Darkest Hour:

An Until Dawn Collaboration

Chapter 6:

Unrequited

a/n: This chapter is 100% backstory - the events that lead to the night of the prank. Thank you Guest Reader for all of your kind, insightful reviews! We appreciate it!

February 1st, 2013 - Second Lodge Trip

"Who's bright idea was it to play Spin the Bottle?" Beth asked dryly as Josh laid a newly empty beer bottle on the kitchen island that they all stood around.

"The question is not who, dear sister of mine, but why," Josh answered regally. Even though it was hardly an answer Beth wanted, she knew better than to egg the question any further.

"Get in the spirit of things, Beth. Dark lodge, candlelight… and maybe you'll get to suck face with someone you've always wanted to," Mike said, leaning in close to Beth until his forehead touched her temple. He lowered his voice so only she could hear, "You might get Saaaa-"

"Sttooooppp," she whispered harshly behind her beer bottle even though she couldn't help the smile that curved her lips. Even the thought of it made her a curious mess.

Mike grinned, "Awww, aren't you just so adorable when you blush?" He quickly leaned away from her and grabbed hold of the empty bottle, raising it high in the air, "Who's brave enough to go first? No one? Okay, I'll be the big man."

He placed the bottle back on the table and gave it a hard spin. Everyone cheered like they were watching a football game, and then hollered even more when the bottle pointed at Emily, much to Hannah's dismay.

Emily was new, only swooping in to Lincoln High their senior year, joining the group and 'destroying my life,' as Hannah had said the moment she saw the first flash of chemistry between Emily and Mike.

"The bottle agrees with what I've been saying for months!" Beth announced, getting into the game and happy that Mike might now actually make a move on Emily. However, right after she said it, she felt a stab in her chest; her sisterly connection with Hannah suddenly had her feeling a mix of joy for Mike, but deep sadness for Hannah. And she hated feeling split like that.

Hannah's heart clenched at not only knowing that Mike was about to kiss Emily, but that her sister supported it. How could she?

Emily stepped around the island, a smirk on her lips as she walked right up to Mike, "You gonna show me a good time, stud?"

Mike didn't waste a second after chugging back his beer to then grab her around the waist and press his lips to hers. She met him eagerly, and he was surprised to feel a small jolt run through his body, a giddy eagerness to taste more of her. Especially when Emily placed a hand on his chest and pushed him away just enough to speak to him with their lips still touching, "Save a little for later."

"Damn, girl," his voice came out low, lust in his eyes as she flirtatiously turned away from him. Maybe it had just been too long, or maybe he already drank too much, or maybe he was actually really attracted to her, but he suddenly couldn't wait to get her alone.

"My turn!" Beth called out, grabbing the bottle and spinning. She was feeling Mike's sudden high and wanted to hang onto it, to be on that high with him, even though she had no idea what she would actually do if it landed on who she really wanted it to. And she needed to take the focus away from Mike and Emily, at least for Hannah's sake.

It landed on Jess.

"Um, yeah, no way am I kissing a girl," Jessica blatantly denied, "There's like... rules that prevent that, right?"

Mike was about to speak up about she was crazy for not wanting to, but then Beth said, "No way I'd wanna kiss those augmented lips anyway."

The comment made everyone yell out burn noises, and Beth didn't even care that Jess was shooting daggers at her.

"Whatever," Jess said, grabbing hold of the bottle then spinning it, giggling when it landed on Josh, "Now that's a Washington I wouldn't mind gettin' dirty with."

Beth leaned over to Sam who was right next to her and said, "I hope he spits in her mouth."

Sam's face scrunched in disgust, "I think that was the most disturbing things you've ever said."

But instead, Josh only leaned down close to Jess but then stopped and shook his head, "Nah. If you get to pass once, I do, too. I want to save myself for someone… a little more pure." Josh turned away from her and grabbed the bottle before anyone else could comprehend that he'd just turned down the hottest girl. But when the bottle pointed to Sam, Josh's face lit up, "Now that's more like it!"

Jess folded her arms with a slight pout, not at all liking that she was at the receiving end of not one but two jokes made by the Washington siblings. Her eyes glared at Beth, then at Josh, then at Emily and how she was staring at Mike. Emily had another thing coming if she thought she could just swipe up the hottest guy in school. She'd been steadily crafting and cultivating her seduction of Michael Munroe for years now.

"Oh, God…" Sam uttered with wide, watching eyes as Josh made his way over to her slowly.

"Relish in this moment, Sammy," he gave a half smirk, his voice low with passion, "The fate of the bottle has spoken. It's not just everyday you get to-."

"Just do it already, Washington!" Sam interrupted, not wanting this to go on any longer. But she didn't want to use her skip on him, because truthfully, there wasn't anyone in the group she'd rather kiss. Kissing Chris would have been too weird, she hardly even knew Matt, and Mike was seething with cooties, she imagined.

"Sooo impatient," Josh droned, running a finger over the curve of her face before resting it under her chin. Sam couldn't deny that his touch and the dark look in his eyes were doing something to her. She allowed him to tilt her head and she closed her eyes, staying completely still when his lips pressed so softly to hers, she wondered if that was all it was going to be. And she almost felt herself getting lost in the moment…

But then he grabbed the back of her head and pressed their mouths harder together as he stuck his tongue down her throat. Her yelp was muffled between them, but she was able to push him away hard and quick, her hand wiping over her bruised lips, "Fuck you, Josh!"

Josh laughed which caused most of the others to as well, save for Beth and Hannah who were both glaring at Josh disapprovingly.

"C'mon, Josh, that was uncalled for," Hannah shook her head.

"You okay?" Beth asked Sam even though it was obvious that Sam was fuming.

"Fucking hate your brother, sometimes…" Sam said, but was really trying to just let it die down before everyone remembered it as the time 'Sam got pissed and overreacted.' That was usually Hannah's forte.

"And by hate, I know you mean love," Josh said, making it worse.

