Chapter 4 #2
“You forgot,” he says. It’s all he says. The guilt weighs heavy in my stomach.
“I’m really sorry,” I say, feeling even worse. How could I forget? He sets aside time for us to do this. It’s one of the few things he hasn’t actively been avoiding with me.
Biting my lip, I decide to take a chance. “But you should come to this party! It’s actually pretty fun.”
Another long, angry pause.
Then, he asks, “Where are you?”
“The Hagley house,” I tell him, not that I expect him to show up. He hates parties, even when we’re on good terms. The last one I managed to drag him to was only a week ago, so he's probably reached his social quota for the next month or so.
Without replying, he hangs up.
I lower my phone and stare at the screen, caught somewhere between pissed off and completely bewildered. I forget one PT session, and now he's acting like I personally pissed in his cereal.
Does this have anything to do with why he’s been avoiding me all week?
I drag a hand through my hair, frustrated.
God, I hate fighting with him, especially when I don’t even know what the fight is about.
The longer I stand there, the worse I feel about forgetting the session, so I shove the guilt down and head back to the kitchen.
Maybe he’ll feel more comfortable in the apartment without me there and watch one of his documentaries. My fingers tighten around my phone as I pocket it, half tempted to head back home and catch him before he can hide in his room again, but I shake my head.
I’m here to enjoy the party, so I will.
And then Colten actually shows up.
I’m halfway through explaining motor learning stages to Nico when I see Colten standing in the kitchen doorway.
For a second, my brain just…stops, immediately forgetting everything to do with anything. I trail off on my thoughts about cognitive stage learning as I stare at Colten like an idiot.
He's wearing his usual dark, baggy pants, the chain hanging from one side more for looks than anything else. All his earrings are in, little flashes of silver catching the kitchen light whenever he moves.
He’s still wearing his leather jacket, which is hanging over his favorite dark purple band shirt. It’s faded from how often he wears it but is still somehow tight against him.
He even has his fishnet fingerless gloves today, showing off his chipped black nail polish. But what really catches my attention is the black choker he’s wearing, something I’ve only seen once or twice.
It sits snug against his throat, and for some reason, I can't stop staring at it.
Only when I realize I've gone completely silent do I notice everyone else has turned to look at me. A second later, their attention shifts to Colten.
Colten ignores them, his gaze stuck on me.
His expression is…intense. A shiver goes down my back. That’s when I realize he’s also wearing some makeup. Black eyeliner is smudged around his eyes, making his green eyes pop.
“Want a drink?” Raquel asks Colten, too drunk to notice the tension. She’s already pouring one, happily humming in drunk ignorant bliss.
Colten finally tears his gaze away from me to look at Raquel. He hesitates for a second before he nods and takes the offered cup of gross punch.
A spark of relief fills my chest. He’s not just here to yell at me, he’s actually joining the party! This is a good sign.
Colten immediately drains the entire cup, not even pausing to breathe.
My mouth drops open.
Maybe…maybe it’s not such a good sign.
Colten always sips his drinks. I’m the reckless idiot, not him.
“Want another?” Raquel asks, her hand already out.
“Please.” Colten easily passes the now empty cup back to her. A line of sweat drags down my neck. Some of the others start talking again, like everything is normal.
This is weird, right? My stomach feels like it’s twisted up in knots, but everyone else is acting like it’s fine.
Raquel hands him the cup back, which is so full it sloshes over a little with her unsteady hand.
Colten’s gaze flickers over me before he drains that one as well.
Nico whistles. “Damn, man. Thirsty?”
Colten narrows his eyes at Nico, which causes the underclassman to hide behind me. It’s an entirely valid reaction when one of Colten’s glares is directed at you.
Colten narrows his eyes even harder at Nico, and then shoots me a glare for some reason??
He hands the empty cup back to Raquel, yet again.
Raquel happily goes to fill it up, but I step in this time, blocking her ladle from the shimmery brownish liquid swirling in the punchbowl.
“I think he’s good,” I tell Raquel, who gives me a rather judgmental look for someone so drunk.
“I can drink what I want,” Colten says, still glaring at me.
“Oh my goodness, Patrick, let your boyfriend live a little,” Raquel tells me as she bats my hand away with the sticky ladle. The back of my hand gets sticky from the sugary alcohol, ew.
“We’re not dating,” I tell her as I try to snatch the cup from her, but she keeps just slapping my hand with the ladle.
