Party in the Wavering Woods

Penny:

I've heard about a party in the Wavering Woods behind Dev and Niall's houses, and Simon wants us to go. He thinks Baz will be there, and he's obsessed with finding out what Baz has been up to all the weeks he was missing from school. We're not invited, per se, but there should be enough other people there that our presence won't be entirely weird.

At 8 pm I show up at Simon's door. It's already dark, and he's dressed in jeans and an ill-fitting gray and orange striped hoodie. "Let's go!" he says. He's very intense and I can tell he can't wait to get over there and begin spying.

We find a spot on the road where a bunch of cars are parked along the ditch. We follow the sound of people's voices into the woods. We come across a large bonfire, spitting sparks and casting long shadows into the trees, and we know we've found the right place. There's about 30 kids from school there, including Agatha ("Agatha's here?" Simon frowns), and it isn't long before we locate Baz. He has a red cup of beer in his hand, and looks like he's already had several. He's kind of blurry around the edges, and it's interesting to see because usually he's so in control. He's talking to Dev and Niall and doesn't see us right away. He's laughing and looks like he's having a good time.

Simon:

Tonight's the night I'm going to find out what Baz has been up to. When I see him at the party, it's kind of weird because he doesn't LOOK like he's plotting. He looks like he's… enjoying himself (is that what he's like when I'm not around?). He's wearing jeans and a black hooded sweatshirt and jacket… his hair is loose and tussled and he's drinking beer. If he weren't my sworn enemy I'd probably go up to him and talk… he looks like a fun guy. I briefly wonder "what if I just went up to him and asked him what's up? Maybe he would tell me", but then quickly realize how dumb that is. My best bet is to stay in the background and watch him for awhile…

But then he looks up, sees me, and we lock eyes. I watch the color drain from his face. Would it kill him ever to smile at me-? Christ, I'm his roommate…

I hear him say, "What's Snow doing here?" and pretty soon Dev and Niall are looking my way, too. Dev shrugs, "it's a free party", and then he's off talking to Lydia Lundstrom from chemistry class. Baz looks more stiff and self-conscious now, but he's pointedly looking AWAY from me.

I go up to Agatha. "I didn't know you went to Baz and Niall's parties," I say. She shrugs. "Sometimes I do." I lean in to kiss her but she acts like she doesn't notice and kind of ducks away. I see her cast a glance over at Baz. Was she hoping to get together with HIM tonight? Maybe that's his nefarious plan. Steal the woman of the Mage's Heir. I look over and see him walking off by himself into the woods. What's he up to?

Agatha and Penny are talking now, so I sneak off and follow Baz. He walks quite a ways away from the rest of the group, and I follow him about 20 steps back. He gets to a large tree and stops. What's he doing?

I flush as I realize he's taking a piss.

Is it too late to sneak away without him seeing me here? I try, but I step on a branch and it snaps loudly. He looks over his shoulder and sees me. "Snow-?"

He finishes up; he's zipping his fly and I'm humiliated. I turn to go but he's by my side in a flash. "What are you doing? Following me? God, you're a creeper."

"I… just thought… you might be up to something."

"You are such a paranoid git. Good lord. But yeah… I'm up to something. Up to my neck in excess beer I have to get rid of."

"Why don't you finally tell me where you were all these weeks?"

"Because it's none of your damn business." He mostly sounds like regular Baz, but he's kind of staggering a little and there's an extra little slur to his words that isn't usually there.

We're about to head back to the party when we hear the siren and see lights flashing. Some kids are starting to run off into the woods. Baz grabs my hand and pulls me to a spot about fifteen feet away. He kind of pushes me. "Get in."

We're inside a small tent, which I hadn't seen before that moment. "It's my tent," Baz whispers. "I spelled it invisible. Maybe the police won't see us in here."

We're quiet. We hear people walking through the woods, cars starting up and pulling away, adult voices. The party has been broken up, the fire put out. After about half an hour it's completely silent. We peek out the tent flap. There's no one. No cars, even.

"Omigod, we're stranded," I say.

Baz:

And somehow, just like that, I'm stranded in the woods, in a ridiculously small tent, with my sworn enemy, Simon Snow.

