𝗚𝗼𝘁 𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗹𝗶𝗻' 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘁𝘆𝗽𝗲 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗮𝘆

THE SUN BEAMED THROUGH the sheer curtains and onto the pink-haired girl in her slumber. She frowned at its disturbance, finally cracking her eyes open. Her double vision finally faded as she stared at the impeccably detailed ceiling.

This isn't my room. Where the fuck am I? She thought, jolting out of the fluffy white duvet she tangled herself in. Every effort she made to recall the events of the previous nights was futile, it only made her head pound even harder.

Her mouth was dry and her throat parched and sore. Her phone — which was hidden under the fluffy white sheets — was fully dead.

Her muscles ached as she stumbled towards the sliding door behind the sheer curtains. The balcony tiles blinded her from attempting to recognize the view. Emori didn't care enough about her whereabouts — whether she was kidnapped or is still deep in a dream — her only focus was trying not to puke on these beautiful tiles.

She slid the door open to a soft breeze. She took the fresh air in. Her eyes finally adjusted to the lighting. A clear blue sky with dancing palm trees, and a grotesque amount of mansions. Not anywhere near home. Oh. I'm at Seb's. Where's Oscar?

"I thought your ass was dead—" A deep voice along with footsteps crept up behind her. Emori shrieked. She shoved her elbow into the person's nose with all of the force her adrenaline and hangover could allow. He groaned while holding his nose. Emori couldn't have been more confused. "Emori, what the actual fuck?!"

Her heart dropped when she recognized the buzzcut of—

"—Ash?!"

"SERIOUSLY WHAT THE FUCK, EM?" Sebastian said holding a pool cleaner, squinting in the sun as if he couldn't just walk two steps forward into the open-air porch with thatch ceilings probably worth more than him.

Ash was silent in the corner, but his glare at Emori made her afraid to keep eye contact. He kept an ice pack on his nose.

"It wath an athident!" She said, with a mouth full of the best pancakes she's ever eaten, swinging on the outdoor kitchen island's high chair.

"Accident my ass— That wasn't no fucking accident— that shit was premeditated— damn near attempted murder!" Ash yelled.

"SORRY FOR— FUCKIN'— Uhh— DEFENDING MYSELF?— The fuck you want me to do?"

"You knew he was in the room with you, Lavagirl," Sebastian whined, swishing the pool cleaner around, catching plastic cups and glow sticks and all the nonsense people left in there.

"No, I didn't. As punchable as his face is I wouldn't just go swinging." Emori argued.

"Do you even remember last night?" Seb asked.

"Uhh...yeah," She lied. She waited for her phone to switch on. Once it did, it buzzed like crazy. Missed calls from all her girlfriends. Shit. "I partied and shit, and then woke up in a nice room, that about right?"

The room went quiet. Even the music sounded lower. Emori lifted her head from the glass of water she downed to meet Ash's deadened gaze her her from the other side of the dining table. He held a pack of ice to his nose. Emori smiled at him. He flipped her off.

"Well, fuck you too then," She mumbled to herself. "Where's Oscar?" She frowned.

Seb shrugged. Ash just sighed and sucked his teeth. Emori hopped off the high chair and went up to Ash.

"You're like the most dramatic person ever— It can't be that bad— Ohh..."

She removed the ice to see his nose crooked and maroon. She held his face in full concern, he didn't even bat an eye.

"I'm good, ma. You've quite literally done e-fuckin'-nough." He tried to make that sound convincing.

"You need medical intervention, Ash. Luckily I've done...something like this before—"

"Fuuuck no," He jerked backward. "You already fucked me up."

"It'll be quick, c'mon."

"I'm good, ma."

"What? You scared or something?"

He squinted his eyes, trying not to smile. "Shut the fuck up?" He immediately started groaning at the throbbing ache that returned once he started laughing, which made Emori laugh even harder. "Stop stop stop stop."

