In hindsight, Jacqui probably shouldn't have gone to the party. Not because she had exams later that week or because she didn't know anyone there, and not even because she and Cassie were going to be in a car through shitty city traffic together and Cassie had the worst road rage ever, but because Jacqui got absolutely wasted.

She had no plans for that to happen. She'd pulled on a t-shirt (nothing fancy, as per Cassie's advice, waited for the buzz from her phone, an announcement that Cassie was there, and sat in the beat-up Prius that her friend owned.

"You look nervous." Cassie, in a light sweater said, before popping a stick of gum in her mouth.

"Do I?"

"Yeah, you're all fidgety. What's up?"

"Nothing."

"You worried about the party?"

Jacqui didn't respond, instead glancing out the window to see (you guessed it) traffic.

"Hey." Cassie started, her voice soft. "It'll be fine. I might not be able to drink if Jin doesn't make it-"

"What kind of blackmail do you have over him?"

"What?"

"Jin from freshman year would have died before doing you a favor. What'd you get on him?"

Cassie merely smirked. "Something to keep him in check for… eternity, really."

"So he'll be there?"

"He might. Maybe you won't have to babysit me this time."

"I'm not going to lie, that sounds amazing. Then again, I don't know anyone-"

"You meet people at parties, Jacqui."

"You meet people at parties. I don't."

From the look Cassie gave her, it was apparent to Jacqui that had the car been in motion, Cassie would have pulled to a stop.

"Briggs, you really have to stop that. Just try. It's not that hard, and no one there is going to bite your head off. Relax."

"How long until we get there?" Jacqui asked.

"Without traffic it's about half an hour, but with… maybe fifty?"

"Do we have enough gas?"

"My dad's last movie made 10 million in the U.S alone. Yes, there's enough gas."

"Yet you drive this piece of junk."

"It's got character." Cassie defended.

"It's got rust stains and a radio that doesn't work."

"Character." Cassie repeated, stressing every syllable.

"Idiocy." Jacqui responded.

"Where's your car, Jacqui?"

"I don't have-"

"Oh, that's right." Cassie said, ignoring her. "You don't have a car. Quit bugging me about mine."

"That's dumb. If you weren't feeding your cat, would me saying "Hey, your cat's going to die, feed it" not be valid because I don't have a cat?"

"One is a living, breathing thing with soul. The other is a cat."

"Just drive please, Cage."

Traffic was a real nasty son of a bitch. Cassie's predictions were off by about ten minutes- they arrived about an hour after they left. The sidewalks surrounding the unknown junior's house were swimming with cars, and even when they parked a block away, Jacqui could feel the music.

"Well, shit." Cassie said, putting on her sunglasses even though it was starting to get dark. "We've got some partying to do."

Surprisingly, this party (apparently in the honor of some guy named Erron) was less cramped than the first one Jacqui had been to. Not that there were less people, it just seemed as though this house was more fit for throwing a large party.

But through the crowd and haze, Kung Jin stood by the punch table, idly watching already drunk party-goers.

"Jin, you ass!" Was Cassie's form of a greeting. "Are you still taking us home after this?"

"That was rude, but yes, since I got a ride and don't live far from either of you, I will drop you two home."
Cassie took this as permission to empty the red plastic cup she'd snagged of a table into her mouth.

"Guess who's got two thumbs and is about to get hammered? This girl!" Cassie said, pointing at herself.

Cassie had planned on getting drunk (or hammered, or obliterated, or pass-out drunk, whichever), but Jacqui had plans to stay sober. It also played out the opposite way, and it started when an ice-cold beer was pressed into her hand.

"Is Mr. "Alcohol Kills" encouraging me to drink?" Jacqui asked, part of her in disbelief.

"I'm encouraging you to have fun. Every party I've seen you at, you always paddle after Cage. Now you don't have to. And one watered down beer isn't going to kill you. It's definitely not going to get you drunk. Now shoo. Go make a friend."

Jacqui didn't move, but did take a gup of her beer and immediately recoiled at the taste.

Jin laughed. "You don't usually drink beer for the taste. You drink to get drunk. Far as I know, anyway."

Jacqui grimaced at the thought of more than one cup. "I'll be back."

"Don't die."

