The Monsters Inside and Out (Scott Howl x Depressed Reader)

46. New Year's (Part 1)

Days later, your excitement has returned to you. It's New Year's Eve, and you're getting ready. In order to make your mom less nervous, she's dropping you off at Vera's house. You told her the party was there, because there won't be loud music, or any form of reckless behavior for her to be worried about. She pulls up to the house, and Vera steps outside with a welcoming smile on her face. Once you and your mom say your goodbyes, your mom waits for you to enter Vera's house. Once you both go back inside and close the door, your mom drives away. You wait a few more minutes just in case, and then you and Vera go off to the real party.

She pulls up to the same house as the other party you went to, and you both get out. You close the car door, and, as per usual, you are tackled into a hug by big boi Scott. He nuzzles into you, and you nuzzle into him. It's only been a week since you've seen eachother, but it ended so abruptly that you need to make up for it. Vera says, "Are you two coming inside, or are you just going to lay in the snow for awhile?" At the exact same time, you and Scott reply, "Lay in the snow." She chuckles, "Okay." Scott flips you both over, so that you're laying on top of him. You tell him, "I'm sorry my aunt had to ruin things for us last time." "It's okay, it was nice while it lasted. How's your arm?" "It's more or less healed already. I don't know if that's normal, or if I just heal faster or something, but I'm not complaining. It leaves my arm free to hug you with." "Good. You smell nice today." "I always smell like this." "Exactly.. How do I smell?" You take a big whiff of the crook of his neck, and tell him, "You smell great." You kiss it, and make more kisses up his neck, until it reaches his mouth. You lock lips with eachother, but before you can continue any further, you're interrupted by Polly saying, "Ewwwww, save it for midnight, you horndogs." You blush and get off the ground, hearing, "Dammit!" You look over to see Zoe walking into the house from behind a bush. Polly floats down in front of you and grabs both your and Scott's hand. She pulls you into the house as she bops her head to the music.

She leads you through the front door and to a side room, where she announces, "The party animals have arrived!" Everyone cheers and raises their cups, welcoming the arrival. The room is filled with the smell of alcohol and the smoke of people's joints. Polly hands you and Scott both a cup and an already-lit joint. You immediately chug whatever's in the cup, and you start greeting your main friends, like Vicky, Brian, Cal, Liam, etc. And then you start greeting some other friends you hadn't seen since school, like Blobert, Dmitri, Dahlia, etc. You see Valerie, Aaravi, and two members of the coven sitting on a couch, so you approach them, and try to say hello. "Hi guys!" Joy and Faith give you the cold shoulder. You look at Valerie worriedly, afraid you had done something wrong. She clarifies, "They're not allowed to speak to you yet, just let them do their thing." They smirk and give you the side eye. They both raise their right hand in tandem and snap their fingers. The doors to the room immediately shut, and the lights dim. You suddenly hear someone shouting your name. "(Y/N)!!!" People move out of the way to reveal Hope. With a cocky look on her face, she walks up to you. She walks slowly, with her arms crossed. You also notice the room has grown exponentially quieter, even the loud music from the next room over can barely be heard. You can hear every single step Hope makes. Once she reaches you, she looks you in the eyes and says, "I challenge you. To a rematch. One round, winner takes all." She smiles with a sinister glint in her eye. Whatever was in the cup that Polly gave you must be working, because you have an undeserved sense of confidence that only Leonard could have. You smile and say, "If that'll make you feel better." Many ooohs are heard from the audience as you receive multiple stares. She turns around walks to a small table with chairs on either side. You follow her and sit down. She snaps her fingers and a big bottle of tequila pours itself into twenty shot glasses. Polly comes up beside the table, standing so the audience can still see. She looks at Hope, and nods at her. She nods back. Polly looks at you, and nods at you. You nod back. She says, "Begin in 3..." You and Hope lock eyes. "2..." You look at everyone else, who's watching in our amazement. "1..." You look down at your shots. "Go!" You pick up two shots, one in each hand, and drink. You put them down and grab another two. Everyone's screaming for either you or Hope. You grab two more, and drink. You glance at Hope, she coughs for a second, and keeps going. You drink two more and you hear, "I love you!" SLAM! Polly hits the table with both hands. You look at Hope's shot glasses. They're all empty. You look at yours, and they're empty too. You and Hope look at Polly to decide the tie breaker. Her dumbfounded expression tells you she doesn't know. Then, a female raspy voice says, "I recorded it!" Everyone looks over at a hooded figure. It seems to be a member of the cult of Zoe. She walks up to the table, and shows the video to Polly. She smiles and raises your hand, "(Y/N)!" Roars echo throughout the room. The crowd of people rush towards you and pick you up, chanting your name. The doors open and people begin carrying you to the room with the music. You look back and see Hope, who seems to be disheartened. Joy and Faith comfort her. You shout, "Wait!" The people stop and the Coven looks at you. You scramble out of the people's grasp and go up to Hope. "It was a very close match, so I declare that Hope is also the winner!" As Hope blushes in embarrassment, the crowd comes back to take both of you into the air, now chanting both of your names. You and Hope join hands and raise them up in the air in victory and triumph.

