× Horan

I had no intention of going to Thomas Miner's Halloween party and somehow, all the way on the other side of campus, Thomas knew it. Well, not somehow. The only thing we had more in common than our obsession with sports was our inability to think more than a day ahead.

Moments after I managed to get dressed after my shower, Thomas' name popped up on my phone and I knew right then that my Monday was going to be hell.

"Horan," he said firmly before I managed to get out a brisk hello. "On your way to the party can you get some beer? Oh, and some snacks. Chips are fine. And then maybe-"

"What makes you think I'm going to your party?"

I could practically hear Thomas' eye roll through the phone. "Ha-ha-ha. But seriously. We need beer and people are going to be showing up soon. All we have here is peppermint schnapps and those are on lockdown for Andrew's girlfriend."

After a heated dispute over whether or not Thomas was going to pay for all the beer and snacks, one of Thomas' roommates interjecting himself halfway through to settle the matter with aggressive threats hinting that one of us was going to lose a limb soon if someone didn't help him clean up the kitchen, I found myself at the house with a beer in hand as all the guest piled in.

The place was quickly filled with convicts in orange jump suits, cheerleaders, gladiators, French maids, pirates, cops, firemen, and about two dozen black cats and witches. The girls took the opportunity and the excuse of the holiday to dress up in the most skin-revealing outfits imaginable, and for the males to feel like they were too good for the silly concept of dressing up and just putting on a simple mask and calling it good.

"Mate, where's your costume?" Jace asked above the music blasting from the living area. He leaned against the counter next to me and stole a chip, popping it into his mouth.

I looked him up and down, and then at his face. "Who the fuck are you supposed to be?"

Jace had his hair jelled and falling down over his forehead and a small cut on his cheek made from makeup. He was wearing a dirty brown shirt under a ripped denim jacket and dark jeans, finishing the look with muddy boots.

"I'm Johnny Cade," he said like it was supposed to be obvious. When I still didn't get it, he pushed harder. "You know, from The Outsiders."

I shrugged. "Sorry."

The house was the tackiest thing in the world. On the walls were stickers of dripping blood and paper bats hang from the ceiling. Carved pumpkins lined the steps outside and shadow figures stick to the windows. The kitchen island had an array of foods from cheese and crackers on a platter and an unlimited supply of candy in a large plastic witch cauldron. It reminded me of Halloween when I was younger and the nanny tried her best to make the cold house as warm as possible with all the cheap decorations.

"Have you seen Lynn?" Jace asked before taking the seat beside me and opened a beer. "I called before I left but she didn't answer."

"No, you said she was coming with that Harry lad."

"She is, but I thought she would have been here by now."

Right then, as if summoned by our thoughts, stood Lynn in the doorway, draped in the most striking dress I had ever seen.

The first thing I noticed were her never ending California tanned legs. They were accented with golden sandals that stopped just above her ankles. Her caramel brown hair was pulled away from her perfectly done face and curled down her back with a gold laurel wreath, and matching were thick cuffs around her wrist and an elegant looking belt around her waist.

But the dress is what really caught my eye. It was a white, sequined, high-low dress that made waves all down the back of her legs, hemmed in gold. The neckline was a V shape and it dipped down all the way to the top of the belt, showing every curve of her chest, and I would be lying if I said her boobs didn't look fucking fantastic against the shimmering fabric.

She made the piece of shit standing next to her... even more of a piece of shit.

Going off what Jace said, I was guessing the lad was Harry, and from what I could tell he was dressed as Danny Zuko with the leather jacket, white shirt, and black Converse. His hair was greased back leaving a single curl in the front.

"Could you stare any harder?" Jace joked from beside me, and then he started laughing. "You're pupils are massive, mate. Either you're high as fuck or you're sexually aroused right now."

I couldn't even begin to recognize the beating jealousy fixing me to that spot on the stool as Harry wrapped his arm around Lynn and tried maneuvering through the large crowd around them.

There where way too many strings attached to the idea that I couldn't stomach the thought of anyone else being so close to her. It made me sick, but I knew better than to do anything about it. Through the cloud of pain running through my veins, I knew that for sure.

