Miss Fake

Chapter 9: Hello stranger

My eyes widened in realization, “he didn’t drink it,” I murmured more for myself. I shiver, imagining against my will what would have happened if Ethan didn’t intervene.

“It’s okay, princess, nothing can harm you if I’m around,” he answers pulling me closer to him, his arm still around my shoulder. It truly feels safe to be here, and I am not pushing him away this time, biting my lips to get the thoughts of that Charles guy drugging me.

“How did you know?” I ask him.

“The smell…” he cuts himself, thinking. “I just know it, that’s all you need to know.” I don’t ask more, glad that he was there, but a bit confused that he could smell anything else than the sweat, alcohol, and smoke in here. And that he knows the smell of this d**g. I didn’t even know it smelt; I should be more careful so I can recognize it next time.

My eyes follow the guy around the room, and I see him going closer to Addison. I jump on my seat, pressing Ethan’s arm. Ethan turns to me, worried, but I still stare at my friend and that jerk.

She is so innocent and pure that she will never suspect anything, not that I did anyway.

“He is talking to Addison,” I explain to Ethan who didn’t understand my change of behavior. He looks at them, Addison laughing and blushing at whatever that guy said. I clench my teeth, wanting to punch that guy in the face to even think about hurting my friend.

“Do you want me to kick his a*s out of the house?” Ethan murmured in my ear.

I nod vigorously, wanting that guy to suffer.

“Alright, don’t move,” Ethan says lowly. He kisses my head before getting up from the sofa. He walks quickly to them, and grab Charles by the collar. I see Addison trying to defend the one that looks like the victim. Ethan carries him like that outside, and it looks weirdly easy for him to carry a grown man around. Addi runs behind him, punching Ethan’s back to make him stop. Addison doesn’t have all the clues to understand the situation, and I run to them.

There aren’t many people outside, and Ethan keeps walking, going behind the cars. Charles begs and screams in fear. Unfortunately for him, the people outside are either too wasted or stone to understand what’s going on. I grab my friend by the arm, getting her away from the two guys. Ethan throws violently Charles to the ground and puts his weight on him to maintain him on the ground.

“No!” Addison screams while he starts beating him with strong punches.

“Addison!” I yell to get her attention. She isn’t strong and doesn’t weigh much so it’s easy to keep her away even if she struggles to go there. “That guy tried to d**g you!” She instantly stops, looking at me with horror. I wrap my arms around her, knowing that I was glad that Ethan was there back then to make me feel safe, and I want to be there for her.

“Ethan!” Bryan yells, running to him, grabbing by the arm to pull him away. Nathan is running behind and stops close to us. Charles’ face is covered in blood, he doesn’t move, probably knocked out. “Ethan, what the hell?”

Ethan snaps his arm away from Bryan, staring darkly at the guy on the floor. “That guy tried to d**g the girls.” Bryan’s eyes look at us with surprise and he nods at Ethan.

“Who is he?” I ask Bryan, wondering how he knows this kind of guy.

“I have no idea, I’ve never seen him before,” he answers honestly.

“He must have heard the music and entered, most of the people inside are too wasted to even notice there is a stranger here,” Nathan looking at Charles with disgust.

Bryan sighs, passing a hand on his hair, visibly concerned. I can’t refrain from a small smile at the thought that he is worried partially because of me.

“Okey, I’ll take care of this. Guys, take the girls back inside and check if there is anyone else we don't know. Nathan, informs the others, you guys should know everyone we invited. And check everywhere, upstairs, the bedrooms, bathrooms… I am not letting any of that happening,” Bryan says before turning to Charles unconsciously lying on the floor.

“Are we even sure he was drugging us?” Addison asks, even though I feel her shiver in my arms.

Nathan grabs one of the cups that Charles must have dropped when Ethan started to beat him. He brings the cup to his nose, smelling it. He frowns, and give it to Bryan. “Yep, he was definitely up to something,” Nathan says and Bryan has the same reaction when he smells the cup. The three guys exchanged a look that I can’t decipher.

I frown at them, not understanding their behavior, not understanding how they know the smell of drugs. I open my mouth to get answers, but Ethan walks quickly to me, grabbing my arm to turn me around, to the house.

“Let’s get back inside,” he says simply, letting go of my arm, to put his hands on my back, gently pushing me forward. I turn my head to see Bryan, staring at Charles with anger.

“Don’t think about it anymore,” Ethan tells me, making me turn to him, while we enter the house.

As soon as we enter, we see Nina who is looking around, most probably looking for us. Addison runs to her, and, as soon as she reaches her, she hugs her, starting to sob. Nina looks puzzled but keeps Addison into a tight hug.

“Ethan, I let you inform your pack. We will check upstairs, and we leave the first floor and the garden to yours,” Nathan says, starting to go away toward his friends. I feel Ethan’s hand on my back going away, and he starts to go away, spotting immediately his friends who I don’t know.  

“Ethan!” I yell, before realizing what I was doing. He turns to me, his eyebrows frown, confused. “Thank you,” I say so lowly that he must have understood what I say by reading it on my lips. He comes back quickly, wrapping his arms around me, in a tight hug.

“I told you I’ll protect you,” Ethan murmured in my ear, before breaking our hug, going away, with a smirk. He disappears in the middle of the people, and I turn to Addison explaining what happened to a very angry Nina.

 “Where is that motherfucker?” Nina spits with disgust mixed with anger.

“Ethan took care of it,” I answer. I frown as soon as I realize I was smiling. I shake my head, pushing away the memories of Ethan hugging me and telling me he would protect me. I mean, everyone would feel good after hearing something like this, especially after crossing paths with a potential r****t. “And now, Bryan’s friends are verifying that there isn’t someone unwanted who entered the house in the middle of the party. Bryan stayed behind to take care of Charles.”

“How?” Nina asks, and I shrug my shoulders, not knowing what he can do with an unconscious guy laying on the floor.

“Anyway,” Nina continues, “I am not leaving you two alone for another second.” She takes Addison by the arm, and me on the other side, and I lean on her, happy to be with my best friends.

“Should we go?” Addison asks, visibly still troubled by what just happened.

“Yeah, staying over at my house?” Nina asks. We both nod, happily.

“Wait a minute, I should just tell Bryan that we are leaving, he might worry if we disappear like that after what happened with Charles,” I add, knowing that he might not even notice that we left, but I still want to thank him for what happened. It was mostly Ethan’s doing, but still, I want to thanks him. Or maybe I am just trying to find excuses to see him and talk to him a bit more.

I try to remove my arm from Nina, but she holds it tighter. “Not happening, not tonight,” she says with a smile and I chuckle. We look around for a good five minutes until I see Bryan walking toward the kitchen. I show him to my friends, and we follow him. In the corridor, we can start hearing a conversation between the guys, the music just being background noise as we get away from the source.

“So?” Bryan’s voice is deeper than usual.

“He was alone,” Nathan answers, but it isn’t his usual playful voice either. They seem very serious, which is understandable with the situation. “But I am still wondering if Sky and Addison were targeted on purpose?”