A/N: Woah, I got a lot of reviews during those last two chapters. I plan on this chapter being uber long, and uber good. But uberly full of drama. And now, I'm going to stop using the word uber. I think you can all thank Rexmanningdays for the entire plot of this chapter, because she pretty much walked me through what to do with it. Thanks Rexmanningdays! Now to the writing!
Disclaimer: Jonathan Larson.
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Roger's POV
"Come on. We should go back out there." He whispers in my ear, after what seems like an hour of pure staring. Staring into his pale blue eyes and adorable smile. I could stay here all day long if I didn't have Carrie out there waiting for me. Reluctantly, I follow him out of the stall, but then Katie pops into my mind.
"Wait, Mark." I stop him by the sinks, wrapping my arms softly around his waist. It feels so good to be able to do this. I don't have to hold back. "Do you think you'd want to come to a party with me? My friend Katie is having one at her new house. She just moved back. We were friends when we were younger." His eyes connect again with mine, and he blushes lightly.
"You want me to come to a party?" His voice cracks halfway through, and a wide smile spreads across my face. He's just so damn cute.
"Yes. I want you to come to a party. I'd be lonely without you. It will be fun. Please?" I mope, pushing out my bottom lip and gripping my hands tighter to his hips. He rolls his eyes and buries his face onto my shoulder.
"All right." He whines, but after I lean in to capture him in a quick kiss, he stops complaining.
"Oh. One more thing. Katie knows." My eyes shut in fear, afraid of Mark's reaction. I don't know if he wanted anyone to know. Especially since we got together literally minutes ago.
"Knows…about us? How the hell did that happen?" His voice is hostile, and he looks to me for an explanation. I don't know if I really want to continue. Who knows if he'll get mad, or be all right with it.
"Yea. I asked her advice about what to do, and she said to go for it. She's like my oldest friend in the world Mark. She's totally fine with it." My hand is now pressed against the bathroom door, ready to leave at any moment, and willing Mark to follow me. I hold out my free hand for him to take, which he does, and we depart from my now favorite bathroom in the school.
Outside, there are quite a lot of people, but nothing compared to how many are in the gym. I'm actually dreading returning to the huge, sweaty mob of dancers. A place where I can't kiss Mark, I can't embrace him, I can't touch him, I can't even flirt with him. I turn around to see Mark blushing, and surprisingly, he hasn't let go of my hand yet. I try to separate our bodies to make it look like I'm dragging him somewhere, until I spot Katie headed for the women's room.
"Katie. Hi." I say bluntly, stopping her with a hand to her shoulder. Her green dress sways when she abruptly stops, and she smiles pleasantly.
"Hi, Rogy. Whose this?" She asks quickly, pointing to Mark. I smile at him, gently pulling him closer to Katie and I. "Is it him?" She squeals before I can open my mouth to speak. I look over to Mark, a red tint covering his cheeks, and nod. "Ahh! Oh my God! He's so cuuuute!" She giggles, hastily embracing the confused Mark and squeezing as tightly as she can. I see him wriggle in her grip, his face as red as a cherry. I grasp his hand in mine again, wanting so badly to bring it to my lips, but refraining for the time being.
"Katie, this is my Mark. Mark, this is my Katie." I introduce them as soon as Katie loosens her embrace on Mark, allowing him to take a breath in, and shrug his body back into me, most likely trying to distance himself from Katie. "It's okay Mark. Katie's just excited to meet you. She's not scary I promise." I whisper in his ear, touching my lips lightly to the edge of it, making myself insane. I want to turn him around and kiss him full on, something that would probably be stupid right now.
"I'm not scary! I just think you two are so…adooooorable!" She grasps Mark again, this time kissing him on the cheek, and a small spark of jealousy burns through my body. What the fuck? People can't even touch Mark without me being jealous? I shake it off and laugh at Katie's excitement.
"Well…thanks." Mark clears his throat, wiping lipstick off of his cheek and turning to face me. "Are we going back in there?" He looks sadly up at me, hoping I will say that we can go home and make out, but I already promised Katie we'd come to her party.
