Best Friends... Or More?

Chapter 6 : Party!

The school day flew by quickly. I was so excited for tonight. Noah was throwing a party and I, being his girlfriend, was invited.
I was at my locker with Tilly. Joe was there too because he was waiting for Tilly, and Josh was there because he was waiting for Joe.
Tilly leans against the lockers, "Friday night! What are you doing?"
I grin, "Noah's having a party. I'm going to that."
Right away, like I knew they would, they all frown. "You shouldn't go to that." Joe says.
I frown back at him, "Joe, it's my boyfriend. Of course I'm going."
He sighs as Noah walks up and wraps his arm around my waist. He smiles at them all with his perfect, white teeth, "You guys coming to my party?"
Tilly and Joe shake their heads, and Tilly says, "No, me and Joe were planning on doing something together, just the two of us."
Noah nods, grinning, and winks, "Of course."
We turn to Josh who is wearing a scowl that has been permanent since I told them I was dating Noah. Come to think of it, he's been scowling since Noah even talked to me that first time.
Josh looks at us and finally says, "I'll come," surprising all of us.
"Great!" Noah says, "See you there. You know where I live right?" he laughs and then says, "Of course you do! I'm next door neighbors with Laura!"
Josh scowls even more and nods. Noah grabs my hand and says, "Come on Laura, let's go!"
I wave bye and as I walk away, I hear Joe say, "Josh, why in the world are you going to that party?"
I strain to hear his answer and when I do, I'm shocked, "Someone has to protect Laur."
'What did that mean?' I didn't have any time to think about it because then we reached the doors and were walking to Noah's car.
****
I walked into Noah's house later that night. His parents weren't home and neither were mine.
He greeted me at the door with a kiss, "Laura! Come on!" He dragged me away into the living room where more popular kids were. We sat down on the couch and he put his arm around me.
He leans closer to me, "Want something to drink?" I smell beer on his breath and can tell he's already drunk. I nod, "Sure, why not?"
He grins, "That's the spirit!" He turns to a boy, "Hey, Tom! Get us two beers!"
When Tom comes back, Noah guzzles half of his right there. I sip mine first. I had never tried beer before. It was gross but at the same time I wanted to keep drinking it.
Noah bumps my arm, "Chug it!"
I grin at him. Across the room I see Josh enter and look around. Our eyes meet and he frowns. 'Ugg,' I was annoyed with him so I turned back to Noah and lifted the beer and chugged it.
I hear cheers around me. When I'm done someone hands me another and tells me to chug that one too. Looks like I'm getting wasted tonight.
****
    After five beers, I'm pretty drunk and don't have any filter. Noah had gone
somewhere awhile ago and so I was left with some of his friends.
I was pretty sure they were smoking weed, but I wasn't sure. One of them turned to me, "Hey Laura! Want a hit?"
Before I could do anything, Josh appeared, "No, she doesn't!" He dragged me away.
"Josh! Where are we going?" I asked.
He didn't answer, just kept pulling me along. We reached the door and he opened it and pulled me outside.
As we started walking faster down the sidewalk toward my home, I said, "Josh, I think I'm gonna pass out."
He stops abruptly and looks at me. I grin at him as I sway slightly. He sighs and runs a hand through his hair and then sweeps me off my feet.
I lay my head on his shoulder as we climb up the steps to my front porch.
Dyl answers the door, "What the heck?"
Josh shoves through, "Ask questions later. I'm taking care of her."
****
Josh's POV
I carry Laur up the stairs to her room, Dyl following. Luckily, Mally already went to bed so she didn't have to see her sister like this. And luckily, her parents weren't home either.
When we get to her room, I lay her on her bed and turn to Dyl, "I'm staying the night here."
He looks angry and is about to say something when Laur says, "Joshy? I think I'm gonna throw up."
I grab her and run her to her bathroom, where she throws up in the toilet. Once she's done, I bring her back to her bed.
Dyl comes in with a bucket. He gives it to Laur and says, "Here, next time you feel like that, puke in here."
She nods. I stand up and go over to her dresser. I open the drawers until I find a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants. I give them to Laur, "Here, baby, can you put them on for me, while Dyl and I go out and talk?"
