking his shoulder gently. He looked so peaceful asleep, she hated to disturb him, but when his eyes opened and he looked so happy to see her, she was glad she had.

"Hey, how are you feeling," he mumbled, rubbing sleep out of his eyes and sitting up.

"Not too bad honestly. I think I'll need food before I feel a hundred percent better, but the Advil really helped, thanks."

He smiled, then asked, "What happened last night? Why did you get drunk?"

"It wasn't intentional, I'm just an idiot," she said sheepishly, and then relayed to him how she hadn't known the punch was spiked.

He shook his head, laughing at her obliviousness, but more seriously said, "You've gotta be more careful, Julie. If Flynn wasn't there, I don't know what could have…" He trailed off, looking away to hide the scared look on his face.

Julie reached over and took his hand. "I know, it was a stupid mistake, but I'll learn from this one. Won't happen again."

He looked back at her and smiled, appreciating her earnest response and that she hadn't laughed off his concern.

"You guys were so sweet, taking care of me last night," she said, smiling and still holding his hand.

He rubbed his thumb across her knuckles as he said, "We'd do anything for you Julie, no questions asked."

He was still a little sleepy, so his guard was down, and he realized she looked so beautiful in the morning light streaming in through her window, and he felt such relief at her having made it home safe and sound. Without thinking twice, he leaned in and closed the gap between them, pressing his lips softly to hers.

She kissed him back, surprised but happy at the turn of events. Without detaching her lips from his, she scooted over next to him so they were both sitting with their backs against the wall under the window, their arms around each other. It felt so serene and perfect, almost dreamlike to Julie.

And then she woke from that dream to the sound of her father calling her downstairs to breakfast. She and Luke broke apart abruptly and looked at each other. She yelled back "Coming, Dad" and then bit her lip, blushing, as she looked at Luke. He just winked at her and poofed out.