Enemies to Lovers

A Mistake Was Made

The boys and I made it to the party shortly after the drinking had already begun. The Gammas greeted us and everyone began to lose their minds when seeing us. I had girls fawning all over me and Stacey came over and kissed Pj's cheek, staring down any girls who tried to flirt with him. Pj gives her a smile and hugs her tightly. They begin talking while girls continue to fawn over Bobby and me. We excuse ourselves and walk around to find Tank, who was the new leader of the Gammas, about if we could mix our own drinks or not. We ended up finding one of the other Gammas and asked him instead. I hadn't realized that Tank wasn't even at the party and had gone to grab Bradley. He said that Tank had gone out and would be back soon, but to help ourselves to any alcohol in the kitchen and that they would replace whatever was depleted before the next party. I thanked him and headed over to the kitchen with Bobby. I grab whatever I can find to mix myself a strong drink, whereas Bobby grabs himself a beer, unsure of what to mix himself. I end up making myself a strong drink of tequila and strawberries. I end up downing it and smile. "Damn. Who knew that would be a good combination?" I say softly as I make myself one more drink and both of us head over to a corner with a view of the kitchen to just relax and talk while drinking.

I was standing in the corner, talking to Bobby and Pj when I looked towards the kitchen and saw Bradley... staring at me? I give a small smirk towards his direction, only to see his face turn pink and him turn away to begin preparing himself a drink after talking to Tank. Why was he staring at me? And why did I like his attention and want more of it? I shake it off and down my drink. "Dude, relax. You're going to end up waking up hungover again with a massive headache." Bobby says as I brush him off. By the time I looked back at the kitchen to grab myself another drink, Bradley was making his way upstairs. I was already feeling the effects of the two drinks I downed when I told Bobby I was going to grab another drink and be right back. He gave me a thumbs up and continued talking to nearby people until he spotted Tank. He gets up and goes over to talk to Tank, wondering where he was. I headed to the kitchen and made myself another drink before walking upstairs. "Hello, is anyone in here?" I ask as I had heard Bradley talking a second ago. I received no response and sighed before saying, "Okay, I'm coming in."

I open the door to see Bradley holding a glass of whiskey and coke in his hand. "Hey Bradley." I say with a small smile as he looks up at me. Why did it look like he didn't get much sleep lately? "Hey. I thought you hated the Gammas." He said, looking into my eyes. "I don't hate the Gammas. Just you. Well, I guess I don't hate you anymore. In any case, I thought the Gammas hated you." He perked up at this and looked at me. "Really? And why is that? And yeah, well, Tank invited me. We talk every so often." He says as I walk over and sit next to him. "It's pointless to hate each other, ya know? Things will never get better unless we close that chapter." I say as he sighs. "Yeah, well, I'm not exactly a likable person anymore, Max. That would be you now." He says as I roll my eyes. "Yeah, because I won fair and square. I didn't have to cheat just to win." I shoot back as he stands up and walks over to me, leaving a small gap in between us. "If you've only bothered me to gloat, then you can go. I'm in no mood for fighting." He says as he downs his drink and begins to leave when I grab his arm to stop him. "What is your problem? I'm genuinely trying to be nice and you're still acting like an asshole." He pulls his arm away from me and points his finger in my chest. "YOU are the problem. Everything was perfect for me until you showed up. Now, I'm the laughingstock of the campus." "That is because of your own actions, Bradley. Not mine. Had you played fairly and didn't almost kill everyone, none of this would've happened!" I yell back at him. "You think I'm not aware of what I've done?! I live with that on my guilty conscience every day. No matter how hard I try to keep my head down and try to ignore everyone, it doesn't work. I always see people looking at me with pity and concern now, instead of respect. I don't know WHY you would want to try and be my friend. We will NEVER be friends. Got it, Goof?" He says as I scoff. "Yeah. I got it." I say before leaving the room, shutting the door behind me. I hear him go back to sit on the bed and I sigh, going back downstairs to make myself another drink.

I go into the kitchen and make myself another drink but stronger this time. Why did I think he would change? He was always going to remain the same, snobby asshole for as long as he lives. Bobby sees me in the kitchen and walks over. "You okay, dude? We heard you and Bradley yelling." He says, a bit worried. I wave off his concern and sigh. "Yeah, fine. He's an asshole. What else is new?" I say as I take a sip of my drink. Bobby doesn't ask any more questions and goes back over to where he was. Hours go by and by this point, Bradley had made his way back downstairs to make himself a few more drinks before heading back upstairs to what I can only assume is his old bedroom. I was maybe three or four drinks deep when I decided to go and check on him. I walked upstairs and knocked on the door again. "Bradley?" I ask. No answer. I sigh and open the door, seeing him passed out with his phone in hand, opened to old texts from his mother. I chuckle a bit and shut the door behind me, wobbling into the room as I take the phone from his hand and close it, pulling out my charger and plugging his phone in on the nightstand nearby.

I didn't realize he woke up at this point and looked over when he grumbled, "Tank?" He looks up at me. "Oh. It's you." He says before rolling back over, passing back out. I shake my head and cover him with the blanket. I begin to leave the room when I hear him say, "Max? Can you stay, please?" I turn around and look at him, a bit shocked. "Oh! Um, sure." I say a bit awkwardly. I rub my neck a bit and walk over to the bed, sitting on it. Surprisingly, he cuddles up to me and falls back asleep. My heart races in my chest as I look down at him. He looked so peaceful when he was asleep. I resist the urge to stroke his hair and sit there, awkwardly. I take my shoes off and lay down on the bed, half sitting up and half laying down. I didn't want to disturb him but eventually, I ended up falling asleep as well after wondering why he wanted me to stay. Bobby comes upstairs and slowly opens the door without knocking, only to see Bradley and I cuddled up to one another. He pulls out his phone, taking a picture before slowly closing it behind him. He shows the picture to Pj and Tank as well. They weren't going to mention it to me or Bradley unless we asked about it.