Chapter 18

You know when you have one of those great nights with friends, the ones when you laugh about anything and everything, tell each other funny stories, look back on some great times that you all had together, and you all acted your shoe size? Yeah, this was one of those nights. I swear, whenever we all go out all dressed up as a big group, we always seem to really pull out all of the stops and find ways to make each other laugh so hard, we all feel like we're all going to wet ourselves. I think that's a sign that you're hanging out with the right group of people - the people that make you feel like you're on top of the world and that no night could be better than the night you all had together, that is, until the next night you all go out together again.

I consider myself extremely fortunate to have friends as great as my Glee gang. Sure, we've had some times when things haven't been sunshine and rainbows. For a while, Mark and Naya weren't on speaking terms, and that made things awkward around set. They were fooling around off of set and when Naya found out that Mark was flirting with a side piece... well, let's just say it wasn't pretty. We were a cast divided. It was like we had to pick sides. But even then, with all of the drama and he-said/she-said, Mark and Naya found a way to put aside their differences and become friendly again. I think that's also what makes us all so good together - we have a knack of forgiving and forgetting. We all have our days, and sometimes weeks, but in the end, we can all step back and say that no one has it better than us. Honest.

That's what made a night like tonight so great. We all had a delicious dinner at that sushi place of which I still don't know what the name was, but when we all went back to the house... well... how do I describe this? You remember that party that we all had in the 'Blame It On the Alcohol' in Rachel's basement? Yeah, it was like that, but with ten times more alcohol and ten times less clothing. As soon as we all unloaded from the cars in the driveway, we went straight to the pool and deck for drinks and dancing. Chris was the DJ for the night and he quickly set up his music, fog machines, and strobe lights as the rest of us got the beer on ice and hard liquor set up on the table. We had all stayed dressed in our fancy clothes from dinner, because seriously, it's so much more fun to go crazy when you look and feel hot.

"Think that's enough vodka to hold us over for the night?" Kevin asked me with a smirk as I lifted two large clear bottles of vodka and put them on the table.

"Maybe for an hour or two," I chuckled before reaching for two bottles of tequila. I placed them right next to the three bottles of rum that we had placed on the table just moments earlier.

"I claim this one," Heather squealed as she wrapped her hand around the neck of a tequila bottle.

"Damn girl," Chord laughed as he reached for a beer that was floating under ice water from the night before from the cooler. "You sharing that with anyone?"

Heather gripped the neck of the bottle tighter as she observed Chord's eyes staring straight at the bottle. "There's another one on the table for everyone else. You know what they say about me and tequila."

Naya laughed before hugging Heather from behind. "Tequila makes Heather's clothes fall off."

We all laughed as Heather nodded her head in agreement to Naya's statement. Mark took it one step further by giving Heather the other bottle of tequila, which really got us all going. While we were laughing and joking around at the table. Chris had gotten his music set-up going. First song, as always, was 'Single Ladies'.

And even though technically I wasn't really a single lady, you bet your ass I ran to that makeshift dance floor like my dress was on fire.

The rest of the girls, and Heather's tequila bottle, were close behind me. In perfect unison, we all did the dance moves and sang along in classic Beyoncé fashion – and of course, Chris joined us as soon as he set up the rest of his playlist. The guys looked on, all smiling and laughing, just as they always do. But this time, I sang right to Cory, did all the dance moves towards him, and flashed my ring-less left hand in his direction, playfully teasing him. Yeah, I loved this whole boyfriend thing.

Chris sure knew how to keep the party going after the first song. We all danced along to songs like 'I've Got a Feeling', 'Bootylicious', 'Thong Song', 'Sexy and I Know It', 'Born This Way', and 'Till the World Ends'. We even got some of the guys dancing – and I was even able to coax Cory out to dance with me. He especially liked 'Born This Way'… probably because he got to use the dance moves from the tour to get him through.

Halfway through probably my favorite Britney Spears song of all time, Cory leaned down and spoke right into my ear. "Want to get something to drink?"

Hesitantly, I nodded. God, I just loved this song. "Okay," I agreed, and I danced my way over to the drink table.

"Let's do shots," Cory suggested with a smirk. "We still have that challenge that we agreed on in the car."

I laughed as I danced. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Scared of losing?" he asked, and he cocked that damn eyebrow.

I pulled my bottom lip into my mouth with my teeth. Hell no, I wasn't afraid of losing. In this moment, I knew I needed to do whatever it took to win. "Shots it is," I smiled as I grabbed two tall shot glasses from the back of the table. Cory grabbed a bottle of rum and he quickly poured the honey-colored liquid into the two glasses.

I picked up my glass, and he picked up his. "Round one," he smiled before we clinked our glasses together and brought them to our lips.

The liquid slid down my throat like fire. Clearly, this wasn't going to be easy. I tried my best to keep a straight face, and I even attempted to smile. But when I saw Cory tried to hold back laughter as he looked at my face, I knew that I had failed.

"Round two?" he asked as he picked up the bottle just moments later.

I nodded my head, this time, more cautiously. "Okay," I agreed. And again, he poured the liquid into the two glasses, and we toasted, and we tossed them back. This time, it didn't burn as bad. My throat was already nearing complete numbness, and this one should have topped it off.

Cory coughed after taking his second shot, and it reassured me that I wasn't the only one struggling. "Went down the wrong pipe," he clarified to me.

I nodded my head sarcastically. "Oh, okay," I replied with a small laugh. "Ready for round three?"

"You don't want to take a break or anything?" he asked as he reached for a bottle of water to help him clear his throat.

"Oh no, no breaks. First one to get sick loses. And you know what happens when I drink and dance."

"Yeah, I do," he replied.

"I swear, I can dance and not drink, or I can drink and not dance. Once I put the two together, it's not pretty."

Cory laughed as he poured our third round of shots. "Remember your birthday party?"

I shook my head and my straight hair danced around my face and shoulders. "Never again! Who thought it was a good idea to let me have seven martinis AND THEN challenge Heather to a dance-off?"

"Wasn't that Amber's idea?" Cory asked as he handed me my third shot.

"That bitch," I laughed as we toasted and took the third shot. It didn't hurt at all this time, and dare I say it, I was beginning to like the taste of it.

We must have taken four more shots… or maybe even more, because it's not like I'd remember anything anyway, but the one thing that I do remember that brought me back from my drunken coma was falling on my ass on my way to the bathroom to pee. I must have somehow tripped over the track to the sliding glass door on my way back inside, and instead of crying like a regular girl reaction, I managed to roll onto my back and I began hysterically laughing. Cory ran and came to my rescue and he scooped me up off of the floor.

"I win," he smirked as he carried me back to our bedroom.

"Tonight, you did. Just you wait, Mr. Monteith," I slurred as I rested my head against his shoulder. "You wait."

He walked into the bedroom sideways, carefully not to bump me against the doorframe. I appreciated that. Then, he laid me on the bed. "Where are your pajamas?" he asked as he walked over to a pile of my clothes on the floor. "I'll help you change."

I allowed my eyes to close as he rummaged through my clothing, and I never responded to Cory. Somehow, I fell asleep, practically as soon as my head hit the pillow. And when I woke up in the middle of the night, jarred from my dreams and my sleep, I was under the covers in my pajamas, and a glass of water with two Advil's rested on my nightstand. I reached my hand slightly to my side, and I felt Cory there. I smiled softly before falling back asleep.