AN: I'm not even going to try to apologize for taking this long. The Secret Santa fics have been keeping me busy as well as RL. Now I've finally gotten around to writing the new chap. I hope y'all like it. I made it a little longer this time. Special thanks goes to redisthenewblackington for beta-ing that quickly, you're amazing!

Disclaimer: My feels are mine!

You're so beautiful
But that's not why I love you
I'm not sure you know
That the reason I love you
Is you being you, just you

"I Love You" - Avril Lavigne

Enough To Keep You

Chp. 8

A couple of weeks later, Red's friends organized a little get together and told him to also invite Lizzie and her friends, so they could all get to know each other. They were all sitting in the living room of Zeke's, one of Red's closest friends, house. His parents were gone for the summer and so the group of around fifteen young people could do whatever they wanted. There was enough alcohol to last two weeks and everyone was having a good time getting to know each other.

While Amy was busy making out with one of the older guys, Liz sat on the couch, sharing a beer with her friend Kelly. She wasn't exactly fond of the taste, as it was slightly bitter, but she didn't want to be the only one asking for a non-alcoholic beverage. Red had left her sitting there, when he had walked over to 'get a drink' and he hadn't returned yet. She could see him chugging drinks with his friends. Liz didn't expect him to hold her hand all night long, but he could have at least waited until she had warmed up a little. He knew that she wasn't that great around new people. She took the bottle that Kelly offered, but only held it in her hand. Maybe there was something wrong with herself, Liz thought, but she simply didn't want to get drunk like the others. It just wasn't anything she saw herself enjoying.

Handing the bottle back to her friend, Liz felt the couch dip. She turned to the right to see her boyfriend back at her side. He pressed a can of Dr Pepper into her hand, giving her a bright smile.

"All you had to do was ask, sweetheart," he said with a wink, placing his arm around her shoulder.

She leaned into him, giving him a sheepish smile. "I don't want to seem odd and boring."

"You're anything but," he told her. "And if you don't want to drink alcohol, then you don't. It's that simple." He placed his hand against her cheek and turned her head up so he could properly kiss her, and Liz could smell that he himself had not shied away from any offered drinks or even cigarettes, and she wasn't sure if she enjoyed the taste on his lips.

Red pulled her closer and started kissing her more passionately, when he felt her return his touch. For a moment, she forgot where they were, and how uncomfortable some of his friends had made her. That was until something hit him in the chest and then landed on her hand, placed on his thigh. They pulled apart and Liz watched Red look down, his eyes on the half-mast appendage that was from both their intimate encounter as well as the alcohol. She followed his movements with her eyes as he reached down and lifted a little quadratic, foil package from his lap.

"Take that and your girl and find a room, dude!" One of the guys she identified as Kyle yelled over the loud music.

What shocked her even more than that weird friend, was that Red started laughing like the guy had just pulled the funniest joke he had ever heard.

"No?" Kyle laughed back. "Then come over here and drink with me."

Still grinning, her boyfriend stood from the couch and pocketed the condom. He turned to give her a quick kiss, before walking over to accept a glass of a clear looking beverage from his friend.

So this Kyle was already on her shitlist. She hadn't liked him before, but now he had gone too far. While she wasn't sure if Red had talked to his friends about their relationship, she was certain that if he had, they would know that the two of them hadn't gone further than kissing and cuddling. It was really none of their business anyway, but Liz felt a little put down by the lack of reaction her boyfriend and shown.

After a while, Liz relaxed a bit, but she stuck with talking to Kelly and her best friend Aram, who had appeared to be enjoying this party more than she would have thought.

"Oh you have pot!" Kelly suddenly exclaimed and Liz gave her a strange look before realizing that she was looking past her.

Red let himself fall into the cushion and handed her a joint. "It's good stuff," he said and the girl thanked him before taking a drag. He turned his head towards his girlfriend and kissed her cheek soundly. "You 'kay?"

"Perfect," Liz replied sarcastically, but he didn't seem to notice because he was already too out of it. She watched as Kelly handed the spliff back and Red accepted it, still pre-occupied with nuzzling her face with his nose.

"You smell sooo good, d'you know that?" He started placing open-mouthed kisses over her jaw and towards her neck, nipping at the soft skin there. "And you taste even better." She pushed slightly at his chest and reluctantly, Red leaned back, using the space to take another drag of the joint.

"And you stink of alcohol and weed," she retorted, giving him a hard look. "Since when do you use drugs?"

"I occasionally smoke some weed," he said after exhaling the smoke. "Want some?"

