Detaching Hankalankybastard from Quinn proves to be difficult, and it takes all my body’s momentum to pull him off so Taylor can giggle and say hello. I drag him over to the kitchen so I can yell at him for losing Seth again while he pours me a shot. My buzz wore off a long time ago, and the headache is ongoing. 

“He said he had to piss.” Hank shrugs, his dark eyes darting over the bottle of tequila and the inch or so left at the bottom. “I think we overdid it.” 

“No shit.” I give him a half assed glare before I scan the room. “I haven’t seen him drunk like this since...well, ever.” Seth never lets loose.

“He was having fun, though.” 

I turn back around to find the classic Hanker plead, with his chin set in his hands and lips pursed while his stare crosses from the effort. 

“Help me find him,” I demand. “Last time he was busy making out with your fan.”

Hank giggles while he side steps around the counter, then plops an arm over my shoulders. “He could do worse, you know.” 

Seth does do worse. Much worse. 

Hank closes the door to his bedroom before I get a good long look, but it was enough of a glimpse for me to catch the details I need for my stomach to hurtle underground.  

“Shouldn’t we stop them?” I whisper, shaking my head to help clear my brain of that image while Hank guides me further down the hall towards the bathroom. I can tell by the clenched look all over his face that he wants to intervene, and the way he’s twisting the bottom of his shirt in a fist is plain enough. “Hank-!”

“I’ll handle it, you just-” His mouth clamps closed while the bathroom door swings open and the dance buddy of the year emerges drying his hands on his tank top. “Hey, Q...can you take Maya back?” 

“I don’t-”

“You’re not walking alone.” The harshness in that statement is plenty to shut me up and follow my new friend into the crowd. I’d be fine alone.

The music bumps louder than ever while we squeeze our way into the mosh. Before I fully lose those bright auburn strands in the dark, his cold fingers are gripping mine and pulling me through the mess of bodies. 

Quinn doesn’t say anything until we’re on the path to the woods leading back to main campus and I’m wiggling my hand free. “What happened?”

“Nothing.” My response is much too quick, which he tells me by exhaling loudly enough for me to hear. “I saw something I wasn’t supposed to,” I mumble under my breath. 

“Is that why we got kicked out?” 

“We didn’t get kicked out! The party’s almost over, anyway. It’s nearly one, and that’s when quiet hours start-” I snap my mouth closed when I hear him chuckling at me. “Shush.” 

“Hank seemed mad.”

“Yeah, well…” I trail off and peek at him out of the corner of my eye. “Not at you, so...you actually passed his inspection, which doesn’t happen often.” 

Quinn’s lips twitch into a tight grin, and he continues simply observing his worn black sneakers stepping along the sidewalk. It’s in that moment I realize he’s shortened his gate tremendously so he doesn't out-stroll me, and it makes me feel all kinds of weird. 

“You really don’t have to walk me back,” I say as lightly as I can manage. “I’m fine on my own.” 

He looks at me then, his eyes appearing almost silver when they catch the glare off the last lamp post while we dip towards the path through the trees. “We’re going the same direction, anyway.” 

Right. I bite the tip of my tongue while my brain punches itself. I live in special housing on the freshman quad. Nice going, Maya.

“So…” His pitch takes a bit of a dive, and he rasps out a gentle cough to clear his throat. “Did you see Seth hooking up with that girl or something?” 

My gasp brings my body into an actual hop when I startle completely. “You saw…?!”

“I was looking for the bathroom, and that wasn’t the bathroom.” Quinn offers me the tiniest of shrugs, then brushes a pine branch out of his way. 

“Oh, uh…” I gulp down how sick this is making me feel and start playing with stray strands of my hair instead of kicking a tree trunk. “That’s his ex, well...kinda. I mean-I dunno!” My arms fling themselves in the air, nearly knocking into his shoulder, but he dodges just in time for my outburst. Guess the tequila’s hitting me now. 

“Leigh asked to go on a break, but in reality I think she’s done with him, but like...this is not how you go about ending things, you know?!” I trip over nothing, and he starts to react to help me in some way, but I’m already skipping forward. “I didn’t even see her there tonight, but then again I’m like a dwarf’s height and that place was so fucking stuffed-but I would’ve done it differently if I knew she was there, so-”

“It’s not your fault.” 

“Huh?” I slow down just a bit to watch Quinn drag a hand across his mouth. 

“You’re not responsible for him,” he mutters a tad roughly.

I’m about to explode at this fireboy about friendship and watching out for each other while drinking, but he simply...stops moving. 

“Ah-!” I nearly trip in my scramble to backtrack, then slowly scan his frozen body while he stares wide-eyed at the dark path ahead of us. “Are you okay?” I whisper, because yikes. 

I swear I see his jaw twitch before he shakes himself out and peers down at me with a forced grin. “Thought I saw someone. Startled me.” 

“Oh-”

“Let’s go.” He grasps my hand again, but this time his fingers are anything but cold. 

I flinch when the sweat on his palm seeps into mine, until I decide I don’t care. I hate the woods, and soon enough I’m running ahead and dragging the chuckling ginger-boy along with me while I mutter about ghosts under my breath.