Author's Notes: I'm so grateful to the two of ya'll that actually took the time out of your busy schedules/lives to IM me and/or e-mail me! Makes me feel really good. :D And that my work is appreciated, yay! Sorry I'm kinda lacking in the updates department, kinda hectic schedule around here, but I'll write when I can, promise. Um, not much to say except for I really don't know where I'm going. I know what I want to do, how I want it to end, but I don't know exactly how to get there yet, so bare with me if chapters take a while, because I really want everything to flow. Anyway, I won't bore you with much else except for...

Songs I listened to while writing this chapter:

Grand Theft Autumn (remix) - Fall Out Boy

Love At First Sight - Kylie Minogue

In Keeping Secrets of the Silent Earth:3 - Coheed and Cambria

Beautiful Night - Burden Brothers

The Boys of Summer - The Ataris

B.Y.O.B. - System of a Down

Movies - Alien Ant Farm

Again, I'm sorry for the delay, everything happened at once and on top of that, there were homework and essays to write. I hate being a student. Send me money and I can work on this thing full-time:D

I didn't really like this chapter as much as the others, but I'd appreciate it if you told me what you think of it! Thanks!

That's about all. And here we go, chapter 7!

Chapter 7

After a few hours of playful killing, everyone was tied in wins and the final game started out at Blood Gulch, pretty much every Halo player's favorite for the first one. The combat was quiet at first, but the moment Thomas got shots at Brendan, shouts and curses were being yelled and it was an all out battle. They quickly teamed up, Caleb with Thomas and Lily with Brendan, unspoken truces between them. Soon Lily and Brendan had the lead and Lily grabbed a sniper rifle, heading to her favorite spot to camp (a legitimate strategy). After a few good kills, Brendan snuck up behind her and was, in fact, a team killing fucktard. Or so Lily screamed as he pistol-whipped her in the back, shoving her controller down on the floor and shoving him, hard.

He only laughed at her, making her even more mad and she set her controller down to shove him once again, with both hands. He tipped a bit and she shoved once more, knocking him over. But as she did, he grabbed her hands and pulled her along with him and she soon found herself sprawled out over him, even more angry. Caleb and Thomas were laughing, taking the opportunity to spawn kill their forgotten Halo selves.

Lily growled and started pounding away at him, a flush creeping up her cheeks as she basically lay across him, his hands on her sides, keeping her there. Suddenly, the door was thrown open and an all too familiar called out.

"Hey, Caleb? Or Thomas, whatever, either of you guys got a spare? I used my last before the party and like... Yeah, do you guys got one? Or two?"

It took Lily a second to register just what he was asking for. Once it did, she opened her mouth to say something in anger, but Brendan covered it with his hand, motioning to the somewhat suggestive state they were in and how he sounded somewhat drunk. Already. She sighed and turned her away, in case he looked down. The room was dark, except for the glow of the televisions, but if he looked hard enough, he could probably make out their faces. Maybe not, with the impairment of alcohol, but Lily didn't want to find out. Wayne was never happy when he was drunk. Unless he was 'getting some'.

"Oh, yeah. I got one..." Caleb was digging through his wallet and pulled out a small, thin square object and tossing it to Wayne. Thomas huffed, commenting loudly.

"You only have one because you never get laid, dude."

"Oh, whatever, this coming from the guy who will only settle for girls as pretty as celebrities. No wonder you're still a virgin." Caleb quickly retorted, returning back to their game.

The door closed behind Wayne and Lily quickly pulled herself off of Brendan, running her fingers through her hair. Right then, his words ran through her head again. '...used my last before the party...'

She froze and looked quickly over at Brendan, wondering if he had heard it. The look in his eyes gave it away. He knew. He knew exactly what Wayne was talking about and now why Lily had been so uncomfortable by him when they walked in. Why she refused to look at him... He knew.

He opened his mouth to say something but she cut him off, muttering about a drink and leaving the room, letting the door slam behind her. She could barely hear it over the loud, bad music and she quickly slipped into the crowd, hearing the door open up behind her. She was glad when he couldn't locate her and instead called out her name. She pushed herself even more into the throbbing crowd, trying to lose him in it all, hoping he wasn't following.

Finally she got to the other side of the crowd, shoving her way out and between two couples in a somewhat passionate embrace. There was a cry of disgust from the girl, but the guy seemed too stoned or drunk to notice. Maybe both. She stumbled into the kitchen and saw that it now held 5 kegs. And no soda, she found out after checking the fridge. Some guy was setting up cups of lukewarm beer and placing them neatly on the counter. They would be knocked over quickly, she knew it.