"Okay, bro," Chris jumped in, knowing how far Josh could go and not wanting to deal with those repercussions. He grabbed the bottle and couldn't help but shoot a quick glance over to Ashley as he did. She had hardly said anything all night, and he knew that she was a little shy and not used to being around everyone yet, but he really wanted to break the ice with her. So he prayed that his dream would come true.

The bottle landed on Hannah.

Hannah wasn't even looking. She kept sneaking glances over to Mike, hating that he seemed to be suddenly infatuated with Emily. That burning desire in his eyes was how she always dreamed he would look at her, and seeing him giving that so easily away to someone else was tearing her up inside.

"Hannah!"

She snapped out of her thoughts and saw that everyone was looking at her. Beth pointed to the table and it was then that Hannah noticed the bottle had chosen her. And Chris was standing in front of her. He gave a half-hearted shrug, "You okay with this?"

She only hesitated for a quick moment before nodding. Maybe Mike would watch and then realize he was jealous and let her know all about it later in the night. She stood up on her tiptoes and Chris leaned down to meet her halfway, their mouths meeting unexpectedly fast. It was a very tight-lipped and inexperienced kiss, but it gave them both an insight on what to expect.

They parted. Hannah casually turned to see Mike's reaction, but he hadn't even been looking. He was too busy chatting quietly with Emily, a big stupid grin on his face - he'd never looked at Hannah that way. She could almost see the hearts radiating off them like some cartoon.

Meanwhile, Chris side-eyed Ashley, a small smile lighting up his face when he saw that she looked a little uneasy as she bit her lip and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. Maybe he could talk to her later.

Maybe.

"Who's next?" Josh wondered, tipping the neck of the bottle in Sam's direction, "Sammy? Wanna try two for two?" he winked. Sam rolled her eyes, her cheeks pinkening and her ears burning. She hated the way everyone was looking at her.

"Ya know, I think I've kissed enough toads for one night, thank-you-very-much," she replied haughtily before she stomped off. "I'm going to take a bath and go to bed," she called out over her shoulder.

"Oh, uh... is that an invitation, Sammy?" Josh shouted after her, quite amused with himself until he noticed Beth's death-glare in his direction. He shrugged, his eyes wide and innocent, "what!? C'mon, you know I'm just playing with her-"

"Go. Apologize. Now," Beth demanded, rubbing her temples like an exhausted teacher with too many unruly students. Josh chuckled and looked around for some kind of back up, only to see everyone was either in agreement with Beth, or not paying attention at all. He flipped the bottle in the air and caught it in his hand before slamming it down on the counter with a thud.

"Fiiiine," he muttered, hurrying after Sam up the lodge stairs. "Yo! Sammy! Wait up!"

Beth let out a long sigh, turning towards her friends just in time to see Hannah's crestfallen expression. She was still watching on longingly as Emily and Mike quietly slinked off together into a guest room. Beth knew this wasn't going to go over well. She placed her hand on Hannah's shoulder, only for her sister to shrug it off.

"Don't touch me," Hannah hissed. Beth could see the beginnings of tears in her sister's eyes before she stormed off to her bedroom.

"Great," Beth said, throwing her hands up in frustration. Could this possibly get any worse? Beth looked around at the remaining faces, and the only eyes to met hers belonged to Chris. "What am I supposed to do about that?" she asked him rhetorically. Chris sighed, stuffing his hands in his pockets.

"I'll go check on her," he offered, turning and following after Hannah to her room.

Josh made it to the bathroom door just before Sam shut it. He stuck out his foot to keep it from closing and leaned against the doorframe with a smug smile on his lips. Sam folded her arms, looking less than thrilled that he followed her.

"What?" she snapped. His smile widened at her discomfort - he liked the way it rouged her cheeks and narrowed her eyes, skeptically. There was something addicting to him about getting under her skin.

"Well, first of all," he started. Josh brought his hand up and pulled a chewed piece of pink bubblegum from his mouth, offering it to her, "I think this is yours?" Sam recoiled, her face twisting with disgust before she slapped his hand away. That had been the gum she was chewing on before spin the bottle...

"Sick, Josh." Even still, she laughed anyway. That was one of his favorite things about her. "Other than being disgusting, why are you here?"

"I'm here to apologize," Josh told her before shoving the gum back into his mouth, happily. Her loss.

"Fine. Whatever. Now go." Josh clicked his tongue at her, shaking his head. He adjusted his stance and folded his arms to show he wasn't going anywhere.

"Not 'til you tell me you accept my apology." Sam moaned and let her head fall back, irritatedly.

"Josh, seriously. Just leave me alone!" She watched as his expression shifted from cocky to concerned, his eyebrows narrowing.

"Sam, c'mon. Don't be like that. I won't be able to sleep tonight knowing you're mad at me. Please." Sam stared at his face, seemingly unconvinced as she chewed on her cheek. He could tell she was trying to determine his sincerity.

"You can be a real jerk sometimes, you know that?"

"Definitely," he nodded. A smile crooked his lips again and reached his eyes, this time. He leaned in toward her, "but doesn't just a little part of you like that, Sammy?" Sam shifted on her feet, straightening her posture.

"Not particularly…"

"In all seriousness… that was a dick move. And I'm sorry. Please don't be mad at me. It will taint my memory of our first kiss forever and I'd hate to live with that." Sam felt herself smirk despite herself, so she hurled a punch into his shoulder.

"Quit it. You're never serious," she accused.

"I'm dead serious, Sam," he told her in a tone that was far too flat to be anything but the truth. She swallowed after a moment, giving him a little nod.

"Okay. Fine. I guess I forgive you," she said quietly.

"Oh, you guess?"

"I forgive you," she repeated with more conviction. He looked relieved. "Can I take a bath now? Please?" Josh reached for the hem at the bottom of his shirt, lifting it slightly.

"Okay, if you insist. Let's do this."