Her laughter finally died down, she gently touched his pale face, moving delicately closer to his nose. A smirk plastered on his face, poking his tongue through his cheek.

"Tell me about last night," She said under her breath. He frowned, before pursing his lips to think. It was clear she didn't remember anything about how they literally exchanged saliva till they passed out, but how much did he remember?

"Mmm...you were drunk as shit and messy as fuck, as per usual. Everyone was eye fucking the shit outta you, deadass, I felt offended on your behalf because you couldn't feel shit—"

"Okay I wasn't that drunk, the fuck?"

"I'm telling you what I remember, and I remember that you were acting a fucking fool on the dance floor—"

"Ohh so you watched me and didn't do shit about it?"

"You were having a good time! Ain't shit I could do!" He raised his hands. "Then shit got weird so I took you to the room..." He looked at her lips for a second, his eyebrows spasming. "To sober up."

She was silent, and dangerously close to his face. Something about their extended gaze was too familiar. As if in another universe, they've known more than each other's warmth, like he knew how she tasted, like she knew the pressure of his kiss.

Emori pressed his nose and moved it as hard as she could. She's never heard him yell that loudly. She fully expected him to rock her shit, but he only clenched his fists.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" His voice cracked. She chuckled. "Fuckin' psycho!" He quieted down, scrunching his nose. His eyebrows lifted, and what looked like a glance of gratitude was flashed towards the pink-haired girl. She grinned.

"I'll take that as a thank you. D'you wanna swim?"

NO, NO ONE ELSE wanted to swim with her because everyone is so boring.

"You guys are so boring," Her voice echoed across the poolside as she floated on a donut floaty, waiting for Ash to peep a gaze at her so she could dramatically roll her eyes at him once more. "I don't even wanna do this shit anymore."

She considered fake drowning, but had her doubts about if either of them give that much of a shit about her, so she prepared for the next best option.

Ash came to sit on the poolside chairs, squinting at Emori while she floated around the pool and fooling around. He dug out a blunt from his pocket, feeling down his other pocket for the lighter, his eyes glued on the pink-haired girl humming to songs playing over Seb's speakers.

She heard the lighter twitch, shooting her head back to Ash. Emori cracked a smile at him and his poor nose, pushing herself to the edge of the pool to rest her arms on the wooden deck.

"Wanna help me up?" She asked, lifting her hand up towards him.

The blunt finally lit up, and he took the first puff, as slowly as he could, "And why the fuck would I do that?"

"You're not having that shit alone."

He chuckled, taking another puff to spite her. He knelt on the ground to hover over her, blocking her from the sun. He held the blunt between his index and middle finger, and Emori couldn't help but stare at his veiny hands. He brought the blunt to her lips, his fingers gently brushing against them.

She had to hold his hand to keep it there. She inhaled long enough for him to frown and whine about it, then blew the white smoke back in his face. Staring into each other's eyes, the only thing separating their lips from colliding was the blunt in his hand.

Emori couldn't stop blushing at how low Ash's eyes got, or how hypnotic his smirk was, so she grabbed his arm and pulled him to fall into the water. She couldn't stop laughing when he tore out of the water cussing and shaking the water off his face.

"Aite bet," He said, squinting his eyes as the beads of water kept dripping down his face. He put his arms over her head and dunked her in the water. She sprung back up, screaming--

"WHAT THE FUUCK-- MY HAIR-- YOU FUCKED UP MY HAIR-- IT'S CURLING UP NOW! You bitch!"

"Hey-- hey-- hey, don't worry about it, ma. A lil' water ain't hurt nobody," He drew closer to her, watching her hair slowly curl. His eyes lit up as he stared. Her eyes rolled, the curls ambushing her face. "Look, I'll fix it." He chuckled.

He gently pushed her curls up, running his hands through her hair, using the fallen hair tie to tie it into a high puff. This was the gentlest she's seen him ever. His focus on getting every curl into the pony, while inches away from each other's faces, made her heart melt.

