A/N- *screams* I've passed 100 follows! THAT IS AMAZING! Thank you so much! I can't believe the response I've had for this, it means so much! Really, from the bottom of my heart, thank you! *clears throat* Anyway. Hey guys! I'm so sorry about the lack of updates, but I had a bit of a case of writer's block, plus I've been working on this new fic I'm hoping to post once I finish TGND, and I've had a few college deadlines to meet. Excuses out of the way, thanks so so much to Audrey, Guest 1, Guest 2 (not sure if you're the same person since you basically posted the same review twice, but thanks for the enthusiasm!), Cloudcity'sBookworm, Guest 3, Skylar97, Guest 4, Guest 5, Chels, Guest 6 and crystaltonics for reviewing!

PS- If it's any consolation on the 'slow update' thing, this is a pretty long chapter XD

Chapter Five- Shots Fired

I hadn't been this chilled out around Pete for a very long time. I mean, that kind of goes without saying, but it was so nice to actually be around him and not want to kick him in the nuts so hard that his eyes bled. The two of us downed shots, danced together and basically attempted to catch up on the last four years. God, I hadn't realised just how much I really had missed this.

As the night drew on we found ourselves in one of the armchairs outside. Pete was sitting in the chair and I was curled up in his lap with my legs dangling over the arm. I'll be the first to admit that I'd forgiven him way too quickly, and I would probably be seriously regretting some shit in the morning. But right now, in my half-inebriated state, all I could think was that I was so happy we were going back to how we'd been before it had all gone so wrong.

"Hey, do you remember that trip we took to Coney Island in twelfth grade's Spring Break?" I said suddenly.

"What, you mean the one when you ate five corndogs, got food poisoning, shit yourself on The Cyclone, then struck out with that Abercrombie and Fitch model?" Pete laughed.

"Er, no, because I'm pretty sure that was you," I shot back. "I was the poor fucker sitting next to you when you shit yourself. I couldn't get the smell out of my dress for days after that!"

"I still think I should have sued for the food poisoning."

"I still think I should have sat in front of you."

"I didn't see you complaining about it then!"

"Well yeah, you had just exploded diarrhea all over the fucking place! You were sick, I was hardly going to bitch out at you, was I? I felt sorry for you and to be honest, I kinda thought you were dying. The only thought in my mind at that point was getting you off the ride and getting you cleaned up! You're welcome, by the way. The stains never came out of the sleeve of my cardigan."

"Think of how my poor mom felt with my pants, then."

I cocked an eyebrow at him. "I thought Mr Bernards cut you out of your pants and bought you a new pair from the gift shop?"

A embarrassed blush flared up on Pete's cheeks, and he scowled at me. "Come on Korb, you promised you wouldn't bring that up ever again!"

Yeah, and you promised nothing could break us apart, so it looks like we've both broken our promises, I thought bitterly. Out loud, what I said was, "Ouch, still a rough patch, huh? Poor baby."

Pete grimaced, nodding. "The mental scarring will never heal."

I laughed. "We should go back there some time, for old times' sake. Only we'll take our own food this time."

"We could go after graduation," he murmured, looking like he was thinking. "Go for a weekend..."

I nodded, smiling at him. "I'd like that. I'd like that a lot." We both took a moment to just look at each other, both of us grinning. It was like we were back in that picture from our high school graduation. The rest of the party - the music, the voices, the lights - just seemed to kind of fade away. It was just me and Pete, acting like best friends again. Then the illusion was completely shattered.

"NO, I'M BATMAN!"

Teddy's sudden shout made me start so violently that I fell straight out of Pete's lap, landing with a thud on the floor at his feet. I rolled to my front with a groan, pushing myself to my knees and looking around for where Teddy was so I could beat him with his own fist. He was sitting a little way away on another of the outside couches with Mac, and they were both spitting out different Batman impressions. Teddy was nailing the Christian Bale version, whereas Mac was apparently going for Michael Keaton.

"What the fuck are those asshats doing?" I demanded, glaring at the backs of their heads. I looked up at Pete, and he looked equally as confused.

"The fuck if I know."

