Chapter Twenty Seven : Need

A/N Thank you to all who take the time to read, vote and comment on this story. I almost felt like giving up in the beginning because it was getting so little reads! But I pressed on and now I have more than I ever thought I would. I didn't think this story would reach 14k but it has, so again thank you! Ps, what do you think of the new cover? Did you like the other one better?

After two weeks of good behavior, my grounding was over. Gemma wanted to throw a party in celebration of my so called freedom, but partying was the entire reason I was punished to begin with. I wanted nothing but stay out of trouble and avoid parties, not to mention I would definitely see Dakota there, who was the one person I was trying to avoid. Maybe I'm not cut out for the social life of a teenager. I felt out of place if I drank, out of place if I didn't, there was no winning over my guilty conscience. Part of me still wanted to apologize to him, even forgive him if he gave me some half assesed apology, I wouldn't care. Part of me wanted to get past this and move on, I just wanted things to go back to the way they were before all this happened. The other part wanted him to own up to his mistakes, instead of expecting me to let it slide like many times before.

"Are you coming to my party?" Gemma asked me during lunch.

"Probably not."

"You can bring your new boy." Jane said with a devious grin, her pearl white teeth gleaming at me.

"He's a friend." I said, it seemed I constantly had to reassure Gemma and Jane that Michael and I were only that. But Jane was convinced we were something more, it turned out she wasn't always right. It wouldn't be fair to Michael for me to have feelings for him. I had just met him a couple weeks ago and the only time we can held a conversation was during football practice, other than the time he invited me over.

"It'll be fun. I promise." Gemma clutched onto my arm with a smile.

"Like I haven't heard that before." I chuckled before taking a sip of soda, staring off into the distance across the field. More or less pretending not to notice Dakota who was sat with Eva and Queenie, along with Alex and his goons, they might as well have been his bodyguards. I know the team comes first but Alex is a class A prick and I didn't ever see myself getting along with him or the rest of the seniors on the team. Maybe it was some sort of aura seniors gave off that made them so unapproachable to me.

I was lost in my own thoughts before I realized that Queenie was standing right in front of me with her fiery red hair that fell down the sides of her face, and for a moment she came off as pretty attractive. Seemingly falling into her spell. Queenie was tempting, more now that she hadn't meddled into my life for sometime. That was until she opened her mouth and I was reminded of how utterly annoying she was.

"I hear you have a new toy." She smirked as she spoke to me, her lips a deep red.

"Please, leave Queenie." Jane said with a spiteful smirk.

"Now you can't speak for yourself and you have to get these two sluts to stand up for you?" She scoffed with arms crossed. I sighed and shook my head, grabbing my rubbish and throwing it in the trashcan, starting my way back into the school. And without uttering a single word, I began walking away from her.

"So what, now you're just going to walk away from me?!" She said with a raised voice, loud enough for the entire school to hear.

"Yes." I grinned, throwing up a hand to wave her off.

Later that afternoon, I apologized to Gemma and Jane for up and leaving without saying anything to them. I couldn't stand being around Queenie, maybe if she wasn't such a bitch, people would want to talk to her. But it was as if she purposely went out of her way to make other people's lives a living hell. It was the only social interaction she'd get.

I swung my duffel bag over my shoulder, making my way into the locker room to change into my uniform, which I noticed was starting to get a little tight in weird places. But I figured it had only shrunk and left it at that, never thinking about it again. I avoided eye contact with anyone besides Michael, who I think by now knew that there was something up between the rest of the team and I considering I barely spoke to anyone else on the team aside from him.

"Listen up boys, game night on Monday. Practice is going to be half and hour longer today. Get to it!" Coach said and with the sound of his shiny metal whistle, we started the drills. By the time I was done half the team was drenched in sweat and it wasn't until today's practice that I noticed it had been sometime since Dakota stayed later to put in some extra practice per usual. I sat on the bleachers, resting and sipping on my water bottle, watching Dakota walk across the field, wondering.

I hesitated to approach him, debating on whether to ask if he was okay and why he hadn't stayed back like the many times before. I gathered whatever courage I could muster and pushed down any pride I had as I stood up, setting down my water bottle, walking towards him with a heavy pounding heart. Beating fast and hard like it had never before and at any moment I thought I was going to pass out from the nervous, unsettling feeling that sat at the bottom of my stomach. I was nearly caught up to him.

"Luka!" I could hear Michael, calling out behind me. I froze in my tracks, not taking another step, stopping my arm from reaching out towards Dakota. For a second he had stopped too, glancing at me in the corner of his eye but it was only a moment as he continued walking. I turned around, jogging over to Michael near the bleachers.

