Tatum only became more and more rigid with terror as Mack kept going, progressively becoming louder, shoving Sam yet again. She fought hard to keep herself from making any of the whining noises she so desperately wanted to let out. Her lower lip was trembling slightly, and she bit down hard on it, trying to fight back the tears. If she really just let herself go, let herself cry like she wanted to, then even more people were going to look.

Even more eyes had already begun to turn in their direction, especially after the bottle broke, making the redhead jump and grab the back of Sam's shirt tightly in one fist. She was staying sort of ducked behind him as soon as he got between the two girls, as if avoiding looking at Mack would make her stop, make her go away. This wasn't how things were supposed to be, or how this night was supposed to go. Sam, especially, wasn't supposed to be dragged into any of this.

She felt terrible, but she also felt powerless to stop it, just hiding behind him and trembling slightly as the blonde ranted on. "L-Leave him alone, j-just leave him alone, h-he didn't do anything!" she finally blurted out, that same desperately weep tone, her voice cracking slightly. She didn't know what else to say, how to answer any of the older girl's accusations. Especially not in front of other people. "You're d-drunk," she murmured weakly, sniffling.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Sam held his chin high even as the blonde berated his girlfriend. He knew he had to be sensitive about the whole situation. He had been pretty positive that Mack had a crush on Tatum ever since they had started talking about it but he had no idea how far the whole thing had gone.

He was carefully to put his arms out when Mack stumbled, lest she fall and hurt herself. "I don't mean to be tellin' ya to do anythin' but if y'all are gonna be yellin' at Tate like that I gotta step in. She aint deservin' this treatment."

He could feel Tatum trembling and clutching his shirt. He reached back with one hand and took one of her hands in his, trying his best to calm her down with the simple action.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

"He didn't do anything?" She yelled, throwing her hands in the air and laughing. "What the hell? He's just another chump T. Just another excuse to hide behind!" The whole room was starting to spin unpleasantly at this point, and it was all Mackenzie could do to continue to focus on what was happening in front of her. She was livid with Sam because the small functioning part of her inebriated mind was telling her that he was right. She hated when she was wrong, especially when it came to things like this. What really slowed the blonde down though was Tatum's reaction to everything that was happening. It would have been better if the smaller girl had just screamed back at her, but instead she was hiding behind Sam. The desperate tone of the younger girl's voice had cut through anger that had been egging her on for the last few minutes and she felt herself deflating slightly.

She wanted to protest, to tell Tatum that she wasn't drunk, but the way that she was starting to loose focus only attested to the redhead's statement. She stumbled again, nearly bowling into Sam accidentally, and reached out, catching Tatum's shoulder gently to steady herself. She kept her hand there, waiting for the room to stop spinning before looking at the younger girl. What she saw broke her heart, and she immediately felt any residual anger leave her, looking as if she had seen a ghost.

"No...'m not drunk." She protested, still swaying as she gripped the other girl's shoulder to keep herself steady. "I'm not! I just...I'm...y-you fucking with my head T! You keep stringin' me along, and then you go an' date this asshole! What am I s'posed to think about that huh?" She lurched back up suddenly, taking a step backwards to square off with Sam again, as if she had just remembered that he was there.

"You ain't shit kid!" She slurred, throwing him the middle finger as she glared at him. "I'll fucking fight you, you rat bastard!"

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

It was hard to miss the commotion that was going on the dance floor, and Rath had looked over a few times to see what was happening, but with the people gathering around, it was hard to see what exactly was going on. He figured it was just another fight that was none of his business, and instead had been focusing on having a good time himself.

However, as soon as he heard a bottle break, he turned around to look and caught a glimpse of the stricken look on his sister’s face. Without a second thought, he headed over, long legs carrying him to the scene quickly, and he caught the tail end of the argument. Truthfully, he was a bit surprised that Mack had even come here, though not at her outburst. It’d been brewing for a while, even if perhaps no one else wanted to admit it. As much as he loved his sister, he knew she could be a bit difficult, and there was only so much stringing along a person could take before they exploded. And Mack had a pretty impressive temper.

He put a comforting hand on his sister’s shoulder when he got close enough, glancing over at Sam. “Can you get her out of here?” He asked him, because Tatum looked horrible and he didn’t want her here for another minute. He moved in front of her to shield her too.

“You’re in no condition to fight anyone, Mackenzie.” He said calmly, wondering where Hunter was to come collect her friend. He had no problem throwing her over his shoulder and taking her out of here if that’s what it took. “You should go back to your room and sober up.”

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Everything seemed to be happening at once, between everything Mack was ranting about and the hushed giggles as people looked over at them. The lanky blonde was quite a sight, unsteadily wobbling in front of them, making the redhead flinch every time she said something particularly harsh. "H-He's not an asshole," she argued back weakly, squeezing Sam's hand back and immediately feeling horrible.

Not only had she pushed Mack this far, but she was letting Sam get grabbed in. When Mack's hand grabbed her shoulder, she immediately began to try to duck away from it. She didn't even have an argument back; intentional or not, she had strung Mackenzie along a little, for her own selfish experimentation, and now here they were. She backed up a bit, and almost backed right into Rath as he arrived on the scene.

She felt a little better, particularly with both boys now in front of her, but she could still see Mack from behind them, over their shoulders. She still looked drunk, and still heart-broken. "I-I need air," the redhead finally blurted out, letting go of her grip in Sam's shirt and ducking around him, moving to shove past Mack and leave the hall. She felt like she was on the verge of either a full blown panic attack, or a full blown break down. Her eyes were still swelled up with tears, only a few daring to fall down her cheeks, leaving little mascara trails in their wake.

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Sam made sure to keep his free hand neutral as Mack stumbled closer. "I'm not going to fight you Mack," he said easily, trying to keep himself between the two girls. He didn't know the whole story but he knew that neither one of them needed this anymore.

He nodded to Rath when he asked if he could take care of Tatum. That part was easy enough. It was getting away from the blonde that would be tricky but Tatum made the move. He tracked her through the crowd, only over allowing himself to be one step behind her. "Tate," he said. "Just breathe."

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)

Rath's sudden appearance threw the blonde off, and she was left for a few moments standing there staring at the trio that stood in front of her. It wasn't until Rath suggested that she head back to her room and sober up that she stumbled back into action that she remembered what exactly was happening. Suddenly everything seemed to happen at once, both boys still stood in front of her but Tatum had made a move from behind Sam. Mackenzie barely caught her arm as she moved into the crowd of people that had gathered to watch.

"Wait!" She said frantically, suddenly sounding a lot more sober than she had the entire evening. The tall girl was still having trouble standing but she locked eyes with the redhead and held onto her hand securely. "T...look, I'm sorry, okay? I only said those things because I'm angry, and I'm only angry because I'm scared of all of these feelings I have for you. I love you. Don't go."

She kept a loose grip on Tatum's hand that the smaller girl could pull out of if she really tried. She felt desperate to get her point across before Sam took Tatum away from the hall. Somewhere in her blurred mind, she knew that it was now or never. Whipping her head around, she searched for Rath, the only person she felt like the little redhead would listen to.

"Tell her!" She demanded, looking at him with desperation. "Tell your sister I love her Rath, you know it's true! Tell her!"

(Reply) (Parent) (Thread)