Darkest Hour:

An Until Dawn Collaboration

Chapter 7:

Unavoidable

a/n: This chapter is still backstory - the events that lead to the night of the prank. Last one before we go back to present day. ALSO. We don't dislike Jess. We are not portraying her any differently than she has been established in the actual game. From the game it is shown that she is catty, somewhat cruel (even in her humor), and she was the mastermind of the prank. She also started dating her best friend's ex some time after everything happened. In the credits she has softened, but only because she survived the wendigo attack. So... yeah. I don't mind writing Jess as a sweeter character in fics that take place after the events (if she survives), but anything pre-game, sorry.

New Year's Eve, December 31st, 2013

"H-hey Sam," Josh slurred softly, his cup of jungle juice up by his lips. Sam watched him sway in front of her. She continued munching on her carrot stick as they stood together by the table with all the snacks. "Sammyyyy…"

"Yeees Josh?" she replied after she'd finished her bite. It was another New Year's Eve at the Washington's. It was pretty much like any holiday at the Washington's - overrun with drunk, horny teenagers.

It was obvious to Sam that Josh was much more drunk than anyone else there but that wasn't anything new. Josh was usually the most drunk at the parties he hosted. Or attended. Or crashed.

"You know there are better things on that table than the rabbit food, right?" Sam smiled tightly and narrowed her eyes, wiggling her head and fake laughing. "Just Joshin' ya," he laughed. Josh reached out and caught himself on the table with his free hand to keep himself from wobbling.

"Yeah, that phrase never gets old." Her words were dripping in sarcasm that went unnoticed by the eldest Washington sibling. He looked down his nose at his cup, trying to focus on the swirling, pink, mystery liquid. He, Chris and Mike had combined whatever they could find that would get everyone wasted. The concoction consisted of everything in his parent's liquor cabinet and some fruit punch. He tipped his cup in Sam's face. The odor burned her nose.

"This stuff's strong."

"I can tell," Sam chuckled, her hands reaching out to help stand him upright. "Slow down, buddy, or you're not gonna make it to midnight."

"Buddyyyy," Josh repeated with an acknowledging nod. "Yeah. Okay. Thanks… pal." He tapped her lightly on the shoulder with his fist. Sam wanted to act like she didn't hear the mockery in his voice, but Josh flirted with her or hit on her regularly. She was never too sure when he was being serious or being goofy… he was just… Josh.

"Do you need some water? Do you wanna lie down?" Sam asked when she saw his head lolling from side to side, his eyes glazed and heavily lidded. "Josh?" Her hand instinctively rested on his bicep.

"Only if you're gonna lay with me." He would have said it smoothly if he didn't slur the entire line and blend it all together into one garbled mess. Sam gave him another worried glance. He didn't like the way she fussed over him - Like she didn't believe he could take care of himself.

She went to ask him why he always drank this much but before she could he was asking her, "so…do you have a New Year's kiss, Sammy? Did you bring a date?" Sam's stomach swirled and her head felt heavy - and she wasn't even the one who was drunk. She could see as he stared down intensely at her where this was going.

"Noooo… when have I ever had a date, Josh?"

"There was that one hippie guy-"

"He was not a hippie," Sam defended for the millionth time, rolling her eyes. None of them would ever let her live this story down.

"Hey, didn't that guy make his own deodorant?" Josh teased. Sam didn't want to tell him he was correct and that it never worked, so the guy always smelled slightly of BO and various herbs.

"What did you see in that guy, anyway?" Sam pressed her lips together thinly, snorting from her nose. She was getting embarrassed, which always made her seem like she was just getting angry.

"His name... was River. And he wasn't a hippie he just chained himself to a tree," Sam blurted out, folding her arms across her chest. She hadn't even gotten past the first half of the sentence before Josh doubled over laughing. Sam tried to keep from laughing at his deep, cackley, stoner's laugh. It was infectious.

"Can we please talk about something else?" she groaned, taking his red solo cup out of his hand before it spilled over. She took a big gulp then retched, "holy shit, Josh! That tastes like battery acid."

Sam felt the alcohol go to work instantly, warming her cheeks and relaxing her spine. She took another swig before she lost her nerve. Sam was never one to get drunk but she needed the buzz if she was going to be hanging out with a bunch of drunk buffoons all night

"...So then… no midnight kiss?" Josh went on when he regained composure, back to the pressing matter at hand. "Interesting… interesting…"

"Uhh-huh... And what is so interesting about it?" Sam wondered and Josh gave her a famous, hardly-caring, Josh Washington shrug.

"I dunno I just thought that since you didn't have anyone to kiss and I-"

"I didn't even do anything wrong!" Mike bellowed, cutting off Josh's words before he could get to the punchline. Josh and Sam turned to see what the commotion was just as Emily whizzed by the table and stomped off into the kitchen.

"Em! C'mon! Stop!" Mike called after her. He stopped chasing her and seemed to exhale a sigh of relief when she left the room completely. Josh glared at Mike for interrupting his moment, and Sam eyed him carefully.

"Oh. Hey guys," Mike greeted casually, grabbing a potato chip out of the bowl and crunching it in his mouth. "What's up?"

"Miiiiike…. What'd ya do?" Sam accused. His eyes widened and he snapped his head in Sam's direction, perplexed by the phrasing of her question.

"What! Me? Why is it always me who gets blamed?"

"Because you're standing here eating chips and she's the one storming off," Josh observed, flatly. Sam grinned at his logic. Mike waved his hand dismissively toward the direction Emily had just ran.

"Oh, she's always mad about something," Mike reasoned, blowing the notion off. He swiftly snatched the red cup out of Sam's hand before tipping it back and polishing off the contents.

"Hey!" Josh and Sam said in unison, but Sam glanced over at Josh.

"Eh, I think you're good, hombre. You've got a mad case of the wobbles…" she half-joked.

"Well anyways, Sam and I were talking about something impor-" Josh tried, but Sam cut him off.

"What was she so mad about, anyways?" Josh gave up, walking off dejectedly to go refill a cup of jungle juice. Sam glanced over her shoulder at him, half tempted to intervene, but decided to let Josh be Josh. Mike sighed, rolling his eyes as he stuffed his hands in his back pockets.

"Uhhh… Facebook."