"OUT!" Sam shouted, shoving him back but still giggling. As she shut the door on him, Josh laughed too.

"Okay, I'll take a raincheck. Next time!"

"Goodbye, Josh," he heard her call through the door. Josh just shook his head and chuckled to himself before heading downstairs to rejoin the party.

Beth approached Hannah's open bedroom door and lightly rapped on it. She could see Hannah sitting on the end of her bed hugging onto a pillow while Chris leaned uncomfortably against Hannah's dresser. She could imagine Hannah had just given him quite an earful and it showed on his face.

"Hey. Can I come in?" Beth asked, only for Hannah to squeeze onto the pillow tighter and look away from her sister. Without a definitive answer, Beth stepped inside the obnoxiously pink and purple room. "Listen, Hannah-"

"I can't believe you did that," Hannah interrupted, shaking her head sadly. Beth's eyes shifted from Chris to Hannah and back. She swallowed nervously, knowing Hannah could really self-destruct when pushed.

"Chris, can you give us a minute?" Beth requested, and Chris couldn't seem to get out of the room fast enough once he'd actually been given permission. Hannah sat in silence, feeling hurt and betrayed by the one person she was supposed to trust more than anything. Beth ventured further into the room, sitting beside Hannah even though she knew Hannah wished she'd just go away.

"Look… I know you're upset. But Hannah, you have to understand-"

"No, you need to understand!" Hannah snapped back, standing abruptly and tossing her pillow aside. "I know you don't 'get it' because you don't care about relationships or love o-or anything, for that matter! But you had no right to set Mike up with Emily!"

"Oh, my God!" Beth exclaimed, running her fingers through her hair and lightly clenching. "Do- do you even hear yourself, right now? Mike is a big boy, he makes his own decisions!"

"No, he doesn't! Not without the opinion of his BFF, Beth!" Hannah scoffed, stomping to the other side of the room and away from her sister.

"Hannah, don't you think if Mike wanted to date you, he would?!" Beth shot back. She tried to ignore the hurt on Hannah's face when she said that, but her sister needed to hear it. She was tired of catering to her delusional fantasies - it was really going to get her hurt one day. "You're acting like a little brat! Grow. Up. You're going to meet hundreds of thousands of guys in your life! Mike is just one! You need to let it go!"

"Get out!" Hannah demanded, pointing towards her bedroom door.

"You're going to need to face it, sometime, Hannah," Beth said, her voice softer now. But the damage had been done.

"I said get out!" Hannah repeated, tears dangerously close to spilling over. Knowing there was no reasoning with her when she was like this, Beth stood, heading towards her sister's door.

"You know I'm right," Beth told her, simply. "I'm sorry Hannah. But you need to move on."

March 1st, 2013 - Washington House

"I have something to tell you."

Beth turned her head toward Mike when he said this. They were sitting up in her bed watching a pretty awesome movie, and it was just getting to a good part, so she knew Mike really had something for her.

"Hit me."

"Emily and I officially started dating."

Beth instantly broke into a large smile and she grabbed his arm and shook him in her excitement, "Finally! I'm so happy for you! Tell me how it happened."

Mike grinned at her enthusiasm, "Geez, Beth, chill. You're acting like a fangirl."

She pinched him under his armpit and felt accomplished when he yelped in pain, "Tell me. How it happened."

He rubbed his sore spot, "Well I don't think you deserve to know now, but...well, yeah, there's really nothing to tell. We feel like we hit it off and wanted to see where this could go."

"What did you say to her? You know you should have filtered it through me first. You probably messed the whole thing up."

"I made sure to tell her that you and I are best friends and that she's not allowed to get jealous of how close we are."

Beth pinched him again, her eyes wide, "That's the kinda shit I'm talking about!"

He narrowed his eyes at her, holding his hand over his sensitive skin now, "Jesus hairy yellow snowballs! That's not what you're supposed to do! You're supposed to say-," Mike raised his voice to his feminine impersonation, "Oh, Michael, that's the sweetest thing ever, please friend-marry me!"

"In your dreams." Beth ignored his mocking tone, "What did Emily say?"

Mike shrugged, "She just said that she knew that and that she just wanted to be with me."

"Aww…" Beth smiled and cocked her head to the side, "See? That's the kind of thing you deserve to hear, no matter what stupid shit you say."

After Mike left, however, the gravity of the situation began to weigh down on Beth like a boulder. It was Friday night… Hannah only had two blissful, unaware days until Monday morning came and at school the news would really hit her - that is, if she didn't find out some other way first.

Beth's stomach was in knots as she tried to come up with the best way to let Hannah know, gently. People had a habit of shooting the messenger in situations like this and even now Hannah had barely spoken to Beth since the Lodge party. She figured all her sister needed was time, but this whole sulking act had been going on for a whole month now.

'Whatever,' she thought to herself, sucking in a breath. She needed to just go down into the rec room and tell her - it was just like ripping off a bandaid. Maybe now Hannah would finally get the closure she needed to put Mike behind her.

Beth wasn't too excited, however, to see that Hannah wasn't alone when she found her. Josh, Sam, Chris and Hannah were all in the middle of a game of Go-Fish when Beth came in. Of course Josh quickly invited Beth to join, but she politely declined.

"Um… Hannah?" she started out timidly, but Hannah wouldn't even look at her. She merely kept her back to her and let out a short, uninterested, 'hmm?' Beth felt her nerves growing and for a moment reconsidered just letting Hannah find out for herself. She would be fine. Eventually. She couldn't stay mad at her forever… right?

"Hannah, can we talk for a minute?" Beth tried again, ignoring the rest of group's concerned faces.

"You alright, B?" Josh asked, particularly troubled by Beth's demeanor. Beth gave him a quick nod to ease his worry. She reached forward to tap Hannah's shoulder.

"Hann, seriously. I need to talk to you-"

"You can talk to me here," Hannah said flatly, still not even so much as turning to look at her sister. Beth felt fiery anger flare through her - was Hannah really so stubborn that she would act like this? And in front of everyone?

