Seventh Night

Taylor lifted her head as her best friend, Hannah Woodsen, entered the bedroom. Hannah’s little sister, Ashley, shared the bedroom officially, but because the extra guests had yet to arrive, Ashley had yet to bunk with the older girls.

“Hey, Tay. What’s going on? You hiding in your room?” Hannah teased. Taylor shook her head and held up the book she was reading.

“Is that one of Zack’s stupid mystery novels?” Hannah frowned.

“Uh, no. This one’s your dad’s actually. Your mom loaned it to me.” Taylor shrugged.

“Oh, no. You’re reading his trashy novels?” Hannah groaned.

“They’re actually pretty good.” Taylor pointed out.

“Hush, Taylor. You’re obviously wrong. So, how are things with Zacky?” Hannah teased lightly.

Taylor blushed, and Hannah’s eyes widened.

“Oh? Something spicy happen?” Hannah asked eagerly.

“Why do I tell you everything about my life?” Taylor contemplated aloud.

“Because I’m basically your sister. Now, spill, sis.” Hannah begged.

“Ok. Well... Zack and I had sex.” Taylor blurted. Hannah gasped.

“Seriously?” she checked. Taylor nodded, and a feeling of indescribable happiness washed over her.

“Wow. Was it good?” Hannah wondered.

“It was incredible.” Taylor smiled.

“Damn, Tay. You’re glowing! How good was it?” Hannah pushed for details.

“Well, I wouldn’t say it was the best sex I’ve ever had, but the fact that it was Zack made it amazing.” Taylor admitted, “Zack’s really big, though. He’s just not quite as skilled with his tool as some of the guys you’ve shoved me towards.”

“Hm. Maybe I should teach Zacky a thing or two about fucking women.” Hannah suggested innocently.

“You will DEFINITELY not do that.” Taylor said firmly. Hannah held up her hands defensively.

“Hey! You’re the one who said he was packing. Besides, can you really call dibs on your little brother?” Hannah wiggled her eyebrows. Taylor scowled at her best friend, who laughed.

“I swear that I’ll do my best to keep my hands off of him.” Hannah promised.

“See, I feel like there’s a lot of gray area in that oath.” Taylor noted.

“Hm?” Hannah pretended to be surprised. Taylor rolled her eyes and threw Damon’s mystery novel at Hannah, who caught it deftly, and opened it to a random page. She snorted derisively.

“You read this garbage?” Hannah asked.

“Yes! I happen to enjoy it.” Taylor said stubbornly.

“Fine, fine!” Hannah said, and put the book down on the bed.

“So, we talked Zack, what about you and Peter?” Taylor asked curiously.

“Hm? Coming, Mom!” Hannah called, and dashed from the room.

Taylor shook her head in mild amusement. Hannah was practically terrified to face her feelings for Peter Zander, who was Hannah’s first (and probably only) love. Taylor suspected he was Hannah’s soulmate, but Hannah seemed far too focused on having a good time to settle down with a down to earth guy like Peter Zander.

Well, Peter arrived tomorrow. Maybe Taylor would take a page out of Ashley’s book and play matchmaker.

———

Chloe found her mother sitting quietly with a wine glass on the back porch, sipping it slowly as she flipped through a magazine.

“Chloe? Is something wrong?” Charlotte asked. Chloe supposed she must look pretty frazzled, but for right now, her body was going crazy, and she didn’t know how to cope.

“I-it’s the curse, Mom. It’s driving me towards Kurt.” Chloe sniffled.

“Ooh. That must be hard, baby. My curse is pushing for Daniel Ravers.” Charlotte confessed.

“How do you manage it? You seem so calm, so collected. I feel like I’m burning up with desire for somebody I hate.” Chloe described.

“The Lilly curse is very cruel. It determines the person in your vicinity who would be the worst for you to be caught having sex with, and then makes you lust after them. It changes over time, so in a few days, odds are the curse will find a new target. If Kurt was to go home, it would pick a new target as well.” Charlotte explained.

“So... it’ll never send me towards Zack?” Chloe asked with a sinking feeling.

