CHAPTER NINE

"Sammy, eat quickly!" Jase has finished his breakfast and is standing impatiently at the door with his school and lunch bags.

"Done" I announce proudly and dump the dishes into the sink.

"Be home on time, okay? Have a good day" Nana kisses our cheeks and we're off. She skipped out today on the meetings because she felt today was too important to miss.

Its Monday, Jase's first day of school - a week after we got out of the hospital - and to say he was eager would be understating it, the boy couldn't sleep last night thinking about all the friends he could make making him the first kid I know who looks forward to homework.

Nana, Jase and I had gone shopping in the past week to get new stuff for him, new clothes, bedsheets and even a beeper for whenever he needed us. Louis - being the badboy/angel from above - insisted that his number be added on incase neither of us could get to Jason. Nana had gone out on one of her meeting trips and came back with two iPad Minis - one for Jase and one for myself. Of course, I thought giving him something like that now was unreasonable but she refused to listen.
I was made to eat my words in the next couple hours because Jase had taken much pride and care in his new gadget, always keeping it safely in one of the drawers in his table. The thing I was most grateful for the speedy healing process of my arm, it was fully functional now.

"Jase, do you have everything?" I ask him for the hundredth time that morning.

"Yes, can we go now?" He sounds like a little diva and I can't help but want to hug him.

Due to Jason's arrival and his schedule being condensed with ours, I couldn't afford to walk to campus often anymore and the Volvo is now a necessity.
We pull up outside St. August Primary School in under twenty minutes and Jase eagerly hops down onto the pavement.

"Good luck at school, Jase. Go make some friends" I open my door and walk around to stand infront of him.

"I will"

I bend down on my knees so that we are the same height and give him a peck on the cheek then release him into the wilderness that is school. I remember my schooling days - which aren't over yet - when my friends and I would joke about the silliest of things in class, when our teachers were part of our team rather than being the snakes in our grass of happiness. Jase runs up to the building's steps and turns around to wave at me with a big smile that I reciprocate.

The drive to campus is short as Jase's school is less than three blocks away and I park the car smoothly in a space closest to my classroom. I burst into classroom relieved to see Mr. C hasn't come in yet and take my seat next to Ella.

"Where have you been? You haven't been this late before" Ella scolds in a low tone

"Yeah, Mr. C just went out because he forgot something" Zack cranes his neck from beside her. Ever since New York's.........occurance, the three of us have become closer with our meetings after school and Skype conversations, we practically stalked eachother. Ella compelled me into going with her to get a manicure, I now have a very deep maroon nail-polish that I'm kinda warming up to.

"Sorry, hectic morning" I apologise just as Mr. C enters the room and silence surrounds me.

***

The sound of my sneakers screeching against the gym's tiled floor sends waves of subtle pain to my head. The last thing I need is a headache so I shake it off and continue walking until I'm once again out in the cool air but this time facing the healthy green soccer field of X Gym. Jason's class gets out in half an hour so I thought I'd visit Louis in the interim.
Louis' team is nowhere in sight because lessons' probably already over and he is standing in front of the goal post with a ball beneath his foot. I lean against a wall and watch silently as Louis decides whether he should score the goal or not. I also bet that he already knows I'm here but let's not ruin the illusion. It doesn't take him long to make a decision and send the ball whizzing into the goal post and I clap loudly.
He turns and grins at me, proud of his accomplishment - which is one of many.

"You are my new favorite soccer player" I comment as I stride up to him.

My greeting is a rough kiss which I'm more than willing to accept.

"Let me show you" he takes my bag, dumps it next to his then leads me to his former position in front of the goal-post.

"Oh no, I'm good just admiring from the sidelines" I protest

"You can't tell me that you haven't played football even once"

"I did play once in high school, we lost"

"That's because I didn't teach you. Come on"

He fetches the ball from the net and throws it at me, I catch it easily and place it on the ground infront of my boot. Louis comes to stand behind me keeping his hands on my hips.

"I don't think my hips have anything to do with this"

"I know but I'm teaching you to ignore everything that will be happening around you and focus only on what you have to do" he speaks in whispers in my ear

Our distance from the goal-post was close enough that my first try sent the ball plummeting through the air and into the net. Even though in the past, I've succeeded in many challenging tasks more complicated than this, I'm unable to contain my excitement - in high school the score was 3-0.