"I'm pretty pissed about Facebook, too," Josh quipped from the punch bowl a few feet away. "Buncha fuckin' phonies…" he added under his breath. Mike and Sam still snickered a bit when they heard it.

"Okay, that's pretty vague. What about Facebook?"

"I haven't like… accepted her thingy to be in a relationship," he air quoted and lowered his voice for dramatic effect. "And anyways it got her all pissy. It's fine. It's stupid."

"Haven't you guys been together for like a year now?" Josh wondered, his mouth full of chips now. Mike ran his fingers through his hair, exasperatedly and gave another shrug.

"Yeah, but… it never bothered her before, so…"

"Oh… well…" Sam said, trying to find a way to defend Emily, but really couldn't because things like that didn't matter to her like they did other girls. This was exactly why Sam never talked about her feelings - half the time she wondered if she even had any.

Mike's phone dinged loudly from his jacket pocket. He pulled it out, knowing full well that it was just going to be a huge, long-winded, angry text from Emily. He scanned the screen for a moment and then growled.

"What does it say?" Sam asked. Mike tossed his phone into the pot of one of the house plants and stepped away from it, looking annoyed.

"Nothin'. Doesn't matter. I'm gonna go get some fresh air." Without another word, Mike breezed past Sam and out the opposite way Emily had just torn through. He stumbled a bit on his way out, and Sam could tell he was pretty drunk now, too. Curiosity got the better of her and she slinked over to the potted plant to fetch Mike's phone.

"Shame, shame, I know your naaaame…" Josh sang from behind her. He poked her teasingly in the side. Sam smacked his hand away as she snooped.

"Shhh!" she hushed him with a giggle as she read the text from Emily.

Emily [11:41 pm]: If you can't even acknowledge me as your gf on fb, then u don't need me as your gf IRL. Fuck u, Mike!

"Is that like… another language or something?" Josh asked from behind her and she couldn't help but smirk at the weight of his chin resting on her shoulder, his breath circling her ear.

"Basically," Sam laughed, shrugging him off of her.

"Yeeeeesh. Glad I'm not Mike…" Josh talked into his newly refreshed cup of alcohol. Sam snapped the cup from his hand before he could take another swig.

"I think we all do," she strained to say through the burning down her throat. Then, she turned to go join the rest of the party before Josh could talk about complicated things like New Year's Eve kisses.

Meanwhile, Mike shoved open the side door leading out onto the Washington's back porch. He cursed angrily under his breath, and then he ran his hands roughly down his face, unbuttoning the top of his plaid shirt so he could breathe. He noticed a dog toy on the edge of the porch and kicked it hard out into the yard. He couldn't see where it landed but he heard the faint squeak in the distance when it did. And then he wondered when the Washington's ever had a dog.

"Hey, what did he ever do to you?" Mike jumped nearly five feet in the air when he heard a voice call out to him from behind him on the porch.

"Oh my stars and garters," Mike blurted. He could hear a giggle in return. He strained his eyes to see in the dark. The porch was dark and the shadows and the alcohol were making it hard to see faces. "Who is that?" he asked, closing the gap between them. Hannah was sitting on the railing of the porch, a cup of their crazy concoction in her hand.

"You say the weirdest stuff sometimes," she jibed, shaking her head and taking a sip. Her ice had melted and watered down her drink but it still packed a punch. "Where'd that even come from, anyway?"

Mike was taken aback - in all the time he'd known her, Hannah had never been this relaxed around him. He cleared his throat and took a step forward, trying to see her face a little better. She didn't have her glasses on. She looked just like Beth but… different somehow. Her eyes were dreamier. There was more of a softness about her that he hadn't noticed before.

"My uh… my grandpa, actually. Ol' gramps Munroe."

"Ah. So it's an inherited trait then," she speculated. "Got it."

"Yeah...he always had the funniest sayings and I took a couple from him made some of my own. It's actually pretty involuntary, if you must know," he reasoned, kicking a leaf around a bit in front of him. "So… why are you out here? All alone…" Hannah swung her leg around to face him, still balancing on the wooden railing of the porch. "Should you really be up there?"

"I'm fine. Mind your business," was Hannah's sharp reply. "I just wanted some time alone," she added. Mike couldn't help but wonder by her tone if she was telling him the truth - it didn't matter. She didn't have to tell him anything she didn't want to. He stepped forward before turning his back against the railing and leaning beside her.

Hannah came back to reality when her heart began to race and she realized that she and Mike were completely alone. In the dark. Talking. Moments like these didn't happen often. And of course this moment just had to exist only days after she decided to give up her crush on Mike and never let him cloud her mind or come between her and Beth again. She felt a small tinge of guilt that she was even alone out here with him right now, after her recent breakthrough with her sister. It was like hanging out at a heroin dealer's house once you're finally clear.

And yet… she couldn't stop herself for wanting it to go on just a little longer.

"You?" she asked when she realized she hadn't yet.

"I guess I could say the same," he replied ambiguously, also not wanting to divulge everything. They both sat in the quiet for a moment, listening to the party raging inside. They definitely heard Josh's low voice yell something out, probably announcing shots. Hannah worried that one day she'd find him dead of alcohol poisoning if he didn't get it under control.

"Hey!" Mike suddenly exclaimed, causing Hannah to almost fall back off the ledge. Luckily she caught herself as Mike went on. "Beth said you had a uh… a date coming tonight? Where is he?" Hannah simply grinned back at him before shaking her head at her failed attempt to move on. "Whaaaat? Lame. Sorry, Hann." He'd never said her name like that before. It made the butterflies in her stomach extra fluttery.

"Yup. He bailed," she sighed. She didn't want to go further into it, and Mike could tell, so he left it alone. Her stare at him darkened, and she nudged him slightly in the arm, causing his gaze to reach hers. "Why are you really out here?" she asked lowly. He sighed, and then the sigh tapered off into a groan.

"Why do you think?"

"Emily," they said in unison, and Hannah wasn't sure if she was annoyed at the mention of her name, or excited about the fact that he was out here with her. Whatever the case, it couldn't be something good if he was hiding out.

"She's just being… difficult."

"What else is new," fell out of Hannah's mouth before she could stop it. Her hand snapped up to her mouth as she hid behind it.

