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booksmarts and broomsticks
act iii , turning tables
chapter thirty-five, off with the butterflies

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➖JACKIE O'HARE ➖
august 1993

        "ARE YOU SURE YOU know what you're doing, Penny?" Dria asked with an arched brow as she watched the Ravenclaw apply a foul smelling paste to Jackie's hair.

        "Of course, I do." Penny retorted with a roll of her eyes, as she brushed more of the dye mix onto Jackie's blonde hair.

        "I just don't see why we don't use magic." Tess groaned from where she sat beside Dria on the edge of the bath, watching as Jackie sat on the toilet lid with Penny's focused gaze still on her hair.

         "Because, Tessa, we are going to a Muggle party and therefore I will dye my hair the Muggle way." Jackie retorted, stealing a glance at the Robbins girl only to be chastised by Penny for moving.

        "The Muggle way smells."

        "Think of it as a learning curve." The Hufflepuff shrugged, as she readjusted the towel that sat on her shoulders.

        "Since when are you interested in learning outside of a school environment?" Dria asked amidst a chuckle, furrowing her eyebrows in confusion at her friend's retort.

        "Since I found out I have to write a dissertation for my Muggle Studies NEWT."

        "And you'll be writing your dissertation on Muggle hair care, will you?"

        "Well, I could!"

        "I think you should write it on Muggle currency." Tess chimed in with a broad grin, "It was hilarious watching trying to pay for the hair dye with only ten pence coins."

         "They were all Lorna gave me!"

         "And what exactly does Lorna know about the Muggle world?" Dria asked, doing her best to suppress a chuckle at the thought of Lorna confidently sending her niece out into the Muggle world with only ten pence coins.

         "Fuck all, it seems!"

"Alright, I'm done." Penny suddenly declared, taking Jackie's attention away from her simple aunt as the Ravenclaw began securing a very stylish plastic wrap over the Irish's girl hair.

"How long does she have to keep it on for?" Tess asked, her nose scrunching in distaste. "I'm having a visceral reaction to the smell."

"I don't know I'm guessing half an hour or so." Penny shrugged, as she moved around Jackie and began rinsing her hands in the sink.

"You're guessing?" Jackie repeated with an arched eyebrow at the girl.

"I accidentally threw away the instructions."

"You threw away the instructions?" Dria repeated, her eyes growing wide with incredulity, an expression displayed on both Tess and Jackie'sfaces too.

"Yes, I'm sorry but I'm not going diving in the bin for it after what you—" Penny shot a pointed look at Tess, "—made for breakfast."

"I think you'll find that was a culinary revelation." Tess retorted, folding her arms across her front.

"It was a health code violation." Penny corrected her with an alarmed looked crossing her features.

"Potato, potahto."

"Don't you have to take a food safety test or something to work at Florean's?" Dria queried, her expression mirroring Penny's as she turned to her fellow Gryffindor.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with an answer, my darling Dria."

"I've bought ice cream from you before." Dria reminded Tess, her alarm only growing as she began to nod along with her.

"That was your mistake."

"Sweet Jesus."

However, before any more details could be shared concerning Tess' ineptitude with food safety — which was probably for the better — a loud shout echoed into the bathroom.

"Penny!"

        "What?!"

        "You lazy arses need to come and give us a hand!" Millie shouted from the bottom of the stairs, "I can't manage it all by myself!"

       With a light groan, Penny shook her hand dry and the four girls ushered themselves out of the upstairs bathroom — Jackie, still wearing her hair wrap — and descended the stairs, before weaving through the downstairs room in order to get to the driveway.

          "Holy fuck!"

          The words that left Jackie's mouth perfectly summarised Dria's own feelings as they reached the driveway and her jaw dropped. As they approached Millie's car, the blonde couldn't help but shake her head incredulously at the sight; every door was wide open displaying bags upon bags of bottles and cans, with bright coloured brands written across their exteriors, sat on the seats and filling the boot of the vehicle.

        "Well, don't just stand there!" The older Clearwater cried at the four amazed girls, who still stood frozen in place.