"You're welcome" Louis takes a stage-like bow and I giggle like a nine year-old.

"So do you warm up for a game/practice or just go at it?" I ask

"Go at it? I love your terminologies"

"Thanks"

"We ocassionally warm up but it isn't a necessity. Come here", he pulls me nearer to the bench with our bags,"Lay down"

I do as I'm told and lie down on the lush green bed.

"I was expecting you to squirm and protest" he says

"I've disected human remains, this isn't difficult"

He lowers himself and hovers above me in a pre-pushup position. I've never seen Louis work-out, this might be interesting.

"I get a reward for every pushup" Louis announces

"For every five pushups" I bargain

"Three"

"Fine"

He steals a single kiss before he's even started but I don't argue writing it off as sort of setting the pace.

***

Jase's class just got out and what seems like hundreds of little kids are running out of the buiding, some 'mingling' with peers behind pillars and others eagerly greeting their nannies or parents. Jase is one of the last to get out, walking out next to a slightly shorter kid with those box-glasses I always loved. Jason sees me and runs straight into my arms hugging my waist because of his height, his little friend has followed him.

"Hey, Jase. Who's this?" I ask about the kid standing shyly behind him

"This is Robert, he's my new friend" Jase explains

"Oh hi there, Robert. Nice to meet you" I bend down and hold out my hand. He shakes it unsteadily and smile up at me.

"Rob wants to come home with me so that we can do our homework and his parent's will pick him up later"

"Sure, honey. Get in"

I open the back doors and let them pile in. We drive home in anything but silence, the boys chat about everything from the cafeteria food that I don't allow Jase to eat, to their teacher with 'flaming hair'.

Rob's parents come to fetch him around five and Jase stands by the door waving goodbye. My homework however, is far from being completed and I only fall asleep around midnight.

***

The week flies by and Friday is welcomed at the end of it. All I want to do is sleep because I feel as if I ran a marathon each day for the past week thanks to being away for a week and having to catch up on a couple dozen lessons. Jason had come down with a fever and had to skip school today plus Nana refused to leave his side the entire day.
I, on the other hand, am going to a party tonight - you could say I'm less than enthusiastic - with Louis. He wasn't the one who extended the invitation, Harry did claiming that if I didn't come he'd never speak to me again.

I pull up infront of Louis' house at 7 PM wearing black skinny jeans and a navy blue blouse, I was told to come equipped with a bathing suit so I just put one on underneath my clothes. There is buzzing all around as couples stumble on the sidewalk trying to get to a party venue. Most of the people I see are already intoxicated, its evident as they cling onto eachother to keep from falling flat on their faces.
Louis' apartment door is unlocked but I knock anyway.

"Hey there" Louis greets me after he opens the door and leans against it.

"Sup?" I mimic his tone

"Um...just gimme a second and we can leave. Harry is a very impatient being" he closes the door behind me and leaps up the stairs to his bedroom, leaving me to wander about downstairs.

My eyes briefly land on the familiar white door below the staircase before looking away sharply. I encounter a few framed photographs hung up in various parts of the kitchen and living room. There's a couple of Harry and him at different locations, some were of a group of people Louis being one of them. One in particular caught my eye, its a photo of baby Louis. I know its him because nobody else possess eyes like Louis', they're capable of rendering me breathless as they've done many a time in the past.
My reverie is disrupted when two strong hands grip my shoulders and Louis rests his head on my shoulder.

"Whatya doin'?" He speaks softly into my ear.

"Just browsing"

He turns me around to look at him and brushes a few strands of hair out of my face tucking them behind my ear.

"You look sexy, do we have to go to the party tonight?" Louis keeps his hold on my hips as his teeth graze the skin of my neck. His voice lowering and eyes darkening the way they always did when he was aroused.

"Yes, we do. Hey!" I yelp when I feel his hand squeeze my bum

"Lets see how long I can keep my hands off you"

I gasp when he nips my skin. If I know Louis, which I do, I know he's not even going to try. His fingertips press into the skin of my hips so that I'm immobile. He begins walking forward pressing my back up against the wall, his hands moving lower down to my hips and hoisting them up and around his waist while his head remains buried in my neck. My hands are tangled in his hair in an effort to destroy any space between our bodies.
The party has disappeared from my mind, focusing only Louis' actions as his hands travel to the first button on my blouse and popping it. His lips find mine in an effort to distract me but I feel the next three buttons release, revealing the top of my cleavage. My skin tingles with each kiss Louis presses to it, he ventures down my neck and nipping the now exposed skin, he bites hard that its going to leave a mark and makes me gasp from the sensation. My legs are shoved higher up around his waist and my back pressed harder against the wall. Louis takes the locket hed given me between his teeth, tugs then let's it drop back between my breasts. I knew we had to go to that damn party as much as I didn't want to but I don't plan on making Harry hate me so I try saying something only no words prevail.