"I dunno why you don't wear your hair like this, it's so fire," He said as if it was nothing, reaching for the blunt that miraculously remained dry. She blushed, then frowned. "I fuck with the curls."

"Really?" She said in an unconvinced tone. That made him shoot his gaze back to her. He nodded at her like it was so obvious. He took a puff, blowing it away from her face.

"Fuck I look like? Your hair's fuckin' gorgeous." He lifted his shirt off like it was nothing, tossing it to land perfectly on one of the chairs. He had a gorgeous set of abs that Emori had to tear her eyes away from.

She stammered, her heart skittering. She shot her head down to hide her smile. "Thanks," She breathed.

They both sat on the shallow end of the humungous pool, passing the blunt after each puff while admiring the view of Seb's bawling neighborhood of glass mansions and palm trees and rich people shit, and debating on whether they'd wanna live in those houses or not, indirectly imagining a life together in the future.

Ash wanted a dog, a big one, to guard the place, and Emori wanted a sunken pit living room with hundreds of cool lamps. Their speech slurring, eyes narrowing, and everything getting funnier, it came to a point where they sat together in comfortable silence.

Emori rested her head on Ash's bare shoulder, and he couldn't help but feel like he was on top of the world. He had this unbearably strong urge to bury his face in her curls and breathe her scent in, but he didn't. He remained quiet, not fully trusting that he could speak right now.

If Ash was honest with himself, he'd wanna be deep in a lip-locking makeout session with Emori, not knowing exactly why, just that the feeling was a familiar rush.

"Yo, Mori," He said under his breath, his voice deeper. She responded later than normal. "Can I ask you a question, real quick?"

She slowly frowned, noticing how he avoided eye contact and somehow the clear blue sky was so interesting.

"Go ahead."

"You're not...seeing anyone, or whatever?"

"You know everything about me, I think I'd tell you If I was 'seeing' someone," In reality, if she was seeing someone, she'd feel a little guilty about telling him, she couldn't explain why, she just always had this weird loyalty to a man who she doubted would do the same for her. "Why?"

His lips curled into a smile. He looked away to the water, shaking his head while squinting, "Just wondering...thought you've finally found someone more interesting than me." He laughed.

"Shut the fuck up," She chuckled. His jaw dropped and his eyebrows lifted.

"Wait, so I'm right? No one? No fuckin' way."

Emori covered her face as she tried to hide her smile. "Ash, I will punch you again if you don't stop."

"Oh you're just pissed because none of the guys you've met can handle your attitude."

Her jaw dropped. She pushed him. He let out a small grunt, but the grin on his face showed he was no less than satisfied at her reaction.

"So I'm just being flamed for getting no play—"

"Nah— it's just— there's no way— I mean— you're like the baddest out there— not even 'bad' but beautiful — full package and all— it just doesn't compute."

She stammered over her words, replaying what he said in her head. She hated how flustered she got, and hated how embarrassed she was to admit it.

"So why haven't you done anything about it then?"

He looked away, his smirk disappearing. He opened his mouth but nothing was said. He couldn't believe it, he had no idea what smart-ass reply to give her.

Her eyes narrowed. "Ash...something's telling me you remember more of what happened last night. Do you?"

Flashes of last night replayed in his mind. He couldn't swear to all details, but he could swear to most. He remembered vividly how her warm body felt against his, how her neck tasted. He hoped to God that they didn't go anywhere further than that, because in the case that they did go further, he'd wanna be fully present to savor it.

Something in his lengthened gaze must've spilled some truth out, and so he slowly nodded. Then swallowed. If his heart raced any faster, he was sure he would pass the fuck out into this pool.

"We..." He rolled his head back, exposing his Adam's apple. "We made out, Emori. Like...fully."

She went quiet. Her expression was unreadable beyond pure shock. Then it softened, but that was probably the sativa talking. It was suddenly so awkward that they were sitting inches apart from each other.

She pursed her lips. "...Was it any good?" That made him frown and laugh the nerves off. "I'm not the best judge!"

