Ellie's P.O.V

My eyes literally light up at all the drinks. Alcoholism is not cute nor quirky, but with the week I've been having, I deserve this.

Harry's annoyed by the atmosphere. I can tell by his tense posture. 

I ignore it and grab his hand. We walk to the kitchen and I pour myself a mystery drink. I offer one to him as well, but he just holds up his keys. I nod and put the second cup down.

Instead of nursing the drink, I take it down in a couple sips and refill so I don't have to come back as much. 

God knows how, but Harry manages to find some friends. They all call for him as we're walking to a couch. He seems reluctant to leave me, but I force him to go socialize. I sigh and sit alone, sipping my drink. 

I frown when my cup's empty. Trudging back to the kitchen, I ditch the cup and grab one of the bottles instead. No one seems to argue, so I assume it's okay.

I'm joined on the couch by a couple who doesn't know what privacy means. They begin making out, practically dry humping, on the sofa. I scrunch my nose and get up, not wanting to be caught in the middle of their quickie. The last thing I need is an indirect STD. 

My trusty companion, Jack Daniels, and I wander around the house. I try to focus on the layout, but it seems huge. Too big for me to even comprehend. 

Maybe if I was sober, it would be easy.

But I'm not.

I can feel my legs turn into jello. I quickly slip into a room, hoping there's somewhere I can sit. When a huge library comes into view, I sigh of relief. What're the odds someone's hooking up in here? Books don't exactly scream 'sexy'. 

A leather chair sits in the middle of the room. I basically crawl over and situate myself.

"You know," I slur, holding the bottle to eye level, "you're a good friend. I know you wouldn't leave me."

The bottle (obviously) doesn't respond, but I take the silence as comforting. 

I hum to the faint music, bopping my head to the song. I stare at Jack and my eyes widen when I see he's almost empty. 

"See," my voice cracks. "I used you too. And what did you do? Leave me." I hold the bottle upside down and empty the remaining contents into my mouth. When it's dry, I throw it against the wall, as hard as possible. 

God, I'm pathetic. Why am I talking to inanimate objects?

The noise makes me flinch and I wait for someone to come in and scold me. When no one shows, I sigh of relief. 

I sit up a little too quickly. When the room around me finally stops spinning, I look around. Shelves on shelves contain a multitude of books.

There's no way someone could read all these sober. There has to be a secret stash somewhere.

My eyes scan around and find a wooden desk in the corner. I sneak closer and do indeed see a minifridge tightly fit under. 

Aha!

Opening the fridge, I quickly grab something. My hands don't appreciate the sudden coolness.

There's a bottle of straight whiskey. I've never seen anyone refrigerate that before. That's weird.

Before I can stop myself, I pull it out and resettle on my chair. The whiskey burns my throat, but the cold temperature softens the taste. 

Interesting, I might have to try this at home. 

"Hellooooo," I smile at the new bottle. "You won't leave me, right? Everyone leaves me. Drew left, Harry left me at this party. Even Audrey left. Not physically, but she didn't beg me to stay back." 

The dim light reflects through the bottle and I sigh. 

"Okay, just promise you won't leave and I won't use you." 

I take a big sip and cringe anyway. 

"You know, you don't tas-"

I'm interrupted by a couple hungrily devouring each other. I roll my eyes as they slam the door behind them, not even paying attention to me. 

Great, just another quickie. If I wanted to see porn, I'd be home with a vibrator and my private browser on. 

I giggle as the guy pushes everything off the desk, urgent to get his lady up there. They're really going to do it on some stranger's desk.

Both people freeze at my laughs. They slowly pull away, the sexual tension gone. Oops!

I'm met with a pair of light blue eyes. My brows furrow in confusion, staring at my best friend. Her blond hair covers most of her face, but I can still see the shock etched into her face.

"Ellie?"

My voice ignores her and my eyes snap to the man she's with. 

"Drew," I whisper under my breath. His dark eyes stare at me, unsure of how to react. 

The door bursts open again and all our heads snap to meet a pair of green eyes. 

"Fuck Ellie." Harry has panic written all over his face. He doesn't notice the others in the room as he takes long strides to meet me. He grabs my face and plants kisses all over. "I got so scared. Why'd you run off like that?"

