"Drink up losers!" Could be heard over a loud crowd as the table was surrounded with people.

Adrian and Ashley has only just finished their emotional conversation on the porch before Holly came back and practically dragged Ashley inside. Claiming Adrian as another contestant/victim of circumstance, Ashley made him play several games of bullshit.

Adrian lost count how many times he had to drink in the last hour. Sober Adrian was never the best liar and a tipsy Adrian made it harder for him to concentrate.

Following the rules, Adrian clinked his drink with Holly as they both downed their cups which was now mixed with the other players' alcohol.

With how tipsy he was, Adrian blocked out the thought of how the cocktail tasted and relaxed more as the alcohol was making its way through his system.

"One more game!" Adrian shouted at loud. "I can't leave this room as a loser!" Adrian was met with cheers from the rest of the players as they all began to sit back down.

"Hey why am I moving?" Adrian asked as he felt someone pull him out of the room.

Adrian looked over his shoulder to see an arm holding out a bottle of water. "Drink. You know, before you decide to puke all over yourself."

"Adaaaam! I wasn't finished plaaaaaying!" Adrian whined.

Adam began to twist the cap of the water bottle. "Now take your time and drink it. I don't want to carry you home when you're smashed."

Adrian took the drink and sipped it. Adam wasn't happy and tipped the bottle further so Adrian would drink more. "I don't even know why you decided to play." Adam questioned him.

"Because I wanted to win!" Adrian spat out along with some of the water.

Adam moved his hand out of the way due to reflex and grimaced in disgust. "But you're always so bad at those kind of games. Plus you're a light drinker! Mixing cocktails is never a good idea." Adam told him.

Adrian slurred his words. "When did you get so wise?"

"Hanging out with you a lot makes me seem like a freaking genius." Adam quipped back instantly.

~~~~~~~~~~

After being left on the couch to sober up, the room finally stopped spinning before Adrian decided he could manage to go to the bathroom.

After relieving himself, Adrian ran into Adam and Ashley who had her arm slung around his shoulder.

"There you are, thought you disappeared and started to drink again. I'm going to take Ashley outside for some fresh air and to sober up a little, you going to be alright or do I need to find another sitter for you?" Adam asked genuinely with a hint of sarcasm.

Adrian took a glance at Ashley and saw that whilst she was still awake, she wasn't completely there and some fresh air may do Ashley some good.

Adrian had finished taking a sip from his water bottle before shaking his head. "I'll be fine. Go." Adrian said as he ushered them to go.

Once they had left, Adrian had walked to kitchen and switched to a soft drink. Adrian took a drink before he heard a loud crash from a room upstairs. With nothing else to do and no one else to occupy him, he decided to follow the sound out of interest.

Once he got to the source of the crash, he recognised several of the Eagle players absolutely wasted. Chaos swept threw the room as they all began to get even more rowdy and knock over several vases that looked very expensive.

Adrian thought it would be best to avoid them as alcohol could have only made them less tolerable than they already were. However it was too late as he recognised that the guy who previously assaulted him at the arena the other week was burning a hole right through him.

'Shit...'

"Hey! It's that annoying piece of shit from Craftswood." Caden Hanes said to the rest of his group.

With every step he moved closer, Adrian walked back one step. Putting his hands up as a sign of peace. "Hey, I'm not looking for any trouble."

"Bit too late for that..."

The mob started to approach Adrian when he quickly dashed out of the room. Running through the long corridor Adrian accidentally barged into several strangers as he made his way through the hall.

"Hey watch it!"

"Oy! My drink!"

"Dude!"

"Sorry!" Was all Adrian could say before he ducked into one of the bathrooms.

Adrian didn't even check to see if anyone was inside before he locked the door behind him and pressed his ear to the door.

Adrian heard a knock on the door. "Occupied!" He raised his voice as he heard them walk away from the door.

"You're telling me..."

Adrian jumped at the sound and span around instantly, hitting his back against the door knob.

"Jesus Christ!" Adrian screamed at the sudden pain and intrusion. "What are you doing here?!" Adrian hushed in a whisper.

Brody rested his hands on his hip. "Hey I was here first before you decided to barge in."

"With the door unlocked?"

"I wasn't actually USING the restroom, I was just getting away from someone." Brody told him.

Rubbing his back from the pain. "I know what you mean. Your whole team are chasing me and they are pissed off at me, as well as pissed out of their mind."

A small smile stretched out from Brody's lips. "And what did you do this time?" He cheekily asked.

Adrian felt a bit offended. "Literally nothing! It's kind of obvious your team still hate me, let's add the fact they they are also drunk and are kind of in a mob mentality where they want to beat me up again."

"That doesn't sound too great..."

"You think!?" Adrian asked rhetorically.

Adrian paced back and forth on the spot. "So how do I get your team to NOT kill me?"

Brody thought about it before he moved to the window and opened it widely. He then gestured for Adrian to escape through the window.

Adrian looked at this escape route, only to realise they weren't even on the ground floor. "You serious? What if we fall and break something?"

Brody jokingly laughed at Adrian's question. "WE? What do you mean WE? They're not chasing after me, I can just walk out the door like normal."

Brody emphasised this as he motioned to move towards the door. Adrian grabbed his arm with both of his hands, pleading with him.

"No wait please!" Adrian pleaded as Brody was still laughing. "Please help me, I don't know this area and I can't wait around for them to find me either!"

"Yeah, hence, the window." Brody sarcastically pointed out.

Adrian didn't say any words, only pleading with his eyes whilst still holding onto Brody's arm.

"Well you can't risk going through the front door, so the window is the only option..." Brody expressed seriously.

Adrian turned to look at the window, before turning back to the door - again, and again, and again.

Adrian deciding either route was comical however Brody did take pity on him.

"Just follow my steps out the window and we'll be fine. Once we get out, just stay behind me."

"What about Adam? I can't leave him behind, and he's with Ashley." Adrian was worried about ditching his best friend when he could be in danger.

Brody thought about it and took his phone out to send a message. "I'll tell them to take an Uber home. I don't think they have a problem with Adam so he'll be fine. YOU on the other hand need to be far away from here and as quickly as possible."

Adrian nodded at the idea. "So you're going to help me right? Please?"

Brody finished sending the text before looking back at Adrian. "Of course I will, come on let's get out of here before they find us."

