Garroth's POV:

"You're going to have so much fun,", Blaze exclaimed as we walked up to the fraternity building that was hosting the party. Multi-colored lights shined through the window, music boomed throughout the street, and people were just screaming and shouting very loudly.

I looked to the other side of me to see Dante and Aphmau, who agreed to come with me. They looked uneasy seeing the party and I whispered to them; "You don't have to come."

"No way,", Dante says. "I'm getting weird vibes from this party and I'm not leaving you alone with uh...redhead here."

Luckily, Blaze was chatting with Dottie and Daniel, so he didn't hear that. Aphmau only agreed with Dante saying; "It just doesn't feel right."

I couldn't help but see what they meant. It all just seemed too...hectic. It's not because this is the first party I've ever been to...it just seemed odd. I felt like I needed to turn back but, what would be my excuse? I just took a deep breath and kept walking forward.
Blaze opened the door and the smell of alcohol hit me so strongly, that I was light headed for a split second.

"Blaze, I think Dante, Aphmau, and I will just-"

"Come on you guys!", Dottie exclaimed. "We'll make sure you three are completely safe! Besides, it's all in good fun!"

"If your idea of fun is a bunch of kids getting hurt because they can't see five feet in front of them...", Dante mumbled.

Our group walked past the party inside to see the party outside. It looked work. Keg stands were everywhere, people were jumping or pushed into the pool, and in the center a large bonfire. It looked like a stereotypical college party. I started to grow nervous, knowing how Laurance would feel if he knew I was here.

"Blaze!", Someone called out over the crowd. It was some orange hair meif'wa guy who looked like he already had one too many drinks. It was only seven pm. How in the world does this stuff happen? He leaned on his shoulder and slurred; "So glad you guys could make it!"

"Garroth, Aphmau, Dante, this is Kai,", Blaze says, introducing us. He didn't seem thrilled to see him either. "He's always at the best parties on campus."

"You know it!"

I could see why Blaze, at of all people, didn't like him. He acted like some big shot who was secretly, or obviously, has their life in the trash. This dude is not making me feel at ease to say the least. 

"You guys should get a drink! It makes the room feel awesome!", He slurred again. 

"We're outside,", Aphmau said but, that didn't stop him. He grabbed Blaze and dragged him off somewhere. Dottie and Daniel nervously smiled at us and then ran off to get their friend back. I just looked at my two friends, utterly confused. They seemed to be in the same boat. 

People continued to scream and be crazy all across the lawn. I couldn't see a place where we can be by ourselves. Dante sighed and said; "You know what...let's get a little crazy. I'm not gonna stand here awkwardly anymore. You especially!"

He grabbed me and brought me over to a keg stand. Aphmau was close behind. Dante grabbed three cups and poured us our drinks and said; "We're over twenty-one! Let's do this!" 

He gulped down his drink and canon balled into the pool, causing an uproar of applaud from other drunk students. 

"What do you think Aph?", I asked. 

She shrugged and took a sip of her drink; "Let's just be responsible about this...we should be fine if we stick to that."

I nodded and looked at my drink. I sighed and took a gulp, letting go for once. 

...

"Garrath!", A high pitched voice shouted over the blasting music. I looked back to see Ivy in all her glory. Her hair was messy, her clothes looked like they had  puke on them and she walked over to me, almost tripping on her two feet. Once she reached me, she smelled like everyone else. "You look great!"

Her voice wasn't slurred but, you could tell she was out of it. "Hey Ivy,", I say politely. "I didn't know you were at this party." 

"I decided to come! Sounded fun!", She said. 

"When did you get here?" 

"An hour ago...I think." 

Great. 

"How many drinks have you had?", She asked me. I looked down to see that I my first cup still had a quarter of the way to go. 

"One,", I said. 

She laughed and shook her head; "That won't do! Come here!" 

She basically threw her drink in my face, as if she wanted me to drink it for her. I dropped mine as I wiped away the beverage from my face. A few people we shocked to see what happened but, went on with their conversations. I still wanted to be polite so I said, knowing she wasn't herself; "I think I'm good...but thanks." 