"Hannah-" Sam began wearily, ever the diplomat. But Beth had enough of this.

"I think we should talk in private," Beth said, trying not grit her teeth. Hannah finally whipped around in her chair, facing Beth.

"I said you can just tell me here, why is it that big of a deal?" Hannah snapped, laughing nervously at the end when she realized how rude her tone came out in front of company. "Seriously. What do you want?"

Beth stared at their uneasy faces, her jaw clenching as she swallowed.

Fine, Hannah. You asked for it.

"Mike has a girlfriend," she spat out. It took a few seconds for the words to process in Hannah's mind, and when they did Beth watched as her eyes softened and glazed over, her lip ever-so-slightly quivering. "Emily. Emily is Mike's girlfriend, now. So..."

Beth could see Josh, Chris and Sam brace themselves for the worst. But instead of enduring Hannah's inevitable wrath, they were all just there, sitting in a horrible, awkward, painful silence.

Beth cleared her throat, shifting her weight on her feet uncomfortably, "Uh yeah. So. There. Thought you should know. You know. From someone who loves and cares about you instead of finding out, like online or someth-"

"Why… why are you doing this?" Hannah asked with the smallest sob in her throat. Beth's eyes widened, her cheeks hot and her breath short.

"What-?"

"A-are you just trying to hurt me?" Hannah wondered, and Beth felt herself almost topple over at the accusation. She searched the other's faces for some kind of reassurance, but they all just gazed down at their cards, uncomfortably.

"What? Are you serious? Hannah, of course not-"

"Why would you tell me that, then?"

"I told you because I thought you needed to know!" Beth nearly cried. She wanted to. Of course her intentions were misconstrued - why had she ever thought this was a good idea? Even if it was the right thing to do.

"Well. Thanks," Hannah said curtly, giving her sister a tight-lipped smile that was hardly sincere. She dropped her cards on the table, standing abruptly. "No, really. I appreciate the heads up-"

"You are kidding, right?" While Beth was still slightly dumbfounded, she was surprised Hannah was handling the news so calmly. "You can't possibly be mad at me over this-"

"Hey no. It's cool," she gave a small shrug. "As long as Mike's not pining of you anymore, right? At least now you can just be friends with him without constantly leading him on-"

"Hannah!" Sam scolded, and she could hear Josh grumble, 'not cool, Hann,' after. Beth stepped toward her sister angrily, getting close to her face.

"That is so not fair. I have told you a million times that I have no feelings for Mike in that way, nor do I want to. It is not my fault the bottle landed on Emily that night and not on you-" Beth defended.

"Hey. No, it's cool. The bottle was just agreeing with what you'd been saying for months, right?" Hannah quoted. Beth's mouth dropped open to respond, but nothing would come out. "I'm going to bed," Hannah announced, turning to head to her bedroom.

May 23rd, 2013 - Prom

The next few months had been uncomfortable, at best. Hannah hadn't gotten over Mike and Emily dating, and she certainly hadn't gotten over her sister not just encouraging it, but maybe even facilitating the conditions for their relationship to exist.

But that couldn't matter, today.

It was the day of prom and, even though a few of them were actually going as dates (Mike and Emily, and Ashley and Matt), they all decided to go as a large group of friends. Beth made sure to take plenty of pictures. One of her favorites it when she told her four of her most favorite people in the world to be in a photo together: Hannah, Sam, Mike, and Emily. She swore she would cherish it forever.

Beth kept telling Hannah how pretty she looked but that she needed to smile more and at least pretend to have a good time for everyone else's sake. But Hannah only gave her a fast smile in a bratty sort of way. Beth only shook her head. Even though they had fought back in February, Hannah still blamed her for rooting for Mike and Emily. Beth wished she would just get over it already, but she knew her sister could hold a grudge for a long time. When Beth first chopped off her hair, Hannah stayed upset with her for over two months.

And as much as Beth wanted to call truce with Hannah, she didn't have the patience for it tonight. She just wanted to have a good time. And she really loved how Sam stayed by her side so much. Even Sam was having a hard time dealing with Hannah's attitude. Jessica wasn't helping matters any, as she overly complimented how great Mike and Emily looked together.

But actually getting to prom, where they could all start mingling with other school acquaintances, helped. Matt started talking to a lot of his football friends, so Ashley stayed with Hannah. Hannah allowed herself to talk about some of her frustrations with Ashley since Ashley seemed so willing to listen and agree with her.

At some point during the night, Mike came over to Beth and Sam and asked Beth to dance. Beth shot a quick glance over to Hannah, but then quickly took Mike's hand. She hated having to worry about what Hannah was thinking or feeling.

"You look very handsome tonight," Beth said with a grin, straightening his bowtie.

"You ain't so bad yourself, gorgeous," Mike flattered, his hand feeling warm against her bare back. They swayed to the song for a few beats before he asked, "Why don't you ask Sam to dance?"

"I...thought about it," Beth admitted, glancing over to Sam who seemed to be enjoying a moment by herself at the punch bowl.

Mike grinned and leaned down to her ear, "She would be a fool to say no."

Beth eyed him, clearly saying You're my best friend, you have to say that.

And he said Damn fucking right.

As they danced, Jessica made her way over to Emily, her skin tight dress leaving little to the imagination. "I'm sooo jealous of their relationship."

Emily looked at Jess, watching the blonde eye up Mike and Beth, "They're just friends."

Jessica laughed sarcastically, almost like she was mocking Emily's pathetic view, "Oh, Em...they might be...for now. But all the best love stories start out with people like them. Don't you think?"

Emily eyed her wearily, "What are you trying to say?"

But Jess only shrugged, "Just lookin' out for you. I would hate to see you get heartbroken."

Turning away to grab herself a cup of water, Emily tried her best to ignore Jessica and her assumptions. Mike was straight with her from the get go about what he had with Beth. Sure, there were times that she knew Mike cancelled their plans because he was going to hang out with Beth instead, but she also did that a few times to him. It wasn't like she didn't have friends of her own.