~~~~~~~~~~

"Can we stop running yet? I think I've got a stitch." Adrian asked Brody.

After the pair climbed out of the window and scaled down the house, the two sprinted down the neighbourhood to avoid being seen by any of the Eagles.

They made their way through a dark alleyway and made it to the other side which happened to be an empty park.

"You out of breath already there Captain Jones? We've barely been running for that long." Brody mocked him.

Bending over and placing his hands on his knees. "Well I've still got alcohol in my system and it's been a while since I've eaten."

Adrian dragged himself towards an empty seat on the swing and sat down. Brody decided to stay standing and leaned against the metal pole of the swing frame.

"I think we've probably lost them anyway." Brody looked over his shoulders several times and didn't see any signs of anyone in the nearby area.

A big relief was felt by Adrian as he took a gasp of air before breathing out.

"This isn't a long con to get me isolated before your team jumps me right?" Adrian asked jokingly. "Beat me up, tie me to the tetherball swing and throw rocks at me."

Brody looked at Adrian alarmed. "What you do in your spare time is up to you..."

Adrian chuckled at that. "Thanks again, for helping me." Brody nodded his head at Adrian acknowledging the gratitude before Adrian continued. "Even if it makes you a traitor..."

Brody looked at Adrian, confused. "Traitor?"

"Well, you're an Eagle and I'm a Raven. We're meant to be enemies, yet you decided to help me instead of your own team." Adrian pointed out.

"You're right..." Brody said ominously. "I should have helped my team." Brody then stood up straight. "I WILL help my team..."

Adrian laughed nervously out of worry. He didn't think Brody was seriously until he turned back the way he came.

Brody was committed as Adrian watched him begin to turn away. Fearing that he really was being serious Adrian lunged out to grab Brody.

"Stop stop stop!" Adrian begged towards the back of Brody's head. "Don't ditch me here."

Adrian watched as Brody slowly turned back around with his signature smirk on his face. "Gotcha."

Sensing the prank was over, Adrian swiftly punched a laughing Brody in the arm.

"That's the thanks I get!?" Brody joked as he rubbed the injured area.

Adrian remained silent and dragged Brody back to the swing set. He then pushed him down on the swing and took the seat next to him.

"I was always going to help you anyway, even before I knew what trouble you got yourself into." Brody confessed.

Adrian was looking downwards when he heard that, a smile crept out of his face. His heart rate pulsed quicker than usual.

"Didn't do anything this time." Adrian whispered gently as he forced it out. "Completely innocent."

"Ah yes." Brody nodded along.

Moving on from the topic, "Who were YOU hiding from in the bathroom anyway?" Adrian asked Brody.

Brody nodded to himself as he recalled his night. "My ex. They wanted us to get back together but it's not going to work anyway."

"Ah right, the host Kelsey? Ashley made it sound like she was trouble." Adrian commented.

"Kind of, yeah. She cheated on me when we were dating. This one though was Sam." He told Adrian.

Adrian was listening intently as Brody continued speaking. "We were together for a while but it felt like we were never on the same page. The relationship just didn't feel right, you know? It was like we wanted different things from each other. "

Adrian didn't expect to hear this from Brody in the middle of the night. "If it helps I think they're a moron."

That earned a loud laugh from Brody.

"I've barely known you for that long but I can already tell anybody would be lucky to have you." Adrian acknowledged. "It's just too easy to like you."

Brody was still smiling after hearing that. "Thanks Adrian." Brody watched as Adrian's cheeks blushed a little.

'Reel it back a bit Adrian' Adrian thought to himself.

"Well that's my dating history, what about yours? Since it seems like one of those nights for confessing stuff and what not." Brody quizzed him.

Adrian thought to himself about how to explain it. He pushed himself of the ground to gently swing. "I don't really have one."

Brody was still looking at Adrian, waiting for him to continue. "There's been people I've liked, some people I REALLY like but it's strange."

"What do you mean by strange?"

Adrian thought about how he would explain it. "Do you ever get this feeling that you're going down this certain path. The scenery is nice and the destination is great and all. And then BAAM! You get sucked up by a tornado and thrown down a different path." Adrian exaggerated with the anecdote.

Brody bursted out loud with amusement. "I think I can get what you mean."

Adrian nodded his head before he continued talking. "Well this different path, it's unexpected, and I wouldn't usually think about going down this path. But now that I'm there, it doesn't feel as bad as I first thought. And now it's just a little bit scary and I'm nervous, but I don't know how to go forward?" He asked himself out loud, trying to process if he connected the pieces together correctly.

After contemplating what he just expressed, Adrian looked up at Brody and looked at the distance between them.

'Were we always sitting this close?'

Brody nudged Adrian with his shoulder gently. "You'll get there eventually. Just take all the time you need and who knows, maybe this, different path will be better."

'Things are looking better.' Adrian thought to himself.

==========

Author's note: I really enjoyed writing this chapter in particular, and I hope you all did to. Votes and comments are much appreciated.