Aidan leant back on the kitchen counter as a few of the boys play beer pong, though he wasn't really paying attention to the game all that much. Aidan's friends all exchanged curious looks as they watched him on his phone, smiling to himself and doing God knows what; but what they didn't know was that he was all too preoccupied with a certain beautiful dark haired boy who had all but taken over his heart, thoughts and even dreams.

For the past week, Aidan and Luca had been texting back and forth almost constantly. They would talk about everything under the sun; from the weather, to classes, to their favorite TV shows and movies. Luca was adamant that they should just stay friends, but Aidan hoped that the longer they talked and the more they got to know each other,  Luca would eventually see in Aidan what Aidan had already seen in him.

Though Luca tried his hardest to resist Aidan's charms, deep inside he didn't truly want to; he felt himself getting more and more attached, just as he told himself not to. His heart simply wouldn't let him fight the feelings he undeniably had for Aidan, though his head stood steadfast against it. Nonetheless Aidan persevered, in a harmless and coercive way. Aidan Taylor was many things, but a quitter wasn't one of them. Not when it came to Luca, and certainly not when it came to finally finding happiness.

"Hey Aidan." Aidan heard a sultry female voice jarring him back to reality; looking to the side to see a blonde girl, presumably a freshman or a sophomore, hanging off of his shoulder.

"Oh um, hey?" Aidan said as politely as he could while brushing her off and away from him.

"You look really good in that t-shirt..." she said teasingly as she flipped her hair and winked at him.

"You know I'm flattered. "Aidan said with an awkward chuckle, lightly coercing her away from him. "But I'm actually seeing someone..."

"THE Aidan Taylor?! Seeing someone!?" She scoffed at him. "As if! Just say you're not interested instead of making shit up." She slurred offendedly before stumbling off.

"Dude, that's the third girl tonight, what's going on with you?" Christian asked concernedly as Endri stared at him with scrutinizing eyes.

"I'm not interested, okay! God, leave me alone!" Aidan muttered irritatedly. "I need some fucking air, it's too hot in here." He said angrily and stormed off towards the patio area in hopes of getting some cool, fresh air.

"I'll come with you." Added Endri, following him out of the kitchen as they both walked away from  the rest of their friend group. "Dude, whats up with you!? Those girls were hot!" Endri slurred while carefully reading Aidan's face.

"Luca said to give him time, so I'm giving him time." Aidan ran his hand through his effortlessly messy blond hair; the slightest tinge of frustration in his voice.

"But you two aren't exclusive, I mean you're not really anything, really. It's not like you've established that you can't fuck other people." Endri said matter-of-factly, still maintaining a watchful eye on his friend, in search of a reaction.

"It still feels wrong to get with anyone else." Aidan countered flatly. "I don't want to do that to him." Endri got just the answer he needed; He smiled and shook his head as he looked down to see a notification on his phone.

"Oh shit um... I actually have to go find someone, I'll meet up with you later, okay!" Endri said as he patted Aidan friendlily on the shoulder, earning him a tight lipped smile from the handsome blond. Endri took off back into the house and into the main living room; maneuvering through the crowd until he was close to the front door. 

"There you are!" Arianna said as she trudged through the sea of tragic freshmen towards Endri; with Luca in tow.

"I need to talk to you two! Let's go upstairs." Endri said grabbing her hand and making a bee-line towards the staircase; forming a three person chain and pushing through the endless mass of drunk gyrating bodies. He made it through to an upstairs bedroom and closed the door as Arianna and Luca just looked at him quizzically; the door only barely sheathing the sound of chatter and heavy bass music outside.

"Whats up?" Luca asked seriously, wondering what the urgency was all about.

"What exactly did you say to Aidan the other day?" He asked hoarsely; an aftereffect of hours of screaming over the loud music.

"I just told him I needed time to figure things out." Replied Luca, glancing to the side confusedly.

"Did you tell him not to hook up with other people?" Slurred Endri, giving him a quizzical look.

"No... I kind of want him to. Maybe then he'll realize we aren't a good idea and move on." Luca said blankly.

"Well... I don't know what you said to him but he's been approached by three girls and he refused all three outright, saying he's seeing someone." Endri said with a sinister smile. "I think he likes you." he whispered teasingly as Luca glared daggers at him.

The three left the bedroom and went downstairs to continue drinking and partying, all the while Luca's mind was racing. He knew Aidan would be at this party, it was on Hilldale territory after all, it only made sense. He liked Aidan, perhaps more than he was willing to let on; but he knew that it was for the best for them to part ways.

"I need another drink drink." Luca muttered over the music to his cousin, before dragging Arianna towards the kitchen. They both grabbed red solo cups, filling each with the mix of whatever bright blue liquid was in the large cooler before taking a break from the dance floor to cool off by the beer pong table.

"Can I ask you something?" Arianna asked him seriously. "Why don't you give him a chance?"

"I don't know Aria... Its just... I don't want to get hurt." Luca said with a sigh before chugging the rest of his drink. "Plus there are so many odds against us."