Still.

Emily looked over her shoulder to see how tightly Mike was holding onto Beth.

Jessica walked by Hannah and Ashley, asking a simple, "Who you more jealous of?"

With a little more pushing from Mike, Beth finally asked Sam to dance.

"You haven't danced a single time yet tonight," Beth urged, holding out her hand, "I know it's not really your thing, but...want to make it your thing at least once? With me?"

Sam gave a tight smile, her first instinct to say no. And it wasn't even about Beth being the one asking her to dance. Sam didn't give two shits what anyone else thought of her or what she did, she just really hated to be a part of something like this. She only agreed to actually go to prom to support Hannah, but Hannah was hard to talk to when she was in a fowl mood. But Beth looked so hopeful that Sam didn't have the heart to turn her down.

So she grabbed onto Beth's hand firmly and led her to the dancefloor. As soon as Beth placed her hands on Sam's shoulder and waist, she could hear Mike cheering from all the way across the room.

"Idiot…" she mumbled, but secretly thanked him from the bottom of her heart for being her person that cheered her on no matter what.

"So how's Josh been doing?" Sam asked after a brief moment of nothing but the song, "It's still sometimes weird not having him around all the time."

It was obvious that Sam was just trying to make light conversation, but it kind of hurt that she would bring up Josh during their dance. But Beth didn't want it to get to her, "He's fine. Actually passing his classes, surprise surprise!"

The two girls laughed and fell into a comfortable silence. Sam looked around the room and Beth did too, momentarily, but then got the courage to look straight ahead into Sam's green eyes.

"You look amazing tonight, by the way," Beth let out, hoping that she wasn't blushing as much as it felt like she was.

Sam blinked and then was looking into Beth's deep black eyes and it felt like she was looking into an abyss. Smiling, Sam chuckled softly and looked away, too embarrassed to say anything. She then noticed that a lot of people were staring at them.

"Why are they all looking?"

Beth didn't even look away from her, just grinned and said, "Because we look so good together."

Sam's heart fluttered to her throat; the feeling scared her and she abruptly dropped her hands from Beth and stepped back. Beth's arms hung at her sides as well, waiting for Sam to call her out for what she was, but then Sam cocked her head to the side, "Let's go get a drink."

September 19th, 2013 - Washington House

It was the night before everyone was due to be heading off to college (or back to college, for Josh and Chris). Josh was actually excited that everyone else had retired early to get ready, and it was just himself and Chris. They were lounging in the family room drinking the last of the beers, basking in the feeling of being home and not having to share common areas with a million other students.

"Meet any lovely ladies?" Josh turned the subject from planning their next lodge meeting to Chris' love life, something Chris always thought he showed a little too much interest in.

"Not really," Chris admitted, "Freshman year was a little rough. Most of the girls I think I could like don't seem all that interested in school."

Josh chuckled, "Because they want to party! You're supposed to take them out and show 'em a good time."

"Oh, and is that what you do?" Chris shot back with a smirk.

"Um, hell yes! I don't wanna brag, but college girls really seem to dig my grungy, broody personality. Say the right thing just once, and they're ready to go."

Chris swirled the bottle around in his hand, wondering if what Josh was saying was true. He grew up with Josh; he knew how far he could stretch the truth at times, not that he faulted him for that. But Chris never really pretended to want more than a normal relationship, where he could call just one girl his steady girlfriend and be happy with it.

"What about Sam?" Chris asked casually.

Josh took a long drink, waving his free hand about, "Relax. I'm laying the groundwork, bro. All in due time. We have to get a little more life experience under our belts before we can see eye to eye."

Chris couldn't help but laugh and shake his head. He could never tell how serious Josh was about Sam, and even when he asked him if he kept joking about it to cover up what he really felt, Josh only followed up with even more joking.

Before the conversation could continue any further, the two heard shouting trickling down from upstairs.

"Is that Hannah and Beth?" Chris wondered with surprise. Growing up, he rarely heard them fight. When he heard them arguing earlier that year at the lodge, he thought that would be the worst it would ever get. Apparently, it didn't end there. They had definitely seemed strained this last year, but everyone figured they just needed time and space.

"What the hell is this about, now?" Josh seemed just as shocked to hear them, but deep down he already knew the answer - there was only one thing his sisters fought about, and he'd had about enough of it. He jumped over the back of the couch and ran up the stairs to assess the situation. The girls were in Beth's room, and he was almost deafened by the shrill screams that were mostly coming from Hannah.

"I can't believe how selfish you've become!" Hannah yelled at Beth, her face bright red and her fists clenched.

"Me?!" Beth said with shock and disdain, "You're the one that's only ever thinking about yourself! 'Oh, poor me. Poor me! I'll be forever alone if I can't have-'."

"You're the one that's always bringing him around and hanging on him, even after he got a girlfriend!"

"How many times do I have to tell you-!"

"Enough!" Josh stepped in between them, his arms outstretched to direct them to their separate corners, "This has gone on for way too long! What has gotten into you two?"

Hannah stepped forward and glared at Beth, "She's always accusing me of doing the exact same things she's doing!"

"Accusing you?" Beth laughed maniacally, "You are so o-."

"Seriously, stop it!" Josh used his deeper voice to talk over them, "Are you guys really arguing like this over some stupid guy? And here I thought I had the two coolest sisters ever."

"There wasn't a problem until Beth started to-."

"I didn't start anything!"

Hannah's emotions started getting the best of her, and tears sprang to her eyes. Jealousy, anger, and disappointment emitted from her. "I can't believe you," she choked out before turning on her heel and leaving the room. She hated that she always cried during argument...she could never win.

Josh watched her go before turning to Beth, his mouth open in shock, "I've never seen you like this."

Beth raised her hands in the air, "Really? What am I being like?"