“Nope. Not unless the two of you get into a situation where sex would ruin a lot of things. My curse has never propelled me towards your father, but I still love him. And sex with him can still sate the curse, just not as much as sex with the person the curse is pushing you towards.” Charlotte elaborated.

“What if... what happens if I do have sex with Kurt?” Chloe whispered.

“A few weeks free of the curse as a reward.” Charlotte answered smoothly.

“You’ve obeyed the curse a few times.” Chloe guessed.

“Yes, I have. The weeks off from the curse are a relief, but more often than not, there’s a reason the curse propels you towards someone: sex with them will be very destructive to your life.” Charlotte admitted.

“Yeah. If I have sex with Kurt, Zack could hate me. We’d probably break up, and we wouldn’t be friends anymore.” Chloe said, feeling miserable.

“That’s all true. But I do recommend you obey the curse at least once, just so you can know what that feels like. Even if you wait until the curse isn’t targeting Kurt anymore, you should still obey it at some point.” Charlotte suggested. Chloe nodded.

“Thanks, Mom. This is... you’ve been a huge help.” Chloe smiled softly.

“I’m glad to hear that.” Charlotte beamed.

Chloe headed inside the cabin, leaving her mother to her wine, solitude, and magazine.

———

Zack loved kissing Ashley. The soaking wet cheerleader (because of the lake, not anything else) was in his lap, and her small but perky breasts poked against his chest, and he had her toned ass in his hands.

Her blond hair tumbled down her shoulders in golden waves, and it tickled Zack’s cheeks as the two teens kissed, but Zack wasn’t too bothered by that.

When Ashley drew back, Zack saw something flash across her gaze, and then it was gone.

“Are you OK?” Zack asked. Ashley nodded, her smile dimming.

“I just... I was thinking about Kurt kissing Chloe.” Ashley confessed. Zack was surprised at that admission, but...

“Yeah, I can’t really stop thinking about it either. I felt ill seeing someone like Kurt with his hands on Chloe. I mean, I don’t own her or anything, but she’s been my best friend for almost nineteen years, and she’s my girlfriend now. I can’t believe that I let someone like Kurt touch her. And she... was it just me or did she look like she was enjoying it?” Zack wondered.

Ashley bit her lip.

“It wasn’t just you. Chloe was flushed and looked light-headed. I know how girls look after being forced to kiss someone they don’t want to. That wasn’t that. Chloe seemed practically, well, she looked a little drunk on the kiss.” Ashley admitted. Zack nodded wearily.

“Yeah. I saw that, too.” Zack mumbled. Ashley kissed his lips lightly, and he glanced up at her.

“You don’t ever have to worry about Kurt stealing me away from you. I hate that little creep.” Ashley shuddered in disgust.

“Yeah. That was, well, that was a mood-killer. Do you want to head inside?” Zack asked.

Ashley gave him a shy smile.

“Or... we could go for a walk in the woods.” Ashley suggested. Zack glanced up at the sun, which was beginning its’ slow descent.

“Yeah, let’s go.” Zack nodded, and Ashley climbed to her feet, and Zack did the same.

He leaned down to press a kiss to her lips, and then he took her smooth hand in his, and the two walked towards the tree line, hand in hand, laughing and chatting.

———

Kurt approached Victoria, grinning at her. She smiled curiously up at him.

“Hey, Victoria. You wanna go for a swim?” Kurt asked.

“Sure!” the pretty blond smiled up at Kurt. Kurt grinned.

He pretty much already had the blond wrapped around his finger. He was beyond ready to screw over Zack, and maybe make Red a little jealous if the opportunity arose.

As Kurt and Victoria headed down to the lake, Kurt scanned the shore. Unfortunately, Zack and Ashley were gone. Kurt wondered where they’d gotten to, but he didn’t care, not really.

Kurt glanced sideways at Victoria.

“Can I just say, you look incredibly sexy in that bikini?” Kurt flirted. Victoria blushed adorably, and Kurt cupped her cheek.

Those pretty emerald eyes went wide as Kurt leaned down to kiss her.

She kissed back heatedly.

Ah, what a royal ‘fuck you’ to Zack, who had stolen his cousin’s heart.