"No problem,", Ivy giggled in the most disturbing way possible. "I met your boyfriend!" 

"Oh really?", I asked. "When?"

"A few weeks ago...he was a jerk. You sure have interesting taste." 

I rolled my eyes and said; "Well, that's your opinion. You should get to know him more." 

"Nah,", She shrugged. "I much rather get to know you~" 

She hooked her arms around my neck and tried pulling me in seductively. Surprised, I pushed her away by reflex. She stumbled back a bit but, was fine. She looked at me with saddness in her eyes though. "What's wrong Garrett? Don't you want this?" 

I mentally gagged and said; "I have a boyfriend, and you know that. I'm sorry Ivy but, it isn't gonna work out." 

"What!", She screamed, suddenly changing her tone. "I've never been denied in my life!" 

"Glad to be the first,", I say, waving goodbye before she spat another word out. I walked over to where Aphmau was. She was talking to some friends and when I came over, they all seemed excited. Irene...kill me. 

"Guys, calm down,", Aphmau said, turning them down for me. "He's gay." 

"Even better!", One of them exclaimed. "Gay best friend!" 

They all gathered around me and started asking a bunch of questions. I looked over to Aphmau to see her laughing hysterically. I decided though that this was better than Ivy though. So, I pushed through it. It was probably a few minutes later when Blaze and Dante finally came over and pulled me away. 

"Sorry ladies,", Dante said. "We have to borrow him for a second." 

Confused, I let them drag me somewhere but, it was too late before I realized what they were doing. Dante pulled me to the edge of the pool and Blaze pushed me in. I immediately fell into the water, my clothes weighing me down slighting. When I came to the surface, I shouted; 

"Not cool!"

"Oh come on Garroth!", Blaze laughed. "Isn't this better than doing emails?"

"Undecided,", I groaned. 

Dante chuckled and said; "Maybe this will help!" 

He doved in and I soon felt someone tugged me down once again. Under the water, I saw that he had done it and when we floated back up, I said; "Dante you're dead!" I splashed water in his face before tackling him down under again. I heard Blaze laughing loudly and a splash behind me. I looked back to see that he decided to join. He grabbed from my waist and threw me behind him. I coughed up chlorine as I came back up once again. The two of them laughed at me  and I knew I needed a come back. I saw to my left that by the pool, there was another keg stand. An idea sparked into my brain and I quickly got out of the pool. I grabbed the pipe that pour out the drink and I sprayed them from outside the pool. After the sudden shock of it all, we all laughed about it and Blaze said; "Good one but, you're not ready for what's next." 

"What?" 

Someone body slammed me from behind back into the water. I looked back to see it was Aphmau and Dottie who were giggling about it. I laughed too, feeling my stress from before melt away completely. I looked around to see my friends and I knew that I made the right decision to come here...

"Don't forget about me guys!", Daniel shouted before jumping in. Blaze ruffled his now wet hair and chuckled at his friend. I smiled at him, making eye contact, silently thanking him. He winked at me and went back to Daniel, throwing him this time. 

...

Later, everything seemed to have calmed down. We had danced and joked for hours it seemed, causing a lot of the guest from before to leave from exhaustion. I was wrapped in a towel, not really wet anymore from the pool but, it was chilly out. I had a drink my hand, my second to be exact. Still didn't feel comfortable with getting drunk but, no one seemed to mind. I was the designated driver afterall. It was just Blaze and I left though. Dante decided to go home since he had something with Vylad tomorrow, Aphmau went back with her sorority friends, and Daniel and Dottie wanted to sleep solely on the reason that they were tired. It was nice though, to sit here knowing I did something "crazy" in college for once. 

Blaze came over and handed me some water. "Here,", He said. "They finally decided to hand out the non-alcoholic drinks." 

I chuckled and took a sip from the bottle. "Thanks for bringing me Blaze...I had fun." 

"I'm glad,", He smiled. "You needed this. I could tell." 

"I did." 