"If that's the case, then I'm gatecrashing their little love-in," I replied, standing up and brushing myself down. "If there's one thing I can be accused of, it's being nosy." And with that, I skipped my way over to where Mac and Teddy were, kneeling down behind them and spreading my arms along the back of the couch. "Evening, fuckers. Whatcha doin'?"

"Hey! Korbie, you're into all the nerdy comic shit!" Mac said. "Who's Batman to you? Bale or Keaton?"

I snorted. "Neither. The best Batman is obviously Adam West." Nope, couldn't even take myself seriously. I burst out laughing at the looks of 'what even' on both boys' faces (though I was surprised Teddy even knew who Adam West was, much less that he was just...the worst Batman to ever set foot on the planet). "Oh my God, you morons, I'm kidding! But sorry, bro, I've gotta go with Teddy on this one. Christian Bale is Batman, and always will be, unless Ben Affleck pulls off a minor miracle."

"Ha!" Teddy exclaimed, jabbing his finger at Mac. "See? Christian Bale."

"You disappoint me, Korbyn," Mac said, his voice filled with mock betrayal. "Like, I can't even look at you right now. Run along back to your worst enemy or whatever the fuck is going on between you and Pete right now."

I shrugged. "He's my bud. My bestie. My brother." I pronounced it like 'bruthah.' "That's all you need to know."

"Hey!" Teddy exclaimed, drawing the 'ay' sound out in a real 'wink wink, nudge nudge' kinda way. "Look after him, Korbyn. Make sure he remembers it's bros before hoes."

I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Okay, for starters, I ain't no ho. Second of all, I was his bro long before you were his ho, Sanders. Just remember that."

He snorted, looking surprised. "Damn, Radner. You've got one hell of an acid tongue on you."

I grinned at him. "You're damn right I do." I clapped a hand on Mac's shoulder and gave him a small shake. "Twenty-one years of learning from the best."

"Taught her everything I know," Mac said smugly, suddenly wrapping an arm around my neck and pulling my head down to give me a noogie.

"You jackass! You're ruining my hair!" I shrieked with laughter, swatting at him until he let go. "I hate you," I said, pouting.

"You love me," he retorted. "Now get outta here, you're ruining our manly time."

"Oh, I'm so sorry," I said sarcastically, but I pressed a swift kiss to his scruffy cheek before leaving.

"What the hell was that all about?" Pete questioned when I returned to him, shaking my head and trying to work out what my brother was on.

"They're Batman," I said simply, returning to my original position across his lap. The wind blew and I suddenly clutched at my bare arms. "Jesus, I am fucking freezing." It was about four o'clock in the morning and it had cooled down substantially outside. My denim jacket was somewhere inside, leaving me in the cold in just my cropped t-shirt and slashed up leggings. I absent-mindedly traced my fingers over the top of the dream-catcher on my hip, my skin cool to the touch.

"When did you get that?" Pete asked with a small frown. "I know you have that skull on your shoulder, but I've never seen this."

"Hm? This? Oh, I got this way before the skull. I got it a few months after we started Braxton," I said, having to think for a moment. "I was drunk, and I was out with AJ and a few of the Zeta Tau girls. I liked the idea of it, so I just sort of...did it. I've never regretted it though, it looks fucking awesome."

"Shit, you are cold," was all he said, following the shape of the catcher with his own finger. "Here, stand up for a second." Pete shifted me back to my feet and stood up himself. He unzipped his Delta Psi hoodie and shrugged it off, holding it open behind me so I could push my arms into the sleeves. At five foot five to Pete's five foot seven (and a half, he would always remind me), his hoodie was just that bit too big for me, the hem settling along the tops of my thighs and the sleeves dangling just below my fingertips.

He turned me around so he could zip it up for me. "There. No more chills."

"Thanks," I said quietly. His hand lingered on the zipper where it rested in between my boobs. Neither of us said anything to start with, we just sort of stared at each other. He leaned forward. I cleared my throat and took a small step backwards, running a hand through my black and blue curls.

"Let's go dance," I said quickly, grabbing his hand and dragging him back into the house where half the party had remained, bumping and grinding to stupid techno music that I really hated. But even as we stood in there, twirling each other around, laughing, joking, teasing, my mind was elsewhere. My mind was still outside.

