ɢᴏᴏᴅ ɢɪʀʟ, ʙᴀᴅ ʜᴀʙɪᴛꜱ (author's version)

six

"Olivia!" Nate called after Liv as she shoved through sweaty bodies and kissing couples. She just kept walking for the door, not wanting to deal with Nate's bullshit after what just happened.

Eventually, Olivia finally got outside. There were crickets chirping and a few smokers in a corner. She thought about how Fez would probably be with them right now if he was here.

Liv walked over to a curb and sat down, pulling out her phone to call Fez and ask for a ride. Then, she heard footsteps behind her. She started to get a little nervous, but heard them stop.

When she turned around, Nate was standing there with two beers in his hand, holding one out to hand over.

"No thanks." Liv mumbled, going back to her phone. Instead of walking away like she had hoped, Nate sat down next to her.

He opened up his beer with his teeth, tossing the cap somewhere in the bushes nearby. Eventually, Liv got the hint Nate wasn't going to go away.

She put her phone down and rolled her eyes.

"Look. She pulled me into that bathroom with her and then just started shit. I just..stood there and watched her." She explained, looking over at Nate. He was already staring, and she wondered why he was even out here instead of inside.

"So you didn't do anything?" He asked, taking a sip of his beer and looking toward the ground. Olivia shook her head.

"No. Now if you would excuse me, I'm trying to call my boyfriend for a ride."

Nate chuckled, and Liv put her phone down for a second time to look at him.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing. It's just...no one's heard from your boyfriend or his side kick in weeks." Nate said, smirking and turning his head. Olivia furrowed her eyebrows, getting a little nervous.

"That's not true." She lied.

"Yes it is, don't lie. Jay's becoming a fucking crackhead or something and Fez always deals to him. He hasn't done drugs since..."

Liv tried to read Nate's expression, curious where he was going with this.

"Oh, right. Since Fez's house burnt down with a bunch of police inside."

He took another swig of beer, Olivia standing up and crossing her arms.

"How do you-"

"C'mon, Liv. Everyone knows, it was all over the news and shit." Nate went on, cutting her off and looking up at her.

Liv shook her head. She knew she shouldn't have came tonight.

"What do you want?"

Nate continued to stare up at Olivia, and she got even more nervous under his gaze. He scooted over, signalizing for Liv to sit back down.

She did. She was scared of what he would do.

"Your girl Rue's in a little bit of trouble right now." Nate informed.

This time, Olivia chuckled.

"She would've told me if something was wrong." She said.

"Not if she didn't know it yet."

Olivia felt her phone vibrating, and looked down to see it was BB. She turned it on silent and brought her knees up to her chest.

"I was on my way home the other night and had to pass Rue's house. I saw her riding her bike and there was a car with two guys following her. They had a bunch of tattoos, and looked familiar. Then I remembered I saw them at your party. You know, the one where you invited a bunch of drug dealers?" Nate said. He took another sip of beer, which was halfway gone by now.

"So you're saying you saw drug dealers following Rue home?" Liv tried to clarify. Nate nodded, and she took the beer he had tried to give her off of the ground.

She saw it wasn't a screw top, and handed the bottle to Nate to open it. He did like he did his, throwing the cap somewhere behind them. Olivia took a big sip.

"I need some people in jail, Liv. And I was hoping-"

"Wait. Why the hell do you need people in jail?" Liv asked. Nate clenched on his jaw, shoving more beer down his throat.

"There's someone in there I need to shut up. That's all you need to know for now."

The truth was, the other night, Nate had gotten an anonymous call from the East Highland prison system from Tyler Clarkson.

The I-shoved-my-dick-in-Maddy-in-a-pool-while-she-was-with-Nate-and-now-I'm-paying-the-price Tyler Clarkson.

And, when he answered, he regretted putting his daddy behind bars. Because now, Tyler and Cal were in the same pod and staring to figure out the truth on who really choked Maddy and gave her those bruises.

And now Nate needed someone to shut them up.

"I still don't get what this has to do with me." Liv sighed.

"I'm gonna confront these guys. And, when I do put them in jail for dealing drugs and stalking a minor around, I'm gonna give them some money to get the person I know in there to shut their mouth. Now, I have money, but I don't know if it's going to be enough to bribe these assholes." 

"So you want me to give you money to shut up a couple of dealers because you think you can convince them to do shit for you? Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? The guys at that party were no joke. It's dangerous." Olivia shook her head.

She thought carefully. Mouse was at that party, but it couldn't be him. It couldn't be Custer, either. So who the hell were these guys?

"I gave you your nudes back. I'm keeping my mouth shut about you knowing where Fezco is. And, if anything, I'm keeping Rue safe." Nate said.

He took the last sip of his beer and threw the bottle behind him. Liv watched carefully as he stood up, sighing and standing over her.

"I'm not forcing you to do anything. But I think it's better for the both of us if we just work together on this one." He mumbled, monotoned with his hands in his pockets.

Liv looked up at him, and saw the look in his eyes she hated. The look that said "you're gonna do what I fucking want because I'm holding shit over you". The look that said "you owe me". The look that said "if you don't do this for me, you're in deep shit".

She didn't want to risk anything to happen to Fezco or Rue. And, if she did this, Nate would shut up like he promised and get these guys off of Rue's back.

So, as Nate looked down at her, he could tell Olivia was going to help him.

He nodded his head slightly and put his hand out, helping Olivia off of the ground. Then, he pulled his keys out of his pocket and hit the unlock button for his truck.

"I'll give you a ride home."