"Guys. Fuck this dance. Tom's already ditched me for some whore. I say we get the party started early. What do you say?" She raises her eyebrows, smirking seductively and then leaning over to Mark. "You…are definitely invited." A smile spreads across her lips, and I pull Mark against my body. I don't care if people see us now. I can't take it anymore. He shrinks back into my arms, and Katie covers her mouth with her hands, giggling childishly into them. "Guys…you're gonna make me cry. You're so…"
"Cute. I know Katie. Let's get the fuck out of here please." I stop her, prompting Mark to shake violently with laughter.
"What about Maureen and Carrie?" He asks, and I sigh. Shit. I forgot about them.
"Uh…yea I guess they don't have rides. Is it okay if they ride with us Kate?" I squeeze Mark before releasing him from my arms and glancing into the gym. I see Carrie standing against the wall, looking down at her feet. I close my eyes and sigh. Now I feel absolutely horrible for just leaving her there. Suddenly, I see a guy come and hand her a cup. She was waiting for a guy? My moment of guilt is immediately regretted, and I rush into the gym to meet up with her, leaving Mark and Katie behind.
"It's fine Roger! Roger?" Katie calls after me, but I'm already through the gym doors by the time I hear her. Carrie sees me coming, and slowly backs away from the tall dark stranger she is making conversation with.
"Hey." I say casually, trying to make it seem like there isn't a guy standing next to me.
"Hi. Where did you run off to?" Her smile is false, and she gives the cup in her hand to the tall guy, before pulling me over to the side of the gym.
"Sorry. I went to look for Mark. I found him though. And Katie. She's having a party and invited you. You up for it?" She takes in all that I've just said and lets out a huge breath.
"Katie's back." She states disappointingly, probably thinking the girl that she once took over for will replace her. "I guess we can go. Do you really want to go?" She furrows her brow at me, and I smirk at her jealousy.
"Yes. I really want to go. Maureen can come, Car. You'll be fine. You don't have to make any kind of contact with Katie at all if you don't want to." I grasp her hands in mine, looking deeply into her eyes. Just so she'll let me have this time with Mark. Time when I won't have to pretend. I know that might happen a lot now that I'm with him. The pretending will never stop.
"It's not that I don't want to be around Katie, I'd just rather go home and watch a movie with you or something." A pout emerges on her lips, and I close my eyes in guilt. I can't regret being with Mark. He makes me happier than I thought I could ever be. But hurting Carrie seems impossible. I will just have to tell her sooner than I thought. "I guess a party would be fun. Alcohol?" She asks, prompting me to laugh and pull her into a hug.
"Of course. It's Katie remember?" Our laughs mix and I drag her out into the lobby, where Mark and Katie stand, waiting for us. I shoot Mark a look of disappointment when he sees me with Carrie in my grip. I hope he knows that I want him there. I hope he knows I want to grab his hand. I hope he knows that it's all just an act with Carrie. She's one of my best friends, but I hope our "dating" phase will end well.
"Guys! I'm coming hold on!" I hear Maureen yell behind us, before swooping Carrie away from me and hitching their arms firmly together. I take the opportunity to scoot forward, next to Mark, and a huge smile appears on his face the second he notices.
Everyone piles tightly in my car, Mark and I in the front seat, with the girls in the back. Carrie and Maureen are embedded in their usual unintelligent conversations while Katie sits, arms crossed, sulking in the back. I have no idea why she chose to sit with them; maybe she thought Mark would be there. But there's no way I'm missing an opportunity to be near Mark. The long bench of my car seat makes for an interesting situation, as the girls in the back seat cannot see anything I'm doing with my hands. However, with my stupidity, I reach my arm over Mark's shoulders, noticing some extra lipstick on his cheek.
"You missed some." I whisper, and he smiles as I carefully smudge it away.