       "How much did you buy?" Tess cried with a chuckle, as the four of them began approaching the car, perusing through the carrier bags.

        "A fair amount." Millie shrugged, nonchalantly with a small smirk.

        "You've stuffed the footwells, Millie!"

        "You can never have too much lemonade, okay?" The older Clearwater retorted in response to her sister's incredulous exclamation. "If you run out of it, you're fucked. People want mixers, Penny!"

         "What's this?" Jackie asked, with an arched eyebrow as she pulled a glass bottle of misty-looking liquid from one of the bags in the boot.

         "This is a magical thing called Smirnoff Ice, my dear Jackie, and I think you will like it very much." Millie winked at the Irish girl whose face broke out into a shit-eating grin as she fastened her grip on the bottle.

       "How did they let you buy all this?" Dria asked, as she began hanging bags upon her arms, shooting the older girl a curious look — even with her limited knowledge of Muggles she assumed buying so much alcohol wouldn't be seen as custom.

        "Still unsure." Millie shrugged, as she followed suit and began hoisting bags onto her arms. "Pretty sure the guy thought I was a raging alcoholic."

        "Unsurprising." Penny grumbled as she unloaded more bags from the front seat footwells.

        "Good job, I've got a great smile eh?" Her sister responded with a wink, before slamming the boot shut as quickly walking up the drive. "C'mon, I'm going to use mum's pottery as a punch bowls. I'll need help!"

***

         "OH, WE'RE HALFWAY THERE! WOAH, LIVIN' ON A PRAYER! TAKE MY HAND, WE'LL MAKE IT, I SWEAR—!"

Dria had never been so fascinated by her surroundings than in the moment when she looked around the beach house from where she sat with Penny on the staircase that evening, watching as the house flooded with Muggles. She wasn't a stranger to a party but, in that moment, she highly doubted that a post-Quidditch match celebration in the Gryffindor Common Room was something she could compare to this.

The hour stood at about nine o'clock and the house had only been in the throes of the party for the best part of hour, but holy fucking merlin.

A stereo — which Millie had shown her how to set up — was blasting loud rock tunes at a volume that had first made Dria's wince but after a few bottles of something called Hooch, she didn't mind it so much. The room was not very well lit apart from the few lights that bordered the room, but the blonde still had to squint to make out people's faces. Every surface seemed to be cluttered with red solo cups or empty bottles of various mixers, and the kitchen counter had been pretty much transformed into a bar top thanks to Millie and her friend, Amy.

Dria had no idea how many people were walking around the house — who was invited and who wasn't. At first, she'd been a little apprehensive. After all, she had barely functioned with Muggles and she'd never been to a house party, but that feeling soon dissipated as she got chatting to a few of them and her cup kept get topped up. However, the same could not be said for Penny.

"My parents are gonna kill us." The Ravenclaw muttered from where she sat beside Dria on the staircase, her eyes wide as she scanned the surroundings. "We're gonna die."

"That's it, I'm getting you a drink." Dria declared, slapping her hands down on her thighs and rising up from her sat down position.

"How many people do you reckon are here?" Penny called to her, her tone raising above that of the music as she quickly rose up and followed Dria down the rest of the stairs.

"Drink!" Dria simply retorted, as she bustled through some people huddled at the bottom of the stairs.

"Dria—"

"Drink!" The blonde silenced her friend, as they found themselves at one of the many make-shift drinks table that had appeared in the house.

Dria grabbed one of the untouched solo cups and spared a glance at a girl stood a few feet from her, pouring a selection of liquids into her cup. Memorising the bottles, once she'd left, Dria quickly slipped into her place and blended a drink of a similar fashion before presenting it to her friend, who wore a helpless look as she took it from her.

Penny took a sip from the cup before her eyebrows furrowed upon seeing the smirk that had settled on her friend's lips as her blue eyes feel on something behind the Ravenclaw girl.

"Hey, you!" Dria called to a tall boy that had been shuffling through the party up until she'd called him over.

"Hello?" He greeted with slight confusion, at which Dria only flashed him a smile before linking her arm through his and turning him to look at Penny.