I think…I think Pete had tried to kiss me.

"Hey. Wakey wakey, Sleeping Ugly." Pete's voice filtered into my hazy subconscious, dragging me up from whatever sleep-filled depths I'd been in. My eyes fluttered open, and his grinning face slowly came into focus. "Nice one, Korbs. First person to pass out. We should get you a medal for that."

"What?" I mumbled, sitting up on the couch I was lying on and rubbing my eyes, smearing my makeup halfway down my cheeks. "Pass out? What the fuck are you talking about? I didn't even drink that much." Did I?

Pete snorted. "You didn't until we came back inside. Then you suddenly bugged out about something and started downing every shot you could get your hands on. You passed out on the couch about two hours ago."

"Two hours? Jesus, what time is it?" I yawned, stretching my arms out in front of me and cracking my knuckles.

"Like half past six. I think Mac and Kelly are getting ready to go; Kelly thinks Stella's gonna wake up."

"I better get out of here then," I said, looking around the room. "Don't suppose you've seen my jacket around, have you?"

"Right here," he replied, holding it up. "Your phone's in the pocket," he added, handing it to me.

"Thanks, bro," I said, putting subtle emphasis on the 'bro.' I folded the jacket over my arm and clucked my tongue against my teeth, trying to work out how to word my next question. "Listen…this stupid project we've got for class…I really can't do it by myself and there's no way we'll get a decent grade on it if we only work on it during class."

"Hey, I never said you had to do it by yourself," he said defensively.

"No, I know," I said quickly. "I just mean that I can't do it by myself outside of college. So, like, I don't know, if you're not doing anything later, do you want to, like, maybe, come over this afternoon so we can maybe, sort of, get another few solid hours done on it? If you want?" Why the fuck was I stuttering like a nerd about to ask the head cheerleader to prom?

Pete grinned, throwing a gentle punch at my shoulder. "I'm down. It gets me out of helping these assholes clear this shit up."

"Yeah, you're welcome." I rolled my eyes heavily. "So give me a few hours to nap this hangover off and shower and shit. Basically, come round any time after like, one. If that's cool."

"Korbie, chill out with the 'if that's cool' stuff. I'm hardly gonna say no."

I glared at him, my defensive guard flaring up. "Well excuse me for being a little concerned that all this has just been brought on by a few bad drunk judgement calls. It's not like you've given me any concrete reason for wanting to be friends again."

"Hey, don't start," he said quickly, cupping my elbow in what he probably thought was a calming manner. "I'm bored of the fighting, Korbs. Isn't that enough for you to believe I want us to be how we were?"

"Well, yeah," I admitted. "But-"

"Korbyn!" Mac interrupted, calling to me through the open back doors. "Come on, we gotta go! Stell's gonna wake up soon and she'll freak the fuck out if no one goes into her!"

"Guess that's my cue," I said, waving at Mac over Pete's shoulder so he knew I'd heard him. "I'll see you this afternoon, then?"

"Damn straight. Catch you later, Korbie Cat."

"Laters, Petey." We suddenly broke into our old secret handshake. We'd come up with it in the third grade and it had stuck with us all these years: double high-five, double low-five, fist bump, backhand slap, chest bump, clasp hands and back slap. Sad, I know, but come on. We'd been like eight.

I grinned at him and headed out the doors, joining Mac, Kelly and Teddy out on the front lawn. It was still early enough that the sky was an amazing dusty blue edged with pink. This was why I would always love being an early bird rather than a night owl. Last night had been a huge exception to my usual sleeping pattern of early to bed, early to rise.

"Epic night!" Mac was cheering as I drew up to them. "Crazy! Like, I owe you, man." He and Teddy high-fived. Was it weird I kind of shipped the bromance brewing between them?

"I really needed that," Kelly said, sounding borderline liberated. Poor woman, it really had been a while since she'd let her hair down.

"That was a pretty fucking hot night," I admitted, smiling. "Nice going, Ted."

"Well hey, I never knew you had it in you to actually be fun, Korbyn," he replied, grinning back.

"Thanks. I think." I didn't really know if that was a compliment or not.

