A throbbing sensation clashed around my brain and caused me to slowly wake up in a daze. I sat up sluggishly with painfully aching stomach muscles and then brought my fingertips to my temples, massaging them and groaning at the pressure in my head.
Never. Drinking. Again.
My eyelids finally peeled open and adjusted to the lightness after a few seconds. Confusion washed over me as I tried to remember what the hell had happened last night. I froze when I figured out where I was - Rachel's pool house. Wait, what? How did I even get here? I noticed a blanket draped over my half-naked body and quickly shot up from the couch I was sitting on. There was a brief flash of warmth, the memory of fierce kissing and bare skin rolled through my hazy mind.
Nate Miller! Holy crap, did I sleep with him or something?! He was nowhere in sight, so he must have left before I woke up. I bunched up my tangled hair in my fists and shouted at myself, unable to process what was going on.
"Did I lose my virginity to Nate Miller last night? Why can't I remember?!" I pulled hard at my hair, as if that was going to elicit all the details I knew were stored in my brain somewhere, but it only made the headache worse.
Stumbling forward to where my clothes were scattered on the wooden floor, I reached forward to pick them up and instantly recoiled when my hand touched the fabric. Both my shirt and jeans were damp, nearly wet. Okay this keeps getting weirder. I slid on the wet clothes and shivered at the gross feeling, wanting to get answers to what happened as soon as possible. I burst through the backdoor into Rachel's house and called for her, dodging all the empty red solo cups on the floor and the mess from the party that was left behind. When I found her in the kitchen, she was dressed in her silky pink pajamas and happily humming to herself as she cooked something over the stove.
"Rachel!"
She dropped the spatula into the pan and spun around with wide eyes.
"Lia?? What are you doing here?" She scanned my body from head-to-toe and hesitated at my crazy appearance. "Um, no offense, but you look a little rough."
I dragged myself over to her as she turned off the heat on the stove and looked back at me quizzically.
"I thought you went home last night, what's going on?"
"I think I made a huge mistake last night!" I said, glassy tears brimmed my eyes and threatened to spill out.
"Oh my god, what happened?" She grasped my shoulders and pulled me into a hug, hearing the panic and regret in my voice. I was hoping Rachel could help me, but I knew she couldn't really. Not if I actually ended up having sex with Nate.
She abruptly held me away from her and crinkled her nose up. "Ew, why are your clothes wet?"
"I don't know! I was really drunk!" I held my face in my hands and tried to control the flurry of emotions hurtling through me right then. "I can only remember little bits and pieces from last night, and that I was with-"
"Oh, hey Lia. I didn't know you slept here." Harris moseyed into the kitchen in nothing but a pair of boxers, revealing his huge muscular torso in all its might. Being one of the school's top athletes, he was obviously used to showing off his body and didn't make any effort to cover up. He stopped for a second when he saw me, but carried on and kissed Rachel on the cheek, wrapping an arm completely around her waist as he did it. I guess I wasn't the only one who spent the night here...
The comparison in size between these two was crazy, kind of like a large horse and a little mouse, except the mouse wasn't scared of the horse at all.
"Aw, princess, did you make me pancakes?" He asked with a smile, noticing the stack of delicious breakfast food Rachel had been cooking. I turned away from them and hastily wiped my eyes, knowing that if Harris saw the state I was in he would ask questions. They continued being all lovey-dovey before Rachel paused and seemed to remember we were in the middle of a crisis.
"I'm just gonna help Lia with something quick, babe." She told him while he dished up some of the fluffy pancakes. "We'll be in my room."
Thankfully he barely noticed us leaving and focused more on drowning his pancakes in maple syrup.
* * *
"Okay, just breathe and tell me what's going on."
We were sitting on her unmade bed, which was kind of gross because I could guess exactly what happened here last night, but I couldn't be bothered right now.
"When I saw you last, you said you were just going for a walk. I figured you went home after that."
"Yeah, I did take a walk, but I kind of...took a detour."
"Meaning?" She raised a brow and waited, and the words were on the tip of my tongue, but it was so hard to say. I inhaled a sharp breath and muttered my next sentence.
"I hooked up with Nate Miller." I said so softly it was inaudible.
"What was that?" Rachel leaned forward and turned her head so that her ear faced me.
"I..."