My eyes go back to Drew's. His jaw is clenched and fists tightened. His eyes don't meet mine as he tries hard to avoid my gaze. 

Harry senses the tension in the room. He backs away but keeps a protective arm around me. 

"What's going on?" His British voice is laced with concern. Hm... so sexy. 

"We were just leaving," Drew grabs Audrey's hand and pulls her out of the room. 

"Wait," I nearly sob. "Please." 

What happens next puts me in ultimate shock. Drew turns around to look at me, stopping in his tracks. Except, this isn't my Drew. His glare is filled with so much hate it nearly kills me on the spot. 

But this isn't what surprised me. In the moment of distraction, Audrey grabs Harry and pulls him out of the room with her, locking the door behind them. 

As soon as the door slammed shut, Drew flinches. He attempts to open it, jiggling the handle and then slamming his fist into it. 

"Audrey, open this damn door right now or so help me God." 

"No," she says from the other side. "You two need to work shit out right now. I'm so sick and tired of this awkward feud between you. You're not getting out until you make up." 

He groans frustratedly and kicks the door again. His annoyed gaze meets mine. 

"How are you not freaking out?" 

I shrug, readjusting myself on the chair. It's funny, I've been dreaming about talking to Drew, explaining myself, but now I've come up empty. Nothing I can say will justify my actions. I did what I did and there's nothing to do about it now. 

He grunts and slides down, sitting against the wall. Silence is thick in the air, only breaking when I drink the bottle up to my lips. He sends me an annoyed glare every time the liquid sloshes, but I don't care. 

"I don't want to speak to you." is all he says before shutting his eyes and leaning his head against the wall. 

I don't react. Instead, I bring the almost empty bottle up to my mouth. Thank God this place has a stash.

We sit in complete silence for a while. 

He finally caves. "Okay, you said you wanted to talk, do it." I nearly snort at how easily he gave up but I know that wouldn't be appreciated.

"You already know what I'm going to say, so it's useless," I mumble. I'm now laying against the chair, my legs hanging off the arms and my head digging into the backboard. It's more comfortable than before. 

"Really? I wouldn't even be in this damn situation if it weren't for you." 

My eyebrows shoot up. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You couldn't keep your hands to yourself and look where it got us."

I bitterly laugh, annoyance building up. "Listen here, buddy," I emphasize the last syllable, but it comes out as a slur. "You may be mad at me, and I get it, but you're the one who said you didn't want to talk and now you're talking." 

His eyes widen at my tone. He probably thought I'd be sad or miserable. But no, all I feel right now is anger and irritation. 

I don't know if it's the alcohol, but I keep going. "You are so mad that I've led you on or whatever, but here's the thing, Drew, I genuinely did like you. Up until I met Harry, I thought we'd be together. I thought our stupid pact was going to last." I find myself letting out a bitter laugh. "I might have led you on for a few weeks, but Drew, how long since you've led me on? Huh? You already had a damn soulmate. Yet, you played the stupid game with me. If anything, I should be mad at you." I'm not sure where all this came from but the more I speak about it, the more I realize I have the right to be mad at him.

I glance over at him to see what he's thinking. His hardened gaze is focused on one of the shelves. 

"Oh, and what I did was shitty. I'm sorry. I truly am. Cheating is ugly and gross and I'm ashamed. But, what if I hadn't met him, huh? Was I supposed to play house with you, unknowingly hurting my best friend? I can't believe you didn't tell me." 

He stands up and walks toward me with a menacing glare. I don't even flinch as he gets close. 

In fact, I feel bold. "You know, I pity you, Drew. I really do. You're only overreacting to something in the past because you can't even get your own soulmate to love you. You're so scared of your feelings towards her that you're distracting yourself. Giving yourself a reason to be mad, when I shouldn't be on the backend. The only person you're mad at is yourself, you coward," I nearly hiss.

His hardened gaze is no longer there. He raises his hand, but I don't doubt him. I know he wouldn't hit me. 

He reaches for the bottle in my hand instead. He snatches it before I can pull it back and takes a big sip. 

I sit up, watching him stalk back to his original position against the wall. He lets out a taunting laugh and runs his hands through his hair. "Fuck." 

I may have gone too far. 

"I'm sorry about the whole cheating thing, ya know," I mumble, hoping to soften the blow. He rolls his eyes and takes another sip. 