"Wow, you are like a different person tonight," Mike observed, narrowing his eyes and nodding his head in approval. What he wanted to note, but didn't, was that she was a lot like Beth tonight. "I kinda dig it." Hannah was glad it was dark so he couldn't see how red that made her cheeks. "Tell me more about what you think about my life, Hannah." Hannah swallowed, shaking her head.

"No, I don't… I mean, I can't-"

"Oh, don't do that. Don't go back to being shy, little Hannah. I wanna hear what you have to say."

"Whyyyy are you even with her?" she blurted out suddenly, almost too loud for the quiet conversation they were having before. Mike raised his eyebrows in surprise, nodding.

"Okay. Yeah. Just gonna… jump right in there…" he stammered, but he was simply stalling and they both knew that. Hannah's expectant eyes remained locked in on his face. "She… ya know… makes me... happy…?" Mike tried to come up with a coherent response. He had been asking himself the same question far too often lately with no luck.

"Oh yeah, you seem reeeeally happy all the time," Hannah drawled as she hopped off of the ledge and onto the porch. Mike's forehead creased. Now that sounded a lot like Beth.

"What does that mean?" Hannah bit her tongue. She'd gone and done it. She went too far and said too much and now she'd gone and upset him. She was silently kicking herself.

"Nothing, just… nevermind," she backtracked. Mike was nearing her now and her heart was in her throat.

"No. Tell me. I want your opinion."

"Mine?" Hannah's voice cracked, but she knew the answer. No one else was there.

"Yes. Your opinion."Mike stared down at her, his angular face hard and intense. He looked like an action movie star… but Hannah needed to not get caught up in those kinds of thoughts right now.

"You just… you don't seem happy, Mike. And I know she's pretty and smart and she was popular in school and stuff but if you're not happy, what's the point?" She looked up at him and Mike had never noticed how big her eyes were, so deep and hopeful.

"I know it sounds dumb but, it's hard being perfect, you know?" Hannah cocked an eyebrow, completely taken aback by his douchey response. He seemed to notice it, too, so he quickly corrected it. "I just mean I have to look good and have a lot of friends and get good grades and-" His words trailed off. "And did you know that if I don't get my pre-reqs done this term it will put me back almost an entire year?"

"What does this have to do with-"

"She's part of it all, you know? It's a persona, Hannah. None of it is real. I've gotta keep it up because it's been going on so long. It's like, somewhere along the way I created this monster and now I have to feed him and keep him going or else…"

"What?" Hannah said, stepping closer to him and bravely reaching for his arm. "Or else what, Mike? Or else you'll feel like you're not cool?"

"Or else I'll feel like I'm not anything."

Those words felt like a punch in the gut to both of them. It was hard for Hannah to hear someone she admired so much thinking that way about himself. It was hard for Mike to actually say it aloud.

"I know it sounds insane and all but I feel like I have to be perfect all the time and I'm so fucking tired."

"Mike…" Hannah breathed, her heart actually aching a bit in her chest. She'd never seen him be vulnerable. Ever. Her plan for getting over him was down the toilet now, especially after seeing his softer side. It actually made her kind of angry at him for making her feelings even deeper. "Mike, you're faaaar from perfect." Once again, Hannah had this weird way of surprising him by saying the last thing he expected.

"Oh. Well, thanks." She laughed, shaking her head and cradling it in her hands.

"Nonono, I know how that sounds, I didn't mean it like that I just mean…" She stopped and took in a deep breath. She smirked, wetting her lips. "Did you know that one of your ears is bigger than the other?" Mike's hands shot up to feel his ears.

"What?" he snapped. "No they aren't!" Hannah was laughing harder now, watching him worry.

"Don't worry, it's not that obvious but once you notice it, you can't miss it." Mike crossed his arms, mocking her laugh back at her. It just made her laugh harder.

"Ha ha okay, very funny-"

"And you're arrogant-"

"No I'm not!" he gasped, but Hannah nodded.

"Yeah. You really are. And you're not as smart as you think you are. You're lucky. You're charming. But I know you freak out whenever we have a test. You bite down your pencils 'til they are just disgusting and practically unusable-"

"I don't think I like this conversation anymore," Mike pouted, his eyebrows low.

"And you're weak, sometimes. You try to impress everyone and make them laugh but in turn you do things that might hurt others. You're so desperate for approval."

"Drunk Hannah is… brutal.," Mike said after a moment of digesting everything. The truth was, he liked it. He liked it because it wasn't just another person telling him what he wanted to hear. It was what he loved most about Beth, and having Hannah look so much like her and be saying these things made it even harder.

Hannah took another swig of her jungle juice. She hardly gagged this time as it went down, even though it burned her throat.

"But I appreciate your honesty, I guess," he told her, and Hannah just stared at him, feeling another chuckle escape her throat. She didn't know why, but all this talk was making her eyes well up. She didn't know if she was happy or sad, but she was glad this was happening.

"Mike, don't you get it? You're not perfect-"

"Yeah, no. I know. You said that-"

"Would you just stop talking? I'm trying to say something," she snapped. Mike held back another smirk at her seriousness. "You're not perfect. But… I like those things about you as much as I like the things that are perfect, you know? It would be boring if you had no faults. I think it's our faults are what make us beautiful." Mike felt his breath hitch when he realized that Hannah wasn't just some girl with a little girl crush on him. The things she said and the way she looked at him… this was different. She cared about him.

She cared about him. They way he'd always wished that Beth would, but never could.

So, he kissed her.

The way it felt when his lips crashed clumsily against hers was nothing like what Hannah had pictured. He gripped onto both of her arms, holding her still as he kissed her. Hannah was devastated that she was so nervous she couldn't enjoy it like she'd always dreamed. When his lips broke from hers, Hannah snapped back because it had all been so sudden and unexpected. Her lips stung from the rush of it all. She just looked up at him with big, confused eyes as she soothed her lips with her fingertips. Mike took a step back, a look of horror on his face.

"Hann, oh my God, I'm so sorry I should not have done that-" Hannah was still in too much shock to say anything. "I just… we've been drinking and you said such nice - well, actually some of what you said was mean, but in the end it was really nice and I just… I got caught up in the moment," he explained. Still, Hannah couldn't bring herself to say anything to him. "Hannah, please don't be mad, I am such a-"

"Whaaat's goin' on, guys?" Mike and Hannah turned to see Jess slinking out the backdoor. She looked Hannah up and down once before her eyes fell to Mike, a fake smile appearing then, "DidI interrupt something?" She asked cattily.