Shit, I just have to say it.
"I HOOKED UP WITH NATE MILLER!"
Dammit, say it! Don't shout! What was wrong with me?
"You did what?!" Rachel gasped and slapped her hands to her mouth. "How did that even happen?"
"I can't really remember! He was down there at the beach, and we hung out and...shared a joint." My voice trailed into a whisper for the last part.
"You? Lia DeMarco, smoked weed?" She asked with a gaping jaw.
"That's not important! We were just hanging out, and the next thing I know he's telling me my eyes look like the ocean and-"
"Awwww, cute!" She cooed out with a dreamy reaction and I couldn't help but smile back, enjoying the warmth in my stomach at the memory.
"I know." Is all I could muster up with blushing cheeks. "No, wait! That's not what this is about." I got back on track and narrowed my eyes.
"Oh, right. Sorry...continue." She changed her expression back to serious and paid attention again.
"So, after that he kissed me, but it turned into way more. I remember us making out, and then we were somehow in the pool house." I shut my eyes tightly and tried to rack my brain. "I remember taking my clothes off, but I dunno why they're wet, and then I think I had a blackout because that's all I know."
I slumped forward and rested my head in my hands, cursing myself for drinking too much.
"So, you don't actually know if you slept with him?"
"No, I don't know." I sat back up and sighed deeply. "Wouldn't I feel different if I had? Like wouldn't it have hurt enough for me to remember?"
"Not necessarily." Rachel answered and my heart plunged. "I mean, for me it did, but I know girls who didn't feel anything the next day."
Great. Fan-fucking-tastic.
My mouth dried up and my throat tightened with each breath I took, still processing how stupid I was.
"I never imagined my first time being something I wouldn't even remember." I said softly, feeling smaller than ever in that big room. We were both quiet for a minute before Rachel spoke up again.
"Are you–are you going to tell Matt?"
"Matt!" I jumped off the bed at the sudden and terrifying realization. "Rachel, promise me you won't tell Harris about this! No one can know! If Matt finds out he'll never trust me again, and Harris is one of his best friends!"
"Calm down, I promise I won't tell him!" She raised her hands and motioned for me to settle, but I couldn't. How did I not even think of Matt? From the moment Nate kissed me I had completely forgot about him. I was supposed to have a date with him tonight, but there was no way that could happen until I found out what transpired last night. This was going to eat away at me if I didn't know.
Rachel looked at me unsurely, seeing my eyes shifting in thought. "What are you thinking about?"
I made a quick decision in my mind and knew she would try and stop me, but it was happening.
"I'm going to his house." I said walking swiftly passed her towards the walk-in closet.
"Whose house?" Her voice sounded behind me as I started digging through some clothing.
"Nate's. I'm just borrowing something dry to wear."
"What? Is it really a good idea to go to his house?" I heard her disapproving words but ignored them, flipping through t-shirts and finding one I liked.
"Ugh, do you own anything that isn't pink?" I asked, pulling on a pair of white shorts and a pink shirt. I looked like a damn marshmallow, but at least it was dry.
"You don't even know where he lives." Rachel said as I walked back into her room, braiding my wild hair as I went.
"You're right." I agreed and she let out a sigh of relief, as if I had come to my senses. "Do you know where he lives?"
She rolled her eyes and frowned. "No, I do not know where he lives, Lia. I really don't think it's a good idea to-"
"Rob should know, I think they're kind of friends." I whipped my phone out of my handbag, which thankfully wasn't wet, and went to Rob's number in my speed dial. Rachel glared at me while I held up the phone to my ear, but it immediately let out a beep and Rob's pre-recorded message played.
"Straight to voicemail," I hung up the phone and went back to thinking of a plan. "He should be at the restaurant covering my shift today, maybe if I-"
"Lia!" Rachel shouted and cut me off, taking me by surprise. "Look, I know you're probably freaking out a little, but just think this through. Maybe you should rather wait and talk to him on Monday. I don't want you to get hurt."
I knew there was a risk of me finding out the worst scenario and getting hurt, but I had made up my mind.
"If I don't speak to him, I'm just going to be stressing about it the whole day," I sighed, and she listened closely. "I need to know what happened, before my date with Matt tonight."
She looked at me and moved her eyes over my face, contemplating.