The silence lingers on. It feels like we've been in this room for hours, and things have only gotten worse.

He breaks the silence first. "What happened to us, El?"

"I don't know."

"I kinda did overreact," he admits. Normally, I'd agree, but I stay silent. The tension in the room is thick, and our friendship is delicate. "I really don't give a shit about what you did to Styles. Honestly, at that point, I could feel you distancing." 

I furrow my brows, confused at his words. When did I ever distance myself from him?

A slight smile comes to my lips as I remember. "I pretended I had mono so you wouldn't kiss me." I glance over to see him, fighting back a grin. 

"I didn't even take a hint." 

I laugh, knowing it's true. The tension seems to lift ever so slightly.

"I think you're right. I'm terrified that something's going to go wrong with Audrey. I'm taking it out on the world, on you. It just feels like the calm before the storm." 

I get out of my comfy position and head to the minifridge. I pull out two bottles of beer and take a seat next to Drew, handing him one. We both clink our bottles before drinking. 

"You're self-sabotaging." 

He nods in agreement. The silence takes over yet again, but this time it isn't bad. We're both mulling in our own heads. 

"I'm sorry," he finally sighs. "I don't know why I wanted to be so angry. I'm angry at myself I guess."

"It's okay, you don't have to justify yourself," I assure him. He appreciatively smiles and closes his eyes. 

I stand up, balancing myself on the wall. I try the door handle. "Hey, we're not fighting any-" The door opens with ease and I gasp in shock. Drew seems confused too. 

"I swear it was locked."

"Sure," I say sarcastically. I shut the door, earning another puzzled look from Drew. I quickly give him a hug and a kiss on the cheek. He smiles and hugs me back.

It feels so good to have him back. 

Drew holds the door open for me and we both walk out. Sure, everything hasn't been resolved, but we're in a better place now.

I'm still drunk, so I didn't mean half the words I said.

But you know what they say, drunk words are sober thoughts. 

The party has significantly died down. Harry's pacing while Audrey nervously plays with her hair. His tense stance falters when he sees me. 

"I'm so sorry, I had to do it," Audrey chimes in, receiving the wrath directed toward my boyfriend. I glare at her and step up to her face. She slightly cowers, anticipating my next move. 

I pull her into a tight hug. She flinches at first, but relaxes in my grip. "Thank you," I whisper in her hair. 

She pulls me back and her face scrunches in disgust. "You reek of alcohol." She then glares at Harry. "You promised you'd keep her away from it."

He sheepishly rubs his head. "I got distracted and by the time I went back she ran off." 

"I'm a grown woman," I huff. "I can take care of myself, thank you very much." A hiccup follows, sending me into a fit of giggles. 

Harry pulls me against him as he leads me out of the house. Audrey and Drew stay behind. 

"You scared me tonight." 

I smile. "Oh? You didn't seem to care when you were playing cup pong with your friends. Besides, I was having a good time with my friend Jack."

He stops walking and tenses up. "Who's Jack?"

I roll my eyes and attempt to walk forward. His grip doesn't loosen and I'm forced to stay squished in his side. Not that I really mind...

"Jack Daniels," I grin, earning an eye roll. "Oh, so you can lock me in a room with Drew, but freak out at the thought me of having guy friends?"

"Well, it wasn't me, it was Audrey. Besides, Drew wouldn't try anything... right?" 

I shrug, not wanting to argue. We finally sit in his rental. After turning up the heat, he turns to face me with a solemn look. I keep my head against the window, feeling his gaze burn a hole into me. 

He eventually forces me to look at him. "Are you ever going to tell me what happened between you?" 

No, I wouldn't. Normally.

But since I have alcohol flowing through my veins, I do. 

"He was upset because he found out I was cheating on him." 

Harry's eyes go wide. He definitely wasn't expecting that. His gaze returns in front of him and we drive home in silence, not once talking about it. 

I lean my head against the window, taking in the scenery. I don't talk about it a lot, but the colors really calm me. Seeing the mixtures of reds and blues is peaceful. The way the light reflects through the water droplets somehow gives me a sense of nostalgia. 

Everything's okay for now.

A/N: I was sick of the fighting between them. I hated writing that part but I felt like it was important to get out of the way. The next couple of chapters should be interesting.

QOTD: Which country are you from?