Hannah wasn't as naive as she looked sometimes. She knew when someone was silently judging her or being secretly mean. It was a talent she inherited with her insecurity and lack of social prowess over the years. She crossed her arms and shook her head, but she knew she looked guilty. She hated that such an important moment was snatched away from her so fast because of stupid Jessica butting in.

"Nope. Uh… no. No I was just comin' inside," Mike said, hitting his fists together nervously. The two knew if they didn't get it together they were going to give themselves away.

"Yeah, you should. The ball's about to drop! And Emily's ready to make up now."

"What? Are you her personal assistant, now?" Mike snorted, glancing back at Hannah to see if she was laughing too. She broke a small grin but it faded as quickly as it came and Mike's laughing ceased. Jessica wasn't laughing at all. "Er… right. Okay." Mike stepped forward as Jess held the door open for him. He turned back to Hannah one more time, and of all things, he saluted her as he said, "Hannah…"

He followed Jess inside, and Hannah stood dumbfounded on the porch. She was now trying to figure out if she was the happiest or saddest she'd ever been.

Beth scanned the room looking for Sam - liquid courage swirling around in her brain was pushing her forward. This year was going to be different - she couldn't keep scolding Hannah over her crush on Mike when she wasn't following her own advice. She'd tried to convince herself that her feelings for Sam could be classified as just a simple crush, but she was going on three years now and the feelings hadn't subsided. The only difference was the fact that she hadn't been as obvious as her love-sick sister.

But tonight she was going to make a move. She didn't know if Sam would reciprocate or if she even slightly felt the same way as her, but she didn't want to spend the rest of her life wondering. And maybe Sam did like Josh… but how was she supposed to make an educated decision without all the facts? Beth had to know if there was even the slightest possibility.

She finally spotted Sam, who was semi-crouched beside her mother's ficus plant, looking worried and slightly out of place. She sucked in a breath and neared her, just hoping she wouldn't lose her nerve.

"Whyyy are you hiding out behind that plant?" Beth giggled, sneaking up on Sam. Sam laughed at herself, nodding off in Josh's direction.

"I'm hiding from your crazy brother before he can start talking to me about New Year's Eve kisses again…" Sam informed her, and Beth just snorted, shaking her head. "He's pretty drunk right now…"

"Sounds like my brother…" she commented before giving Sam a sly smile as she realized that this was a perfect opportunity. Beth shrugged, "I'll be your New Year's Eve kiss… if you want. That way you don't have to kiss Josh."

Sam did a double-take to Beth, wondering if it was some kind of joke, "Well..I mean, as long as he doesn't find me over here, I don't have to worry about it anyway…"

"True. But they say it's bad luck to enter a new year without a kiss."

Giving a short laugh, Sam raised an eyebrow, "You don't really believe that, do you?"

"No," Beth admitted, leaning her shoulder against the wall and taking a sip of her drink, "Just thought it would be nice to have someone to ring in the new year with. What if this is our last, you know?"

"Don't get too dark on me," Sam said with an uneasy chuckle.
Beth grinned and waved her last comment off, "Sorry, I'm just trying my best to talk you into it."

Sam met Beth's gaze right as the loud TEN, NINE, EIGHT countdown began.

"I think it might be working," Sam pressed her back against the wall beside Beth, a shy smile peeking out, unable to be contained. And Beth felt like she could hardly contain herself. With the countdown nearing one, and the alcohol swimming in her brain, and thinking about how long she's actually wanted this, Beth dropped her drink then cupped Sam's face before deeply kissing her. She shivered when she thought she heard a small murmur emit from Sam's throat.

But it ended all too soon as Sam pulled away then looked down between them, very aware of all the celebratory yells around them. Beth stepped away from her, knowing that they both needed their space, at least for the moment.

Sam looked over to make sure Josh didn't see what just happened, but was glad when she saw Chris with his arms around Josh and Hannah, the three swaying as if they were in their own little world.

January 1st, 2014 - New Year's Day

"Mike kissed me."

Beth hardly had a chance to crawl into her bed before Hannah was right beside her with this confession. She was almost certain she heard her sister wrong. She could only stare blankly into Hannah's large bright eyes; the excitement radiating from her made Beth concerned that she was about to flash an engagement ring.

It was too late for this-or rather-too early. It was almost five in the morning, but the last of the random guests left only about an hour ago, while some of their closer friends found their normal guest bedrooms to crash for the next several hours. And Beth may have been mistaken, but she was fairly certain she saw Mike and Emily making out in the hallway before disappearing behind a closed door.

"Um...where?" Beth had to cringe when she asked this. But knowing Hannah, Mike could have kissed her on her hand or her cheek and she would still flip out.

"What do you mean where?" Hannah couldn't even sound insulted through her infectious smile, "He grabbed me and kissed me. ...HARD."

Beth closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Everything inside of her wanted to be happy for Hannah, but instead, she was feeling the guilt of having to burst her bubble and a disgust she had never felt for Mike was rising in the back of her throat.

"He has a girlfriend, Hann…"

Beth opened her eyes when Hannah grabbed her by the arm, "No, no, no, you don't understand! They were fighting earlier and then he came to me and-."

"Mike and Emily always fight. And they always make up. Just because they were fighting earlier doesn't mean they broke up."

Hannah shook her head; she was getting frustrated. All she wanted was for Beth to see the situation through her eyes for once. "But you didn't see the way he looked at me before he kissed me. Like...like he finally saw me for the very first time."

Beth's eyes softened into concern. All of Hannah's hope and happiness seemed to be riding on the thought that Mike was going to leave Emily for her. But Beth knew Mike better than anyone. She knew he loved Emily in his own way and wasn't going to break up with her. Not for Hannah. And now she wasn't sure if she was glad Hannah didn't see them at the end of the night or not. It would have certainly given her a wake up call.

And Mike had to have known that Hannah would tell her what he did. And if he was expecting her to break Hannah's heart just so he wouldn't have to, he had another thing coming.

