Chapter Nine – Drinking

Belatedly, Eileen decided pretending not to care might not have been her best plan. Apparently she had too much anger stored up inside of her to get away with that.

Gray wouldn't be happy. Her father wouldn't be happy if he found out, either; Gray had tattled about her outbursts once, so he might do it again. Eileen pushed open the door to the guest room and groaned. Gray already thought she was a selfish brat, and now her dad would too.

She didn't like the idea of that. Even though she hated this situation, she believed her father was trying to do what was best. He'd proved to be a fine Alpha thus far… and now she was a problem.

Shaking the thoughts away before they bogged her down, Eileen fished through her belongings. When she'd packed to come over here she'd stored her cell phone. Like most phones, its battery was crap: turning it on revealed the battery was already down a bar. Sighing, Eileen skimmed through some of the texts she'd gotten.

A few were from Burgundy. Now, that was surprising.

It seemed like slowly, everyone was turning against her, believing her to be difficult and bitchy. Eileen wondered if it was true. Was she "difficult" for not wanting to train with someone she'd previously had feelings for? No, she didn't think so.

Hitting the green button, Eileen put the phone to her ear and waited impatiently. Gray wouldn't be down for long; and when he got over whatever damage she'd dealt, he'd be pissed.

Wouldn't it be something if she brought out his old anger habits?

After three rings Burgundy picked up. "Eel?" she asked with concern in her tone. "I haven't heard from you in forever."

"Yeah, some stuff kind of went down," Eileen said, moving to the window and pushing aside the curtains. She couldn't see Gray: he could be anywhere. "Listen, I've got some free time on my hands and really want to go somewhere. Want to hang out?"

"Uh, sure," Burgundy said, surprised. "Where to?"

They agreed to meet at an all ages dance club just a ways down from the night club they liked to attend. Eileen was half-planning to sneak into the latter later, but it was too early now. Going through her closet quickly, she picked a short dress, simply so she could run.

When she looked acceptable enough, she left the house. Gray was still nowhere to be seen, and Eileen started into a jog. She went onto her property, dodging through the trees, and avoided the guards. They didn't even know to look for her.

As time and pavement flashed by, Eileen pulled her phone out. First, she simply typed "Hey" to both of the twins.

Erase. Too casual.

Next, she tried, "What are you guys up to?"

Erase. It sounded so stupid: of course they were training, and of course they would know she wasn't. So instead she settled on, "Has Gray talked to Dad?" Straightforward, to the point. They couldn't ignore it as easily as a simple hey.

In another minute Ethan said, "No, why?"

Thirty seconds later Evan asked, "You have your phone?"

Rolling her eyes, Eileen responded to Ethan. She informed him training had been a little rougher than expected and Gray had already tattled once so she was just checking. She received no reply to that, so she tucked her phone away and concentrated on the last few steps until she reached the designated meeting place.

Burgundy's dark blue car was already in the parking lot. So was Burgundy, actually: she rested against the side of the building, watching Eileen's approach. She was wearing a short, lilac party dress, her hair loose and wavy.

"Hey," Eileen said, chest heaving just slightly. The run hadn't been too taxing. "It's good to see you." A snide part of her wanted to ask, "Still think I'm a brat?"

"Yeah, you too," Burgundy agreed, eyes darting to the door. "Should we go in?"

They started walking. They'd gone to this dance club when they were too young—and didn't know Gray—and couldn't sneak into the night club. Here they were barely looked at, and Eileen settled against the bar. Too early for dancing.

"What's going on?" Burgundy asked warily.

"I'm just with my friend," Eileen said innocently. "I can't imagine why you think something else might be going on."

Sighing, Burgundy said, "I know you. You're aloof. Normally you at least study the dance floor, and you've ignored it. You didn't bother with your hair, which is unusual. You also seem abnormally distracted."

Burgundy knew her a little too well. "You weren't there," Eileen said softly. "It was a while after the party. Gray and my father were talking. I found out later Gray was going to conduct my Alpha training. When I 'misbehaved'—as in, drank once and stood my ground to Gray—I was told to move into Gray's house. He's been infuriating. Asked about my mother, when I turned, told me I'm immature and suck at fighting. During practice I hit him with my elbow." Eileen pursed her lips. "And then I ran: and called you. And now you're caught up."

Letting out a low oath, Burgundy smacked her hand to her forehead. "You dragged me into this?"

"Gray's not going to do anything," Eileen said, waving her hand through the air. "At least, not to you. I expect he'll be pretty pissed at me."