She takes them and nods. Dyl and I walk out and close the door.
Dyl turns to me, "What happened? If you did anything to my sister, I'm going to beat the living daylights out of you!"
I put my hands up, "Whoa, Dyl, calm down. It wasn't me. Her 'boyfriend' had a party and she went. I went to make sure things didn't happen to her. She got drunk, but that's all. I made sure of that."
"Her boyfriend?" Dyl roared, "Who's that?"
I look at him, "You don't know? Noah Cockburn."
Dyl looks madder than I've ever seen him, "That --! I'm going to beat his butt! How long has she been dating him?"
I shrug, "September."
"What?!? And she didn't tell a single one of us!"
"She didn't?!?"
"No!"
Before either of us can say anything else, the door opens, "Joshy? I'm done."
We look over at her. Her hair is a mess and she looks like she's sick, but to me, she still looks beautiful.
Dyl nods to me, "Go. Take care of her. If you need me, just holler. Parents will be home at midnight."
I nod my thanks and go to Laur before she hits the ground, "Come on, sweetheart, you need to sleep."
I bring her to her bed and she sits down. I look at her. "Hey, Laur, do you want me to put your hair in a bun incase you puke again?"
She smiles so sweetly at me, "Yes." She must be the kind of drunk who gets really wild with no filter and then all of a sudden crashes.
I put her hair up and then tell her to go to sleep.
I'm about to walk out after she's all tucked in when she says, "Joshy?"
I turn back, "Yes, my dear?"
"Come here. I have a secret to tell you."
I walk over and lean down, "Yeah?"
She cups her hand around my ear and whispers, "I love you."
I look down at her, "I love you too, mi amor, now go to sleep." I lean over and kiss her forehead.
"Will you sleep with me?"
I sigh and then climb into her bed, "Okay, for a little bit."
She smiles and cuddles close to me, "Josh, you make me feel safe."
I smooth her hair, "That's good."
We lay there until I hear her breathing even. I look down and see that she's sleeping. I quietly slip out and head to Dyl's room.
****
Laura's POV
The next morning, I wake up with a killer headache. I look around and see that I'm in my room and in comfy clothes. 'How did I get here?' Last thing I remember was being at Noah's and drinking. I get out of bed and walk downstairs. My mom is making breakfast.
She turns around, "Good morning, sunshine! How you feeling? Josh and Dyl said you got sick last night."
'Josh?' I think confused. I smile at my mom, "I'm feeling better, but I still have a headache."
She smiles back at me, "Well, you go and sit in the living room until I'm done making lunch."
"Lunch?" I echo, "What time is it?"
"12:30."
"Really?" I was amazed.
She smiles, "You were sick. You must've needed the rest."
I nod and walk into the living room. Dyl, Clint and Clay are sitting in there, and Josh. Once again, I think, 'Josh?'
I plop down in a chair, "What happened last night? Why does mom think I'm sick? And why does my head hurt so bad?"
Dyl frowns at me, "Why didn't you tell anyone you were dating Noah?"
"Umm..." I say.
"You should thank Josh," Dyl continues, "When you got drunk and almost smoked weed at the party last night, Josh dragged you out of there and brought you home, He then proceeded to pick out comfy clothes for you and put your hair up so you wouldn't puke on it.
He also was with you every time you puked and he even laid with you until you fell asleep. You should be very thankful that Josh -"
"Dyl," Josh said quietly, "She doesn't need to know everything." His face was getting red.
But Dyl wasn't done, "Oh, so she doesn't need to know that Noah went off with another girl last night and left her with his weed smoking friends?"
The room went silent. Clint and Clay stared at Dyl. Josh look at me like he wanted to give me a hug. I stared back at them, "What?"
Dyl starts to get up, "Laura, I'm sorry, I didn't mean for you to find out like that."
Josh beats him to it, he goes to me and wraps his arms around me, "Laur, baby, I'm sorry."
Tears prick my eyes, and I stand up, "I'm going back to sleep."
As I leave the room, I hear Josh say, "I'm calling TIlly." But as I walk up the stairs, that's not what I have on my mind. I don't even have Noah's cheating on my mind either. I'm thinking about how Josh, yes, Josh, just called me baby.