"You're not being empathetic toward Hannah like you've always been," Josh said, taking a step back to show her that he didn't want to argue with her either, "And you know our sister. She needs that…"

"Yeah, well, maybe it's time we stop babying her!" Beth yelled past Josh, hoping her words trailed down the hall and hit Hannah before she locked herself in her bedroom. Josh took his sister's shoulders, pushing her back a bit and forcing her gaze to meet his. "What!" Beth snapped, shrugging his hands off her.

Josh's eyes were huge, the way they always got when he was faced with confrontation, "whoa, dude… what is your deal?"

"I just- I'm tired of her always sulking around. It's been like seven months! She needs to get over it."

"No, Mike and Emily have been dating for seven months. Her insane crush on Mike has gone on much longer and you know that-"

"Josh-" Beth growled, about to scold him for scolding her over the technicality. Josh grabbed her shoulders again and gave her a light shake.

"Hey! Chill out, dude! I'm not saying I disagree, but, Beth… you can't just force someone not to have feelings for someone. A-and it's not like you're helping the situation."

"What is that supposed to mean?!"

"You always have him around. It's just twisting the knife, you know?" Beth wiped her dark bangs from for forehead, suddenly hot and clammy.

"Oh, okay, so I'm just supposed to stop being friends with Mike because Hannah can't handle herself?" she shot back at him.

The irony in her words was not lost on her, since in reality she'd been harboring a dangerous crush on Sam for a while now. Hannah having her around all the time didn't make it any easier, either. Especially when she'd catch Josh trying to flirt with her or, more rarely, thought she saw Sam flirting back. It was really beginning to wear on her, and worse, it was making her feel animosity toward Josh for actually standing a chance with her. She really had no room to come down on Hannah over the exact same thing.

Josh's shoulders slumped as he thought for a moment, giving her a little shrug, "I mean… no. But you could be a little more sensitive. You know Hannah's always felt things too hard. She can't help the way she feels…"

Beth listened to her brother's words, realizing that not only was he right about her and Mike, but he was outlining her own frustrations as well. She'd always prided herself on being so balanced and not letting emotions get the better of her. Truth was, when it came to Sam, Beth really wasn't much better than Hannah at this point - she was just better at hiding.

"I get it. I do," Beth admitted, finally calming herself down.

"Good. Now let's just...move on, alright?" Josh said, albeit a bit naively. He and Chris had had little fights here and there over the years, and the whole "let's just move on" sentiment always worked for them, but Beth knew she would probably have to make a real effort with Hannah to be able to move on from here. "We're all leaving for college soon… is this how you want to leave things?" Beth opened her mouth to speak, but instead just shook her head sadly.

Tomorrow, Beth and Hannah would be three hours and 200 miles away from each other - it came up so fast she hadn't even had time to anticipate it. Had they really just spend the last months they had together in a stupid fight?

Then it dawned on her - it might have been a stupid fight to Beth, but it was never stupid to Hannah. And that was the problem.

Josh hugged her before leaving her room, not wanting to be in her space anymore. He could tell he'd given her a lot to think about. He walked back downstairs to see a still fuming Hannah pacing back and forth. Chris was sitting on the arm of the couch, once again a silent sounding board for all of Hannah's woes.

"...I mean, you get it, right?" she asked Chris, not even awaiting his response before she kept rambling on, "of course you do. What with Ashley and all… I think you might be the only one who actually gets it. How's that going by the way?"

"No wonder I didn't hear your bedroom door slamming," Josh joked before Chris could answer Hannah's question. He walked right past them and went into the kitchen to get another beer.

"See! He doesn't get it!" Hannah lamented to Chris dramatically, her arm outstretched in Josh's direction. "All you do is make jokes about everything!" Hannah yelled toward the kitchen, still obviously far too upset for jokes. Without another word, she took off toward her bedroom up the stairs.

"Hannah," Chris tried, tiredly.

"Hey, I'm on your side!" Josh assured, calling after her up the stairs. He came back to the living room shaking his head. "Was it something I said?" He handed Chris a fresh beer.

Chris shook his head and slid down into the seat of the couch, "She's pretty bummed, man. And I thought I had it bad for Ashley. This Mike thing is straight up torturing her. She probably just needs to be alone."

"She was just down here with you…"

"Yeah, but I know better than to say anything. You just gotta nod your head and let them run out of gas."

"Bro…" Josh pressed his palms together and bowed, "Teach me your silent ways."

Chris stood and mimicked his bow, "You have much to learn, young grasshopper."

December 20th, 2013 - Christmas Shopping

Josh: [1:32 pm]: Hungover. Not coming. Sry.

Hannah and Beth got the text at the exact same time as they waited in the foyer of the mall. The three Washington siblings had concrete plans to get their Christmas shopping out of the way now that they were all back home for Christmas break, but Josh was apparently bailing.

'Shit,' Beth cursed under her breath, side-glancing at Hannah, who seemed just as annoyed with the change in plans. They were both equally hoping Josh could act as a buffer in their awkward mall outing - the one which they both planned to pretend as though nothing had been wrong all this time.

Their phones beeped again:

Josh: [1:33 pm]: Pick me up something for mom pls. Already got dad a watch.

"Should we just go home?" Hannah suggested quietly, hoisting her strap of her purse back up on her shoulder. Beth briefly considered it, but was tired of the two of them avoiding each other. They shared a womb, for God's sake. This was getting ridiculous.

"No. No, Hannah, c'mon," Beth said, turning to face her sister for what felt like the first time in forever. "It… it'll be fun," she said, trying not to wince. Hannah crooked an eyebrow skeptically, highly doubting that could be true after the year they'd had. God, had it already been almost a year?

"Okay," Hannah relented, sliding her foot across the squeaky floor. She nodded, tucking her long hair behind her ear and forcing a small smile, "no, you're right. Let's just get this over with." She was referring to the Christmas shopping, but the double meaning was not lost on either of them.

