Nate's three friends show up five minutes to six o'clock which I am grateful for because everything is a total mess. For someone who is always on top of things when it comes to organization, I am an even bigger mess than my house.

The beer is set out on my parent's long dining room table for hands to grab, thanks to Justin, Danny's cousin. He is the only one I know who would pull through at such short notice.

"Where are your parents?" Molly asks while hanging up a birthday banner by the staircase.

"My father has a Dartmouth reunion for his fraternity that he attends every ten years. My mother likes to tag along. I guess I just got lucky that it happens to be on the same day as Nate's birthday."

"It's funny how things work out, isn't it." She ties the farthest string around the ceiling beam and then steps down off the chair.

"Yeah," I reply, moving the beer cans in a straighter line to distract myself. "Is it."

My phone dings in my back pocket and it's Nate, telling me he is ready when I am. I about jump out of my skin.

"I'm going to go get him!" I shout, my voice bouncing off the walls. Gavin and Trent are somewhere in the livingroom messing with the flat screen tv. "Don't mess this up, guys. Go hide."

"Hiding is our forte, princess," Trent says over his shoulder as he continues to press buttons on the remote. I have come to ignore the little nickname Nate's friends have pinned to me.

I roll my eyes and escape out the door to fetch the birthday boy who is waiting at the door when I stroll through it. And my mouth drops open when I lay eyes on him.

He looks amazing.

His growing hair is styled in perfect, gelled waves around his face, highlighting the speaks of gold in his eyes behind his black framed glasses. I haven't seen these glasses in a while, getting used to either seeing him in sunnies or nothing at all.

Over his new Captain America t-shirt that I got him as a present, considering the blood didn't come out of his old one, he is wearings a dark green and grey checkered dress shirt that hugs his broad shoulders and chest in a way that makes my mouth water. Dark denim jeans hang from his slender hips.

"You look... " Words seem to fail me and this is a first.

Nate shifts on his feet and shoves his hands in to his front pockets. "I just thought maybe I should wear something nicer than usual. Maybe I should change." He begins to start back up the stairs but I rush around him by stepping up a few steps to stop him.

"Not a chance," I finish once my brain starts to work again. "You look amazing, Nate." My hands roam over his clothed chest while my eyes roam over the rest of him.

"Thank you," he replies bashfully. His fingers tickle the back of my thighs as he wraps his long arms around me. His brows skyrocket. "Jeans?"

I can't think while his hand skim the rough fabric over my backside.

"Mhm," I mutter, his touch shutting down the switch to all common sense. I clear my throat and wrap my arms around his neck. "It's nice to switch things up sometimes."

"I don't remember a time you weren't in one of those skirts of yours." His hands boldly slip into my back pockets. "This is convenient."

I swallow roughly and my breathing grows heavy. This boy has the strangest effects on me even by the most simplest of touches. "I think I should wear these more often."

Nate hums low in his chest but before he can connect his lips to mine, my common sense kicks back in. If we are even the slightest off schedule, the surprise will be ruined. As extremely tempting his behavior is at the moment, his friends put a lot of hard work into keeping this secret from him and I didn't want to make them wait much longer.

"Happy birthday," I say dodging him but lean forward to soften the blow by pressing my lips to the base of his throat.

"Thank you." He pouts slightly as I pull away and drag him out the door. "Why are we in such a rush?" He asks as I sidestep the hedges.

"I am just excited to watch Star Wars," I lie and stop before my front door once we reach my house. "I've never seen it before."

"Why am I not surprised about that." He laughs down at me and grabs both of my hands. "When are the rest of them coming over?"

I smile and twist the doorknob, letting the door fly open.

Nate jumps out of his skin at the shouted surprise and my mouth falls to the floor at the crowd that is gathered in my parent's foyer. What the hell?

Half of Stanton High's incrowd hold up red solo cups at the presence of my boyfriend. My eyes dart around the room to see Nate's friends cowering in a corner of the staircase. Molly catches my eye and shrugs showing the two emotions that I am feeling: Discomfort and disappointment.

I angle my sight up to Nate to see his mouth open and shut but no words come out.

