At eight o’clock, Sehun decided it was time to go talk to Baekhyun. His friend had vanished into the guest room after their argument out front, and he hadn’t come out since. But Kris’ party started in half an hour, and Sehun wanted to clear the air before that. Besides, he felt Baekhyun might be in need of a friend and Sehun was determined to be there for him – if only he could get past the crap first.

‘Baek, you awake?’ he called, knocking on the bedroom door. There was no answer, but the door swung open a bit. Sehun stuck his head in. ‘Baekhyun?’

The room was empty. Glancing around, Sehun spotted Baekhyun’s prescription bottle sitting on the dresser. Except he knew that it wasn’t Baekhyun’s prescription – there had been someone else’s name on it. Guiltily, he went over to check out the bottle. Maybe I just read it wrong, he thought hopefully.

Ryan Swank. That was the name on the label. Not Byun Baekhyun. Not even close.

Sehun squinted at the rest of the info. There was a doctor’s name and phone number from Detroit. And the name of the medication: Ritalin.

Ritalin. Baekhyun had said he was taking the medication for pain, but Sehun knew Ritalin wasn’t a painkiller. It was a drug prescribed for Attention Deficit Disorder, and sometimes used – illegally – by people who wanted to get high.

Baekhyun didn’t have ADD.

Sehun’s heart sank. Baekhyun had promised that he was done with the drug-taking. But the fact that he had a bottle full of Ritalin seemed like more than mere coincidence. Sehun shook the bottle. He’d only picked it up for a second yesterday, but he was pretty sure it had felt heavier then. It seemed that Baekhyun had taken some of the pills. Well that explains his ability to go from exhausted to maniac in sixty seconds, Sehun thought grimly. He sighed and put the bottle back down.

Out in the hallway, Sehun went over to the bathroom door and pounded on it. ‘Baekhyun, you in there?’ he yelled.

‘In the shower!’ Baekhyun called back. ‘Be out in five.’

Sehun hesitated. He’d been worried about taking Baekhyun to Kris’ party before, but now he really didn’t want to. If Baekhyun was still taking drugs, there was no telling what he’d do at one of the wild DeVere Heights blowouts.

‘Listen, you wanna scratch this party tonight?’ he called through the door. ‘Maybe hang with Luna and her friend?’

‘No way,’ Baekhyun replied. ‘Sounds like this party is a primo event.’

Like Baekhyun would ever turn down a party. Sehun couldn’t come up with a solid reason why they shouldn’t go. He wasn’t ready to confront his friend about the drugs. He needed to think about the best way of tackling that one first. In the meantime, he decided he’d hope for the best. But he was not looking forward to partying with Baekhyun tonight.

‘Have fun,’ Luna said, twenty minutes later.

‘You could not sound more insincere of you tried,’ Sehun told her with a grin.

‘Don’t worry, we’ll have a drink for you,’ Baekhyun said as Sehun pushed open the front door and stepped out into the cool California night.

‘Have two. I’d have two if I were there,’ Luna shouted after them.

‘Be good at the movies,’ Sehun called back as she closed the door.

‘Why doesn’t she just tell your mom she’s going to the movies and then come with us?’ Baekhyun asked.

‘She did that once,’ Sehun said. ‘And that was the party where someone died.’

‘Ouch,’ Baekhyun replied.

‘Yeah. I think she’s too spooked to try that again.’

They got into the Bug and Sehun pulled out. He drove slowly down to the main road in DeVere Heights, taking as much time possible to get to Kris’.

‘These parties really as good as Luna says?’ Baekhyun asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.

‘Yeah. It can get pretty wild.’ Sehun glanced sideways at his friend. ‘We can still blow it off if you want.’

‘You don’t want to take me to your precious party, do you?’ Baekhyun suddenly snapped. ‘That’s why you’re talking about skipping out, right? You’re still stuck on that one time I took your car. Just get over it already!’

‘Look, you told me you were done with the drugs, but I know you’re lying. So who knows what else you’re lying about?’ Sehun retorted. He knew this wasn’t the way to broach the subject. He hadn’t intended to tackle it at all this evening, but his temper had got the better of him. ‘I’m friends with these people, Baekhyun. I don’t want you making an of yourself tonight.’