"Okay fine, get your stuff. I'll give you a ride to the restaurant so you can ask Rob where Nate lives."
* * *
The restaurant was quiet when I ran inside, the breakfast crowd had mostly shuffled out and the staff should have been setting up for lunch around this time. I looked for Rob but didn't see him anywhere. Shit, if he wasn't here then I didn't even know how I would get home, Rachel had already left because she needed to get back and clean up her house before her parents got home from LA.
"Oh Lia, thank god. Please tell me you're here to take over from Rob." One of the waitresses, Grace, walked up to me looking exhausted. Her dark hair was pulled back tightly with strands falling out, and her uniform was already creasing from hard work.
"I'm not, I'm just here to ask him something." I read her exasperated face and could tell she wasn't happy with that answer. "Why? What's he done now?"
"Nothing. Absolutely nothing." She blew out, indicating to a table in the back and I was met with the sight of Rob, clearly hungover and slumped across the table top in a deep sleep. "He came in an hour late, demolished half a tray of pastries Renato baked, sat down and immediately passed out. Lunch starts soon and he hasn't done jack to help with anything."
I wasn't really surprised. Rob usually party's way too hard most weekends, that's not new, but I was the one who normally worked on Saturday mornings while he slept until noon. I don't think he had actually been at the restaurant so early before; it was clearly not agreeing with him.
"Alright, shall I wake Sleeping Beauty then?" I asked Grace and she chuckled, turning to walk back to the kitchen.
"Oh, I've tried, but have at it."
I headed to the table and stood over Rob, watching him mumbling in his sleep.
"Rob."
"Hmm." He groaned and let out a loud snore.
"Rob."
He turned his head away and used his arm as a pillow, sleep talking again.
"Toast is in the dryer."
Ugh, I don't have time for this.
"WAKE UP!"
"I didn't steal the breadsticks!" He yelled and fell onto the floor in shock, his chair completely tipping over. I couldn't stifle my laugh as I helped him up and sat down next to him.
"Jeez you're an idiot."
"Too loud." He said tiredly, breathing deep at the rude awakening. "Too loud and too hungover."
"Look, I really don't have a lot of time and I need your help so-"
"Wait, what are you doing here?" He stopped me from explaining and opened his eyes more as he started waking up properly. "And what happened to you last night? I couldn't find you and my phone died." He gasped and his face hardened with anger, "You didn't go home with that football player, did you??"
"His name is Matt, and no I didn't go home with him. I-" His eyebrows knotted together when I stumbled over my words, realizing that I didn't want him to know all of the details of why I needed his help. "I um...crashed at Rachel's. Yup, passed out in her room, that's all."
He looked at me suspiciously and I didn't meet his gaze, already feeling the awkwardness start to arrive. A smug smile appeared across his lips and he grinned as he pieced it together.
"You got with someone else."
"I did not!" He laughed over me and gained composure again.
"Oh really? Well okay then, so why do you need my help at this ungodly hour?"
"Please, it's 11am, and this is totally unrelated to anything from last night." I lied through my teeth and continued before he could interrupt. "I need you to tell me where Nate Miller lives."
"You got with Nate?!" He exclaimed with glee and threw me off.
"Nothing happened, okay? He uh, lent me his jacket last night and I just need to return it."
"Bull, you're a terrible liar. You gonna tell me what happened or am I going to have to ask him myself?"
I accepted defeat when I could see he wasn't going to let it go, and I had come too far to not get his help now.
"You can't tell anyone about this, Rob."
"Uh huh." He said eagerly and crossed his fingers over his heart.
"Yes, I got together with Nate last night." He smiled widely in response and seemed elated by the information. "Why are you happy about this?"
"Why wouldn't I be? The guy is awesome, Lia!" He pulled his phone out of his pocket and typed on it while he spoke. "You must really like him if you already want to see him again."
"It's not like that."
"Then what's it like?"
"I don't have time to get into this. Will you just tell me where he lives?"
He shoved his phone back in his pocket and shrugged. "I just sent you his address, how are you going to get there?"
"Crap, I dunno. Rachel dropped me off."
"Here, take mom's car." He reached in his other pocket and swung the keys on the table. "She's out with Derek for the morning, and I covered for you when she asked where you were."
"You didn't need to do that."
"Judging from the situation you're in, yeah I think I did need to."
