I spent the rest of the evening in a distant blur, seemingly watching over myself from above as the bitter taste of whisky lingered on my tongue when all I really wanted was the familiar sweetness of cherry-stained lips from my usual glass on red wine.

After all these years, all the parties, why would he order me this? Was he ever really paying attention?

By now we had moved our group to a secluded booth in the back of the bar, joined by another one of the bands, one of them in particular looking vaguely familiar, at least as much as I could make out with the room now starting to spin beneath my feet.

"Hey, I'm glad you came out tonight." He said, sliding into the booth next to me. He barely touched the bench before Jake quickly turned to face him, reaching his arm around me, pulling me closer.

"We always come out." Jake said, forcing a smug grin, putting a heavy emphasis on 'we.' I couldn't help but smile, peeking up at him. Despite everything, I always loved how protective he got over me.

"Yeah, but.. she's new. It's nice she gets to come out with us too." He said, keeping his eyes on me, flashing me a wide grin. "Why are you out with these guys anyway? What are you drinking?" He looked down into my half empty glass, noticing it had barely been touched, and yet it felt like I had already had more than I could count.

How could anyone enjoy this?

"Doesn't seem like she likes it very much." He laughed, looking back over at Jake. "What else can I get you? What do you like?" I felt my cheeks burn as I peeked back up at Jake, not wanting to start anything. Honestly, this was the last place I wanted to be right now. I'd even prefer the backseat of the van again.

"She's fine, Liam, thanks." He snapped, holding his glare. Liam shrugged, grabbing my glass and taking a sip.

"Ugh, this is too much for her. I'll just get her something else." He said, getting up and making his way over to the bar. As much as I hated to admit it, I was thankful, because I'm sure no matter what he brought back would be better than this. Maybe then I could at least lighten up a little.

"You don't have to take it." Jake whispered down to me. "He always does this to the girls backstage." I felt my face get hot at the thought of their even being girls backstage. I wasn't naive, I knew what happened backstage, but he had never really mentioned what went on after the shows. As far as I was concerned, he had this entirely different life that I had no idea about.

"It's okay." I said, shrugging it off. "I'm sure it'll be good." He was quiet for a moment.

"What, you don't like this?" I bit down on my lip, subtly shaking my head as I peeked back up at him.

"O-oh.. I'm.. I'm sorry, I thought.. I mean, you said to get you what I ordered so-"

"Yeah, no, I know.. it's okay.." I sighed, forcing a smile. He wasn't convinced.

"I can get you something else." He assured me. "W-what do you want?"

"No, it's fine. I'm fine."

Looking over across the table I could see Josh trying his best to keep his staring to a minimum, his eyes now focused on my glass, trying their best not to meet mine in the midst of Jake and I's conversation.

"Jaime, if you don't like it, I can go and get you so-"

"Jake, it's fine. It's okay." I said, it coming out angrier than I intended. He backed away, his eyes getting wide as I felt his grip on me loosen.

"I'm.. I'm sorry." I whispered.

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine." I sighed, pushing myself out of the booth, and making my way into the bathroom.

I didn't understand what was happening. I had never felt this way before, especially not towards him. It wasn't even that big of a deal, so why did it feel like such a problem? Who cares if he didn't know my drink? Was it really worth getting into an argument about?

I think it was because deep down.. I knew all of his favorites. So, what else didn't he know about me?

I washed my hands, trying to think of anything else I could do just to kill a little time before I forced myself back out, instantly seeing Josh back up at the bar. He turned to me as he heard the door open, flashing me a gentle smile. I couldn't help but smile back, feeling my heart beat faster.

When I got back to the table, I could see a tiny glass placed in front of my seat, bright red with two cherries. It was cute, but wasn't my taste either.

"There you go." Liam said cheerfully, now sitting across from me. I forced a smile, sliding back into the booth where Jake instantly wrapped his arm around me, pulling me back in, even closer than before. I don't know what it was about Liam that got under Jake's skin, but I could tell just how much it bothered him. Jake never let anyone intimidate him before, if that was even what he was feeling. But regardless, he had nothing to worry about, though it was kind of sweet that he thought he did.

I reached over for him under the table, grabbing onto his leg when I heard his gentle sigh in my ear, making my heart beat faster.

"Thank you." I said, nothing wanting to be rude as I picked it up, bringing it to my lips. It already smelt better than the drink Jake had gotten me, so that was a plus. I took a sip, my face instantly puckering at the overwhelmingly sour juice clearly used to mask the double shot of alcohol he had asked for. I put it back down, pushing it away, now wondering how many other girls he had tried to get drunk off of these.

"Probably much better than what he got you." He laughed, smirking over at Jake. I shrugged, leaning my head on Jake's shoulder, my grip on his leg getting tighter.

"No, he knows what I like." I said, knowing this was something we could talk about later when we were alone. As far as everyone else was concerned, he knew me better than anyone.

If my mom had taught me anything, it was to always support your person in public, and address the problem in private. We were no one else's business.

I then felt Jake lean down, his lips pressing against the top of my head. I could tell that made him happy, because I got the sense that girls didn't tell Liam 'No' very often, let alone a girl who was only there for someone in the opening band.

"She's sweet, Jake." He mocked. "You found yourself a good girl, not very common out here." My stomach dropped. What kind of girls were they hanging out with then? Was it just their band or.. were all of them involved?

"Yeah, I did." Jake snapped. Liam nodded, giggling to himself.

"Right, well.. that won't last very long. Not out here." I felt my face get hot again. What did he mean.. not out here? I peeked up at Jake, but he kept his glare forward, trying his hardest to seem unfazed but I could tell this was killing him.

"She doesn't have anything to worry about." He said. Liam rolled his eyes, crossing his arms against his chest as he leaned back in the booth.

"Right." He laughed. "Like you haven't been hanging out with the rest of us every night, you think she'd like to hear all about that? You tell her?" My heart dropped, but I stayed quiet.

"She knows I'd never do anything like that." He said calmly. Liam laughed again.

"Okay, Jake. Whatever you say. Like you're any better than the rest of us." He then pushed himself up from the booth, making his way back over to the bar. I waited until he was out of sight before turning back to him.

"What is he talking about?" I asked, my heart now racing.

"He's not talking about anything, Jaime. He's just making shit up."

"Really?" I asked, pulling my hand away.

"R-really? Of course really, I'd never do anything like that. You.. you know that." He said, his voice getting more stern. I bit down on my lip, avoiding his eyes.

"You.. believe me, don't you?" He asked.

I did.

Of course I did.

Or at least.. I wanted to.

But.. how well could you really know someone?

My head then shot up as I heard someone coming back over to the table, Josh sliding into the booth, carefully placing a glass of red wine in front of me.