‘Well, don’t worry. I’m not going to embarrass you in front of your special new friends. I’ll be invisible.’ Baekhyun muttered.

Sehun took a deep breath and didn’t comment on the extreme unlikelihood of Baekhyun ever being invisible. He’d been arguing with Baekhyun all afternoon, but he didn’t feel angry. He felt worried. ‘Baek, listen,’ he said. ‘What’s really going on? I know you’re not just here for a visit. You’re in some kind of trouble, right?’

‘Yeah.’ Baekhyun’s voice was so quiet that Sehun could barely hear him. ‘I’m in big trouble.’

‘Well, tell me what it is,’ Sehun said. ‘I can help you.’

‘No you can’t, Sehun,’ Baekhyun said. ‘Nobody can help.’

‘Whoa. That’s pretty negative, dude,’ Sehun said, surfer-style, hoping to get a smile out of Baekhyun. It didn’t work. ‘How do you know I can’t help if you don’t tell me what’s going on?’

‘I just know, Okay?’

Sehun shrugged and focused on the road. He wasn’t going to beg the guy.

‘Unless your dad’s so rich now that you get a couple of thousand as your allowance,’ Baekhyun muttered.

‘You need two thousand dollars?’ Sehun tried to keep the shock out of his voice.

‘Five, actually,’ Baekhyun admitted.

Sehun let out a long, low whistle. That was a serious lump of cash.

‘See, Sehun, there are things even you can’t fix,’ Baekhyun said, wiping his hands nervously on the legs of his jeans.

‘How’d you get in so deep?’ Sehun asked. ‘Credit card?’

Baekhyun snorted.

‘Betting on b-ball?’ Sehun suggested. Would any bookie let Baekhyun run up that kind of tab? He wondered. They’d have to be one stupid illegal businessman.

‘What does it matter’ Baekhyun sounded pissy now. He always sounded pissy whenever he was scared. Sehun remembered the time Baekhyun almost got bitten by a rattlesnake on a Boy Scout hiking trip. Well, actually, the time Baekhyun saw a rattlesnake on a Boy Scout hiking trip. He had been so scared that he’d cursed the thing out for two solid minutes, using words in combinations even the Scout Master hadn’t heard before.

‘I guess I just thought knowing who you owed the money to might help us come up with a plan,’ Sehun answered.

‘Us,’ Baekhyun repeated. ‘There is no “us” in this situation. There’s just me.’

‘Hey, you showed up at my door with a problem. That means there’s an “us”.’ Sehun pulled through the massive iron gates leading to the Wu property.

‘So cough it up. How’d you rack up that kind of debt?’

He flashed on the bottle of Ritalin in Baekhyun’s room. ‘Ritalin?’

‘Everyone needs some recreation once in a while,’ Baekhyun answered, without really answering. ‘It ain’t no big thang.’

A valet in a black suit and a narrow black tie signalled Sehun to stop. Baekhyun jumped out of the car without waiting for Sehun and headed up the long driveway. Sehun took the claim check from the valet and followed Baekhyun, not bothering to hurry. He wasn’t eager to get to the party. He was in an even less celebratory mood now than he had been when he left the house. Some thanksgiving vacation, Sehun thought. Let’s all give thanks for pissy, drug-abusing friends who won’t tell you the whole story about anything, even when you’re just trying to help.

‘There are probably five thousand bucks worth of those candle thingies in the trees, Baekhyun commented when Sehun caught up to him.

‘Possibly.’ Sehun glanced at the trees lining the drive. Hundreds of clear glass globes hung from the branches, and each one held a short fat candle and glowed with golden candlelight. More candles gleamed from the decks and balconies that jutted out on all the levels of the house.

‘Where do they get all their cash?’ Baekhyun asked.

‘Mom’s a screenwriter. Dad’s a music producer,’ Sehun said, wishing Baekhyun would get off the subject. People in Malibu didn’t walk around talking about how much stuff cost or how anybody got the money they had. It was considered tacky.

‘So that chick over there who looks like the actress in that cheerleader movie, but skinnier?’ Baekhyun indicated a direction with a slight jerk of his chin. ‘That’s really her?’

Sehun tried to look without looking like he was looking. ‘I’d say yeah.’

