Till Death Do Us Part {Completed}

Chapter Fifteen - They'd Kill You

~Chapter Fifteen - They'd Kill You~            

“You are in so much trouble,” I warned my brother as I pulled him through the gyrating throng of teenagers dancing to some mindless pop song that came through the subwoofers. It was so loud that I’m surprised no noise complaints had come yet, and the bass was so loud it was even affecting my heartbeat.

            Ryan groaned as I pulled him through the door and out of the sticky, sweaty atmosphere and into the cool night air. There were some couples making out on the front porch, and others passed out in pools of vomit, surrounded by red plastic cups and spilt beer. I wrinkled my nose in distaste. Why did people find house parties so inviting? It was so unhealthy!

            “I didn’t mean to get this drunk,” he defended weakly, pouting. “And loosen your grip, Lace. It’s hurting.”

            I looked down at where my hand was clamped around the soft flesh of his wrist, probably cutting off a lot of his circulation. I loosened it marginally, but kept a grip on it to make sure I didn’t lose him in the crowds.

            “What were you thinking, Ryan? Getting drunk? Imagine if Mom and Dad came home early and found you drunk. They’d kill you! And me, for letting you go to a party!”

            “I know,” he moaned out, shutting his eyes against the harsh glare of the bright lights from surrounding houses. “And I only meant to have one cup of beer, but then we played beer pong, and…” He trailed off, but there was no need to continue. The rest was pretty self-explanatory, really.

            “Hayley came over earlier,” I told him conversationally as I unlocked the car, and we piled into it. Without much pause, I peeled out of the cramped position and sped down the road, keeping the windows down so that Ryan could cool down and sober up.

            Immediately his painful expression lit up. “Really? Why?”

            “We needed to talk,” I dismissed. “She asked me where you were. I told her a small lacrosse party. What happened? How did it balloon into some massive house party?”

            He shrugged. “Gordy invited his girlfriend, and she invited Andrea and Dalton, and you know what happens when you invite them….”

            I nodded, understanding coming pretty quickly. Once you invited Andrea and Dalton, they told people, who told people, who told people, and eventually three-quarters of the school found their way there.

            “I trusted you, Ryan,” I told him in a low voice.

            He rubbed the bridge of his nose. “I know. I’m sorry. Jesus, you sound like Mom.”

            “Somebody has to! Otherwise you’d just go out and party every night and turn your liver into a shriveling mess of burnt sausages!”