After only about ten minutes, people seem to get bored of caring you around and you and Hope are eventually put down. Hope says, "Ugh, it's about time they put us down. Jeez. I need some air." You don't see Scott around, he must have gotten lost, and since you've got nothing better to do, you follow the little witch. She steps out onto a balcony, crossing her arms and rests them on the railing. She looks up at the sky, a cold breeze making her hair sway. You lean on the railing as well, thinking about nothing. Breaking the silence, but not looking away from the sky, she asks, "Why did you do that?" "Do what?" "Declare me a winner too." "You looked upset that you didn't win, I just wanted to make you feel better." "Well thanks." "No problem." You continue to stare at the sky. It's very cold out, so you start to shiver. Hope laughs, "You cold?" You nod your head, embarrassed. "Look at me." You lock eyes with her. She takes her thumb and presses it hard on your forehead, and you suddenly feel warmer. "Thank you." She smiles, "No problem." After another moment, she keeps talking, "The night is so clear, it's beautiful." "Yeah, it is." You can't tell for sure, but it seems Hope is standing a little closer to you. She continues, "Hey, so um, do you maybe wanna get out of here? And go somewhere else?" She tenderly touches your hand, and leans in uncomfortably close to your face, her lips parted slightly. With you frozen in fear, her lips meet yours. You quickly withdraw. "Hope, I'm in a relationship." She looks at you. The blush on her face grows, her eyes widen, and she covers her mouth with her hands. "Oh my god! I knew that! I am SO sorry, (Y/N), I was just caught up in the moment, and you came up here with me, and I've already had soooo much to drink, and I-" "Hey! It's okay, it's alright." You awkwardly look away from eachother. You look back inside through the window doors. There's a game of spin the bottle, people are jumping up and down about something, and Cal is absolutely crushing a game of Dance Dance Revolution. Amongst all the madness, you see the same cult member from before, at least you think it's the same one. They have their phone out, and it almost looks like it's pointed at you. "Uh, hey Hope?" "Hm?" "You know Zoe's cult?" "Yeah?" "Don't they usually travel in groups?" "I've never seen one by themself. Why?" You look at Hope, "That one who recorded the match was by herself, and I see one over there by themself." "Where?" You both turn to look, but she appears to be gone. Instead, you see Joy and Faith approaching. They step outside and say, "There you two are! We've been looking everywhere for you! We were worried that you were dropped and trampled or something! What are you two doing out here?" You and Hope both answer, "Just looking at the starts," at the same time. Scott steps out, "There you are!" He hugs you, and you look over at Hope, who looks embarrassed. Joy says, "You wanna come back inside, or stay out here?" Hope goes back inside with Joy and Faith, and you and Scott sit outside for a little longer, gazing at the stars.