YOUTH || Liam Dunbar [1]

TWENTY FOUR

"How much has he had to drink?" Scott yelled, trying to get Mason to hear him over the music. Katherine was sitting next to Malia and helping her hold her bottle of water, concern creasing her brows.

"Not enough to make him like this," Mason answered in an equally loud tone, looking at Liam with worry.

"Something's happening!" Scott realized, his eyes widening. "We need to get them out of here! We need to..." He trailed off and blinked harshly, holding his hand up to look up at.

"Scott?" Katherine called worriedly. After making sure Malia was okay, Katherine stood up moved towards Scott, her lips pursed.

"How much did you drink?" Mason panicked, his attention on Scott as well.

"Nothing," Scott slurred, his brows pulled together in confusion. "Not even a sip." He inhaled sharply in hopes of clearing his head.

He leaned his weight on the picnic table, and Katherine moved over to Liam. "Can you hear me," she asked quietly, waving a hand in front of her face.

Liam shot her a lazy smile as he looked up from his bottle of water. "You look really good tonight, Kat," he slurred. "You're real...real...uh...real pretty, yeah."

Katherine dropped her hand back to her side and let out a quiet groan. "So you can't hear me," she groaned. "Great. What the hell are we supposed to do, Mason?" She breathed, turning to look at him with worry on her face.

"It's not the drinks!" Scott cut in, interrupting whatever Mason was going to say. "It's the music!" He staggered to his feet, his eyes drooping. "I have to — I have — have to — I have to turn off the music!"

"Scott you can barely stand," Katherine scoffed. Mason — who was standing next to her — eyed them both warily. It was obvious he was freaked out, but Katherine couldn't blame him. She was too.

"I have to turn off the music. Don't let them out of your sight," Scott warned, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Katherine pursed her lips, fighting the urge to grab him by the shoulders, force him to sit on the bench with Malia and Liam, and call Stiles. Or Derek. Hell, even Peter. "I won't," she breathed finally.

The two watched Scott walk into the crowd and Mason let out a groan. "Well this is great," he muttered sarcastically.

Katherine rolled her eyes and gently pulled Malia's hair from her face before she patted Liam's shoulder comfortingly. "You said you wanted to help," she shrugged. "So keep watch or something."

Mason shot her a look then slowly nodded his head. He turned his back to them, stuffing his hands into the pockets of his jeans while they waited for Scott to come back. Katherine turned to face Liam and wrapped an arm around him. Then she leaned forwards and set her chin on his shoulders.

"Did I tell you that you look nice?" Liam slurred quietly, his head lolling back to rest on her shoulder.

Katherine smiled faintly. "You mentioned it once or twice, yeah."

"Well, it's true," Liam told her in a tone that didn't really leave her any room for argument. His face had contorted into one of determination, and if Katherine were being honest, she'd say he looked adorable.

"Thank you," she smiled. She could see Mason watching them out of the corner of her eye, but she didn't pay much attention to him. After glancing over at Malia, Katherine leaned Liam up against he bench and wandered over to Mason. "Can you see Scott?" She asked hopefully.

"No, sorry," Mason mumbled, staring at the ground to avoid looking at her.

Katherine let out a small sigh and tucked her hands into the back pockets of her shorts. "Look, Mason," she breathed, gently bumping his arm with her elbow. "We're not telling you things because we want you to be safe. You're our best friend and we don't want you getting hurt because of us."

Mason turned to face her and opened his mouth to respond, but his attention was quickly averted. "Hey, what're you doing? These are my friends!"

Katherine spun around, her eyes widening at the sight of the security officers lifting Liam and Malia off the bench. "Get the hell off them!" She yelped.

"Your friends are overly intoxicated," one of the officers snapped. "They need to be escorted out."

"Okay, we'll go with them," Mason shrugged. Katherine silently thanked God for her friends quick thinking.

"That won't be necessary," the same officer snarled.

"I said they're my friends, dude," Mason protested. Katherine tried to walk towards them and worm her way between her friends and the officers, but was shoved roughly back into Mason, who lost his balance at her unexpected weight.

She let out a quiet yelp as she landed on top of him, and Mason groaned. Two players on the team immediately helped them up, and Katherine shot them a thankful smile. She wrapped her arms around her middle, trying to ignore the faint sting in her stomach, and frowned as she watched the officers move through the crowd.

"What now," Mason frowned.

Katherine looked around at the crowd, then her eyes widened as she noticed Scott being led into the school as well. "We need to shut that damn music off."

She grabbed his wrist and pulled him behind her through the dancing teenagers and towards the DJ booth. "What the deal with the music anyways!" Mason yelled over the baseline, his brows furrowed.

"I don't know!" Katherine yelled back. She only stopped walking when they were in front of the booth. "But I trust Scott! If he says the music needs to go off, then it's going off."

Mason eyed her curiously for a moment before he nodded. They wandered around the perimeter of the booth before finding the one thing Katherine was looking for; the speakers.

"Dance with me," Mason muttered out of nowhere.

Katherine furrowed her brows and took a step away from him. "What? How much have you had to drink tonight? Mason, you don't swing that way."

Mason rolled his eyes and began dancing, glancing sideways. "One of the cops are watching us," he told her quietly, leaning forwards so he wouldn't have to yell. Katherine nodded understandingly and followed his instructions and swayed in time to the music.

After a moment, he shot her a grin. "When Liam eventually grows a pair, he's going to be one lucky guy."

"Huh?"

Seeming to realized what he'd said, Mason shook his head. "Nothing, never mind." Katherine shrugged her shoulders. Mason glanced to the side again. "Okay go, he's turned around."

She immediately darted towards the cable plugging the speaker into the DJ table and chewed on the skin around her thumbnail. "We need to get this unplugged, and then I need to go."

Mason nodded and eyed the cable before yanking on it. After three hard tugs, it came free, and the music came to an abrupt stop. Katherine stared at him for a moment before a wide grin fell on her lips and she threw her arms around him. Mason laughed quietly and patted her back before she let go and ran to the school.

She threw the doors open just in time to see Derek take down three of the officers while Braeden — someone whom she'd grown to love for saving Isaac — hit another with the barrel of her gun. Then Braeden snapped the neck of the man who had pushed Katherine to the ground and flipped her hair out of her face.

"What happened to the gun?" Scott breathed, leaning against the row of lockers behind him.

"You're covered in gasoline," Derek shrugged, sauntering towards him.

Katherine darted over to Liam and Malia and knelt on the ground next to them as they slowly sobered up. She moved their hair from their faces and smiled down at them as they stared up at her, bleary eyed and confused.

She threw an arm around both of their shoulders so they could lean on her as Derek helped Scott off the floor, and she offered Braeden a tired smile.

"Katherine?" Liam asked quietly.

She leaned her head on his shoulder. "Yeah?"

"I meant what I said earlier, you do look nice."