idk if it's needed but i'm going to put it anyways :)

-trigger warning-

stella was standing against a wall with daniel sticking by her side. jeremiah was sneaking glances at the couple even though he was busy flirting with a boy.

stella couldn't help but feel something in her gut. she denied herself that she was jealous. she was standing with daniel.

she felt herself staring, shaking her head to try and distract herself. "hey, i'm gonna get a drink."

"i'll go with you," daniel offered. it was less of an offer and more of an order.

stella just nodded and started walking away. he was quick to follow her and stay hot on her heels. "jesus," she said, tripping over her own feet. she didn't fall. "hey, can you give me a little space?"

"i thought we came together," he said, not leaving any room between them. the thought of jeremiah making a dirty joke about that comment ran through her mind.

"yeah, i guess. whatever," she mumbled, making a beeline for the drinks table.

after downing two cups of whatever was in the punch bowl, she was standing against a wall with daniel. they had a perfect view of jeremiah flirting with that guy again.

maybe daniel made us stand here on purpose, she thought, adjusting her grip on her third cup of the mystery beverage. she was probably just a little drunk.

she spotted a karaoke machine in the corner. "oh my god." her words were starting to slur. "we have to- to sing a song."

as much as daniel liked music, he didn't want to sing right now. he didn't want to sing because he was staring at someone.

he was staring at a girl who was giggling with her friends and making eyes at him. stella didn't notice. maybe it was because she was so focused on wanting to sing a song or maybe it was because she couldn't keep her eyes off jeremiah.

daniel looked back at stella. he noticed who she was looking at. he didn't really have a right to get jealous, but there he was. getting jealous.

jeremiah kept sneaking glances, making sure that stella saw him talking to that boy, luke. she was being close to daniel all night and he wasn't going to lie. it didn't sit right with him. so jeremiah being jeremiah, he wanted to try and make her jealous.

daniel rolled his eyes, trying to think of a way to make it known to jeremiah that stella was his.

she likes me. not him, he told himself. not... him.

stella was caught off guard when daniel pushed her up against the wall and kissed her. forcefully. she was starting to get more drunk. she couldn't process what happened in time.

when he pulled away, stella caught a glimpse of jeremiah sitting on the couch behind daniel. his eyes darted off stella and landed on the boy he was sitting with. he kissed him. her lips pouted as she took another sip of her drink. 

"what... the hell?" her words were quiet and slurred. she didn't know if she had said that because of what daniel did or because of what jeremiah did.

"we're here together," daniel said with no expression on his face.

stella blinked slowly, remembering who she was here with. "then let's sing a song!" she laughed loudly. "come on, we have to now."

"no, no, come on," daniel said, trying to drag her away. she was kind of drunk and he was also kind of embarrassed of her.

"please!" she pleaded, stumbling over the karaoke machine. she put her red solo cup on the table.

daniel declined yet again. this time, he even stepped away from her and leaned against the wall, making it clear that he wasn't moving.

"fine," stella shrugged, turning away from him. she tripped over her own feet before raising the extra microphone into the air. "who's gonna sing with me?"

jeremiah glanced at daniel who was rolling his eyes. "give me that, stel," jeremiah smiled, taking the microphone from her hand. "what song are we doin'?"

they stood over the karaoke machine together, shuffling through the songs. jeremiah smirked and clicked on a song that he knew she would like. "summer nights" from grease started playing. 

stella loved grease. she was one of those people that couldn't watch the movie sitting down. she had to recite all the words, sing all the lyrics, and do all the dances. that was stella.

playfully, jeremiah started swaying side to side, snapping his fingers. "summer loving, had me a blast," he sang, raising his eyebrows at the girl.

he held out the microphone, which she gladly leaned into. she was a little tipsy so she ended up leaning into his side rather than the microphone. "summer loving, happened so fast."

she was on her fourth cup by now. she was probably a lightweight just like andy. he had an arm around her though so she wouldn't fall.

it doesn't feel uncomfortable with j, she thought.