"Eel," Burgundy whined. "How did you get into this mess? Have you talked to Gray? It doesn't seem like him to keep irritating you like this. Why are you two even fighting?" Wouldn't it be grand if they could just go roast marshmallows instead?

Exhaling through her nose, Eileen said, "Oh, I've talked to him. Shouted, ranted, you name it. I've given him several opportunities to state his feelings for me, or even explain what's going on with him. Nothing. He doesn't care about me anymore. And I pretended I didn't care that he didn't care but it was a lie."

"And you got mad."

Scratching her nose, Eileen wondered why this seemed like a one-sided fight all of a sudden. She knew Gray was antagonizing her, but he hadn't physically hurt her until today. Maybe it was part of his plan.

"Was he hurt badly?" Burgundy asked.

"Dunno." A sudden thought jumped into Eileen's head. "Oh, I forgot to tell you: the other day he was shot. He reacted really badly to the bullet. Despite how much I enjoyed his suffering I helped him, and you know what? He didn't even thank me."

A group of boys filtered into the room. Eileen ignored them.

"Okay, you know what? I think I've reached an epiphany," Burgundy said. "I am lucky I'm not the Alpha's daughter, or anywhere near Alpha blood. You guys have too much shitty drama."

"I agree!" Eileen sang, throwing her fist into the air. Her phone buzzed, and she checked it. Ironically, Ethan was telling her she and Gray "needed to get their shit together."

Sticking her tongue between her teeth, Eileen texted back that she was trying in all capitals. This was weird. The twins had been on her side about Gray the whole time, but after being kicked out of the house everything was flipped. They didn't seem to want to talk to her.

"Are you going to run?" Burgundy asked, eyeing her.

"No," Eileen said, calmly. "That won't work. I don't know what I'll do; probably stay here. Eventually someone will come to collect me. I already know I'm in trouble, so I'm in no hurry to get back. Either my father will be ashamed of me or Gray will just be pissed. If I'm lucky I might get a combination."

Drumming her fingers against the bar, Burgundy thought things through. "I don't understand," she said softly. "He seemed like he cared."

Eileen said nothing.

"Like, he talked to me about how he wanted to talk to you. Really badly. When I left I thought you two were going to have a heart to heart. But, hearing this…" Burgundy narrowed her dark eyes on Eileen. "Did you say something to him?"

"I've said lots of things to him," Eileen said defensively. "I told him to leave me alone, but if he really cared, he would've fixed this."

Grasping Eileen's hand, Burgundy looked at her pleadingly. "It's probably tough for him, too. He's trying to separate his feelings so that he can properly train you. He might surprise you when he finds you."

Highly unlikely. The next text from Ethan was about going back to the house immediately and apologizing before she made things worse. Scowling, Eileen sent back "No" and then turned her phone off, tucking it out of sight. Eyeing the bottles behind the unattended bar, she slipped out of Burgundy's grasp.

Oh, she'd get her shit together.

"Eel," Burgundy said.

"I was accused of drinking excessively," Eileen informed her, finding a large glass to pour alcohol in. "I figure I might as well do what I've been accused of."

Burgundy folded her arms over her chest and leaned back. "I know you don't want to think about him right now, but what about when Gray finds you? Do you really want him to walk in here and see you drunk?"

No, she wanted him to see her having a wonderful time dancing with a boy that wasn't him. "You're right," Eileen said, taking a big gulp of alcohol. It burned deliciously. "I don't want to talk about him right now."

Setting the bottles back exactly where she'd found them, Eileen eyed the dance floor. Getting her shit together was going to be fun.

As Eileen swayed toward the cluster of boys that had walked in earlier, Burgundy sighed behind her. Eileen did feel bad that Burgundy hadn't come here with her mind set on dancing: now she'd just stand there and watch Eileen. She didn't have to, though, and Eileen contented herself with that thought.

She heard something rattle, and she turned to see Burgundy pouring herself a drink. A grin spread across Eileen's face.

Eileen took all her mean thoughts about this place back. She'd assumed it would lame coming to a place like this so early, but she was wrong. Early meant no one was in here minding anybody, and the alcohol was completely up for grabs.

While Burgundy hadn't gotten into the swing of things yet, she was at least drinking. She didn't seem as disappointed in Eileen's choices anymore, thankfully.

Not that Eileen would've cared or been surprised. Everyone else thought she was screwing everything up, so why not add Burgundy to the mix? Sighing, Eileen focused on the guy in front of her. He looked vaguely familiar.

