No.

"Are you coming tonight?"

No.

The word appeared in Skye's head without thought. She caught it before it slipped out from between her lips and into existence.

"Skye?"

Faye's voice came through the phone's receiver, ever patient and understanding. "You don't have to. I can say you're sick, or something." A pause. "It'd be more fun if you were there, though."

Sky chewed on her lip. She really really didn't want to. She knew the kind of parties Faye's sister Casey threw: blasting music, way too many people... way too many loud people, and far too little food to make it slightly bearable.

However...

...Faye never asked for anything, and Sky was always telling them to do so, so she couldn't exactly refuse them now. Not now that they were finally asking.

Sky set her shoulders and took a breath. "Okay."

"Okay? You'll come?"

"Yeah." She nodded once, out of habit. Phone calls weren't a thing she did often.

"Sweet." The elation in Faye's voice made the decision slightly easier. "Do I need to send someone to pick you up?"

Sky didn't need to ask why Faye couldn't pick her up themself. She could hear the slight slur in their voice. They had started their own party early.

"No, thanks. I'll get an Uber."

"Alrighty, then. I promise you'll have a good time. And if not, I give you my permission to be a sad, lonely hermit for the rest of your life."

Sky laughed, even as her heart tightened at the thought of spending her whole evening and most of her night in Faye's sister's house with fifty other loud, sweaty people. "Thank you. I'm gonna hang up now, okay?"

She took the phone from her ear, smiling fondly and ignoring the sound of Faye's protests. She ended the call. With dread, she adjusted her mind to include Going Out in her plans for the day. Sighing, Sky looked first longingly at the book she had planned to finish today, and then at the time. The message Faye had sent with the details pertaining to their sister's party had said to arrive at eight o'clock, and it was now just after noon. That meant...

If she left washing her sheets to tomorrow, she would have time for at least half of what she planned to read, and she could read the rest when she got back. Sky's smile came with less effort than she anticipated.

***

The Uber slowed in front of the house, and, by the time it had pulled to a stop, Sky was half convinced to tell the driver to turn around and take her home. She had started to hear - or rather feel - the pulsing music from the moment the Uber had turned onto that street, and it did nothing to convince Sky that her trepidation about this evening was unfounded. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the car, thanking the Uber driver and agreeing to give them five stars. She walked up the path to the door, with every step her instinct screamed at her to run back to the street and chase after the retreating Uber. It was only five past eight, but Sky could already hear and see evidence of many guests, with the promise of more.

Inside the house, a wave of sound hit her like, well, a wave. It was also just slightly too warm, as house parties tend to be, so that one was uncomfortable in their skin, with no significance to the number of clothes one was wearing. Or maybe that was just Sky. She had a feeling the temperature wasn't the reason for her discomfort, as much as the sheer amount of people in a relatively small space.

Sky quickly found an empty corner, and stood in it, leaning against the wall in a faux relaxed manner. Then, scanning the room surreptitiously, she searched for Faye. If she was lucky, they would be in the room somewhere, or would enter the room at any moment. If she was unlucky, Sky would have to go looking for them in a house she didn't know very well full of people she knew even less.

After ten long minutes, Sky admitted defeat. She had had three near misses, wherein she had seen someone whose hair looked very much like Faye's, and she had started toward them, only for them to turn around and reveal that they were definitely not Faye, causing Sky to make a hasty retreat to her corner. She pushed herself of the wall, sighing, and made her way to the kitchen, one of the only rooms to which she knew the way definitely. Unsurprisingly, Faye was not there.

Sky found the hallway and opened a few doors at random, discovering a bathroom, someone's bedroom, and a room with gym equipment, not necessarily in that order. A few doors and disgruntled people later, Sky finally struck gold; she had found her friend.

Unfortunately, along with said friend, she also found a group of strangers. They were sitting in what was vaguely a circle, some on couches, others on the floor in front of those couches.

Sky stuck her head through the crack of the door, not opening it all the way, trying desperately to signal to Faye her presence without alerting the rest of the room.

"Heyyyy!!"

Shit.

A cold dread washed over Sky as all eyes swung to her. She watched, frozen, as Faye clambered to their feet.

"There she is! That's who I was telling you about," Faye addressed one of the people sitting next to them, the latter said in a loud whisper. Sky felt a small flash of betrayal. Faye knew how much she hated being talked about. Didn't they?

"Well, come on, then. Come inside, babe!"

Sky gave a strained smile and slipped into the room the rest of the way. She hovered by the door for a second more, then walked across the room and sat down in the only available seat. On a couch right in between two very drunk people that looked vaguely familiar. She racked her brain in silence as the conversation moved on to other topics. Where did she know them from?

Her question was soon answered by Faye, who was now standing in the middle of the kind of-circle. "Attention, comrades! Now that we're all present, I would like to introduce all y'all to each other. First on the list: Sky. Sky is my best friend in the whole wide earth, and yeah. I love her a lot, and I'm super happy she decided to come."

