Chapter 31
Kyle
Lily: Kyle, I NEED YOUUUU
Lily: Where are you?
Lily: I think Leo escaped to the party, I need you to stop him before he does something stupid.
Lily: Kyle, pleaseeeeeeee answerrrrrrr.
I sat Jeremy down in Oliver's living room and handed him a cup of coffee and some chips, hoping they would help sober him up a bit.
He was hysterical, upset about something, and talking complete nonsense since he'd arrived.
I needed to get him calm before I could figure out what the hell was going on.
I was furious at myself for not being able to prevent this situation. I thought I could enjoy time with my friends and be happy while also protecting Jeremy from being here, but I was clearly wrong, and now I would pay the consequences of my actions.
When I saw that he was slightly more coherent, I started my interrogation. "Okay, I need you to tell me what happened to you, everything, without omitting any detail, little by little.” I sighed. “I thought I told you to call me if you had an emergency."
"But I did call you, maybe ten times before I decided to come here," Jeremy replied, his words still slightly slurred.
Really? Shit.
I tried to search my pockets for my phone, but it wasn't there. I must have lost it when the guys grabbed me to throw me into the pool.
This was bad. I couldn't believe that a moment of carelessness had caused Jeremy to spiral so out of control.
But this was not the time for lamenting.
The best thing I could do now was try to calm him down and convince him that we needed to leave immediately.
"Well, I'm sorry, but that doesn't give you the right to get drunk and act crazy. Did you drive here?"
"No, someone brought me."
"Fine, let's go then."
"Where?"
"I don't know, anywhere but here." I tried to sound firm and authoritative.
"But I don't want to leave. I don't want to be home alone."
"We can go to Lily and Leo's then, whatever makes you feel better, but not here," I raised my voice at the end.
My mind was racing. This was falling apart faster than I could control it. I needed to get Jeremy out of here before something terrible happened, before the sequence of events that led to the disaster of ten years ago started playing out exactly as before.
"I don't want to see that stupid Leo; he's the reason we're in this situation," Jeremy said bitterly.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, like I told you, I went to my piano lessons..."
"Uh-huh?"
Jeremy didn't finish what he was saying because at that exact moment, Leo burst through the front door. Why the fuck wasn't this house locked?
"What are you doing here, asshole?" Jeremy said extremely loudly as he stood up from his chair, swaying. "I don't want to see you here."
"So you can comfortably continue hooking up with MY sister's boyfriend?" Leo replied angrily, pointing at me. "What the hell have you been thinking? Do you know how much Lily has suffered because of you?"
I had absolutely no idea what was happening. What the hell was Leo talking about? At least we were inside the house, and the party seemed to be continuing normally in the backyard.
At least you did something right by bringing Jeremy to the living room.
I stood between them, blocking Jeremy from behind. "I think you both need to calm down."
"I'm not going to take your advice, Kyle. I thought we resolved our situation the other day, and now I see you here with Jeremy, making him suffer again. But believe me, this time I'm not going to let you keep playing with my sister's and my best friend's feelings."
I didn't have time to react. Leo's fist connected with my nose, sending me stumbling backward. Jeremy tried to grab me to help, but since he was still drunk, we both crashed to the floor.
At that exact moment, Lily ran into the house, visibly stressed. Seriously, why was the front door still unlocked?
"Leo, what the fuck?" she yelled.
Leo looked at his sister, confused and angry. "Lily, what are you doing here?"
"Trying to save your ass from doing something stupid. Apparently, I'm late. The better question would be, what are you doing here?"
"That's what I've been trying to figure out for the last twenty minutes," I said from the floor, tasting blood.
"Shut up," Lily snapped at me. "If you had been paying attention to your phone, all of this could have been prevented."
How was everything suddenly my fault?
Jeremy struggled to his feet. "I think we should all calm down. We're all very upset."
At that moment, Oliver and Brandy entered through the glass patio door. Oliver’s eyes widened when he saw me on the ground, and Brandy immediately ran to Leo’s side.
"What's going on here?" Oliver demanded. "And what are you two doing here?" He pointed at Leo and Jeremy.
Perfect. Just what I needed. The cherry on top.
"Nothing," Lily said quickly. "Jeremy and Leo were already leaving."
As if he hadn't realized Lily was there until she spoke, he turned to her. "Lily, darling, I didn't know you were here." Oliver went over to her and tried to go for a hug, but she pushed him away before he could get close.
"Don't even think about it," she replied. He just raised his hands in a sign of peace and remained silent.
"We are not leaving yet," Leo protested. "Look, Lily, Jeremy and Kyle have been seeing each other behind your back. I just wanted to defend you."
"Are you crazy? Of course not," Lily said. At the same time, I said, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Okay, maybe it's my fault," Jeremy interjected. "I told Leo I liked someone, but didn’t say who he was. Maybe he got things mixed up because he saw us together at school."
"So do you like someone?" I said to Jeremy, surprised. "Why didn't I know about this?"
"Why are you asking me so accusingly? It's because of reactions like this that Leo thinks we are dating," Jeremy complained.
"I don't want to be a party pooper, but you're ruining my Saturday," Oliver interrupted coldly. "Why don't you and Leo go upstairs and settle your differences? Let my friends enjoy the party down here. Lily let me serve you a drink."
"No one's going anywhere," Lily said firmly. "Leo, take Dad's car and go with Jeremy to his house right now. I don't want either of you here."
Brandy, who had been silent until this point, spoke up. "I think I should go with Leo too, just to make sure everything's okay."
Oliver immediately cut her off. "You're not going anywhere."
"Why are you talking to my girlfriend like that?" Leo became defensive.
"Because you're visibly upset, and I don't want her to miss the party because you're acting like a child. She's already mad at you for abandoning her here alone. I'm just being a good friend, which you clearly don't know how to be."
Everyone started arguing again, voices rising, and the blood from my nose was starting to make me dizzy. I stood up, wiping my face with my hands, and decided to be the adult that I was in the room.
"Everyone shut up!" I said loudly and authoritatively. By some miracle, everyone actually listened to me.
"Leo, take your dad's car keys and take Jeremy home," I commanded, looking directly at him. "This isn't a suggestion or an invitation, it's an order. And you don't want to know what happens if you disobey it."
I turned to Brandy. "You stay here at the party and make sure Oliver calms down." I needed Oliver to be completely distracted so he wouldn't do anything reckless.
"And Lily, please, I need you to treat me to this bruise, and then I can take you home. I don't want anyone to argue or refuse to do what I said, or things could get worse, and that's not something any of us wants."
Everyone nodded reluctantly, and I could finally breathe again.