"Yes, you see this lovely girl here?" She asked him, her smirk finding its way back onto her lips as she took another swig of her drink, and Penny shot her a warning glance. "If you see her with her cup empty, it's your job to refill it, understand?"

"Dria, I have a boyfriend." The Ravenclaw said in a lower voice as she pulled the blonde towards her.

"He doesn't need to know that." Dria shrugged, shooting the girl a quick wink at which she groaned. "Just let him help you get hammered."

"You're annoying."

"Alright, have fun!" The blonde cried, patting her friend on the arm and turning to smile at the tall boy across from them. "I'm going to find Jackie."

"I LOVE SMIRNOFF ICE!"

It was almost as if the universe had heard her request when Dria's eyes shot to the doorway to the kitchen where a very intoxicated Jackie O'Hare — her hair now successfully dyed back to its natural ebony colour — was leaning against the doorframe with a bottle, of what Dria had learned to be, Smirnoff Ice in hand.

"Found her." Penny groaned, as she raised her hand to her face in attempt to bury her worries.

"Drink!" Dria simply cried, as she assisted the Ravenclaw by raising the cup to her lips and forcing her to take a gulp. "I'll find Tess then!"

If Penny had made any further objection, the stereo that had begun blasting out a guitar riff drowned her out from Dria's ears. Her bottle of Hooch was still clutched in her hand as she manoeuvred her way through the sea of partygoers through the living room and kitchen, before she found herself standing outside on the deck where her eyes quickly landed upon a familiar dark-haired figure.

"Here you are!" The blonde cried, causing Tess to whip around and for Dria to notice the four figures her fellow Gryffindor had been speaking with. "Oh, hey guys!"

          Dria cracked a smile in the direction of Lorcan, Amir, Hettie and Isolde who stood huddled together in a group as they chatted to Tess on the deck. They responded to her exclamation with muffled greetings and waves as they began shuffling their way towards her.

        "You look gorgeous!" Hettie exclaimed as she stepped forward and embraced the blonde who spared her a light chuckle.

         "Thanks, so do you!"

         "See you inside?" Amir piped up, arching an eyebrow at Dria as Hettie stepped out of their embrace, and the four of them edged closer to the door into the kitchen.

        "Yeah, yeah. Sure!" Dria assured them with a vigorous nod, as she stepped out of their way and moved next to Tess.

        The blonde was quick to note how forlorn the Robbins girl looked when she stood by her side. Tess was leaning on the edge of the deck, looking hopelessly off into the distance as she pulled her denim jacket closer around her to protect her from the slight chill of the summer breeze.

        "Are you still waiting for Una?" Dria asked in a soft tone, offering her bottle of Hooch in her direction.

       "She said she'd show." Tess let out a low sigh as she shook her head at Dria's offer, causing the blonde to retract her arm and take a swig of the drink herself.

        "It's still early, Tess." The blonde told her with a small smile, as she threw an arm around her. "I'm sure she's coming."

       "Hope so."

       No sooner had Tess said her reply did the sound of a light pop enter their midst, causing the Robbins girl to perk up, looking into the dark with wide eyes.

        "Alright, Lockaby?"

        Dria could feel Tess' body sag under her arm as her own smile grew at the sight of Nate Squire emerging out of the darkness and into the dim light of the porch. The blonde shot her friend a sympathetic smile, but Tess brushed her off discreetly encouraging her to greet the boy.

         "Nate, you made it!" Dria chuckled with a wide grin, as she set down her drink on a nearby table and moved towards the boy who embraced her in a tight hug.

        "Of course, I did. Who am I turn down such a gracious invitation?" Nate replied, as smooth as ever, before stepping out of the hug and looking over the blonde with a small smirk. "You are looking very nice as usual."

        "You don't scrub up too bad, yourself." Dria chuckled, mirroring his smirk as she gestured at the t-shirt he wore that made his biceps look awfully good.

        The blonde only managed to pry her eyes away from the sight when she sensed movement around the two of them, and her eyes widened in surprise upon seeing that Nate had not come alone.