"Thanks." He runs his fingers over the spot I touched, allowing them to connect with mine, but so it's not noticeable. Once his hand returns to his lap, mine wanders around to the back of his neck, playing with the messy and pointed blond hair. His head lightly rolls backwards, enjoying the feel of my massaging touch, when Katie slings her body forward and pushes my hand harshly away.
"Guys. Be careful. You want them finding out like that?" She whispers gently to us, and I nod in agreement. I guess I really don't want them finding out like that. I'm glad we have Katie to watch us. If it weren't for her, Mark and I would be making out in front of Carrie right now.
"So, I figured that cheating is really something that's biological. I don't think I should deny a need I'm born with." Maureen states, ending her long ramble, and I hear a very audible and obvious scoff come from Katie. Seconds later, she's climbing over the seat, next to Mark, trying desperately to distance herself from Maureen and Carrie. Mark scoots closer to me, almost against the side of my arm, and I smile at Katie. Thank God.
I grab Mark's hand first chance I get, trying my hardest to focus my attention on the road as well. I can't forget that I am driving people somewhere, not just sitting next to Mark. His fingers lightly squeeze mine, as his free hand runs slowly up and down my thigh. Shivers make their way all over my body, covering every inch and rendering me unable to focus on anything other but Mark's touch. Shit. Why when I'm driving? I clear my throat to send him a signal to stop, or at least lay off a little bit, and he leans over slightly to whisper in my ear.
"Sorry. I just can't keep my hands off of you." His hot breath reigns over my cold skin, and I turn towards him, my open mouth hungry for a kiss, something I can't have. Something about that one statement doesn't sound like Mark. It's too secure, too confident. I hope he's like this more often when we are touching each other. Instantly, I feel Mark shrug back into me, and realize that Katie has just struck his arm rather hard.
"I said stop it." Her eyes narrow at us, and I bite my lip to repress a laugh. Mark bugs his eyes out at me, surprised that Katie is being so forceful, and I smile and shake our entwined hands lightly.
"She's just jealous." I whisper, and he giggles quietly.
"It's up here." Katie says loudly, making sure I hear her while pointing towards a light blue house on a hill. I see a few other cars filling the driveway, parked in awkward angles and blocking traffic in some areas. The house is humongous, topped off with a deck, a third story, and a stretched out yard. I can't believe I'm friends with someone this rich. On second thought, I always remember Katie's family spending loads on her. I turn into the line of parked cars, swerving to fit my car any possible way I can, without hitting anything. Mark cringes when I stop abruptly, suddenly jerking everyone forward from the speed. Maureen giggles in the back, and I glance over my shoulder to see Carrie with a huge line of eyeliner drawn down her face. Her mouth rests wide open, before shooting Maureen a look of shock and anger. Maureen covers her mouth with her hand then proceeds to climb carefully out of the car.
"Sorry Car. That's what you get for trying to fix your make up while I'm driving." I say, clearing my throat and reluctantly letting go of Mark's hand. I open my door to exit, flashing him a smile to make up. When my body straightens out, Carrie immediately greets me, tangling our fingers together. Mark looks back at us, disappointed, and decides to catch up with Katie. Maureen joins our chain, hitching elbows with Carrie once again and wiping away the excess black smudge on Carrie's cheek.
The porch to Katie's house is well lit, a perfect combination of moonlight and light bulbs decked up in detailed sconces. There are two front doors, one a glass sheet and one a wooden carved, antique looking layer. Katie's heels click lightly on the concrete as she jams her key in the door, only to discover it's already unlocked. A tall guy comes to meet her, someone I can only assume to be Tom, embracing her awkwardly and forcefully. She glances back at me to roll her eyes, and I figure that Tom is drunk. I guess someone got the party started earlier than us. After a brief walk, we arrive beside her, now finally able to hear what they're saying.
"I didn't give you a key!" Katie's voice has risen, as she points her rigid key harshly at Tom, almost threatening to stab him with it.
"I know, but…it…well…are you coming to the party or not, Katie honey?" Tom tries to suck up, his drunken slurred speech becoming light and feathery.