It hadn't taken much talking. The music was muted because no one attended the station, but it was enough to dance to. Eileen had merely had to smile, tilt her head and ask.

The others in his group looked jealous, but Eileen didn't care too much about that. If she was up to it, maybe she'd dance with some of the others. This guy was okay, but still not her favorite. Angry, she realized Gray was her favorite. She needed to dance with some new werewolves badly.

"It's good to see you again," the guy said. Eileen wished he wouldn't talk.

She honestly didn't remember him. The alcohol was making her feel more confident about her lying skills, so she gave him a dazzling smile and just nodded her head. His hands stayed on her hips as she swayed, tossing her head around.

"Where'd you learn to dance?" he asked.

Ugh, she so did not want to talk. What was she supposed to tell him? Natural werewolf grace had made it come easy? She'd just listened to the beat and followed it? She would've told him she had a good teacher, but she refused to refer to Gray like that. He wasn't a good teacher for Alpha training or dancing—period.

"I just kind of could," Eileen said with a small smile. She was acting nicer than she felt.

"I thought maybe you'd taken classes. You're really good."

Yeah, she could just imagine herself in ballet. Not. She gave a polite laugh and zoned out, looking to Burgundy, checking on her. She was still drinking, eyeing the scene before her uncertainly. While Eileen looked away the guy started leaning toward her.

She didn't really want to kiss him. But the alcohol swayed her to simply stand there, and she held back a grimace when his lips met hers.

Ew, human. Ew.

Apparently he'd thought the kiss was pretty impressive. His eyes were glassy when he pulled away, and Eileen rolled her eyes. That had been nothing compared to Gray—

Shit, why did she keep thinking about him?

She didn't want to think about him. Growing irritated again, Eileen acted on alcohol impulse and wrapped her arms around the guy's neck. She kissed him this time, giving him something to really glaze over about. It still wasn't her best, but hey. She didn't have to think so much.

When she pulled away, Burgundy was scowling.

Eileen shrugged. What did Burgundy care, anyway? She didn't have to kiss the human. And besides, when someone came to pick Eileen up, her fun would be over for a long time.

The song changed, and Eileen started dancing again. The guy had leaned forward hopefully, but nope. She twisted back and forth, working around him, and he just kind of dazedly followed her lead. Ugh. She preferred when the person actually seemed into it.

She closed her eyes, trying to find a happier place.

Even then, she could feel eyes watching her. The group of boys were gawking, probably, and possibly plotting how to interrupt. Eileen wouldn't mind at this point: she was getting kind of bored. Getting close to time for more alcohol, which was where another set of eyes would be watching: Burgundy. And yet, Eileen's skin prickled, as though aware of yet another.

The guy, perhaps? Eileen hated to think he was staring down at her creepily.

Opening her eyes, Eileen saw Burgundy looking away for once. Following her gaze, Eileen narrowed her eyes on Gray. So he'd found her first. And yes, even as he held a conversation with Burgundy—something about train wrecks, she was saying—he was looking directly at Eileen. Rude.

She was glowering at him when a kiss against the side of her mouth caught her off guard. Okay, maybe the guy had been creepily leaning toward her. His mouth attempted to kiss her again and she shied away. He followed her, not taking the hint.

Gray's gaze darkened.

No, this was not the plan. Yes, a part of her was cheering that she'd managed to affect him. But she was already in enough trouble, so she was cursing herself mentally. Not good.

Before she could focus her eyes again, Gray was very near, brushing against her arm. "It's awfully hard to kiss someone leaning away," he informed the guy coolly. Eileen simply blinked at him and wondered if the guy would be peaceful.

The guy said something rude back that Eileen missed. Gray looked at the guy impassively. Suddenly, something clicked.

"Hey, I do remember you!" Eileen said, pulling back to look at the guy she'd been dancing with. "You were at that other club the other night." The guy clutched at her possessively instead of acting offended she hadn't remembered him.

"Do you know him?" the guy asked, glaring at Gray. What a height difference.

Pursing her lips, Eileen wondered if she wanted to be difficult about this. Nope. "Yeah, I know him," Eileen said grudgingly. "He's probably come to collect me." Pulling away, she half-heartedly said, "Thanks for dancing with me."

"You don't have to go with him if you don't want to," the guy warned. Oh no, he was puffing his chest out and looking ready to fight. Eileen glanced from him to Gray and held in a scoff. The fight between them would last maybe five seconds if Gray went easy. She didn't feel like having this hanging over her head too.

