1 7 . 5 | bonus chapter

EVERETT'S POV

ISLA'S ARM WAS HEAVY AROUND MY SHOULDER. Her shoes dragged against the pavement and I slipped my arm around her waist, taking the brunt of her weight. She giggled, smelling like alcohol and sand as she leaned against me, slouching over.

I warmed, feeling her body press against mine, and fought the urge to pull away. In front of us, River and Connor drunkenly stumbled, shouting and laughing as they walked.

"River!" Connor shouted, his lips slurring on the name. He waved a drunken hand at River, who stood smiling beside him. "River, I thought of a really good joke!"

"What is it?" he replied, raising his brows.

"What is what?"

"What was the joke?"

"Oh," Connor blinked, pursing his lips in thought. After a moment, a wide grin split across his face again. "River! Look, the moon!"

A high-pitched giggle came from beside me and I released a tight breath, remembering the drunken girl half-bent beside me. I rolled my eyes, heaving Isla back up and glancing at her face. She watched me with half-lidded eyes and a drunken grin.

"Ev," she said, her fingers reaching up for my face. They hovered for a moment and her eyes narrowed further in confusion before her hand fell back to her side. "I don't feel so good."

I swallowed thickly at the nickname, shoving out the memory of a blonde-haired girl that used to call me that back home.

"You just had to go and get fucking drunk, didn't you?" I grumbled, mostly to myself.

"Oh, please," Isla slurred. "I'm not drunk. Just – Just a little tipsy. I think."

"Right. And how much did you have to drink?"

"Like... one?"

"One what?"

"Two?"

I sighed. This was getting nowhere. My grip around her waist tightened and I tried to speed up. There was no way I'd be able to get this group to their houses without at least one of them trying to run in front of a car. Clemente House was the only option.

We had been at the party for the better part of two hours. Isla had had drink after drink until suddenly she was swaying, and her eyes were slowly falling shut. I scolded myself. I should've been paying more attention. I should've kept a better eye on her and made sure she was topping her drinks up with more soda.

I hadn't expected this group of idiots to have such a low alcohol tolerance.

We reached the top of the hill and Clemente House came into view. I only hoped that my grandma wasn't awake. This was a small town and I didn't want Isla's reputation to get ruined after one night of fun.

Besides, it was all that asshole's fault.

Austin Wright, Shellside Bay's resident asshole.

He had left Isla at the party for the bitch with black hair. Some best friend he was. I didn't understand how Isla could possibly still be so infatuated with him. The entire time I'd been here, I hadn't seen him do one nice thing for her.

I mean, shouldn't he be the one here with his drunk friends, taking them home after a party? Why was this suddenly my job?

I scowled, dragging Isla up the porch steps.

"Come on," I said, trying to keep my voice gentle. Her eyes were shut, and she had a dreamy smile on her lips. I sighed, tugging her up against me. "Isla come on. Stay awake just a bit longer. Then you can sleep, okay?"

"Everett?"

"Yes," I said, exasperated. "Yes, it's Everett. Isla, will you wake up, please?"

Her eyes shot open, her brown eyes meeting mine. My heart flipped and I swallowed thickly, raising a brow at her.

"Can you just get up these steps for me?" I asked slowly. "Please?"

"Only because you asked so nicely," she teased, slurring on her words.

I rolled my eyes, though a smile tugged at my lips. Of course, she was sassy, even when she was drunk. She stumbled, her legs lifting heavily as we made our way up the steps.

River stood beside the door, swaying slightly as Connor leaned against his shoulder, his eyes shut. I whacked him over the head, and he groaned, slowly opening his eyes.

"For fuck's sake," I said, pushing the door open with one hand, Isla giggling in the other. "Get inside you drunks."

"You hit him," Isla laughed, grinning lopsidedly.

"And I'll do it again if he doesn't fucking move."

With that, he quickly stood upright and stumbled behind me into Clemente House. The lights were dimmed, and the air conditioner hummed quietly, the cold air a relief after the sticky heat from outside.

I whipped my head around to glare at Connor and River who smiled drunkenly at me.

"Keep it quiet," I muttered sharply. "Everyone's asleep."

Connor's eyes widened and he nodded vigorously, holding a finger to his lips while River just stared at me in silence. I sighed, tightening my hand around Isla's waist and continuing towards the guest rooms.

After the immense effort of getting everyone up the staircase, we made our way down the hall until we reached the door that said in large golden numbers '137'.

"Alright, hold on," I murmured to Isla, holding her tightly as I shoved my other hand into my pocket, fishing for my key.

"Where are we?" Isla muttered dazedly.

"My room," I replied. My fingers brushed cold metal and I grabbed it, pulling my key out and unlocking the door.

"Your room?" Isla said belatedly.

I nodded, pushing the door open and holding it.

"Get in, dumbasses," I said, narrowing my eyes at Connor and River.

Connor sent me a cheesy grin as the pair shoved past me, stumbling over each other in the dark until they fell in a heap on the floor. I rolled my eyes, gently closing the door and locking it.

"Alright," I sighed to the drunken girl leaning against me. She craned her neck up, staring at me with those brown eyes in the darkness. I warmed, quickly looking away. "Let's get you to bed."

"Bed," she repeated dreamily.

I shuffled her across the room until we reached my bed. Reaching down, I pulled the covers away.

"Okay," I started uneasily. "I'm going to lie you down, alright?"

She hummed in reply and I leaned down, gently placing her onto the mattress. Her mess of curls flopped over her face and I reached up, pushing it from her eyes. She blinked up at me, smiling, and I knew I was blushing.

