To say that Alex was irritated with Charlie, and with the majority of the rest of the party, was an understatement. When she heard there was even going to be a party the day before, she had waited as patiently as possible for Chuck to text her, but the day came and went with nothing. Not so much as a single invite! She didn't know what the blonde was playing at, but if she thought she was going to show up with anyone else, Alex decided then and there that she would deal with the situation accordingly. She didn't get picked over for just any girl, especially not by Charlie. She always tried to see to that.

Arriving at Mack's place, much to her own disgust, she tried to navigate her way around, searching for the taller girl. She saw her cousin, chatting it up on the sofa with another little dyke no surprise there, but no Chuck. She was already beginning to get annoyed when she finally spotted her.

Her lip immediately curled in disgust as she watched Charlie with her arm around one of those stupid twins. Except she didn't think it was the stupid one, she had her suspicions that it was the smart-ass prude one. What was she doing so far away from her big-mouthed Maine backwoods whitetrash girlfriend? Scoffing, Alex had been about to march right over and see what the hell Charlie thought she was doing, when she noticed her friend slipping away and heading for the drink table near the kitchen.

More or less shoving people out of her way, she cut Charlie off at the pass, storming up to the blonde as she reached for a bottle of soda. "What the hell do you think you're doing? You didn't think to tell me you were planning to come here? And why are you drinking juice or some shit with that fucking wannabe jailbait anyway? Ugh, Charles, honestly!" she practically spat, giving a withering glance in the direction Jenny was in the crowd.

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Charlie had been meaning to text Alex since she had invited Jenny to be her date at the party, but every time she had pulled out her phone she couldn't do it. Deep down she knew Alex wouldn't ever be okay with her going to the party with Jenny. She didn't even know how to breach the topic with her best friend, let alone inform her that it was just the way the night was going to go. She had waited for the other girl to send her the usual slightly irritate text message when she failed to contact her, but when the day of New Years Eve rolled around and she hadn't heard from her, she figured she might have been in the clear.

This was apparently not the case however, and Charlie visibly cringed as Alex went off at her. Busted. Trying to remain calm as she finished mixing her rum and coke, she took a small sip of it before looking up at Alex nervously. "Hey Lex, how's it goin'?" She asked, giving her friend a weak smile. "I uh...figured you would end up showing up anyway? And be nice to Jen, she really needs friends right now. I know it's like, not your thing but I would really appreciate it."

She looked at her feet sheepishly, and took another drink from her cup. "You know you're always my first choice Lexi," she said quietly, biting her lip. "It'd be nice to find someone though, you know? It's not like we'd stop being best friends or anything."

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It only served to infuriate Alex further when Charlie proceeded to just greet her as if she hadn't spoken a word to her. "It's not going well, Charles!" she spat. When Charlie asked her to be nice to Jenny, Alex was taken back but tried to keep some of the anger from showing on her face. Did Charlie really have the audacity to ask that of her? She would be no such friend to that girl, and she didn't see why Charlie would want to be either. "She has her skanky friends, and she really should run along and play with them, and leave you alone."

Slipping with ease, her expression softened a little as she reached into her bag and produced one of the bottles of patron that she had bought for the evening, holding it up. "Well, if I'm your first choice, I did bring this along and I thought we could share.. it's awfully big for just myself, but I really wish it could just be you and I, Charles.. wouldn't that be nicer?" she asked, though there was more than a hint of insistence behind her words.

"You don't need to find a girl like that, she's really just damaged goods. She's whiny and bratty and she looks practically like a child.. besides that, haven't you heard about what she let the Quirank quodpot team to do to her in the locker room so she could be cheerleading captain? Ugh, you don't want to know."

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Charlie frowned instantly at Alex, not appreciating anything her friend said. It wasn't as if she could say she was surprised, Alex was never very nice about things like this, but she was surprised that it got under her skin so much. "I don't want her to leave me alone," Charlie could feel her heart pounding, it wasn't often that she stood up to Alex. "She is going through a rough time right now, and she needs me. I'm not asking you to be friends with her Lexi, just lay off her for a bit."