"Lynn!" I heard Jace call from beside me. He waved her over and I quickly looked away and found interest in the tile of the counter I was leaning against.

Harry and Lynn wound their way into the kitchen to meet up with Jace, and I was stuck in the middle of the commotion. Harry kept his distance, awkwardly leaning against the wall and watching as his date chatted to her teammate. It was a good idea on his part because I wasn't so sure I could be my usual charming self if his hands were on Lynn.

Lynn ushered Harry forward, not allowing him to be pushed to the side. "This is Jace Layton and Niall Horan," she said, gesturing us in turn. "And this is Harry Styles."

Jace said a greeting but I only stared at him.

"Who are you dressed up as?" Lynn asked, taking in Jace's appearance.

"Johnny Cade," he told her, standing up straight to show her his complete attire. "From The Outsiders."

Lynn's expression brightened. "I love Johnny! And you even have the little cut on your cheek. He was my favorite from the book."

"Stay gold, Ponyboy," Jace winked.

"Fucking nerds," I scuffed with a roll of my eyes.

Lynn placed a hand on her hip and looked me up and down, taking in my navy blue button-down and black ripped skinny jeans. "I can see that you dressed up as the classic D-bag."

"And I can see that you dressed as the typical slut."

The moment those words left my mouth, I knew it was a mistake. Lynn's eyes went hard and she dropped her arms to her sides, straightening her back and looked down at me.

Lynn had never said it out loud, but I knew that the word slut or whore or any term like that was a sensitive area because of the whole Bradley thing. She was always worried about people shaming her for bowing down to Bradley's every demand. And I crossed the line not because of the comment, but because I did just that only a few days ago at The Courtyard Bar.

Jace hit my arm, "Dude, what the hell?"

I was being spiteful to Lynn and I was well aware of it. I was being malicious because it was the only way to keep my emotions in check around her. I should have turned it down because at the rate I was going, I would get her to hate me forever.

But to my surprise, her face relaxed and seemed to abandoned the idea of my slur altogether. Instead, she put me in my place with knowledge. Which, personally, was the best way to shut someone up.

"Actually, I'm dressed as Nike, the Goddess of Victory," Lynn informed us as she grabbed a slice of cheese from a platter on the counter. "I thought about wearing a Nike jumpsuit to make it more as a joke, but I figured it was Halloween and I had nice legs, why not show off a little."

Before I could say anything about her big head, a tipsy first year came stumbling into the kitchen and bumped into one of the party goers who was chatting up a girl way out of his league. The kid was holding a glass jar, a fishbowl I quickly discovered, filled with white, red, and blue pills.

"Aaaay!" the kid slurred as he stumbled his way over to the four of us. "You want some pills? There going fast, get some while you can!"

"Yeah," I heard Harry say and put his hand through the top opening of the fishbowl, grabbing a pill and popping it into his mouth without a second thought.

Then the kid moved the bowl over to us. Jace and I shook our heads, knowing it was a bad idea. But Lynn had other ideas. She causally looked inside the bowl and then decided that she wanted some and stuck her hand inside, fingers grabbing a white pill.

"That's probably not a good idea," I told her as the kid walked away from us and onto someone else. "We have practice tomorrow and you have no idea what those pills are."

"Relax, would ya?" Harry spoke up and wrapped his arms around Lynn. "My mates and I do this all the time; most of the time they're just pain killers."

I couldn't help but notice the curve of Lynn's frown or the defensive way her arms crossed over her chest. The discomfort radiating off her almost gave me a sense of relief. But I made a firm vow to brush it off, like the way I did with a lot of things recently.

"Besides, the pills will wear off by practice," Harry continued, oblivious to Lynn's uneasiness. "There isn't anything to worry about."

Jace and I shared a knowing look, but there wasn't anything we could do to stop Lynn from taking them. I tried my best to avoid parties that involved mystery pills, but it was hard to do sometimes, especially when I was sure the hosts were clueless about the ordeal. Pills and drugs were taboo for football players wanting to stay on the team, and for some people it didn't matter how much willpower they had, they always seemed to get some in their system anyways.