"i met a girl crazy for me," he sang along, sending stella a subtle smirk. she giggled and watched him pretend to twirl his messy, curly hair on his finger. when he sang the girls' part, he made his voice higher. "i met a boy as cute as can be."

stella laughed at this. she joined in with jeremiah. "summer days drifting away to, oh, oh, the summer nights!"

cameron, isabel's boyfriend, joined in too. he was dancing like nobody was watching. that only made stella more excited.

"tell me more, tell me more, did you get very far?" cameron and jeremiah sung together.

jeremiah had a crooked smile on his face as he stepped closer to stella. "tell me more, tell me more, like, does he have a car?" stella sang, raising her eyebrows at him. the boys were singing the girls' parts too which made her laugh.

j does have a car, she drunkenly thought.

the song continued and daniel was starting to get annoyed. he wondered why she looked so happy with him.

what's so special about him? he thought. what does he have that i don't?

as soon as stella stepped away from jeremiah for one second, daniel grabbed her by her hand and pulled her away, causing her to drop the microphone.

jeremiah watched her get pulled away, but he didn't want to follow. he didn't want to be weird.

but what if he does something bad- he stopped his thoughts early. why do you always gotta assume the worst, jere?

he was keeping an eye on her. he was still singing but he wasn't paying attention to if he was saying the right words.

daniel pulled her down a hallway to where he couldn't see her anymore.

"shit," he muttered to himself.

"what?" cameron raised his eyebrows with a big smile on his face.

jeremiah kept his eyes on the hallway that stella had been pulled into. "uhh, nothing."

meanwhile, stella was being dragged into a spare bedroom in the house. "the song isn't over!" she complained. her lips were pouted and her face was slightly red from how much she had drank.

"what's wrong with you?" he said roughly, pushing her up against the wall next to the door. 

he locked the door making stella's eyes widen. she was starting to get nervous. "why did you lock it-"

"you're with me," he muttered, keeping his head low. she felt his hands go to her waist, locking her in place.

she squirmed under his touch. she wanted to get out. she tried to push him but he was much stronger than she was. her voice wavered. "daniel, stop."

she was starting to get dizzy from how many drinks she had. "you're mine. not his."

one of his hands started traveling lower down her body until it was at the bottom of her skirt. his other hand stayed locked in place against her waist, stopping her from moving.

"who- who are you talking about?" she whimpered quietly. she wasn't one to cry.

her whole body felt icky under his touch. "you know who i'm talking about."

his hand lifted the corner of her skirt up, giving him more access to her legs. he placed his hand on the side of her upper thigh.

stella gasped and tried to move away. she couldn't. she felt helpless. "i thought- i thought you were a good person-"

"and i thought you weren't a cheater."

"we're- we're not together." her voice cracked. her face felt warm while a single tear fell from her eye.

he let out a huff of air. "you're mine."

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

the song ended and cameron left jeremiah by himself. a few girls and the guy he was talking to approached him but jeremiah immediately walked away. he had to find out what was going on.

what if everything's fine and you walk in on them hooking up? he thought. he shook his head and continued to make a beeline for the door.

conrad was standing against another wall with a bottle of beer in his hand. he caught jeremiah speed-walking towards a hallway. conrad being conrad, he had to follow him and see what was up. he kept his distance though to keep it discreet.

"stel?" jeremiah opened all the doors and peeked into all the closets. "stella?"

he never called her by her full name.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

stella was searching for a way out. she tilted her head back, trying not to cry. "daniel, stop!" she tried again, attempting to push his hands away. "get away!"

the door handle shook suddenly. somebody was trying to get in. "stel? stella?"

j? she thought.

"j! j, help!" she tried her hardest to get towards the door to unlock it.

she stepped on daniel's foot which did basically nothing but it was worth a shot. his grip loosened on her waist, giving her an opportunity to try and escape. the minute she felt him get closer again, she threw a punch that hit him right in between his nose and his eye.