She felt herself falter as Alex pulled out the bottle of Patron, it was an incredibly tempting offer. Especially after Alex told her she wished it was just the two of them. Charlie knew that it wasn't what she wanted it to be however, which made her hesitate from falling into giving in to the other girl. Charlie knew that Alex would never actually come to a party like this with her, and therein lay the difference.

"Don't talk about her like that," She said angrily, when Alex when on about Jenny. She shot Alex a small glare, although she was still unsure of how much she wanted to push her best friend. She had never really disagreed or gone against Alex before in their whole friendship, but Alex was stepping over the line. Charlie cared about Jenny, they were friends and she wouldn't stand for Alex saying such slanderous things about her. "She...she would never do anything like that! Jenny is nice, which is more than what I can say about you right now."

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Trying hard to control herself, Alex couldn't entirely bite her tongue on the subject. She tried to be tender with Charlie, as much as she could allow herself without spoiling the other girl, but this was just too much. "If she wasn't such a little whore," Alex spat bitterly, "She wouldn't be in this situation. Why do you think her ugly girlfriend broke up with her in the first place? She probably slept with everybody in their know-it-all asshole house."

She kept the Patron in view of Charlie's eyes, wiggling it just a bit to entice her, but it was clear with the look on the blonde's face that she wasn't going to just up and take the bait like that. Goddamnit, she inwardly sighed. "I'll talk about her however I like!" she quickly replied, taken back by the way Charlie was speaking to her, especially the tone of her voice. Her usual laid-back drawl tinged with anger wasn't something usually directed at her.

It was the first time in years that she could remember the other girl acting angry with her, in fact, no matter what she had ever done. What made this dumb Jenny so special? How dare she come in between them? It only made her more mad, more jealous Sera's voice seemed to correct her in her mind. Narrowing her eyes promptly, she glared right back at Charlie, not backing down.

"Believe what you want, Charles.. but I know the truth, and I know what I know about that girl. She's a cunt, and you'll learn that soon enough!"

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"Well you're wrong," Charlie growled back, her eyes narrowing. She had known Jenny a long time, well before she had even dated Sera. That was back before Charlie had been kicked out, and Chuck could remember spending many happy afternoons with him and Jenny out in the parking lot. That had been in her freshman year, and she had gotten to know Jenny pretty well during that time. She knew how hard the girl worked and the struggles she went through, maybe not as much as some of Jenny's other friends, but Charlie knew enough.

"Don't you dare call her a whore again," she seethed, her grip tightening on her red cup in anger. "You don't know anything about her Alex, and I won't stand here while you degrade her like that." It was more anger than she had ever thrown at Alex, and the intensity of it confused her slightly. She had never fought back at her best friend like this, and in that moment she realized what had changed.

They had both always been present since she had started at Blue Ridge, sometimes one more than the other. Charlie had always followed Alex around like a loyal puppy, and she knew that her feelings for her ran a lot deeper than friendship. Jenny however, had been just been a cute girl to hang out with while she rambled on about car parts. Charlie Oliver hadn't minded, even though she always suspected he knew she had a small crush on the older girl. Alex had always come first though, and Charlie realized that she was tired of waiting around.

"God Lexi! What the hell do you want from me?" She asked exasperatedly, gesticulating wildly with her free hand. "Maybe I'm tired of always going to stuff with you but not actually being with you! I feel like maybe you lead me on, and lead me on, and it really sucks, you know? At least Jenny is willing to show up as my date and admit she came here with me. I...I'd really like to do that with you sometime, okay?" Charlie trailed off, taking a moment to take a drink and calm herself down a bit.

"I'm sorry, I know we're just friends," she said quietly, feeling slightly nauseous. "Just...forget it. It's no big deal, I'm just being stupid."

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"I'm never wrong, and I call whores like I see them. Remember when society could simply brand the whores with a scarlet letter and then everyone knew exactly who the skanks were? If only that were still in practice," she sneered back haughtily, her own temper just getting more and more riled up as Charlie fought back against her. It was rare to turn her verbal lashing on the blonde, and it felt sort of surreal in the worst way possible. In her eyes, the whole incident was simply something else that was Jenny's fault.