"So, yeah, again, if you could generally just kind of, you know," Mac said sheepishly. "Keep it down." He tried to look cool by doing the gang sign thing again. Suffice to say, he failed miserably. Kelly tried to do the same. She looked just as bad. He decided to finish up his request with, "That would be fucking...that would be trill." I had to bite my tongue to keep from bursting out laughing.

Teddy looked comically confused. "You really want us to keep it down?"

"Yeah, like, every night," Kelly confirmed.

"If you could try to keep it down?" added Mac, like she hadn't made that obvious.

"I'll give it the old college try," Teddy allowed.

"Nice!" Mac pointed at Teddy in appreciation. "That was good!"

"How's that? So just make sure, if we're too noisy, you call me first," Teddy said. "Don't call the cops, okay?"

"Okay. Yeah, for sure," Mac agreed.

"Do you promise?" Now Teddy was the one pointing at Mac.

"I promise."

"Do you promise?" Now he shifted his finger to Kelly.

"I promise."

"You promise? Okay, because a promise is a big deal to me." Now Teddy looked at me. "What about you, Korbie-Korbyn? Do you promise?"

I just smirked at him. "Cross my heart, bud."

My phone had gone crazy in my absence. Three missed calls and God knows how many texts, all from one AJ Riley.

Bitch, you better not be going soft on me. Remember who the enemy is! X

Korb, dammit, reply! What's going on at Casa el STD? X

Korbie, seriously, why aren't you replying? Holy shit, you're fucking Pete, aren't you? X

Korbie, I'm starting to actually think you are. Answer me! Jesus Christ, woman! X

KORBYN MARIE RADNER, REPLY TO YOUR FUCKING TEXTS!

You're dead, bitch. Dead. They're not going to find your limbs until they wash up on a beach in Guam. ANSWER. YOUR. TEXTS.

I was going to answer her. Really, I was. But, admittedly, the second I walked through my bedroom door I just collapsed on my bed, flat-out asleep again. I did not function well on two hours of drink-fuelled napping. I re-awoke at just gone eleven, feeling a hell of a lot fresher. After I completely puked my guts out. Then I was straight into the shower to freshen up, as I smelt like alcohol, aftershave and regret.

I changed into a pair of shorts, a loose black t-shirt that read Stress Is Caused by Giving a Fuck and cute little black cat pumps. I ran a curling iron through my hair a few times to get some good volume, painted on a ton of makeup to cover up the blotchiness of my sleep-deprived skin and deemed myself acceptable for human contact. As I was heading down the stairs to grab myself a sandwich for lunch, my phone started ringing, The Shield's entrance theme blasting out around me. I looked at the caller ID- AJ. Shit. I'd never replied to all those messages she'd sent me last night; I was about to have hell to pay.

"H-hey AJ," I answered guiltily. "What's up?"

"Well it's nice to know you're not fucking dead," she spat. "Jesus, Korbyn, what happened to you last night?! One minute, you were answering me every thirty seconds, then...nothing! I was bugging out, I thought the Deltas were hazing you or something!"

"You can't haze someone who isn't a frat brother, moron," I sighed, rolling my eyes even though she couldn't see me. "Look, I got side-tracked with Pete, is all. Nothing major."

"With Pete?" she repeated, sounding scandalized. "You got side-tracked with Pete?! Oh my God, you did fuck him, didn't you?! You had angry, ex-best friend sex against his bedroom wall."

I couldn't help but splutter into disbelieving laughter, the accusation was so absurd. "AJ, are you fucking serious?! No, we did not have sex! Jesus H. Christ! We...look, we made up alright?"

Now it was her turn to laugh. "You made up? You and Pete made up? Korbyn Radner actually had a civilized conversation with Pete Carter that didn't end with you drop-kicking him in the face?"

"I know, insane, right? But it's true. We just...talked everything out. And I think we're actually getting back to how we were before."

"Before he ditched your ass, you mean?" AJ said bluntly.

"I mean...yeah, before he ditched my ass. Thank you for putting it so charmingly, Amira."

"Well, I'm sorry, but I think you're forgiving him way too quickly!" she said. "I can still remember the complete wreck he'd left you in that first month we were in Zeta Tau! You were so...quiet. All the time. Any time we saw him around campus, you just shut down. Forgive me for not wanting you to end up like that again!"