For a drunk person, she sure has great reflexes. I can feel Colten staring a hole in the back of my head, but I keep my gaze strictly on that damn cup.
“Wha—but you’re obviously in love with him,” Raquel says, pointing the ladle at me before pulling it back to smack my hand away from the cup with a particularly hard slap. “That’s why I dumped my chocolate milk all over you when I broke up with you, remember?”
Ahh, that’s right! It was chocolate milk and ruined one of my favorite shirts. But also—what?
I try to grab the cup again, but she smacks my hand with each attempt.
“We—” smack “aren’t—” smack “dating!” Smack, smack!
Holding my sticky and stinging hand to my chest, Raquel finally fills up the cup with a grin and hands it over to Colten.
“Thank you, Raquel,” Colten says, taking the cup like he didn’t just watch me get beaten up trying to avoid this. “But it was actually a chocolate slushie. It ruined his favorite shirt.”
“Ew, chocolate slushie?” Raquel says, scrunching up her nose. “Glad it ruined his favorite shirt, though. I hope he treats you better.”
“We’re not dating!” I complain again, but Raquel ignores me as she loudly compliments one of the other girls on the glitter in her hair.
Colten moves to stand beside me at the counter, thankfully only sipping his drink this time. I run my sticky hand under the faucet and scrub off the sugar.
“Have any of your other girlfriends broken up with you because of me?” Colten asks, that intense gaze on me again. I swallow hard, feeling oddly nervous. “You’ve always said that you’re the one who breaks up with them.”
“Ahhh,” I say, clearing my throat as Raquel laughs loudly, though whether it’s from her conversation with the others or from what Colten said, who knows.
“It’s basically mutual,” I say, clearing my throat. “If someone doesn’t want to date me, then I don’t want to date them either. So, mutual.” I concentrate very hard on making sure my hand is completely clean.
I can feel myself losing any cool upperclassmen points from Nico with each second that passes.
Raquel laughs again, and this time it’s obvious it’s because of what I said. I feel a flush rise on my cheeks as I turn off the faucet and look over at Colten.
“Look, it doesn’t really matter,” I tell him. “Some girls just don’t get that guys can have close friends. They’re like those creepy anime girls who think every guy with a close guy friend is in love.”
“I’m not into anime, but I broke up with you because of Colten, too,” one of the other girls in the group says. I don’t even remember dating her? Also, she’s wearing a shirt that says ‘I’m a Lez-bean’ with a picture of a rainbow bean.
“Same,” the girl with glittery hair beside her says, nodding. She’s wearing a matching rainbow lez-bean shirt. I squint my eyes, trying to place them, but neither girl rings a bell.
“How many?” Colten asks, still watching me over his cup.
“How many what?” I ask as I turn my attention to my wet, but clean, hand. I just know it’s going to be covered in bruises tomorrow. Softball girls don’t mess around.
“How many girls dumped you because they thought you love me?”
I cough loudly, choking on my own spit. The heated flush on my face grows ten times stronger. If someone cracked an egg on my face right now, I’d probably get it over easy in no time.
Nico, who distanced himself from us and joined another conversation, snorts into his cup as he side-eyes us before turning back to his new buddies.
“What the—Colten?!” I sputter, unable to even start addressing this. Because—what? What?!
“Are they flirting or fighting?” One of the lez-bean girls asks.
“Both?” Raquel offers. I ignore all of them.
Though really, I think Colten is trying to fight, because why else would he be embarrassing me like this?
The punch is clearly hitting him. He's even leaning against the counter like he can’t hold himself up. Still, I can feel the tension radiating off him. He’s really pissed.
I should properly apologize, I know that, but honestly? I’m kind of pissed too. Maybe it’s time we actually talk this out, but not here, not in front of everyone.
His balance shifts even further, enough that I have to reach around him to keep him steady. He leans into me, his body radiating heat against mine as his face nuzzles into my shirt.
Oh. He’s drunk, like, really drunk.
I take a deep breath in, knowing Colten would hate to be seen like this in front of strangers. He never gets drunk outside of our apartment, and even then, it’s rarely this bad.
“I’ll be back,” I tell the group, tightening my grip around Colten’s waist and steering him out of the kitchen.
I’m still angry, but Colten isn’t fighting my hold. He easily lets me lead us away, his body leaning against mine with each step.
He’s not avoiding me, ignoring me, or keeping his distance. But Colten is clearly upset about something, and I can’t keep letting it go on like this.
I go down the hallway and go through the first open door. It’s a bathroom and clean enough for college student standards.