"Parrish! There you are," Bobby Gonzalez belted drunkenly. Carter turned to face him.

Bobby carried a beer can in his hand and his soaked t-shirt in the other. There was a rosy glow on his face and an inebriate shine in his dark eyes. Scott Meyers came close behind him, wearing nothing more than his shorts and a stupid grin, with a whole bottle of Grey Goose in his hand.

"Dude," Scott slurred loudly. "Chaz got the cheerleaders drinking body shots off him."

Bobby roared with laughter, dropping a beefy hand on Carter's shoulder. Jesus, they rank of alcohol and sweat.

Carter glanced at Johnny and his eyebrows pinched together when he found the other boy looking like he was trying to quietly detach himself from the interaction. Carter was going to ask Johnny if he was alright, just when the latter decided to get up, keeping his back to them. Bobby didn't even seem to give Johnny two seconds of his intoxicated attention as he plopped down on the bench.

"You know that Jenna chick?" Bobby asked. "She was all over Joey."

Scott snickered, like an obnoxious hyena. "He was completely wasted. Practically drank all of this by himself." Carter crinkled up his nose when Scott shoved the uncapped bottle of vodka under his nose. "You should have some, before it's gone," Scott prompted. "The rest is all cheap bottles."

"Uhm, thanks, I'm good," Carter muttered, pushing Scott's arm away and getting up. "Where did you say Joey was?"

Bobby stood up, taking the bottle from Scott. "Pool," he answered before a vigorous gulp. "We're going to try breaking into the Wheelers' liquor cabinet. Wanna come?"

Carter frowned. "Thought Chaz didn't want us inside."

"He's too busy to care now," Scott sniggered with a suggestive waggle of his eyebrows.

Carter considered saying something, but ended up staying quiet as his teammates took off towards the house. Once they were gone, he turned back toward Johnny, who had his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket as he stood to the back, head cast down.

"You okay?" Carter asked.

Johnny looked up to meet his gaze and Carter was inexplicably disappointed not to find a smile glinting in his eyes. Johnny merely hummed in response.

"Are you sure?" Carter asked. "I think you've gone a little pale."

He stepped closer and reached out to touch the other's boy shoulder, trying to get a better look at his face. Johnny looked down at Carter's hand on him, before deep brown eyes came up to meet Carter's with unreadable intention. Carter let his hand fall limp to his side.

Johnny smiled half-heartedly. "Maybe I'm not feeling very well," he conceded. "I should go get Lydia and head home."

"How are you getting home?" 

"I drove here."

Carter frowned a little. "Are you okay to drive?"

"Yeah," Johnny dismissed him. "Just got a migraine coming, I think."

Carter stepped into his way, before Johnny could walk away. "If you wait a couple of minutes, I can give you a ride."

Johnny shook his head. "I can't leave the car here."

"Then, let me drive you in your car," Carter offered.

Johnny raised both eyebrows. Carter knew he might be coming across as pushy, but somehow he didn't care. He was concerned.

"You're not gonna let it up, are you?"

Carter smiled, shaking his head.

Johnny bit down on a smile. "Okay, fine. But it's completely unnecessary."

Carter's grin widened. "I just need to find my friends and I'll meet you out in a minute, okay?"

Johnny nodded and Carter took off to the pool in a rush. He found Chaz Wheeler involved in a small crowd of scarcely dressed girls. He let his eyes sweep over the dozen faces inside the pool, but Joey was nowhere in sight. Finally, he managed to spot Jenna Torres.

"Hey, Jen." Carter touched her shoulder. She turned around to face him, perfectly-drawn dark eyebrows arching inquiringly. "Have you seen Joey?"

Jenna rolled her eyes. "Took him to the car. He's been retching for the past five minutes, so I figured I should get him home. Had to run back to get my top, though."

Carter frowned. Jenna had had a lot to drink too. "Are you good to drive?"

She smiled, amused, her full lips curling prettily. "Of course not. That's why I called Mel. She's outside." She jerked a thumb over her shoulder, signaling toward the gate. Carter nodded, visible relief smoothing his features.

Jenna cocked her head curiously. "Are you okay to go home? Seth left ten minutes ago. He actually asked me to tell you he had a 'family emergency'–" she made air quotes "–but I hadn't seen you in a while, so I thought maybe you ended up going with him."

