Who Knows?

"Can I come?"

Before any of us can answer the question, Bennett joins us at the bonfire.

"Where's Tess? I haven't seen her for a while and I was sure I would find her with you," he addresses me.

"She is right over there with Si-" I start saying while turning around and pointing at where Simon was standing only minutes ago. "Oh," I say when I notice that both Simon and Tess are gone. "I guess she and Simon went somewhere private to talk."

"Oh great, thanks for letting me know, Romy. That's an awesome image to have in my brain," he retorts sarcastically before letting out an exaggerated groan.

"What's so bad about talking?" I ask, faking innocence and from the corner of my eye, I catch Eli smirking.

Ben doesn't grant me an answer and takes a huge sip of his beer. My glass of wine is almost empty and I feel myself craving another. I get less shy when I drink a little but also more curious than I already am. It's a real pickle, let me tell you.

"Excuse me for a second, guys. I'm gonna go and get a refill. I'll be right back." I stand up and walk towards the house. Inside, I throw a glance at the clock on the kitchen wall. It's 11 pm already. I grab the wine bottle from the fridge and turn towards the counter where I placed my empty glass. I am about to fill up my glass when two strong arms are placed on either side of my body, caging me against the counter. The person behind me bends down slightly and nuzzles their nose into my hair. I pull my shoulders up and inch closer to the counter.

"You smell amazing," a familiar voice whispers in my ear.

"Get away from me," I hiss through clenched teeth.

"I wish I could but you are just pulling me in with your sexy little body." One of Tommy's hands wanders to my waist, squeezing slightly. "Don't be afraid. I won't do anything you don't want me to but I have a feeling you're going to beg me for a whole lot very soon."

I begin to shake a little at his words, mostly out of disgust but a sliver out of fear and shame. "If you are not going to do anything I don't want you to then you'll let go of me right now!" I urge and slap his hand from my waist. To my surprise, he actually takes a few steps back. I turn around and glare at him. "Don't ever touch me again."

"Come on, princess. It is all fun and games. I didn't even do anything, did I? You're not hurt or anything." I can see in his eyes that he is intoxicated but I don't think its from alcohol.

"What did you take?" I ask him before I can stop myself.

"Just some blow, you care for a line, princess?" Cocaine. Great. He's insane.

"No." Not in the mood for alcohol anymore, I make my way out of the kitchen and towards the bonfire. I feel cold and I notice myself shivering. I sit back down in my chair and look into the fire, spacing out. It's not the first time a man touched me inappropriately and I'm pretty sure it won't be the last. It's just the fact that he was high on cocaine and that scared me. I am grateful that he stopped touching me when I told him to. I know that he shouldn't have touched me in the first place but I'm pretty sure that people in a drugged up state of mind are unpredictable. He definitely has a lot of problems with himself if he feels the need to take such a heavy drug. I snap out of my daze when I notice a big hand waving in front of my face.

"Where did you go?" Eli asks me when I look at him. He must've seen something in my expression because he goes on to ask me, "Are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah I'm fine. Tommy is here." I tell him.

"Where?"

"I saw him in the kitchen."

"Where's your wine?" Eli questions, a frown on his face.

I shrug, "I must've forgotten it in the kitchen."

"But that's what you went in there for, no?"

"Yeah, I'm just...really tired. Tommy offered me cocaine so I got confused and left right after he asked me. I didn't care about my drink anymore." I confess, gauging his reaction.

"He did what?!" He yells, making a few people look our way.

"Calm down, I declined and left right away. He was really out of it. I don't think he knew what he was doing." I try to cool down the situation and instinctively lay my hand on Eli's arm. I can feel goosebumps rising along his forearm, making me wonder if he's cold.

"Hey," Bennett calls why walking over to us. I quickly remove my hand from Eli's arm and look up at Ben. "What's with the yelling?" he asks us.

"Tommy's here," Eli gruffly states. "He offered Romy blow."

"Fuck," Ben swears and holds his forehead. "I thought he was done taking that shit."

"It's not that big of a deal, guys. I said no and left, it's all good. Did he not come outside?"

"Yeah, he did. He was at some party, told me all about it and left to go to bed. He leaves for a business trip tomorrow."

"How long?" Eli grunts.

"Two weeks, I believe."

"I'm gonna talk to him about the cocaine when he is back. I'm really sorry about what happened, Romy. I really thought he matured a little but apparently, that's not the case." Ben says, trying to maintain the peace.

I just nod, growing more tired by the second. I can't say I'm not relieved that I don't have to see Tommy for the next two weeks. Right now, I just want a hot shower and my bed. I look around the yard and notice that only a handful of people are still there. Tess and Simon are nowhere to be seen. They must be getting along very well. I'm happy for her. She always complains about not getting enough action. Now she's got someone to entertain her in ways I can't. I steal another glance at Eli. His jaw is tightly clenched and I begin to wonder if that's the natural state of his jaw. His eyebrows are furrowed, lips pursed and he seems to be deep in thought. Someone calls Ben over and as soon as he's out of earshot I lean a little closer to Eli.

"Relax," I tell him and my fingers find their way to his jaw. It's not like I told them to move there, they did that all on their own. They didn't even ask me for permission. I only lightly touch the underside of his jaw with the pad of my fingers but it's enough for him to snap out of his thoughts. His lips part and he looks at me, something dark and dangerous swirling in his green eyes. I immediately take my hand off his face feeling like I offended him somehow. His eyes roam my face before focusing on the fire again. Abruptly, he stands and starts walking away.

"Where are you going?" I ask him, afraid he's going to start something with Tommy. I don't want to be the cause of a fight between the two.

"On a drive," he says over his shoulder.

"Can I come?" I ask hopefully. I love going on a drive at night because I love looking at the night sky when it's full of stars, as cheesy as it is. I remember Eli's truck having a sunroof which is perfect for watching the stars.

"No." Is all he says before disappearing inside the house.