The Path To You

12. We should dance

By the time Saturday rolled around I was actually looking forward to going out with Dom and Callum. Nico had decided to join us yesterday after some test he had that apparently went badly and Jake and Evan said they might show up but I had a feeling they weren't making it out of Jake's room and if they did we wouldn't see them until later. I had tried to talk Monroe and Becca into coming but they were going out with a few of Becca's friends.

I hadn't asked about Connor but Dom said he wouldn't be at the party and that was enough for me. I wanted to ask and find out what he was up to but I forced myself to keep my mouth shut. Instead of worrying about Connor I had started talking to Seth, the guy I met on the dating app.

He was nice and we flirted a little bit. It wasn't anything serious but last night I decided to ask him if he was going to the party and apparently him and some of his friends were already planning on going. So maybe I would see him there.

I didn't exactly know what I wanted from that but it was nice to tell myself I was putting myself out there and giving dating a shot instead of waiting around for Connor.

I stood in front of the mirror looking down at my outfit. I wanted to look nice. Was part of me dressing up slightly hoping to see Connor and for him to see that I was doing great without him? Maybe but that was something I kept inside my head. I was wearing a red long sleeve button up with a pair of jeans. It wasn't anything crazy but it looked good on me.

My phone buzzed and I looked down to see a text from Dom. I couldn't stop the smile from spreading across my face as I read the message.

Dom- get your ugly ass here before we leave without you.

I knew Dom wouldn't actually leave without me so I read it with a laugh instead of his words actually making me rush out the door. I grabbed the bag I had packed with a few things to stay over at Dom's. I had been hesitant to agree to that but Dom had convinced me to stay over in his room so that I didn't have to worry about driving back to Westerly.

It didn't take too long to drive over to the house. It was lucky that Kingsley and Westerly were only about fifteen minutes away from each other. The campuses were practically neighbors.

I walked into the house and Dom and Callum were sitting in the kitchen. Dom was pushing a shot across the counter to his ginger haired boyfriend. I just watched as Callum threw the shot back making a face as the alcohol burned down his throat.

"Starting without me?" I joked.

"I got one for you too." Dom smiled and poured out another shot holding it out towards me.

I wasn't planning on drinking too much but I could drink more than I have in the past few months. Without having to look after Connor I could let loose a little. I grabbed the shot and tipped my head back letting the liquid slide right down my throat. The vodka burned its way down my throat but I just shook it off as I placed the empty shot glass onto the counter.

"Here." Callum passed me a bottle of cola to wash the shot down with.

I happily accepted it and took a large sip washing the strong taste of the vodka out of my mouth.

"One more shot and then we head out." Dom filled up both of our shot glasses again.

"What about your shots?" I eyed my friend.

"Nope I'm driving and babysitting your drunk asses." Dom just smiled at me.

I didn't try to argue that and downed the second shot knowing that two back to back wasn't really the best idea.

"This is going to be so fun!" Dom cheered throwing his arm around Callum as we walked towards the door.

Nico walked out of his room just as we neared the door. He didn't say much but joined us as we left and piled into Dom's car.

—

I hadn't been at the party all that long and I was already a little tipsy. The shots at the house didn't help but Dom had shoved a drink into my hand the second we stepped into the party. I had a feeling he had plans to get me drunk. But I slowly sipped on the drink in my hand not really wanting to drink too much.

Nico had disappeared pretty quickly to talk to some of the guys from the football team. So it was just me and the couple. Callum was drunker than I was and had practically wrapped himself around Dom who didn't seem all that bothered by it.

"I need to pee." Callum frowned up at Dom.

Dom looked between me and his boyfriend. I knew he didn't want to just leave me by myself but I also knew he wasn't going to let his boyfriend walk to find the bathroom by himself.

"Go." I told Dom.

"Are you sure? I don't want to just leave you here."

"You're just going to the bathroom. I can look after myself." I assured him.

"Ok Cal, let's find the bathroom." Dom steered his boyfriend through the crowd.

I looked around the crowd trying to see if I could spot Nico. I was fine just being on my own but it would be nice to find at least someone in case Dom and Callum took too long. They really shouldn't be gone for too long but with them and how drunk Callum was you never really knew.

I caught sight of Nico's profile and went to move towards him but someone crashed right into the side of my body. I felt the unwelcoming feeling of liquid seeping through my shirt.

They'd spilled their drink on me.

I turned and was surprised to recognize the face.

"Seth?" I asked staring at the boy I'd been chatting with.

"Jetson! I was hoping to see you here." Seth swayed towards me, his voice slurring as he spoke.

It was pretty obvious he was drunk. Any excitement or interest I had in running into him went away pretty quick now that he was in front of me. I didn't really feel like trying to talk to a drunk guy and I definitely wasn't going to do anything with him when he was like this.

"Hey I didn't think I'd actually see you." I forced a smile on my face.

"Well it's your lucky day." His hand reached out and rested on my arm.

"Something like that." I did my best to shrug him off.

"We should dance." He stumbled closer his hand returning to my arm squeezing lightly.

"No, I think I'm ok." I grabbed his hand gently removing it from my arm again.

"Come on! It'll be fun, I've been told I have very good moves." Seth slurred his hand grabbing mine instead of my arm this time.

I opened my mouth to let the drunk guy down but I didn't get the chance. It was all a blur as Seth's hand was ripped out of mine and a body stepped between us. I barely even processed what was happened before the first punch was thrown.

"What the fuck!" Seth grabbed at his face where a fist just slammed into it.

"He said fucking no." Connor stood there glaring at Seth.

I was totally frozen. What the hell was happening? I just stood there as Connor's fist flew forward slamming into Seth again. The drunk boy collapsing onto the ground.

"Connor! Stop!" I snapped out of it reaching forward trying to pull him back.

But he didn't even register my words or the touch of my hand on his back as I tried to grab him. He was surging forward towards Seth again.

I'd never seen Connor like this and I had no clue what to do.

A/n;

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and are excited for the next one. You might be seeing a chapter from a different pov very soon. This book will be dual pov and once you get the first pov from Connor you'll see a lot more from him. So get ready and excited for that.

-Cora Leigh