"Yes, but I'm not talking to you. And don't you even think of feeling me up again." A loud laugh bursts out of my mouth uncontrollably, and Carrie grips my hand tightly to tell me to refrain. However, I catch Katie laughing too as we enter her house, and lightly knock shoulders with Carrie.
A strong odor of cinnamon soap and incense hits me when I walk through the door, making my lips twinge with a light smile. Katie's family still hasn't changed. This smell is so familiar. It reminds me of summer, spending night after night at her house, locked upstairs in her room playing cards and talking.
"You guys can throw your coats on the bed in the room in there." She points to a small bedroom, with one lone bed in the middle and an attached bathroom. "If you want food, raid the fridge. I'm gonna throw on some music. There's stuff to drink in the fridge downstairs." She smiles, and I know that she's talking about alcohol. Carrie drags me into the other room, what looks like a high-tech kitchen, complete with a mini island in the middle of it. I skim my fingers over the surface to check for liquid remains or anything sticky, then jump up to sit on top of it. Carrie leans her head against my chest, keeping her feet steady and flat on the ground and allowing her hands to slide gracefully up and down on my thigh. I can tell she's tired. She's tired of Katie, she's tired of being dragged places, and she's tired of no more time with me.
"Do you want something to drink?" I lift her chin up with my finger, and she sadly nods. I look around the room for Mark, and slide my body down off the table. He's nowhere to be seen. Maureen must have taken him somewhere without me noticing. I can't believe I let him out of my sight for two seconds and he disappears. I head to the basement of Katie's house, colder air brushing against my clothed skin, and grasp the handle of the fridge. Before I'm able to open it, I spot shot glasses out of the corner of my eye.
Once I'm back upstairs, Mark, Maureen and Katie have all gathered around the seat on the island I was just occupying. Mark smirks when he sees me coming, and I wonder if he had been looking for me too. To my delight, he's sitting where I once was, and I'm able to squeeze my body in the space between him and Katie. His hand snakes carefully around my body, and presses flat down on the counter behind me. I feel his arm rub gently against my side, but refuse to look at him in fear that I might need a kiss. Instead, I lie down the shot glasses, along with the bottle of brandy I retrieved from the basement.
"Shot games!" Maureen squeals, and everyone simultaneously laughs.
"Roger, I am not doing shots. I don't want to get drunk. You know how sick I get." Carrie says, leaning against my body again, prompting Mark to let out a fairly audible grunt. I want to grab his hand, to let him know that all I'm thinking about is him, but I can't. Not yet. Not in front of everyone. Not in front of Carrie.
"You don't have to do any. Just…watch." I smile and purposely collide my hanging leg with Mark's. My fingers roughly twist the cap off of the brandy, and I pour the liquid into five tiny glasses.
"Roger! I told you I'm not drink…"
"Who said it was for you! I want two…" I reach down to grab my drink, when Carrie swipes it out of my hand, readying herself for the game. I roll my eyes and think about Carrie drunk. Last time I saw her drunk was when she got a D on her English paper. She was a mess, vomiting all over the place and screaming at everyone. I can't wait.
"All right…" Maureen speaks up, jumping at the chance to make people drunk with whatever stupid game she has in mind. "…I get the first one. Whenever a girl with a flowery dress walks by…we take a drink." Everyone grunts at Maureen's suggestion, as none of us are fond of playing so kindly. I think we all had something more insulting in mind.
"I was thinking like…whenever one of the football players makes a homoerotic gesture." Katie smirks, cracking Mark and I up but not the girls. I can tell they aren't loving the fact that she's back in town.
"Or comment." Mark adds, and I casually rub his side with my elbow in a laugh. He seems like he's having fun, something that makes me beam with joy.
"What football players?" Carrie asks, looking around the room for some sign of a monster athlete. Katie downs her shot, slamming the glass between her and I on the counter and coughing lightly.