He had to be kidding her, or maybe he was just too high to notice her anger. "No, I don't," she told him in a hard voice.

Red leaned further into her so he could stick his hand into his pocket. He drew out the condom his buddy had thrown at them earlier and put it in her hand. "Take care of dis for me? I don' think I can do dis prop- prop... uh" He broke off.

What the hell was wrong with him?! Just before she could actually work up the courage to belt him one, the awful noise of someone vomiting caught her attention and Liz saw one of her friends bending over the kitchen sink, emptying their stomach into it. That was when she had finally had enough. She stood, shoving her boyfriend's hand from her body, and started walking towards the door.

"Lizzie, where you goin'?" He asked, but she neither turned nor answered him as she left the house. "Fuck," he swore, pulling himself up.

"What's up, dude?" Zeke asked.

"Gotta go," Red slurred as he stumbled towards the door himself.

"Trouble in paradise?" The black haired boy asked with a laugh and he only grunted in return.

The cold night air hit him like a wall as he carefully took the steps down from the porch. He looked left and right to spot his girlfriend. "Lizzie," he called out once he had caught sight of her. She wasn't that far down the road yet, but continued walking as if she hadn't heard him. "Lizzie, wait." He picked up his speed and was actually amazed that he wasn't falling face first onto the pavement yet. "Lizzie."

"Leave me alone."

"Swee'hear' wait," he slurred, blindly reaching for her arm.

She shook him off without any effort. "Don't touch me, Raymond."

"Hun, please. Lemme walk y'home."

She didn't reply and just continued walking, albeit more slowly now. Who knew what would happen if she just left him in this state?

Thankfully, her house was only about ten minutes from there and Sam was at some conference for the weekend. She put her key in the lock and pushed her door open before risking a glance back. Her boyfriend was stumbling up the driveway now. Shaking her head, she went inside and closed the door behind her, leaning against the wood. A few moments later she heard a loud bang and a groan as Red had obviously walked into the door.

"Lizzie?"

"Go home," she spoke, loud enough so he would hear her.

He groaned softly. "Don't think I'an manage," he slurred, leaning against her front door.

"I don't want to see you tonight, Raymond. Go home."

"Lizzie, please."

Deciding to ignore him, she made her way up the stairs, when she heard a crash, followed by a loud groan and fear grabbed at her heart. Liz hurried back down the steps and ripped the door open. Next to it now lay her very drunk boyfriend, leaning against the wall for support.

"Uh..."

She shouldn't, she really shouldn't, but she felt too deeply for him to just leave him out front as drunk as he was. "Let's get you inside, Ray." Liz grabbed his arms and started hauling him up. "You need to help me out here," she panted.

Together they somehow managed to get him up from the porch and into the house, where Liz pushed him onto the sofa, thanking her lucky stars that her father was out of town for the next two days. She felt tears shooting up in her eyes as she watched him shuffle around to get comfortable. Walking into the kitchen she grabbed Red some water and a bucket in case he got sick, setting both items on the ground next to his head.

"Ray," she said softly. "Drink some water for me." Reluctantly he let her pour some of the cold liquid into his mouth, before flopping back onto his back. She kneeled next to him and carefully turned him onto his side, so he wouldn't choke in case he had to vomit.

"Lizzie..."

"There's a bucket right next to you," she told him.

His eyelids were heavy, but he forced them open, when he felt a warm wetness hit his hand. "Why you cryin'?" He asked, but she just shook her head. "Baby... please don' cry. You're so perf... don' cry."

Despite being angry at him, Liz caught herself leaning down to press a kiss against his temple. She sniffled a little when she pulled back to cover him with a blanket. "Try to sleep," she whispered.

He gave her a small smile and blew her a kiss. "You're so perf, baby..." Only a couple of moments later, he was fast asleep.

The next morning Red woke up with a skull-splitting headache. He groaned at the pain and buried his face in a pillow. It was the scent of said pillow that made him realize that this wasn't his bed or even his home. This was the house of his Lizzie, his girlfriend. He groaned again as bits and pieces from last night came back to him. He remembered crashing into the door before sliding down to sit on her porch. At least his Lizzie had let him sleep inside. He had to talk to her and apologize for all this.

Carefully pushing himself up, he noticed the blanket she had put over him. She was too good for him. Red made his way up the stairs on towards her bedroom. The door was slightly ajar and he knocked on the frame before pushing it open all the way.

"Hey," he said softly, grimacing at the way his voice sounded scratchy and raw.

"You're awake," she replied without any emotion, which made him frown. "Here, this is yours. You can go now." She held up the small foil package and put it in the front pocket of his wrinkled shirt.