"Oh. That's okay. I found a ride. Kind of. Just wanted to make sure Joey was fine."

Jenna grinned knowingly. "Always everybody's knight in shining armor," she purred. "Call me if anyone tries to take advantage of that pretty face."

Carter furrowed his eyebrows, watching her walk away with empty hands. "Didn't you forget your top?" He called after her.

Jenna turned around, walking backwards. "Couldn't find it." She shrugged. "Didn't really like it that much, anyway."

Carter laughed as she turned her back on him again. 

Finally reassured of his friends whereabouts, Carter ran back to the gameroom cabin, where he found Luca in the same place he'd first spotted him. He approached the group of loud, overly enthusiastic freshmen to tap Luca's shoulder.

His stepbrother gave him a big, shiny-eyed grin of someone who had had a few too many canned beers. "'Sup, C-man?" He slurred at Carter.

"Sorry to stop the party, but we're leaving," Carter said.

There were a few 'boo's around the group and Luca's grin fell. 

"It's still too early!"

Carter scratched the back of his neck with an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. Really. But I promised your dad."

He sort of expected more of a fight. Fourteen-year-olds could be stubborn. As well as Santoros. But at the mention of his dad, Luca did give in, getting up from his seat on the couch next to Brad Wheeler. He handed his game control to another kid Carter didn't know and left.

They met Johnny at the gates, where a short redhead was hurling next to the Wheelers' perfectly trimmed bushes, while her friend held back her hair. Carter looked away with a grimace. High school parties. Always so classy.

A pretty blue-eyed brunette stood next to Johnny. She wore a loose, deep-blue dress a flowy skirt. Two thin locks of rich brown hair, the same color as Johnny's, were pulled off her eyes and tied at the back. She looked a lot like Johnny – in all her features, except for the pale blue eyes. But even those crinkled up at the sides in the same way as her brother's, when she smiled at Carter and Luca.

"Hi. I'm Lydia."

"Carter," he answered with a smile.

Lydia laughed. "I know." Right. "Daddy loves boasting about you at home."

Daddy. That was Coach Mason. Carter had always known he had a family, but it was still weird to meet someone who called his six-feet-three, two-hundred-pound coach 'Daddy'.

"I'm Luca, by the way," the kid offered.

Lydia smiled slyly. "I know," she mused. "You went out with my friend Jessica over the summer. Haven't called her in—What, a month?"

Luca smiled somewhat bashfully, but he didn't look too embarrassed. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe Carter should have established a limit there too. He wasn't the kid's dad, but he had promised his actual dad to keep an eye out. Maybe he should have kept two.

"Should we go?" Johnny asked. He looked a little tired. Like someone who was definitely ready to go home.

"Just lead the way to your car," Carter said.

Johnny turned with his hands in the pockets of his denim jacket. It was a warm, stuffy night, but Johnny didn't look hot under his layers. Carter followed him to the same grey old car from last time. Johnny threw him the keys and Carter fumbled to catch them, blushing immediately. It should have been an easy catch.

After getting adjusted in the driver's seat, Carter checked Luca and Lydia had their seat belts on, before turning the key in the ignition. Beside him, Johnny propped his elbow up on the window and rested his head on his hand. Carter glanced at him every once in a while, glimpsing the soft contours of his profile. In the backseats, Lydia and Luca had engaged in light conversation – silly, tipsy talk on Luca's end. Lydia seemed to be finding it highly entertaining.

"Guess you don't drink that often then," Carter heard her say, through a giggle.

Luca let his head tilt back to lean on the headrest and smiled. "My brothers let me have a beer last summer and my dad gave me half a cup of wine on his wedding," he said. "But that was it. First time drinking since that." Luca leaned toward Lydia, taking his index finger to his lips to 'shhhh' her. Lydia giggled again.

Carter smiled, looking away from the rearview mirror he'd been using to watch them and back toward the road. He might have briefly glanced at Johnny in the process and noticed he was watching Carter. He caught the other boy's gaze, after stopping at a light.

"Are you gonna get in trouble for that?" Johnny asked quietly, his eyes subtly signaling the backseats.

