2- The Drunken Night
1170 Words
The Sutton estate was vibrating with life.
Music thundered through the mansion hard enough to shake the glass walls. Laughter spilled across marble floors. Champagne flowed like water. Everywhere Parker looked, people were celebrating the beginning of their futures.
But all she could think about was endings.
She stood alone on the balcony overlooking the sprawling estate grounds, gripping a red plastic cup so tightly it had started to bend beneath her fingers.
Vodka burned down her throat.
Not enough.
Tomorrow she left for New York.
Tomorrow she stopped being this version of herself.
Tomorrow she walked away from the only boy who had ever felt dangerously close to becoming home.
And the worst part?
He still had no idea.
“You look emotionally devastating tonight.”
Parker glanced sideways as Sophia appeared beside her, already halfway through another drink and wearing the expression of someone who enjoyed watching chaos unfold in real time.
“I’m reflective,” Parker corrected.
“You’re spiraling.”
“Same thing.”
Sophia leaned against the balcony railing, studying her for half a second too long.
Then—
“You’re thinking about Maxton again.”
Parker took another drink instead of answering.
Sophia sighed dramatically.
“Parker.”
“I know.”
“You’ve been in love with your best friend for years.”
“Unfortunately.”
“That’s genuinely tragic.”
“Thank you for your support.”
Sophia snorted.
“Have you considered telling him before you flee the state?”
Parker nearly choked on her vodka.
“Absolutely not.”
“Why?”
“Because I enjoy maintaining what little dignity I have left.”
Sophia gave her a flat look.
Parker exhaled sharply.
“Because if I tell him and he doesn’t feel the same…” Her voice tightened slightly. “Then this becomes embarrassing instead of painful.”
Sophia’s expression softened instantly.
Which somehow made it worse.
Because Parker could survive teasing.
Pity was unbearable.
“You don’t know how he feels,” Sophia said quietly.
Parker laughed once.
Short. Humorless.
“Oh, I do.”
Because if Maxton Sutton wanted her—
something would’ve happened by now.
Anything.
A confession.
A kiss.
A sign she wasn’t alone in this.
But nothing ever had.
So Parker learned to live with it.
Across the room, a burst of laughter cut through the music.
And there he was.
Maxton.
Like always, he stood at the center of everything without even trying.
Dark hair messy now. Tie hanging loose around his neck. White button-down sleeves rolled to his forearms. One hand wrapped around a drink while Dominic said something that made him smirk.
God.
That smirk alone should’ve been illegal.
He looked effortless.
Untouchable.
Like the entire world naturally tilted toward him.
And maybe it was the alcohol.
Maybe it was the reality of leaving tomorrow.
Or maybe Parker was just tired of pretending she didn’t want him with every reckless part of herself—
But tonight, she let herself stare.
And as if he felt it—
Maxton looked up.
Their eyes locked instantly.
The noise around her disappeared.
Completely.
He held her gaze from across the crowded room, unreadable and intense in a way that made her pulse stumble violently in her chest.
Then slowly—
he lifted his drink toward her.
A silent toast.
Parker swallowed hard.
And drank.
Beside her, Sophia muttered, “The tension between you two could trigger natural disasters.”
“It’s nothing,” Parker lied.
Sophia laughed directly into her drink.
“Sure.”
—
Hours blurred after that.
Music louder.
People messier.
Too many drinks.
Too many goodbye conversations Parker barely remembered having.
By midnight, the Sutton estate had shifted into something reckless and glowing and half out of control.
And Parker was drunk.
Not falling-over drunk.
Not incoherent.
Just warm enough that her usual restraint had started slipping at the edges.
Which was dangerous.
Because somehow—
Maxton always found her when she was most vulnerable.
She’d escaped upstairs eventually, settling into the quieter lounge overlooking the east wing of the estate.
The second she sat down, she heard footsteps.
Of course.
Maxton dropped into the seat beside her like he belonged there.
Maybe he did.
“You disappeared.”
Parker tilted her head lazily.
“So did you.”
His mouth curved slightly.
“Fair.”
For a while, neither of them spoke.
They just sat there together while the distant sound of music echoed through the house below.
Comfortable.
Familiar.
Too intimate for two people pretending not to cross lines.
Then finally—
“Tomorrow,” Maxton said quietly.
The word alone tightened something painfully in her chest.
“Tomorrow,” she echoed.
He turned toward her fully then.
And whatever he saw on her face made his expression shift.
Less guarded.
More real.
“You’re going to do incredible things in New York.”
Her throat went dry.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
The certainty in his voice almost hurt.
Parker looked down at her hands.
“I’m scared.”
The confession slipped out before she could stop it.
Maxton leaned closer immediately.
“Of what?”
“Leaving.”
A pause.
“Failing.”
Then quieter—
“Of never finding anything that matters as much as this.”
Silence.
Heavy.
Dangerous.
Then—
“Parker.”
The way he said her name nearly shattered her.
Soft.
Careful.
Like it mattered too much to him too.
She looked up.
And suddenly they were too close.
Close enough to feel each other breathing.
Close enough that one wrong move would change everything forever.
“I’m going to miss you,” he admitted quietly.
No arrogance.
No charm.
Just honesty.
Raw enough to steal the air from her lungs.
And because she was seventeen and emotional and hopelessly in love with him—
Parker lifted her hand and touched his face.
Softly.
Like she needed proof he was real before she lost him.
Maxton went completely still.
His eyes locked onto hers.
Neither of them moved.
Neither of them looked away.
Then—
he kissed her.
And Parker realized instantly that this had never been one-sided.
The kiss wasn’t rushed.
Wasn’t careless.
It was slow.
Tentative for all of half a second before years of tension snapped between them all at once.
Parker kissed him back immediately.
Like she’d been starving for it.
Because she had.
For years.
His hand slid to the back of her neck, pulling her closer, and every buried feeling she’d spent years trying to survive exploded at once.
Want.
Relief.
Fear.
Love.
God—
so much love.
By the time they stumbled down the hallway toward his room, breathless and laughing and unable to stop touching each other—
nothing else mattered anymore.
Not New York.
Not tomorrow.
Not consequences.
Just this.
Just him.
And for one reckless, beautiful night—
Parker let herself believe that maybe she hadn’t been alone in this after all.
Maybe they had been inevitable from the very beginning.
- Writer
- chap_listContents
- likeADD