Hannah is just discussing her outfit for tonight's party with Jessica, when Zach comes up to them, a guilty look on his face. At first they don't even notice, and they seem to be so excited about the party, that he doesn't want to interrupt. But he knows he will have to tell them what has just happened, so he clears his throat, the girls finally looking up at him.

"We were just… wait, what's wrong?" Hannah asks. "You're still coming tonight, aren't you?"

"Yeah, but me and Justin were talking about your party, and Bryce overheard us, so…"

"Please tell me they're not coming."

"We told them not to. But you know what they're like."

"I don't want those assholes to be there. I never liked them, and I thought that now you finally managed to separate yourself from them, I wouldn't have to put up with them again."

"Yeah, or you know, it'd be really fucked up for Alex and Clay if those guys are there, seeing as they are the ones who got bullied by them." Jessica rolls her eyes.

"Excuse me? Didn't you invite them to your party too?"

"It was your boyfriend who invited them, Hannah," Jessica snaps, Hannah all ready to defend herself and fight her best friend on this.

"Look, if they show up, me and Justin will take care of it, okay? But I just wanted to give you a heads up," Zach quickly says, the girls still glaring at each other. "We'll make sure they won't cause any trouble."

"Maybe you shouldn't have told them about it in the first place, huh?" Hannah snaps, but Zach just sighs, not willing to argue with her.

"I just wanted to warn you, but I have to get to class now. So I'll see you later," he says, before walking off.

"What the fuck is going on with you?" Jessica asks. "I know this isn't just about them accidentally telling those guys, because you know they didn't mean to."

"It's Bryce," Hannah admits. "He found out me and Zach broke up, so he's been texting me."

"For real? What did you tell him?"

"I told him to fuck off," Hannah says, as she gets her phone out of her pocket. "So he sent me this."

"Oh, shit," Jessica laughs, when she looks down at the photo of Bryce, half-naked, dick in hand. "Did you tell someone about this?"

"Just you."

"You should tell a teacher. This is seriously fucked up."

"I've just been trying to avoid him, but I can't do that if he shows up at my house, can I?" Hannah sighs. "I don't want this, Jess. I hate the guy."

"I really think you should tell someone," Jessica says, a worried look on her face, but Hannah tries to shrug it off, as she forces a smile onto her face. "Hannah…"

"I'm sure he'll get the hint if I don't respond to it."

"And if he doesn't?"

"Then I'll send Zach after him to kick his ass?" Hannah laughs, trying to hide how much his texts and the photo are bothering her. "It'll be fine, Jess."

"Wow, Jensen, look at you," Justin laughs, when Clay pours himself a drink, before hesitantly taking a sip. "I didn't realize I was going out with a bad boy!"

"Fuck off, Justin!"

"He always takes the bait, doesn't he?" Hannah laughs, the grin on Justin's face only growing bigger as they both watch Clay take another careful sip. "God, he's adorable."

"You should see him in the morning."

"Yeah, I really don't want to know about that."

"When he has just woken up," Justin laughs. "Not…"

Before Justin can finish his sentence, the jocks come storming into the house, already loud and rowdy, and they push Clay away from the drinks table, completely taking over the party within seconds of coming in.

"I'll try and talk to Bryce," Justin sighs. "I'm really sorry about this."

"Just ask him to leave, please," Hannah says, and Justin gets up, but before he can even get to Bryce, Zach has already gone up to them, and although Justin can't hear what he is telling them, he can see the mocking grin on Bryce's face, and it makes him feel sick to his stomach.

"Just go, Bryce. Nobody wants you here," Justin spits out when he reaches them. "Go home."

"Did Hannah say she doesn't want me here?"

"Yes, she fucking did. No one likes you, so just fuck off," Justin says, but when Monty slams him into the wall, he gasps for breath, not even from the pain, or because he won't be able to take him on, but simply because he hadn't seen it coming.

"We're not going anywhere. Do you hear me?" Monty grits through his teeth, looking more than ready for a fight.

Hannah sees it happening, so she jumps up, not wanting her friends to get into trouble just because she doesn't want those guys to be there.

"Look, it's fine," she quickly says. "Just back off, okay?"

"Looks like Hannah doesn't want me to go home after all." Bryce grins, before walking off, Monty slamming Justin's head into the wall one more time, before following him.

"I'm so sorry," Hannah says. "Just let them stay, okay? It's not worth the trouble."

"Are you sure?" Zach asks, as he checks out the back of Justin's head to see if he's bleeding. "We'll get them out if you want us to."

"No, just… just let it go."

Bryce and his friends hadn't caused any further trouble, so the others had tried their best to ignore them and to act like they weren't there at all. But when Justin gives Clay a kiss, Bryce starts applauding, his friends laughing and whistling, and they don't even need to look to know that this is aimed towards them.

"Just ignore them," Clay says, a tight grip on Justin's wrist to stop him from going over there to fight them. "They're not worth it."

"Seriously? What the fuck is wrong with you?" Jessica yells at them, so caught up in her anger, that she doesn't even notice the look on Alex's face. Zach notices though, and he reaches out to put a hand on his back, but even though it's just a small gesture to try and get him to calm down, Bryce notices it, and it only makes the grin on his face grow bigger.

"No fucking way," he laughs. "So you were fucking him?"