But I have beer, so there's that. I have a cooler filled with an entire case of pale ale. I also have cigarettes, a lighter, and a bag of teriyaki sticks. We'll survive awhile.

"Want a beer?"

"Sure."

We crack one open and sit there in the tent, letting the situation sink in for awhile. "I think we're going to have to spend the night."

"How many sleeping bags do you have?"

"Just one, but I brought an extra blanket."

"Some luck, huh?"

I see Simon kind of grinning and shaking his head. Something about the ridiculousness of the situation has him kind of dropping his usual intense swagger. I sip my beer and let myself relax a little. "How about a truce for the night, Snow?"

He looks at me suspiciously, but I can tell he'd like to drop his guard. "Okay. One night of truce. But that's it."

We drink a beer and our eyes adjust to the dark light. I'm pretty good at seeing in the dark, so I can see Simon clearly. He's good-looking as ever. He's sitting cross-legged. It's a good thing he's always hot all the time because otherwise he'd probably be getting chilly. I can feel myself shivering already. A whole night out here without my extra blanket is probably going to be pretty frigid.

"I think we better sleep in the sleeping bag together, Baz. That way we can both use the extra blanket. It's going to be pretty chilly, otherwise. We need to think about survival, here."

"Won't that be awful uncomfortable for you, Snow?"

"No more uncomfortable for me than it will be for you, I imagine."

"Actually, I don't mind laying with you, one bit, Simon." Now THAT'S the beer talking.

He looks startled. "Why, so you can attack me? Remember you said 'truce'."

I laugh. "I remember. Don't worry. Come here."

And I open up the sleeping bag I'm sitting on. "Get the blanket, too," I say.

Simon… just does what I said. He gets the blanket, he gets into the sleeping bag with me, I zip us up, cover us up, and slide over so he can have half of my pillow. It's the most freaky thing, but drunk Baz is loving it. My new plan is to let drunk Baz take over tonight. I'll deal with the repercussions TOMORROW.

Simon:

Baz is cold… I feel kind of sorry for him. That must be why I keep migrating closer to him in the sleeping bag. I mean, two guys in a sleeping bag: there isn't much room. We're going to end up touching, right?

Baz is remarkably relaxed, considering. He just lets himself sink into me, tapping into my warmth. I find myself liking that. Very much. I grab his hands; I start to rub them in my own. "You're so cold," I say. I breathe onto his hands, to warm them up faster. I hear him say something garbled. It kind of sounds like… "Oh."

I kind of like how it sounds when he says stuff like that.

I feel myself flush, and suddenly realize that I'm rubbing my leg on his leg. And he's saying "oh" again. In confusion.

I love his confusion.

"Baz," I whisper. "You know how we have a truce tonight?"

"Yeah?"

"How about we have a secret, too?"

"Okay."

And I'm kissing him. I'm kissing BAZ. And it's the hottest goddam thing I've ever done. I taste the alcohol on his breath but give zero shits. I move so I'm laying on top of him and am burying my face in his hair. He's running his hands up and down my arms and gasping. He's putting his hands on my waist… on my butt. I'm letting him. I'm letting him do whatever the hell he wants.

Suddenly I hear my phone buzzing. I ignore it for as long as I can, but after awhile I sigh, and stop. I pull away from Baz and kiss him apologetically, on the nose. "I better see who this is. Stay right there." I sit up and find my phone. It's a text from Penny.

"So do I need to save you?" her text says.

I text back, "Nope. I'm fine. Very fine. In fact, if you look for me I'm going to be pissed."

She texts back. "Someone's getting a booty call?"

"If he's lucky."

"See u tomorrow, u slutty man."

"K."

I put the phone aside and return to Baz. "How did I not notice how hot you are before?" He says "Hmm", but he's buried in the blankets and I think he's falling asleep. I sigh and snuggle him close. I guess he's had a bit to drink. In the morning who knows what he'll be like… it'll probably be better if I'm gone. He might not remember any of this, in fact.

But, for now… I bury my face in his hair. I kiss the back of his neck. I spoon against his back side and I absolutely revel in the smell and feel of him.

I solved a mystery tonight, all right. I like Baz. A LOT. And my new mission in life is to get Baz to like me back.