        "Oh, Alita! ... Hi!" The blonde began awkwardly as she greeted the Gryffindor girl who stood closest to Nate, before extending her gaze beyond to where her other three friends stood; Vixen Heron, Florence Russell and Ruby Otters. "Hey, you guys."

        The four of them offered light-hearted greetings as Dria sensed Tess' presence now next to her as she made to greet the newcomers.

        "Tess, have you invited everyone from school?" The blonde whispered to her friend with slight concern lacing her tone.

        "Not everyone!" The Robbins girl retorted, all the while a smile still on her lips before she turned her attention back to the new arrivals. "Go on in, guys!"

        The four girls were quick to obey Tess' encouragement, no doubt to remove themselves from the uncomfortable silence that had begun to grow over their encounter. However, Nate was never one to be dissuaded by a simple silence.

        "So what's a guy got to do to get a drink around here?" He asked, arching a brow at the blonde before him who instantly calmed as she let out a chuckle.

        "Come on in." She smiled, placing her hands on his forearm and beginning to lead him up onto the deck and into the kitchen.

        She noticed him wince suddenly at the volume upon entering the house, as the rock music persisted — a song was now playing about giving love a bad name. Dria wasn't sure she understood the sentiment behind the songs but could confirm they were awfully catchy.

         "Hey Dria!"

         The blonde whipped around in the direction of where her name was called only to find Millie, leaning on the kitchen counter as she fanned a tray of cupcakes.

        "Who is this?" She grinned, her eyes landing on Nate who shot her a charming smile, as she waited for a response.

        "Millie, this is Nate." Dria explained, with a knowing smile. "He's from school."

         "Well, hello." Millie simply grinned, earning a chuckle from the boy at the blonde's side, before the Clearwater girl's attention flicked back to the tray in her hands. "Either of you want a cupcake?"

        "You made cupcakes?" Dria asked with an arched brow as she hesitantly took one from the tray.

          "I wanted to do brownies, but I forgot to buy the chocolate." Millie shrugged as though it was the most obvious thing in the world, as Nate politely declined one for himself.

        "Yet you bought seventeen litres of lemonade?"

         "I never said I was perfect!" Millie defended, shooting the girl a horrified look before shaking her head in dismay. "You need another drink, you're still too witty." Her attention to Nate. "Pretty boy, please get some more alcohol into this girl."

        Nate only laughed as Dria took a bite of the cupcake in her hands and began nodding at the taste, shooting Millie a look of approval as the Hufflepuff boy through an arm around her.

        "It'll be my pleasure."

***

         "IS SHE DEAD?"

         "On the verge, I reckon." Tess replied to Dria's question, from where she knelt on the bathroom floor, her hand delicately stroking the back of Penny whose head was hovering over the toilet.

        "Dria, you were right about the drinking." The Ravenclaw suddenly exclaimed with a giddy laugh. "I have never been so relax—"

        The sound of loud retch came next as Penny cut herself off by vomiting into the toilet, causing the three people watching the scene to exchange a grimace.

       "I am not taking responsibility for this." Dria giggled, as she sank onto the bathroom floor with Nate sitting beside her and leaning her head on his shoulder.

         "You know Tess," Penny began once more as she rose her head up once more from the toilet bowl. "In some alternate universe where I wasn't with Percy, and you weren't with Una — you and I would make a hot couple."

        "Oh, Penelope."

        "You know what, I agree." Dria nodded a little too vigorously, as she registered Penny's statement. "You guys would be hot."

        "How much have you had to drink?" Tess asked the blonde with an unamused look crossing her features.

        Dria only shot her giddy smile before burying her face in Nate's shoulder and proceeding to giggle like a five year old — at which the Robbins girl shot the boy beside her an expectant look.

        "She's not had that much." He explained, an amused chuckle on his lips at the girl's antics. "Although, I've been trying to keep her off the cupcakes."

        "They're so good!" Dria gushed excitedly, at the mention of the treat, her head shooting up from Nate's shoulder as she looked over at Tess with eager eyes. "Millie made them!"

         "Oh no." The Robbins girl's face fell into an expression of worry. "How many have you had?"