‘So you think she’s like to know that I have a poster of her over my bed?’ Baekhyun joked. ‘Or do you think I need a different approach?’

‘I’m sure she’d find that truly flattering,’ Sehun answered as they stepped through the double front doors and into the house. ‘She being beautiful and famous. And you being you.’

‘I’ll hit on her later,’ Baekhyun decided. ‘Give her time to watch me from afar and become intrigued.’

‘Good idea.’

Baekhyun headed over to the bar that had been set up in the entryway, complete with babe bartender, who was flipping bottles like she was half juggler. ‘The signature drink of the evening is the pumpkin martini,’ she told them. ‘’Tinis of all sorts are available: apple, chocolate, clean, dirty. And pretty much any other kind of alcohol you want.’

‘Only party I’ve been to where there’s not a line by the booze,’ Baekhyun commented.

‘Well, you only have to go a few feet to find another bar,’ the bartender answered.

‘I’ll go with the pumpkin.’ Baekhyun grinned at Sehun. ‘This is definitely the place to come if you want to forget your problems for a few hours.’

Sehun thought that over for all of two seconds. Hell, why not? Like Baekhyun said, it was only for a few hours. There was still time to deal with Baekhyun’s damage post-fun. ‘Beer for me.’

‘You’ve got to give me more than that,’ the bartender told him.

‘Surprise me,’ Sehun said. She handed him a Heineken. He wasn’t sure what that said about him. Maybe just that he hadn’t yet completely assimilated to Malibu, home of designer beer.

His eyes swept over what he thought was the living room. All the furniture had been moved out to make space for dancing and a DJ kept everyone moving with a hip hop/reggae mix. Clips from movies – Chanyeol would probably be able to identify every one – were being projected on one wall. A baby floating in space. Keanu bending under a bullet. Chewbacca roaring, John Travolta disco dancing in a white suit. Mike Myers in a kilt. That freakazoid girl from The Ring crawling out of the well.

‘So this is your life now, huh?’ Baekhyun asked. He took a sip of his martini.

‘Not quite. I still have to take out of trash,’ Sehun answered.

‘Great. Malibu party boy surrounded by excess whines about the one chore he has to do.’ Chanyeol approached, his camera stuck to his face. ‘I think I have to use this for the trailer.’

‘Happy to be of service.’ Sehun shook his head. ‘That thing is going to be permanently grafted to your eye if you don’t put it down occasionally. You ever think of, maybe… I don’t know, leaving it at home?’

‘And face the world – and people – without my layer of ironic protection?’ Chanyeol protested. ‘Besides, you never know when a really good docu-drama is going to unfold.’

‘Glad you guys could make it,’ Kris called over the music. He joined them, shaking hands all around. ‘Chanyeol, my mom scored a print of the new Tarantino flick. In the screening room at midnight.’

Chanyeol lowered his camera. ‘You,’ he said slowly, ‘are a god.’

‘I have to pass on one rule from my parents,’ Kris told them. ‘We can do anything we want to the first floor and basement – short of burning them to the ground – but the top floor is off limits.’

‘And you expect us to stay?’ Sehun joked.

‘The pool and the grounds are also available,’ Kris told him.

‘Oh, well then, I guess we can hang for an hour or so,’ Sehun said.

‘Speak for yourself,’ Baekhyun put in. ‘I’m never leaving.’

Kris smiled. ‘Let me know if there’s anything you want that you can’t find,’ he said, and headed to the entryway to greet some new arrivals.

‘Cool guy,’ Baekhyun commented.

‘He was almost chatty,’ Chanyeol added. ‘Those may have been the most words Kris Wu has ever said to me at one time. I wonder if there’s something more mood altering than ‘tinis available that our friend’s been dipping into.’

Sehun shot a glance at Baekhyun. He hoped his friend wouldn’t go looking for anything stronger than the drink he had in his hand.

‘I think I must have stretched my stomach with yesterday’s gorge,’ Chanyeol continued, ‘because I’m hungry. In my travels, I saw this phenomenal dessert station. There’s actually a chef making Bananas Foster.’