Alex has been trying to keep his anger to himself ever since Bryce and his friends had started bullying him, and so far he had managed to not explode and mess things up. But it's the arrogant grin on Bryce's face right now, that makes his blood boil, and even though he is trying to steady his breath, he can feel something inside of himself bubbling up to the service, ready to burst out of him.

"Seriously, man? Alex Standall?" Bryce laughs. "I knew your standards weren't exactly high, seeing as you went out with Hannah, but…"

"Fuck you, Bryce!" Zach spits out, just about ready to fight him himself. But before he can get up, Alex has already jumped up, and within a split-second, he had closed the distance between himself and Bryce.

"I'm going to kill you," he whispers, and although the words scare him, they don't stop him from punching the jock in the face, over and over again.

Any other day Bryce would have been able to take Alex on, but he has been drinking, and the attack is taking him by surprise, so before he knows it, he is down on his back on the floor, Alex kneeling down on him, his hands wrapped tightly around his throat.

It isn't until Zach pulls him off, that it truly hits Alex just what he has done, what he could have done.

"You take him outside," Justin quickly says, as he kneels down beside Bryce. "I'll take care of him."

"What? No. Let him take care of himself," Clay says. "You saw what he did, right?"

"He needs help, Clay."

"Not from you!"

"What? You want me to call an ambulance? Get Alex in trouble? Huh?" Justin asks, and it takes a moment, but then Clay realizes that he isn't doing this for Bryce at all, but for his friends. So he helps him carry Bryce into the other room, where they lay him down on the sofa.

"You probably need this," Hannah says, when she comes into the room, and she hands them the first aid kit. "He's going to be okay, right?"

"Let's hope not," Clay mumbles, but when Justin glares at him, he just rolls his eyes.

"He'll be fine. Where are the other guys?"

"Most of left, but Monty is hanging around to see how he's doing."

"Do you think they'll go to the police?" Clay asks, a worried look on his face.

"I doubt it," Bryce sighs, even though the question wasn't aimed towards him. "I won't either."

"Are we supposed to be grateful?" Justin asks. "Because I warned you about this, didn't I? If you go around fucking with people, they will fight back, Bryce."

"I know," Bryce says, and for a moment, he almost looks like a human being, not like the monster he is always portraying himself to be. "And thanks for looking after me."

"I'm doing this for Alex. Not for you."

"Still… thanks," Bryce says, but when he reaches out to shake Justin's hand, Justin just ignores it. "I don't care that you're gay, Justin."

"I don't even care anymore, Bryce. Hate me, or don't. I don't fucking care."

"I could never hate you."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" Clay spits out. "You kicked him out. He could be out on the street because of you."

"He isn't though, is he?"

"Don't even bother." Justin shrugs. "This is what he does. He'll act nice for a day or two, then next time you see him, he's back to calling you a fucking faggot."

"I never…"

"You never called me a faggot?" Justin asks, a guilty look on Bryce's face. "You're pathetic, you know that?"

"How is Alex?" Hannah asks, when she comes out of the room, and she finds Jessica standing in the doorway, staring out into the yard. But when she sees the two teenagers sitting there, Zach with his arms wrapped around the other young man, she sighs. "I'm sorry, Jess."

"I really hoped I was wrong," Jessica admits, but then she looks back at her best friend, a small smile on her face. "But just look at them. I can't allow myself to stand in the way of that, can I?"

"So what are you going to do? Do you think he'll break up with you after this?"

"I doubt it. But I need to break up with him."

"Yeah."

"And tell him to be honest to himself about his feelings for Zach," Jessica adds. "Because I'm pretty sure he won't even let himself go there in his mind."

"I almost feel sorry for him," Hannah says, "but he did kiss my boyfriend."

"Hannah!"

"What?" Hannah laughs. "He did."

"It's not all about you, you know?"

"Are you okay?" Zach asks, his arms still wrapped tightly around Alex, scared that if he lets go, he will somehow break.

"No. I threatened to kill him, Zach. If you hadn't pulled me off…"

"But you didn't. You probably just gave him a black eye, some bruises… he'll be fine."

"I know, but I wanted to hurt him," Alex admits. "Really hurt him."

"Because of what he did to you, Alex. It's not like you went out and jumped some random guy. He has been calling you names for so long… it was bound to come back to him one day, right?"

Alex is still shivering, still scared of the thoughts he had had, but when Zach pulls him closer, he lays his head down against his chest, and he closes his eyes.

"I think I should talk to Jess," he admits, "About this."

"About how angry you were?"

"About you and me," Alex sighs. "About the fact that I think I am starting to fall in love with you."

A long silence follows, until frees himself from Zach's grip, a nervous look on his face.

"Say something? Please?"

"What do you want me to say?"

"I don't know. That I'm an asshole for cheating on my girlfriend, that…"

"You didn't cheat," Zach quickly says. "Nothing happened. Nothing has to happen, not if you still want to be with Jess. I'll keep my distance, and this whole thing will be like it never even happened."

"Yeah, right," Alex scoffs. "Did you hear what I just said? I think I'm in love with you, Zach."

"You know I feel the same way about you, but I can't tell you what to do."

Alex looks up, only to find Jessica and Hannah standing in the doorway, and even though he flashes a reassuring smile to tell them he's okay, there is something about the look on his girlfriend's face that tells him that he won't have to tell her anything. She already knows.