        Dria pressed her lips together and squinted her eyes in exaggerated thought before sending the girl a shrug and leaning back on the Hufflepuff by her side.

        "Like two?"

        "More like five." The boy at her side corrected her with knowing grin.

        "Shh!" The blonde replied, her eyebrows furrowing as she placed a pout on her lips, giving Nate a look of betrayal.

         "Damnit Dria, they're full of weed!" Tess exclaimed with an exasperated sigh, her hand still rubbing Penny's back as she let out another retch. "You're high as a fucking kite right now!"

        "What's weed?" Dria giggled, finding great amusement in the word that left Tess' lips as she buried her face in Nate's shoulder again.

       "How could you let her get like this?" Tess hissed at the Hufflepuff who shot her a helpless look in response.

        "Hey! I didn't know she was getting blazed!"

       "I want more cupcakes." Dria huffed as her giggling subsided and she looked up at Nate.

       "You, shut up." Tess chastised the blonde, who simply stuck her tongue out in response to her friend's request. "You've lost the right to contribute."

        "Tess, could you get me another gin?" Penny's voice echoed from within the toilet, causing Tess to let out a long groan.

       "I cannot believe I'm the most sober one here." She cried, before replying to Penny's request. "You're out of it, Dria's off with the fucking butterflies and Merlin knows where Jackie is!"

        At the sound of the Irish girl's name, Dria's eyes lit up and she quickly scurried to her feet from where she sat on the bathroom floor.

        "I'll go find her!"

        "Dria, no—!"

        With her giddy smile never once fading, the blonde girl giggled away to herself as she ran from the bathroom and tried desperately to steady herself as she descended the stairs.

         "Jackie!" She cried out aimlessly into the dark living room that was still swarming with people — if she didn't recognise anyone before, there was no way in hell she was going to now.

         Therefore how lucky she was when her shoulder bumped with Amir's who was making his way through the room with a tray of the brightly coloured shots from the kitchen.

        "Amir!" Dria greeted, her manner a great deal overexcited, "Hey, have you seen Jackie?"

        "She's in the kitchen." He told her, his own smile as giddy as hers, as he tried to control the wobbling tray in his hands. "You want a shot?"

        "Sure!"

       But as soon as she picked up the shot glass containing bright green liquid, it was quickly seized from her grasp and placed back down.

        "No, she's good!" Nate's voice rang out causing Dria to let out a large sigh as Amir moved on and she turned to face the Hufflepuff Chaser.

        "Nate, why are you being a buzzkill?" She whined, her eyes narrowing as he put an arm around her.

         "How does a glass of water sound?" He asked, trying desperately to hide the amusement her childish demeanour brought him.

         "Boring!"

        "Come on, cupcake." He chuckled, as he ushered her in the direction of the kitchen, Dria's pout slowly turning into a small smile at his actions.

       When they reached the kitchen door, the boy nodded at her, inviting her to go in first at which she very ungracefully threw herself against the door, forcing it to open.

         There was a large group of people in the room all stood in a circle around the counter, each with a drink before them, looking to be playing some sort of drinking game. They were all cheering loudly, at which Dria followed their gazes only to see two of the people in the circle heavily making out with each other. She let out a light laugh at the sight, before her blue eyes widening in recognition.

         "Damn, Jackie!"

        She could feel Nate chuckling beside her as he let out a loud whistle at the sight.

        "Go on, O'Hare!"

        After participating in their fair share of the applause and Nate declining to join in on both their behalf — which deeply upset Dria — the Hufflepuff whisked her away from the group and towards the door to the deck.

        "Jackie is really fucking fit, isn't she?" Dria mused as the light sea breeze hit her face upon stepping outside. Nate shot her an amused look. "What? She is. Don't you think so?"

        "I think you're pretty fit, actually." Nate countered, as he encouraged her to take a seat on one of the benches that lined the deck.

        "Aw, that's cute." She grinned, however not budging at which he rolled his eyes and playfully shoved her towards the bench.

        "There you go, sit down there and I'll be right back, okay?" He instructed her with a small smile, as she reluctantly did as she was told. "Don't go running into the ocean or anything?"