"My boyfriend is a football player, so he probably has a bunch of his macho buddies here. Even though it's my house and I told him not to invite his friends. Whatever. He never listens to me anyways." Katie goes off on a tangent about the annoying facts about Tom while I drown out all the background noise to focus on what's happening next to me. For the past few minutes, I've noticed Mark's presence creeping closer and closer to me. Every time the girls' attention is re-focused, he takes the opportunity to scoot his body to the point where we are almost touching. Our thighs are now flush together, his palms resting against his leg while the edges of his fingers caress mine through the fabric of my jeans. Now I need to get drunk.
Two hours later"No Maureen!" I hear Mark squeal for about the billionth time.
"Please Marky! It would be so much fun! Plus almost everyone is gone anyways. Or…passed out. It could only be…like…us five and…T…"
"No Maureen. I am not playing spin the bottle with you." His voice is now serious, with a twinge of haze to his speech. After two hours of downing shots I don't blame him for being drunk and slightly incoherent. We had continued on with our little game for the entire time, first taking Katie's homoerotic suggestion after her boyfriend was one of the victims, then moving on to other things. My idea, which I was rather proud of at the time until it became very common and taxing, was to drink whenever a slutty girl walked past. This provoked many arguments between Katie and Carrie about the whorish factors of each teenage girl at the party. After a while, I got tired of the games, and drank whenever I felt like it. This caused my now tiredly drunken state. Luckily, I can handle alcohol better than most people at this party. Those people who lie passed out on the ground, staining their dresses and tuxes with saliva, food and punch.
"I'll play." Katie says, getting up from her leather chair and standing next to Mark. I soon rise up after her, a huge smile portrayed on my face.
"Me too." My eyes focus on Mark intensely, trying to mentally convince him to play. This might give us an excuse to kiss in front of everyone. Mark holds back a smile, avoiding my eyes and blushing.
"Fine. I'll play. But five people isn't enough." He gives in, and Katie and I immediately seat ourselves in the shape of a developing circle.
"Tom will play. And James." Maureen tells him, grasping his arm to make him join us on the floor. Carrie warily gets up off of her chair to sit down, wobbling slightly before finally making it. Maureen, Mark, Carrie, Katie, myself, Tom, and James all sit in a crooked orb, as Maureen places a glass bottle in the middle. It looks like it once contained some sort of alcohol, probably that she just finished chugging minutes ago. I think it's safe to say that Maureen is the most hammered one here.
"How is this gonna work? There are more guys than girls. What if guys get guys or girls get girls?" Tom asks, rubbing his tired eyes and taking a sip from his vodka. Katie refuses to look at him, but talks anyway.
"Don't be so narrow-minded. If you land on a guy, you kiss a guy. If you land on a girl, you kiss a girl. Got it?" Her words bite, and I can tell that shots didn't help her anger towards her boyfriend. Tom just nods along, but I see the fear in his eyes of having to kiss another guy. That's a fear I definitely don't share.
"Me first!" Maureen screams, and quickly reaches out to spin the long, narrow shaped bottle. It circles us a few times before promptly landing on James, sending Maureen into a fit of giggles. She crawls across the floor to meet his lips, her tongue visibly trying to gain entrance to his mouth but being firmly denied. Mark looks hurt as he watches her lock lips with the senior, but I send him a smile and he shyly returns it.
"Woo!" Carrie yells, raising her hands up to the ceiling, before taking another swig of her drink. Like she needs more. James goes next, followed by Katie. The bottle lands on me, and Katie leans over to lightly peck our lips together. I see Mark's face turn a shade of light red, and now it's my turn. I spin the bottle violently, as I sit on my knees in anticipation. Please Mark. Please Mark. Please. Pleeeeeease! It finally stops at Carrie, and I close my eyes only briefly in anger. A huge smile spreads over Carrie's lips, and she makes her way over to my place. I reach over to her face, colliding our mouths gently and hastily, then breaking away while her lips are still puckered. Her eyes snap open after our two-second kiss, and she furrows her brow in disappointment and angst. I look down at the ground instead of her, ashamed of how I just blew that off. Now she might get the message.