So as soon as she convinced Hannah to take a shower and get some sleep, Beth was trudging her way to the guest bedroom where Mike and Emily were. She didn't even bother knocking before entering. The sunrise was barely peeking through the curtains, but it let in enough light to see them both in bed and obviously naked.

Emily was covered, but seeing her bare shoulder was enough for Beth. The blanket was only covering Mike's thighs and she couldn't have been more happy that he was sleeping on his stomach.

She leaned down beside him and began tapping his cheek repeatedly to wake him up, trying to keep her angered voice low enough to not disturb Emily, "Mike, wake up." The most she got was a groan; she could only imagine how drunk he still was if he only fell asleep a little bit ago. But she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of letting him sleep it off.

Beth knew one of his most sensitive spots was his underarm right below his armpit. She pinched him as hard as she could.

He instantly jumped, his bloodshot eyes staring directly through her, "Fucking sloth dicks on a plane-OW!"

"Wake the fuck up, Mike," Beth said with a straight face, too upset to even laugh at his pain. Mike caught onto it quickly despite just being woken up brutally and all of his guilt came flooding back. He sighed heavily and nodded, silently telling her that he would get up and talk. She threw his jeans on his face before saying she'd be in her bedroom waiting for him.

He felt like he was floating heavily through a real life nightmare and the two juxtapositions were making him feel queasy. He couldn't find where Emily threw his shirt and he didn't have the energy to search for it so let it be.

Mike didn't know that Emily had been awake since the moment Beth walked into the room.

He didn't even have time to get his thoughts together before he was standing in front of his best friend who was looking at him like he was scum.

"What the fuck are you doing, Mike? You do realize that you're fucking with my sister, right?"

Running his hand through his drunken sex bed hair, he averted his eyes from her, "I didn't mean to do that, it was a m-."

"Really? That's the cliche excuse you're going with? You do realize I hate you right now, right?"

"Beth, Jesus Christ, there's no good words that I know for this! My brain is just saying habagloobydooba but I'm trying to give you something better!"

"You're not a cheater, Mike, so I don't-."

He shook his head and dropped to her bed, sitting on the edge and holding his head, "How could you possibly know that? I've only dated Emily since I met you and that's only because I can't-."

"Stop." Beth interrupted before he could finish that thought, "You're dating Emily because you like her. You wouldn't have been with her this long if you didn't." She gave Mike a chance to disagree with her, but when he didn't, she concluded with, "Which is why you need to tell Hannah that you're a jerk and shouldn't have led her on."

Beth wished she could have kept it at that. Mike gave a single head nod in agreement, so she could have sent him on his way. Instead, she found herself sitting next to him and asking, "I mean, what possessed you to kiss her anyway? Never once have you showed any interest in her."

Mike still couldn't look at her. His world was spinning from everything he put himself through that night, but he couldn't help but remember his conversation with Hannah before he kissed her. How she called him out for not being happy, how he told her his relationship with Emily was only for show. How she started describing all of his imperfections that actually made him great and how she looked at him with stars in her eyes and goddammit she looked just like Beth…

"I did apologize to her right after I did it," he confessed, "said I shouldn't have done it…"

"Yeah, well...Hannah made it seem like you two just got hitched. You have to be sensitive to how much she likes you…"

He held his breath for a long moment before letting it out in a soft and ironic chuckle, "I understand completely."

Beth bit her lip. She wanted to tell Mike what happened to her that night as well, but was trying to follow her own advice about being sensitive to his feelings. But she didn't have to internally fight with herself much longer when Mike looked over at her and said, "You have something you want to tell me."

She immediately broke out into a contagious smile, and Mike knew what she was going to say. But he didn't want to say it for her. He wanted to see how bright her face lit up when she said it.

"I kissed Sam," Beth admitted in a loud whisper, her knuckles covering her mouth as if saying it aloud was too much goodness for the world to handle. But her smile radiated off of her and Mike saw stars shining in her midnight eyes for the very first time.

"I've never seen you like this," he said. 'So happy. In love. Why not with me?' "I'm so happy for you," he wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kissed her temple, "But, of course, now you know you have to give me every little detail."

January 4th, 2014
"I want to talk about New Year's Eve," Emily said bluntly over breakfast. It had been a few days since, and while Mike had known Emily was stewing on something, he'd chose to ignore it and hope it was just her time of the month, or something.

Mike chewed on his toast, his eyes unable to meet hers as he said, "okay… what about New Year's Eve?"

"Oh, I don't know… maybe about how what happened that night was bullshit?"

Mike could already tell this was about to turn into an argument. Possibly a breakup. His whole body tensed knowing that she somehow found out that he kissed Hannah. And his brain spun with all the different excuses he could come up with that would make her believe that it honestly was a mistake.

"Em...I just want you to know that-."

"I know, I know, Beth's your best friend. I fucking get it."

Mike paused then and looked at her, trying to figure out what Beth had to do with him kissing Hannah.

"But her pulling you out of our bed after we just got done having sex is a little too weird for me. Like, what's she trying to get at?"

Mike let out a long breath of relief, even though his guilty conscious was still telling him that he wasn't off the hook yet. Emily didn't know about Hannah, but that didn't mean that Hannah and Beth didn't know. And that Jess might know.

"She just had something she needed to tell me," Mike excused, and to him, it should have been dropped after that. But Emily wasn't ready to let it go this time around.

"Oh, and pray tell, what could be sooo important that she had to drag your naked ass out of bed and not wait until morning?"

"Just…" Mike trailed off when he recalled the reason Beth scolded him, "Just something between us, is all."

Emily laughed sarcastically, "If you were trying to curb my suspicions, you used piss-poor wording, Michael."

He groaned, "Emily, do we really have to start fighting again? It's happening all the time lately. I'm sick of it." He dropped to the couch and rubbed his face. 2014 was already starting off to be an awful year, and it was only day four. What could the rest of the year bring?

"We're not fighting," Emily countered, sitting down next to him, "But if you are trying to tell me that something happened between you and Beth, then you better spit it out right now or I swear, I'll-."

"It's not like that!" Mike interrupted, "Jesus, when did you start becoming so jealous? You were never like this before. Makes me miss when you were just…"

Emily pursed her lips, waiting for him to finish his sentence, "Just what?"