"You almost forgot your bag and bottle." He chuckled with rosy cheeks and sweat drenched hair.

"Thanks." I gave him a half smile before grabbing my duffel bag, and stuffing my water bottle into it.

"Are you going to Gemma's party tonight?" He asked as we started walking off the field.

"Most likely not." I said as I shook my head.

"Why not?"

"I'm not the party type, I guess." I said with a shrug.

"You should, it'd be nice to see a friendly face." He said as he began to walk away, into the parking lot.

On the walk home, I was at war with my mind on whether it was a good idea to go to Gemma's party. What was I thinking, of course it wasn't. If I was caught sneaking out to go to a party, I was dead. There was no coming back from that, no second chances, I was simply dead. Maybe that was an overstatement but I had just finished time for the last party I went to and I wasn't about to do more. It was decided, I would not be attending Gemma's party.

I opened the front door to my house, my mom was nowhere in sight and my dad was most likely working late tonight. I walked to room, throwing my bag on the floor and heading straight to the shower, making the water hot. I watched steam fill up the bathroom as I stripped and stepped into the shower. My tensed body relaxed the second the water hit me, washing away earlier's practice stink.

After drying off, I changed into a pair of grey sweats paired with a white shirt. I switched on my T.V along with my nintendo, getting ready to game out the rest of the night. I sat on the edge of my bed, getting comfortable when I heard a loud bang on my bedroom window. I jumped nearly falling off and onto the floor.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I said in a harsh whisper after opening my window.

"I came to pick you up." Gemma smiled, seeming slightly intoxicated.

"You walked all the way from your house, just to pick me up? You're insane." I chuckled.

"Come on."

I sighed and gritted my teeth, muttering out a fine. I made Gemma wait outside my window while I got changed, praying my mom wouldn't walk in at any given moment. I climbed out my window, trying to make as little sound as humanly possible.

"This night is going to be great!" Gemma said with obvious excitement.

The house was blaring upbeat music as we walked in, I could practically feel the house shaking from the bass as we made our through sweaty bodies towards the drink table. I downed a beer in one go, ignoring the feeling of wanting to upchuck it.

"Hey, you came." Michael said as he came up from behind me, his voice barely audible.

"Thanks to me." Gemma said with a wink.

"Right." I chuckled, grabbing another drink, hoping to drown my worries. I found part of myself wondering if Dakota was here and if Eva was with him. But immediately shook that thought from my head, tonight I only have to worry about myself. No babysitting, no hauling anyone's ass across town, just focus on having fun.

"Well, look who decided to show up." Jane said as she walked up to us, seemingly sober.

"What happened to studying?" I said to her as I took a swig of my dark amber drink.

"What happened to wanting to stay out of trouble?" She retorted.

"You got me there." I grinned and down the rest of my drink.

"Shots!" Gemma said, handing each of us a small glass filled to the brim with clear liquid. I hesitated before downing it with the rest of the others. Remember how harsh it was as my nose and throat burned, almost liking the feeling.

After a couple drinks and forced shots, Gemma and Jane decided to dance and although I was asked countless times, I politely refused. Michael and I watched from the side as they giggle and swayed to the music, with Gemma clearly more intoxicated than Jane.

"So I figure you don't get along with some of the other team mates."

"What gave it away?" I said sarcastically with a smirk.

"I hope I'm not overstepping but mind if I ask why?"

I hesitated for a moment, if I tell him Dakota and I were together, would it make things weird between us? For all I knew Michael could be, let's say, not as open when it came to someone's sexual preference. But regardless I found myself telling him anyway.

"The captain and I, we dated for a while but not anymore, I guess." I said in a low mumble.

"Oh." Michael paused, by the look in his face I don't think he was expecting me to say that.

"Well I'm sorry, really." He said, placing a reassuring hand on my shoulder and for the first time since Dakota and I had out fall out, I felt like crying as I felt a lump form in my throat. I blamed the alcohol.

"It's fine." I said before downing another drink. It was silent for a moment, making me uncomfortable and leaving me wondering why I was open enough to tell Michael about Dakota and I.

"As for Alex, well he's just an asshole." I said with a soft chuckle, wanting to break the tension. He nodded, staring at me in a way, as if wanting to know more. But before he could ask any more questions, Gemma stumbled into me, nearly knocking me over as she reached over to grab another drink, spilling half the beer onto the table instead of in her cup.

"I'm taking her upstairs." Jane said to me as she grabbed hold of Gemma.

"Alright." I nodded, finishing the rest of my drink, slurring on my words. I hadn't realized how fast I was drinking. I watched as Jane swung one of Gemma's arms over her shoulder and disappearing into the crowd.

