My first instinct was to get Julian out of here.

"You've gotta go." I grabbed Julian's arm.

"But–"

"No, please. Listen to me, I don't want to cause you any trouble because of our juvenile rivalry."

The last thing he needed was Max bullying him just because of who he was friends with. I don't even want to know what'll happen if Max found out that Julian was Tyler's brother.

"Wait a minute. Who is this now?" Neil asked, looking between us.

"He's a friend of mine. He goes to Edgewood high, " I answered.

"He goes to Edgewood high!?" Neil stared at Julian.

"Yeah, and he's friends with Max–"

"He's friends with Max!?" Neil yelled, interrupting me.

"Will you stop repeating what I say, and please let me finish?" I glared at Neil.

"Sorry, but...why haven't I seen him before?" Neil asked.

"And why didn't we know about this friendship? " Avi asked.

"Guys, it's a long story and I'll tell you everything later, but right now, he needs to get out of here before Max or anyone from the Edgewood crowd spots him, " I said.

"Alright, but relax its a huge party and it will be hard for anyone to spot him," Avi assured me.

"Yeah. We just came here to give you a heads up, and make sure you aren't alone," Neil said. "Let's go find the others and we'll figure out what to do."

I looked around the place nervously and nodded. It would be difficult to spot someone here unless you're specifically looking for them.

We followed Neil through the makeshift dance floor and towards the other end of the room, where a  long counter was set up like a mini-bar.

I spotted Jace and Ryan both standing there with a bottle of beer in their hands. As soon as Jace spotted Julian his face broke out in a grin, and he started walking towards us.

"Hey, Buddy, " Jace called out and slung an arm over Julian's shoulders. "Didn't expect to see you here."

Ryan got up from the high stool he was sitting on and gave a high-five to Julian before looking at me. "Hey! Did he come with you?"

"Yeah." I smiled.

"This little shit never hangs out with us these days, " Jace said, fondly.

Meanwhile, both Avi and Neil were looking at this whole exchange with identical frowns on their face and I had to suppress a giggle as I looked at them.

Before any one of them could open their mouths, I placed a firm hand on each one of their shoulders, drawing their attention. "I'll explain everything later," I promised and they reluctantly nodded.

"Why are you guys empty-handed?" Jace said as he opened a cooler nearby and pulled out two bottles of beer. "What can I get you?"

"Thanks, but nothing for me." I walked over towards the counter and hopped onto a stool.

This night was already beginning to get really stressful and I didn't want any alcohol clouding my senses to cause more problems.

"Do you guys have any pact going on? Neil isn't drinking too, " Jace asked, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

I grinned at Neil as he came over to where I was sitting and leaned at the counter beside me. "He promised me he won't drink tonight, we had a deal."

"Let's see how long he'll last." Avi rolled his eyes.

"How little faith you have in my ability to keep my word is insulting." Neil scowled.

"Aww, I have faith in you, " I said and wrapped my arm around his waist.

"Thank you, V, " he slung an arm around my shoulder. "I'm the designated driver, the responsible adult for tonight, and you guys should have fun."

"Alright." Avi smiled and then accepted a bottle of beer that Jace gave him.

But before Jace could hand a bottle out to Julian, I stopped him. "Nope, no alcohol for him."

"What? Why?" Jace asked.

"Because he is fifteen, that's why, " I answered and they all rolled their eyes at me.

"You do realize that I'm just three years younger to you, right?" Julian frowned and I shrugged in response.

"I thought you wanted me to experience everything tonight." He grinned.

"Nope not everything, I don't want you drunk. In fact, I don't even think you should be sitting here with us while Max is still around, " I said, looking around.

His brother would have my head if something goes wrong.

"Relax, it'll be fine," Jace assured me. "We'll go talk to Tyler and Erick, then we can see what to do."

"Tyler doesn't know?" I asked.

"I don't think so. We were supposed to go and talk to him a while ago, but Neil set us up on guard duty when he left to find you," Jace said, taking a swig from his bottle.

"Guard duty?" I asked and Jace lifted his bottle to point towards something to my right.

I turned around and my eyes landed on Ashley. She was wearing a soft purple dress, with off white stilettos. Her short brown hair fell on her shoulders in soft curls. She looked stunning. Had she really gone through so much effort to impress the douche standing in front of her?

Ian was standing in front of her, wearing a white polo t-shirt and jeans, his dark blonde hair was much longer than before but other than that he looked pretty much the same. He was talking animatedly about something and Ash had a small smile on her face, I guess that's a good thing.

I noticed Ryan staring at them with a concerned look on his face. He hardly spoke to us, and his eyes were solely trained on Ashley.

Looks like Ash has an admirer. I found myself smiling at the thought.

