Crazy Over Him

8: Too Much Alcohol

Ryan removed Jennie off of his body and re-introduced himself to Lisa and Taehyung who would've usually looked uninterested but they were quite talkative that night.

"I thought Jennie was your girlfriend. Who's this Jisoo? Is she hot?" Taehyung asked and Lisa scoffed.

"Jisoo is a good friend of mine," Ryan replied and Jennie rolled her eyes.

"She's a nobody. She'll be a waste of your time," Lisa replied.

"She might be a 'nobody' but you shouldn't call people a waste of time," Ryan defended. "Besides, would you like it if someone constantly made fun of your best friend like that?"

"Ugh, you're boring me," Lisa said and began to walk away but slipped and almost fell into the pool beside her. The only thing that stopped her was when Ryan held onto her waist and kept her in balance.

Lisa was shocked to realize how close their bodies were and how tightly she held onto his arms. She could see Taehyung confused look and Jennie's slight pout in the corner of her eye.

It was awkward.

Ryan let go and Lisa straightened her clothes. She shoved Ryan away by his shoulder and walked away from them.

"Let's go home, Jennie," Ryan said and held Jennie's hand but Taehyung held her other one.

"Where are you taking her if you're not her boyfriend?" Taehyung asked defensively.

"I came here to drive her home. If you don't believe me, I'll drive you home too."

Taehyung scoffed, "why would I believe someone I don't even know? You could be going to your place to take advantage of her."

"But, I'm not... I would never do that to anyone."

"You've even drank. Could you be trusted to drive well?"

"I have a high tolerance."

"Alright, prove it. How high's your alcohol tolerance?"

"I'm not sure."

"Listen... I'll let you take her if you drink... this." Taehyung held up a bottle of beer with a smirk on his face. "If you have a good tolerance then you should be able to finish this without a problem."

Ryan nodded and took the bottle. He popped the cap off and drank the entire bottle within seconds. Ryan licked his lips then handed the, now emptied, bottle back to Taehyung. The beer had little alcohol content to begin with so it wouldn't affect Ryan's genetically high tolerance.

"Are we done here?" Ryan asked and Taehyung scrunched his eyebrows.

"No, wait. That was pretty cool. Do another one!"

Ryan sighed but drank another bottle, and burped this time. People gathered to watch as Taehyung made him drink a third bottle of beer.

"Jihun, I think you should stop now... This is too much," Jennie said but was also curious to see how much Ryan could drink.

"Last one, Ryan! Come on," Jackson said and gave him a shot of vodka.

"No, I should really take Jennie home now. I'd be happy to drink again another time, though."

The crowd of people booed and a few left. Ryan bowed to everyone and held onto Jennie's hand as she took her away from the party scene. He made sure to walk at her pace in case she felt nauseous at a faster speed.

Jennie rubbed her arms and hugged herself as a slight breeze picked up. Ryan let go of her hand, took off his jacket, then wrapped it around her body.

"We're already at my car but you should still keep warm," he said and opened the passenger seat for Jennie. "Do you need help getting in as well?"

She shook her head and got in. After driving to her house, Ryan helped her get out of the car but she didn't walk far before stopping in her tracks and turning to him.

"Why did you come get me?" Jennie asked. "How did you even know?"

"Someone called Jisoo with your phone. I was with her so... she sent me because she had to babysit."

Jennie's eyes faltered when Ryan mentioned he was with Jisoo. Then she took his jacket off but he stopped her.

"Keep it on until we reach your door. It's still pretty cold outside."

Jennie nodded. "Thanks, I guess."

"You're welcome."

She looked up at him and he stared back. It was awkward, as Jennie thought it would be, but it also felt a little painful to her that her ex-boyfriend, Shawn, had never treated her half as nice as Ryan. And despite horrible things she's done to hurt Ryan in the past, Ryan was always nice.

"Are you okay?" he asked and she shook her head slowly.

"Ryan... when you told me you liked me last year... did you mean it?"

Ryan was surprised to hear this question out of the blue but he answered honestly.

"Of course."

"What did you like about me?"

"Mm... Since I'm friends with Jisoo, I got to see the nicer, more familial side of you. I mostly thought you were very adorable when you're around the people you love."

"Do you think... you feel the same still?" she asked shyly.

"Um, I'm not sure if I know what you mean."

She stared into his eyes and even in the moonlight, there was a sparkle she had never noticed before. Without a warning, she found herself pulling his head down to press her lips against his.

Jennie kissed him and what made the kiss more ecstatic was that fact that kissed her back, moving his hands to her elbows to hold her a little closer. After a few moments, Ryan pulled away. They opened their eyes but after another second, Jennie threw up on his shirt.

"Hhrg, I... I'm so sorry..."

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