'Are you all right?' Yuri asked as she and Hyoyeon rushed over to Sehun.

'Yeah,' Sehun answered. The word clawed its way out of his damaged throat. He felt as if he'd swallowed a mouthful of sand.

'Well, you shouldn't be!' Yuri snapped. 'Are you crazy, going after Eunhyuk? You're lucky you're not dead.'

'He's not that strong,' Sehun muttered. But the truth was, Eunhyuk was a lot stronger than he looked. Sehun was usually a pretty good judge of his opposition, but Eunhyuk's strength had taken him completely by surprise.

Sehun's eye moved back to the fight. Luhan had Eunhyuk pinned, and Eunhyuk had stopped struggling. their faces were only about an inch apart as Luhan talked Eunhyuk down. The situation has clearly shifted from red alert to yellow.

'Give the boy a break,' Hyoyeon told Yuri. She turned to Sehun. 'I think you were seriously brave.'

Sehun didn't answer. He wasn't really in the mood to be praised by the girl whose boyfriend had just tried to strangle him.

'He wouldn't have had to be brave at all if you didn't love seeing Eunhyuk pull his jealously act,' Yuri sighed. 'You knew what would happen if you asked Changmin to do a body shot.'

'Oh, please,' Hyoyeon said, waving off the criticism.

Changmin was the huge football player, Sehun decided. His thoughts came slowly, as if his brain had been scrambled with a fork. He'd been in fights before, but Eunhyuk had really done a number on him. He in a deep breath of the chilly night air. It still surprised him how fast the temperature in Malibu dropped at night. Part of being so close to the ocean. He glanced over at the water. It was utterly dark now. Some clouds had drifted across the moon, deleting the sparkles of silver light on the waves.

Suddenly, the ocean didn't seem beautiful anymore. The inky water looked... ominous. Like it was hiding secrets. Sehun had the urge to go check on Luna, make sure that she was okay. 'I'm going to head up to the house. See if I can find any fights to get into up there,' he told Yuri and Hyoyeon. Hyoyeon laughed, but Yuri didn't look amused.

'You've had your share of fighting for one night,' she answered, her dark eyes stormy.

Yuri was scared for me, Sehun realized. he didn't know how to respond to that, especially because her boyfriend had just saved his . So he didn't say anything at all, just turned and headed over to the stairs in the cliffside.

The trip back up to the house felt like it took forever. He was really feeling the effects of the fight. He wanted a beer - or three - to take the edge off the pain radiating through several key body parts, and there was a cooler full of them right inside the door. But being the designated driver for the night, he decided he'd have to stick to something non-alcoholic.

Sehun managed to find a can of Mountain dew stuck in among the Hansen's kiwi and strawberry diet soda in the fridge. Hansen's seemed to be right up there with Borba as the non-alcoholic drink to drink, but he didn't plan on tormenting his throat or belly with something kiwi-flavored.

The sound of girls shrieking, guys bellowing and ten both laughing led him to the living room. Chen and a couple of other guys were playing Madden NFL on the X-Box. Luna's friend Sunny was cheering them on, along with a couple of other girls who looked like freshmen. No Luna in the mix. Sehun wasn't crazy about the fact that she'd split from her friend. He figured it would have been harder for her to get into trouble if she'd stayed with the herd.

On the sofa - a shiny-slick, half-moon shaped burgundy sofa - a few couples were half undressed and making out. Neither of the girls were Luna, which was good. Sehun wasn't up for a second fight tonight.

Behind the sofa, a bikini-clad girl was stretched out on the floor, ingesting some vile-looking blue liquid through a funnel held by a guy who had the words 'Slum Lord' written on his chest in Magic Marker. Sehun didn't think anybody should funnel anything that looked like it should be served with a little umbrella and some plastic seahorses. He was glad to note that Luna wasn't there either.

He popped the top of the Mountain dew and took a swig as he headed into the kitchen. The carbonation bubbles felt like bombs against the inside of his throat. It was as if Eunhyuk's fingernails had actually broken the skin and gouged out a layer of flesh.

Just like it would be back in Michigan, the kitchen was another party hotspot. A guy who looked as if he played actual - as opposed to virtual - football was doing push-ups with two girls sitting on his back. Another girl was counting the push-ups. A couple of guys had co-opted the granite top of the kitchen island and were mixing a batch of brownies, with much controversy over exactly what went into them. And in the far corner of the kitchen, Sehun's friend Chanyeol was talking to a girl from their history class, Sohee.

Nice, Sehun thought. Sohee was a surfer girl. He'd spotted her with her board driving home one day. She kept her dark brown hair long, and she had pointy shaped eyes which made her look kind of devilish, in a cute way. Sehun thought Luna would give the two of them her potential couple stamp of approval - if she was anywhere in sight. But she wasn't.