"fuck," he muttered, shoving the girl while he was crouched over. stella stumbled towards the door and unlocked it. 

she was met with a frantic jeremiah who was standing in a position that looked like he was about to break the door down. she couldn't help herself. the minute that she saw him, she hugged into his side. he put his arms around her, making her feel much safer than she felt in that room with daniel.

conrad was cautiously turning the corner into the hallway and found stella and jeremiah calming down their breathing. at that moment, daniel had walked out of the room, touching his face to test if there was any blood. he noticed jeremiah immediately.

"typical," daniel said before rolling his eyes.

"what the fuck happened here?" conrad asked before anyone could speak. it was quiet. daniel glared at jeremiah and stella who were still hugging. stella glanced up but immediately shot her eyes back down. she couldn't even look at him anymore.

j wouldn't have done that, she thought. he would have never even thought about doing that.

conrad was starting to understand a general of idea of what had gone down while he was gone. stella bit the inside of her lip, knowing what the inevitable outcome of this was going to be.

"what... the fuck... happened here?" conrad asked again, even though he knew.

maybe i'm being dramatic, stella started to think. she couldn't help but let that thought run through her mind. no, i'm not.

"is this another boyfriend of yours?" daniel scoffed, wiping his lip and attempting to walk past conrad.

he didn't make it very far. conrad grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him back into the hallway.

"what did you do to her?" he pushed, making daniel start to get nervous. this isn't how he saw his night going.

"nothing, man," daniel pleaded, trying to duck past him again.

conrad took another look at stella. she looked too nervous for nothing to have happened. she looked like she was waiting for conrad to start a fight. she looked like she wanted conrad to start a fight. 

and to win it.

daniel continued walking past conrad. he smiled proudly since he had gotten past conrad without a fight.

conrad hesitated. "you don't get to touch stel," he said before pushing daniel into the wall behind them.

daniel grunted before falling to the ground. he attempting to get up but conrad was already helping him up by his shirt.

"i never want to see you with her again." his eyes were burning into daniel's. daniel swallowed nervously. "got it?"

conrad waited for his response. daniel was hesitant. "got it."

"that's what i thought." conrad finished the argument by punching daniel in the face, sending him sideways into the wall next to them. he added an extra punch to the gut and knee to the stomach before turning to stella. "are you okay?"

"i'm- i'm good," she replied, still shocked by everything that had happened in such little time. "it's all good."

jeremiah turned her around. his hands involuntarily went to her waist, making her breathe in sharply. she remembered how daniel's hands were just there, causing pain and agony.

"oh- oh. i'm sorry," he apologized, taking his hands back. stella felt cold and lonely when she wasn't in his embrace. "i didn't realize-"

"it's okay," she said, taking his hands in hers and putting them over her shoulders. "i'll get over it."

"this should have never happened. i should have stopped you before you went in there with him," he rambled, making stella shush him.

stella sighed and buried her face into his chest. "this isn't your fault. this isn't anybody's fault-"

conrad scoffed and crossed his arms. "uhh, yeah, it is. it's daniel's fault. he shouldn't have done anything to you-"

"can we just drop it?" stella trained her eyes on the floor. this was already embarrassing enough. "please."

"you wanna go home?" jeremiah asked, adjusting to her decision to change her position to a side hug. he let his arms rest on her shoulders. it was a small, gentle gesture but it was beyond comforting.

"yeah, let's go," stella said. they walked together in the side hug. conrad led the way and cleared the path for the two teenagers in the back.

stella thought about the whole night as they were exiting the party. she got an idea that she would probably end up writing on her notes app in her phone.

she thought about it carefully, trying not to let the idea slip her mind. 'cause, baby, when your arms are around me. i'd swear that i'm holding the sun.

darlin' i'd wait for you.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

author's note

sorry that this chapter took so long to write again. i've, yet again, been so busy for no reason. :)) i feel like this chapter is all over the place and confusing, so please tell me if it is. if you did find it confusing, pls let me know which part/parts. THANK YOU <3

pls vote, comment, etc. THANK YOUU :))

if you guys have any ideas, pls comment them down below :)

[ unedited ]