"Beer's intellectual. What a shame so many idiots drink it."

-Ray Bradbury

Two games morph into three which turns into me being completely sick to my stomach and the world rocking from side to side but I'm more than certain it's just me.

The funny thing is that despite feeling nauseous and my vision a good bit impaired I'm having a decent time out here. Turns out Aaron came too and brought tall, tan and touchable with him. He has a name, he's told me only a dozen times, but since all I can think about is how tall, tan, and touchable he is I kept calling him triple T.

It isn't that I'm even remotely interested in hooking up with him, no, I just enjoy looking. When it comes to guys I'm a hardcore window shopper. I like the simple dates that can easily look like friends hanging out. I don't do the hand-holding and I definitely don't do the kissing thing. My experience in that department stops after I exited that cute affectionate stage as a small child.

The thought of Liam letting me hold his hand when I was scared as a little girl floods my thoughts and brings with it a whirlwind of bittersweet memories. I was so young back then, and it was still acceptable for me to seek comfort in the arms of my big brother. I'm old enough now to be a little creeped out by it.

Without warning Aaron jumps to his feet and stretches. "I think I need some cool air." He says, still chuckling from Morgan's impression of Freddy Kruger but giving me a look of slight worry.

"Join me?" He asks offering me a hand.

I don't think twice about taking it or about how we are now several yards away from the outer circle of the party. It's not like we've never been alone together like this. He seems to always be my strolling buddy at parties. Instead, I'm finding the stars captivating as I look up at the clear night sky and wonder how I've never noticed they actually twinkle in the sky. Guess that's why the song is called Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star... Were they really that little though?

As we walk perpendicular to the party I keep tripping over things buried under the snow, or maybe it's because I'm drunk and actually stumbling, I honestly can't tell. Aaron swings his arm over my shoulders, a comforting gesture that now keeps me steady. It all feels fun and relaxing, even as my foot finally does catch something and I take Aaron down with me.

"Clumsy as always." Aaron laughs from next to me, relaxing back in the snow.

"Guilty" I giggle, following his lead. The snow isn't as soft as I have been imagining it. Somehow I thought it would feel more like powder sugar and less like hard ground. I find myself laughing along with Aaron because for once I'm having fun and not just pretending to have fun. My mind is too fuzzy to think past our current moment. It's all a blank space.

Time seems to slip away from me as we lay in the cold crunchy snow. I don't think about Liam being back at our house or that I have about half a dozen quizzes Monday morning. My attention is caught as I hear Aaron say something, tactfully climbing to his feet, almost like a skilled monk. It was obvious this particular skilled monk didn't drink nearly as much as I did, which is why when he offers me a hand up, I gladly accept it.

I'm not sure what happens after that, it all goes dim like the backlight has been turned down on the world and panic rose to heights I-ve never felt before. You wouldn't think that the fading would cause you to lose all sense of where or what you're doing but it did. One moment I'm in the company of a friend and the next all I know is I'm cold, nauseous, and someone is pulling me somewhere.

Rape.

The word is red hot in my mind and before I know it I'm in fight or flight more as I fail to make sense of my surroundings. The more frightened I get the more combative I feel my struggle becoming. I feel trapped, with no way out and completely alone.

I can hear someone cry out in pain at that same moment something smacks me right in between the shoulder blades. There's zero time to react as I hit something cold and hard. It was almost simultaneously that a male voice, more hostile than friendly, comes through the ringing in my ears.

"Don't care man." He snaps before everything goes silent.

When I come to it's only briefly but it's long enough for me to conclude two things, I'm the subject of their conversation and I'm engulfed in someone's arms I don't know.

"Did either of you see what happened?" It's Morgan's voice and she sounds more pissed than I've ever heard her sound. "So help me God Prestley if you know..."

"Chill out Morgana, shit." Prestley sounds irritated but it doesn't make sense why considering he only sasses Morgan intentionally and never in the way he just did.

When he speaks his voice reverberates throughout my whole body, deep and rich, leaving a tingling sensation covering every inch of me. "She was with Aaron. Not sure what happened but I decked him anyway."

"You did what?!" Morgan screeches as Prestley unsuccessfully tries to stifle a laugh.

I barely feel his frame shrug and his words are only a whisper as my consciousness starts to drift back into the darkness it had only just escaped from. "Better to ask forgiveness than permission."

Despite not knowing who's arms I'm in I feel safe and in a strange way comfortable. Maybe it's the alcohol that's bringing on these feelings but it's like I know who has me and I know it's going to be okay.