"Louis" my voice has turned into breathy gasps.

He doesn't answer me, just continues methods of torture and I almost fully give in but my evil subconscious won't allow me to.

"Louis" I moan

"Mmmmph" his tone is complaining and its almost amusing

"The party" his grip has gotten tighter and I can feel his muscled abdomen against my soft skin

"We can go next year" his lips press against mine again, hard to stop me from saying anything further, I feel his erection against my front.

"Harry's gonna be mad. We should go" I look into his eyes knowing that my peruasion isn't working.

"Alright, let's get it over with then we can come back and I can do what I've been wanting to do for weeks" he pushes away and releases my legs so I can stand and re-button my blouse.

***

"You two are late" Harry is the first to greet us upon our entry.

"Sorry" I apologise earnestly

The party is at Harry and Sarah's home, a very modern that I'm sure if I tried hard enough, I could get lost in. I doubt that Harry and Sarah live with anyone else, such a big house for just two people.

"Its cool, you're here now and I'm sure you have a valid reason" Harry very indiscreetly winks at us and the colour in my cheeks change into a bright red at the memory of what Louis' and my reason actually is.

"Here, take this" Sarah offers me a bottle

"I'm sorry, I don't drink" I shrug

"Really? That's sad" Harry comments and takes a rather large swig from his bottle.

Louis is sitting comfortably on one of the couches set up outside beside the pool but I prefer standing at this point. Looking around me I come to the conclusion that I have absolutely no idea who anyone is besides Sarah and Harry, making me just a little edgey. My mind wanders to what Nana and Jase could be doing right now but I'm pulled away from my thoughts when an obviously drunk guy younger than I am stumbles past me nearly knocking me over.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" Louis stands up looking a little pissed but I convince him to let it be.

"I'm fine, no harm no foul" I smile at Louis hoping to calm him down and I succeed, he sits back down although this time pulling me down with him so I'm sitting on his lap, his arms woven protectively around my waist.

"Is this necessary?" I question his actions

"Extremely" he mocks me and I can't help but laugh

"I've never seen most of these people before. Are they from here?"

"Some are from outta town and they brought their connections along with their connection's connections so I'm just as lost as you are" Sarah seats herself on the armrest of Harry's chair while she speaks to me.

"Well look who decided to show up!" Harry is addressing someone behind me and I turn to see who it is.
A guy slightly shorter than I am with blonde hair and blue eyes is sauntering over to us, he plonks himself down next to us on the couch. I feel very conscious of my position but Louis evades my every attempt to get off.

"What's wrong?" He looks at me clearly disapproving of my actions. In surrender I'd just shrug and settle down again.

"Samantha, meet Niall. He's a drunkard of his own caliber" Sarah gestures to Niall like a ring master introduces his acts.

"Nice to meet you, Niall" I shake his hand despite my urge to recoil from his clammy hand obviously caused by holding one too many beer bottles.

"Pleasure's all mine. You don't have a beer in your hand, do you drink?" His voice is so slurred I practically need to translate his speech into comprehensible sentences.

"I'm afraid not but that's a large assumption, how did you know?"

"I'm just that awesome" he winks at me and my peripheral vision catches Louis rolling his eyes.

Everyone breaks into a conversation about motor mechanics - something I know absolutely nothing about, boys and their cars. Sarah pulls me away from them to join her on the other side of the pool.

"Sorry about that, they're anti-social" She and I walking are walking on the edge of their property with the party in full swing and in plain sight from where I stand.

"Its all good. This party's amazing" I'm attempting to make conversation which isn't one of my strengths.

"Yeah, I can tell you hate this though"

"No, I-"

"Its cool, I never fancied parties either but Harry makes me go with him and its worse when he hosts them then I can never get away"

"Yup, I feel your pain"

"Have you really never had a drink?"

"Aha"

"How did you survive?"