The two girls turned and walked silently through the busy mall, the sound of bad Christmas carols almost drowned out over the hustle and bustle of the last minute shoppers. They each thought desperately for something to say, anything, but nothing would come. It felt so foreign, like they'd forgotten what it was like to be sisters. Beth led them into an expensive boutique with things their mom might like.

"How's school?" Beth finally settled on, generically. Hannah glanced at Beth for a moment before she cleared her throat.

"Um… it's good," was her vague reply.

"Enjoying your classes?" Hannah nodded, so Beth pushed on, "What classes are you taking next term?"

"Uh…" Hannah looked to the ceiling, trying to remember. "I'm finishing off my prerequisites, so… I have Algebra 95, an art class for fun, then I have Intro to Writing a research paper - which will really suck because I heard the final in that class is a 30 page paper-"

"Ouch. Do you already know what you want your topic to be?"

"I was thinking of doing a deconstruction of Romeo and Juliet. Sam suggested something on the awfulness of SeaWorld. I haven't totally decided." Beth didn't respond to the mention of Sam's name, but it made her stomach do a flip. She was really hoping all this time away at separate colleges would help her feelings die down, and in a way, it did. While she was away at school, meeting new people and getting into college life, she had been distracted.

Being home, however, everything just came flooding back.

"Think mom would like this?" Hannah asked, holding up a cashmere sweater with pearl beading around the neck. Beth scrunched up her face and shook her head.

"Nahhh," the girls said in unison, giggling a bit afterward. Then, their phones beeped again.

Josh [1:40pm]: pick me up something for Sammy-cakes too. I'll give u cash when u get home. Make it good.

"Is he serious?" Beth scoffed, but she already knew the answer. Of course he was serious. She had a sneaking suspicion Josh convinced Hannah to buy Sam's gift every year. Hannah shrugged, however, not thinking much of it.

"How are your classes going?" Hannah asked, sifting through the rack of mom sweaters and turtlenecks. "Meet anyone?"

"I've met lots of people," Beth replied evenly. "Why? Did you?" Her smile grew exponentially when she saw Hannah's. She shoved the blouse she was looking at back on the rack. "Shut. Up. Tell me everything. What's his name?"

"It's no one," Hannah replied embarrassedly.

"Hmm… No One. What an exotic name. Is that... Filipino?" Beth joked. Hannah giggled, her head falling back.

"Stop. Really. His name is Darren and he's just someone I was studying with for a project last term…"

"...Aaaaand?" Beth teased. She was almost giddy over the fact that her sister was maybe, possibly, even slightly getting over her obsession with Mike. Maybe this next year was going to be a fresh start - maybe things could finally go back to normal. Afterall, nothing had been the same since the day Beth invited Mike over to their house.

"And nothing. Well, except… I was just thinking maybe he could… you know… come to our New Year's Eve party."

"Hannah, that's amazing!" Beth said, sounding far too enthusiastic for her own liking, but she didn't care. This new development was such a welcome change from what she'd heard before that Beth had to encourage Hannah on.

"I've missed this," Hannah said meekly, her eyes peeking over her black-framed glasses as she continued to rummage through the clothing racks. Beth smiled without teeth, her heart and cheeks warming.

"Me too," she told her.

The girls went on, stopping at store after store for the perfect presents. They laughed, shared some frozen yogurt, and for the first time in forever just existed as Hannah and Beth - no drama, no fighting, just the two of them. As they sat in the food court, Hannah even wondered aloud if that had been Josh's plan all along, but the two just laughed and decided that even he wasn't scheming enough to think that plan through.

"Shit, it's getting late," Beth announced after looking down at the time on their cell phone. It was only almost 4 pm, but they had to be back to wrap presents before their friends came over for the annual 'Friendsmas' party at the Washington's at 6.

"Wait, we still gotta pick something up for Sam from Josh-" Hannah remembered. Beth waved her hand at her sister.

"His fault for not thinking ahead," she said, but she knew Hannah wouldn't drop it until they found something. Beth's head fell back and she let out a groan. "Fine. Let's just go in here and grab something," she said, pointing to the nearest stop. Hannah just stared at her blankly.

"That's a pet store."

"Sam loves animals, right?"

"C'mon," Hannah laughed, dragging Beth across the aisle toward another boutique. "We'll just get her something in here."

The two girls searched the store for something when Beth realized she needed something for Sam as well.

"What do you think of this bracelet? I think Sam would love it," Hannah suggested holding up a silver band - she was right, it was just Sam's style. Beth couldn't bear the idea of Josh getting it for her, so she leapt at the chance.

"No. No, I'll get that for her."

"What?" Hannah said, her face painted with confusion at Beth's strangeness over the exchange.

"I just… I need to get her something anyway, you know?" Hannah didn't say anything more, just handed the bracelet to Beth. Beth eyed a display of colorful scarves nearby. Deciding that a scarf might be the least romantic gift of all time, she pointed them out to Hannah, "How about a scarf from Josh?"

Hannah thought for only a moment before nodding in agreement, "yeah. Yeah, that could be good. Which color?" Beth stared at the selection before her eyes fixated on a deep, true red. She reached out and touched it - it was soft. She smiled.

"Red. Red's always been her color."

The girls hurried home and Josh seemed pleased with the scarf they chose for him. Beth explained to him why she picked red, and he just gave a shrug and went back to playing his xBox. Hannah and Beth hurried upstairs to wrap their presents, talk, and overall just enjoy one another's company. It felt like normal for the first time in longer than either could remember.

It was short-lived, however.

When the other friends arrived at the house for the Christmas party, Hannah's mood had soured again. Beth could tell she'd been trying, but Mike and Emily being all lovey-dovey (or, Emily being all over Mike, more specifically), was clearly wearing on her, regardless of possibly meeting someone new.

And Beth couldn't say she blamed her - Josh had spent the better half of the evening getting drunk on spiked eggnog and chasing Sam around with the mistletoe. Their little game of chase around the room quickly turned into Josh tackling her on the couch and tickling her while Sam giggled and claimed she wanted him to stop… yet she didn't look so angry when he stole a quick kiss anyway.