"Surprise," I say in a mouselike voice.

"What exactly is going on?" Nate asks, his hand tightening in mine.

I sigh. "It's a surprise party but it seems word somehow got out and it looks like you have more people who adore you than just me." I try really hard to make this situation seem less alarming than what it is.

"Is there alcohol here?"

"Yes," I answer not quite sure why he is asking this. My shoulders sag in defeat when a shout comes from the kitchen about a keg stand contest.

"That would explain it then. They are not here for me, love."

"I'm sorry, Nate. I don't know how this happened." I catch his friends' attention again and pull on Nate's hand to move through the room over to them.

When we reach them, I can see their apprehensive looks more clearly and my stomach drops. "Why are they all here?"

"They just rang your doorbell and pushed right past us. Daniel Greyson said something about his cousin saying something about it."

Danny is here? My head instantly swirls around the room and sure enough, he and some of his football buddies are lounging on my couch. His eyes twitch to mine as if he was waiting for me to see him and he raises his beer in the air as a solute. I look away quickly.

"Well this isn't going as planned." Bringing a hand through my hair in a distraunt jerk, I sigh along with it. I am going to kill Justin for opening his big mouth. "I can make them all leave. Just give me a minute."

But as I go to pull away, Nate tugs me back to him. "Let them stay."

"What?" I say at the same time as his friends. We all eye each other as if Nate had already gotten his hands of the hard stuff. Which I know to not be true because we just stepped through the door.

"Nate, I can make them leave. This is your birthday. You deserve to have a good one." He can't really be serious.

Nate shakes his head making a curl pop out by his ear. I long to reach over and tuck it away but I think I'm too stunned that Nate is okay with these people staying.

"No. It's okay. They sound like their having fun." I just look at him, gnawing my bottom lip like it's a plastic cola straw. "Doesn't mean we can't have fun too," Nate adds with a slight grin on his face when none of us speak.

"I'm confused," Trent says. That would make four of us.

"I want to go home," Gavin speaks lowly, his eyes darting around the room. My mouth pops open in shock of hearing him speak for the first time.

"No," Nate says as if he is now exasperated. "Don't leave. This could be exactly what we need."

"What I need," Molly starts with her hand on her hip, "is a beer and some pretzels. It's a saturday night and I refuse to go home and watch another episode of Jane the Virgin with my mother." She ascends the stairs before I can ask her to grab me one too. But come to think of it, if I was going to be in the presence of my overpowering ex boyfriend and judgemental frienemies, I needed something stronger.

"Can I get you something?" I ask Nate, trying to distract myself from all thoughts of how tonight can go badly.

"Sure," he answers but it's hard to hear him over the booming music. "I'll have whatever you do."

"I'm drinking water tonight," I state. I embarrassed myself once already around Nate. I didn't need a repeat of that night.

Nate cocks an eyebrow and I grin up at him. "I'll get you a beer. We'll start you out with something weak and work our way up."

"Beer is a manly drink, babe." His arm snakes around my waist and pulls me close to his side. He is in high spirits considering the bad company. I can't help but catch on to his vibe.

"Then let me go get you your manly drink." I kiss his cheek and command him not to move from this spot. He nods and circles his finger towards his feet in a mocking gesture. I hold back my amusement and kiss his cheek again before I barge through the crowd to the kitchen.

I take a detour through the livingroom and stop right in front of my peers who are hanging over my couch.

"What are you doing here?" I ask, having a hard time controlling my voice level because I don't want Nate to hear me.

"Thanks for the invite," Ryan says next to Danny, who grins up at me like he loves that I am so irked that they are here. Which I am, I'll give him that one.

"You weren't invited."

"Ouch, Kel," Johnny retorts with a hand over his heart. "I'm wounded."

I roll my eyes and peer down at Danny who has yet to speak. "I don't want to do this tonight. Please, leave."

He is watching me, sizing up my reaction which I try to hide behind a tightly pulled back, sweet smile. He soon shakes his head and goes back to looking bored. "Nah. I'm pretty comfortable right here."

My eyes narrow as he dramatically stretches his arms over his head and drops one behind some other blonde sitting next to him. I laugh to myself because he can't honestly think by doing that would bother me.