‘Do you think they have pumpkin pie?’ Baekhyun asked. ‘You know it’s not good to mix bananas and pumpkin.’ He waved his martini glass. ‘That’s a recipe for vomit.’ Are you kidding?’ Chanyeol asked as they wove their way across the dance floor. ‘Clearly I haven’t expressed the scope of this dessert bar. It’s monster.’ He led the way out to the huge deck that surrounded the pool. The dessert table went on for a mile, the scent of banana liqueur and hot sugar mixing with the salty breeze coming off the ocean.

‘Check it,’ Baekhyun said.

Sehun watched as the chef scooped up a ladle of liquid from around some simmering bananas and torched it. He poured it back into the pan – a stream of fire hit the bananas with a whoosh of blue flame.

‘Wait. I hear my name. Someone’s calling me.’ Chanyeol headed toward the chef.

Baekhyun snagged a piece of pumpkin pie, and Sehun decided on a brownie with caramel on the top.

As he picked it up, he heard Yuri’s familiar laugh. And for a second, he felt like he’d had a six-pack instead of just one beer. He turned and spotted her with Hyoyeon, reclining on matching lounge chairs on the other side of the pool. Kai stood next to them.

Sehun wandered – in what he hoped looked like a casual way – in their direction. Baekhyun followed him.

Yuri laughed when she spotted them. ‘Uh-oh. We’re being invaded by Michigan.’

‘I’m not complaining,’ Hyoyeon purred.

‘Remember that the extremely jealous boyfriend is probably lurking nearby,’ Sehun warned under his breath. Baekhyun nodded.

‘Pretty soon there are going to be more of you than there are of us,’ Yuri teased.

‘And that would be a bad thing?’ Sehun asked. ‘You could use some good Midwestern stock in the mix. You’ve got soft out here.’

‘Soft? Feel this!’ Yuri reached out, grabbed Sehun’s hand, and ran his fingers across her taut abs. Sehun tried to look unimpressed.

‘Gym muscles,’ Baekhyun scoffed. ‘Those don’t count. Sehun and I have real muscles, from working the land.’

‘Yeah, Sehun. I’m sure you worked the land every weekend – mowing the lawn,’ Yuri joked.

Kai and Hyoyeon laughed.

‘You don’t get muscles like this mowing the lawn.’ Sehun retorted. He caught Yuri’s hand, flexed, and pressed it against his bicep. He knew he shouldn’t be doing it. He knew he should be keeping his hands of her. But it’s not like we’re going behind Luhan’s back or anything, he told himself. We’re just two friends, joking around, in front of loads of people.

Right.

‘Ooooh.’ Yuri gave his arm a little squeeze. ‘You’re right! You definitely don’t get muscles like that mowing the lawn. You must have had one of those mowers you ride on.’

‘Meow!’ Hyoyeon said, grinning at Yuri.

‘Just give up,’ Kai suggested to Sehun.

‘Yes. I’m too smart for you.’ Yuri laughed, her dark eyes flashing with mischief.

Sehun raised an eyebrow. ‘You won’t seem so smart when you’re dripping wet,’ he remarked, with a nod to the pool. He turned back to Yuri. ‘Watch it. Or you’re going in.’

‘With those muscles? I don’t think so,’ Yuri shot back, laughing.

She was asking for it.

Sehun lunged toward her lounge chair and Yuri leaped out of it with a shriek and darted away.

Let her go, Sehun told himself. But he couldn’t. And as he raced after her, Sehun realized that Yuri was his Ritalin. And he was an addict. The high he got being around her was just too damn high to give up.

‘Sehun, I’m going to break the kegstand record. I’m going for a whole minute,’ Chen called as Sehun headed toward him. He flipped onto his hands, and two guys grabbed his legs. Sulli positioned the tap in Chen’s mouth and flipped it.

‘One, two, three-’ the crowd around him began to chant as Chen struggled to force beer up his throat.

Yuri had disappeared into the house. Sehun picked up speed, dodging the stream of beer Chen had just started to spew, and running into the den. A group of guys from the football team were lounging on the overstuffed leather couches, watching a Super Bowl game on the plasma-screen TV. Yuri was disappearing through another door, so Sehun followed.

*Note- Sorry for the slower updates but I have uni and crappy stuff happening…
Don’t do drugs kids! It’s bad for you! Okay? No drugs! Good~ ^_^