From the way Chanyeol was leaning in, and the way Sohee was smiling, Sehun figured he might be interrupting something, so he didn't head over. Besides, he wanted to find his sister. He told himself he was worrying about nothing. Luna had been to lots of parties without Sehun playing chaperone. In fact, she was more of a party-animal than he was. But that feeling of darkness that he'd gotten down on the beach hadn't let up. It was probably just a side-effect of getting half-asphyxiated by crazy Eunhyuk, but still... Where was she?

Sehun exited the kitchen and passed by a spiral staircase. He didn't even want to think about Luna being in the bedroom territory. Instead, he veered through the first open door he came to - and there she was, playing pool with Kai.

well, at that precise moment, she was actually perched on the edge of the table, flirting for all she was worth, but it came to the same thing.

Sehun smiled. Luna had always been a hustler when it came to pool. She looked like a giggly girl who didn't know how to hold a cue. but she played like a pro - she'd been learning from their dad since she was five.

Luna hadn't noticed Sehun's arrival. Kai, however, had.

'Sehun!' he bellowed in greeting. 'Your sister is kicking my !'

'Well, you shouldn't have told me girls can't play,' Luna retorted. 'You deserve what you get.'

'Harsh.' Kai said, shaking head and grinning.

Luna bumped him out of the way with her hip, then leaned over to line up her next shot. As she did, she glanced up at Sehun.

He raised his eyebrows questioningly.

Luna laughed and answered his unspoken question. 'I'm fine. I'm not drunk, and I can handle your friend here.'

'Yeah, no kidding,' Kai mumbled.

Sehun grinned. 'Okay then. Later.' He kinda wished Luna was hanging out with a guy her own age. But Kai had been friends with Luhan for years, and that made Sehun think he was probably a decent guy. Besides, Luna was clearly having fun, getting evidence that her life in DeVere Heights didn't have to , and that was all good.

Back downstairs, Sehun grabbed another Mountain Dew and headed out to the pool. Couples were making out at the edge, but he could still swim down the middle. He'd worn bathing shorts in case there was swimming. It was a beach party, after all, and they didn't do euphemisms! Yuri's teasing voice came back into his mind, and Sehun smiled at the thought of her.

Sehun peeled off his T-shirt and got ready to dive into the pool.

'Oh come on, that part's no fun,' a girl called.

'Yeah, come over here,' another added.

Sehun glanced over his shoulder and saw two bikini-clad girls, one bright red-haired, the other a Chinese girl with glossy brown hair, leaning on the little wall that separated the hot tub from the pool. Water from the hot tub flowed over the wall into the pool like a waterfall, making the girls' long hair swirl about them as if they were mermaids.

'Sorry?' Sehun asked.

'The pool. It's boring. The jacuzzi is much more interesting,' the red haired girl called.

Sehun walked over to her. 'Why is that?' he asked.

'Because there are bubbles,' the Chinese mermaid replied. 'And steam. And all sorts of things a regular pool doesn't have.'

'Like me,' the red-haired mermaid added.

'Hey, no trying to hog the new guy!' her friend protested.

Sehun grinned. They were both cute, they were both flirting with him, and it was about time the party offered him something to think about besides Yuri.

'Okay, you've convinced me,' he said, and eased himself into the hot tub to sit between the two girls. 'I'm Sehun.'

'We know,' the red-haired one told him. 'I'm Krystal, and this is Victoria.'

The Chinese girl smiled.

'How is it possible that every single person in school knows my name?' Sehun asked.

'You're a celebrity,' Victoria replied. 'We don't get new boys around here very often.'

'Plus, you're a cute new boy,' Krystal added. 'We really don't get those! You were seen moving in and the texts and calls started immediately.'

Sehun laughed. 'On behalf of Suho, former new boy, I'm offended.'

Victoria wrinkled her nose. 'Oh, Suho. He's such a loner. He's no fun. At least you hold a conversation. I'm not even sure Suho knows how to talk.'

'Well talking is just one of my many talents,' Sehun answered with a laugh. 'So are you two seniors? Wait, you can't be. All the senior girls are off the market,' he said, thinking of Yuri, even though hanging with Krystal and Victoria was supposed to be blocking the Yuri thoughts.

'We're lowly juniors,' Krystal told him.

Two more Mountain Dews, a couple of dances with Krystal and Victoria - caught on film by a grinning Chanyeol - and four slices of pizza later, Sehun felt like it was time to head home. He figured their mom was going to be awake worrying until she knew he and Luna were back safe, and he was pretty much done with the party, anyway. He pushed himself to his feet and headed for the pool room to see if Luna was still there.

*Note - Hello everyone~
I'd just wanted to thank you all for being such awesome readers and hope you guys can try reading my oneshots: Meat & Subject 0229. Thanks~ :)