"Why's that?..." His laughter died down when he saw how serious she was. The nerves came flooding back. "Oh shit... I was...I was your first kiss?" he lowered his voice.

"Well, it doesn't count anyway 'cause we were crossfaded as a motherfucker, but...yeah. What?"

"I would never admit this if I was sober but...you were mine, too."

"Really?" She smiled. "Doesn't count either. Wait, who did it first?"

"I don't fuckin' know, does it matter?"

"It so does. So who was it?" She turned so her whole body was facing him. He helped her move her leg under the water, just the feeling of his hand gently holding her thigh set fireworks off in her mind.

Ash kissed her first. He was sure of that. And he would do it again.

"It's not that clear," He shook his head. His eyebrows raised as he darted to and from her eyes, an unmistakable glint of passionate yearning for her once more. His low eyes dropped to her lips. "But if it was you then you're a fucking slut."

"Ohh I'm a slut but I'm pretty sure making out goes both ways." She chuckled, leaning into his bare chest. Her blinks were much slower, her responses more delayed, but looking at Ash's pretty eyes, how he poked his tongue through his cheek, creases folding by his lips as he smirked, not able to pull away their gazes from each other, the tension was too familiar. "Just admit then. You wanted to kiss me."

"Ehh," He cheekily smiled, bopping his leg underwater. "....still do, princess."

He slid his hand across her jawline, feeling her warmth as he gently pressed his lips against hers. She pulled away, but dove right into a harder kiss. They probed into each other slowly, savoring every breath shared, working their way around using their tongues for the first time.

He grunted softly into her mouth when she accidentally hit his injured nose. They smiled against each other's lips, letting out a weak chuckle, before diving into a deeper kiss.

He slowly slid his hand down from her neck to her waist underwater, squeezing and pulling her into him. He used his other hand to direct where he wanted her hands to go, gliding up his torso, and wrapping her arms around his neck as her breathing got heavier.

"WHEN THE FUCK ARE YOU GOING HOME, ASHTRAY O'NEIL?" A familiar voice yelled from far behind the two. Emori shoved Ash off of her and they looked behind them to see Oscar in an apron.

Emori's heart dropped, and she hoped to whoever was out there that he didn't see them sucking each other's faces off. But then she realised his reaction was way too calm, so she was in the green.

Emori looked at Ash, trying to read his expression, only seeing how unbothered he was. Ash flipped Emori's brother off, Oscar returning the favor and then shaking his head.

Ash turned back to Emori, and they burst into weak laughter, their foreheads touching as they died of laughter, gasping for air.

"Fuck are y'all kiking for?" Oscar murmured under his breath like he was physically hurt seeing his sister at a disgustingly close proximity to a man, even Seb had to console him as he murmured to himself.

"Best friends don't do what we just did, Ash," Emori whispered, trying to ignore how hypnotic Ash's hand felt sliding down her thigh. "We need to stop."

"Ye ye, you right. It's totally my bad," He raised his hands, his low eyes glued to her lips. He tilted his head at her, still wanting more of her.

"And guess what? We're still not fuckin' sober." She shoved him, chuckling as he grunted.

"I can proudly say I was Emori Moon Leroy's first kiss," He said into her ear, and she giggled.

"This stays here. We can't do this again. I'm serious."

And boy was she so wrong.

authors note

HEY Y'ALL I'M ALIVE AND WELL 🙏

I DIDNT FORGET ABOUT THIS BOOK I STILL LOVE IT ITS JUST HARD TO WRITE WHILE IM TRYING TO FINISH HIGH SCHOOL

guys apparently euphoria s3 is 'dead' BUT THERES SO MUCH WE NEED TO KNOW ABOUT LIKE I'LL READ A BOOK ABOUT IT JUST GIVE US SOMETHINGGGG

dedications

kissesontongue euphoreallia ST4RRYBL4DE solyyybenonyy ikigaii- candysznn strwberih111 b3sitos4u