C18

Connor's POV

"Mandy! Throw me my shoes!" I yelled, slipping on my jeans. The only pair I had. Mandy offered to take me shopping but I said no. Who wants to go shopping with a chick?

"Here." A pair of shoes was chucked roughly in my direction. "Thanks." I said, trying to fit my foot in one of them. Living with Mandy really wasn't that bad, she was a nice person once you got to know her. She had something about her that made her a people person. She never really sais anything when you tell her about your problems but you know she is listening, and it's comforting.

"Ready?" Mandy asked, slipping her slim foot in red pumps. I looked up at her as I pulled on my hoodie "You look great." I said and she gave me a shy smile.

It was funny how all of this happened, how I ended up living with Mandy after my dad kicked me out. At first I was only dating her for the free rent and to watch Casey burn with jealousy, but I had gotten to know her and she's the type of person that grows on you. That is if she decides to be nice...

The good thing was that her parents were nice people and felt bad for me. They never asked any questions about my parents or my past all they knew was that I couldn't go back home.

"You don't look too bad, but fix that hair. I'm not going to open that door until you do." She laughed. I was struck, she had a beautiful laugh. But something felt wrong, something felt wrong every time I kissed her.

I wet my fingers with my tongue, and ran them over my hair. "Better?" I asked teasingly. "Gross!" Was all I got in response. I smiled and pulled her closer to me. She was wearing a small black dress and her hair was straightened, unlike her usually crazy sexy and wild, curly hair. I kissed her gently and then the door bell rang.

"Do you think we have enough stuff for everyone?" Mandy asked, looking worried. I looked around at the stacks of beer and booze, enough for three hundred people, I'm sure.

"How many are coming?"

"Hell if I know, whatever, I'm sure it'll be enough."

Two hours later

Casey's POV

Jake picked me up at 9:30, we were a bit late getting to the party but there were already tons of people that it didn't even matter. The front of the house was full of people who were dancing to a stereo from inside the house.

I entered the familiar home, the white front door creaked as I opened it, but I could barely hear it over the music. There were too many memories from this house, how Mandy and I used to be best friends and all.

The first thing I saw was that there were a bunch of people passed out on the couch.

"That's pathetic." Jake said next to me, nudging at the people on the couch. Jake was well known to take alcohol well, me on the other hand, not so much. I have to watch it tonight. I mentally scolded myself.

"Oh my God! Cassie!" a female voice shrieked, Kate. Possibly the stupidest girl on the planet. "You. Look. Fabulous!" She said, sounding out each words separately. I looked down at my mini-skirt and pink top, it really wasn't that much. My cleavage was practically spilling out of my shirt and for some reason, I felt good. I looked to Kate's chest, it was merely two bumps and I felt like I was superior to her.

Kate handed both of us a drink in a clear plastic cup and showed us around. She blabbed on about make-up or something and Jake chugged his drink so he wouldn't have to listen to her. The party got boring really fast. I was trying to pace my alcohol but sometime after the music started repeating I lost count of how many plastic cups I put down on random furniture.

"Hey babe, let's go upstairs." Jake said, grabbing my hand and pulling me along. I could smell alcohol on his breath as he clumsily went up the stairs with me trudging behind him. The music somewhat dulled once we were upstairs. Jake shut the door and gave me a smile. We were in Mandy's room. On her bed. It felt so weird... A couple of minutes passed and soon Jake had his hands all over me, we were rolling on the bed, making out like there is no tomorrow. He handled me with rough hands but I was used to it and I savoured each moment. His hand was running up and down my thigh, he crushed his lips against mine and his hand was under my shirt, on my waist pulling me closer and closer to him.

Just then, guess who decided to walk in on us? If you guessed Connor... Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

"What are you doing with her?!" I could tell by the way he slurred his words and his staggered steps, that he was drunk.

"Connor!" I shrieked, springing out of the bed and out of Jake's grasp. Panic gripped me. Shit Cassie! Two drunk guys who don't exactly like each other ... shit shit shit! The fog in my brain lifted almost instantaneously, only to find that Jake was passed out... That was easy.

"Hey." I made a small wave to Connor. I put on the best fake smile I could and walked over to him in a friendly manner. The situation was extremely awkward.

"Come on, let's go." He said suddenly, grasping my wrist with an iron grip.

"Connor, what are you doing?" I asked as he practically dragged me down two flights of steep stairs.

"You'll see." He answered and tried to smirk.

"Let go! You're drunk!" I screamed. I tried to pry his hand off my wrist but he only held on to it tighter. We were down stairs, a place that Mandy and I weren't allowed to play in when we were little. And now I saw why. It had an eerie feeling about it and having Connor gripping me so tightly didn't help.

I was still trying to pry his hand off mine, my nails digging into his flesh, when he let go. I just stood there, not sure what to do.

"You can go... if you want to..." He said, casually sitting down on a mattress on the floor. The mattress had sheets over it and a pillow. I wonder who sleeps there. I should have ran right then and there, but nope, I stayed.

"Come sit." He gestured to a spot on the mattress beside him.

"Ok." I sat beside him on the mattress and he put his arm around me. I should have shaken it off but for some reason it felt right. I could feel the pulse of the music upstairs and Connors breath on my skin. My heart beat was slowing and I closed my eyes for a moment. There was something about that moment that beat any other with Jake. There was something reassuring about his arm around me and the way his clumsy fingers pushed back my hair.

"I love you." He whispered. I was taken aback from his comment. It must have been the alcohol talking but I said, "I love you too."