Mike sighed loudly, "Nothing, just...you're getting really…"

"I just want to know if you're fucking around with Beth behind my back!" Emily finally shouted, tired of going in circles with him

Mike's face went red, but not in embarrassment, but in anger, "I would never do that to either of you, but Jesus fucking cake-shits, Emily I already told you that nothing like that is between Beth and I, we play for the same team!"

Mike went still when he realized what he said, covering his face again.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Emily asked with heightened curiosity.

He tried to wave her off, "Nothing, just for-."

"Beth's a lesbian? Really?" Emily went silent for a moment to see how Mike would try to counter it, but he only sighed in defeat and hung his head between his knees.

Finally, he mumbled, "Do you fucking feel better now? ...Please, Em...please don't say anything. I swore to Beth that she could trust me…"

"I won't," Emily said, actually feeling better now that her main concern turned out to be impossible.

Which is why when Jessica started talking to her about Beth and Mike again a few days later, Emily let the conversation roll right off her.

"Did you see the way Beth put her arms around your man?" Jessica asked Emily as they sat at the only nail salon on campus getting pedicures.

"I'm not worried," Emily tried to push her off, even though she noticed that Jessica was picking up on every little thing that happened between Mike and Beth, and it was starting to annoy her.

Jessica shook her head, "I really think you should be. He always takes her side, and that's not good, girl."

Emily had been thinking hard about it, and she really didn't wanted to tell Jess the secret she swore she would keep, but it would be the only way that Jess would stop believing that Mike as cheating with Beth. She wanted to not worry about it, after all, she trusted Mike and that should be all that matters. But Jessica was a good friend, so she should trust her too, right?

"If I tell you something, you gotta promise not to say a word," Emily looked straight at her.

"Cross my heart and hope to die!" Jessica confirmed very enthusiastically.

Sighing, Emily thought about it for only a second more before spilling, "Beth likes girls."

Jess's eyes only went wide for a moment before she said, "Well that explains why she wanted to kiss me so badly last year…"

Emily narrowed her eyes and thought back, sure that's not really how events went down, but didn't bother arguing with the blonde. "Yeah, so...that's why I'm not worried about what she does with Mike."

Jessica went silent, seemingly in deep thought.

"I didn't want to say anything…" Jess began like she regretted having to say it, "But it's not Beth you ever had to worry about...it's Hannah."

Emily laughed out loud, looking at Jess like she was crazy, "Are you serious? I mean, I know Hannah has a crush on Mike - everyone knows that - but to be worried about her? Really?"

"She was all up on him on New Year's Eve...I think she may have even threw herself on him and kissed him outside on the porch."

Trying to keep her guard up, Emily asked, "W-wait… What? ...Why didn't you say anything before, then?"

Jess shrugged matter-of-factly, "I was giving Hannah a chance to come clean with you. Ya know...she's our friend, she should confess and apologize. It's only the right thing to do...unless, ya know...she's not sorry about it."

Emily remained silent. Hannah had never really bothered her before, but if what Jess said was true, and she really did kiss Mike (or even tried to)...well, that just wasn't cool. And what made it worse was that Emily's prior view on Hannah, thinking she was just a sweet little naive girl with a crush, disappeared to be replaced with a boyfriend-stealing bitch who only pretended to be innocent. And there was nothing Emily hated more than a two-faced, backstabbing hussy.

Jess watched closely as Emily's face transformed. She leaned over to her, "I think we need to stop this now before it gets any further. Teach Hannah a lesson that she won't forget."

Without missing a beat, Emily replied, "What'd you have in mind?"

February 2014 - The Night Beth and Hannah Went Missing

Everyone was on edge this year. Something was just… off.

Different.

No amount of alcohol seemed to shift the air, which is probably why they'd drank so much. Emily and Jess were connected at the hip it seemed, quietly conversing only between the two of them. Chris seemed irked by Ashley's constant close proximity to Matt all night, so he was matching Josh shot-for-shot.

Beth spent the night shooting glances at Sam as she went around the kitchen cleaning up their party mess. She had been desperately wanting a moment alone with her so she could talk to her about New Year's but never really getting the opportunity. The morning after their New Year's kiss, Beth went to find Sam, only to find that she'd left early. She had gone home to say her goodbyes, and headed back to college not long after. Since then, Beth had drafted a text to her about a dozen times, but hadn't found the courage to ever press send.

"You'll never know unless you just go talk to her," Mike said quietly into Beth's ear. She blindly swiped her hand at him the same way she would swat away an annoying mosquito.

"Quit it," she grunted, slightly annoyed. She wasn't very good with her emotions, especially when she was nervous, and Mike wasn't helping the situation. Mike poked her in the side.

"Oh, c'mon. Don't be grumpy, I'm just trying to help," Mike offered, and Beth just gave him a nonchalant shrug.

"I'm over it."

"Oh, yeah, you seem like you're over it."

"Have you ever met someone so… aloof?" Beth wondered and the two of them watched as Sam read her book over on the couch, seemingly unaware of anything going on around her. "How could she not know?"

"You're not necessarily an open book, ya know. She doesn't even know you're gay-" Mike said lowly, and Beth snorted, shaking her head.

"Oh, she knows. She has to know. She just… likes someone else…" her words trailed off sadly and she didn't have to look at her passed out brother for Mike to connect the dots.

"Ha! Fat chance. Sam is way too smart and mature to be into your dorky brother."

"You'd be surprised…" Beth mumbled.

"What do you think those two are up to?" Mike asked, cocking his head toward a whispering Emily and Jess. Beth just scoffed and shook her head, continuing to collect the empty bottles around the kitchen.

"Probably nothing good," she grumbled. Mike sighed, taking the trash bag out of Beth's hands and setting it down on the ground. He took her by the shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes.

"Beth. You need to just suck it up and talk to her. This has really gone on long enough. Who knows, maybe she feels the same-"

"Yeah, well, maybe she doesn't-" Beth countered. Mike gave her a half shrug.

"Okay. And maybe she doesn't. So… then you get to move on, you know? But letting it eat you up and make you miserable is not the answer, either. C'mon. You know better." Beth smirked - her best friend was right. She had no idea that feelings could cloud logical judgement so much. No wonder Hannah was always such a mess.