"Does it matter?" Aria said slurring her words. "Who the fuck cares!? If you two like each other, nobody can do anything about it! L'amore è amore! (Love is love!)"

"Aria, it's not that simple." Luca gave her a knowing glance. "This isn't a cute romcom, life isn't that simple."

"This also isn't Romeo and Juliet either! You can stop being so damn dramatic all the time, Cazzo! (Damn!)" She said grabbing him by the wrist. "Come on, let's go back!"

Arianna dragged him back onto the dance floor, where she found the rest of the Hilldale cheerleading squad. The squad met first Luca their freshman year, and since the cheerleading squads never really cared much for the rivalry, they were all fine with him. With time they became close and would even party together on weekends, but that didn't mean they didn't take part in a harmless prank every now and again.

"LUCA!" Squealed Brianna who practically jumped Luca when she saw him. "Bitch! I didn't know you were coming!" The girls and Luca danced to the music, which mostly consisted of them stumbling around and grinding on each other. Out of the corner of his eye, Luca caught glimpse of a familiar face across the room near the foot of the staircase. It was Aidan, who seemed to have a bored, almost irritated expression on his face.

Like clockwork a pretty brunette in a crop top came up to Aidan, which made Luca feel a tinge of jealously in his chest. Though he didn't know why, it's not like Aidan was anyone to him; if Aidan wanted to screw around it was literally none of Luca's business.

He watched as Aidan politely smiled as the girl kept talking to him; though it was quite evident that he wasn't interested. She breached the gap between them, trying to hang onto Aidan's neck, all the while the taller boy looked mildly uncomfortably. He kept shaking his head at the girl, but Luca couldn't read his lips to tell exactly what he was saying. The girl eventually let go and skulked off with an angry rejected expression, prompting Aidan to let out an exhausted huff before making his way upstairs. 

"Hey... Um... I'll be right back." Luca yelled over the music to Brianna and Arianna and the other Hilldale cheerleaders. They all nodded, but he knew they'd eventually forget he even left. That was how it was at parties; you start the night with someone, but you may well end the night with a completely different group of people.

He pushed past the masses of people to make his way up the stairs where he saw thought Aidan had disappeared off to. Fuck, I didn't think this through, He thought to himself as he glanced around seeing the tall and handsome blond nowhere in sight. With three separate hallways, each with a bunch of closed doors, finding him at this stage would have been practically impossibly. Luca had all but given up, turning around to head back downstairs when he suddenly felt his body slam against someone.

"Oh shit sorry." Luca slurred without so much as looking up.

"Fuck sorry." Aidan said blankly before looking down to see exactly who he had run into. "Oh... hey you." He said cooly, with a smirk tugged on his visibly brightened face as he looked down at a blushing Luca. "What are you doing here?" he asked suavely with a cocked eyebrow.

"I'm here with Arianna." He slurred while shyly looking up at Aidan.

"Oh nice. Hey um... do you maybe want to get out of here?" Aidan asked with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"I'd like that..." Luca replied, biting his lip and making Aidan glare down hungrily at him.

"Follow me." Aidan said darkly as he lead him through a dark hallway and through a side door down a narrow stairwell.

"Where the hell are we going." Asked Luca wearily as he looked down at the dimly lit stairwell.

"Don't you trust me?" Aidan asked with a confident smirk, to which Luca could only roll his eyes and nod. And the truth was, though he barely knew this boy and had reason to not trust him; yet for some ungodly reason he did, he trusted in with all his soul. And that fact alone mortified Luca.

The stairwell led down to what seemed like a basement of the house, though there was absolutely nobody there; it was silent and dark, almost eerily so.

"Where are we?" Luca asked looking around at the basement that was very clearly more dismal than the rest of the house.

"It's the downstairs servant's area, I know... Jacob's family comes from crazy old money. They stopped having servants though so nobody really comes down here." Aidan said with a shrug.

"Damn... that's intense... and also... kind of creepy?" Luca said still kind of apprehensive about his current less than optimal surroundings.

"Don't be scared. I'll protect you." Aidan said snaking his hand around Luca's waist. "I'll protect you for as long as you let me."

"Aidan... We shouldn't.... Um..." Luca started but forgot what he was going to say as he stared into Aidan's striking blue eyes.

"Come on. Let's go on an adventure." Aidan grinned giddily, letting go of Luca's waist and interlacing his fingers with Luca's. He lead him outside and through a grassy area and back around towards the street in front of the house. They heard the muffled sounds of loud bass heavy music and people screaming and talking coming from within the shut doors.

"Wait you're not going to drive are you? Have you been drinking?" Luca asked him, giving the side eye as Aidan unlocked the doors to his car.

"Nope, not even a sip." Aidan said confidently playfully pushing Luca up against the side of his car. "I'm DDing tonight." He said as he began sucking on the nape of Luca's neck.

"Then why are you acting like this?" Luca chuckled trying to push Aidan off of him.

"What can I say, I guess I'm drunk in love." Aidan teased before crashing his lips on Luca's.

"Oh shut up." Luca rolled his eyes before pulling Aidan deeper into the kiss. "Lets get out of here."