James groaned when he woke up, his body felt stiff as he sat up from the couch. "What the hell happened last night?" he pushed himself off the couch, his neck sore and his eyes heavy. He walked up the stairs in a quick manner as he attempted to find the bathroom.

He rubbed at his eyes as he stumbled along the stairs "where's Ruby?" he neared the bathroom as he yawned weakly. At the sight of him Jean turned towards him quickly. "Oh Jean, I didn't know you were here..." he leaned into the wall for support "sorta passed out on the couch. She looked upset "uh..." He let out a heavy breath "Eric was supposed to find Ruby for me but he must've forgotten, everyone was drunk last night and of course for once I'm sober, and then what do you know I passed out on the couch waiting".

He looked past her "that's... Ruby's jacket. What's..." he walked toward the doorway "James I don't think you should..." Jean walked in front of him, her hand placing itself on his chest.

"Jean let me through... I need to see if she's okay". She pushed him back "James" he stumbled slightly as he frowned deeply "why won't you let me see, has she told you to not let me see her? I don't care if she's hung over, I just wanna take her home".

"I really think you shouldn't see what's happened James, you're a good boy and I'm sorry" he inhaled sharply "sorry? What's she done Jean? Is she hurt? I won't be upset with her for staying here all night, Otis could've easily just let her sleep in his room because he's my friend and he knows I'd freak if she left alone. Why are you blocking the door?".

Jean sighed softly as she held the door shut "James don't blame yourself for this, I'm sure you didn't expect anything to happen last night".

At the sound of Otis's scream James pushed past Jean and pulled the door open "Rubes are you alright..." his entire body turned numb at the sight of Ruby and Otis on the bed. James couldn't move, his head felt dizzy as Jean gripped his shoulder "let me take you home James, you don't need to see this".

Otis stumbled off the bed "oh shit... James.. it's not... oh god! I'm so sorry..." Otis wrapped the blanket around himself "I was drunk...". James was silent, his hand stuck on the door knob as he looked at Ruby.

She looked so different, "James I can explain" she didn't get to finish her words, he was already storming out of the house. The front door slammed so loudly it made everyone flinch at the sound.

—

     Eric pushed his locker shut and smiled brightly at the sight of Otis walking towards him. "Hey! How are you feeling, Casanova?" Otis looked around the hallway as he pushed his sunglasses over his eyes.

"Eric, James gonna kill me" Eric frowned deeply "what do you mean? If this is because you had a party last night and Ruby refused to leave...".

"I had sex with her" Eric's eyes widened "what! You had sex with Ruby, are you absolutely positive?". Otis groaned "I woke up naked, safe to say it's happened and James... he saw and I haven't seen him since, the details are hazy but I definitely had sex with Ruby".

Eric let out a half gasp "oh you're a dead man! You've gone and slept with our best friend's girlfriend! And you lost your virginity to her of all people!".

Otis smacked his head into the locker "I hate myself! Why did I have to get drunk last night? James will never forgive me for this, I've ruined everything".

Eric sighed "we've got to find him, before things get even worse". Otis looked miserable as Eric gripped his arm and led him down the hallway "I'm as good as dead regardless if we find him or not".

He turned his gaze, meeting Maeve who looked at him angrily "Maeve I'm so sorry about last night...". The girl's hold was tight on her books "I'm not the one you should be apologizing too, James was a wreck this morning when I ran into him at the trailer park. He's told me what you've done with Ruby last night while he was sleeping on the couch!".

The girl's train of thought faded at the sight of James running down the hallway. Otis turned and screeched "oh god, he's gonna kill me!". James kept running and Otis inhaled sharply "'maybe he wants to talk...".

Eric laughed weakly "I think he's got other things on his mind Otis, he looks like he wants to murder you". Otis stumbled back as he pushed past Maeve and Eric and started running past everyone.

James was right behind him "Otis! You're fucking dead!" he stumbled as Eric and Maeve gripped his shoulders and stopped him. "James, hey man it's alright we just need you to relax for a bit".

James groaned in annoyance "I'm gonna kill him! You can't keep him safe forever! You're all mad the lot of ya! He's ruined my life! He deserves this!".

Eric pushed James back slightly "hey why don't we just leave, we can hang at my place, my mom would love having you over again". James was silent as he tried to get his mind sorted but he just felt angry.

"No I can't just... I can't let him get away with this Eric, why... Why did he do this to me? I was finally getting my life together and I was happy and things weren't shit!". He looked like he was on the verge of tears as Maeve looked past him "hey, don't look alright, just walk with us".

Eric and Maeve grabbed a hold of his hands as they helped him walk down the hallway. "It's Ruby isn't it... she's... she's behind us?" Maeve nodded as she helped him approach the front doors.

"I can get him home Eric, I've got a free period" so many teenagers were wandering the halls, he heard the whispers the second he felt himself shut down.

His hold loosened on Eric and Maeve's hands as he saw Otis push open the front doors to escape the school. Otis's eyes widened in horror "oh shit...".

James was already running forward and the entire school was going wild at the sound of him kicking the doors open. "Otis! Don't fucking run away from me! You damn coward! You know what you did!".

Otis screamed as he stumbled on the grass in front of the school James was right in front of him. His fist clenched as he inhaled sharply "just say it already! You've gone and slept with my girlfriend".

Otis reached his hands forward "look I was drunk! And I'm sorry James, I didn't know anything was going to happen, please you gotta understand".

James rubbed at his face slightly "understand! What's so understanding about you fucking my girlfriend!". He could feel the presence of the entire school forming around the duo, each trying to catch a glimpse into what was happening.

Otis moved back "Look I know no matter what I say you'll never forgive me, but you've got to understand I never would've done this to you... I... I don't know why I did what I did last night".

James gripped the boy's shirt and looked down at him "I can tell you why, it's because your life's gone to shit! So you've decided to make mine shit too, everything you touch you ruin, you went and made Maeve feel like shit all because she wasn't into you and since you can't ruin her life anymore, you went for the first person you could think of, and that's me! Everything always falls down to me".

Otis groaned when James punched him, his body fell against the grass as another blow was thrown towards his face. The cheering and chanting surrounded them so loudly and James hit him again, his fingers burned as he hit him again. Then the world went silent, he stopped punching Otis as he inhaled sharply.

Ruby was right in front of him, he moved back as she tried to grab a hold of his hand "don't.... We're done it's fucking over!". He stumbled past her as he held in his tears, "James...". He looked at Maeve "I just want to be left alone...." then he was walking off.

—
authors notes:
I've caved and decided to write this chapter, which is rare for me... but also not rare lol, I have no self control with waiting so I wrote this fast asf. Next Tuesday will be the next update, no more publishing early just because, so now you can wait, Enjoy!