"That's sexual assault," Beth blurted flatly from behind her own drink.

"Josh, knock it off," Sam said through her laughter, wiping her mouth. It was just a quick peck, but it was enough to get Beth's mood a little sulky as well.

Luckily Mike seemed to notice, so he found his way over to Beth to try and cheer her up - it was almost working, until it came time to open up presents.

Sam loved her present from from Beth; she quickly slipped the bracelet onto her wrist and looked up at Beth with shining eyes as she thanked her. Beth, however, couldn't help but feel another pang of jealousy when Sam opened the scarf that Josh had apparently gotten her.

"I love it," Sam smiled at him, but there was just a little something more in that smile. She knew every time Sam wrapped that scarf around her she was going to be thinking about Josh and his 'thoughtful' gift. Before Beth could even say anything to interrupt their little moment, Josh took the words right out of her mouth.

"Red's always been your color, Sammy," Josh told her with a sort of mock shyness that made Beth want to smack him - and she hated, hated, hated feeling this way. But even more, she hated the way he got up and walked to her, slipping the scarf from her hands and wrapping it sweetly around her neck as he told her dramatically, "And it pales in comparison to you."

"Oh hush it," Sam rolled her eyes pushing him in the shoulder. But she couldn't hide the blush on her cheeks.

That was the first time Beth really, truly saw it: the flash in Sam's eyes that said she might actually like him. That whatever Josh's strange feelings for her might be, there was a definite chance she felt it, too.

"Oh my God," Emily said loud enough that everyone's attention fell on her. She was sitting on Mike's lap, holding on to whatever gift he'd just unwrapped. "Who got you that?"

Mike checked the card, "uh… Hannah." He took the small object out of Emily's hands, admiring it. It was a silver zippo lighter with his name engraved on it - it certainly didn't look cheap. His eyes scanned the room until they rested on Hannah's nervous ones.

"Uh… yeah. You… you said your old one broke this summer. When we were at the beach trying to light that bonfire so…" she attempted to explain, but her nerves and being under everyone's eyes was making her squirm.

"Thanks… it's awesome…" Mike told her sincerely, not entirely sure how else to react. On one hand, he would never want to come across as ungrateful. It was a very thoughtful, cool gift. On the other hand, he felt like ever since this summer Emily had been growing increasingly jealous of the girls he was close with - particularly Beth, but more lately Hannah as well. He assumed it was from their relationship going long-distance with college, but he knew if he said the wrong thing, someone would get upset.

He didn't have to say anything for that to happen, however.

"Jeeze… crush much?" Jess said lowly, but loud enough for most everyone to hear. Hannah's face went pale and she shot a glare at Beth, of all people, before storming out of the room. Beth stood abruptly, her fists clenched.

"Was that really necessary?" Beth spat in Jessica's direction, who merely gazed back at her with large, innocent eyes.

"I was only kidding…"

Beth hurried after Hannah, finding her hiding out.

"Go away," she snapped, wiping away frustrated tears. Beth was caught off guard at her sister's hostility reemerging after such a wonderful day together. Her heart sank when Hannah looked at her and all that anger and animosity in her eyes had returned.

"Hannah, no. I'm just here to help-"

"You did enough when you let Jessica start coming to our parties," she spat. Beth set her jaw and grit her teeth, anger coursing through her at this repeat of history.

"That's it," Beth hissed, grabbing Hannah by the arm and yanking her toward the door to the back patio.

"Ouch! Quit it!" Hannah whined, but Beth didn't stop. She dragged her with her outside, shutting the door behind them.

"When are you going to stop punishing me over Mike?!" Beth finally blurted when they got outside and away from the rest of the group. And for once, she felt real tears in her own eyes. "Wh-what did I ever do to you? Honestly?"

"Beth-"

"No!" Beth nearly shouted. "No, Hannah! I'm done doing this! I-I am so tired of fighting with you over this. I finally feel like I got my sister back after all this time, and the moment we're around him it's like I just can't win. I don't know what to do… Tell me what to do!"

At first Hannah wanted to fight back, but instead Beth saw some kind of recognition flash in her sister's dark eyes, and after a moment Hannah was apologizing and pulling her in for a hug.

"I-I'm sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me," her voice cracked. She shook her head against Beth's, her own eyes filling with tears as well. She pulled away, wiping the wetness from under her glasses.

"It's okay-" Beth began, but Hannah was shaking her head again.

"No, it's not. I don't know why I'm this way. I don't want to be." Beth felt sympathy for her sister as she stood in front of her, hugging onto herself now as her tone curled into a beg. Beth knew Hannah didn't want to be lovesick, she hated that she couldn't help her. Hannah sniffled, shrugged. "I think I'm fine, and then I see him again I just… it's like I can't control the feelings and the anger. And I don't know why I always direct it at you," she admitted. Beth's shoulders sunk and she sighed, coming to stand beside her sister as they both leaned on the railing of the balcony.

"I know you don't mean to," Beth said, draping her arm over Hannah and resting her head on her shoulder. She'd battled her own jealousy and feelings tonight watching Sam open 'Josh's' present for her and it only grew when her face lit up and she loved it. Sure, she loved the bracelet too. But it wasn't the same.

"Promise me that we're not going to let this happen again," Beth said quietly. Hannah nodded, but Beth gave her sister a shake, "No. Promise me, Hannah. Because I can't keep doing this with you. Promise me that you are going to try to be stronger. And that you aren't going to let Mike, or Emily, or even Jessica make or break your day. It's not fair to me… but more than that? It's not fair to you, Hannah. This has to stop."

"Okay," Hannah breathed, her voice wavery and shaky, but strong. She knew that once again, her sister was right. "Okay. You're right. I promise. They will never do anything to hurt us and our relationship again."

To Be Continued...