The song ended quickly and Max snatched Micky away quickly. He practically dragged her outside, where the cold air cleared her head. Her eyes were adjusting to the dark as Max pulled her into a dark corridor of resort rooms.

He pushed her against a wall, kissing her forcefully. At first, she kissed him back, but eventually realized that it was pitch black in the hall and she could feel his hand at her skirt zipper. She began to be scared. She squeaked, but it was muffled and no one was there to hear it anyway. She drifted in between disgust and desire, sort of frozen, but wanting to scream. Max stopped for a breath and growled, “Let’s find a room?”

Micky nodded, against her better judgment. Max threw open a door and shoved her in. He slammed the door behind himself then moved toward her. She stood, unmoving in fear, as he ripped off her unzipped skirt and started trying to unbutton her shirt when Micky seemed to realize what was happening. She gasped, “Oh my god, Max! Stop!” “Stop” came out as a scream on accident and he covered her mouth with his hand.

“Do you really want me to stop?” he asked with a raised eyebrow. Her eyes widened and she nodded, thinking that he would.

He laughed hollowly, “You’ve got another thing coming if you think I’m going to stop.”

Her mind flashed to Louis saying, “It’s a bad idea...He’s just going to hurt you...” Her eyes filled with tears, about to spill over when the door flew open. Max swung around, completely surprised.

Louis stood in the door, looking like a terrifying, furious, avenging angel. He eyes flicked quickly from Max to Max’s hand over Micky’s mouth, to the discarded skirt, to the tears that had rolled down Micky’s cheek. He walked in calmly, and smashed his fist into Max’s face, looking grim. Max stumbled backwards and landed on the bed. Louis grasped Max’s shirt with two clenched fists and drew him close.“If you try a stunt like this again, I will end you,” Louis said, speaking with barely contained rage. Max stared back, his vision blurry. Louis pushed Max back onto the bad, so that his body bounced and stayed down.

He turned to Micky and she buried her head in his chest, sobbing. He cuddled her close until she pushed him away. There were black streaks running down her cheeks and her eyes were red. She sniffed, “Lou, I’m so sorry. You were right and I...” She started crying again and he wiped a tear away with his thumb.

“It’s alright Micky,” he comforted, “It’s ok. Let’s get you home.” She nodded and picked up her skirt. She put it back on and then they walked out to Louis’ car and got in. Louis used his soft jacket sleeve to dry Micky’s face. The party was still going hard as they left.

Micky started to drift off to sleep on the car ride back. Louis pulled up in front of her dark house. He picked her up, her body limp with sleep. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist. He unlocked the door with her key and carried her to her room. He laid her down on her bed and untangled her from himself. He drew a blanket over her body and kissed her forehead. He turned to go and his path was blocked by Mr. Stuart.

“What happened?” he asked, whispering and worried.

“Someone tried something, she asked him to stop, he didn’t, so I stopped him,” said Louis, matter-of-factly.

Mr. Stuart patted his shoulder, “Thanks, Louis.”

Louis nodded, “Anything.” He left, got home and collapsed in bed, his mind buzzing. The main thought going through his head was “If it had been me, instead of Max, would she have said stop?” He checked himself, “You’re daydreaming about having sex with one of your best friends? How sick is that?” but he couldn’t stop.