It doesn't take long before the only thing separating Sabrina and me are our clothes. The alcohol went to her head fast, and a small part of me thinks I should have started her out with something lighter, but when her hips grind against my groin, all my gentleman-like qualities abandon me.

My hands move from her waist to her hips as I press her tighter against my area, making me want more. Slowly, I begin rubbing against her and she doesn't hesitate to follow my lead. A hot need courses through my veins as my whole body starts to heat up, the tension building from within me.

One of my hands trail up her side, not stopping until I take her chin and turn her head just enough so I can trail kisses along her jaw line until I reach her lips. My right hand has other plans as it moves towards her inner thigh and starts pulling at her dress. I can barely hear her whimper above the music, but I feel it against my lips as I trail my hand further up, almost reaching the lining of her panties.

After our dance started to get more intense, I pull her off to the side. People part for us as we pass, making it easier to escape the crowd. When we reach the barrier of the room, I press her body firmly against the wall with my own. Gripping her waist, I use my other hand to pull her leg up to wrap it around me. A sudden gasp escapes her soft lips, her breath fanning me when I close the distance.

The soft moan that comes from her is silenced when I collide my lips with hers. My brain goes into overdrive, exploding with dopamine as I become a slave to it.

Sabrina's nails dig into my back before traveling up to become entangled in my hair. The light tugging on my brown locks makes me groan as I release my unresolved sexual frustration on her neck. I trail my teeth over her fair skin. She immediately shivers underneath me.

She is starting to get into it, the alcohol is making sure of that. The more I tease her with my tongue, the more I feel her melt in my arms. For once, she is letting everything go and allows me to do what I want.

My kisses follow an invisible path along her jaw, my fingers trailing along the zipper of her dress. When my arm finds its way around her waist, I eye the staircase with intent. Our lips never leave one another's as I lead her in that direction, but once her feet make contact with the first stair, heavy breaths rack her lungs.

"Austin." The way she moans my name makes my lower region tingle.

"What?" I ask, breathlessly, still running my fingers up and down her back.

Her waist is pressed uncomfortably against the railing of the staircase, and with my frame completely trapping her, it's almost impossible for her to run.

At a loss for words, Sabrina gazes up at me with wide eyes. "I ca-"

The rest of her answer is cut off when loud shouting burst through the room. Not even the heavy party music is able to drown out the heated argument.

It's hard to see through the big crowd, but I can pinpoint Bradley shoving someone away from his sister, Stephanie. Since she's only a Freshman, he's very protective over her.

Grabbing Sabrina's hand, I guide her through the bystanders to see what's going on, our heated moment forgotten. When the swarm of people aren't in the way anymore, I'm able to put the pieces together as to what's going on. The one who was just pushed away was Whittney, who shoves Bradley back in retaliation.

That gets him angrier. Usually Bradley is a peacekeeper, but the few times I've seen him mad, he's been pretty intimidating. Whittney must have really stepped over the line to piss him off.

"Stephanie can dance with whoever she wants." Whittney pushes Brad once again, making him stumble back a few steps. Since they're about the same body build, they are both an even match, though Bradley is taller.

"You're right, unless that person is you." Bradley stands only inches away from Whittney, who looks unfazed by the offensive position. "Just stay away from Stephanie."

Whittney chuckles and folds his arms over his chest. "The problem will be keeping her away from me." He winks at Stephanie, who has seeked out comfort behind the protection of her older brother.

The comment makes Bradley lose control. His fist collides with Whittney's face so fast that I barely realize it happened. Before he can completely lose his balance, Brad speeds up the process by tackling him to the ground. He's able to get a couple punches in before Cole and another daring contender interferes while I pull Whittney away with Harry's help, who has come out of nowhere.

Quickly, the distance between the fighters becomes a chasm where they can't cause any more damage to each other.

"Get your friend out of here, Austin!" Rodney's enraged expression breaks through, still holding back his angry cousin.

Whittney fights against Harry and me as we keep him from tearing his opponent apart. It isn't going to end well for either of them if we let their fight continue. Whether the winner would have been Brad or Whittney, it wouldn't have ended well for me.

When your friend attacks another one, sides are definitely drawn.

"Come on, Whitt," I say, lightly pulling on his arm. "You need to go."

To my luck, he decides to cooperate.

"Catch you later, Steph." He grins at the young girl as she blushes, causing her older brother to growl in annoyance.

I turn around for a moment, expecting Sabrina to be waiting for me, but she is nowhere to be found.

"She's gone, jerkwad."

A groan escapes me when I turn and see Amber. Her snarky look is applied in the fashion it always is as she glares up at me through those long lashes of hers.

My attention is directed at Harry for a moment. "You two go wait by my car. I'll be taking you both home, okay?"

Harry nods, bringing a stumbling Whittney along with him.

