All In The Family

"I can't do this." I protested, attempting to turn and bolt while I still had the chance to. I collided with Ashley and found myself once again facing the building in front of me and being thrust towards it. I knew I didn't really have a choice if she had any say in the matter and it was looking like she did.

She forced me through the open doorway. "Oh no, you're doing this. I told you to bring a date though, that may have helped you some."

"You know I don't date, I just-"

"You want to date Carrie." She pointed out.

My mouth opened and shut quickly before opening again. "I do not." I replied sternly.

"Do too." Seriously Ash, what are we five now?

"Do not." Apparently so. I can't believe I'm stooping to this level.

"Do."

"Don't."

"Don't."

"Do." Shit, wait. That's not fair.

"Ha! I win, you totally want to. You know you've totally been excited about tonight all week." Ashley exclaimed triumphantly with a loud clap of her hands.

I rolled my eyes and started walking ahead of her. "Screw you." I huffed out.

Suddenly she was at my side. "Aw, I'd be flattered." She teased, bumping her shoulder to mine.

I kept walking, trying to be angry at my friend. "Psh, you wish. You're totally not my type." I told her, suddenly feeling my stomach do flips as we began to get closer to the group of people sitting in a booth. I think I'm going to be sick.

Ashley tossed an arm around my shoulder and pulled me tight against her body. "Of course I'm not," she began as we neared even closer to the group of people, "but that didn't stop you from shoving your tongue down my throat that one time."

My eyes went wide, I can't believe she even remembered that still. Ah who the hell am I kidding, the girl is the devil disguised in heels. She isn't fooling anyone.

"Oh come on, that was ONE time!" I all but screamed as we finally reached the booth.

All heads turned towards us. "What was one time?" My brother asked, sliding out of the booth and away from the blonde at his side to stand. God this is unbelievable torture.

"You know, that one time Kelly decided she wanted to make out with me." I could feel my cheeks burning now. I swear you make it really hard to like you sometimes Ashley.

My brother laughed. "I totally remember that." He laughed harder and I just stood there, the center of their own little personal joke.

I saw Carrie turn finally and stand as well, falling into place next to my brother. She smiled at me as our eyes met briefly and I just knew at that moment I was dead. There was no way I could do this shit.

I offered a nervous smile back before slapping my hands together. "I need a drink." I announced, and turned away from them quickly, feeling like a bit of a jackass that I didn't say hi to my friends, but I needed to loosen up before I exploded.


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"First I was afraid, I was petrified........" Those words are kind of ironic right now now that I think about them as I'm standing up on stage squinting at the small monitor in front of me, while attempting to read the scrolling lyrics to the song I had picked out. Which was proving to be a bit more difficult than I initially thought it would be. Luckily I knew the words pretty well....

"....I grew strong..." I flexed my arm, feeling confident now in my drunken state as I looked out into the crowd spotting my friends. "...and I turned Carrie on..." I slurred out. Okay apparently drinking wasn't a good idea...I'm almost positive I didn't sing the right line just then.

I look out at where my friends are sitting and see that maybe none of them caught that I messed up, but the amused expression plastered on Ashley's face tells me that she definitely caught it. When the song ends I step off the stage and make my way over to my friends.

Ashley claps. "Loved your rendition of that." She whispers as I slide down into the booth beside her.

"Do you think anybody else caught it?" I whispered back, looking nervously across the table at my brother and Carrie who seemed to be deep in conversation.

"Nah, I think you're good. Jeb and Boo suggested Main Event, a little laser tagging...you game?" She asked.

I glanced over at my brother and Carrie again as I reached out for my unfinished beer. "Why not." I mumbled, tossing back what remained of it.

____________________________________________________________________

"Every man for himelf!" Boo shouted, before sprinting off into the dark, leaving everyone behind to eat his dust.

I laughed out loud, watching everyone else begin to file in behind him. Boo was probably just about as competitive as I was, and even though I was a bit on the tipsy side, I was still determined not to lose.

I was the last to enter into the darkness, quickly running for cover behind an arch. I could see quick flashes of people rushing by me and tried to remain as hidden as I possibly could. Peeking around the corner I lifted my gun and aimed at the back of whoever had just passed by my hiding spot. I watched the person's back light up and flash indicating that they had been hit. Quickly I pushed away from the arch and darted off to find another hiding spot before the person could retaliate or before anyone else had the chance to get to me.

There was a slight ramp that led up to another level of the darkened obstacle course and I skillfully jogged up it and turned the corner, fully alert and ready to fire if necessary. The ramp led to a semi darkened tunnel, illuminated only by minimal black lights, so I was cautious with each step I took. As I neared the end of the tunnel my pace slowed when I spotted someone with there back turned to me. Nearing closer I began to realize that the person was Carrie, and felt a tiny smile spread across my face as I approached her from behind. Somewhere in the process of descending down the small ramp however, I lost my footing and flew forward, slamming right into Carrie just as she had turned in my direction.

Unfortunately for Carrie she was there to break my fall, which caused my body to send hers flying backwards against the surrounding wall, causing me to fall into her chest.

I pressed my hands firmly against the wall on either side of her head for support. "I'm sorry." I whispered apologetically, holding back the laugh I wanted to let out until I made sure she was okay.

She chuckled softly and met my eyes. "It's okay." She assured me, offering a warm smile.

Keep your eyes on hers Kelly, don't look down. If you look down at her lips and realize how close you are, you're going to do something stupid. Eyes up, eyes up. Shit they're lowering, I'm doomed. Am I leaning in? Oh god I am. She's leaning in too! Holy shit, this is really about to happen. Pull away, do it.

Our lips touched briefly at first, eyes shutting slowly as we let it happen. Then we started probing for more, this was where the trouble always started. I'm a complete goner. At this point my gun had already slipped out of my hands from when I tripped and my hands are still pressed up against the wall beside her head. I felt myself breathe in deeply when I feelt her hand slide in between us, her fingers brushing against what little of my shirt is peeking from under the vest. My hands are no longer up against the wall anymore, they're now sliding into her hair and fisting it to pull her closer to me. I need to feel her closer to me. I about lost my damn mind when I heard her moan softly inside of my mouth, and took the opportunity to slide my tongue out and meet hers. She was now clinging onto my shirt almost desperately as I kissed her with everything I had inside of me.

Feeling my vest vibrate against me, I pulled away from Carrie abruptly and turned around quickly. I sighed in relief when I spotted Ashley holding her gun up, blowing invisible smoke. "Got cha." She said, moving towards us.

She smirked. "Looks like you did turn Carrie on after all." She teased.

The lights in the once darkened course came on and I stepped further away from Carrie but turned slightly to look at her. She was smiling, and that smile definitely told that she had heard my slip earlier.

"Ash..." I was nervous. What the hell happened now?

"I won't say a word. I didn't see a thing." She said quickly before turning and making a move for the exit. She was really good at her little disappearing act at these moments.

"So..." I turned to face Carrie as she spoke. "We're not letting this go, are we?"

I shut my eyes for a moment before opening them and letting out a slow groan. "I'm totally screwed."