The thought of Blair’s large, chocolate brown eyes and solid, red lips remained on Clay’s mind as he shuffled back downstairs, hands stuffed in the pockets of his dress pants. Unless he was stopped first he didn’t bother greeting many others, and navigated around the outside of the crowd to gaze admiringly at the house owner’s bright blue, in ground pool, music still blasting within earshot while pink and white lights made the scene, a clear bottle of beer in his left hand to jump-start the drunken forgetting. Things were very different between the three friends since Clay’s return from school for Thanksgiving, and now for Christmas. The betrayal by both his friend and old lover left a slowly healing wound, but in Clay’s mind the fault fell on Julian - His best friend since childhood.
  What he hadn’t anticipated was to be boldly approache by Julian, a cigarette hanging loosely from his best friend’s mouth, as he stood admiring happy, wide eyed swimmers by the edge of the water. As soon as he acknowledged his old friend’s presence a waiter in a black tux with a white bow tie strolled by, hardly expecting to be stopped by the outgoing partier’s palm to his chest. “Hey! Tequila shot, and a shotgun for my buddy here.” The man quickly waled away with Julian’s request. “What do you think? I dunno, it’s one barrel, two shots, huh? Quench that thirst for revenge!”
  Clay gave him a silent once over and took in the obvious change, but for the worst. Julian looked like Hell, and a little bit of what his ex-lover had been hinting shone through the faux friendliness. He could feel the lingering tension between them, and soon the other man only broke into a grin at the silence. “When did you get back?”
  “Today.”
  He watched as Julian lit the stogie in his mouth. “Well, you look very collegiate.. How was it?”
   “What?”
   “School.”
   “Harder than I thought.”
  The goofy grin dropped and Julian took a puff of his stogie, again letting it hang out of his mouth with skill as he spoke. “Still pissed?”
   “…No.” Clay had hesitated letting his friend know there was much more to what he’d been feeling, and that simple, one word answer covered very little of it. It wasn’t a lie, he was far past the anger he’d felt at the discovery on Thanksgiving Day, of his two most trusted friends sleeping together, but he still held resentment and a strong grudge against Julian who should have, in his mind, known better.
   “Liar.” There was that small smile once more, though Julian’s dark, glossy eyes contradicted it.Â
   “I’m not.”
   By the now stricken expression and widening eyes, it was obvious that a glance to the side allowed Julian to catch eyes with an unpleasant figure, guard flying up in a slight panic. “Well, it’s been sentimental. Gotta go.”Â
   He suddenly took off into the crowd like spooked prey, Clay’s nerves now shaken as well.Â
  It didn't take long for Blair to return to the main floor after her confrontation with Clay, having given herself a small fix in attempts to enjoy the party. Most didn't think twice as Blair went by, and she reciprocated the carelessness as she hurried to an unknown destination. In the back of her mind sat the idea to find Clay and beg him once more, which must have been misguiding her feet at the moment. The expression on the model's face remained blank, and if not blank, mildly panicked.
  As she passed a far less populated and partly hidden area of the gigantic house, toward the entire main floor of sweating, thriving guests, the brunette found herself suddenly halted by a loose arm around her shoulders. "Blair!- And how are you this fine evening?" Julian came from the direction of the dark, secluded area she knew all too well. She could easily tell he'd had the same fix, and his pure enthusiasm quickly rubbed off, which brought an erupting chuckle from her lips. The brunette's right arm returned his gesture and snaked around his waist from behind, allowing her to lean her weight on the friend, although she didn’t look as thrilled as he.
  “I’m fine!” The brunette had to yell over ear-filling music as Julian now guided her feet instead. He continued to ramble words Blair couldn’t possibly make sense of at the moment, then simultaneously their eyes landed on the third to their famous trio headed out the front doors.
   Clay had had enough, and soon he found himself headed for the same doors he’d entered through, to the sweet silence of his parked convertible. Somehow two very familiar voices stood out above the enthusiastic party goers behind him, growing closer as they struggled to navigate through the crowd, Julian bouncing in the air like a Mexican jumping bean.Â
    “We’ll bring Clay with us-- Clay!”Â
   “Clay!”
   “Clay!”Â
   Julian latched onto Clay’s shoulders with a grin, Blair joining quickly after with an arm around his waist and a smile matching her partner in crime.
   “Hello!”
   “Hi!”Â
   “I’m out of here, guys,” Clay’s feet still moved bringing the other two with him out the front doors, leaving loud muse and bright lights behind.
   “No you’re not! This is the holiday hour, and these are our formative years!”
   “You can’t argue with him!”
   “Exactly! Come on, let’s go out, it’ll just be the three of us--”
   Without warning the entire mansion went dark, pitch black apart from the millions of tv still playing inside. Blair let out an impulsive, enthusiastic yell and pulled away from Clay, eyes shutting as she enjoyed. “Whoa- Blackout!”
    “Listen- You must party with Julian and Blair, you must party with Julian and Blair, you must party with Julian and Blair.”
    “How long is this gonna last?” The brunette twirled around a bit, her mind obviously scattered and racing as she paid very little attention.
    “I’m out of here, guys,” Clay repeatedly as he successfully pulled away - or so he thought - with Julian trailing behind him. This time his friend’s arms wrapped entirely around his shoulder, voice sounding from near his shoulder.Â
   “Come on - I will beg, Blair will plead.”
   “Pleaaase? Pleeaase?”Â
   After another second of letting him contemplate Julian pulled his arms away, lips smacking on the gum in his mouth. The tufts of hair standing up above his forehead were sprinkled with fake snow, and while his hands flew up in surrender he wore a genuine smile. “Ok, fine, it’s your loss.”
   “...Let’s do it!” Finally Clay had given in, and both Blair and Julian made goofy faces in celebration, quickly following behind to his open top, red convertible. Memory after memory had been made there, and though he wanted to be mad at his best friend still, Clay found himself happier than he’d been in a long time at the side of his High School friends.
