Next door

Party

There we sat on the porch, in an awkward silence, hand in hand. I wondered if she liked me the way I liked her. If when she looked into my eyes the way I looked into hers, she felt home, like I did.

Clay stepped outside, and I quickly pulled my hand away from Stevie's. He gave me a pitiful glance.
"Our parents said they want you two inside, it's getting dark." He said
I nodded, and stood up, following Stevie inside, but Clay stopped me.
"I need to talk to you first." He muttered, closing the front door behind Stevie.

"I saw you holding her hand and I know what you're trying to do. But stay away from her. She'll just mess you up." He warned
"What are you talking about?" I asked, shocked
"Listen, just keep away from her. You'll understand."

--------------------------------------------

I decided to ignore Clay's warning, presuming it was just sibling hatred. The week after, I was invited to Hannah Witton's annual summer party. I had invited Stevie to come with me, and she'd agreed without hesitation.

There I stood, before Stevie's door, my palms sweating and hands shaking as I pressed the doorbell. Her mother answered
"Oh hi Ally, how are you?" She asked
"Hi Samantha, I'm just here to..." I began, until I noticed Stevie discretely waving from the background, suddenly, my phone buzzed, I pulled it from my pocket.
STEVIE: YOU CAN'T TELL HER I'M GOING TO THE PARTY, JUST LIE, I'LL BE THERE IN A MINUTE

"Ally, is everything alright?" She asked
"Yeah, sorry, I just came to make sure you guys are settling in ok." I lied
"Oh yes, we're doing fine."
"Well that's great to hear, I'll see you around then, say hi to Stevie from me." I said
"Okay I will do, bye." She replied, closing the door.

I stood outside, waiting, until suddenly, Stevie took a high leap from her window, crawling down a pipe, and landing beside me, as if it was something she had done many times before.
"Shall we be off then?" She asked casually, I nodded, intimated.

Hannah greeted us at the door, welcoming Stevie. The party was fun, and relaxing, and all was well.
Someone decided that we should play Spin the Bottle, so we all sat in a circle, me opposite Stevie.
When it came to my turn, I clutched the bottle nervously, glancing at my friends, wondering who it would be worse to kiss. I let it go, spinning it into the center of us all.

It stopped.

Pointing at Stevie.

We looked at each other, and she smiled, taking a sip of her beer, one of many. I scooted towards her, and gently kissed her smooth lips, she smiled. We stared at each other for another moment, our faces inches apart. She leaned in a second time, and kissed me for longer than the first, passionately.

We parted, returning to our places in the circle. The others sat in silence.
"Okay well it's my turn." Said Hannah excitedly, and the game moved on. But I didn't. My thoughts stopped, remembering those few seconds, of her face so close to mine, of her heat warming me, of her tragic smile. But she sat opposite me, smiling drunkly.

By the end of the night, everyone relaxed in their separate corners, having deep conversations; Stevie, at the other end of the room, chatting with some guy from school. I saw their conversation as innocent, until the guy leaned closer to her and they began to kiss, the way we had done - Stevie barely protesting.

I stood as far away from her as I could. Clay was right. She was just fooling around with me.

By the end of the night, Stevie lay fast asleep on the couch, too drunk for consciousness. The guy from earlier sat beside her, smiling at me. I approached him.
"I'm gonna take Stevie home now." I told him, he just nodded uncaringly.

I picked up her drunk body, her arm around my shoulder, and carried her to my house, she barely staggered. I snuck into my house, carrying her upstairs with me, and dropped her on my bed, pulling the sheets over her.

I took my shirt and pants off, and crawled in beside her in my underwear. I was so angry. But I still cared.

Author's note: Hi folks, thank you so much for being so positive about this new fanfic, you guys are the best!!! Also, I let me know if you enjoyed this chapter, and thanks for reading xxx