'What the hell not...' Lily thought, picking one up for herself. The guy looked over at her as she drained the whole thing, twisting her nose at the unpleasant taste. Why did anyone drink this stuff? It was disgusting... The guy had already refilled her cup and was giving her a thumbs up. She just rolled her eyes at him and stalked off, managing to get to the backyard without spilling too much of the drink onto herself. The moon rising slowly and she stared up at it, tears suddenly filling her eyes.

When did everything get so complicated?

Brendan cried out in frustration, scanning the crowd once more for Lily. He couldn't find her anywhere. He'd shoved his way through the massive and densely packed crowd and hadn't spotted her.

Noticing the stairs were relatively empty, Brendan pushed his way through the crowd toward them, managing to get there without much resistance. Moving to the top, he looked over the people closely. Still no sign of Lily. Suddenly, he spotted, well, her head leaving the kitchen and getting out the to back door. She was holding something, but he couldn't tell what.

Turning back, he headed down the stairs and shoved his way back through the throng of tightly packed people. It took a few minutes, but he finally pushed his way to the back door, getting outside and shutting it behind him. The house itself seemed to be pulsing with every beat of the way too-loud music playing inside.

The backyard was large with various trees scattered about and it was mostly empty, save a few very 'in love' couples. Either that or drunk.

He walked around quickly, looking for Lily. Brendan spotted her huddled next to a tree, her head down near her knees. Rushing over, he crouched next to her, shaking her shoulders gently.

"Lily?" He asked quietly, reaching out and lifting her head. Her eyes were closed, tear streaks on her cheeks. "It's freezing out here... I have to get you inside before you get sick."

"Don't wanna go inside... He's in there... Don't let him touch me... You were always so protective..." Lily's eyes opened slowly, as if drowsy. Or...

"Lily, are you drunk?" Brendan frowned, smelling the beer on her breath and noticing the empty cup beside her. Very large and empty cup.

"I only had a little..." She giggled, watching him pick it up. "Like, two of those..."

"My God, Lily... You're smashed." He slid an arm around her as she giggled again at the word 'smashed'. He eased her up slowly, letting her lean mostly against him.

"I wanna go home... So tired..." She said softly, laying her head on his shoulder. He supported her waist and they began walking slowly toward the gate.

"Lils, I can't take you home, you're drunk. Your parents would definitely notice something like that. I'll have to take you to my place again first. I'll take you home in the morning..." Brendan said quietly as they passed a couple emitted very strange noises, mostly hidden in shadows. Lily laughed at them and he just pulled her closer.

Stopping at Thomas's window, he knocked on it a few times, hearing a shout. Thomas's face appeared, looking surprised. "What?" He asked loudly enough for them to hear through the glass.

"I'm taking Lily home, I'll see you tomorrow, man." He called back before continuing to the gate. He opened it slowly, guiding Lily through before closing it behind him and pausing to search for his truck. It was parked at the very end of the street, like he usually did for parties. Well, the few he attended, anyway.

"Why are you taking me? You should've just left me outside. Maybe I would've died." Lily stated quietly, sounding as serious as she could, given her condition.

"Because that would make many people sad. And Wayne would have to find another chick to paw at." Brendan replied. They'd both forgotten their jackets and it was currently dropping to at least the low 40's. Smart Brendan. He pulled Lily even closer to him, hoping to keep her somewhat warm.

"Wayne doesn't care about me. If he did, he wouldn't hurt me like he does..." She sighed, accepting his body heat and pressing closer against his side.

"What does he do to you, Lily?" Maybe if she was drunk, she would answer.

"He just... Makes me do stuff... Like tonight, before the party... He pulled over into that spot and just started touching me... Hurting me..." Her voice got distant and he looked over to see her eyes closed, a tear dropping down her cheek. He stopped and slid his hand under her chin, making her look up at him.

"Lily, you have to leave him. Do you understand? Anything he does to you for leaving can't be as bad as what he'll do if you stay with him... I highly doubt you'll remember this in the morning, but please, just... Leave him or something..."

Her eyes gazed up at him and he had to look away. She was too beautiful to look at as something as broken as she was. He was the one who'd broken her in the first place... She probably just wanted Wayne to make her move on past him. He'd never be able to move on past her...

"Brendan... Will you kiss me again? Make me feel like you did when we were still together... When I was still happy..." She was looking at him seriously, and he had to remind himself that she'd had two very large cups of beer and probably wouldn't remember anything the next morning. Hell, she'd hate him even more the next morning, waking up in his house.

"I can't, Lils... It's not right..." He pulled her back up against his side, continuing to walk again. She fell into step quickly and stared down at the ground.

"You're too good for me, Brendan... That's why you left... I didn't deserve you..."

Oh, how quite the opposite it was.