"You can sleep now," I said pointedly. I took the blanket and pulled it over her body, up to her chin. Before I could move away, her hand darted out of the covers and grabbed my wrist.

"Everett," she pouted sleepily. "Don't go."

"I'm not going, I'll just sleep on the chair over there."

"No, stay."

"I'll still be here, Isla," I sighed, losing patience.

She tugged on my arm and lazily kicked the blankets away to make space beside herself. "Here."

My eyes widened, warmth creeping up my neck to the tips of my ears. "What?"

She tugged me again. "Here."

"No," I said, chuckling lightly. I shook my arm, trying to get her to let me go, but she refused to budge. "No, Isla. That's all kinds of wrong. You're drunk, go to sleep."

"It's just sleeping," she muttered, frowning now. She sat up then, releasing me and pushing the blanket off her. "If you're not staying then I'm not sleeping here."

"Isla," I sighed, shaking my head. I ran a hand over my face, feeling all sorts of tired after tonight.

Connor and River were knocked out on the floor, snoring comfortably. I leaned forward, pushing on Isla's shoulder to try get her to lie down.

"Come on, Isla," I said. "Just sleep, alright? I'll just be over there."

She let herself be pushed down when suddenly she reached up, wrapping her arms around my neck and pulling me down with her. I was caught of guard. Suddenly, I was falling onto the mattress, my face colliding with the pillow beside her head.

She giggled locking her arms tightly around me until we were face to face. I warmed, pulling away, but she pulled firmer.

"Please?"

"No," I said firmly.

"Pretty please?"

I raised a brow. "Isla, has anyone ever told you you're an affectionate drunk?"

"Never been drunk."

"What?" I blinked, meeting her eye. "You mean you're seventeen and go to bonfire parties every summer, and you've never been drunk?"

"Everett," she whined, ignoring my question and pulling me again.

I huffed, reaching up to gently pry her arms off of me. She pouted, jutting her bottom lip out and blinking her brown eyes up at me. God, I knew I'd regret this in the morning.

But I could still feel the bit of alcohol from the party buzzing through me, and she was really starting to piss me off. All I wanted to do was collapse into the mattress and sleep.

So, I sighed, kicking my shoes off, shoving her over and sliding beneath the covers with her. She grinned proudly, draping a lazy arm over my waist and closing her eyes in content.

"Just until you fall asleep," I said pointedly.

She hummed and I wondered if she even heard me, instead holding me tighter, her head falling too close to mine. I stiffened beneath her touch, trying to keep my distance. She was drunk. I shouldn't even be here right now.

I released a breath, trying not to watch her as her breathing fell heavy and turned even. Trying not to notice the way her eyelids fluttered in her sleep and the way her hair fell just over her brow in messy tendrils.

Ever since I'd first seen her at the start of summer, I'd noticed her beauty. The second she'd stepped into Clemente House; my eyes had drifted from my phone to her. She lit up the room wherever she went.

With her dark skin that seemed to glow in the sunlight, and her brown eyes that sparkled. Her hair that fell in loose curls, framing her face, her long eyelashes that fluttered against her cheeks, even in her sleep.

I'd gotten flustered. Emma's face glared up at me from my screen. Since we'd broken up, she'd started dating Jacob officially, posting photos with him every day on her Instagram. And I guess I was a masochist, because I couldn't stop scrolling through them and pitying myself.

I couldn't stop scrolling through the millions of messages Emma and Jacob had sent me, apologising and begging me to reply.

And then Isla had walked in, and I'd taken my frustration out on her.

I released a tight breath, regret flooding me. If I hadn't been such an ass to her that first day, would we be friends now? Were we friends now?

I frowned, finally giving in and glancing at her sleeping face. Her lips parted as she breathed deeply, the corners tugged into a slight smile. The wrinkle in her brow was non-existent in her sleep, the tension in her body relaxing into the mattress.

She overworked herself. Austin treated her badly. She deserved so much more than what Shellside Bay had to offer her. If only I could take her back to New York – if only she could see what it was like there.

Without realising, I'd reached a hand up to tug on a stray curl of hers, my fingers barely brushing her forehead. She smiled at that, tilting her head into my touch.

Realisation hit me and I warmed, pulling away frantically.

What was I doing? God, she'd probably strangle me if she were awake and sober.

Before I could pull away completely, Isla's arm tightened around my waist, holding me in place.

"Don't," she murmured, half-asleep. "Don't leave me like Austin."

I frowned, swallowing thickly. This was stupid. It was impossible for me to lie in the same bed as her all night without my heart pounding crazily in my chest – without thinking about her nonstop, like I'd been trying to avoid all summer.

But her voice had turned pained and that happy tilt in her lips had vanished, pulling down into a frown instead. Her fingers were tight on my waist, desperate, and I knew I didn't have a choice.

I leaned back onto the mattress, still trying to keep some distance between us. Not knowing where to place my hands, I shoved them under my head. Isla relaxed, her grip on me loosening and that scowl on her face fading back into drunken contentment.

Connor and River snored in the corner of the room, and the air conditioner buzzed lightly in the vents.

Yet all I could hear was my heart pounding in my ears, and Isla's gentle breathing just inches from me.

And I fell asleep with the image of her brown eyes in my mind and the warmth of her skin still tingling on my fingertips.

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A U T H O R ' S  N O T E

Hello again! In case it wasn't clear, this takes place between chapter 17 and 18. I hope you liked it! We've got one more bonus chapter to come. Any guesses what it'll be?

Thanks for reading!