He sighed and combed his hair back before saying; "We should head back. It's really late and I know you still have work tomorrow." 

"Okay, sounds good to me,", I say, getting up and setting down my towel. We both walked back through the house and out the front door. I felt bad for the guys who were going to have to clean up after but, I didn't want to offer help either. 

As Blaze and I walked through the front lawn and onto the sidewalk that would lead to our car about a block away, Blaze seemed to remember something and started to grow nervous. He kept looking back and checking his phone. I told myself that maybe it was just him but, knowing The Flames were still around, I asked; 

"Is everything alright?"

"Y-Yeah. Let's just get back to the car." 

I nodded, putting it away for later. The sidewalk was brightly lit thanks to the many college students who still refuse to take their Christmas lights down in March. Still, he looked awful so, I asked again; "Are you sure?" 

He looked at me and I realized it was nerves. It was guilt. 

"Garroth...I have a confession to make but, we need to get to the car first." 

"No Blaze. Tell me now,", I say, stopping in my tracks. " I'm not getting in that car until I know it's safe." 

"It is, trust me." 

"How can I? You're obviously hiding something!", I shouted. 

"We really need to go!" 

"But Blaze, I-" 

Just then, Blaze pulled me towards him and as I was going to yell at him for doing so, I looked back to see a brick had fallen from above. I looked up to see a figure in a tree and I immediately became petrified. I reached into my coat pocket and found my swiss army knife again, where I left it. 

"Blaze, stay back." 

"It's you who should stay back,", A figure from behind us said. There was hood over his eyes, making it difficult to see his face. 

"Yes...you seem have trusted the wrong person Ro'Meave,", Another figure, a woman it sounded like, said as she walked up in front of us. The person from the tree dropped down and said; "You should've listened to your boyfriend."

"Get away from us!", I shouted, raising my admittedly pathetic knife. 

"Or what? You're going to poke us?", The woman said. 

As one of them came close enough and slashed at their hand, them immediately retracting it back. "I'll do more than just poke,", I threatened. "You hurt Laurance and I'm pretty pissed off about it." 

The figure shook their hand, blood falling onto the pavement. He sneered at me and said; "You'll regret that."

Suddenly, the man behind us came charging at us and I quickly stabbed the first thing that came close. He clutched his side and fell backwards into some bushes that were apart of someone's lawn. The woman charged and instead of stabbing her, I pushed her back as best I could. It was no use though. She only regained her composure before charging me again, her knocking me to the ground. I quickly used my knife to cut her leg and she screamed, stumbling back as well. I scrambled to get back up but, I felt an arm wrap around my neck and I saw the cut that I made earlier still dripping blood. 

"Even if you were able to knock down three of us, there's more, watching your every move,", He whispered into my ear. I tried to use my knife again but, he only grabbed my wrist tightly before I was able to. I felt his arm around my neck tighten and it became harder to breath. "It's a shame that it'll be over. We really enjoyed ourselves." 

I choked out, trying to pry his arm off of me. As things started to become fuzzy, I felt his arm release me suddenly. I fell onto my hands and knees, gasping for air. As I lookde up though, I felt it leave me once again in pure shock.  There Blaze was...with a pair of wings, burning with fire. He had thrown the man down on the street. He was groaning as he struggled to stand back up. Before I could say anything Blaze shouted;

"Garroth get your knife, now!"

I grabbed the red weapon and rushed over to the man. I looked over to Blaze, suddenly hestitant for what I was about to do. He nodded, assuring me that it would be fine. I stabbed the man, him screaming in agony when my knife pierced his skin. I shakily pulled it back out and back away. The woman sounded terrified but, not as terrified as I was. I just freaking stabbed someone...and I found out my roommate was another Phoenix. 

"Garroth, we have to go."

"B-Blaze, I just-" 

"I know what you did but, he would've done the same to you. Maybe even worse. We have to go,", He says, calmly as possible. 

I looked back down, seeing the man had gone unconsious. I held back a sob and put my knife away, turning to Blaze once again. With that, we ran off, him letting his wings disappear. 

Word Count:2503