"I'm not going to!" I practically shouted into the phone. "Amira, it's not like that this time! I mean, Jesus, we're legally adults! I'm hardly going to be jealous of him having other friends, just like he won't get jealous of me having other friends. Because no matter what happens with me and Pete, you're always gonna be my best friend, A. Because you were there for me when he wasn't, and no one can replace you for that."

"I like to think no one can replace me anyway, bitch," she said dryly, but I could just tell she was smiling. "I just don't want him to hurt you again."

"He won't," I said firmly, opening the fridge and grabbing some carrot sticks and a can of squeezy cheese. "He tries that shit with me again and I'll have him on the floor with a ruptured lung, three broken ribs and a cracked hernia. And you can believe that."

Finally, AJ actually laughed. "Oh, trust me, babe, I really do."

"Hey, talking of broken ribs and cracked hernias, you're still coming round after class tomorrow, right?" I put the phone on speaker as I squirted the canned cheese on to the carrot sticks and started munching.

"Er, duh. It's Monday tomorrow, like hell would I be missing Raw. It's fucking tradition, what makes you think I'd be doing anything else?"

"Didn't know if you and Dana were doing this bullshit project or not."

"Yeah, right, like that was ever an option. I told her I'd do that shit with her in class, but out of college hours, we are not friends."

"Damn, girl, you're cold."

"Ice bitch and proud, motherfucker."

The doorbell suddenly rang. I heard Mac's plodding footsteps, followed by, "Yo, Korb, it's your boyfriend!"

"Shut the fuck up, Mac!" I yelled back. "Sorry, AJ, gotta go. Pete's here, and we are actually doing this stupid project out of college hours."

"Sucks to be you," was all she said, and the next thing I knew, I was listening to the dial tone.

"Bitch," I muttered, stashing my phone in my pocket and heading into the hall. Pete was leaning against the wall, arms folded, face set in a smirk. "What's up, fucker?"

"Sweet as ever, Korbie," he joked, but we put our arms around each other in a close hug. "Ready to kill this?"

"If I don't kill myself first," I replied. "Seriously, I can't believe how fucking boring this is. I want to design apartment complexes, not fucking septic tanks."

"Everyone has to start somewhere," he joked as we started to head upstairs. "Why not both?"

"Because I have enough shit in my life as it is," I quipped.

"Hey!" Mac suddenly appeared at the bottom of the stairs, feet planted firmly apart, arms folded. "Where are you two going?"

"Er, my room?" I said, frowning. The fuck was his problem?

"And you're going up there alone?"

"Mac!" I shrieked, blushing furiously as Pete burst out laughing. "Are you fucking serious?! Yes, alone! We're twenty-one years old, we're not fucking thirteen!"

"I'm just asking," he said innocently, raising his hands. "Just remember, though, I'm like a fucking ninja. I could walk through that door at any time."

"The conversation is over!" I yelled, grabbing Pete by the hand and pretty much dragging him up the stairs. "It's over! Go back to your wife and daughter! We have homework to do! Shut up, Pete!" I snarled as he continued to laugh.

"I'm sorry!" he managed to choke out. "But that idea couldn't be any funnier if it tried!"

"Shut up and get in there," I snapped, forcefully shoving him through my open bedroom door, which I made a point of slamming behind us.

"Nice decor," Pete said dryly, eyeing up all my posters. "I didn't know you were still into all that WWE shit. I don't think I've watched that since I was like, twelve. Who are these clowns?" He gestured at a picture of Seth Rollins, Dean Ambrose and Roman Reigns.

"Yo, back up," I warned, opening my bag and pulling out our poster and my pencil case. "Don't insult my baes, or you can get the fuck outta my house."

"Changing the subject, then," he said quickly, making himself comfortable at the end of my bed, still looking around the walls. "God, you're such a fucking nerd, Radner."

"You're digging yourself a hole, Carter," I replied calmly, not even looking at him as I cleared space on my desk. "I recommend shutting up before I stuff my Spider-Man down your throat and asphyxiate you with it. 'Kay?"