"Awe." My attention is brought back to Amber and her condescending tone. "You're so sweet giving them a ride home. Is it Christmas or did your heart grow three sizes all on your own?"

"I don't have time for your lame sarcasm right now. Where's Sabrina?"

"Oh, you mean the adorable little brunette who often hangs out with this douche that doesn't deser-"

"Just tell me where she is," I interrupt, venom lacing every word.

Amber huffs, giving in. "She left with Grace. Said she wasn't feeling well."

It is probably better that she has gone home. Driving a severe asthmatic and a delusional Whittney is already enough. I don't want to add an opinionated girlfriend to the mix. That is too much for me to take for one night.

"That wasn't that hard, was it?" I raise a brow at her.

"Don't you have an idiot to take home?"

Scoffing, I leave with a smirk. As I walk towards the entrance, someone stops me before I enter into the cold air.

"Madison, hey."

"You're leaving already?" She pouts.

"Yeah," I groan, "Whittney got into it with Bradley, so I'm taking him and Harry home."

A look of annoyance reaches her face. "Why are you friends with him? Whittney's an asshole."

That question has come up more than I care to address, always lost somewhere in the back of my head. Constantly there, but never answered.

I stay silent, thinking it over. "Look," I finally say, "I really got to go, but I'll be seeing you at the dance tomorrow. You're still going with Paul, right?"

She gleamed and then nodded. "You're quite the matchmaker, Austin Griffin."

I shrug, and a small smile follows. "See you later, Squirt." I ruffled her hair, and she sends me the usual death glare that's always accompanied with the action. Chuckling, I walk away.

Both Whittney and Harry lean against my car when I get there. Whittney is complaining about something, but Harry doesn't seem to be paying attention. Like me, he doesn't look amused by his friend's drunken state. If there is an award for the least standable drunk, it will mostly definitely be rewarded to Whittney.

"You want to explain to me what happened back there?" I growl, not caring that I'm interrupting one of Whittney's rants.

Harry looks down at his feet, while Whittney gets defensive. I wait patiently for an answer, but he doesn't give me one, I cross my arms with a glare.

The silence finally breaks when Whittney sighs. "I was messing with lil' Steph, because I knew it would get to Bradley."

I take a deep breath, trying to calm myself down. "Why would you go after Bradley? He's one of the nicest guys at school?"

Whittney glances at Harry, who seems to be in his own world at the moment, before looking back at me. Another silent treatment greets me, and I know he's hiding something big now.

"Are you purposely trying to cause problems?" I finally growl, sick of his constant bullshit.

"Why the hell would I purposely-"

I don't let him finish. "You know exactly why! You basically thrive off of people's problems."

"Oh, is that what you think?" Whittney pushes himself off the side of the car, puffing out his chest. He loves using the intimidation factor, but it doesn't work on me. "Maybe you should just go back to your party and go hang out with your real friends."

"Guys!" Harry finally breaks his silence with an explosive introduction, his eyes blazing. All attention is on him now, and he sighs. "Can you just stop fighting? I'm sick and tired of you two constantly screaming at each other all of the time."

He's right. We've been fighting more and more lately. We can't even be in the same room anymore without disagreeing over the smallest of things. I am fuming, but for Harry's benefit, I abandon the fight.

"Get in the car," I snap at the both of them.

When they pile into the back, it's clear that Harry can sense just how tense this ride is going to be, already taking out his inhaler from the stress. He has been suffering from Asthma since the age of fourteen, but it hasn't gotten bad enough to the point where he had to quit swimming and track a little over a year ago. Getting through a simple lap at the pool had become too much for him to take, losing his breath at an alarming rate.

I start the car and the soft humming of the engine is accompanied by the radio. A song with a heavy bass comes on, causing the seats to vibrate a little.

"Whittney, this is the last time that you start something with one of my friends," I say, after a long five minutes of silence. He isn't going to be sabotaging my relationships with some really good friends just to get laid.

"Start something?" Whittney huffs, "Your friends are the ones who always start everything. Stephanie and I were having a great time before her brother went psycho on me. Not my fault that Brad has anger issues."

Looking back at him for a moment, I notice he's hiding something again.

I can't stop myself from laughing out of amusement. "Brad has anger issues? He's not the one who purposely tries to get a rise out of people just to get some kind of kick out of it. Do you know how much shit I am going to get from this? If I find out about you bothering any of them one more time, don't think I won't-"

"Austin," Harry cuts me off with a harsh tone. Looking at him through the rear-view mirror, I notice the way he's shaking his head at me and keep my mouth shut.

After rethinking my words, I start over. "This is the last time this happens. You are my friend, but it won't stay that way if you don't get your shit together."

Only silence follows, and I can practically feel the holes Whittney's burning into the back of my head.

"So once again, we're only second choice," he says under his breath. This was possibly meant for me not to hear, but I did anyways.

This car ride is not going fast enough.