"No, I'm fine," Eileen lied. She expected Gray's grip to tighten on her arm sternly, but he remained gentle. Surprising.

They passed by the bar, where Gray whispered something to Burgundy quietly. Eileen stretched for Burgundy's unattended drink, but Gray caught her hand without looking. Frowning, she addressed Burgundy, "Did you call me a train wreck earlier?" She remembered something about that even through her haze.

"Good luck, Eel," Burgundy said sadly instead of answering.

If she needed luck for this encounter, why wasn't Burgundy fighting Gray? Succumbing to the grip on her wrist, Eileen followed Gray out of the club.

"Holy shit," she gasped out, throwing an arm over her eyes. "Why is the sun so bright?"

Oh, alcohol and sunlight did not mix.

"Maybe if you'd waited until the sun set to get drunk you wouldn't have this issue," Gray said darkly. Eileen thought she might have caught a hint of amusement behind everything.

Holding up a finger, Eileen said, "Uh, I'm not drunk."

"Wasted, sorry."

"Well—" She stumbled over her own feet—werewolf grace had abandoned her—and changed her answer. "Yeah, sounds about right." See, she could admit she was drunk.

Squinting at Gray's face, which he kept turned away, she said, "You look different."

Expression unreadable, he said, "You broke my nose."

Though she fought valiantly, a victorious smile spread across her face. She started giggling. She'd built up enough strength to break an Alpha's nose? Awesome! Until it healed, he'd looked just off enough for people to ask about it. Ha!

"Where are we going?" Eileen asked when they just kept walking.

"We're going back."

Frowning, Eileen said, "I'm not in trouble? Did you tell my dad?"

"Oh, you're in a lot of trouble. I informed your father that you were still having trouble and that I would handle the situation."

Oh, she had a bad case of giggles. "Did you tell him I broke your nose, too?" If he would just stop towing her along, she'd probably keel over in the grass and just roll around, laughing. And then she'd laugh because she was rolling in the grass.

He said nothing, but he did sigh. "Did you have to get drunk?"

"Did you have to be an ass?" The anger was slipping out around her giggly drunkenness. "I don't understand why you won't talk to me about your feelings." Had she really just said that?

Abruptly he stopped walking, turning to look at her. "You want to know about my feelings?"

He sounded quite out of his element. "It might be nicer," Eileen said coyly, spinning out of his grip. "I keep ranting to you and fighting you, trying to get a reaction. I'm over here giving you great openings, but you don't take them."

He was shaking his head, and Eileen thought they might've hit a breakthrough. "You—" Yes, he was accusing her of something!

"You're drunk," he said, changing direction with a sigh. "Come on." He grabbed onto her wrist again and they kept walking. Eileen pouted, knowing that yet again she'd missed an opportunity to understand him.

Slowly but surely, the house loomed closer. Eileen grew more reluctant, but Gray held steady. Her eyes felt kind of heavy, but she was still walking. She could still taste alcohol in her mouth. And the human, ew.

At the stairs her stubbornness came back, and she folded her arms in protest. It did nothing, because he simply wrapped an arm around her waist and took her up with him. She pretended not to marvel at his strength. He opened the door to the guest room and sat her down on the bed. "You should sleep it off and then we'll talk," he said, turning to leave.

Eileen caught his wrist without really thinking about it. "I can talk now."

She'd stood up, and he put his hands on her shoulders. Very calmly, he said, "You're drunk." She stared at him. "You're not the best person to talk right now."

"Then will you dance with me?"

Where had that come from? It felt right to ask, though. While Gray just stared at her, dumbfounded, she turned around and placed one hand on the back of his neck. He stiffened underneath her touch. "You used to dance with me," she murmured. The room looked blurry.

"Eel…"

She didn't protest her nickname. Maybe she was getting through to him. Standing up on her tiptoes, she placed a kiss on the underside of his jaw. "It's very easy. You really just have to follow along. Girls have it tougher."

"Oh?" Gray asked, resting his hands on her hips lightly. She swayed just a little bit, but possibly from the alcohol.

"Yeah," she breathed. "We're the ones that have to twist around and work. Guys just stand there and watch." She let out a small sigh. "It's very hard being me."

As her body started to feel heavy she felt Gray's grip tighten. "I can tell," he said as her vision started to dim. She was aware of him placing her back in the bed, and then all of her senses were cut off.