Tia had made herself scarce by the time Owen came back into the house. Via was upstairs, perched by the banister like a hawk. Seth was talking with Caitlin near the side of the room. Phil and Keely were engaged in a lively conversation with the host.
Siobhan gave him a small wave. He slowly headed over to meet her.
"She bite yer head off out there?"
"She would've done that no matter what..."
"Gotcha. So she kicked ya to the curb, then?"
"It was bound to happen. Don't feel bad."
She shrugged and gave a small tilt of her head. "No skin off my nose. You okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." He scratched the back of his head and glanced around the room.
"You sure about that?" she asked with a smirk.
He nodded and turned back to her. "Absolutely."
- - -
"And that is how many drinks for you tonight?"
Keely sucked in her breath through her teeth and set down her empty glass. "Don't judge me, Phil. It's a party!"
"Oh, I'm not judging," Phil said, raising his hands in defense. "I'm just sayin' is all. Might want to..."
"I'm fine, Phil. Trust me."
"Well. I've got my eye on you anyway."
Keely frowned as she saw Owen and Siobhan getting friendly with each other across the room. Phil saw her frown, then followed her eyes to where she was looking, and widened his eyes.
"Ohhh no no no no no no no no no no no," he said, setting down his drink on a nearby table and grabbing her by the shoulders, facing her towards him. "Don't do it, Keely. Don't mess with them. You're meddling in things that ought not to be meddled with!"
"But it's Tia, Phil..." Keely whined, swaying back and forth and giving him her best Bambi eyes.
"Don't do it! If they want to be together, they'll work this out, but if you try and get involved, then someone's just gonna get hurt even more, okay?"
"Are you saying you don't think I can fix things between them?"
"No!" Phil paused, rethinking the question. "Well, maybe. I mean, with those two, sure. But I'm just saying that they have to work it out for themselves. They'll do what's best for them, alright? And if that means they're done seeing each other, then that's okay, yeah?"
"I... I guess... but I mean, if I could just—"
"No ifs, no buts, no coco-nuts!"
Keely fell silent and gave Phil a strange look.
"Promise me. Promise me you won't say anything to either of them."
She threw her head back and rolled her eyes. "But Phi-illl..."
"Promise me!"
She groaned and drooped her head. "Fine. Fine, I promise. I won't try and get them back together. Even though Tia's my best friend in the whole world and I've known her since the first grade..."
"You're not playing the guilt card on me, Keel."
She sighed and looked back over towards Owen and Siobhan. "It's like he doesn't even care..."
"Remember your promise..."
"I remember... jeez Louise, I—" Keely's thoughts were cut off by a loud shouting.
- - -
"So ya havin' a good time?" Caitlin asked, as she leaned against the wall for support.
"Oh, yeah, it's great." Seth smiled briefly at her and bit his lip, somewhat nervous.
"Good t'hear. Bigger turnout than I expected..." she shouted over the music, as she glanced around the room.
He slowly nodded, not taking his eyes off of her.
"Well. I need another drink. You want me to get ya one?" she asked, gesturing to his empty bottle in his hands.
"Uh sure, thanks..." He started to hand the bottle over to her, then hesitated. "One thing before that, though..."
Before he even knew what he was doing, he leaned in and kissed her on the lips. She widened her eyes in surprise, but soon put her hands on his shoulders and kissed him back.
"OY!"
The loud shout startled Seth, who pulled apart from Caitlin and looked over his shoulder at the source of the noise. A fist promptly collided with his jaw, causing him to stagger back into the wall.
"WILL!" Caitlin shouted in shock.
"You gerroffa her!" the drunken Will slurred. He took a step towards Seth, who had a hand on his chin, but Caitlin stepped in between them. Seth took a few steps backward: Will was taller, bigger, and looked a few years older than him.
"I told you, it's over between us!" she shouted at him, outraged.
"Who the HELL d'ya think you are, boyo?" he shouted, pointing a finger towards him, showing off the tattoo sleeve on his arm.
"Dammit, Will, get away!"
Will forced Caitlin out of his way and landed another punch, this time hitting Seth straight in the stomach. He doubled over, clutching at where he got hit. The room had quieted considerably, as many of the people there were now watching the action unfold.
"Stand up, ya eejit!" Will barked at Seth, who was leaning against the wall, trying to back away. He brought his right arm back, ready to hit him again.
"DAMMIT, YOU GOBSHITE!" Caitlin grabbed Will's raised arm, spun him around, and kicked him straight in the crotch. He howled in pain and collapsed to the ground. "WHAT ARE YOU ALL LOOKIN' AT?" she shouted at the rest of the room, who were staring in stunned silence. They immediately turned away and struck up awkward conversations with each other.
"Sorry about all that," she said in an undertone to Seth, grabbing his arm and taking a cursory look at him. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," he said, embarrassed.
"Ah, that's good at least. Sorry about 'im," she said, tilting her head towards Will, who was slowly staggering to his feet and towards the back door. "I used to see him not too long ago. He can get a bit aggro."
"You're tellin' me..." He straightened up and put a hand to his chin.
"You sure you're okay?"
"I'll be fine," he reassured her. She bit her lip and took him to the upstairs bathroom to help him out anyway.
Meanwhile, at the other side of the room, Keely was suddenly feeling rather uncomfortable. "Um, I think I'm gonna go check and see if Tia's okay..."
"Alright," Phil said, nodding slowly. Just as she headed off, he tried to call out to her, realizing this left him alone, but she disappeared behind a dancing couple. He frowned, then glanced upstairs, expecting to see Via still up by the railing. She wasn't there. He let out a small "Huh" before deciding to walk around and look for her.