The Trouble with Love

❝ give a little time to me ❞

(unedited)

Tonight I'll call you,
After my blood is drowning in alcohol.
No, I just wanna hold you.
Give a little time to me or burn this out,
We'll play hide and seek,
To turn this around.

"Give Me Love" –Ed Sheeran

I definitely wasn't comfortable getting drunk around the Elite.

After Kaden had, for lack of better word, kicked me and Ashton out of the house so he could talk to Detective Fallon, Ashton had suggested going to his house- which, was actually more of a mansion. It wasn't as big as Vanessa's, but it was bigger that the Fleming house/mansion. Keira and Nathan had already been there when we arrived. Skylar, Jacen and Vanessa had decided to come as well, making it another 'Elite-hangout-nights'.

And Skylar had decided it would be a great night to get drunk.

Yeah, on a Sunday night.

I wasn't sure what she was thinking.

I was a lightweight when it came to alcohol, and I didn't want to get plastered around the Elite, so I had been faking it for the past hour or so. I was pretty sure I wasn't the only one, though no one seemed to really care. Skylar and Vanessa were the only ones who were really drunk. Nathan was a little buzzed, I think, same with Jacen, but that was it. Ashton looked sober, even though I had seen him finish at least two bottles of beer and Keira hadn't touched the alcohol.

I have a feeling this is how it usually is.

"Let's have a sleepover!" Vanessa exclaimed.

"It's not middle school anymore, Vanessa," Ashton said drily.

She pouted. "We used to have them all the time!"

Vanessa was a crazy energetic drunk, which probably wasn't a very good idea with the cast on her arm. The doctors had told her to keep it in for a couple days just to make sure the stitches didn't rip. At least, that's what Nathan had said since Vanessa apparently hadn't been listening when they had explained it to her.

"I think it's a good idea," Skylar said.

Skylar wasn't really any kind of drunk. She acted more or less like she normally did though you could tell she was drunk by her glazed eyes and unsteady feet. She had been drinking more than anyone tonight, which I was pretty sure wasn't normal, since I had caught Ashton's surprised look when she reached for her fifth bottle.

"Sure, why not?" Nathan agreed.

Vanessa whirled on me, grasping my arm with her free hand. "You'll stay, right?"

"Uh, I can't." No way would Kaden let me, and I wasn't sure how I felt about sleeping in the same room as someone who had shot up two people with Methanonel- once to kill and the other to seriously injure.

She pouted. "Why?"

"There's school tomorrow." Wow, your excuses are amazing, Lena.

Skylar raised an eyebrow. "So?"

"I didn't bring anything," I replied.

"Neither did we," she snapped. And when Skylar was drunk, she was also a little more snappy than usual.

I opened my mouth to protest, but before I could Keira cut in. "I think you should stay, Elena," she said. I glanced at her, trying to figure out what she was playing at, but she only raised an eyebrow, giving me a challenging look.

I glanced at Ashton who was carefully avoiding looking at me. I sighed. "Fine. Let me just make sure my parents don't wait up." I pulled my phone from my pocket and stepped out of the room, moving a little down the hall so they wouldn't be able to hear me. I checked my call screen and realized I had several missed calls from Kaden, a couple from Raine and even one from Devon.