Now, if you (who ever 'you' are) think things happened way too fast, just imagine how I felt. We were on a mattress, in a secluded basement, alone... and oh yeah! Drunk.

My head started pounding and I clutched it for a second, receiving worried looks from Connor.

"Here, lie down." He said and I obliged. It felt like someone was slowly scooping out my brain with a spoon. Pardon me, a rusty spoon. The mattress was hard as I practically fell against it, but it was better than nothing.

"Better?" He asked, I nodded, which was a bad idea since the pain instantly got sharper.

"Yeah." I winced.

"You don't drink, do you?" Connor asked, he then looked at me with a stupid grin on his face, which made me think he wasn't so concerned for my well being. I looked at him; he was sitting on the mattress beside me. He was looking down on me, his normally deep blue eyes looked blood shot and his infamous grin made his look like a monkey. Of course my eyesight was blurred at the edges and I could barely make out his perfect jaw.

I started giggling, which sounded more like retarted hic-ups.

"What's so funny?" He asked with a bemused look on his face. Unfortunately that didn't help his case. He got up from on unsteady feet and reached his hand into a mini-fridge that I hadn't noticed before.

"You look like a monkey." I said in between fits of laughter. I sat up, my stomach hurting from laughing so hard, just in time to catch a bottle of beer that was flung at me.

"I look like what?" He questioned and then started laughing.

"A monkey!" I exclaimed, tearing the cap off the beer bottle. I was laughing so hard that I shook the bottle violently in my hands.

"Oh? You mean like this?" Connor went on his knees in front of me on the mattress and puffed out his cheeks while crossing his eyes, and pushed his ears forward with his hands. He really did look like a monkey. I took a swig of the God-awful liquid from the bottle in my hands and passed it to Connor who took it willingly, chugging it until it was half gone.

"You're funny." I slurred. I lay back down on the mattress, this time relaxing my shoulders and really sinking into it. I thought it completely normal when Connor did the same thing and let out a huge sigh as he lay right beside me. My hair splayed out on the pillow and his fingers stroked it, tugging teasingly ever so slightly. I could feel his gentle breath tickling my neck and I gazed into his eyes, ignoring the tiny red veins around his perfect blue orbs.

I longed to stroke his angular and masculine jaw, to feel the stubble against my fingers; so that's exactly what I did. I rubbed my thumb along his jaw and closed my eyes, feeling the rough edges of his stubble as he stroked my hair. It was soothing; really, I could have stayed like that forever. I opened my eyes to meet his; he was staring straight at me.

"You're beautiful." He whispered. The words rung in my ears and my pulse quickened. I urged to kiss him, just for my lips to meet his, to feel them one more time as they collided together . I wasn't even expecting it when they did. His lips were soft and smooth, the way his hands knew exactly where to go was wonderful; and his touch made me feel like I was in a dream.

His hot fingers traced the skin under the short skirt I was wearing, they lingered under the band of my underwear and he rubbed small circles in my thighs. He pulled me closer to him and again our lips smushed together, sending a tingling sensation down my spine. I thought I was seeing fireworks.

Why is this so much more different than kissing Jake? I asked myself. Meanwhile one of his hands was making his way under my shirt, to the clasp of my bra. That's when reality kicked in and I realized I was almost naked, drunk and with a guy, and to make it worse, on a mattress with him.

"Connor!" I exclaimed, "What are you doing?" I tried to pull away from him but his hands were on my back, pushing me towards him. I wanted to go back into his arms so badly, to just cuddle. "Get off of me!" I shouted, this time louder and with a more shrill voice.

"Calm down, come on, we were having so much fun."

"No! Connor!"

"Mmmm hmmm?" he moved his hands from my back to my waist, putting pressure on it gently, but holding me tightly so I couldn't get away.

I made an irritated noise at the back of my throat as I desperately tried to pry him off me. I failed miserably. Although he was drunk he still had an iron grip on my waist and wouldn't let go.

"Get- your- hands- off!" I screamed at his face. I tried to wiggle out of his grasp but once again, failed. Miserably. What came next I wasn't prepared for in the least.

"Maybe I would have an easier time if you didn't dress like such a whore!" He seethed through his teeth. His words stung and they hung onto me like a dead weight. The world stopped for a second and I let the words sink in; I would never forget them.

"Just let go." I said flatly. He did just that, but instead he jerked me by my wrist and then let go. Causing me to land on the floor with my head landing on the corner of a coffee table. The first thing I felt was the sharp pain as my head crashed into the corner. I clutched my head painfully as tears streamed down my cheeks. My ears rung with pain and all I could do was back away from Connor who was swearing and clutching his head while closing his eyes tightly; as if trying to clear his head from a bad dream.

He was apologizing and I was incredulous. His face had turned red with anger and I slowly got up, not noticing that my skirt was rolled up and was showing my underwear. I started for the door, getting up on shaky feet and falling over. Damn high heels!

"I'm so sorry!" Connor said, over and over again, I didn't know what to do. I was shaking and crying, I'm sure that my hair and make-up were a mess but all I didn't care, all wanted was to get away from him. He started towards me, I was kicking and screaming and holding onto the legs of the coffee table. His hands reached for me and he tried to shush me, but I was so terrified that all I did was shake my head and clench my eyes screaming for help.

"Help! Someone! Don't touch me!"

"Casey,"

"Please!" My breath caught in my throat as the door to the basement opened.

Mandy.

A/N: Oh crap... Cassie has just been found with Mandy's boyfriend... what will happen?