Later into the night, the party turned wild with more and more people showing up, so much that I could barely move. Alex and his goons showed up too, and even though Dakota was with them, I didn't dare make eye contact. I was afraid that if I did, I'd want to talk to him which I wasn't ready for. You could bet Queenie and Eva were somewhere near by, those four were stuck to each other like glue.

Michael continued to stay by my side the entire night, something I was grateful for considering I didn't have very many friends. And I'd be damned if I ever sought out the company of Alex.

"Earlier, I wanted to ask you something." Michael said over the loud music, practically shouting in my ear as he leaned in close to me, so close I could smell the alcohol on his breath and my own.

"Yeah?" I asked, pretending not to know.

"You and that guy, you're over right?" He asked with a raised brow. I nodded without saying a word, wondering what he was getting at.

"Maybe you and I.." He trailed off, his gaze moving from my eyes to lips, scanning my entire body. And I was finding part of myself not, not liking it as I watched those familiar hazel eyes that reminded me so much of Dakota.

"We could.." He moved closer his face closer to mine, licking his pink rosy lips that looked intriguingly soft, pulling me in and making me lose myself as he craned his neck to the side. I closed my eyes, leaning into him, feeling the warmth of his body. The blood in my veins rushed to cheeks, changing the colour of them to a fleshy pink. And in a fleeting moment, our lips touched. It was for a mere second that we exchanged a light, yearning kiss that sent a shock from my fingers to my toes, making me want more. Until I realized what I was doing.

"I'm sorry." I said barely audible, almost wondering if I had even opened my mouth to speak as I slowly backed away from him.

"It's fin-" Michael was cut off mid sentence before he was sent reeling backwards from a punch and onto the floor. Dakota stood in front of me, his face fuming red, looking completely wasted and out of his mind.

"What the fuck!" I yelled at him over the music, walking over to Michael, who was dripping blood from his nose. Eva grabbed Dakota by the arm but he ripped it out of her hold.

"Don't touch him! If you touch him again, it's really over between us." Dakota slurred, staggering back and forth. It was a wonder how he was even able to land a punch to begin with.

I scoffed, extending my hand out to Michael. He grabbed hold of it, pulling himself up and onto his feet, wiping his nose with the back of his hand.

"Lets go." I said to Michael, heading towards the door.

"Don't turn your back on me!" I could hear Dakota yelling behind me and it wasn't long before I was tackled to the floor. Dakota turned me over, straddling me as he gave me cheap shots to the face and a rustic taste filled my mouth. I used any sober strength I had in me and pushed him off, landing a punch to his face, not caring where I hit. It sent him reeling to the floor, but he sprung back up on his feet, tackling me again. Before he could do anything else, Michael shoved him off me, helping me to my feet. It was only then that I realized people had stopped to stare.

I mumbled Michael a thanks, before tailing it out the door, leaving him behind. Part of me wanted to go back, but I stopped myself and continued walking. It was better if I stayed away. Michael didn't deserve the baggage I came with, it would only bring him trouble.

"I'm not done with you!"

I turned around to find Dakota stumbling out the door with a blood stained face and it was the first time I'd seen him so drunk. But I couldn't let that get to me, I couldn't let him.

"Well, I'm done with you." I said over my shoulder as I continued walking down the dark empty street.

"Hey, you left me! I needed you and you left me!" I could hear him getting closer. I scoffed as I stopped in my tracks and turned around to face him.

"You don't get to say that."

"What was I supposed to do? Keep letting you walk all over me? Let you kiss Eva that night? Would that have made you happy!?" I could feel the tears starting to well in my eyes, and with as much might I choked them back.

"I-I don't know what's wrong with me, okay? I can't control myself when it comes to you, I lost it that night. It won't happen again!"

"I can't keep doing this." I said, not able to hold back the tears any longer, letting them run free down my cheeks.

"I'll get help, I promise. Please, Luka. I still need you. I'll always need you. You're my best friend." He sobbed, making me cry harder and making me feel worse. His face was stained with tears as he walked closer to me, reaching out to grab me. He caressed the back of my hand with his thumb, reminding me how much I missed his touch, his warmth. He gazed into my eyes with his deep hazel pair, entrancing me, momentarily getting lost in him. I wanted to hold him, to feel his arms around me and tell him it was all forgiven.

"I'm sorry." I muttered out a sob before taking off home, not daring to look behind me, as my two feet ran hard against the pavement beneath.

A/N vote, comment and tell me what you think! I tried to make this as sad as possible so tell me how I did! Do you feel bad for Luka? Dakota? Both!? Do you want them back together yet? Let me know :) Also please listen to the song, I think it goes perfect with the situation.