        Dria only smirked in response, folding her arms over her chest and leaning back onto the back of the bench.

        "Don't tempt me."

        With a final wink at her, the Squire boy left the girl on the deck and disappeared back into the house. The blonde let out a light huff, her eyes flitting towards the ocean however before any bad ideas could enter her inebriated brain, the sound of a voice caught her off guard. 

        "Hey, Dria!"

        "Oh my God, Una!" Dria replied in response to the cheery voice that entered her midst and the red-haired girl who making her way up the deck.

        "I'm sorry I'm late." She smiled, taking a hair through her fiery hair. "Is Tess around?"

        "Uh-huh, she's upstairs." Dria nodded with a complacent smile, at which the ex-Head Girl made to enter the house. "Oh, Una?"

        "Yeah?"

        Dria twisted in her seat so she could face Una who was stood just before the doorway, reaching for the handle, arching a brow at the blonde girl.

        "I may be completely blazed or whatever right now but please note that if you pull any bullshit and upset my friend, I will end you.
And by I, I mean I'll get Jackie to do it because I'm not very strong and would never go through with it." Dria stated simply, continuing to grin up at the red-head. "I also bruise easy — like a peach, Penny says!"

        "Oh, right." Una replied steadily, letting out a shaky breath before pulling the door open and passing by Nate as she entered the house.

        "Bye!" Dria cried cheerily, as Nate shot her a confused look as he shut the door behind and moved to sit next to her.

        "Here you are!" He smiled, presenting her with a glass of water, before his smile falsettos back into its former looks of confusion. "Were you just threatening Una Callahan?"

         "You bet."

        "Well, high Dria is certainly something." The Hufflepuff chuckled, shaking his head as he leant back onto the bench beside her.

        "Yeah, she says what regular Dria is thinking." The blonde agreed as she took a light sip of water, surprised at how good it actually tasted.

         "And what is regular Dria thinking?" Nate asked, his usual smirk back on his face, as he twisted his body to face her. "Is she thinking about me?"

        "Maybe." Dria shrugged, after taking another gulp of water, placing a smirk on her own lips. "She doesn't kiss and tell."

         "Well, that is awfully disappointing."

         "Why? You want to kiss me, do you Squire?" She asked, overwhelmed by the amount of confidence rushing through her veins.

        "I do as a matter of fact." He confessed, his tone laced with a light chuckle as he tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "But not when you're so out of it."

         "You're annoying." Dria groaned, her shoulder slumping and leaning back into her relaxed position, taking another gulp of water at which the Squire boy only chuckled.

        "I better be heading off." He declared after a moment, sparing a glance at the watch on his wrist which read just after midnight. "You think you'll be alright?"

        "Me and my water are gonna be great." Dria replied with a narrow look at him as he got up from his seat beside her.

        "Try and stay away from the cupcakes, huh?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow as he jogged down the steps of the porch with a grin.

        "If I must!"

        "I'll see you later, Lockaby!"

        And with that, another loud pop entered the air and the Hufflepuff Chaser disappeared from view. Dria let out a soft chuckle and lightly rolled her eyes at the thought of boy, bringing her face back down to her water once more.

         "Oh Dria, there you are!" Millie's voice quickly interrupted the stillness of the deck which Dria had slightly began to enjoy. "Give the rest of these out, will you?"

        Millie had barged through the kitchen door with another tray of cupcakes in hand which she forcefully threw into Dria's grasp.

         "How many fucking cupcakes have you made?" The blonde asked incredulously, as she looked on tray in front of her.

        "This is the third batch!" The Clearwater girl declared, before rushing back inside the house with the same intensity she'd rushed out.

         "Muggles are fucking weird." Dria whispered into the night air, as her fingertips danced over the tops of the cupcakes in her grasp.

        She pursed her lips in thought, taking one in hand and beginning to pick at the wrapper. The blonde spared a look to her left and right, before a small grin settled on her face.

        However, she hadn't even opened her mouth when a loud crash came from her left and the kitchen door flew open causing the blonde to throw the cupcake away in surprise.

        "I wasn't eating it, I swear—!"