"So let's get on this project," he said quickly, leaping up from my bed and taking a seat on my desk chair. Get on it we did. We worked near non-stop for five hours, punctuating the constant writing with trips to the kitchen for bottles of Coke and bags of chips. By the time it rolled around to six in the evening, you could practically see the smoke coming off of the pencils that had barely left the paper since we'd started.

"Jesus fucking Christ, we did good," I said appreciatively, dropping my pencil and massaging my now-cramping hand. "We are gonna nail this so hard."

"Of all the ways to phrase that," Pete said with a chuckle.

"You perv," I laughed, punching his shoulder. "Grow up. I meant we're gonna ace it."

"Sure you did, Korbs," he said, winking. "I don't judge."

"Oh, shut up," I said, kicking his chair so it wheeled clean into the opposite walls, making him jolt violently.

"So compassionate," he said, rolling his eyes and standing up. "Look, I gotta get going. Me and the guys have some people coming over tonight, I should help set up."

"Another fucking party?" I groaned. "Are you joking?"

"It's not a party!" he said quickly. "It's...an intimate get-together."

"Name one time Delta Psi has ever had an 'intimate get-together,'" I retorted.

"Tonight."

"Don't be a smart-ass. Seriously, Pete, you guys can't keep doing this! You're not on the college grounds anymore, you're in what's usually a quiet suburban street! We don't want any part of this shit! Why do you think I dropped out of Zeta Tau? Because I hate parties and drinking and loud music! Last night was beyond a huge exception!"

"Korb, chill out." Pete rolled his eyes. "We're not gonna like, trash the streets. I swear, we're only having a few people over. They'll be gone before midnight, I swear."

I pursed my lips doubtfully. "You swear? You know how I feel about promises, Pete."

"Oh my God, you sound like Teddy," he groaned, dragging his hands down his face.

"Er, I'm not trying to be funny, but the last promise you made me was that you wouldn't let college change our relationship, and look what happened."

"You're seriously gonna hold that against me still?"

"If the shoe fits, bitch."

"Korbie!" Pete grabbed my hands and pulled my close to him, angling my head up to look at him. "I know I hurt you, but it was a long time ago. Yeah, I've regretted it ever since, but four years is a fucking long time to hold a grudge. Anyway, how did we even get on to this? I thought we were talking about tonight's Delta Psi party, or lack thereof."

I sighed. "It's really not gonna be a party?"

"Really," he said sincerely. "And you know the deal we've got going on, if we're too loud, just call. We'll shut up."

"Alright, fine," I lamented, nodding once. "I'll believe you. But just to be clear, if you wake me up tonight at any point after half ten, I'm gonna be pissed. And by pissed, I mean I'm gonna cause you so much pain you will not see straight for three weeks. Got it?"

Pete smiled. "I got it. Just as long as you promise you really won't call the cops on our asses."

I made it look like I was thinking about it, then I repeated the same thing I'd said to Teddy this morning. "Cross my heart. Hope to die."

"I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL HIM!" I screamed, slamming my head down on my mattress, trying to block out the noise of next door's fucking rave without much success. It was three fifty-three in the morning. In the morning! And Delta Psi had had this fucking 'intimate get-together' going since eight o'clock! SEVEN HOURS!

We were all awake here in the Radner household. Me, Mac, Kelly and Stella had barely slept. Stella, at least, had managed to grab a few hours before those obnoxious cunts had decided to really crank their shit music up so loudly the walls were shaking. I had surpassed feeling pissed about three hours ago. Now, I was furious. Flat-out furious.

There was a knock on my door, and it opened, revealing Kelly, who was holding a burbling Stella in her arms. "Korbie, are you awake?"

"Kel, my eyes are open. I'm definitely awake. How could I not be?"

"Those little pricks next door keeping you up too?"

I yawned and sat up, rubbing at my eyes and nodding. "I'd be lying if I said it was because I'm cold. Where's Mac?"

"In our bedroom, trying to call Teddy. Again. I just took Stella downstairs to get her a toy, she's getting so ratty."

"Again?" I repeated. "How many times has he tried?"

Kelly shrugged, clearly stifling a yawn. "I lost count. Maybe seven? More, probably."

"For fuck sake. Those ignorant fuckers," I snarled, pushing my covers back and practically falling out of bed in my haste to find my brother. "Mac!"