Jacqui made her way through the crowd of people somewhat easily. What she wanted was a soda, but after stumbling to the kitchen, she was met with a group of four or so people at the counter, downing shots.

"Hey, you wanna do one?" Some guy, whose teeth were absolutely atrocious asked her.

"Sure."

"What's your poison?"

"What will get me drunk the fastest?"

The guy who needed a dentist laughed. "Straight to the point, huh? I like that. Here."

Something Jacqui wished Cassie would have told her? Tequila burned like hell. Honest to God hell. The second shot was worse. She sat down, waiting for the burn in her throat to subside, but stumbled when she tried to stand up.

"Easy there, sweetheart." Someone caught her.

"Sorry."

"Oh, trust me, it's fine. How about-"

"Hands off, cowboy." A voice that was unmistakably Cassie's said.

"If I let go of her, she's going to fall. And these are hardwood floors, Cage."

"Then give her to me."

"Fine." Suddenly Jacqui felt herself being lifted (Cassie would later tell her that the guy carrying her, Erron was carrying her bridal style) "Take her."

"God damn it, Black."

"She's welcome to the guest bedroom if you think she's going to hurt herself. I assume you want to accompany her there-"

"Hell will freeze over before I allow you to carry my drunk best friend to a bedroom unoccupied." Cassie spat, the authority apparent.

"Then come on."

As Cassie later retold it, Jacqui passed out the minute she hit the bed. Then Jin told her the rest of the story, because Cassie fell asleep.

"I was looking everywhere for you guys. Being the responsible friend fucking blows." Jin told them when they were safely seated in his car. "You guys weren't-"

"I have some semblance of shame, Jin. No, we didn't." Cassie answered.

Jacqui remained silent, but was steadily getting more angry (as angry as she could, because her thoughts were muddled) as Jin drove, and by the time they arrived at her apartment (being carried by Jin) she was furious.

And Cassie received the brunt of it the minute Jin left.

"I'm really sorry I told Jin about what's happening between us." Cassie muttered, half to herself.

"I am too." Jacqui glared.

"Wow, kitty has claws. What's up with you?"

"Our "arrangement" is what's up with me."

"This is really not a good time-"

"There's no good time to talk about bumping uglies with your best friend, is there?"

"You're drunk. Now is possibly the worst time to talk about it."

"No." Jacqui said. "Fuck you, Cassie. You come to my house, you sleep with me constantly, then you smile in my face like nothing happened-"

"You fucking agreed when I said we shouldn't be in a relationship or talk about it!"

"I was confused. But you knew that. I don't know why it is you think we wouldn't work together, but as of now, I am done."

It was at this particular moment that everything clicked in Jacqui's foggy mind. She was in love with her best friend, despite the venom she was throwing Cassie's way, She was in love, and absolutely pissed at this realization. What kind of ass was Cupid, making her affections for her best friend be expressed in the worst way possible?

What kind of person was she, to take her anger on her friend? Of course, Cassie was the root cause of it- Cassie, with her goddamn smirk and way with words and her openness, ready to comfort Jacqui whenever she needed it, which was why it had been so fucking easy to fall into bed together when the excuse of alcohol permitted it.

"I never said we'd never work together! Everyone thought my parents were perfect for each other. But guess what, Jacqui? They weren't! They never were!"

Cassie took a deep breath before continuing, her voice less angry.

"Just because someone says something doesn't mean it's true. Even if we "dated" if we were "serious", we might break up. It happens. My parents were married, and look where they are now. I can't let that happen to us, Jacqui. You- you have to understand." Cassie finished, her voice cracking.

"Then why would you keep sleeping with me?"

"Because stopping would raise more questions that I really didn't want to answer. Look, Jacqui, it's late and you're drunk, I'm tired. Let's just call it a night. Please."

The tone of Cassie's voice made it easy to pretend that the entire conversation had never happened, and that they were just two best friends coming home from a party together.

If only it were that simple.

Alright, there are a couple of things to talk about. Firstly, I planned out this entire fic, and it's looking to be about eight or nine chapters. That's not that many, which means (my second point)I need ideas because this will be done soon. If you have ideas for a fic, be it a one-shot or a full story, AU or not, let me know on my tumblr, which is thenewyorktaco. Hope you guys liked this chapter and have a great weekend.