"Don't make me re break your nose, Dan. Go. Now. All of you."

Ryan leans forward and hoots with laughter. "Kelly did that to you?" He jolts backwards, his mouth opened wide with booming laughter. "I thought you said a weight fell off the barbell and got ya during lifting?"

Danny punches Ryan's shoulder to shut him up but that doesn't silence the other laughing bodies. "It did," he lies and turns his blazing sapphire glare back on me. I narrow them right back and cross my arms over my chest.

This is my house. If I want them out, they will get the heck out.

"Hey, girl," Alyssa greets coming up behind me. "Wicked party. It's been too long since we've had a rager at your place. Where's the birthday boy?"

I still can't read if she is trying to play nice or just being annoying by showing up places she isn't wanted to prove a point.

"Alright, let's get one thing straight," I say with a warning tone. "If you guys being here is some kind of game or set up, I will call the cops this very instant and get all of your asses hauled right out of here. Got it? I'm not playing around. These people don't deserve the damage y'all create. Am I understood?" I glance at every face in reading distance.

"Of course, Kelly," Alyssa answers, looking slightly offended. "We meant what we said about playing nice. It's all in the past, right?" She looks pointedly at Danny who makes an effort to look away.

Wrong. But I push down the nagging panic and turn on my heels towards the kitchen.

Before I can grab something for Nate, I find a second cup and open the first clear liquor bottle I can reach. If I was going to get through the night, I was going to have to have a little help.

So much for not drinking tonight.

I shoot back the two fingers of straight vodka and grimace but automatically feel more relaxed. This will be fine. Everything will go smoothly. Nate will have fun and everyone will mind their own business. Yes, I can do this.

With a sharp intake of breath, I let it out, and walk back through the house to find Nate. He is right where I left him except he isn't alone. Alyssa and Mariah surround him like bad perfume. I put on another fake smile and saunter over to them.

In order to make tonight as wonderful as the boy I put it on for, I had to play nice.

"Here's your drink," I tell Nate and look over at the two girls as they smile back at me. "What's going on over here?"

Mariah braces her hand on my shoulder and I shove down the urge to bat it off. "Nathaniel was just telling us about how you two officially met."

"Is that so," I say with my eyes on Nate. He bashfully shrugs and I wrap my arm around his waist for emotional support. I am no longer surprised when I feel his lips press against my hair.

Alyssa and Mariah swoon.

"Ya'll are so freaking cute!" Mariah gushes. It is hard to miss the batting of her eyes and the way she reaches out and touches Nate. I narrow my eyes at her hand until she removes it from his arm. She swallows and inches back.

Alyssa eyes me carefully but I ignore her because I am still mad at her and it scares me to think that I might not ever get over it.

Nate shifts awkwardly on his feet. My smile widens when his arm snakes itself around my own waist and pulls me closer to him. I lean into him, relishing in the fact that he and I both seek comfort in each other.

He takes a sip of his drink to hide his discomfort of the situation. I hold back my laughter as I watch the distaste reflect on his face.

I bring my lips to the shell of his ear. "After a few, you find you forget how awful it tastes," I tell him, still amused. His pure aura is enough to make a person levitate towards him.

He shrugs with his face directed on his cup. "It's not too bad."

He's lying and that makes me laugh and brace myself against his chest. He smiles too from the sound of it and angles his face towards mine. I could look at him for the rest of my life.

"Do you guys want to play a game?" Alyssa asks with a cheery voice. It's snaps us out of our stupor.

"What kind of game?" Nate challenges, dragging his attention from my face. I bite my tongue.

Alyssa taps her cherry red lips as she thinks. "How about beer pong?"

I continue to bite my tongue.

"Oh! Or flippy cup. That's a fun one," Mariah pipes in.

I can't bite my tongue anymore. I go open my mouth to call them morons who walk on two flat feet but Nate beats me to it. He must have felt my body tense up.

"How about Kelly plays for me." He angles his head down towards me again and hugs me closer. But I keep my glare on the two girls in front of me.

Their faces go slack with the realization that Nate cannot participate like the rest of us. Both of their faces turn red with shame.