"Korb, shut up!" he exclaimed as Kelly and I walked into the room. "I'm on the phone!"

"Woah, bro, I'm not the problem here!" I said defensively. "Don't get shitty with-"

"Hey, Teddy!" he suddenly said into his phone. "It's Mac again, your neighbor! You said to call if it was ever too loud, so we're calling! It's too loud! Can you please keep it down?! It's four in the morning, our baby's awake! She's freaking out! Thank you!" He hung up the phone and looked between me and Kelly. "Ten times. I've called him ten times. What do we do? If we actually go over there and tell them to keep it down, we're gonna seem so lame!"

"We're gonna have to call the cops," Kelly said desperately.

"We call the cops?" Mac sounded conflicted. "He told us not to call the cops!"

"Do it anonymously!" she suggested.

"They are clearly beyond reasoning with, bro," I said. "I don't give a shit what we promised them. They said they'd try. They haven't fucking tried."

"So we get the cops to do our dirty work for us," Mac said.

"We're cool, they shut up, Stella goes to sleep. Done," said Kelly.

"We have no blood on our hands," added Mac. "We're innocents. We're innocents in all this. Right?"

"Yeah, Mac, right. Stop being a pussy-bitch and phone the damn cops," I grumbled.

"But...it just feels so wrong..." he muttered, trailing off.

"Oh, for fuck sake!" I snapped, ripping his phone out of his hand and dialing in the number for the Ardendale police station. I got an answer after three rings.

"Hello, Ardendale City Police Department, how can I help you?"

"Hi, um, I'd like to make a noise complaint."

Mac, Kelly and I hid behind the living room curtains, watching and waiting for the cops to show up and shut next door down. It had been about fifteen minutes since I'd made the call, and I was actually starting to feel a little guilty. Were the cops really needed? Maybe if I'd just called Pete instead of jumping the gun like that...

"Here we go, here we go!" Mac suddenly whispered, jolting me out of my thoughtful stupor. Sure enough, a police cruiser was just pulling up outside next door. "Here we are. Okay. I feel so lame. I can't believe we called the cops."

"What's this 'we' I'm hearing?" I hissed, glaring at him. "I'm the one who did the talking."

"True. This goes totally ass-up and we can blame it all on you," he retorted. We were silent as we watched the cop get out of his car, just as Teddy, Pete, Garf and Scoonie all came wandering down their front path, each looking highly confused.

"They can't tell it's us," Mac murmured, but it sounded like he was trying to convince himself of the fact. "They don't know it was us. Could've been anyone." Kelly agreed with him. "Anyone of these people could have called." Mac still sounded like he was convincing himself.

"We're not gonna get caught for this," said Kelly, sounding far more confident than her husband.

"Anyone would do this," said Mac. "This isn't because we're old." That was when the cop talking to the frat boys pointed over at our house. I let out a shriek and dropped to the floor, out of sight: we'd been made. Fuck!

"Oh shit!" yelped Mac, both he and Kelly ducking behind the curtains. "Oh shit!"

"Oh no!" gasped Kelly.

"That's it," I groaned from my position, sprawled on the floor. "We're done for. I can no longer go back to college, because I'll be known as the boring sad-sack who called the cops on Delta Psi. McDonald's application form, here I come. What's going on out there?"

"The cop's coming to the door! He sold us out! Oh fuck! Teddy's coming with him!" Mac sounded like the verbal embodiment of 'rabbit in the headlights.' "Fuck, they're coming up the driveway! Oh shit, they're coming!" There was a brisk knock on the front door. "Oh shit, they're right there!"

"Fuck my life, man," I moaned, standing up and starting to creep into the front hallway. "Just fuck it."

"We're just getting dressed!" Mac called as they both came into the hall after me. "I'm naked!"

"No, I see you guys right there," the cop replied.

"Act like you just woke up," Mac whispered as Kelly opened the door, both of them yawning loudly, obviously and extremely fake. I just stood there, arms folded, my hair already tosseled from lack of sleep, trying not to squirm uncomfortably at the cold outside air biting the skin exposed by my shorts and tank.

"Hello, are you Mac?" the cop said. According to his name badge his name was Watkins.

