Vacant Hearts [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Chapter 22 | Fear on Fire

SONG FOR THE CHAPTER: Fear on Fire by Ruelle.

      When Lia said Tyler had fallen through a glass table, I hadn't been sure what to expect. It seemed like an extremely difficult thing to do because last time I checked, a dining room table was pretty solid. I certainly hadn't expected to find Tyler literally sprawled on top of a shattered table wearing neither pants nor a shirt and a pair of bright pink fluffy Ugg boots on his feet.

      Julian sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose before he pushed past the group of onlookers to get to his idiotic best friend. I followed after him, deciding I should help since I was one of the only sober people there. Everyone else was more interested in snapchatting Tyler's misfortune. When we reached Tyler, I quickly assessed the situation to see if there were any major injuries. Thankfully, he wasn't impaled with any huge chunks of glass and there were only a few visible cuts on him. It could've been a lot worse and I was relieved it wasn't.

      "Julie!" Tyler exclaimed when he saw Julian, flailing his arms in the air.

      Julian rolled his eyes and grabbed one of Tyler's arms. I snickered as I grabbed his other arm and together, we managed to haul him to his feet. He sagged against us, a wild grin plastered on his face. Being this close to him also revealed that he smelt like mothballs. I really didn't want to know the story behind that.

      "I didn't get to finish my dance concert. The table broke. How rude," Tyler said with a pout as we dragged him through the crowd. No one seemed to think it might be a sound idea to actually move out of our way, which was extremely frustrating.

      "His 'dance concert' was getting a little out of hand. It's a blessing the table broke before he could remove any more articles of clothing," Lia murmured in my ear.

      We sat Tyler down on the nearest chair. He slumped a little, his eyelids beginning to droop closed. At a closer inspection, his bare chest appeared to be covered in something that resembled and smelled like honey. Mothballs and honey. An odd combination. His hair was also covered in something that had the consistency of glue, but I honestly had no idea what it was.

      "I'll grab him a glass of water," I told everyone.

      "I'll help," I heard Julian say.

      I parted from the group and headed back into the kitchen, very aware that Julian was following closely behind me. My heart rate increased once again and the kiss we shared mere minutes ago flashed through my mind. How was I supposed to go back to pretending everything was normal after that?

      After searching the entire kitchen for a glass, I finally managed to locate where they were kept. I filled it with water and then slowly turned around to face Julian. Something swirled through my stomach.

      "What now?" I started, trying to keep my voice as steady as possible. "Is this the part where we talk about what happened earlier and then brush it off as an act of seduction?"

      A crooked smile appeared on his lips and he took a step towards me. "I think I'd rather kiss you again."

      The swirling in my stomach transformed into what I imagined a hurricane to feel like.

      "What if I don't want you to?" I replied, trying not to wince at how breathless I sounded.

      "We both know that's a lie," Julian murmured, stepping so close that I could feel his warm breath against my lips.

      Miraculously, the glass of water didn't slip from my hand.

      "We both know," Julian repeated softly, bringing his mouth close to my ear, "you'd willingly let me kiss you again."