"I'll cheer you on from the sideline," he continues. Nate's eyes bore into the side of my face, hidden under his glasses like a shield that I will deny him. But I won't deny him anything on his birthday.

"Okay," I confide through clenched teeth, trying to keep the smile on my face.

Alyssa and Mariah exhale in relief and their beaming white smiles return. Alyssa grabs onto my hand but before she can take me far, I desperately grab at the air until Nate latches on. I shake off Alyssa's hold which makes her frown but when she finally realizes that Nate can't navigate at the speed she is pulling me, she mouths a sorry.

I follow her out the patio doors with Nate in hand to where someone magically set up a cardboard table near the fire pit which is also going. A few people are roasting marshmallows. Those people raided my pantry!

Before I can ruin Nate's good mood with my shrieking, I find a chair for him and guide him to sit down. I bend down near his ear. "Every time I drink, you have to too. This was your idea."

"That's only fair." He brings his cup to his mouth and takes a few gulps, grimacing again. "Might get you to loosen up."

Suddenly, my annoyance is gone and I'm laughing again. "Good one."

He grins back as if feeling accomplished by making me laugh.

I turn back around and face the choir. Alyssa has recruited a few more players and has stationed herself on the vacant side indicating that she would be my partner. Too many times her and I have played this game and completely swept the floor in victory.

Sadly, this wasn't the case tonight. I don't know if I am rusty because this hasn't been my scene in months or because I was too conscious of the unwanted eyes on me as we played, but we were losing. Badly. I know this because my body has become lighter and my laughter was becoming harder to reign in.

As the other team's ping pong ball lands in the cup closest to my hip, the crowd we have attracted hoots and hollers and I have no other choice then to down it.

I pivot to see Nate chuckling over the red rim of his drink as I do the same. I only drink half though because a deal is a deal. I stumble over to Nate whose cheeks are stained from the amount of alcohol he has also consumed, and hold onto his hand as I pour the remaining brown liquid into his cup.

"You're not doing very hot," Nate points out.

I giggle and usher the cup to his mouth. "Bottoms up, baby."

After another game, the world starts to spin in front of my eyes. Yup, I am definitely out of practice. Dragging my feet back to Nate, I plop down on his lap and wrap an arm around his shoulders to hold me steady. He grins up at me like the cheshire cat.

"Hi," he muses while burying his nose in my hair. His long arm pulls me closer to him on his lap.

"Are you having fun?" He looks to be. His nicely gelled hair has become more fluffy than curly and all I want to do is run my fingers through it to mess it up more.

"Tons. Thank you for this." He leans forward and presses a kiss somewhere between my shoulder and upper arm.

I no longer care about the eyes that I'm sure are watching us if I would just take my eyes away from the alluring specimen underneath me. I take his drink from him and set it on the ground by his foot. I turn his face up to mine and I giggle again.

"You're smashed," I say after taking in his bloodshot and hooded eyes.

"I am."

"But that's okay because so am I." Wrapping both of my arms around his neck, I snuggle closer to him. His body is putting off enough warmth to make my buzzed self hum with gratitude.

"See," he says, the word dragging out in a long syllable. "We are having fun."

At that moment, I gasp. My ears prick and I jump up on me feet. "Oh my Gosh, I love this song!" I tug on Nate's hand until he is stood up as well. "Come on, let's go dance."

Nate drags his feet and groans. "I can't dance."

"Neither can any of these people, Nathaniel, but that's never stopped them from doing so." I pull him through the patio door and catch sight of a pack of people moving their bodies to the music in the living room.

"Kelly, I don't know..." Even drunk, Nate can't seem to get out of his shell. Though I do have to give him credit for chatting with a few people as he sat there while I played beer pong. That is definitely something sober Nathaniel would have had trouble doing. Conversation seemed to flow easily from what my ears could catch. Every time I looked back or ushered more drink into his cup, he was smiling or laughing. It was a nice sight.

I brace us both by holding onto his arms. Nate latched onto mine like a unsteady leech. I began swaying my hips to the music, trying to get Nate's body to rock back and forth with me but he remains immobile.