My mind was racing. This was falling apart faster than I could control it. I needed to get Jeremy out of here before something terrible happened, before the sequence of events that led to the disaster of ten years ago started playing out exactly as before.
"I don't want to see that stupid Leo; he's the reason we're in this situation," Jeremy said bitterly.
"What are you talking about?"
"Well, like I told you, I went to my piano lessons..."
"Uh-huh?"
Jeremy didn't finish what he was saying because at that exact moment, Leo burst through the front door.Why the fuck wasn't this house locked?
"What are you doing here, asshole?" Jeremy said extremely loudly as he stood up from his chair, swaying. "I don't want to see you here."
"So you can comfortably continue hooking up with MY sister's boyfriend?" Leo replied angrily, pointing at me. "What the hell have you been thinking? Do you know how much Lily has suffered because of you?"
I had absolutely no idea what was happening. What the hell was Leo talking about? At least we were inside the house, and the party seemed to be continuing normally in the backyard.
At least you did something right by bringing Jeremy to the living room.
I stood between them, blocking Jeremy from behind. "I think you both need to calm down."
"I'm not going to take your advice, Kyle. I thought we resolved our situation the other day, and now I see you here with Jeremy, making him suffer again. But believe me, this time I'm not going to let you keep playing with my sister's and my best friend's feelings."
I didn't have time to react. Leo's fist connected with my nose, sending me stumbling backward. Jeremy tried to grab me to help, but since he was still drunk, we both crashed to the floor.
At that exact moment, Lily ran into the house, visibly stressed.Seriously, why was the front door still unlocked?
"Leo, what the fuck?" she yelled.
Leo looked at his sister, confused and angry. "Lily, what are you doing here?"
"Trying to save your ass from doing something stupid.Apparently, I'm late. The better question would be, what are you doing here?"
"That's what I've been trying to figure out for the last twenty minutes," I said from the floor, tasting blood.
"Shut up," Lily snapped at me. "If you had been paying attention to your phone, all of this could have been prevented."
How was everything suddenly my fault?
Jeremy struggled to his feet. "I think we should all calm down. We're all very upset."
At that moment, Oliver and Brandy entered through the glass patio door. Oliver’s eyes widened when he saw me on the ground, and Brandy immediately ran to Leo’s side.
"What's going on here?" Oliver demanded. "And what are you two doing here?" He pointed at Leo and Jeremy.
Perfect. Just what I needed. The cherry on top.
"Nothing," Lily said quickly. "Jeremy and Leo were already leaving."
As if he hadn't realized Lily was there until she spoke, he turned to her. "Lily, darling, I didn't know you were here." Oliver went over to her and tried to go for a hug, but she pushed him away before he could get close.
"Don't even think about it," she replied. He just raised his hands in a sign of peace and remained silent.
"We are not leaving yet," Leo protested. "Look, Lily, Jeremy and Kyle have been seeing each other behind your back. I just wanted to defend you."
"Are you crazy? Of course not," Lily said. At the same time, I said, "What the hell are you talking about?"
"Okay, maybe it's my fault," Jeremy interjected. "I told Leo I liked someone, but didn’t say who he was. Maybe he got things mixed up because he saw us together at school."