"I… that isn't mine," Red said.

She nodded. "You're right. It's your friend's. Kyle was so nice to throw it to you so you could fuck me."

He flinched at her words. She normally didn't talk like that. "Lizzie," he started, walking towards her.

"No." The girl held up her hands, stopping him. "I want you to leave."

"Lizzie, please. I'm sorry. For whatever happened."

She huffed at that, hugging herself around the waist. "You can't even remember what happened. Because not only were you drunk, wasted even. No, you also smoked pot." He swallowed and shuffled his feet. "I'm not telling you what to do with your life, because obviously it's none of my business, but I won't accept being sat on a sofa and put under a microscope. I won't tolerate you offering me drugs, and I certainly won't let your friends treat me like I'm your sex toy or something." Red opened his mouth to respond, but she beat him to it. "I don't care what you tell them or don't tell them. If you feel the need to lie to them about our sex life, or rather your sex life, because you certainly don't have that with me at least, then do it. But I won't sit around and listen to that."

His throat was closing up and he could feel tears pricking at his eyes. He hated himself for doing this to her, for not getting a grip, for getting drunk AND high, but most of all for not sticking to her side when she had needed him. "I'm so sorry, Lizzie," he spoke in a low voice. "I'm sorry. I don't know what else to say. There's no excuse."

Liz shook her head. "Just go."

Red let his head hang and started to turn. "Just one thing. I would never discuss anything we do in private with anyone else, and I most certainly would never cheat on you. If you never believe anything else that comes from my mouth, you can believe in my faithfulness. I would never stray, would never even consider doing anything with anyone outside this relationship." He nodded to himself and started walking away, when a wave of dizziness hit him and he had to lean heavily against her doorframe.

She was at his side in a matter of seconds. "Ray!"

"It's alright." He waved her off. "I'm okay. I'll just get going."

Liz had already wound her arm around his waist and started pulling him towards the bathroom. "Let's get you into the tub. You stink."

His girlfriend never ceased to amaze him. She went from soft to hard… and then soft again in an only short time span.

Together, they got him into the bathroom, and Liz drew him a bath before she started on the buttons of his shirt. He just watched her quietly, wondering what she was up to. The tub had filled while she had undressed him to his boxer shorts and took a moment to study his chest. He was beautiful, there was no denying that.

"Get in," she said softly and he followed her lead.

He recoiled as soon as his foot hit the water. "That is ice cold!"

"I know. Get in."

"No way, Lizzie! It's not just cold, it's freezing!"

She rolled her eyes. "Stop being a baby. The cold water helps with the headache. Get in. Now."

He pursed his lips, disliking what she had planned, but she was right. Biting the inside of his cheek, he slowly climbed into the tub, groaning at the uncomfortable feeling of the cold water against his warm skin. Before he could change his mind, he quickly sat, groaning softly, only opening his eyes, when he felt her lips in his hair. Liz took a sponge and dipped it into the water, running it over the back of his neck.

"Lizzie… you're the best." She snorted a little at that. "No, I mean it. You're the perfect girlfriend," he told her, and she stopped at his words. Afraid he had done something to upset her again, he looked up, noticing how she wouldn't lift her eyes from his shoulder. He knew for a fact that she wasn't studying his tattoo at that moment. "Sweetheart?"

"Did you mean it?"

"What?"

"Last night… you said I was perfect."

He smiled then, glad he hadn't been totally out of it as it seemed. He gently took her hand in his, lacing their fingers together and pulling her closer, so he could see her face. "Sweetheart, you are perfect... And I love you." Her eyes flew to his at his confession. "I love you more than I've ever loved anyone before." He smiled at the wave of emotion that he could see in her eyes. "I'm sorry, Lizzie. I'm an idiot."

"You are," she agreed with a smile of her own.

"But I'm your idiot."

"You are."

His grin just widened at that. He wanted to say something else when a violent shiver ran through his body. "I'm glad you let me keep my boxers on, because I can tell you, this water is freezing and it doesn't do my… ego any good."

"Ray!" She exclaimed.

"What?"

Liz shook her head while laughing. "I think your ego's big enough."

"You could always check," he offered, waggling his eyebrows.

"You're unbelievable!"

"Well, maybe not check now, but later, when I get warm again."

She took the sponge and threw it into his face, laughing again at his startled expression.

"Cheeky," he said with a grin. "Give me a kiss, sweetheart."

She smiled back at him and leaned forward to place a soft kiss on his lips. "I love you, too," she told him when they parted.