"You guys can go find them, I'll be here if Ash needs me, " I said. "Just please sort this shit out."

They nodded and Ryan asked me, "Do you want me to stay back?"

"No, I'll be fine. Julian will keep me company." I smiled.

Avi made sure my phone wasn't on silent before they all left and promised to meet us here after some time.

"It's nice that you guys look out for each other, " Julian commented, after a few minutes.

"We learned our lesson last year." I smiled. "I narrowly escaped something horrible, and after that, I've always tried to be extra responsible. Especially the boys, they always make sure to keep an eye out for Ash and I in parties like these."

"I'm assuming Neil is the protective one?" Julian asked and I chuckled.

"Yeah. Avi is the responsible one and Ash..." I pointed to where she was standing. "She's the innocent one. Kind and a little naive."

"And You?"

The damaged one.

I didn't say anything, but just shrugged in response.

"Can I ask you something?" He looked at me after a while.

"Sure."

"Do parties trigger you or something? Do they make you uncomfortable? "

"Yes. They don't exactly trigger me but...wait... why are you asking this question?"

"You've been on edge since we got here." He pointed at my leg and added, "You've been constantly tapping your leg against some or the other surface."

I immediately stopped bouncing my leg and grinned. I didn't realize I was doing that.

"You're really observant," I commented and he shrugged.

"Why did you come to the party then? Why put yourself into situations that make you uncomfortable?" he asked.

I sighed. "I try to avoid it, but I can't hide forever. I want to overcome it."

He nodded and we were quiet for a while. My eyes kept flicking over to Ash and Ian, who now looked like they were having an argument.

"Have you ever thought of getting a therapist...to help you deal better with things?"

"I don't need help." I frowned. "I'm fine. I can deal with it."

"Of course you can, I'm just saying it might–"

"Drop it. Seriously." I interrupted him.

"Alright. Sorry."

I immediately felt bad for snapping at him and I opened my mouth to apologize when something caught my eye.

Ian had grabbed Ash's wrist and had stepped really close to her. I immediately stood up in confusion.

I couldn't see her face properly to make out if she was okay with this, so I took a step forward to find out, but Julian stopped me.

"Where are you going?"

"I need to make sure she's fine, " I said, my eyes fixed on Ash.

"Hold on, it looks like she's fine. I don't think you should step in if you aren't sure."

I nodded and reluctantly took a step back. What the hell was she even talking to him for so long?

After a few minutes I saw Ash try to tug herself free from his grip, but he held onto her hand.

That wasn't normal, was it?

Ian then turned around, still gripping her hand and started leading her towards the front door.

"Stay here. I'll be right back, " I quickly told Julian and started following them.

Ash turned around, her eyes searching the crowd before they found mine. What I saw in them had me running and pushing past people to reach her faster. Fear.

Ash stumbled on her heels when he pulled her along with him and I was consumed with rage. I fucking knew it was a bad idea to let him anywhere near her.

My eyes were trained on him and everything else began to fade away as I got closer to them.

As soon as they stepped out of the house, where the crowd was comparatively thinner, I jogged up to them.

"Get your hands off her!" I yelled, as my hands flew out in front of me and I pushed him hard, causing him to lose his balance and stumble. I yanked Ash's hand out of his grip and pulled her beside me.

Within seconds he's in my face, glaring at me. "What the fuck is wrong with you?"

I resisted my urge to step away from him and stood my ground. He grabbed my upper arm tightly and pulled me closer. "How dare you lay your hands on me!?"

"Ian, get away from her." Ash desperately tried to push him away. "I told you I don't want to go anywhere with you. We're done!"

"You don't get to decide that!" He glared at her, his green eyes blazing.

"Yes, she does!" I spat and tried to rip my arm away from him but he tightened his grip on me. "Get away from me. Now!"

"Or what?"

Without any warning, I brought my knee up and slammed it into his groin. 

I heard Ash gasp as he grunted and doubled over in pain. I watched him with a satisfied smile. "When she says no, it means no. Learn to deal with rejection like a man!"

"You bitch!" He snarled and lurched forward to grab me.

Before I could react, I felt a pair of strong arms wrap around my waist, pulling me backward. I stomped the heel of my left foot down on the stranger's foot.

"Fuck!" A familiar voice grunted behind me. "Why do you always have to go karate kid on me?"

"Tyler?" I turned around and found his face scrunched up in pain. "Shit! I'm so sorry."

"Are you alright?" he asked, keeping his arms around me.

I nodded and twisted around to check on Ash and found her standing with Avi, with a panicked look on her face. He had his arm around her and was whispering something to her.

Jace and Neil were surrounding Ian with a murderous look on their face, while a furious Ryan held him by the collar of his t-shirt.

"It's okay. Everything's fine." Tyler murmured and kissed my temple.