        However, she stopped herself in her tracks, her face contorting into a look of confusion as her eyes landed on the figure that had stormed out.

       "What's up with you?" The blonde couldn't stop herself from asking, as her eyes landed on Lorcan McLaggen whose face was fixed into an expression of frustration as he fiddled with a packet of cigarettes in his hands.

        "What are you doing out here?" He asked, his eyes furrowing in confusion, however Dria's eyes were still fixated on the box in his hands.

        "You smoke?"

        "Only when I'm stressed." The blonde boy shrugged as he withdrew a cigarette from the box and put it between his lips.

        "What are you stressed about?" Dria asked, her eyebrows furrowing in confusion as her hands still grasped the cupcake tray.

       "None of your business." He snapped back, his words slightly muffled by the cigarette in his mouth as he withdrew a lighter from his pocket and lit his cigarette with a sharp click.

        "Alright!" Dria exclaimed, gaining back a bit of gumption as she rose to her feet. "Don't be a dick to me, I'm being nice."

         Lorcan pulled the cigarette from his lips and closed his eyes, before letting out a shake exhale, a stream of smoke leaving his lips as he began slowly nodding in response.

        "You're right, sorry." He sighed, leaning on the edge of the deck and outstretching the burning cigarette in her direction. "You want a drag?"

       "Nah, I'm good." Dria shook her head with a polite smile, before realising the tray was still in her hands and deciding to mirror the gesture. "You want a cupcake?"

        "Why the fuck do you have cupcakes?"

        "Why the fuck do you have this attitude?"

        Lorcan let out a light chuckle, before he took another drag from his cigarette and shot her an amused look.

        "Touché." He agreed with her, before he tore his gaze from her and focused out at the ocean.

        "You want one?" Dria persisted, taking a step closer and standing beside him, picking up a cupcake and offering it to him.

        Another stream of smoke left his lips, as he looked back at her and then down at the cupcake.

        "Yeah." He shrugged, taking it from her before his gaze flitted back to the sea and he let out another deep exhale. "Girls are the worst."

         Dria's eyebrows contorted into a look of confusion as she discarded the cupcakes on a nearby table, presssing her lips together and trying to think of an appropriate response.

        "I'm inclined to disagree unless you give me some context, McLaggen." She muttered, folding her arms across her chest as he stood up straight from where he leant against the edge of the deck.

         He looked her over for a moment, Dria tried to read what he was thinking behind his sapphire eyes but to no avail. The boy simply took another drag of his cigarette and blew it out into the night air, before beginning to talk once more.

        "Say you like a girl, hypothetically, right?"

        "Hypothetically, right." Dria agreed, her eyes suddenly wide at the realisation that the boy before her had elected to confide in her.

         "And you've been trying to show her that you like her, and you know warm her up to the idea of maybe the two of you being a thing?" He began, in a sort of frenzy of words as he held the burning cigarette between his fingers before taking a bite of the cupcake. "You know, hypothetically? And she's hasn't exactly been opposing the idea but at the same time hasn't outright said yes. So you feel like you're just sort of holding out—"

        He stopped himself suddenly, his face contorting into an expression of confusion as he looked down at the cupcake in his hands.

        "What the fuck is in this cupcake?"

        "Don't worry about it." Dria dismissed him, her head still trying to follow the narrative he was trying to paint. "You're holding out?"

         "Yeah, you're holding out for some sign that you know there are feelings back?" He went on, after taking another large bite of the cupcake. "And you're pretty confident that there are, but the longer it goes on, the more you begin to feel used. And then you see her making out with a someone else, and you're just like how fucking stupid could I possibly be? ... Hypothetically, of course."

         He shot her a look that she couldn't quite read, it was a side to the boy she'd never seen before and she wasn't quite sure how to respond to it. In the end, she let out a quiet sigh and took a step closer to him, shooting him a sympathetic smile.

        "Well, I'd hypothetically be very sorry." She began, steadily. "As it sounds like this person has really had their feelings hurt, and that's pretty shit."

        "Thanks, hypothetically—"

        "We both know it's not hypothetical, Lorcan."