Carrie spins the bottle next, triggering a crazy mood when it lands on Maureen. Tom howls when they kiss hotly on the mouth, Maureen sucking lightly on Carrie's bottom lip and cupping her cheek with her hand. They break with blushes, as James soon joins in with the cheering. I clap as an effort, but make eye contact with Mark the whole time. Maureen goes again, this time with the bottle choosing Mark. Mark sighs after finally being included, but when Maureen sits still, he looks less than pleased. He's forced to squirm over to her seat, attempting to capture her lips with a bit of passion, but Maureen's eyes stay wide open the entire time, skimming the room. I don't think I've ever wanted to scream at Maureen more than right now.
"Thanks Mo." Mark sarcastically mumbles as he returns to his place, grasping the bottle between his fingers. I see him take a breath in before spinning it, and my heart pounds roughly against my chest. Katie looks over at me with a smile, and I blush madly.
"Uch." James scoffs, and I glance angrily over at him, before finally noticing where the bottle has landed. It points awkwardly towards me. It takes all my energy not to laugh, smile or make any sort of sign of how incredibly overjoyed I am in this moment. The whole circle cheers after Mark and I make no movement, probably both afraid that someone might suspect something.
"Come on guys. Kiss!" Katie yells, and Mark begins to move across the circle. I sit up on my knees, pressing my hands down onto the blue carpet and leaning my face forward. Mark's lips curve into a smile, and my heart feels about to burst out of my body. The last thing I see is Mark's eyes close before mine join him, and our mouths lightly touch.
Our speed begins slowly, lips moving against each other in a rhythm and skin on skin becoming familiar. I taste brandy frosted over the inside of his mouth as my teeth gently feel his bottom lip. I don't know if we should break now, but I have a feeling I would really regret it. Apparently so would he. His arms wrap around my neck firmly, pulling my mouth closer to his, and I allow his tongue to slip in. I feel his hot breath on the side of my face, and his hands on the back of my neck. Every other sound in the room has now disappeared. The only thing that exists to me right now is Mark's body. My fingers grip to his neck, massaging the muscles near his throat. My tongue wraps around his, saliva rasping, our labored gasps becoming too much for me to take. I want to throw him down on the ground right now, pushing his hands over his head. I feel him begin to pull away, but swirl my tongue and carefully grasp his hip before allowing him to break our lips apart. His nose rubs against mine, and I take a deep breath inwards, sighing loudly and moving away slowly. When I open my eyes, I see everyone with their mouths hanging wide open.
"Holy…shit." Katie whispers, smiling intensely and giddily at our ardent display. "I don't think anyone can top that." She giggles, but Carrie sits still. She stares at Mark with a blank look on her face, her glass pressed to her lips, but she never takes a sip. Instead, she places it down on the ground, and sighs.
"Roger. Go." She says hazily, and I nod before spinning the bottle once again. I think I let myself get carried away.
After a couple more turns everyone got tired of making out with the same people, and we all began a tired and slightly incoherent conversation. Every once and a while Carrie would get up to go to the bathroom, where vomiting noises would be heard soon after. She always came back with a smile on her face however, telling me that she was still drunk. Mark had sneakily moved next to me, after everyone was distracted with Tom passing out in the middle of a sentence. I love watching Mark sip his drink, liquid still lining his thin lips, before he gently licks it away. About an hour after our game ended, I begin to feel anxious. Feeling Mark next to me has become too much. Who knows if it's the alcohol, my sex drive or testosterone. I just need Mark.
"Come on." I whisper in his ear, scanning the room to make sure nobody is looking. At the moment, the group of friends is focusing on another shot game between Maureen and James. I guess it should be called "whoever passes out first loses." I grasp Mark's hand in mine, pulling him down the hall, and into some mysterious room. We are finally free of everyone.
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Notes: Sorry for the sort of cliffhanger, but the next chapter is going to be interesting! Hope you liked this half of the party. Long chapter…tell me what you think! Thanks guys!