"Yeah. What's happening?" he yawned.

"Your little sister called about your neighbors?" Cop Watkins asked. I went even paler than I was. Shit. Caller ID. They would have had fucking caller ID! SHIT!

Mac quickly shook his head. "No? Nope."

"I have a call. It says it's from Mac Radner. That's you, right?" Watkins questioned. "But the voice on the line was female. Too high to be older than early twenties. That's you?" He looked dead at me, and I just shrugged, trying not to make eye contact with Teddy, who was stood just behind the cop.

"How do you have that information?" Mac frowned.

"We have caller ID," the cop said, and I internally groaned. I hated being right "We're cops. Everyone has caller ID. You're Mac Radner. Your sister called us. Why did you call us?"

"I called the cops because you jackasses can't keep fucking quiet!" I exploded, glaring at Teddy. "Mac called you like ten times! But you just can't stop fucking partying, can you?!"

"Officer, you know how it is," said Mac fairly.

"We're just trying to get to sleep, we have a little baby!" added Kelly. "Mac's working in the morning! Korbyn's got college!"

"They were at the party with us just last night!" Teddy exclaimed.

"Did you party with this kid?" Watkins asked.

"We don't party with them!" Mac insisted.

"We shouldn't be in trouble, we haven't done anything wrong!" Kelly said.

"We have a baby! We are parents!" Mac affirmed, putting his arm around her and squeezing.

"Well then, what do you call these?" demanded Teddy, and he handed the cop his phone. It was playing a video, and the audio on it was pretty damn clear.

"I'm too fucked up! Ahh! Ahhh!"

"Well, it looks like you guys were partying with him," Watkins said, holding the phone round to us and displaying the picture of a clearly-totally-off-his-head Mac. "You partied pretty heavy."

"That is a joke photo!" Kelly said quickly.

"It's a joke?" Watkins said. "It's not a good joke."

"Okay, you know what?!" Mac suddenly exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "Let's end this! I'm sorry! We rescind the complaint! You can go. No noise complaint."

"You know the boy who cried wolf?" Watkins said rhetorically. "You're that boy."

"Fine, we're the boy. We cried wolf," I said, my tone hard. Boo-hoo-hoo.

"Never call us again," he warned.

"Never call you again?" Mac repeated incredulously. "You're the fucking police!" All Watkins did was stare at him before he headed back to his cruiser. Teddy, however, remained on the doorstep. "Look man, we're sorry," Mac now said to him. "You were being noisy. We tried to call you, I don't know what to say. We called you like five times, you didn't answer."

"You made a promise to me last night!" Teddy said, sounding pretty offended. "We were pissing! We crossed streams!"

"Don't worry about it, you know?" Mac said, trying to sound chill. "'Hey, I'm Batman.' You know? Right?"

"No, we're done with that, bro," Teddy snapped.

"Teddy, we're sorry," I said guiltily. "Can't we just start over? Forget this happened? It's not like any of you got arrested, it's like nothing even happened!"

"I'm not mad," Teddy cut over me. "I'm just disappointed."

"Teddy," I said again. "Don't do this. Come on, we're-"

But again I was interrupted as he held out a two-pack of kids' walkie-talkies to Mac. "Those are for you," was all he said before he walked off.

"Mac, what are they?" I quietly asked him.

"Oh man," he mumbled, looking after Teddy's retreating figure. I headed back upstairs not long after. Some serious shit was going to go down tomorrow, I could feel it. My eyes were just fluttering shut when my phone suddenly vibrated with a text. I grabbed it from my bedside table and unlocked it, trying to see through the suddenly glaring light. It was from Pete.

Cross your heart, huh? Looks like we're both fuck-ups at keeping promises, Korbyn.

Korbyn. I couldn't even tell you the last time Pete had used my full name when he wasn't ripping the shit out of me. I clenched my phone in my fist and gasped out a sob, tears leaking from my eyes and dribbling down to my pillow.

A/N- And now it can only get worse, amiright? So, I'll stick in the usual apology about lack of updates but, you know, college and all that. I really hope you liked it anyway! Let me know! Review, follow, favourite! Check out the various links on my profile! Love you all! Bye! Xx Gee xX