"I guess.........I just did"

"For me the only good thing about a party are the booze but I take my doth my cap, my lady" She does a theatrical bow and pretends to tip her hat, I laugh at her display.

We continue our walk and I notice the lack of light, nightfall is approaching. When I glance at everyone enjoying the party and getting drunk there is something different, peculiar even. Oh, its their mouths - their teeth have grown and become sharp fangs, everyone's has except for three people sitting on the steps leading to the entrance of Sarah and Harry's home. Even the three boys we left had their teeth in full view except Louis.
I look back at Sarah to make sure I wouldn't be talking to myself and I see that her appearance is no different from everyone else's.

"Is everyone here......um-" I don't know whether I should say it or whether they'd be offended by it

"Vamps? Yeah, everyone. Don't be afraid though there are a few people here somewhere. They're brought as escorts, some are in close friendships"

"Some of them?"

"Not all are........-"

"Don't. Don't tell me, I'm unable to help them so I don't want to know"

"Right then. So let's go get something to drink"

She tows me over to a table beside the pool that's laid with every brand of alcohol one could think of. I can imagine this must be Niall's haven right in front of me.

"Here", Sarah holds out a tiny shot glass filled with a transparent liquid,"Try it, one won't kill you"

My eyes lock onto the tiny glass as if I were analyzing it. I definitely don't want to do this although my inner youngster - who makes her appearance every second blue moon - is egging me on. I take the glass holding it hesitantly up to my lips and tilting it up letting the liquid wash down my throat. It holds a bitter and sour taste, quite disgusting but at least I know.

"Well done. That's much less of a reaction than what I was expecting" Sarah comments

"Really? Because it tastes beyond awful"

"And there's my reaction. Another?"

"Oh no, I'm good thanks"

"Come on, you haven't tried anything yet"

"I can live with that"

"Hello Sarah. Who's your friend?" A tall, older-looking man greets Sarah and I stand feeling very unstable next to her

"Jack, I didn't know you were coming" she speaks in a clipped, annoyed manner.

"Invitations are for losers. And you are......" He reaches for my hand as if he were going to kiss it.

"A germaphobe" I say smugly and put my hands behind my back to keep him from touching them.

"Fiesty much? Anyway I better get going, my date is waiting" he says 'date' in a sarcastic way and I suddenly want to put a million miles between him and I.

"Then you better get moving" another male speaks up from behind me, arms encircle my waist. I recognise the voice to be that of Louis, his arms tighten around my body pressing my back against his front.

Jack turns around and heads back into the eye of the party, I turn around to face Louis who almost immediately creases eyebrows in confusion.

"You drank?"

"Just a little bit" I hold up my hand with the thumb and index finger a centimeter apart to indicate the quantity,"and so have you"

"Yeah but you hate alcohol contrary to my liking of it"

"I think I need to brush my teeth though" I run my tongue over my front molars as if the alcohol has given me a cavity.

"I can take care of that" he bends and gives me a hard kiss, his tongue lingering and asking for entry that I deny. Realising that there are people around I break the kiss but Sarah has disappeared and everyone else is completely oblivious.

"Behave" I caution and pull away from his hold.

"Ah you're such a meanie" his complaining is like a babies voice and I giggle when he tickles my sides.

"Stop" I gasp.

"Ahoy, lovebirds! Go get a room please" Niall rains on our parade.

"Shut up" Louis growls

"Hey, Sam. I never got my bonding time with ya" Niall directs his attention to me, his teeth are visible and very distracting.

"I didn't know that was happening but I'll be more than happy to talk to you now" Mid-sentence I hear Louis groaning in protest.

"Yay! Come along" Niall takes my arm and drags me back to our previous sitting area beside the pool.

In his hand is another bottle topped with intoxicating liquid to keep him alive throughout our conversation. My eyes shoot back to the table decorated with various alcoholic choices and see Louis chatting to another boy whom I recognise from a photo in Louis' apartment.

"So Sam, how are you then?" Niall attempts in his slurred jumbled-up tone

"I'm awesome, Niall. How are you?" I ask enthusiastically

"Thank you for asking, Sam. I feel..............drunk"

"I'll take your word for it"

"How old are you?"

"What? Why do you want to know that?"

"Because I wanna know if you're older than Louis"

"How old is Louis?"

"A couple years, I think"

"Ah! I'm the same. Are you always this out of it?"