At this, Faye gave a huge, sloppy grin in Sky's direction, and Sky did her best to disappear into the couch behind her.

Sky forgot the names of the next few people Faye introduced immediately after hearing them, and the names of the rest stayed in her mind for a grand total of five minutes. She did, however, find out that the people she had almost recognized were part of Faye's MMA group, who Sky must have seen when supporting Faye at some competition or other.

After the introductions, Faye decided it was time for a drinking game. Given their - and most everyone else's - already inebriated state, Sky could only think of how much of a bad idea this was. She was beginning to regret her decision to stay sober.

***

"Chug! Chug! Chug!"

The chanting of thousands pounded in her ears as unknown liquid burned a path down her throat. Her face was flushed and red, and the ground beneath her feet had dropped away.

She finished the drink and set the glass down on the arm of the couch. She didn't know how many she had drunk at that point, and was mildly surprised to find she didn't care. The accompanying buzz had lessened the urge to rip her own skin off, and Sky couldn't even remember the last time that had happened.

They played another round. She drank.

"Okay, this is boring, let's stop," Faye announced. A mixed noise of agreement and complaint arose, but the game was ended all the same. Small groups formed, discussions from before being continued and new ones arising. Sky felt a pressing need and took a deep breath, preparing herself for a trip to the restroom.

Then stopped. She tried taking another breath.

Fuck.

She subtly checked her pockets, knowing she wouldn't find what she needed.

Fuck.

Silently, still trying to take deep, even breaths, Sky stood up and left the room, getting as far as the bathroom before she had to sit down again. She perched on the closed toilet lid and tried very hard not to panic. Okay, it's okay. I just need to tell Faye to get the inhaler. They always keep an extra one in case-

This isn't Faye's house.

Fuck.

A knock on the door made Sky lift her head for a moment. It opened to reveal Faye, looking at Sky with a worried expression. "You okay?"

Sky opened her mouth to answer and managed to croak out: "Asthma."

"Oh, shit. Wait here."

Sky watched helplessly as Faye dashed away, not closing the door behind them, then put her head between her knees and focused on not panicking. How had this happened? She hadn't had an attack in years. She supposed it was just her luck, that the one time she tried to do something fun...

"Okay, here," the voice of Salvation cut through her self-pity. An inhaler was thrust into her hand, and she quickly used it. Taking deep breaths, she felt air return to her lungs as her chest slowly loosened. She straightened up and sighed, relief flooding her body. "Thanks. Why-?"

"Casey used to have asthma; there were still a few laying around."

"Oh."

The silence stretched for a few moments. Then:

"You wanna go home?"

Sky stood up. "Yeah, kind of."

"Cool. I'll get the keys and some shoes on. Five minutes."

She cuffed them on the shoulder. "You are not driving."

Faye gave a fake groan of pain, grinning.

"Why not?" they wheedled.

Sky ignored the question, not deigning it an answer. "We can walk; it's not that far."

"At this time of night? Do you want to get mugged?"

"I'll protect you."

Faye's face rearranged itself to assume a sceptical air. "You? Asthma girl? Yeah, no. I'll get Casey to drive us."

"You're sure she won't mind?"

"I'm... ninety-five percent sure."

"...Okay. Let's go."

***

Stepping into Sky's cold, blessedly quiet apartment, the pair are greeted by Sky's cat.

"Well hello, Mr. Fluffles. And how might you be?"

Sky gave a sigh that she told herself wasn't fond. "For the last time, Faye, her name isn't Mr. Fluffles."

"Well, it should be. She likes it better than Loki. Don't you, Mr. Fluffles?" Faye addressed the cat, who had jumped into their arms and was now on her way to having a nap there.

Sky shook her head in exasperation, and moved into the living room, turning the lights on and putting her bag and jacket down. "So, what do you wanna do?"

Faye shrugged and sat, or rather flopped, onto the sofa, Loki still in their arms. "I don't care. What were you planning to do when you got home? I can just watch you."

"Well, I was planning to read this," she said, holding up the book she had left on the coffee table. "But it's not exactly entertaining to watch someone read, so we can watch the series instead, if you want."

"Nah, it's okay. You can read. But could you read it aloud?"

"Yeah, sure." Sky paused, struck by a thought. "Do you want me to start from the beginning though? Have you read it before?"

Faye scoffed and looked offended. "Of course I've read it! What do you take me for, a heathen?"

Sky smiled and took a seat next to her friend, lifting her arms as Loki migrated from Faye's lap to somehow covering both their laps. She opened the book to the bookmark, and began to read:

"Sometimes human beings are very much like bees. Bees are fiercely protective of their hive, provided you are outside it. Once you're in, the workers sort of assume that it must have been cleared by management and take no notice..."