Suddenly, Beth turned to Mike seriously, "oh, hey. By the way. Have you had a chance to set things right with Hannah, yet? She's been really excited about this weekend and… I'm just afraid she thinks things are going to happen between you two and-"

"Uhhh…" Mike began, realizing that, no. He hadn't. And he had definitely noticed Hannah trying to catch eyes with him since he and Emily had gotten there. He'd been steadily avoiding her since their arrival, and with Emily barely leaving his side he hadn't had the chance.

"Oh, Mikey!" Jess called from the other side of the kitchen, beckoning him with a finger. He saw that Matt, Emily and Ashley had convened behind her and were trying to get his attention. "Can you come here for a moment?" she asked sweetly, but he could definitely pick out something sinister under it all.

"Great… what's this?" he said under his breath, but he was relieved that it bought him some time before he had to answer Beth about Hannah.

He turned to Beth one more time before he left her, "You're the greatest person I know, Beth. If she doesn't feel the same, it's her loss. But life is short. Don't live it with regrets, okay?"

"Okay," she said barely above a whisper, then mouthed, "love you." Mike winked at her before he turned to go talk to the eagerly awaiting group. He hoped he got through to her. He couldn't wait to get the details from her, later.

Beth sucked in a deep breath for good luck and then walked over to Sam, plopping down on the couch next to her, "You doing okay over here?"

Sam rabbit-eared the page she was on and closed the book, adjusting the sleeves of her sweater, "Yeah, just taking a little down time. Does it feel a little...I dunno, weird to you this year?"

Beth moaned in agreement, "Yes! I don't know if it's because of what happened last year, but I really wish Josh decided on something else this time around."

Sam gave a small shrug, playing with the edges of her book. Beth watched her for a moment, trying not to think too hard about what she wanted to say. So she blurted out, "It feels like New Years was forever ago - and I missed you."

Looking at Beth from the side, Sam wasn't sure how to respond. She wondered if Beth remembered what happened. Or if it meant nothing to her, and if it should in turn mean nothing to Sam. Sam licked her lips before speaking, "I know, I can't believe it's February already. Being away at college makes me miss everyone, too."

Beth closed her eyes and shook her head, "I'm not talking about everyone else though. Sam, I have to ask...did you - feel - anything? On New Years? With me?"

Sam bit her thumbnail. She watched as Beth slowly opened her eyes, and it was clear that it took every ounce of bravery in her to ask that. "I...I don't know. Did you?"

"Yes," Beth answered, leaning her head on the back of the couch, feeling both excited and exhausted, "It's been running through my head all month."

"Oh…" Sam trailed off, not sure what to say, but not really feeling uncomfortable or awkward, "I really...don't know how to respond to that right now, Beth." Beth opened her mouth to respond, to tell her it was okay, but then Sam went on, "Except that - I've been thinking about it a lot, too."

Color lit up Beth's face when she smiled, "Really? Because I think…"

Sam caught sight of the rest of the group at the other end of the room and narrowed her eyes at how mischievous most of them looked. She looked around for Hannah but didn't see her. She didn't even notice when she interrupted Beth by standing up and saying, "Hey, I think I'm going to check on Hannah… I haven't seen her in awhile and I'm getting a little worried, what with her back on her Mike kick and all-"

"Was she ever really off?" Beth teased. Sam snorted, shaking her head.

"No, I guess not." Sam stood, giving a brief stretch. "I'll be right back. And we can finish talking about… what we were talking about."

"Oh...okay…" Beth watched her walk around the couch, but then didn't follow her any further. Her heart was pounding hard in her ears. She couldn't believe she had just admitted all that to Sam and then she just walked away. She absently went over to the sink full of dirty dishes and looked outside at all the snow. She tried to keep her optimism up. Sam did say she would be right back...

"Alright. What's up," Mike asked, approaching his drunken friends. Jess smiled evilly, simply handing over a torn piece of paper with a note scribbled across it:

Hannah,

You look so damn hot in that shirt… but I bet you look even hotter out of it. Come to the guest room at 2:00 am.

-Mike XXX

Mike read the note twice, just to be sure he was actually reading it right. His gaze flitted up to all their glistening, mischievous eyes.

"What the fuck is this?" he asked them quietly. Matt hiccuped out a laugh and Ashley giggled beside him. Mike's eyes then met Emily's dark ones - there was something even darker in them, now. He knew she and Jess had planned this all along.

"Em? Are you serious with this shit?" Mike asked only her, hoping he could get through to her. For a moment she looked unsure, and then Jess reached up and slipped the paper from Mike's hands, folding the note in half.

"It's just a little prank, no harm-" Jess explained. Mike felt anger flare within him as he ran his hand through his hair, just hoping that Beth couldn't hear the conversation. Luckily when he searched for her across the room she was sitting close to Sam talking quietly - hopefully telling her how she felt like he'd suggested.

"C'mon, babe. It'll be funny-" Emily offered.

Jess pointed to Matt and Ashley, "Go set up." She pressed a hand to her hip when her two little minions went off to do their part.

"We're not doing this," Mike told them seriously.

"Oh, we're not?" Jess asked with feigned innocence, her eyes large blinking as she tilted her head to the side, "Because it would be a shame if your bff found out that you let her dirty little secret out."

"What…?" Mike breathed out, feeling his heart plummet to his stomach, a sickness rising in the back of his throat. He turned to Emily, an unreadable expression in his eyes, "You told Jess?" Emily's first instinct was to apologize - Mike had trusted her and she broke that. Instead, she felt defensive. Sure, she told Jess. But more importantly, he didn't tell her about whatever happened with Hannah on New Year's Eve. Maybe there was no more trust in their relationship, anyways.

"Okay, yeah. I did," Emily admitted. "But maybe you should have told me about your little date with Hannah on their porch on New Year's." Mike's face grew hot as he remembered the inappropriate kiss that got him into this mess in the first place, and the sole possible witness to that night. His eyes flitted to Jess, who gave a careless shrug.

"It doesn't matter that she told me about Beth," Jess steered, "What matters is that you told. And we're sick of Hannah fawning all over you, and you leading her on. It's annoying, it's unfair to Hannah and Emily."

"So… th-this is blackmail, then?" Mike stammered, running his hands through his hair exasperatedly. Did he choose to protect Hannah from a cruel prank, or did he choose to protect Beth from having her biggest secret spilled out in the open for all the world to see? The girl who had been madly in love with him for as long as he could remember, or the girl he'd been madly in love with for just as long? He was starting to feel as though he had no choice, at this point.