"Out of what?"

"Sobriety"

"Pretty much but I have my moments"

"How long have you known Louis?"

"Ever since Michael"

"Who's Michael?" My interest piques, maybe drunk Niall isn't that bad.

"Louis' old friend from back home"

"What happened?"

"Let's just say Louis made a mistake he hasn't lived down as yet"

"Oh?"

"I thought he would have told you. You know, both of you sleeping together and what-not"

I cringe internally at Niall's outwardness. Surely Louis can hear our conversation if he wanted to and would have interrupted us by now if he thought this was an inappropriate topic but he is still across the pool from us.

"He hasn't told me anything"

"Oh, then forget I said anything"

Obviously I'm not going to forget but I think that was Niall's intention, to plant a seed and let it fester so that I'd have to ask Louis about the mysterious Michael. That had Louis done in his past that this stigma still haunts him? Even with us mere mortals around campus his name is well-known but not in the best way. This is going to be a long party.

***

NIALL POV

Poop! Curse my rogue tongue for going and getting me in a pot of hot soup now for nothing. Ooooh soup, boy would I fancy me a big ol' bowl of chicken soup now. No, Lou is gonna be beyond pissed at me for telling Sam. I mean what if she brings it up during one of their 'moments' and gets me into trouble? I'm pretty sure they spend a lot of time together........alone........doing stuff that I really should not be thinking about right now.

"Hey, is it true you took a girl down at the local bar?" I attempt to lighten what I've darkened

"That depends on your definition of 'took down'?" She looks up at me in a way that makes me sort of uncomfortable, like those dark brown eyes of hers are going to turn into lasers or something.

"Fought, violent behaviour like punches and stuff" Despite Sam's healthy physique I can't imagine her getting into a full-out bar brawl.

"Then no I did not take her down, I used my knowledge of the human anatomical system to literally bring her to her knees"

"So I'm hearing that you won?"

"Yes Niall, I won"

***

SAM POV

The alcohol I had previously consumed has begun its process of churning my stomach, making me feel a little 'whoozy' and have the need to throw up buts it's subtle - for now - so my chances of surviving this party without an embarassment on my part are pretty high. At this time my brain decides to go through every possible act I had done as a kid and encourages me to repeat them.

"Do you want pizza? The pizza just arrived" Niall looks at me with a glassy expression.

"How would you......right, smell" being surrounded by this many 'vamps' I have come to think of them as being regular humans, forgetting their uncanny abilities.

"Aha. Come on" He stands and starts walking back into large mansion. My feet shuffle forward, dodging any drunk person who might want to cause trouble.
There are at most an estimated seventy boxes each enclosing a delicious flat-faced Italian pie now known as pizza.

"You want some?" Niall is already heaping up his plate with five pieces - do men always eat that much?

"No thanks" The alcohol seems to have dominated my digestive system, not allowing anything to intrude and I'm not in the mood nor environment to experiment by eating and seeing what happens.

"You sure?"

"Yup"

I spot Sarah wobbling over to us with a red soda cup reduced to a tiny heap of plastic in her palm. She places her hand on my shoulder for balance and tosses the remnants of the cup into the silver bin behind me.

"Come on, I'll give you a VIP tour" Even though I'm pretty sure Sarah extended the invitation to me, she has already taken off toward the staircase and has begun talking up a torpedo of information about the house. I struggle to keep up with her as she leaps up the stairs and ducks under, over and around many 'goofed' individuals.

The little Did You Knows she throws at me about the house go unnoticed, my subconscious has locked itself up in a panic room as it ponders over the mysterious Michael, leaving me to fend for myself.

"Its really bugging you, isn't it?" Sarah's single question gets through to me

"What?" My attempt at sounding surprised has failed

"About Michael"

"No, I-"

"Louis and Michael were close friends back in the good 'ol days but they got into a disagreement that turned into a fight that to this day, has not been laid to rest" her voice is low and her words accelerate out of her mouth. I needed a couple seconds after she'd stopped to process it all. I'd rather have had Louis tell me himself but now that I know, what's the worst that can happen?

"I'll be right back. Don't wander too far because I can't afford to have Louis breathing down my neck if you got lost" she skips off back down the stairs and I'm squeezing through dozens of couples engaged in intimate acts - couldn't even make it to the bedroom - as I hunt down a spot without damp air and various unpleasant fragrances.