"You mean the clearly drunk fourteen-year-old I promised to watch? How could I possibly get in trouble for that?" Carter shot Johnny a pointed look.

Johnny breathed out a quiet laugh, while Luca tried to count however many fingers Lydia had put up to test his sobriety. Carter glanced at the time on the car screen. It was closing in on one in the morning.

"Hopefully his dad will be asleep. And my mom too," he said. "I'll make him drink water before going to bed, to see if he doesn't get his first hangover."

"Does that work?" Johnny asked curiously.

"The water? I guess. It helps. If you drink a lot and you're not too wasted. Think Luca only had a few beers," Carter said. He eyed Johnny in interest. "Guess you don't have much experience with alcohol either."

"Nope," Johnny popped his lips. "Might not surprise you to hear I don't have much experience with parties in general, either."

"Not into that stuff?"

Johnny shrugged without much intent. "I guess."

Carter slowed down as they started nearing the Santoros's neighborhood. "Want to give me directions to your place?" He asked.

"Just drive to yours and I can take it the rest of the way," Johnny said.

Carter looked at him. "I said I'd drive you."

"But then what are you going to do with my car?" Johnny countered.

"Luca and I can walk, after we drop you two off," Carter volunteered promptly.

Johnny's eyebrows shot up. He glanced at Luca, who was now snuggling up on the backseat, eyes half-closed. "You're walking two blocks home with him?"

Carter smiled readily. "It'll be good for him. Sober up a bit."

"It's late."

"Just tell me where you live," Carter insisted, making Johnny roll his eyes impatiently. 

Lydia popped her head between the driver and passenger seat. "Just drive straight ahead after you turn into your street. Then make a right before you get to the pink house with the blue mailbox on the corner," she told him.

Carter smiled contently. "Thanks."

Johnny shot his sister a half-assed glare and she shrugged innocently. "What? I'm tired, wanna go to bed."

Lydia nudged Luca with her shoulder just as Carter turned right, on the pink house, then pointed Carter to the Masons' residence.

"Are you sure you're okay walking?" Johnny asked, before Carter could get out of the car.

"Yeah, it's fine."

Johnny nodded, nibbling on his bottom lip. Carter's eyes slipped down to stare for a couple of seconds of buzzing silence, before Johnny turned to the door to grab the handle.

"Right."

"Right," Carter echoed before they both stepped out.

"Thanks for the ride," Johnny said.

"No problem." Carter shrugged nonchalantly, shoving his hands into his jeans' pockets.

Lydia looked between the two of them. "Right. Thank you. Bye."

Johnny laughed, looking at Carter again. He didn't say anything, though. 

Lydia huffed impatiently. "Johnny," she whined. "I have to pee."

"So do I," Luca said.

Carter and Johnny smiled at each other.

"It's late. We'll go," Carter said.

"Right," Johnny said once again. "Bye."

Carter and Luca walked away in silence. Just as they turned into the Santoros's street, Carter looked at his stepbrother.

"You good?"

Luca met his gaze. "Think so. Little fuzzy. Little sleepy."

Carter laughed. "That's normal. You'll be fine. As long as our parents are asleep. If not, we might both be screwed."

"Nah, it's fine." Luca shrugged. "My dad's got a don't-ask-don't-tell policy of trust, when it comes to nights out. Richie and Jack say it was Mom's policy and the old man let it rub off on him. He gave them a hard time sometimes if they woke up with a hangover, being all loud and stuff, but he never got mad."

Carter hummed. It was the first time any Santoro mentioned their mother in a conversation with him. They didn't talk about Tony's former wife often. It was almost easy for Carter to forget why she was gone. But the mention of her felt strange. 

Carter's mom was separated from his father – they had parted uglily, but they had both been alive when they did. For the Santoros, it was a different story. An unfamiliar one for Carter, which he didn't quite know how to navigate. Neither would he have to start now if the way Luca carried on walking, unbothered, was anything to go by.

Luca yawned as they entered the house. Carter closed the door as quietly as he could, taking the fact that the living room's lights were off as a good sign. They trod lightly toward the kitchen and Carter reached for a glass with feather hands. He filled it with tap water and handed it to Luca.