        "Fair enough." The blonde boy shrugged, as he let out another breath of smoke, before his eyebrows furrowed and he looked back at her. "Can I have another cupcake?"

        "Yeah, go for it." Dria shrugged, nodding to where the cupcakes sat on a nearby table.

        Lorcan moved over, placing his cigarette between his lips once more so he could use his hands to grab another cupcake.

        "What would you do?" He asked, his words once again muffled slightly, as he moved over to sat the bench she just been sat on.

        "I'm not exactly a romance guru." Dria chuckled, her eyes wide in slight amusement at his query.

        "Still, I'm asking." He sighed, leaning back on the bench, his gaze meeting hers from across the deck. "You cared enough to listen."

        Dria let out a light sigh at his words, before taking a few steps towards him and sitting down beside him, the cogs in her brain slowly turning so as to think of how to respond.

        "I think you should reassess whether this girl is really worth all this trouble." She replied eventually, her tone resolute as she turned to face him. "Look, I think you're an arse a lot of the time but no one should be made to feel like this."

        Lorcan let out a light chuckle at her words as he picked at the cupcake wrapper in his hands, sparing her a fond glance.

       "It's not good for you, and I'm a big advocate for moving on from things that aren't good for you." She persisted, beginning to nod as the words she spoke slowly began to resonate. "Especially, when it comes to you know love, I guess."

       "Thought you weren't a romance guru?" Lorcan chuckled, as he casually began stumping out the cigarette on the arm of the bench.

       "Maybe the weed brings it out in me?" She chuckled, with a light-hearted shrug.

        "The what?"

        "Nothing!"

        A small silence passed between the two of them, before they eventually collapsed into a bout of chuckling.

        "You know, maybe moving on from it is the best idea." Lorcan muttered, his gaze once more looking out at the sea, Dria could see his brain trying to digest her advice through the furrow of his brow.

        "I'm partial to it." She shrugged, leaning back on the bench with a satisfied smile on her lips.

        The McLaggen boy let out a sharp breath before sitting up straight and turning to face to the blonde girl beside him with a resolute look on his face.

        "Well, here goes nothing."

         Dria's eyebrows furrowed quickly at his statement, her brain slowly trying to make sense of it.

        "What do you mean—?"

        But before she could even finish her query, she was silenced by his lips colliding with her own.

        Her brain suddenly woke up from whatever drug-induced daze it had been in until that moment, but despite her being completely aware of her surroundings, she didn't fight the natural response that came as he kissed her. Her lips danced against his in a momentary state of nirvana, the taste of strong smoke and desperation making their kiss only more fervent as she tightly gripped the collar of his jacket and he pulled her body closer to his.

        It was a kind of high she'd never felt before, and even though her practical brain was telling her how wrong it was, it was that fact that sparred on the other side of her brain that relished the feeling of his lips on hers — it was pure lust.

        Dria could feel herself slowly coming down from the high as the both of them gasped for air, their lips mere inches from each other, and the lusty fog that enraptured them momentarily slowly began to fade away.

       Heavy breaths were the only sound made between them as they slowly slipped out of one another embrace, both of their eyes wide as they tried to fathom what had just occurred between them.

       Straightening his jacket ever so slightly, Lorcan eventually rose from his seat, his gaze still fixed on Dria, as they shared a look between them; a mixture of disbelief and confusion. Clearing his throat, he took a hand through his hair and tore his gaze from hers, before slipping back into the house.

        Dria let out a loud exhale, and wiped her mouth ever so slightly as she sunk back into the bench. On her right was the remainder of his cupcake, she hesitantly picked it up and tore a piece off before popping it into her mouth and letting out another withheld breath.

        "Yep, did not see that coming."

𝖙𝖗𝖎𝖓𝖆 𝖘𝖕𝖊𝖆𝖐𝖘!
might this be my
favourite chapter
to date? yes, maybe
it is. also hope you
liked that little plot
twist, haha whoops!

also just to add, updates
are likely to become a bit
more infrequent due to my
uni commitments and other
things going in the real world!

thank you all for your
understanding <3

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