"Tick-tock!" Jess sing-sang, "Hannah already read the note, She's probably off getting herself all pretty for you now."

Mike's head was reeling, his stomach sick with the fear of losing his best friend because of his big mouth, "Just… stop. Just give me a minute to think. I'll take care of this, I'll talk to Hannah-"

"You kinda had your chance to do that, Mike," Emily said, and his eyes narrowed as he stared at his girlfriend - who was this person? He didn't even recognize her anymore. He felt every ounce of love he'd ever had for Emily drain from him as she said, "It's not that big of a deal. She'll get over it, we'll all have a laugh, and your precious secret about Beth will remain locked away until she decides to let it out of the bag-"

"Or closet!" Jess laughed, covering her mouth with her hand and looking quite pleased with herself over the joke.

Just then Sam came over to the group then snatched the note out of Jessica's hand. Everyone was staring at it, so it was safe to assume whatever they were planning had something to do with what was written. She shook her head as her eyes skimmed the words. Jessica snatched the note back and set it on the counter.

"Let's do this," Jessica said simply.

Emily seemed to get momentarily excited in a nervous fashion, "Oh my god! I can't believe you actually did this."

She was just a little too loud for Jess, and she didn't want Beth coming over and ruining the whole thing before it even got started, "Shh...shh...shhh!"

"Don't you guys think this is a little bit cruel?" Sam asked as calmly as she could, even though anger was flaring through her. She knew how much her group of friends loved playing pranks on each other, but she also knew how sensitive Hannah was.

"Oh, come on, she deserves it!" Jessica argued - Sam knew immediately that somehow word had gotten out about Hannah and Mike's kiss on New Year's. And now Hannah was caught in Jess and Emily's crosshairs.

Sam's eyes curved in concern. This was more than just a prank. This was sounding like some sort of revenge mission, even though Sam couldn't guess Jessica's motivation. "It's not her fault she has a huge crush on Mike-" Her words were like acid on Mike's skin - it wasn't her fault she had a crush on Mike. This wasn't anyone else's fault.

Jessica waved her off, turning and skipping off. She didn't have time to deal with Sam's goody-two-shoes act, "Hannah's been making moves on him. I'm just looking out for my girl, Em!"

Emily and Mike started to follow her, and Sam walked with them, hoping to somehow get all of them to back down.

"Just because he was class Prez, doesn't mean he belongs to everyone," Emily smirked, getting even more comfortably into the character that Jess placed on her, "Mike is my man."

Mike followed mindlessly, his anger almost blinding him, but he felt trapped and he wasn't sure which way was right and which was wrong. He couldn't even imagine what it would do to his friendship with Beth if she found out that he blabbed her secret to Emily, who then passed it on to Jess. "Hey Em? I'm not anybody's man."

He was done with her.

He regretted not getting a chance to talk to Hannah and setting things straight more than ever. This was completely the wrong way to tell Hannah to back off… especially when he was the one that kissed her.

"Whatever you say, darling!" Emily sang in a way that just infuriated him even more. She really was starting to sound and act like Jess, and he absolutely hated it.

Sam looked at Mike, hoping he would do the right thing and stop this. But he looked absent; like he was too conflicted to make any sort of decision on his own. She was going to have to find out the details later, but at that moment, she had to find Hannah.

If Mike wasn't going to end this, she would.

Beth jumped when she saw someone running outside in the snow, "Hey, did you see that? Dad said it'd just be us this weekend." She turned around only to then remember Josh was passed out. Still, the figure outside was concerning. She went around the island, shaking her head at Josh and Chris, before spotting a note on the edge of the counter.

Curiously, she turned it over and read the note to Hannah. Instantly, she knew the handwriting was not Mike's, despite his name being forged at the bottom. She didn't have time to fully process the repercussions if Hannah already saw the letter before she saw someone run past the window outside again, this time much closer.

"Fuck!" She ran out to the living room, "Guys, there's someone outside!" But then she saw all of her friends run to the open front door and her panic heightened, "What the hell…?"

She grabbed her jacket when she heard all of them calling for Hannah. Hannah ran outside? Into the storm and with some creep hanging around the lodge? Beth rushed outside, her mind not focusing on what the others were saying. So she turned straight to Mike and asked, "What did you do?"

"We were just messing around, Beth...it wasn't serious-," Mike hated how indifferent his tone was. Truth was, he despised himself and everything that he did since the beginning of the year: kissing Hannah, not clearing the air with Hannah after Beth asked him to, telling Emily Beth's secret, going along with Jessica's stupid idea of a prank…

He was the worst kind of scum and maybe it was better off if Beth hated him, too.

Beth felt a lump in her throat at the aloofness Mike presented. He knew better! But even still, she couldn't single him out as she yelled at all of them, "You JERKS!" She didn't have time to come up with the insults they deserved. She would deal with them once she calmed Hannah down and brought her back to the lodge.

Mike turned to Sam, now completely detached from everything. "So...should we go after her?" He meant go after Beth - he was trying to make a joke about how Sam could be her Princess in Shining Armor and rescue her from the cold and windy night.

But, like most things, Sam didn't pick up on the awful joke; "Y'know, I kinda think you're the last person she wants to see right now, Mike."

Mike couldn't have agreed more. But he wanted to forget everything. He was ready to drink himself into a blackout like Chris and Josh did - they had the right idea from the beginning of the night.

Mike realized, standing on the porch and watching Beth disappear into the snowy distance, that by choosing to hurt Hannah, he'd hurt Beth anyway. He might have kept her secret safe (or as safe as it would ever be, given that Emily and Jess knew) but there was a very real chance that Beth would come back and tell him she never wants to see him again. The thought of living his life without her in it was too much to think about.

He chose wrong… and yet he was doomed no matter what he chose.

He went back inside the lodge, shoving Emily off of him when she tried to reach for his arm. He saw the fear in her eyes as he stared at her with pure hatred, but it didn't matter. She could cry on Jess's shoulder all night. He just wanted to sleep and never wake up until all this shit passed.

One thing was for sure: Mike knew he had a lot of making up to do the next time he saw Hannah and Beth.

To Be Continued...