Footsteps outside made him whip his head to the kitchen entrance. Luca gulped down the whole glass, seemingly unaware, and then put it under the tap to fill it again. Carter exhaled in audible relieve, when Mike's figure emerged from the door frame.

"Did you just get in?" Mike whispered. He was wearing a plain white t-shirt and pajamas bottoms, but his eyes were alert. He didn't look like he'd been woken from his sleep.

"Yeah," Carter said as Luca went for a third glass.

Mike nodded. "Just keep it down. The parents are already asleep."

"What about the others?"

"Shhh—"

"—sorry, sorry. Keep it down, I know," Luca whispered.

"Frankie got home about an hour ago, Bella's at Lauren's and Charlie is sleeping," Mike finally answered."

"What about you?" Carter asked.

"I've been studying in my room. Just came to get some water, before going to bed."

"You should totally do that. It's delicious," Luca blurted.

Mike eyed him suspiciously, amber eyes assessing his brother's state, from flushed cheeks to untied left shoelaces. He turned to Carter. "How much did he have to drink?"

Carter's lips parted. "Not much. Maybe a little. Uh, I don't know, actually. Definitely not a lot, though."

Mike smiled. "It's alright," he soothed Carter. "Just brush your teeth before going to bed," he told Luca.

"Okay, dad."

Mike didn't look offended in the slightest. Carter was starting to get an idea he had developed a natural immunity to that sort of joking remark.

"You can go to bed," Mike told him. "I got him."

"I don't need anyone to got me," Luca muttered.

Mike shook his head fondly, giving Carter a second reassuring smile. Carter returned it in kind, walking away with a whispered, "Good night."

He hopped up the stairs in silence and slipped into his room. With fluent ease, he toed off his sneakers and stripped to his underwear, leaving his clothes scattered across the floor. He could pick that up in the morning.

Carter welcomed the softness of the mattress beneath him. He felt physically tired, but as he laid on his back, staring at the ceiling through the dark, his mind was wired at full capacity. His body wanted rest, but his mind was having none of it. He kicked at the sheets, enjoying the coolness on his bare skin, and tried closing his eyes to bait sleep to come.

When it didn't, he grabbed his phone from the nightstand behind him and opened the Instagram app to watch his friends' stories.

A lot of clips of Joey with the guys from the football team, a couple of funny-faced selfies with Jenna, and a video filmed from inside Chaz's pool where everything was too blurry and loud to understand.

Chaz had taken a selfie with almost every single varsity cheerleader, including Jenna. There was a video of him doing a keg stand that ended just before beer squirted on his face. And a re-posted story from Bobby's account of Scott trying to do an actual handstand and falling.

Jenna had posted a mirror picture of herself after getting ready, a selfie with Joey with their tongues out, and a solo selfie in her room after getting home.

Luca's stories came next. Carter clicked through a selfie with the basketball JV guys and Brad Wheeler, a couple of clips of their GTA game, and a large group photo with a bunch of tagged freshmen. Carter held his finger over the picture searching the mostly unfamiliar faces until he recognized one. Smiling in a back corner, with her arm around a curly-haired friend, was Lydia Mason.

Carter searched the tiny tags in the picture, finding the one reading lydiammason14. He clicked.

Once he found her account, he ignored the dozens of pictures and went straight to her following. The account was public, so he chanced his luck and searched for johnny.

johnnym2000 showed up.

It was a private account. Carter let his finger hover over the Follow button.

On his profile picture, Johnny was standing with his back to the camera as he leaned over a balcony railing to stare out to a beach. Carter could only see the back of his head, brown hair blowing softly in the wind. He stared at it, until his phone slipped from his hands and onto his face. As he caught it, he watched in a delayed-reaction experience as his finger accidentally touched the Follow button.

Requested.

Carter stared wide-eyed at that one word. He glanced at the the time on the upper right corner of his screen. 1:22 AM. Johnny would think he was a creep. But Carter couldn't undo it now. Johnny might still see it.

Determined to let it go and telling himself it wasn't that big of a deal, Carter blocked his screen and set his phone down. He closed his eyes and tried to sleep. It was useless.

The phone buzzed. Carter picked it up instantly.

Johnny Mason (johnnym2000) accepted your follow request.