She actually shut up and allowed the taller girl to speak her piece as she began waving her hands around and going off on her. Alex stared blankly, waiting impatiently for Charlie to finish dejectedly before she replied. "Is that what this is about?" she asked, raising an eyebrow. That was simple enough. She obviously just hadn't been paying Charlie enough mind, and with a heavy sigh, Alex shook her head and stepped forward.

"I'm not into that cuddling shit," she reminded the blonde in a quiet voice, glancing over the other girl's shoulder to see if she could see Jenny before she reached out, trailing her fingers down the sleeve up Charlie's jacket before plucking at the lapel. "But if you want to fuck me and that'll shut you up and get rid of that little bitch, then I guess we can do that," she went on, as naturally as if she were talking about doing a chore or something. "What do you say? We'll just leave her to her own devices and have our own little party?"

It was an offer made somewhat in desperation, sex was a weapon and whatever it took to woo Charlie back under her thumb was worth it. She had no qualms about it, really, as she continued to peer up at the blonde and awaited her answer. "That girl is no good, I'm telling you. Come with me now and save yourself the headache, Charles!"

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Charlie's breath caught in her throat as she felt Alex trail her fingers up her jacket. She wanted so badly to lean into that touch and she almost did until she heard Alex's next words. She frowned as if there was something sour in her mouth. Had she been a little less drunk, and perhaps a little more under control, she would have broke as Alex peered up at her. Instead she felt cheap and used, like she was just a little pawn for Alex to play with. She shoved Alex's hand away gruffly, trying to stop the tears she could feel pricking at the corner of her eyes.

"Don't," she said angrily, her voice trembling. "Don't even try that with me Alex."

She looked away from the shorter girl; feeling a wave of different emotions crashing over her the longer she looked at her. She knew Alex didn't do the "cuddling thing" and she knew that Alex would use her no matter what. It was the best she could ever hope for probably. Charlie wasn't ready to deal with that tonight however, especially when she had Jenny with her.

"It's not...I want to," she said quietly, looking up at Alex. "I really do. Not like that though. I...know it's never going to happen, but I want it to mean something Alex. I want you to want it too." She laughed sadly, and stepped forward to give Alex a small kiss on the cheek. "I'm gonna go back to my date now, but I'll talk to you later, okay?"

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When Charlie shoved her hand away, it hadn't been what she was expecting at all, and Alex couldn't hide the look of anger that flashed over her face for a moment. "Don't? How dare you," she hissed back slowly, though she wasn't sure what she was even mad about. Had she really expected it to work so easily? Charlie had fight, and that was part of what she loved about her, she had to admit it.

Seeing the tears in her friend's eyes, even as faint as they were and as much as Chuck was doing her best to seem natural about it, the dark-haired girl felt another unfamiliar wave of emotion hit her. Usually so composed and irritated, the other girl's tears struck an unexpected chord in her, as they always sort of did. She hated it when Chuck cried, and especially when she was the cause. It was why she had taken the blonde under her wing, to protect her from unsavory people and bad situations.

"You're an idiot," she scoffed, rather than voice any of the feelings swelling up inside of her as she turned on her heel right after the kiss on her cheek. "Enjoy your whore, there are tons of other people I'll be able to find to drink this bottle with me. Fuck you," she went on, already beginning to make her way away from the taller girl.

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Charlie wanted to stop her, it took all the self control she had to stop herself. She wanted to reach out and grab the other girl's wrist, to tell her she was just kidding. She would finish the bottle of Patron with her, and then they could go mess around or do whatever it was that they did at parties. She hated Alex's behavior however, especially when it came to the shorter girl's previous offer.

She scrubbed furiously at her eyes, feeling a few tears spilling out. She downed the drink in her hand quickly before pouring another one. Taking a deep breath, she wiped the last of her tears from her face and plastered on a forced smile. She didn't want to let Jenny know that Alex had upset her, it wasn't what the older girl needed tonight. She walked away from the drink table to find Jenny, feeling sad for the first time in a long time.

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