He positioned me behind him before turning his attention to Walter, "do we have a problem here?"

"Yeah we have problem, your little posse here is somewhere they don't belong. I'm sure the rest of the uninvited are wandering around here stirring up trouble too."

"The only person I see stirring up trouble here is you." Tristan said with his eyebrows slightly risen.

"Oh yeah? Your little boy toy here was bothering Adelaide."

Tate scoffed out loud before I pitched in for him, "He wasn't bothering me Walt, we were having a conversation." I took a side step from behind Tristan so I could actually see who I was talking to.

"I told you to stay out of this." Walter replied sharply.

"Then keep my fucking name out of it." I shot back. Walter took a step towards me, planning to do who knows what.

And I never got to find out because suddenly Tristan's arms shot out in front of him, shoving Walter back a few good paces.

Bryan, the host of the party, came out of nowhere the next second.

"Noooo, no, no. You ladies wanna dance, you take it outside. There is no way I'm letting any of you break my mother's fine china."

Walter had straightened himself out before shoving past Bryan to stand face to face with Tristan, as if Bryan hadn't said a word.

Riley and some of the other boys from the team had appeared behind Walter, clearly ready to back him up if needed. Tate shuffled closer to Tristan, but they were still heavily out-numbered.

I could tell from the side of his face that Tristan was just as angry as Walter. I saw his chest rise and fall at a quicker pace than what was considered normal. His hands were balled into tight fists at his side.

I didn't even think about it before I reached out and grabbed his hand. Then when I processed what I did, I was almost embarrassed at myself, until I felt Tristan loosen his fist and allow me to lace my fingers through his own.

I observed the clench in his jaw loosen as well, and the rise and fall of his chest began to slow. All the while, he still had his hard glare glued to Walter.

"Tristan, let's just go. He's not worth your time or attention." I whispered to him so that no one else could hear. He tightly nodded once after a moment and allowed me to guide him towards the front door.

"aw come on Tristan," Walter shouted after us, "A loner boy maybe, but I didn't take you for a pussy."

The sound of a fist connecting to bare skin stopped us both in our tracks. We looked back to see Walter collapsed on the ground, gripping his jaw. Tate stood over him with a smug expression on his face.

"How about we get the real party started?" Tate shouted, and then threw another punch at the next boy that advanced towards him. Shouts and yelling were almost drowning out the music now as people egged on the fight.

"NO, NOT THE CHINA!" That must have been Bryan reacting to the sharp sound of glass shattering on the hard floor.

Tristan gave me a last look before he let go of my hand and rushed over to throw someone off of Tate. Then he started landing a few punches of his own.

I watched Tristan and all of the sudden it was like I had no idea who he was. Fighting was supposed to be a violent act. I had thought it was supposed to be sloppy, tangled, and chaotic.

Yet he was gliding. He made it look steady and calculated. It was still chaotic, but how the hell did he manage to make it look so collected at the same time?

His feet moved quicker than anyone else there and his punches were thrown with complete ease. I was never a fan of violence, but he made it look like art.

In my awe-stricken state, I didn't realize that Leah was next to me until she spoke, "is that Tate?" she frowned in confusion.

I silently nodded my head and watched him too. He looked like he knew what he was doing, almost as much as Tristan.

The music paused then, and a voice boomed over the chaos, "COPS!"

And just like that everyone scattered. Bodies were shoving out of the house as the sirens got closer. Someone must have finally complained about the noise.

I took Leah with me and we both had the same thought as we grabbed Tristan and Tate by their arms and dragged them out after us.

We loaded up in Leah's car and skidded out of the neighborhood just in time to miss the cops.

"what man?" I heard Tate ask from the back seat. I looked back to see Tristan giving him a what-the-hell look. "you act like we couldn't have taken them in the first place."

"I never said we couldn't but that doesn't mean we should have."

I looked at Leah who was already looking at both boys through her rear-view mirror. She was the next to speak up.

"We'll drive around the area and then I can take you both back to your cars."

"Thanks." Tate replied and the car went silent.

And then it was as if we had all registered just how awkward the silence was. I was sure Tate and Leah haven't spoken since their summer fling and it wasn't as if Tristan and I were actual friends yet. I had never even met Tate before tonight and Leah barely spoke to Tristan, even way back in elementary school.

A laugh broke the silence of the car, and then I discovered it was my own. Then I laughed again. I couldn't help it awkward silences made me nervous.

And then I thought back to poor Bryan and his moms broken china and it made laugh even more.

Then Leah started giggling. And we both heard deep laughter coming from the back until we were an entire pathetic group of laughter.

"Bro did you see Walter's face when he hit the ground?" Tate asked Tristan who's shoulders were rocking with laughter.

"That was so much more satisfying than I thought it would be." I said, wiping a tear from my eye and laughing even more.

We eventually made it back to Bryan's lot, back to the cars that the boys left behind. Tate thanked Leah before climbing out of the backseat and walked to his car.

Tristan got out shortly after, "Thanks. Catch you in detention Adelaide." And he shut the door behind him.

I looked at Leah immediately after the door closed and she looked back at me.

"Go," she said reading my mind, "I'll wait here."

I smiled at her before climbing out the car myself and went after Tristan.

"Tristan!" I called after him and I saw him turn around to face me.

I went forward a few more steps to catch up to him. "I just wanted to make sure you were good." I said, motioning to his freshly banged up knuckles.

"I'll survive." He nodded and lifted his knuckles to observe them himself.

I hesitated before asking my next question, "What did he mean? When Tate said you could have taken them in the first place."

That statement stuck with me for some reason. They were highly out-numbered and yet Tate still seemed as confident as ever.

"Don't worry about it." he said shortly, his face hardening. That alone took me back to when he first started ignoring me in the sixth grade.

I just nodded my head slowly, not wanting to show that his statement hurt just a little.

"okay then, drive safe." I let out quietly and turned around to go back to Leah's car.

I was a few steps away when I heard Tristan's voice call out and I turned around.

"Thank you," he said, "for trying." I knew he was talking about the fact that I initially tried to pull him away from the fight.

"Yeah well, I was thinking about the china." I said as I shrugged my shoulders and Tristan smiled that shining smile I rarely got to see since we were 12.

✨Authors Note✨

Ladies and gents, in this chapter, I have dropped a couple of hints as to where i'm taking this story ;)

thanks for reading

Update: LMAOO I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU GUYS FOR TROLLING ADELAIDE SO HARD. "Jason🥺 Jason look at me🥺 it's only you and me Jason 🥺 Please stop, don't do this, for me🥺 "

I HATE YOU GUYS LMAOO💀😭😭