"Okay true, thanks." I couldn't be annoyed with him anymore; I would have been screwed without his help.
"Alright, guess I should do some work." Rob said looking over my shoulder, I turned and saw Grace staring death daggers at him.
I nodded and stood up; ready to leave when he quickly got in one last comment.
"Say hi to Nate for me."
* * *
I pulled up outside of a pretty looking house in a nice neighborhood; it smelled amazing here, like fresh cut grass and summer. I had a feeling this was the kind of place that just smelled like this all the time though. It was the address Rob gave me, so this must be where Nate lived. I cautiously walked down the neat pathway and climbed the stairs to the porch, ringing the doorbell when I arrived. My heart galloped so hard in my chest; he was going to think I was some crazy overly attached girl or something. After waiting a while, the door slung open and Nate's younger brother, Tyler, stood across the threshold.
Oof, I forgot how badly his face was beat up from Rob. It had progressively gotten worse over the week. Every time I saw him, I felt guilty all over again, I didn't know how I couldn't be. The bruising was deep blue and red; his eye was still swelled up, and there were slowly healing cuts around his cheekbones and lip. I really did feel bad for him, but he didn't seem to be understanding at all. He was glaring at me with a clamped jaw and waited for me to say something.
"Um, hi Tyler, I'm-"
"Yeah I know who you are," He grunted out curtly, folding his arms over his torso and blocking the entry to come inside. "Your brother stole my girlfriend and beat me up."
I guess he was kind of right, but it was his ex-girlfriend so there wasn't any stealing, and he totally provoked Rob too.
"Is that how it happened?" I squeaked out.
He continued to stare at me, unblinking and full of loathing. I started to feel uncomfortable in a matter of seconds and I could tell he wanted to say something else, probably something mean no doubt. Just as he opened his mouth to talk, someone interrupted him.
"Ty, lay off."
I couldn't see who it was yet because Tyler was still staring me down, but after a few seconds he rolled his eyes and walked back inside, allowing me to come in. Nate's sister stood on the other side of the room waiting for him.
"Go do your homework."
"It's Saturday." He protested with annoyance.
"Just go, Tyler." She looked at him sternly and he skulked up the staircase, thumping loudly on each step to emphasize his anger.
I walked through the door and she made her way over to me with a kind smile.
"Sorry about him, he's being immature."
"That's okay, I don't blame him." I responded awkwardly, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear.
"I recognize you from the principal's waiting room." She said thoughtfully. "I would have introduced myself that day, but I was way too angry for my own good. I'm Lizzy, part-time aspiring pastry chef, full-time boring law student." She laughed warmly and I started to feel more welcomed.
"I'm Lia."
"It's nice to meet you. I guess you're here for Nate?" She looked at me with interest and I noticed that she had the exact same shade of green in her eyes that Nate had, and it was sort of making me a little nervous. Damn, if I was nervous just because of that, how was I going to face him?
"Yeah I am. Is he here?"
"Actually, he's not. Was it important?"
I sighed and the muscles in my face fell, disappointment showing for her to see.
"Yeah it kinda was, do you know when he'll be back?"
Her green eyes studied me, and she cracked her knuckles absent-mindedly, looking like she was determining something.
"Hold on." She walked to a nearby table that had a bowl on top, some knickknacks, a pile of books and a notepad. She took a pen out of a cup full of stationary and scribbled something down on the paper, then walked back and handed it to me.
"Here, that's the address where he's at right now."
I read the neatly scrawled writing and realized where this was.
"San Diego, as in the city?"
She laughed at my reaction and nodded. "That's the one. He won't be back until tomorrow night. I would suggest just calling him, but it sounds like you need to talk face to face."
"That's nearly an hour drive though, why is he-"
"Liz!" Tyler's voice bellowed from the top of the stairs and she jumped. "Is something burning??"
"My muffins!" She cried and started running backwards. "Sorry, Lia, I gotta go save my babies! Hope I see you around soon!" And with that she had disappeared into the next room where the burning smell was coming from.
I made my way back outside and closed the door behind me, still staring at the address on the paper. I looked at the words a little longer and came to a conclusion that seemed to be my only option.
Looks like I was going to San Diego...
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A/N: Some nsfw stuff coming soon. Just a pre-warning ;)
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