Lynn looked at the pill between her forefinger and thumb, debating who she should listen to. Making up her mind, she popped the pill in her mouth and swallowed.

"Well, this was fun but I think we're going to go and check the place out," Lynn said and pulled out of Harry's embrace before grabbing his hand. "Maybe we'll see you around."

Jace and I watched as they walked out of the kitchen together and disappeared around a wall.

"We're going to have to keep an eye on her," Jace said. "I don't know what she took but I'm getting a bad feeling about it."

I nodded and grabbed another beer from the counter and opened it, chugging it down until it was empty. I got the feeling that it wouldn't be too hard to keep my eyes on Lynn, especially with the outfit she was sporting.

Let the night begin.

× × ×

I tried not to stare at her while she attached herself to him, but Lynn Mercury always pulled the corner of my eye to her.

A catchy pop song was playing through the speakers, loud enough for everyone in the house to hear.

The curve of Lynn's body was compelling as she danced against Harry. It was easy to see that Harry wasn't the dominant one in their little relationship from the way he jolted against her as she toyed with him, drawing him more and more under her control while I watched feebly a few feet away.

I tried my hardest to look away, to distract myself with beer and women, but everything seemed to plummet every time Lynn made a new move. The sexy tribal princess sitting on my lap couldn't even take my focus away no matter where her hands went on my body.

"Let's get out of here," the princess said into my neck but I pretended like I couldn't hear her over the thundering music and kept my eyes at the far end of the room.

I snuck one last look at Lynn before pushing tribal princess back against the couch cushions, my legs bracketing hers. I kissed her, hot and heavy, tangling my fingers in her black hair and pushing myself to feel something, anything, until finally I sighed into the kick of butterflies in my stomach.

The normality of my disgusting habits soothed my nerves just enough before I pulled away, only for my heart to drop as I saw the darkness of the locks bunched in my fist - stringy and black instead of a nice, silky brown.

"Are you okay?" the girl asked, eyes searching mine for reassurance.

I let out a shaky exhale, running my fingers through my hair in frustration and deciding the only thing I could do at that point was get drunk, very drunk, before I could begin to figure out what the fuck to do with Lynn. Not that she would take what I wanted into consideration at all.

"Yeah," I assured the girl and sat up. "I'm going to go get a beer."

I couldn't even get to the kitchen before my eyes landed on the couple again.

I had a unique way of being able to cut things off at the source - my eyes blanking over when I looked at her, friendly and warm but suddenly uncaring, and minimizing interaction just enough that it didn't look suspicious. Self-control occupied my mind every second I was around her - on the field, in the gym, during English - but I would adjust the way I always did, laughing through it like nothing was wrong.

Basically, the trick was that I had to group Lynn in with the rest of my friends. Awesome, great, sometimes kind of stupid, people I respected - well, not people really as more of male, which was essentially the key. I wouldn't stop until I could trick myself into thinking she was just like them.

One of the boys.

And then I would have to remind myself of the main reasons she fit in with my friends so well. Lynn could shut down her emotions faster than anyone else I had ever known. I had never seen her have any trouble twisting the truth to fit her agenda. And Lynn couldn't just lie better than any man; she could remove herself from situations entirely, leaving me feeling like the hysterical one with my shot nerves and fragile heart while she rolled her eyes in the corner.

As much as I hoped staying away from her would work, I had already proven that theory wrong and I was fresh out of miracles.

It all scared me because what I was feeling was the exact same way I knew I was in love with Alina. Falling in love frightened me. I didn't want to experience that pain again.

And unlike the rest of the lads, Lynn could hurt me.

My stomach turned in on itself and for a split second I wondered what it would have been like if I just kissed Lynn, right then and there. What it would confirm or deny and finally put my racing heart to rest.

But tonight I would have to sweat it out until I found a way to look at Lynn and feel nothing but that comfortable teammate status again.

So I made myself walk away.